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I end the call, feeling the weight of the past few days settle on my shoulders. Flashes of what could have happened tonight play behind my eyes, and I curl up on the bed with my back to McKenna and cry until my tears run dry.
I pray I can fall asleep fast and forget this whole day.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Lucky
“I managed to squeeze off a few shots, and at least one of them hit that fucker.”
I shake my head as I look around at the serious expressions on my brothers’ faces and let out a long sigh. “I woke up when I heard him rooting around downstairs. Maybe he was looking for something…it’s possible, but he definitely came for Aria.”
The question I haven’t figured out yet is why Birmingham feels threatened by Aria. Is she hiding something? Playing me?
“We should call Stiles.”
Shades’ words shock the fuck out of me, and judging by the sounds around the room, I’m not the only one who feels that way.
“What? Stiles is so uptight, she’ll definitely be gagging to take down a dirty fed.”
“Fuck that, no way.” Dix shakes his head adamantly in his disagreement. “If she shows up and finds Valentina here, she’ll definitely arrest her or at least detain her for something. We can’t risk that.”
Preacher nods. “I agree with Dix, to a degree.” He sighs. “Look, we might be reading Agent Stiles all wrong based on our own bias. Maybe we should feel her out. See if she’s as straight-laced and focused on justice as she seems. Who knows, maybe she can see the bigger picture.”
I want to argue with all of them, but we need to be clear-headed in this. We might be out of our depths with all the shit that’s been going on with the MC lately, and maybe Agent Stiles can help us by helping herself.
“I think it’s worth a shot,” I finally say with a frustrated sigh. “And she probably already knows Valentina is here.”
Ace nods. “I’ll give her a call in the morning.” His gaze slides around the room, a dark scowl on his face. “We need to talk about LTC. Why the fuck does it feel like we’re not making any progress?”
Wild Man sighs first, and the loudest, and all eyes swing to him. “Gia and I are still working with the gamer I told you about.”
Shades snorts a laugh. “If only getting rid of the LTC was as easy as leveling up or spawning after a kill shot.”
Wild Man rolls his eyes. “Spoken like a fucker who is completely out of touch. Look, this guy is basically a digital terrorist for hire, and if we’re serious about taking down Arturo and his entire network, he is who we need.” His gaze is fierce, and I can tell he’s serious about this guy.
“Okay, so what’s the problem?” Wild Man stares at me for a long time, his stare unreadable. “Is there some reason we haven’t pulled the trigger? That’s all I’m asking, brother.”
“The plan is all set. We just need MC approval.” Wild Man looks to Ace, who nods, giving him the go-ahead.
“Tell them, and then we’ll vote,” Ace mutters in his low, even-toned voice.
Wild Man nods, and as excitement grows in his blue eyes, he outlines the entire plan for our brothers. It’s even bigger and more detailed than the brief outline he’d given me previously.
“Okay, so this dude, KrypTonic, specializes in remote access and detonation, at least according to Gia. This works out perfectly for us. The majority of LTC business is coke, and guns come in a close second.”
“And how is a gamer gonna help with either of those?” Shades’ question is sarcastic, but his concern is genuine.
Wild Man grins. “Rojas owns hundreds, possibly thousands of acres of land throughout the Colombian countryside. Rumor has it that some of the land belongs to the government, which is even more fucking perfect.”
His eyes widen again in excitement. “Arturo runs an efficient ship, growing and manufacturing and shipping his product on his own land, like the fucking Mickey Ds of the drug trade. Every step of the process, he has his hand in it, but so much of it is protected by the government.”
I nod, slowly starting to figure out exactly what Wild Man and Gia have come up with. “So, if one step in the process is fucked, all the steps after it are also fucked?”
Wild Man grins. “Exactly.”
Coop nods, his brows knit into a frown. “And the drone, where do they come into all this?”
“Think of the drone like the ones Uncle Sam uses to take out terrorists. ” He leans back, proud of himself as he speaks. “We fire it up and blow up the fields. Under the cover of darkness, the drone flies over and shoots out missiles. The missiles blow up and leave a deadly poison that attacks the plants. This is some high-tech USA military shit. Renders the land useless.”
