But I won’t think of that. Not now. Not when my lips are still sore from kissing her, from her kissing me, and not while the disappointment and sadness in her voice when I told her I gotta leave is still fresh in my ears. That wasn’t fake. That wasn’t part of her plan, whatever it is. She wanted to spend the night with me, wanted my cock inside her and my tongue in her mouth. Wanted it as much as I did. There was no lie in her eyes or her voice when she made that plain.
Life’s too short and unpredictable for worrying. She’s right about that too.
So I won’t worry. I’ll just enjoy the memory of her and the promise in her eyes and her kisses for more to come. At the end of the day, it’s all I got. And I plan to hold on to it for as long as I can.
Ace’s eyes follow me as I turn off the main road to park my bike under the awning that’s just a darker mass against the night sky. The road’s not really a road either, just a flattened piece that’s starting to resemble a road given how many bikes ride along it daily these days.
“You’re late,” Ace says. “Come on.”
He disappears into the bunker and I jog to catch up.
“They’re already waiting?” I ask stupidly, since I never did learn to control my mouth.
“Just about,” Ace says, and leaves it at that.
Instead of to Cross’ small office, he leads the way down a corridor I haven’t walked yet. The doors lining it are steel and closed tight. At the end of it, a larger set of steel doors stands open and voices and light are spilling out.
Cross, Tank, Hawk, and Ice are inside, but so are Blaze and Eagle.
They’ve pushed the crates of weapons to the sides, stacking them up almost to the low ceiling to make room for a large table and chairs that take up most of the space. Hawk is sitting at one end surrounded by three laptops and a printer, which is hissing as it spits out yet another photograph. There’s already a stack of them beside the printer.
“Close the door,” Tank tells Ace once we’re in the room.
I avoid Blaze’s judgy eyes as I come to stand beside him just to the side of the room.
Cross is standing by Hawk’s side, examining yet another stack of photos. He didn’t give me one of his black looks, which I’ll take as a good sign that I didn’t fuck up by kissing Brenda for a bit before returning here, Blaze’s accusatory looks be damned.
Cross clears his throat and looks at all of us in turn. “All right, we’re here to make a plan on how to best take out the Sinners. The information Colt’s woman provided was solid. The Sinners are all in one place—a small, abandoned town in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by hills. As far as the place goes, it’s perfect for what we have to do. There're no towns or houses for miles around, and the road going past it doesn’t get much traffic. Ideal conditions, in other words.”
He pauses to scan the room again. Hawk stands up, takes the stack of photos, and walks to the center of the longer sides of the table where he starts laying the photos out. Little by little the puzzle he’s putting together turns into an aerial view of the town where the Sinners are.
“There are two problems,” Cross continues. “It seems they brought all their women with them, and we don’t know if the feds are watching the place.”
A lot of the guys grumble as Cross pauses again.
“After the fiasco at the bar, I’m not taking any chances this time,” Cross says. “We’re here to brainstorm ways of handling this fast and efficient and without taking any more risks.”
We all nod and make agreeing noises. Hawk’s done with laying out the photos. The photos now show a very good representation of the town as seen from the hill we were on.
“Surveillance first. I want teams on all the hills, so east, west, north and south,” Hawk says, pointing out the spots where he wants those teams on the photos. “Teams of two for better accuracy of the reports. If there’s no sign of the feds for the next 48 hours we can start planning phase two of this job. That’s my opinion.”
Cross nods. “I agree. We’re not rushing into this. And you’ll do what you can to find out what’s going on via other channels?”
Hawk nods. “I’ll do my best. But the feds are getting better and better at hiding their tracks online these days. Our best bet is to draw them out somehow, without risking too much, obviously.”
“Like a dry run,” Cross says. “I’ll think about it.”
“I wouldn’t delay much, though,” Tank says. “We got them on the run, holed up like a bunch of rats. But there’s no guarantee they’ll stay that way for long. I wouldn’t stretch this one out, Cross.”
I doubt any other member of the MC would dare address Cross this way, almost as though he’s questioning his judgment, but Tank and Cross go way back, kinda like me and Blaze. Cross shrugs and doesn’t seem fazed by Tank’s less than respectful interjection.
“I’m not gonna rush in, as I already said,” Cross says. “But I agree. We shouldn’t waste time either. I want the teams there tonight.”
He locks eyes on me. “Colt and Blaze, Eagle and Ace. I’ll assign two more when we’re done here. Colt, you’ll take the hill we were on earlier. Ace, you go to the eastern one, the one overlooking the entrance like we discussed.”
I nod, as does Ace.
“Hawk, you make sure they have all the surveillance equipment they need and that they know how to use it,” Cross continues. “And take food and water, enough for two days. I don’t want any movement after you’re in position.”
Two days lying on the hard sandy ground sounds like a very long time, but the thought barely crosses my mind. Not seeing Brenda for two days does. It feels kinda like a rock to the side of the head. But I know I’m getting a second chance with this assignment and I won’t fuck up again. It’s just not a possibility.
“And I want hourly reports,” Cross says. “Now go pack up. I want you outside ready to leave in thirty.”
Between taking a quick cold shower, changing and packing as many sandwiches, sports drinks and water as my saddlebags will hold, there’s not much time for talking or thinking.
I’m outside with about five minutes to spare, as are Ace, Eagle, Mac, and Tool. I get to be the one giving Blaze a judgy look as he finally comes out, carrying two large black bags. He’s followed by Hawk carrying two more identical black bags. Cross and Tank are right behind them.
“The night vision goggles, binoculars, and cameras are in these bags,” Hawk explains. “I trust you know how to use them. First, I want the photos from all the angles, then I’ll give further instructions once those are done.”
“And I hope you all packed blankets,” Tank says. “It gets cold at night.”
Shit. I clean forgot that, but Blaze gives me a knowing look, points at his own pack, and gives me the thumbs up. As usual, he has me covered. Literally, in this case.
It’s decided we best not ride our bikes there, since the rumble of Harleys would be unmistakable and clearly audible to anyone in that town. It might make them nervous.
So another five minutes later we’re packed into the back of a white van, with Ice behind the wheel and Ace by his side, giving him directions.