Brick didn’t think Caine would hurt a woman, especially not a member’s sister, but if looks could kill, Ryan would be dead right now. Brick didn’t like the thoughts or feelings the image provoked. Ryan deflated right in front of his eyes, slumping down on the couch, all bravado gone.
“Listen, I realized when I decided to do this, none of you were going to like it, but I still had to do it. If I hadn’t taken the contract, someone else would have, and they wouldn’t have created dummy files to feed to the bastard. They would have given him everything. All I need is time. I’m good at this… damn good, and I took every precaution to make this happen as seamlessly as possible, without anyone, including myself, being hurt. No one even knows I’m here. My credentials are nonexistent in polite society. My handle is untraceable. Right now, I’m the best bet you guys have to keep your data and files safe and sound. It took me a half-hour to infiltrate your system and do a complete override. If I hadn’t wanted to protect you, it would have taken me less than five.” She looked directly at Caine. “If I had come to you and explained what I was planning, what would you have said? Would you have even heard me out before saying no?”
Caine only moved enough to cross his arms over his chest, the pissed-off look still firmly in place on his face.
“No, I wouldn’t have, and I sure as shit wouldn’t have let you go through with this plan, little girl. You have no idea who you’re messing with. The last woman who tried to play Perez for a fool ended up dead, and I refuse in honor of your brother to let that happen to you. One of the best hackers I know is currently working undercover in Miguel Perez’s compound. If you think he doesn’t already know or won’t know what you’re planning, you’re either stupid or just too naïve to give a shit.”
“Zander Frost?” Ryan stood up laughing. “Or should I say Talon? That is what you guys know him by, right?” The only shock Caine showed was a slight widening of his eyes. Roo hadn’t been so good at hiding his surprise or anger. “Call your brother, Caine, and ask him who he tried to recruit after Zander went MIA? And just so we’re clear and there aren’t any further misunderstandings, I’m hardly a little girl anymore. As far as being naïve and stupid, remember I did manage to infiltrate your club, get complete access to your system, and leave without you knowing. Hell, you wouldn’t even know now if I hadn’t wanted you to in the first place.”
Caine sat down, much to Brick’s surprise, leaned back in one of Sedona’s overstuffed armchairs, and crossed one leg over the other, looking as if he was getting comfortable and relaxed. Brick knew better. Caine Masters was a coiled snake, ready to strike.
“And what exactly do you have to gain from doing this? What are you looking for?” Brick took a couple of steps closer to Ryan’s back, just in case. What she said next almost buckled his knees.
“The location of my brother.”
Chapter Four
After her bombshell, things went quickly. The BRMC gathered her up and got her out of Sedona’s house quickly, only to sequester her into some windowless room in the bowels of their clubhouse. She was putting on a brave front, but she was scared shitless. She knew her plan would work, but she also knew it would be an uphill battle to make them see it. For the first few minutes, she paced the room, checking it out. This was not her forte. She could pick a lock if need be, but she was much more comfortable doing her work behind closed doors and a computer screen. Trying to get by five very pissed-off former soldiers turned bikers wasn’t something she even wanted to attempt.
She knew it would take time for them to contact Tucker Masterson to confirm what she told them. She also knew it would be a long-assed day of questions and interrogation. She just hoped like hell they didn’t try to disable the work she had already done. They wouldn’t succeed, but they could also tip off Perez or worse, inadvertently give him complete access to all their electronic devices. It was a slippery slope. When the door opened and Rooster Clayborne walked through the door, she wasn’t the least bit surprised. He was the Sergeant at Arms for the club, the police officer of sorts for all things club related. Roo was a seasoned interrogator, but he was also the man she grew up with, the one her family took in and made their own because his own was awful. He had been Tiny’s best friend all through grade school and beyond. This man had also abandoned her and her mother when Tiny was deemed missing in action and ultimately killed in action. What she had to say would hurt him the most, so she didn’t even wait for the interrogation to start.
“I need my computer or at least, a computer.”
“I don’t think you understand what a shitstorm you stepped into here, Ryan. You’re not the one who’s making demands or calling the shots. You blew that chance by going behind our backs, drugging Brick to get what you wanted, and corrupting our system.”
“No, Roo,”—Ryan sat down at the metal table in the uncomfortable chair—“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here. Who was supposed to be on that mission, the one when my brother went missing? Hmm? No answer? I’ll tell you—Caine Masters. Tiny wasn’t even supposed to be on duty. Most of you were ready to ship out stateside when a mission came in, a simple recon. The powers that be demanded Caine lead it, but that isn’t what happened, is it? Tuck called in a few favors and had Caine pulled for personal reasons. Tiny took the mission on his behalf.”
Roo sat down across from her.
“You’re pulling at straws because of your grief, Ryan. It was a hellhole. Shit like that happened all the time. We lost a good man that day and have grieved Tiny’s loss every day since, but you can’t manipulate the facts to suit your own needs. You need to move on, live your life.”
“Like you all have? Contrary to what Caine said, I’m neither stupid nor naïve. I accepted my brother’s death, grieved his loss, and moved on, but Momma never did. You would know that if you had stuck around or even called her once in a while. Hell, what about sending a damn Christmas or birthday card? Anything would have been better than just abandoning the woman who basically raised you, thought of you as her son. She lost two people that day, but you want to know what really sucks. She never blamed you, said that you just needed time, and someday you would come back, but I never believed it. Ten years is a little too long for someone to come to grips, don’t you think?”
“So, is that what this is all about? You’re pissed off at me, so you thought it would be a good thing to give a little payback, come after the club, the guys? Grow the fuck up, Ryan. This isn’t a playground you should be playing in. You could get yourself killed.”
“Fuck, no,” Ryan laughed. “I’d actually have to give a damn about you to go to those lengths. Unlike Momma, I didn’t have faith you would ever come back into the fold. God, she lights a candle and leaves it in the window every night for her two boys to come home. I’m not as good-natured. I gave up that dream years ago, brother. This,” Ryan said, waving her hands around the room, “is all about my real brother, the one who was left behind and forgotten. As for your playground, I didn’t go into this uninformed as you seem to think. I know exactly what and who I’m going up against.”
“Jesus, Ryan,” Roo muttered, scraping his hands through his hair.
The door opened, and Ryan almost groaned when she saw a very pissed-off Brick standing there. The man still took her breath away and made her girly bits sit up and take notice, but this wasn’t the time or the place to explore those thoughts or feelings. The look on his face said it all—he regretted every second he had spent with her. His words only confirmed that notion.
“And me, how did I fit into your plan?”
Ryan let out a long breath.
“I didn’t come up to you, didn’t pursue you. That’s all on you, Baden.”
“But you used me to get what you wanted?”
“Yes.” What else could she say? It was the truth.
This was getting out of hand. She felt horrible, but she needed to make these guys understand. She might be more pissed off at Roo than she initially thought, but none of th
is was about him or their past. Even her hurt took a backseat to what needed to be done. Brick—now the look of disgust on his face hurt. She had crushed on him since she was a skinny, nerdy fourteen-year-old who couldn’t look at him without turning bright red. Roo and Tiny had brought him home with them on leave, and her adolescent heart had gone pitter-patter.
“I have proof there have been fifty-seven attempts on Caine’s life, in and out of the military, situations where he should have died but didn’t. If you would like to see them, I can show you, but I need a computer. Even though I know none of you will believe me unless the proof is so tight, I can strangle you with it.”
“Fuck, Ryan, you’re still not getting it. Any person can and will manipulate information to form a pattern that isn’t there if they want it bad enough. You need to go home and forget all about this stupid plan of yours,” Roo admonished. “
“Really, how about this? I know, for a fact, Caine has something on Perez and used that information to protect Maria Perez and get her out from underneath her father’s sadistic thumb. I also know Tucker Masterson helped him keep that information safe, or I should say alluded to keeping that information safe because there isn’t any information.” The door crashed open, hitting the wall with such force Ryan could feel the vibrations through the seat she was sitting on.
“Get the fuck out!”
Caine’s booming voice sent an unpleasant shiver straight up her spine, and for the first time, Ryan wanted to run back home to her momma.
She hadn’t noticed the laptop he held in his hands until he placed it on the table in front of her. She hadn’t even noticed as Roo and Brick left the room, leaving the two of them alone. With slow, deliberate movements, Caine opened the laptop, clicked a few keys, and turned it toward her.
“Everything you type will be displayed on the wall behind you and watched by my guys. Don’t pull shit, Ryan. You had a chance to do this the right way, and you went for the wrong. That is on you. You only have ten minutes; I owe your brother no more. Don’t push me, Ryan, that loyalty only goes so far.”
Ryan didn’t even move her hands up from clenching the seat beneath her ass.
“Would you have taken my call, Caine? You have already checked me out, or you wouldn’t even be in here right now.”
“Doesn’t matter. You chose this play Ryan, now follow through with it. Your time is counting down as we speak.”
Ryan went to work, and within seconds, she had the timeline she had been working on for the last five years on the wall behind them. Caine stood up and examined it. She didn’t explain anything. She didn’t need to; it was all there. Missions in the military where he was supposed to be front and center where others were killed or taken hostage when it should have been him. Car accidents, car bombs, police raids, gang fights, bar fights, and a myriad of other events where he was or supposed to be. He sat his ass back on the table, leaning against it, his arms crossed over his chest as he just looked at the screen.
“Whatever Perez thinks you have protected you from him coming at you face-on, but all of these events were geared to take you out, without alerting Tuck that Perez had a hand in any of them.”
The next screen she brought up was Perez’s movements, at least the ones she could track via technology—bids on the dark web for jobs that went along with the events, financial transactions through shell corporations, and so much more. She was still missing pieces of the puzzle, which was why she needed Caine to agree to let her program run.
Caine got up again, still looking at the wall, but eventually retook the seat in front of her.
“You have my attention. Now, tell me about your plan.”
“It’s simple. I created a dummy system that will mimic yours. I did the same with some burner phones. Let the system run. That’s all I’m asking. None of your information is at risk. I made sure of that.”
“And again, you act as if I should just take your word and trust you. Life is about choices, Ryan, and you have made some bad ones that don’t garner my trust.”
“I get it, but I felt like I didn’t have any other choice at the time. Tell me, would you have taken my call? Listened to my theory or instantly blown it off as an irrational grieving sister’s hope?”
“Again, we will never know because you didn’t even give me or the rest of the guys the chance to do any of that. Now, tell me the rest.”
He wasn’t wrong, but it was too late to turn back, and there wasn’t really anything else she could say, so Ryan went with the facts, what she had set up.
“Once Perez accesses the system I created, a virus will launch into whatever system he’s using and start retrieving the information I need. You can have everything else I get. I don’t want it or want anything to do with it.”
“In theory, that all sounds good, but like I’ve already said, he has one of the best hackers in the world working for him right now, and I can guarantee because of recent events, Talon will be vigilant about keeping Perez’s systems safe.”
“You mean, the information that was leaked to keep London Harris safe?”
Caine scrubbed his hand over his face, “shit, Ryan, you just keep on digging yourself in deeper.”
“I’m good at what I do, Caine, don’t ever doubt that, but I’m also good at keeping my own ass safe and keeping my mouth shut. I’ve broken into systems and gone up against people who make going up against Perez and Talon Frost look like a walk in the park, and I’m still not on anyone’s radar. I’m that good. I know you’ve already talked to Tuck, so that information has already been confirmed, or you wouldn’t even be wasting your time talking to me or listening to my theory.”
“Maybe, maybe not, maybe I’m just curious. Keep going, explain the rest.”
“Fine, think of my virus like a snake or a pipe cleaner, whichever analogy works for you. As it slithers undetected through Perez’s system, it picks up information and stores it. When he opens the link, I can download all the information it collected. I’m thinking about using a two-pronged attack for retrieval, virtual and hard copy. Most of it will be junk, but I’m hoping there will be some gems in the mix as well. And the beauty of it is, the longer it’s in his system, the more information I’ll get. Each access gains more, and with how he hates you and wants to bring you down, I’m counting on him accessing it frequently and on multiple devices.”
“What’s in this for you, Ryan? You’re still hedging, trying to convince me, but you aren’t telling me why this is so important to you.”
“Haven’t I? Like I said, I want any and all information involved with what Perez was doing or planning regarding the mission when my brother was attacked and supposedly killed instead of you.”
“You do know, Brick saw Tiny go down. People don’t survive headshots, Ryan. As much as I want to believe there’s some truth to what you’re saying, I have to go with my gut on this one.”
“For five years, I believed what I was fed from the military, and even you guys. I’m not asking you to jump on my bandwagon or to even believe Tiny is still alive. In some ways, I’m hoping he isn’t because who the hell knows what happened to him or what was done to him if he did survive that gunshot. But if you don’t let me do this, I will find another way to get the information I need. At least this way, it gives you and your club a reprieve from Perez’s madness for a while, and if I find what I need, it will give me and my mother the closure we both need.”
“I have to put it to a vote, and sweetheart, even if it passes, you will be confined to this clubhouse until it’s done. That means not going outside these walls, your every move watched and scrutinized, every keystroke monitored. You won’t be able to piss without one of my guys being right there until you can gain my trust again.”
“That’s fine as long as I get what I need. I can live with your conditions, but I have a few of my own.”
“You don’t let up, do you?”
“Not when it means this much. You would do the same for your brother or any of the guys in the
club. I rented a storage garage four months ago, just over the border in Tennessee. Inside is all the equipment I’ll need. Someone needs to retrieve it and bring it here without damaging any of it. I’ll set it up in a place of your choosing, even allow you access to all of it. Run checks or anything else you want to assure all of you that I’m not trying to double-cross you but make no mistake. It’s my equipment and sensitive as hell. Some of the shit isn’t even on the market, and people would pay big bucks to get their hands on it. That’s how much I am trusting you and your club, Caine, how important this is to me. I don’t regret how any of this went down.” She was so lying. There was one part of this whole thing that she regretted big time, Brick. “But I didn’t feel there was another way to make you really listen to me instead of just blowing me off.”
Caine got up and rapped his knuckles against the table, and said, “Nothing is set in stone, Ryan. Your plan has merit, but you went about it the wrong way. I’ll let you know.” He walked out of the door, leaving Ryan there.
Chapter Five
Brick was fuming. He sat in church and listened to everything Caine laid out for them. Ryan’s plan sounded solid, he was even for it, but when it came time for a vote, he said nay because he just couldn’t trust her to keep her word and not try to double-cross them. At least that was the reasoning he was going with now, not that he felt personally betrayed by her, or she still rocked him in a way that he didn’t like. He also hated the idea of her ending up hurt or worse. Unfortunately, he was in the minority, and the vote passed. Roo and Junior were already on their way to pick up Ryan’s shit. Only he and Caine remained in the room.
Brick: Blacktop Renegades (BRMC Book 2) Page 3