“He would have tried using his voice,” Alena said.
“His voice didn’t work on everyone,” Savage pointed out.
“It’s a moot point now,” Steele said. “Brandon’s dead. The plan went to hell once again. Before, we weren’t really on the Ghost’s radar. I suspect we might be now.”
“Maybe, but they don’t know we wiped out the hit teams,” Keys said. “No one knows for certain we did it. We didn’t let Plank know where we were.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Czar said. “Ghosts are going to hear about us sooner or later. We have to prepare for that. We need to take a close look at all of Thompson’s friends. Go back to his childhood. This feels like someone or one or two others that he has very close ties with. They hashed their plan out together and they’re keeping it close to their chest. They somehow found the Russian assassins and hired them to do their dirty work. How? How did they find them?”
“The casinos,” Mechanic said. “The Russians were looking for work. Hungry for it. If we weren’t settling down, we’d be looking for anything with an edge. They might have tried bouncer work in a bar, but going to the casinos and trying something like that on, yeah, I can see them doing that. Even if Thompson Senior turned them down or hired them for shit work, Junior was watching, and he pounced. He gave them the work they were best at.”
Czar nodded. “That would make sense. Nina was most likely in his casino and she screwed up. Owed him money. That’s how she came in contact with Junior. Had to be. Can you put her anywhere he might have been, Code?”
“Nina liked New Orleans,” Code said. “And he makes that his home base. She wasn’t the best at gambling, but she liked it when she was drunk. There are a few, not many, and very terse on his side, exchanges between them in the form of emails. Nothing incriminating. The plan is all laid out in the exchanges between her and Brandon. Nina let Junior know she had an in into the bigger MCs. In exchange for making her debts go away and a few other things, she could get him just about anything he wanted from a couple of the chapters.”
“Nina was playing a dangerous game with men like Junior and two clubs like the Diamondbacks and the Venomous,” Keys said. “She couldn’t have been that naïve. Even Tawny should have known better.”
“Tawny didn’t know about Junior. She thought the Feds were going to protect her,” Savage pointed out. “All three of them were stupid. Brandon, Nina and Tawny.”
“At least we have a line on Junior now,” Czar said. “Are we any closer to the Russian woman?”
Code shook his head. “She’s dropped off the face of the planet. No one seems to know anything about her. I tapped into the cameras at the club—they were wiped clean. The most we know is that she has some psychic ability and she doesn’t like you. She wasn’t looking for you to start with, but then she accidentally ran across you. It seems to be a personal matter.”
“We have to tighten security around Blythe and the kids,” Czar said with a small sigh. “And the Russian running the pedophile ring? Where do we stand with him? Any closer to his identity? We’re on his radar as well.”
Code shook his head. “He’s buried deep. I’m looking. My best bet is to keep following the assassins the Ghosts use. The Russian runs them. He’s the mastermind behind them. Sooner or later, one of them is going to screw up, and I’ll catch him.”
Everyone believed him. Code was that good.
“You keep hitting them where it hurts the most, their bank accounts,” Czar decreed, “but make certain it can’t be traced back to us.”
More than once, Code had hit the assassins’ bank accounts and drained them. Now that he knew Junior was part of the Ghosts, he was going to get creative with everything the man was a part of, as long as it involved his personal finances.
“I’m always careful, Czar,” Code assured him. “I never take chances.”
Czar nodded. “I’d rather wait months than put you or the club in jeopardy. We use patience. We always have.”
“We getting any hits on the online auctions for kids?” Transporter asked. “Seems to me, if they are putting it together that Czar is in any way involved in taking down their ring, it’s a good way to bait him.”
Maestro nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“What does that mean?” Alena asked. “We don’t go after any children Code finds?”
“It doesn’t mean that,” Destroyer countered, watching Czar’s face.
“No, Czar agreed. “We aren’t going to let anyone stop us. Taking back kids and taking down the trafficking rings is our mission. When we decide we’ve hunted enough, we’ll stop. These are children no one else can recover. If we can let law enforcement get them, we give that to them; otherwise, we don’t leave them out there suffering on their own. Not because we’re scared of someone in the shadows.”
Savage had to agree with that. They’d spent their entire childhood with the boogeyman lying in wait in the shadows.
“We just have to be doubly cautious,” Steele said. “In a way, this is a good thing. We don’t want to get complacent. We’re building a good life here. Settling. Until we decide to stop this, we still have to stay sharp. Knowing we’re hunted too is going to keep us sharp.”
Savage agreed with that assessment as well. “Has it been that quiet, Code?”
Code shook his head. “It’s never quiet, Savage. I’m monitoring a few murmurs right now. One is of a place holding pregnant girls. That just popped up on my radar. No information yet. I have no idea if it even really exists. So many times these rumors are just phantoms. Twice some asshole looked as if he was putting a little girl up for auction, but he pulled out at the last moment. There’s an auction coming up in a couple of weeks as well, but so far, the merchandise isn’t listed. Only the notice went out.”
“Isn’t that alarming? Why wouldn’t they advertise?” Player asked.
Code shrugged. “Depending on who it is, they send the notice and try to avoid law enforcement by not listing product.”
Savage hated that Code had to continually see the things they’d all escaped. He’d never thought about it and the toll Code’s job of constant hunting for pedophiles online could take on him.
“Code.” Deliberately, he waited until the man looked up and met his eyes. “Don’t tell you near enough how much you’re appreciated for what you do for all of us.”
The others immediately nodded. “Yeah, brother. The best.”
Savage rubbed his thumb along the edge of his phone. Never, not in a million years, would he have thought to thank a brother for the service he performed for all of them. He could see it meant something to Code.
Wanted to say you matter to me, angel. Hope things are good there. Reaching out to her brought emotion under control.
Love you so much, Savage. The basket they delivered to the table from you was amazing and so thoughtful. Eden cried. She’s doing all right though.
Basket was from us.
Savage doesn’t like anyone knowing he’s an—and there was a series of angel emojis.