Numbers nodded and then turned to Data, and said, “The way I see it, we are going to need to pull out the big guns, Retired General Tang may be of assistance.”
The two walked out the door and pulled out their phones at the same time and began to make phone calls. This shit was about to get real.
Chapter Four
“I will go give Fling the heads up, and make arrangements for Boomer and me to stay behind on the next mission,” Bear said quietly, and both men nodded. They were the only ones that actually knew what the Furies did, and the only reason they were in the loop because of what had happened with Boomer and Georgie. It had come as a little bit of a shock to them. Honestly, they never would have guessed the club was a cover of sorts.
“Cool,” Numbers said absently as he stared at the screen reading what he was hacking.
Data was chewing on a twizzler while he worked. Once they explained to Bear what they needed, and Bear made his phone calls, the two men got back to work. When they worked on the computer like this, they didn’t get distracted. Bear shook his head and chuckled as he began to walk out of the room.
“What in the fuck?” Bear heard Data say and he turned and looked at the two men who were now both furiously typing on their computers. He walked back, but both men were focused.
“Are you seeing this?” Numbers said, and Data made a noise of acknowledgment.
“‘Cause there is no fucking way…”
“Apparently there is,” Data snapped.
Bear asked, “You need me to get someone?”
Numbers growled and said, “Yeah, get fucking everyone.”
The large man nodded and walked out of the room to find Creed and Fork, and then call Fling again and tell him something was going down and to stay in touch in case.
“How in the fuck did someone get on our server?” Numbers said, and Data shook his head.
“There is no fucking way. I am staring at it and still there is no fucking way someone could have hacked us. There has to be an explanation.”
“Do we follow it?” Numbers asked.
“Fuck, man, I don’t know, if we do and it’s a trap, then we are fucked, but if what they say is true and they have information, we could get a step ahead,” Data said.
Both men had been caught off guard when a message had appeared on both of their screens. It came through on their server, and unless you were knowledgeable in code, you wouldn’t know what you were looking at. It would appear as a small icon on the top of your screen, which at times appeared to be a pop-up but wasn’t. It was much more.
“Did you shut down everyone’s access to the net?” Numbers asked.
“First thing, Boony is on his way already, he caught it as well,” Data said and ran a hand down his face.
“First things first, backtrack the icon,” Numbers said quietly and they began to work on the information they would need to make a decision on what to do from here. They ignored the thumps of people coming in and out of the office checking in with them. Boony had arrived, and they worked together until they had a firm answer, and then they sat back.
Creed and Fork made the decision until they figured out who this was, they were shutting down the shops and Bitches2 as well for the night, it was only Tuesday so not a real high dollar day anyway. They wanted everyone free to be here in case they were needed.
Data whistled and said, “If this is true, we have gotten our first real break.”
Numbers said, “Come on, let’s go to tell the guys.”
Boony grabbed his small computer and said, “It is isolated on this laptop; we can burn the fucker when we are done if we have to but at least we won’t lose the rest of the computers. Until this is squared, we leave the server off for now.”
They made their way down to the now packed club meeting room, Creed and Fork were sitting at the front of the room, and they waved at them when they walked through the door.
“Come on, we were just talking about asking the Furies for a few more men, Maxi and Ice are at McP’s right now talking to the guys who were retired. Slick has already made contact to become a Warrior; we need a few more like him. Rick ‘General’ Tang will be in shortly; he is picking up his new ride as we speak,” Creed said, and Data turned and looked at Knight and Charro.
“Dudes, your father-in-law took the plunge?”
Charro chuckled and said, “Not sure he would agree he is our father-in-law, think he still calls us ‘fuckheads who sleep with his daughter, but hey, it could come soon.”
“What have you got?” Fork asked, and Boony put his computer on the table and then went to the back of the room. He had been voted in as a full member.
Data hit the computer board and turned it around so the presidents could see it. “See this right here?”
Both men leaned forward and nodded as they saw the small little icon that was still dancing at the top of the screen. “Is that?”
“Yeah, it is a motorcycle with an Ops insignia on it when you blow it up,” Numbers said grimly, and Creed frowned.
“So whoever this is, knows who they are hacking?”
“Oh yeah,” Data said slowly and then held out the papers for them to read. “I know a lot of that is mumbo jumbo for you, but if you look in the middle of the sequence, there is a message embedded in there.”
Creed read, and they both knew when their leader saw the words they had already read.
He looked up at them and handed the papers to Fork who swore when he came to the sentence.
HELP…JAS…DANGER was what it said.
“How did they know her name? And who do you think it is?” Creed said grimly then motioned for Slider and Cajun to come up. When they saw Jas’s name both men’s bodies went stiff, you could feel the pissed off energy in the room.
“We don’t know, we have two choices obviously: answer them and risk being set up, or ignore them and risk them being right. As for who it is, we think it is her personal assistant or secretary; that is the only one we could come up with who would have access to information and be willing to talk maybe to us. We, uh, have been doing a little digging, we don’t know the name, but we think she is from the area where Angela is. If that is the case, we may be able to convince her to talk with us,” Numbers said.
“Why would she?” Fork asked. “I mean, if Angela has money, I am assuming she is paying her well.”
“That area is pretty impoverished, the woman in the picture doesn’t appear to be someone who is rich by any means,” Numbers said, and the men stared at him.
Then Data stepped up and said, “If it helps, the message was sent from an area in Mexico where we have a few connections. We could see if they know who owns property by the tower the server pinged off. But if they have time sensitive information we are wasting time then, it could take a few weeks for us to know who sent it that way. We have that one picture; it may be easy to find her, but honestly, it’s a feeling I have, I don’t think she’s involved.”
Creed ran a hand down his face, and then he looked at the men in front of him. “We have been through the ringer, man, I know we have. Now with the shit going down in Arizona, and Shady’s mother, who honestly could be involved in all of this, I think we are going to need to take this chance. It is a club vote, though; we have some seriously intense times ahead for us until we can finally say we are making a new start. I gotta say, there is a good chance all this is tied together; it is gonna lead us back to Mexico if that is the case; we are going to take her fucking patsies out. We gotta get this shit behind us, and then move on.”
“We do it together,” Easy said, and Poke nodded.
“They are right,” Freebyrd said slowly and then looked around the room at the men who had already made the decision. That girl was one of them; they already sacrificed sending her away when none of them wanted to. Family was family, but Shady had made the call wanting to make sure Jas was safe, they all knew what it took for her to do that. “Too much shit has come on our doorstep, and I hate to say, that if
we don’t respond other clubs are going to think we are pussies, and that is not happening.” There was a murmur of agreement in the room as the men shifted at the thought of them being labeled as weak in any way. “We didn’t start this shit so it could be brought down around us by some fuckheads who think they are entitled. I say we take a stand the only fucking way we know how, by showing them they can’t fuck with us and get away with it.”
Z stood and said, “Tell us what we need to do, and we will do it. I will even call in every fucking marker I have to get what we need.”
“Me too,” Knight said, and the others all muttered their agreement.
“Then it is decided. Data and Numbers, click the link and see where it leads us. Free, Fork, and I are going to make a few calls, see if we can get a little more information about Arizona.”
“Meet back here in the morning unless something comes up, keep your phones handy,”
Creed said, and the men all stood and began to move out of the room, until Boony, Creed, Fork, Slider, Cajun, Numbers, and Data were the only ones in the room. Slider and Cajun were tense, and Creed nodded.
“I would assume you want to be in here when we find out who this is?”
Both men nodded, and then Fork leaned forward and looked at Data. “Go ahead.”
Data turned the computer, and both Boony and Numbers flanked him, ready to watch in case they needed to pull the plug fast while he worked. Data took out his small router and plugged it into the computer and then waited while it connected to an entirely untraceable server, which they used only if they were hacking some serious shit that was illegal.
“Boony,” Data murmured. “Count it down, and watch the time, we are going to pull at a minute if there is no response. Numbers, look for a back-hack, if they try to get into our computer, shut it down.”
Both men nodded and Data took a deep breath, he hit the button and then clicked on the icon. The screen went black for a brief flash and then in the corner there was a red cursor that was blinking. At the top it said ‘Online,' he frowned.
Data typed: HELLO
They only waited for a moment before the cursor began to move letter by letter typing a message.
Kitty: JAS IS IN DANGER, WHEREVER SHE IS HAVE HER MOVED THEY KNOW WHERE SHE IS
“Kitty? Really? Do you think it is her?” Numbers muttered, and Data shrugged and kept staring at the screen.
“I think it is possible,” Data muttered.
Data: WHO ARE YOU?
Kitty: SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH
“We are going to need to get her talking more than that,” Numbers whispered. “To find out if it is her I mean. It could still be a trick.”
Data nodded and then wrote: HOW DO YOU KNOW IT IS THE TRUTH
Kitty: BECAUSE I WORKED FOR ANGELA REYES
Data: WHICH IS WHY WE SHOULD NOT TRUST YOU
The cursor blinked for a few seconds as they waited and then a picture began to materialize in front of them, and Data frowned, and the guys leaned closer. It was her, they both knew it.
“What in the fuck?”
It was a picture of a house with two people laying on the front steps while the house was burning in behind of them. They both leaned forward and saw the blood coming from their chests as if they had been shot before the place was set on fire. Looking at the small house, they knew their assumptions about the woman were right; she was an innocent dragged into the middle of this mess. The date stamp on the picture was yesterday and then it disappeared, and the cursor came back.
Kitty: THOSE ARE MY PARENTS. IT IS WHAT I CAME HOME TO YESTERDAY.
I WAS COMING TO WARN THEM TO LEAVE; I WAS TOO LATE
Data looked up at the guys and said, “What do you want me to do now?”
“Ask if she is safe? If it is the woman you are talking about, she could be in some real danger,” Creed said slowly.
Data: WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU SAFE?
The cursor blinked and finally it began to move. Everyone’s eyes were locked on the screen.
Kitty: CURRENTLY IN HIDING, DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN
STAY HERE, NEED TO MOVE, HE IS LOOKING FOR ME
Data: WHO?
Kitty: HENRY BRIDGES. HE IS FOLLOWING ORDERS
Fork swore under his breath and picked up the phone, they all knew who he was calling; Maxi was going to want to know this. Creed leaned down and said. “Find out who this is, and find out where they are. If they have any more information, I want to know it. If it is a trap, and in my gut I don’t think it is, I want to know everything before helping them.”
Data nodded and looked at Boony and Numbers who were still both staring at the screen looking for any indication what they were seeing was bogus. “Okay, guys, let’s get this shit right.”
Chapter Five
Kit was sitting in a café in TJ when they finally contacted, the small handheld device she had purchased off a man she had been in class with was her only lifeline right now. When she returned home to find her mother and father dead, Kit had been devastated, but then her self-preservation kicked in because she knew Henry was going to be looking for her. She was right, because when she had gotten into town and stopped at her friend’s house, he had shared with her that the locals were already talking about the fire, her parents, and the man who was looking for her.
Thankfully her parents never believed in banks; they just used the chicken coop in the back of their house to hide their money, so she had grabbed what was there and ran. Her friend had helped her with clothes and made a hotel reservation for her in his name. She bought the computer and left. That was three days ago, now she was sitting in a café, with shiny blond hair, she wore a huge hat to hide her face, a sundress, and sandals. Anyone looking at her would think she was on vacation instead of a native on the run. That was what she wanted, and that was how she was going to survive.
Looking around with a small smile on her face, which she knew wouldn’t reach her eyes if she took her sunglasses off, she played her part and waited, that was all she could do right now. Getting over the border was going to be tricky, but she also knew that was the only way she was going to survive. She only hoped maybe if she traded information with the Ops Warriors they would help her disappear.
Kit ordered a small plate of food and then placed her new phone on the table next to the small device and waited. She had done the same thing yesterday, but they hadn’t answered, so when she heard the first ding, she felt her pulse quicken. Was it really them or had Henry figured out what she was doing?
She looked down at the screen, and she frowned and then typed a response that she knew was going to get their attention; if nothing else, she needed them to know this information about the young girl. When Kit had to show the one picture she had taken while she was standing in front of her house staring at her parents, she had been forced to make herself ignore it or she was going to lose it right in the middle of the café, and then she would be rememberable, something she didn’t want to be. Mexico wasn’t a large country, but it was also not small. Sure you could get lost in the countryside, but when you were in the cities, someone was always watching. It wasn’t the safest countries to be in as a tourist, but as long as you were smart, it would be okay.
The waitress brought her plate and set it down and then refilled her soda she ordered while Kit was talking on the computer. When they asked if she was a female or a male, she had frowned. Leaving Kitty as her call sign had been an afterthought, but she couldn’t change it now.
Besides, the only one connected to this computer was the Warriors, no one else could tap into it, which was why she really had nothing to do but wait until someone answered her. Typing in she was a female, she waited and then took a small bite of her food. She hadn’t eaten in three days, her appetite had been gone after seeing her parents, and then when she had finally been in her hotel room, the emotions that had been in the background pushed through, and she had broken down, spending the entire night grieving.
Sitting against a wa
ll, she knew no one could see her screen, and she also knew when people entered the café and she paid attention. Looking up several times, she paused when she saw a man enter the restaurant. Moving slowly, as not to draw attention to herself, she typed: I NEED TO MOVE NOW CONTACT WHEN I AM SAFE.
It wasn’t Henry, but it was a man she had seen at the house before, he knew both Angela and Henry, and if he saw her, she would bet that he would report to Henry right away. She needed to get out of there without being seen. She took several more bites as she watched the man move to the counter and then lean against the bar and order a drink. He took it and sat down across the room from her and took out his phone and called someone. As he spoke, she finished, motioned for the waitress to bring her check, and then she stood and smiled and walked out of the café. The whole time she could feel her pocket vibrating, the Warriors were trying to speak with her.
Kit forced herself to walk slowly to the front of her hotel, when she entered she saw the man who had been at the café standing there staring directly at her. Damn it; she was going to need to move and fast. Walking to the elevator, she pushed the button and waited impatiently.
She pulled the handheld computer out and tapped in a message to whoever she was talking to.
Kitty: THEY FOUND ME
The elevator dinged, and she stepped in and looked up, the man was walking into the hotel, and she pushed the button to close the door. She saw him moving in her direction but thankfully the doors closed before he got there. She watched as the elevator rose and then she got off on the wrong floor, walked up the stairs to her floor and got into her room before she even took a deep breath. She made sure the deadbolt was secure, and then put a chair under the doorknob as well. At least this was a nice hotel she was booked in; it would draw attention to anyone who made a ruckus.
Her pocket was buzzing again, and she pulled out the computer and read the message they sent—a phone number, should she call? Kit bit her lip and then went to the window and looked down. She couldn’t see anything, but she knew the man was down there, she had to get out of there. How had they found her so quickly? Thoughts were racing through her mind, one after another, overwhelming her a little. Kit needed a cool head, and she also needed to realize she couldn’t do this on her own.
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