28
Winter
* * *
Four Months Later
* * *
“What time will you be home tonight?” Birdie asks as I put my phone between my shoulder and my ear so I can listen to her while I load guns into the van. Ransom and I are moving them from the storage warehouse to the clubhouse this afternoon. I want a stockpile there in case we need them in a hurry.
“I’m not sure. It’ll probably be late.” I lost four club members last night to Zenith; I’ve got a lot going on.
“Yeah, I figured. I’ve got a lot of work to take home and catch up on, so I was thinking we could maybe just order dinner in. Do you want me to order you anything or will you just get something yourself?”
“Don’t get me any. I’ll sort myself out.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll talk to you later.”
We end the call and I concentrate on what I’m doing.
“How many more?” Ransom asks as we half fill the van.
“This’ll do for now.” A text comes through and I check my phone.
* * *
Axe: We’ve finished going through the data on the phones.
Me: I’ll be back at the clubhouse soon.
* * *
Last night, two men hired by Zenith broke into the clubhouse, killing four club members and shooting King. Fury and King fought them off and killed them, leaving us with their phones to go through. Axe and Griff hacked into the phones and discovered information relating to what Zenith has been up to. They shared some of that information last night and have spent today combing through the rest of the data on the phones. I’m hopeful there might be something useful, because since they reappeared in Melbourne just over seven weeks ago, they’ve delivered hell to our club.
Ransom and I finish at the warehouse and make the drive back to the clubhouse. When we arrive, we direct Striker and Memphis to unload the guns while we head into the surveillance room to talk with Axe.
“These guys weren’t just hitmen hired by Zenith recently,” Axe says once King and Griff join us. “They were hired months ago and then joined the gang as members, and they were in deep with a guy who we think must be either the leader or the second-in-command, Leif Jensen. The data we found detailed a lot of emails back and forth.”
“So we have a name now,” I say, fucking happy about that.
Axe nods. “Yeah. I’ve got Zane running checks on him. We should have that information in the next few hours.” He looks between us. “Zenith got into bed with Hagarty about three months ago. He was funding them because he wanted King taken down. He then brought Stark on board from what we can tell. Zenith paid her good money to clean their shit up. It also appears she was on Hagarty’s payroll. However, Hagarty recently pissed Zenith off when he refused to cough up as much cash as they wanted, and Stark pissed them off when she wouldn’t agree to cover up something for them, so that’s why the gang took them both out.”
It surprises me that Hagarty and Stark were working together. She wanted him off the streets years ago. It doesn’t surprise me, though, that he got into bed with Zenith. “And what do we know about them setting up in Brisbane?” I ask.
“Not much,” Axe says. “Just that they’ve moved all their men to Brisbane. I couldn’t find anything to confirm they’ve shut down their operations here, though.”
“I’ll call Cole and let him know,” I say.
“Yeah,” Axe agrees. “And Zane is tracking all the chatter there. He’ll let us know if anything comes up.”
King steps in. “What was on the phones about Moses?” The baby born to a Sydney club member fifteen years ago who disappeared. The baby the feds have been trying to pin the disappearance of on King.
“His name popped up in emails between Stark and Leif. She wanted him to pay a visit to a woman by the name of Eloise Carter. That ring any bells?”
King contemplates that but shakes his head. “No. I’ll run it by Hyde and see what he knows.”
Axe directs his attention to me after King steps out of the room to make the call to Hyde. “I’ve started going deeper through your members’ personal lives and am listening in on their calls.”
I’ve spent days searching for the rat we have in our club. The one we just discovered when Zenith knew our plans for a gun delivery and attempted to kill our men on their way home. I haven’t had any luck finding him, so I asked Axe to do shit I’ve never contemplated before. I don’t like intruding on my members’ privacy, but fuck, we need to locate this asshole and end him.
“Thanks, brother.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You look like shit. When was the last time you got some decent sleep?”
Before Max died. Before we lost our baby. “Too fucking long ago to remember.”
King joins us again. “Eloise Carter was a clubwhore a long time ago. Do we have an address for her?”
Axe nods. “Yeah, I’ll text it to you.”
King eyes me. “You free to pay her a visit now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll let you know when we have info on Leif,” Axe says. “And when I find anything on your rat.”
I pull my phone out as I exit the room, and call Scott Cole.
“Winter,” he answers.
“You heard from Griff today?”
“Yeah, we spoke briefly. He mentioned that it looks like Zenith is setting up here.”
“They’ve moved their men to Brisbane. Zane and Axe are keeping an ear out for any chatter.”
“I’ll get my guys onto looking for them. What are your plans?”
“We’re looking for the rat we have. I’m hopeful once we find him, we’ll be able to drag information out of him that’ll give us a better idea of how the gang operates. And once we know for sure they’re making a move in Brisbane, I’ll come up. I’ve got a shipment coming in soon from Torres that I need to take care of, too.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything. Hang tight till then, brother.”
We end the call and I follow King out to our bikes. Eloise Carter lives forty minutes away and when we pull up outside her house, I take in the run-down area. The houses in her street look like their paint has been sucked off them; the yards haven’t seen a mower in weeks; and it feels like people are watching from behind their curtains, ready for conflict at any moment. This isn’t an area I would allow Birdie to step foot in.
King checks the surroundings before making his way up the path to the front door. A minute or so after he knocks, the door is yanked open by a teenage boy who stares at us like we’ve interrupted something important. “Yeah?”
“We’re looking for Eloise,” King says.
The kid’s hard eyes bore into King. “You and every other asshole in this shithole city are looking for her.”
“She home?” King asks.
“No she’s not fucking home. I haven’t seen her for three days.”
King throws out another question. “Who is she to you?”