Be it in lifeor death.
Chapter 37—Kooper
Every rescue gets the best of the Hounds. When Operation Hell Hound gets a job, we take it like it’s one of our own behind the line who needs to get out if it’s a rescue mission. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s something else. But it’s a job. Each one is vetted to the extreme to see if we agree with what the plan is.
And recently, C8 was with us in that plan. But not this one. Not today. Never more, in fact.
That’s fine. The club still has friends. Who the fuck ever thought we would work with the mafia or… well, we don’t know who Gina works for, but she has connections. The boys and I are suspicious, but we all agreed: Till we get eyes on Ruby, we’re playing nice.
After that? Honestly, all I care about is Ruby. So does the club. If others get tagged in this mission and taken out, it’s not something I’m going to lose sleep over. OHH was called after Gina gave us details. They were ready before the plane landed in Kansas. They’ve actually been on ready alert for weeks now, just needed a direction.
Like me.
They went ahead and are scouting the area, feeding Flint, Gator, and every other person we’ve got working on this intel. We have half the damn club in the cargo plane. Gina has a few guys, but our seven to her four has the odds in our favor.
We’ve all kept our distance. We’re sharing space, but I’ve got a feeling we both have our own agendas. Their allegiance is to Natalie, or whoever was tracking her. Makes me wonder if she was the target and Ruby was just a decoy to throw suspicion.
It’s a question for another time.
A red light starts blinking a second before a buzzing alarm starts. Then the damn rear ramp starts to lower.
“What the fuck?” Bulldog snarls, but Jumper grins and hops up.
“Sit down, pretty boy. This one ain’t for you,” Gina says with a smile and a wink at my brother, who only pouts. “We’re just doing a drop-off.” She goes and stands by the ramp as it lowers.
My boys and I look at one another, and more than one pulls a gun. I do the same. We aren’t about to be the ones who drop off. Jumper might get a thrill out of this kind of shit, but the rest of us don’t jump out of planes for fun. Or ever. I know how. It was part of the things we did with OHH a few months back. Training, just in case. But I never expected to actually need it.
The team of four we met on the plane make their way to the back. Without ceremony, three jump. The fourth just watches, and when he sees them clear, he pushes the button to close the ramp.
“They know something we don’t?” Bass asks no one in particular.
Casper looks at King, and that has him going to the cockpit. We need to know what the hell is going on. So far,they’ve run this shit, but they’ve also told us what’s going on. We didn’t trust them, but we didn’t expect this either.
“Don’t worry, boys,” Gina says. “We’re still on target to hit our flight time.”
“What was that?” Casper asks as he nods to the back of the plane, which is now closed.
“That?” She gestures behind her like she’s confused. “That was a drop-off. The boys had another plane to catch.” Her smile is Cheshire-like at best.
“We going to see them later?” Bulldog asks.
“What for? You already got me and Big Mike.” She points to the other guy, who just crosses his arms over his chest. “What else do you need?”
“You said this place was a fortress. Heavily armed and dangerous,” Bass says, tilting his head.
“Yeah.” She nods, waiting for the question.
“So why only bring two people to get your girl out?” Casper asks what we’re all thinking after King returns with a nod. All’s good up front.
“Job’s to get you in. I’m not being paid to get her out.”
Okay, what the actual fuck is going on with Natalie? My brothers and I glance at one another to see if anyone understands what’s going on.
I don’t know what the rest of them are thinking, but my goal is to find Ruby, then get her and my brothers out safely. If we find Natalie in the process, then I’ll call it a double win. Again, we don’t know if Ruby is still with her. This might just be a rescue mission for Natalie. But I hope we’re wrong and they’re both in this place.
Our team did the surveillance, though we only got a bit before we went radio silent due to passing over the border, and we want to keep off as many channels as possible. Not that we didn’t bribe everyone possible to look the other way, but still, we’re keeping off the frequencies. When we land, we’ll get more details.
OHH will set up and do a perimeter sweep. Orders are for them to hold and only to breach before we get there if something goes down. I really don’t care if they wait on us. I just want Ruby in the arms of someone I trust, be it mine or a brother’s. Just so long as she’s safe.
