I.N.E.T 2

by Brenda Cothern

  Neither Knight nor Hunt was prepared when Zep yanked the wheel hard. He swerved across two lanes in onto the shoulder before slamming on the brakes. The SUV stopped so suddenly that their seatbelts locked.

  “What the Fuck?”

  “Jesus Christ!”

  Knight and Hunt yelled at the same time, but Zep was already stepping out of the SUV. He slammed the door and walked to the front of the car before he started to pace. Zep could feel his teammates’ eyes on him and he prayed they would keep their damn asses in the car.

  “This normal for him?” Knight quietly asked Hunt without taking his eyes off Zep.

  “No, but he’s giving you a run for your money in the explosive anger department.”

  “So,” Knight ignored Hunt’s statement because he really had no counterargument. “Do you know what the deal is?”

  “They’ve only worked two cases together. Those were both a few years ago with a couple years in between them. They weren’t even under that long. Three or four months tops, so I have no idea what the issue between them could be.”

  Zep could see Knight and Hunt talking. He hoped they weren’t trying to decide which one of them should come fetch him. He knew he was being irrational and acting erratically where Spider was concerned.

  However, he would take anger over fear any day. The fact that Spider could still scare the shit out of him and put the fucking fear of God into him after over fifteen years was beyond messed up. Still, he meant what he said to the team. His issues with Spider wouldn’t prevent him from doing his job. Shit, if he could work undercover with the asshole not once, but twice, for a few months then he sure as hell could do surveillance and backup for an op that the shithead would be a part of.

  The sound of one of the SUV doors opening caused Zep to glare in the direction of the noise. “Fucking Knight,” Zep cursed under his breath.

  “I’m driving. Get your ‘this won’t affect me doing my job’ ass in the car.”

  Knight barely spared Zep a glance when he walked around the front of the SUV. There was no hiding the anger in his tone and he didn’t even try. Zep’s temper tantrum pissed him off. The irony that how he was currently feeling towards Zep was probably how Slade frequently felt about him wasn’t lost on Knight.

  Zep didn’t move. Knight was right and he hated the man for it. He was still glaring at Knight through the windshield when the man lowered the driver-side window.

  “Get your fucking ass in here, Zepple, or you can walk to fucking Miami.” Knight didn’t wait for Zep to reply before he put up the window.

  “So, how long did it take before you and Slade started fucking each other’s brains out?” Hunt asked with the smirk. “Bet you were still in training, huh?”

  “Shut it, Hunt.”

  Hunt was laughing and Knight was messing with the radio when Zep climbed into the passenger seat. By the time he slammed the door shut, AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells was blaring at an almost deafening level from the SUV’s half way decent sound system. Classic rock wasn’t his thing, but it was a hell of a lot better than Knight asking about what his deal was with Spider.

  ***

  Hunt breathed a sigh of relief when they finally arrived at the rental house that would be their home for however long this op would take. The house keys were exactly where Deat said they would be, not that Hunt had any doubt. If Deat said they would be in a gutter downspout, they would be. Only idiots asking to be robbed used rocks or gnomes. Hunt loved Deat more than anyone else on their team. He wasn’t in love with the guy, but damn if the man didn’t make their jobs 100% easier than they would be without him.

  A glance around the living room revealed several large black storage cases that Hunt knew would contain everything they could want or need to do surveillance for the op. Everything from long-distance scopes, cameras, and recording equipment to personal items like earbuds and lapel cameras, as well as anything in between that they might need would also be in the cases.

  Hunter ignored Zep and Knight as they claimed their bedrooms. He’d take whichever one was left. As the team’s primary surveillance expert, his fingers always itched to get his hands on the gadgets and set them up. By the time Zep and Knight came out of their bedrooms, Hunt had half the primary equipment they would be using set up on the dining room table.

  “Take these and set up the perimeter,” Hunt pointed to the pile of micro sensors and laser tripwires. The other agencies might think it was overkill for the level of security INET put around their surveillance base of operations for an op or maybe they just thought INET agents were paranoid. Hunt didn’t care either way because they would rather be safe than sorry if their cover was blown and the Blades decided to drop by and say ‘hello.’

  Zep grabbed the equipment and turned toward the door. Knight followed him, but he ignored the man. He was tempted to tell Knight that he didn’t need help for a one-man job, but then realized Knight had never been on an INET surveillance team so he had absolutely no experience setting up their early warning system.

  Great, just fucking great, I get to play teacher, Zep gritted his teeth. If he mentions Spider, I’ll kick his fucking ass.

  “I’ll show you how to do one, then we’ll split the work,” Zep attempted to say casually.

  “Sounds good,” Knight agreed.

  Knight watched Zep peel off the sticky back on a micro camera that was no larger than a nickel. Zep stretched his arm up as high as he could and stood on his tip toes before he stuck the camera on the side of the corner of the house. He wanted to offer to place it higher since he had several inches on his teammate, but he knew the offer wouldn’t be appreciated. Asking if the camera was too low wouldn’t be either.

  As if Zep was reading his mind, he spoke, “we don’t need to put them all the way up. As long as the wedge,” Zep showed Knight the angled edge of the micro cam. “Is toward the roof and angled toward the center of the wall, we’ll see anything under eight-foot before it gets anywhere close to the house.”

  “Alright.”

  Knight took four of the mini cameras before he walked toward the other corner of the house. It took him only a few moments to attach the cameras on the two corners of the house. He met Zep in the middle of the house’s back wall.

  “Here, take these.”

  Zep handed Knight two of the laser tripwire boxes. The boxes were about the size of their palm, not counting the spike that went into the ground. Two sides had reflective surfaces and there was a small knob on the top.

  “Push these in the front and back corners of the property. Mirror side facing the house. Just like the cameras, they are wireless. Hunt will turn them on after we set them up.”

  Zep turned to walk away when Knight spoke, “won’t we trigger the one out front when we come and go?”

  Zep had to give Knight credit. He knew the man had a photographic memory and was told Knight was smart as shit. Still, somehow he didn’t expect Knight to come to the conclusion so quickly that they could set off the trip lines.

  “Hunt gives us a workaround.” Zep looked over his shoulder and answered without stopping.

  Knight was surprised and impressed at the technology they were using. He never had shit like this when he worked for the Tampa Police Department and wanted to get his hands on the manuals for the equipment.

  “We have manuals here for this stuff?” Knight asked Hunt when he returned inside.

  “No, why would we need the manuals?” Hunt replied and his tone clearly indicated his confusion.

  “Just wanted to read them.” Knight shrugged.

  “Nerd,” Zep muttered under his breath, but didn’t try to be quiet about it.

  “I’ll email them to you when we get back to the office if you really want to read them,” Hunt offered.

  Usually, the guys didn’t give a shit about how their gadgets worked as long as they got the results they needed. Knight was the first person ever to ask about how it all worked and Hunt was happy to share the information.

  �
�We need to go food shopping because I sure as shit ain’t eating take out every night.” Zep walked out of the kitchen to join his teammates at the dining room table.

  “Let me get you guys set up then you can go.” Hunt grinned and pulled out a small scanner. “Arms up.” Hunt waved at them.

  Knight looked at Hunt as if he had grown an extra head and the small redhead laughed at him. Zep automatically lifted his left arm and Hunt scanned his pit. A little beep sounded and Knight raised a questioning brow at Hunt.

  “The laser tripwires will register your bio tracker and not trigger. Plus, even though your tracker is able to be pulled up at the home office, if we’re not scanned here, we’d have to access the server to locate you. That time, no matter how fast, could be the difference between life and death.”

  Knight was seriously impressed. Everything Hunt had just explained made total sense and ensured their safety like nothing Knight had ever experienced before. He didn’t hesitate to raise his arm. Another small beep sounded and Knight noticed a second blue dot appear on the satellite map Hunt had pulled up on one of the monitors.

  Hunt chuckled when Knight frowned when he realized Hunt labeled him as Rage in his system. “Go get us some food,” Hunt dismissed them and sat down at the table before he started typing.

  “I’ll be back in a bit,” Zep informed them and turned to walk to the front door. When he realized Knight was following, he turned to face the man. “I don’t need a babysitter to go food shopping.”

  “Never thought you did.” Knight stared down into Zep’s angry hazel eyes. “I’m still coming, though.”

  “Fine.” Zep turned away because Knight going with him or not just wasn’t worth arguing over.

  Knight didn’t say anything until after they pulled out of the driveway and stopped at the sign at the end of the street. He knew Zep wasn’t just going to the grocery store. Knight was totally on board with that, too. He was itching to get a lay of the land and he’d bet his next paycheck that Zep was too.

  “So where we going first?”

  Zep wasn’t at all surprised by Knight’s question. He was surprised when he felt a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. Zep didn’t think Knight would prevent him from checking out the area, but was still grateful that the man didn’t give him any shit about it.

  “There’s a bar the Blades hang out at so I was thinking we could do a drive-by.” Zep didn’t bother to glance at Knight. “There’s a small digital camera in the glovebox. We could take a few pictures and run the plates on the bikes that are out there, if there are any.”

  Knight didn’t say anything at first. He wasn’t sure what Zep’s reaction was going to be when he finally spoke, but hopefully the man’s sudden mood improvement wouldn’t be shattered.

  “We don’t need a camera for the plates,” Knight started and waited for Zep to interrupt with an argument. When he didn’t, Knight continued, “but pics of the building will be useful especially if we can get pics of all the exits.”

  Zep had temporarily forgotten about Knight’s ability to recall anything. License plates should be a piece of cake for the guy just like the details of the building would be. Still, he appreciated that Knight realized any description of the building, no matter how detailed, wouldn’t be nearly as good for him and Hunt as actual pictures.

  “Must be great to be able to recall anything,” Zep tried to comment neutrally. He wasn’t envious of Knight’s ability, but could see where it would make the man a great agent and asset to the team.

  “Not really,” Knight admitted honestly.

  Sometimes being able to recall every detail of everything that he had ever read, or even worse, seen was not the blessing most people thought it would be. Sure recalling happy times or case details made him feel good or accomplished.

  Remembering the bad… His sister’s abduction, his parents’ death, and being fifteen and having to testify against the men that would kill him in a blink. Yeah, not so much.

  Zep felt the change in their new agent. Knight’s whole demeanor shifted and a glance at the man made Zep think Knight was lost down memory lane. A memory lane that wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, either. It wasn’t his intention, even though the guy had pissed him off earlier, to make Slade’s new partner relive bad memories.

  Shit. “Hey man.”

  Zep glanced at Knight and was almost relieved when Knight turned to meet his scrutiny. Zep only held Knight’s gaze for a moment before he refocused on the road. As much as he hated Knight trying to dig into his past with Spider, the look on Knight’s face before he schooled his expression crushed any thoughts of payback right out of Zep.

  “Get the building pictures,” Zep said to distract Knight from his thoughts and to shift the mood back to work. “If we can, we’ll pull into the lot and make a U-turn like we’re lost. Hopefully, that will let us get the back of the bar’s parking lot that circles around.”

  Knight knew that if they weren’t driving an older SUV, that happened to be red instead of black, they would look like feds. If that was the case, there is no way they would even be doing a drive-by of the bar.

  “Sounds good,” Knight agreed and pulled the small digital camera out of the glovebox.

  ##~~##

  Six

  The loud rumble of three Harley’s surrounded them when they pulled into Hell’s Minions before they parked in place out front. Seven bikes were already parked in a line outside the bar that looked like a dive. Not only a dive, but exactly what all three agents knew it would look like from the satellite photos.

  No one came out after they killed the thundering engines of their bikes. No bouncer stood at the door, either. A club like Hell’s Minions didn’t need a bouncer to guard the door of the Satan’s Blades home bar. Their reputation did more to deter unwanted company than any bouncer could hope to accomplish.

  None of the men had helmets or skullcaps to remove after they kicked down the stands of their bikes. They had no doubt that they were already being watched. Bouncer or not, the Satan’s Blades would know who was on their doorstep before anyone daring to enter the bar could open the door.

  Lita and Spider didn’t dismount until after Slade. They were posing as Slade’s enforcers and general members of KoV. It was expected that they would defer to Slade and follow his lead since Slade was supposed to be a ranking member of their club. They followed a step behind Slade like the enforcers they were pretending to be would as Slade approached the door of the bar.

  Slade didn’t hesitate before he opened the door and stepped inside as if he owned the place. In his mind, he did because that was exactly how his persona would feel and act. Even the exhilaration of being undercover that thrummed through every cell of his body didn’t affect how ‘Eliminator’ presented himself.

  Slade stepped in just far enough over the threshold of Hell’s Minions for the door to close behind Lita and Spider before he stopped to let his eyes adjust to the dark interior. The inside of the bar looked exactly as Slade expected.

  Two pool tables were toward the back and there were three dart machines to his left. A jukebox sat in the corner at the end of the bar, but it was obvious the thing was unplugged because there was no light shining from the glass that covered the front. Still, that didn’t mean there was no music playing. Led Zeppelin’s Misty Mountain Top played just loud enough to make itself known.

  Slade easily spotted more Satan’s Blades’ members around the bar than the bikes out front could account for. There was always the possibility that other bikes were parked in the back lot that they knew existed from the satellite photos.

  Aside from the SB club members, there were obviously hanger-on’s hanging around the member of their choice. Overall, there were roughly twenty people inside the bar, but those members didn’t intimidate Slade. They sure as hell didn’t intimidate Eliminator. Slade walked halfway down the bar before he pulled out a stool and plopped his ass down.

  “Sorry love,” the bartender said when she stepped up. “Th
is is a private club and without a member to bring you in, you and your boys are going to have to leave.”

  Slade didn’t miss the silence that settled under the music after the barmaid politely gave her version of get the hell out. Slade just smiled charmingly and leaned forward.

  “We are looking for my brother. He was a Knight and we heard he’s a Blade now.” When the barmaid didn’t say anything, Slade continued. “We might just be passing through and will see our brother before we decide.”

  The smile never left Slade’s face even when he heard a weapon being cocked behind him. This was nothing more than any of them expected. MC’s were always, and should be, suspicious of anyone walking into their house uninvited.

  “You really don’t want to do that,” Slade said casually without turning around and still smiling at the barmaid.

  “The lady asked you to leave,” a rough voice growled behind them.

  From the corner of his eye, Slade saw Lita and Spider react just like MC enforcers should. They reached into their vests.

  “Uh un,” the voice behind them uttered.

  “It’s okay,” Slade continued to smile, but his words were directed at Lita and Spider.

  They remove their hands from their vests at the same time Slade spun around on his stool to face the man who held the gun on them. With a glance, Slade sized up the guy. He was shorter than all three of them. Blonde hair, that barely touched the shoulders of his club vest was the most attractive and noteworthy thing about the man. More importantly to Slade was the lack of any nameplate on the guy’s chest. This was just some lackey that was trying to prove himself in order to climb the ranks in the club.

  “You really going to use that thing, boy?” Slade asked and infused his tone with amusement.