Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“Don’t ever let Cash hear you say that,” Cat advised.
Arya nodded, laughing softly. “Yeah, he might give Grey a black eye to make him less pretty since our men aren’t exactly rational when it comes to their women.”
“You can say that again.” Bridget lifted her glass as though she was making a toast, then finished off her mimosa.
Their banter, easy acceptance of me, and the news of my sister’s pregnancy helped loosen some of my tension over what Cash was doing. But not all of it.
When Bridget sidled up next to me to set her glass on the bar top, I asked, “Does it ever get any easier, waiting for the man you love when you know he’s in danger?”
“Not really, but you do gain some confidence in the fact that they’ll come back to you.”
Her answer was about what I expected, but it wasn’t very comforting. “But at least this kind of stuff isn’t a regular occurrence, right?”
“I wish I could say stuff like this almost never happens, but then I’d be lying.” She patted my back. “Oddly enough, the worst of it usually comes about when one of the guys finds his woman, so I often find myself in the strange position of wondering if I should hope the single guys find someone to love or wish that they don’t for a little while so we get a nice break from the turmoil.”
“Yeah, I can see the conundrum there.” I thought about it for a moment. “But what I feel for Cash is worth anything, so I hope they all find what we have.”
Bridget beamed an approving smile at me. “Exactly.”
12
Cash
We parked our bikes a good mile from the warehouse where we were supposed to find Bickle. On the way out the door, we’d grabbed a couple of prospects to stay behind and watch over our rides.
Scout had decided to come at the last minute to cover our asses from a perch. He’d been a sniper in the military—part of the reason for his road name—and kept his skills in top shape. So he broke off from the group and slinked away to find a spot with the best option.
Knight and I led the way to the warehouse with Dax close behind. Once we reached the compound housing several shipping warehouses, we contacted Hack, another brother who was one of the best hackers in the world, and he tapped into the security.
“The front gate is open,” he said through the Bluetooth earpiece I was wearing. “But there are cameras, and I don’t want to tip off the guard watching them by shutting them down. No cameras behind the building.”
We crept around, carefully avoiding the barbed wire fencing with big signs stating it was electric. I doubted it was real, and Hack confirmed it a minute later.
“No current, even low grade. It’s just for show.”
We were all connected so I didn’t have to share the information. Instead, I waited for Knight to hop the fence, then followed him over. Dax and Nova were right behind us, then Dom and Breaker.
We split up to check each of the four buildings for signs of activity. Predictably, no cameras were inside them. The seedy deals that happened here couldn’t risk being caught on tape.
Knight and I took the first warehouse but didn’t find any signs of life. Although the stench made it clear that it was used regularly for things I didn’t want to think about.
Nova waved at us when we stepped back outside. We hurried over and followed him to the third building where our other brothers waited.
“Don’t see your mark yet,” Dax grunted. “But something is happening.”
Breaker’s hands fisted, and his knuckles cracked, making his enraged expression all the more intimidating. He lifted his chin toward Nova. “Recognize anyone?”
Nova handed me his phone, and I looked through several pictures he’d taken through a window.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered when I saw the leader of a known trafficking ring. He’d been on our radar, but so far, we hadn’t infiltrated his organization and taken him down. And he worked for someone bigger, so simply killing him wouldn’t disband the organization. Better to take him alive and torture him until he cracked.
“We play this right, we can take care of both,” Dom grunted.
Knight’s brow furrowed so low I could barely see his eyes. I was sure my expression looked about the same. “I get it, brother,” Knight gritted through his clenched jaw. “But Bickle is the mission. We’ll find another way to Markoff, but if it comes down to the two, you take out Bickle. Clear?”
I nodded and watched the others contemplate, then lift their chins in agreement one by one.
Dax motioned his head to the right before he and Nova headed around the left side of the building. Breaker and Dom went right, and since there were two back doors, Knight and I each took one.