by Ann Jensen
“You know what always confused m-me about you, Agent Devin?”
He snorted, looking back at her in the rearview mirror. “What’s that, Ms. Turner?”
“That you never t-thought to j-just ask me to do something. It’s like you only want my help if you are f-forcing or b-blackmailing me.”
Within the small reflective surface, Cami saw Devin’s eyes roll like a teenager. “Like I’m supposed to believe you would help.”
“You’d be surprised. CA-million does work on request for the government a few times a year.”
“So, you admit your CA-million.”
Cami shook her head. “No.”
The seatbelt jerked against Cami’s chest. The screech of tires filled the inside of the car. She was thrown sideways. She barely caught the sight of the side of an SUV that filled the front window. Had it come from a cross-street? The view spun as the car turned in a tight circle and for a moment, she saw Deep and Sharp’s faces before their two cars hit. Pain lanced through her and the world lost focus. The solid window bashed into the side of her head with a stomach-churning thud. She ended up on her side, unable to move while the car tumbled. The seat belt held her in place. Windows shattered around her.
When the motion finally stopped, they were right side up again. Devin was slumped over the airbag obviously hurt a lot worse than she was. Gunshots echoed outside, oddly muffled. She shook her head, trying to focus.
Hands jerked her upright. She screamed. A man reached through the window and pulled at her. With her hands cuffed behind her back, there was little she could do to stop the masked man who cut away her seatbelt. Tiny pricks of pain shot across her arm as he dragged her over broken glass through the window.
Outside of the car, the gunfire was loud. It came from in front and behind her. Cami struggled to break free. Her brain wouldn’t focus. She needed to focus. Kick. Bite. Struggle. The self-defense lessons played across her mind. Unfortunately, the man who was carting her like a piece of luggage held her in such a way she couldn’t reach any part of him with her mouth.
Behind them, the car the Dark Son’s had been driving was a mangled wreck. Smoke billowed out of the hood and the front was crumpled to half its original size. She tried to find her new friends in the chaos. Deep was nowhere to be seen. Sharp was firing at her attackers from around the far side of the vehicle. Max was behind his motorcycle, off to the right, reloading his gun. She swung her head. Three unfamiliar SUVs filled the road with more men than she could count from her position.
It was hopeless. There were too many men with guns against what appeared to be only two Dark Son Brothers. They should retreat, save themselves. Cami didn’t like the fear that racked her body. It was okay if she got hurt, but not others. Sharp had Pixie at home. He shouldn’t risk himself for her.
Her kidnapper stumbled. Limping as if injured. She hoped he would drop her, but they were already at the door to an SUV. The floor of the car hit her already injured shoulders when he shoved her inside. She kicked out with her feet and thrashed with all her energy. Every movement felt like her arms were about to be ripped out of their sockets by the handcuffs. A large body from inside the car dove on top of her. The sting of a needle against her hip made terror shoot up her spine.
The world slowed and began to fade. Whatever they injected into her washed over her in a fiery wave. Her pain vanished in a rush. She giggled in relief before she felt consciousness slipping away. She smiled. It was good she had removed Tek and all his Brothers from her Dead Man’s files a few days ago. Did these people understand how big of a beehive they had kicked over? In five days, some very powerful people would be pulling out all the stops to find her because in ten days their secrets would become public domain.
The room she woke up in smelled like old lady musk and stale potpourri. Her muscles ached like she had run a marathon, and sharp pain radiated from her shoulders with even small movements. Cami opened her eyes to see she was sitting at a desk in what might be considered a swanky home office. Her wrists were individually handcuffed to the arms of a big office chair. Packed bookshelves lined the walls. The solid mass of books was only broken up by a single picture window. By the only door in the large room stood a burly man with a gun in a shoulder holster.
The scattered furniture looked moderately expensive but was covered in a layer of dust. In front of her on an oak desk was a monitor, keyboard, and mouse that was probably fifteen years or older.
The man at the door noticed her moving and stepped out of the room. Cami tried to stand but found her ankles had been tied to the back legs of the chair, forcing her to sit back down or risk tumbling forward.
The desk in front of her had drawers, but when she pulled on them, they stayed stubbornly shut. The computer was off, and she couldn’t reach the power button with the small amount of movement the handcuffs allowed.
The door opened with a bang. She wasn’t surprised to see Rick walk in with two goons at his back. Her old manager had dark circles under his eyes and his perfect hair was dirty and in need of a comb. He scowled at her as if she was an unexpected and unwelcome guest. She fought the urge to offer to leave.
The door swung open again almost immediately. The man who strode in was dressed in a suit that was obviously expensive and tailored to flatter his slender build. The black work tattoos that peeked out above his collar were an odd contrast to the expensive haircut and platinum Rolex watch. His cold eyes and confident stance told Cami this man was in charge.
“You were supposed to kill her, Ivan, not bring her here.” Rick’s confident, slick voice was gone. He now sounded more like a petulant teen.
The man in the suit smirked. “I wouldn’t be giving orders or threatening her, Mr. Nelson, since she might be your only hope of getting the information we need.”
“She’s an intern who tripped over the wrong code. I don’t need her help.”
The man supposedly named Ivan walked over, and Cami felt her skin crawl as he studied her like an object he was interested in buying. When he brushed a hand over her hair, she could barely restrain a shudder.
“Is he right, Ms. Turner, are you just an intern?”
She doubted this man was as ignorant as he was playing. It wasn’t that she thought she was some big super star people should recognize, more that the amount of effort that went into capturing her was too much for someone thought to be of low worth. However, giving him any information, he didn’t already have would be stupid.
“I was w-working as an intern.” Her stupid stutter always made her sound weak. But maybe it would be to her advantage here.
Ivan tapped her cheek with a light slap. “I asked if you were just an intern.” He turned and glared at Rick. “Unlike your boss there, I do my homework. Angela Turner child prodigy, millionaire computer genius, and the answer to my current problems.”
“W-what do you w-want?” Cami tried to hide her anger behind the all too real fear she felt. When the government had taken her, she had been young and confident they wouldn’t kill her. With these men she had no illusions that even if she cooperated with whatever they wanted, they would keep her alive. The fact they were not hiding their identities meant they didn’t fear her identifying them afterwards.
“Rick here made some promises my employers don’t think he can deliver on.”
“I need more time!” Rick protested.
Cami stayed silent. She knew whatever this man wanted, she wouldn’t like.
Ivan’s gaze was cold as he glared at her old boss. “Your other activities have brought too much attention. You have two days to get what you promised, or I will terminate your arrangement.” His tone of voice left Cami with little doubt the man would be terminating Rick as well if he didn’t deliver.
Rick sputtered and started pacing. “That’s impossible. Without access to the Vallier computers, it will take me time to bypass the Dark Sons’ security.”
“That’s why I brought you help.” Ivan waved a hand toward her. “There are many pe
ople interested in getting their hands on Ms. Turner here, but I’ve put off selling her in the hope she can clean up the mess you made. Even I don’t like the prospect of disappointing the people you made a deal with. I was hired to make sure you fulfilled your part of the bargain.”
Cami felt like she was stuck in the middle of a spy movie. Hacking Vallier technologies made sense they had large corporate clients as well as ties to the government. Why anyone would want anything from the Dark Sons Motorcycle Club was beyond her. From her research, they dealt mostly in guns and protection. Their legitimate businesses would barely be of interest to anyone.
She had already hacked into their servers weeks ago when she took the job at Darklights. While she had looked at everything, she hadn’t seen anything that would make this level of effort worthwhile. They had around a million dollars’ worth of illegal weapons. They might be doing protection on something and the details were needed by this mysterious employer.
Too curious not to ask, Cami cleared her throat. “Why do you need to b-bypass Dark Sons’ s-security?”
“None of your business,” Rick snapped.
“I think she should know. Since she is probably your only hope of surviving the next three days. A few months ago, the Dark Sons stuck their noses into business they shouldn’t have. To the surprise of everyone involved, they managed to take out one of the biggest information brokers in the world. Rumor is they got his files. Our employer wants that information.”
Cami thought about what that could mean. If she had managed to get high value information, there would be no way she would store it on the same servers as she kept her other information on. Tek wasn’t an idiot, and if they had something like that, he was the one who would’ve secured it. Finding something like that, if it were even available remotely, would be a long project and take more than breaking through a few firewalls.
However, if they wanted her to hack, then it meant they planned to give her access to a computer. Being able to contact the outside world meant she might find a way to get herself rescued. Alternatives started spinning through her mind so fast she was almost unable to keep up with them herself.
“A two-day timeline would be tight to break even mildly competent digital security.” While focused on a puzzle, she rarely stuttered. “What are your resources and what is the hardware I will be working with?”
Ivan laughed. “Just like that, you are going to help us out?”
Cami cocked her head while she contemplated all the different ways she could figure out her location and get it to someone who could help. “If I don’t help you, I get hurt or killed, correct?”
“You are very perceptive.”
“You want me to steal information that was stolen in the first place.” Cami hesitated in her thoughts. She needed to put up a token resistance or no-one would trust her. “I w-won’t hurt innocent people, but other than that I am a reasonable p-person. I am n-not saying I can find what you are looking for, but I can try.”
“I don’t need help!” Cami didn’t think anyone believed Rick’s shouted words.
Ivan gestured to the computer monitor. “You best get started.”
Cami looked at the monitor in horror, then at the ancient tower computer beside it. “You expect me to use that?”
“It’s a computer what is the problem?”
“It is a computer the same way a kid’s plastic beach toy is a shovel. Doesn’t m-mean I want to dig out from a blizzard with it.”
“She can’t use my laptop. I won’t be slowed down by her.” Rick was a little too defensive, and Cami wondered what secrets she might find if she could go digging.
Ivan looked her over, then nodded and spoke to the silent goon across the room. “Get her whatever she needs.” He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “You may have value after this is over but not enough that I won’t have my men kill you at the first sign you are double crossing us, understand?”
“Yes.”
Chapter 31
Hell is not being able to kill the person who hurt the one you love… Yet.
Tek pulled into the Dark Sons’ compound, his temper boiling like a kettle ready to explode. He had almost been at the station where the idiot DEA agent was taking Cami when he received the call from Hawk that changed everything. The crowd of Brothers waiting for him inside should have been comforting but his brain refused even that small peace. Yes, they would all try to help him find Cami not only for her sake but because the assholes who had kidnapped her were the reason Deep and Highdive were in the hospital.
He ignored the good-natured support he received as he pushed through the room to get to Hawk’s office. All their support and willingness to fight would mean nothing if he couldn’t figure out where to even look. Rick vanished off the face of the Earth. The Russian hacking group had no local presence. Tracking Cami was impossible.
Why hadn’t he placed any trackers on Cami in the three days she had stayed at the compound? He specifically designed the safety system for Old Ladies to prevent things like this. Trackers in their phone, a piece of jewelry, and their cut kept them safe. But like an idiot, he hadn’t bothered with Cami since she was supposed to be safe on the property.
Not that she knew he wanted to make her his Old Lady. Rushing seemed like a bad idea at the time. She probably thought he was using her as a pleasurable distraction. Hell, maybe she didn’t want something serious. Neither of them had spoken about the future.
In his office, Hawk sat hunched over papers with Dozer, the Club’s Treasurer. The looks on their faces didn’t inspire comfort. The office was large with an oak desk and furniture. The walls and shelves held hundreds of pictures of the Brothers and the symbols of their military service. Usually this room comforted Tek, reminding him of the vast Brotherhood he was part of. Unfortunately, all his thoughts now focused on how much they had all fucked up.
“Here is what we know.” Hawk in his usual style didn’t bother with niceties. “Deep and Highdive are stable and should get out of the hospital today. Cheryl and Dragon are on sight trying to break free Sharp and Max from the authorities.” Cheryl acting as a lawyer rather than rushing to the hospital to be with her Old Man, Deep was a surprise. “From what we’ve learned, they were attacked by men in three SUVs with fully automatic weapons. They flipped the car containing your woman and disabled our men’s motorcycles and car. Then they extracted Cami while pinning everyone down with suppressive fire.”
“She’s alive?” Tek’s chest felt tight. Surviving a car flip was not a guaranteed outcome.
“From what we got from Max before the cops locked him down, he saw her fighting them as they hauled her away. From what you said, they want her alive for something.”
The terror gripping his chest for the last hour lessened. So many things could have gone wrong during the extraction. If she was fighting, then she was probably still alive. His only lead, tracking Rick, was a dead-end so far, but maybe they could get more clues from this attack.
“I don’t understand how that dick DEA agent got a warrant for her arrest in the first place. She should have been safe, locked down here.” Tek paced, trying to work out some of the adrenaline flooding his system.
“I called our man at the local PD after the assholes left here.” Dozer’s voice held the same simmering anger Tek felt. “The guy you shot died in the hospital last night. Seems they got her prints off your gun. Agent Devin used that to push through a warrant, even though your statement clearly said you were the one to fire it.”
“That is bullshit!” Tek wanted to hit something. The DEA agent deserved hell for everything he had done to Cami before, but the man had sealed his fate. When this was done, he would make it his mission to destroy the asshole.
“The case would have been torn apart before ever getting to court. Not our biggest problem right now.” Hawk leaned back in his chair. “He’s dead, caught a bullet during the firefight. Cops are holding our people till they can prove it wasn’t friendly fire.”
Dozer nodded. “Found some interesting information about Agent Devin and the deal he planned to offer your girl. You were right to be worried. He had clearance to take her to a black site out of the country on the first plane available. Her first job was to hunt down a rogue DEA agent from Devin’s unit.”
Tek’s stomach dropped. Could this whole thing have been a black op to get her out of the country? No one liked to talk about the dark things done in the name of country, but many of his Brothers knew the reality of how far some would go for the ‘greater good’. His woman had already fallen victim to the gray morals of Uncle Sam once, and he was damned if they would get away with it twice.
“Was the attack an op or do they think it is the same crew that tried for her before?” An idea formed in Tek’s thoughts.
Dozer nodded as if he also considered the double cross a possibility. “It’s likely the same crew that attacked her before. Same weapons you described and professional tactics. Clean said internal actions were still in the planning stages and it is unlikely anyone was able to get two sets of mercenaries into town on such short notice.”
Hawk leaned back in his chair. “We identified the mercenary group from the men they left behind. Once Clean and Max break free of the cops’ questioning, we’ll have them check with their contacts in the government. I don’t think this was a sanctioned attack, but you never know with those idiots.”