Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“As long as we understand each other.”
“Well,” El Diablo stood, prompting everyone else to do the same, “I suggest we all get to work. Wrath, Shotgun, give Sting as much information as you can come up with. Samson, see to it the men from Iron Tzars have whatever they need.” His gaze shifted back to me. “There’s no way to rescue the children at the warehouse tonight. Is that correct?”
“Not safely. If we try to do this at the warehouse tonight, there is a significant risk of collateral damage. I will not risk hurting -- or killing -- the very children we’re trying to rescue.”
The other man nodded crisply. “Agreed. So, we have three months to get ready?”
“No. We concentrate on the rescue of this group after they leave the warehouse. We know their patterns. We know where they’re going. So we scout out their destination and watch. If there is a safe way to rescue all of the children later tonight, we take it. If not, we’ll continue to follow them until we find our opening.”
“That’s the unpredictable group. We have an idea of what they’ll do. Even though they seem to follow the same patterns, they’re not as exact.” Wrath furrowed his brow, concentrating solely on me. I could all but see the wheels in his mind turning, running through all the options.
“And the warehouse?” Samson’s gravelly voice cut through the room unexpectedly.
“It’s not going anywhere. As long as we’re not seen, as long as anything we do tonight doesn’t have blowback, the men at the warehouse won’t know there was a problem until the designated contact time one week before the exchange. Eighty-seven days from today. That’s an eternity to plan. But we won’t need that long. We’ll need long enough to make sure anyone inside is part of their operation. After that? The whole crew dies. If you want us to follow the trail further, you’ll have to extend more resources and equipment to us.”
“We’ll discuss that once we have little Jerrica back.” El Diablo sat back, a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. “Good.” He gave me a crisp nod, looking supremely satisfied. “Very good.”
“I’ll get my crew into position.”
“Keep in touch at all times, Sting.” Samson stood and indicated the door. “I’ll walk you out and inspect your gear with you.”
I looked around the room and noticed Iris wasn’t there. I’d opened my mouth to say something when Jezebel opened the door. Her gaze landed on her husband, her expression tight.
“Iris is gone.”
“What?” I barked out the question before I could censor myself.
Jezebel addressed El Diablo, not even looking at me. “She hopped in an Uber and left.”
“Did she even have money? Why did you let her leave?” I had no idea why I was losing my shit. Add it to the long list of fuck ups I’d made. I needed to be rational and was failing miserably.
“Watch your tone with my wife, Sting. I like you. Doesn’t mean I won’t kill you.”
I took a breath. He was right. I needed to get myself together, but a panic seized me that I couldn’t stem. I knew in my heart where she was headed. “That fuckin’ warehouse,” I muttered. “She’s headed to that fuckin’ warehouse.”
Which meant there was going to be a massive change of plans. And I was going to need every single member of my club present to pull this off. I pulled out my phone and sent a group text.
All hands on deck. Bike garage.
Less than five minutes later, the nine members of Iron Tzars I’d brought with me gathered near our equipment, scouring over the maps of the area.
“What the shit, Sting? Big fuckin’ change of plan, don’t you think?” Wylde scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I’ll do whatever you say, but this seems a bit extreme.”
“Prez knows what he’s doin’.” Brick, my vice president, spoke quietly as he studied the map of the area around the warehouse and where we expected the kids to be taken. The man didn’t look up or speak loudly, but Wylde didn’t say another word.
“Team one will be on the kids. You stick to them like fuckin’ glue.” I gave the order to Brick. He was an ex-con. Did twenty-five years in prison.
When I met him, he’d struggled to fit into society but had thrived in the Tzars. Of all the men I knew, I trusted Brick the most to complete any task I set him on. He’d never failed me and had been at my side when things had gone wrong more than once. Not only did he help me clean up any messes, but he’d taken the heat instead of letting it fall to me. More than once I was afraid he’d end up back in jail, but me or Warlock had always managed to keep him out. We’d fought over it once. I’d busted his balls for taking the heat on what could have ended up with him facing another murder conviction. He’d told me then he didn’t care what it cost him. He’d always have my back. I’d met him when I was twenty-three and he was forty-five. Six years ago. It was like the age gap between us made little difference. He was my right hand. True to his word, he’d always had my back. Which was good, because I was depending on him more than I ever had.