Chapter FOUR
MITCH SAT at his desk reviewing the latest files. He’d obtained documentation Rowena Muddleton had prepared—an indirect personality assessment. Basically it confirmed what he already knew about Rocky. He lamented the direction the case was taking. Mitch itched to see things moving forward, but more than that, he wanted to talk to Peter. He needed to talk to him, to find out what the hell he was doing tangled up with Rocky and the Soldiers. The sleeplessness of the last couple of nights had taken their toll. He didn’t think he could handle another night of tossing and turning. His gut churned as he downed the last dregs of his coffee and tossed the empty cardboard cup into the waste bin.
“I take it you’re not a greenie, then, Mitch.”
He glanced up into the smiling face of Lana Jacobs. She planted her denim-clad butt on the edge of his desk and raised a brow. And waited.
“Jeez, Lana, you’re worse than my mother.” He leaned down and retrieved the cup, and placed it on the desk to take to the kitchen later. “With a look like that, no wonder you get all the confessions; no one would dare stand up to you.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just say I have my ways,” she said with a laugh.
“And how are those ways working with the Brutes?” Mitch asked.
Lana, like Mitch, had been on the gang task force, known as Operation Solo, for six months. A forensic accountant, she spent her time cloistered in the office, digging into the depths of gang-related activity and transactions. She looked for taxation abnormalities and breaches, providing evidence for issuing infringements—anything to disrupt the outlaw clubs. Her recent focus had been on the Brute Riders MC, the major rival of the Soldiers of Fury MC, but she had just started looking into the Soldiers. She and Mitch had become good friends during the time they worked together.
She laughed lightly. “I wish I had the chance to practice my skills on the Riders. I feel like I haven’t been away from my computer in months, and I’m mighty sick of the inside of this office. What about you? Itchy feet?”
Mitch swiveled his chair to face her. “Looks like I won’t be hanging out here with you for much longer.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Do tell.”
“It appears we have an opening to get some direct info on the Soldiers of Fury. An old… ah… friend of mine has started hanging out with them.”
She lifted her eyebrows even higher. “So you’re going in?”
“That’s the plan. At least try to make contact with the guy. Peter. There’s a full briefing shortly.”
“Well, aside from knowing your friend, you’re the perfect man for the job. I can just picture you in your leathers, all tatted up and astride that bike of yours.”
Mitch sat up straighter and pulled the collar of his dress shirt, flushing uncomfortably at the compliment. “How do you know I have a bike?”
“Your reputation precedes you. Everyone has heard of you and your bike.” She laughed. “Actually I only know because of that time you crashed and took a few days off work last year.”
Mitch rubbed unconsciously at his thigh, as if he could still feel the pain caused by dragging that leg over asphalt. The scars had faded, but he was reminded of them every day. “Oh right. I forgot about that.”
“Aren’t you going to ask how I knew about the tattoos?”
That did puzzle him. “Yeah, how did you know about my tattoos?”
Lana chuckled. “I didn’t know you had any, but I do now.”
Mitch rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe I fell for that one.”
Lana patted him on the arm. “Don’t worry about it, hon. It’s one of my special talents for getting information.”
“Well, now I’ve seen it in action, I’m officially impressed.”
“So when do you go?” Lana asked, suddenly serious.
“As soon as possible. It’s turned out to be hugely difficult to get Pete on his own. He’s forever in Rocky Cummings’s company, the two of them traveling between Rocky’s house, the motorcycle business Rocky owns, and the pub. They have minimal time apart. I don’t want to wait any longer, as every passing day is just another day for this goddamn turf war between the Soldiers of Fury and the Brute Riders to escalate. One of the Soldiers was found shot in the head a few days ago.”
“I heard about that.”
“The Soldiers will be pissed and no doubt planning their retaliation.”
“Good luck, then. I hope you can get some useful information from your friend.”
“Speaking of useful information. Any luck with the anonymous tip-off?” A note had been sent to the task force the day before, hinting at some tax evasion. It was the second they’d received, the first note providing the address of a house that was now under surveillance. Now they knew Pete was affiliated with the Soldiers, and due to his past relationship with Mitch, he was the most likely candidate to be the sender.
Lana sighed. “Just getting started. It’s more complicated than it looks and needs a lot of digging. We need access to more information and can’t wait to get our hands on the computers, but at least we know where to start looking.”
“Well, if anyone can do it, you can, Lana.”
She stood. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I guess I’d better get back to it. Take care, Mitch.”
A glance at his watch told him it was just after 1:00 p.m. He wanted to go downstairs, but a quick glance at Ross, who was on the phone at his desk, put paid to that idea. Mitch flipped the lid on the tin of gum and threw a few of the small squares into his mouth as he resigned himself to spending the next hour or so completing paperwork.
A couple of hours later, Mitch stood and stretched out the kinks in his back. He groaned at the instant relief to his tired muscles.
“Old man,” Ross commented under his breath as he walked past.
“Fuck you,” Mitch retorted but couldn’t keep the smile from his voice. He picked up his folders and followed Ross into the conference room, where a number of team members joined them. The briefing started immediately.
THEY DECIDED to send Mitch in straightaway.
They had to get things moving, and since they couldn’t seem to get Pete alone, he needed to confront Pete while he was with Rocky. Catching up with Pete in Rocky’s presence meant going undercover. It wasn’t hard for Mitch to put on the clothes and appearance of a biker, particularly as he rode regularly and already owned the gear. He swapped out the dark suit and white shirt for a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and a well-worn leather jacket. Biker boots on his feet and a couple days’ growth on his face, and he fit the part perfectly. It was amazing how much wearing a suit could change the appearance of a person and how little was needed to give them a completely different background.
As far as establishing his cover, it didn’t take long to rent a run-down apartment using Mitch’s cover name, and to organize false identification and critical supporting evidence of his new shady background. When the Soldiers of Fury did their digging, they’d find evidence of a man who lived on the wrong side of the law.
The main problem they faced was how Pete would react to seeing Mitch and whether he would blow his cover. But the consensus was, given Pete was most likely the person sending the anonymous notes to the police, there was only a small chance he would let Rocky know Mitch was a cop.
There were a couple of things going in Mitch’s favor. Firstly Pete probably wouldn’t want it known he and Mitch had a history together, that they’d been intimate. Peter was also unlikely to raise his association with a police officer. It was guaranteed knowing one of the newest members of their club had an active police officer as a personal friend wouldn’t go down well with Rocky.
Getting into Rocky’s home would be difficult. The sprawling house was situated overlooking the river, making the most of the water views. It was surrounded by high fences on the street side, and coming up with a reason to approach was difficult. Of course Mitch could go to the Fury Hotel and intentionally run into Rocky and Pete while they were at the pub. He could make it look coincidental, but that would not necessarily give him reason to have continued association with Pete. He could run into Pete at the pub and try to find a way to speak to him separately, then arrange to meet again elsewhere. But given that Pete and Rocky hadn’t been apart in days, there was no guarantee Pete would find the time to step away. There had been some brief times where Rocky went off to do his own thing, but the length of time was generally fairly short. Often it was Pete who drove Rocky from place to place when Rocky didn’t take his bike.
The final option was for Mitch to go to Rocky’s place of business. Rocky ran a bike shop with a retail showroom and a workshop out the back. Mitch could take his bike in for service or buy a new bike. Either way it gave him the opportunity to run into Pete and hopefully make a plan to catch up with him. And even if Mitch couldn’t meet Peter separately, there could be benefit in spending time in the company of him and Rocky. Mitch could be seen to have similar interests to the other members of the club and, if he played his cards right, could get an entry into the Soldiers’ inner sanctum.