“Bull also checked the footage from the kitchen cameras and got proof that Star planted that fuckin’ bug. Since he figuredit might be her, he started with the night you kicked her out and went back from there. She planted it the day before, but it looks like it was a replacement. He said the ones she used are battery operated, so she probably removed the one because it died, and stuck a new one on there in the same spot. Christ only knows how long she’s been doin’ it, but at least now we know how he stayed two steps ahead of us.”
I rubbed at my temples as my head started to pound. I was probably going to end up having a fucking stroke before this was all over with.
My phone pinged with a text at the same time Cowboy’s did. I sagged with relief when I saw the group text that Ella had sent. Not only was she safe, but she clearly hadn’t been able to access any of the messages yet. I had a little bit of a reprieve where I could pretend that my relationship with her wasn’t going to be ripped apart by threats, secrets, and club business.
A little while later, I got a text from Jagger that they’d all arrived at the cabin, and the women and children were safe and having fun.
Sinner had decided to join us here at the clubhouse until the threat was over, to help Viking keep an eye on things since the younger members were all out scouring the city. Brick had decided to send his wife and their girls to stay with his brother, since he didn’t like his daughters to hang around the clubhouse too much. Tom was a lawyer who did work for us when the need arose. He was also a former Green Beret who was almost as big as Brick was, so he wasn’t too worried about their safety.
Lucky and the rest of the club members were either at work, in the clubhouse, or out with a group of riders. Michelle was here with Cowboy’s two youngest kids, so I didn’t have to worry about them either. Ella’s kids were probably the safest outof everyone, since they had set sail for the Bahamas earlier this morning.
Lola and her kids were safe with at the Rossi estate. Cyn was on a bus to Florida. The only people associated with Pic and me who weren’t accounted for at this very moment were Ace, who could handle himself, Star, and Christy. I doubted Pic would try to go after her, since he knew that the boys and I didn’t want anything to do with her, but I honestly couldn’t bring myself to care even if he did.
As the evening dragged on, we ended up with almost every club member riding the streets in shifts, leaving a handful of brothers to watch over the compound, while the rest of us searched for any sign of Pic or Star.
I was glad as hell to be able get out on the streets myself. Riding always cleared my head and helped me think things through. I had already accepted the fact that I was in love with Ella and wanted to spend my life with her, but if today had crystallized anything in my mind, it was that I wanted it to be official, and soon.
I wanted her to be my Ol’ Lady. I wanted to see my Property of patch on her back. I wanted to see my ring on her finger, and my last name in place of fuckingChadwick.
I wanted to watch Mia and Hunter mature into the amazing adults I knew they would become. I wanted to watch the grandkids with her, however many our collective children would end up having. I wanted everything, and I wanted it with Ella.
I headed back to the clubhouse a little after ten o’clock. I was tired, hungry, and missing Ella like hell. We had already agreed to call off the search at midnight so everyone could get a good night’s sleep and ride out again in the morning. The oddsof us stumbling across two people who seemed determined to hide from us were slim to none, anyway. I was counting on Bull’s hacking skills to come through with a lead that would point us in the right direction.
Luca Rossi had reached out earlier to say he had his men working on it, too, so I hoped that something would shake loose soon. He had also offered the use of his “cleaning service”, which included a one-way trip to his family’s pig farm.
“No body, no crime, my friend,” he’d reminded me with a chuckle. As long as I didn’t have to see the pigs in action again, I was happy to have his help.
Someone had ordered enough pizzas to feed half the county, and I was grateful as hell for it as I chowed down on a few slices. DD made her way over and tried to flirt with me, but I shut that shit down and sent her over to spend some time with Saint instead. I tried calling Ella again, but it went straight to voice mail.
“Hey, sugar. It sucks that your phone is acting up, because I’d love to hear your voice right about now. Call me if you can.”
I waited until the last of the riders returned before going upstairs to try to get some sleep. I had just gotten to the top of the damned stairs when Bull called me from his office.
“I’ve got something.”
I ran back downstairs, signaling for Cowboy, Irish, and Trick to follow me.
The four of us entered Bull’s office to find him smiling grimly.
“Pic turned his phone on about fifteen minutes ago. He called a burner phone, talked for less than three minutes, thenshut the phone off again. The program I used showed the phone pinging between two cell towers on the southeast side of town, giving me about a two-mile radius to work with,” he explained as he pointed to some kind of map on his computer screen.
“Most of that area is industrial, but there are three hotels. Two are low-to-mid range places, but one is a shithole that is known to rent rooms by the hour and has frequent police runs due to drug activity and overdoses. Ding, ding, ding…we have a winner, folks,” he joked as he handed over a slip of paper. “That’s the address of the one that gets my vote, along with the other two places in case I’m wrong about the first one.”
We quickly assembled all the club brothers in the chapel for a briefing before we rode out. I assigned teams of riders. Trick and Lucky were with me at the shithole. Cowboy, Saint, and Hawk were taking one of the regular hotels, and Irish, Brick, and Joker were taking the other.
“We need to be smart about this. Leave your cuts and cell phones behind and grab one of the helmets on your way out so you can’t be identified on any surveillance cameras.” We had helmets that we kept at the clubhouse for general use, mainly if we rode into one of the neighboring states which had laws requiring their use. “Cowboy, Irish and I will each be carrying a burner phone that we’ll use to communicate.”
“Double check your weapons now, and make sure you have your leather gloves with you so there are no damned fingerprints left behind. We don’t want to attract attention, and we sure as hell don’t want Pic to hear us coming, so separate a mile or so from your target location, and ride in from different directions at that point. Park at least a block away and finish up on foot.”
I looked around the room, confident that each and every man here had my back, as well as each other’s. “You are just to confirm if Pic is there, but don’t make contact unless absolutely necessary. I need to be notified the second you find any sign of him. Understood?” As they all nodded and agreed, I brought the meeting to a close just as I always did. I banged my fist on the table and told them all to stay safe and keep their asses out of trouble.
I breathed deeply when I stepped outside and the humid night air filling my lungs. Jesus, I hoped this lead panned out.
It only took a minute or so for everyone to mount up, and then I led the way as we pulled out of the compound. Tony, the prospect who was tasked with manning the guard shack tonight would close the gate again as soon as the last rider passed through.
It took almost twenty minutes for my group to reach the shithole. Factoring in the time to get everyone assembled and briefed, it had been a little over an hour since Pic’s phone had pinged from this vicinity. I could only hope he was actually staying somewhere in the area and hadn’t just been passing through when he turned the damned thing on.
The motel was a single-story building, with rooms that opened up directly to the parking lot, and a small office at the end of the building. It was probably built back in the seventies and didn’t look like it had been painted since. Calling it a shithole was being generous.
