“Okay. For who? The cartel pieces of shit they let go? Someone feeling a bit remorseful over that?” Luke asked.
“For you, cousin,” Ryker deadpanned. “For each of you.”
“Wait. So they put Carter on this case…our friend Carter who was removed from everything else we were attached to due to conflict of interest? Then they give our cousins the bounty? Oh, and let’s throw in Blake as hired muscle to assist the bounty…I mean, that’s why our dear friend is here, right? He’s running ops on the bounty. Did I get it all right?” Wylie asked.
“Close,” Blake declared. “I’m with Ro and Ry because they wanted me here…for you.”
Wylie’s brow furrowed, and a twisted grin landed in his expression. “Come again? For us?”
“Shit,” Pete said, burying his face in his hands as he deeply inhaled then exhaled. “Search warrant. It’s for Watermark Tower. Jesus, why didn’t I see that coming. They’ve rolled on everyone and everywhere else. If there’s an arrest warrant and a bounty in play, they need a search warrant to collect evidence.”
“Or plant it,” Carter said full of concern. “They may be trying to pin this entire thing on Brother’s Keeper. Or something else entirely that we haven’t even figured out yet.”
“If they’re coming for us,” Declan cautioned, “we need to get our house in order.”
“I think the only reason they haven’t hit you guys yet is you still have too many allies for them to work around. It’s slowing them down,” Blake offered. “That can work in our favor.”
“Yeah, if we can identify those allies,” Wylie declared. “As far as I’m concerned, our only friends are in this room.”
“I’ll give you as much warning as I can. I’ll watch this thing unfold and do everything in my power,” Pete promised. “I think they’re trying to smoke you out and have you come in voluntarily. That’s why they’re putting pressure everywhere but on you and Watermark. So whoever your friends in high places still are…they’re helping you without even knowing it. That’s pretty telling.”
“Yeah, tells us this group may not be as big and expansive as we think, at least not at the top, but that only helps us for now. They still have a shit ton of power, money, and who knows what else,” Dace groaned in frustration.
“It also means you’re their biggest threat. This is an awful lot of trouble to go to, not to mention the abuse of power. Whatever they’re after, it’s big, and you’re close,” Carter assured the team.
“Let’s circle back then. We know the cartel is in their pocket and vice versa. What about Eva?” Dace asked. “Do the feds have her?”
“We don’t even know if this is really the feds.” Wylie looked each of them in the eye. “We don’t know who the fuck they are.”
6
“We have to clean out the lair,” Wylie said to the group. “If they’re coming for us, that’s a gold mine for them. All of Liam’s equipment needs to be gone.”
“We have a protocol for this very thing,” Liam replied. “They won’t get any of it. I’ll get it out of there. We just need to act fast because that will take me a little bit, and we don’t know when they’re coming.”
“Our protocols were established before we had wives and kids,” Declan reminded. “I guess we never considered being in this position.”
Eli interrupted the brothers. “What exactly is the protocol?”
“Off the grid,” Wylie deadpanned. “We get the hell out of here and disappear. Handle all of this remotely.”
Eli nodded as he mulled over what Wylie had just said. “Go. You guys go, and I’ll stay behind to watch over your family. I’ll protect them with everything I’ve got, so it’s one less thing you have to worry about. You have my word.”
“I know I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate your offer, but we can’t leave you behind to take the fall.” It took Dace a while to come around where Eli was concerned, but he’d more than proven his loyalty. Not only was he a part of the team but he also felt like family, given the sacrifices he made for them and the investment he had in their family. “If they have their eyes on us for any of this, you’re probably on their radar too. You were a big part of David Kimble’s team and then ours. You were on that ship with us, taking the cartel down.”
“He’s right. You aren’t safe,” Wylie agreed.
“It’s fine.” Eli hesitated as he pondered what to say next. He knew it would raise questions. “I have…connections. Political immunity, if you will. I’m a little untouchable.”
“As much as I’m sure all these guys would like to know what the fuck that means…we don’t know what part of our government this is coming from, or if outsiders other than the cartel are involved. You may not be as safe as you think you are. It’s too big of a risk.” Wylie landed a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “But we do appreciate the offer.”
“You have a good point, I suppose. Maybe this isn’t the time to flex a little muscle and show all my cards, as they say.” Eli let out an awkward chuckle.
Declan was looking over Liam’s shoulder as he worked on his laptop. “We’re getting logistics together right now, but I think you coming with us is a better option anyway. We may need your help and that card you say you have to play at some point.”
Wylie pulled out his phone and began to scroll. “We can call up any of the Keepers not working a case right now or assigned to a client, and if that’s not enough, we’ll pull teams in from our lowest level cases and clients. We have to have someone we can bring in and rotate—”
“We’ve already been through it,” C.T. interrupted. “Mendoza and I have already gone through the bullshit, and we are just being watched now. Let us take Watermark.”
“We’re both suspended anyway, and it’ll feel good to get back in my gear,” Mendoza agreed. “Let us take the building. We’ll keep the family safe.”
“I’m here too,” Blake chimed in. “I’m just support for Ronan and Ryker for now. Being staged at Watermark will make sense to anyone watching. We’re hunting you, right? Makes sense I’d be waiting there.”
“Good point,” Ryker added. “We’ll set up shop there. It’ll look legit, and while they’ll think we’re doing their dirty work, we’ll be protecting the family.”
“I’ll rotate the club in and out. It shouldn’t send up red flags,” Gannon offered. Though the Keepers MC members were a separate entity and marched to the beat of their own drum, they were still Keepers. They were still a part of the team, albeit a very different part, and they still walked through fire for each other. “The clubhouse has already been tossed, and they’ve run everything they can on all of us. They’re just sitting on us and watching now, and since they’ve been watching, they’ll know it isn’t unusual for us to come and go from Watermark.”
“You’re right,” Wylie acknowledged, his tone quiet as the emotion of it all started to seep in. “This all helps…all of it.”
Rip walked to the door holding a sign and placed it in the window before pulling the string on his neon lights and locking the deadbolt to the front door. The group sat silent as they watched him disappear into a back room and quickly return with a black duffel bag. His go bag.
“It’s been a while since I’ve grabbed this thing,” he asserted with a sense of pride and what sounded like nostalgia. “Nobody should have to deal with this shit. I’ve got your back. I can help out too.”
Everyone knew Rip lived a past life much like their own, even if they didn’t have details. It was something you recognized in someone who’d walked in the same shoes you had. His reflexes, attitude, and tattoos told a story of a broken man who’d seen some of the worst the world had to offer. None of them needed the details to know it.
“You don’t have to close up your shop, man—”
Rip put up a hand to interrupt Wylie. “I’m due for a vacation. It’ll be nice to get away, even if it’s only a few blocks away.”
“We owe you one, man,” Dace added.
“If you need me on
the road, I’m a call away,” Rip continued. “They’ve got eyes on all of you, but they don’t know me. It may come in handy.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. We can definitely use a secret or two of our own right now,” Wylie agreed. This wasn’t something they’d ever planned for because it was usually them running down criminals and not the other way around.
“Sometimes, I miss this life, so it’ll feel good to be at it again.” Rip smiled, something he didn’t do often. “Anything you need, I’m there. I mean it. I have some connections of my own out there. Just holler if you need something, and I can probably put it together.”
The brothers sat silently as each scanned the room, taking in all that had just transpired. It was overwhelming. They weren’t used to being on the receiving end of something such as this. Roles had reversed, and the response humbled them.
“Okay then.” Wylie finally spoke. “If anyone gets suspicious and asks questions about the higher foot traffic, just say you’re there to help out with the babies while they were all on the road.”
Declan took over. “If asked, nobody knows where we are because we never tell anyone but each other where we are. You just know we’re on the road working a case. You don’t even know if we’re together or apart…just offered to drop off the groceries and take the garbage out.”
“You won’t be lying when you say you haven’t heard from us, and you’re even starting to worry.” Wylie paused. He knew how this was going down but saying it out loud left him with a certain sadness he couldn’t explain. Though it was nothing more than a ruse at the moment, the reality was one of them might not come back or might not be heard from again. They all had targets on their backs and not the kind that landed you in jail—they landed you in an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere.
“It’s the perfect cover, man.” Carter stepped in so the brothers wouldn’t have to say anything more out loud and put that energy out there. “I’ll hang with Ronan and Ryker from a safe distance so I can watch all sides of this. They’re my contacts anyway. I’ll find a way to filter information.”
“The offline system.” Liam chimed in without looking up from his laptop. “It’s the only way. They have our technology, and even if they don’t know how to infiltrate our communications yet, it will only be a matter of time. That goes for all of us. Talk there and only when we need to.”
“Carter will be my point of contact since his name will be attached to the search warrants when they cross my desk. No one will question it. Since I’ll be deploying the team to execute the warrants, I’ll handpick who goes in and keep a close eye on shit, but if they want to plant evidence, they can still do it after collection. There’s just no way to avoid that, given what we’re dealing with.”
“We’ll deal with that shit as it comes in,” Carter affirmed. “I’ll be at Watermark when this goes down. If anything else comes up, get it to me asap.”
“They’re fucking with us. It’s a game.” Wylie began to pace the room before his voice boomed with anger. “They’re fucking with us. They’re putting our families in the line of fire. They’re putting the public at risk. Our cousins are hunting us with one friend hired as the muscle to keep us down and the other one prosecuting us? What are we missing? How are they a step ahead of us…still?”
Gannon stood in Wylie’s path. “You have loyal Keepers all over the country who’d stop at nothing to protect you and Brother’s Keeper—use them. Remember they’re there, everywhere. Don’t get too bold or brazen. We still don’t know who we’re dealing with. We don’t know how big this thing is going to get. If shit gets too hot here, you get out of the country fast.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Liam quipped. “It may get tricky, and if they know we’re in the air, who knows if they have the pull to have us shot down.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Eli smirked, ready to unlock another piece of the mystery that made him who he was. “I have resources, as I said, and I can get you out without a problem. They won’t shoot down a foreign dignitary. That’s an act of war.”
When all eyes landed on him, waiting for further detail, he said, “I’ll fill you in when all this is over. Just know we can get out safely and under the radar with asylum in another country. We’ll be protected.”
The meeting was nearing its end, and everyone knew their role. As each stood and offered a handshake or pat on the back to one another, Wylie had final words for the group.
“Well, this is a role reversal, brothers. Looks like we’re the ones on the run now. The hunters are now being hunted.”
7
“Some of you have served with my brother,” Mercy defended, referring to his brother, Ransom Wyatt…President of the United States. “There’s no way he’s in on this. This is the kind of bullshit he’s in that big white house trying to clean up. If he knew what was going on, he’d meet us at the family ranch, gear up, and fight alongside us.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Declan preached, knowing Ransom well. “Ran is a good guy, but if we bring him in, then all his presidential protocols come into play. We can’t trust anyone beyond him. Not yet.”
“Wyatt Ranch is the perfect place to take us down,” Dace added. “There’s a lot of land to bury us on. We’re exposed out there because we can’t watch every fucking tree moving.”
“The ranch is a damn compound now—more than ever. Besides the security measures I put in place years ago, it’s become a haven for the commander in chief of the greatest nation in the world. If it’s safe for the president, it’s safe for us.”
“I have to agree,” Liam stated, glancing over his laptop once more while the others were taking apart the lair. “The last place anyone wants to take this shit is the president’s literal backyard. They’ve gotten as far as they have by being smart and flying under the radar.”
“Exactly,” Mercy confirmed. “Even if they find out we’re there, they aren’t coming. It’s suicide if they do. I get there’s a lot of power in play here, but with one phone call from me to Ransom, all hell breaks loose.”
“They’re coming for us now because we got too close and caused a scene.” Wylie was done with the back and forth. “They’re trying to silence us and keep us out of their shit. They don’t want to draw any more attention to themselves and whatever is in the works than they already have. Liam did a lot of work to plan routes for everyone and get us set up out there. We need to stick with the plan. If we’re compromised, we pull out and move.”
Liam closed his laptop and stuck it in his bag. “I agree. Wyatt Ranch is our best bet. It’ll take me half a day to reconfigure routes for each team. I’ll then shut off the CCTV along said routes during times any one of us may be traveling them. The ranch is secure. I’ve remotely tested all the fail-safes in place, so it’s a go. These guys would be idiots to come for us there…that is, if they even find us.”
Mercy smirked. “And if they do find us…we’re sending a hell of a message with that location. They won’t try us.”
“Has the location been cleared out? What are we dealing with when we get there?” Declan asked. “We don’t want to put innocents in the line of fire should it come to that.”
“Only the necessary staff. Ranch hands,” Mercy confirmed. “To be honest, I’d trust every one of them with my life too. They don’t know what we’re doing there, and we’ll be on a different part of the property—out of sight, out of mind. But if it comes down to it, I’d give any one of these people a weapon and let them defend the land. My other brothers are nearby too, so we have immediate support if needed.”
Luke grabbed his go bag off the table. “I’ve deployed several teams of Keepers to nearby areas. They’ve been instructed to lay in wait upon their arrival. We have teams clustering here in Portland too. Both fronts will be protected if we need additional support. I think we’re covered.”
“Jesus, I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.” Wylie grabbed his bag as well and scanned the room. “We are leaving eve
rything we’ve spent the bulk of our lives building. When we come back…none of this will be the same. None of us will be the same.”
Mercy laid a hand on Wylie’s shoulder. “We’ll all be better for it. Stronger. Everyone in this room is his brother’s keeper—and sister’s. Let’s not forget the badass women who make this team what it is. We’re bringing Eva back, man. We’ll be complete soon.”
“You all have your routes and stop points,” Liam added. “The final rendezvous point is Wyatt Ranch in Stoneridge, Montana. Don’t stray from your itinerary, or you’ll miss the open windows along the way and risk being tracked.”
“I set up your rigs all over Portland.” Rip handed each team a set of keys with the location where they could find their assigned vehicle. “Use the tunnels to get out of the building undetected. I had a crew sweep, and nobody is down there. It’s clear.”
“If you don’t have a set of keys, you’re in the flower shop van parked in the garage downstairs. We’ll drop you outside the city at your respective vehicles,” Rip continued. “Gannon’s team will lead and follow in case we get a tail and need a distraction.”
Gannon looked at his watch. “The club is already in place, ready to ride.”
Each of the men said their goodbyes with their bro code handshakes and slaps on the back. The room went silent. They didn’t need to say anything to know what the other was thinking. This was as much a suicide mission as it was a mission to save their asses and get their lives back. Each of them was taking a risk, and there was a very real possibility that they wouldn’t all come home.
They had no idea what they were walking into or what they were running from. Casualties were always a possibility in their line of work because it was dangerous. It was more so when your enemy was both lurking in the shadows and hiding in plain sight. It was like fighting an army and fighting nobody. A faceless monster was calling the shots and putting them on the run.
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 120