“Fuck. He’s not wrong. Either we trust each other, or we ain’t shit as a team. We start questioning each other’s judgement then our ability to operate as a team is gone.”
I stared at the wall behind him, the place where we used to hang the heads of coyotes that raided the compound. “I’m telling you, she’s more afraid of Silas than she is of us. She’s got no one. Except the ugliest fucking dog you ever saw she just rescued from some dumpster or some shit.” That got a laugh. “But I heard her yelling at Axel, telling him he dragged her into this mess and ruined her life. That he took her away from the only family she had left. Us.”
Papa shook his head. “Poor kid. Sounds like she needssavingas much as anything.”
Arsenal’s tone had changed. “So, what do we do?”
I took a breath. “Look, I’m not gonna lie. The reason I know all of this is that since I tracked that IP address, I’ve had her under surveillance. She’s alone 100 percent of the time. Just her, that dog, and her computer doing computer nerd things and reading books. Honestly, I think she wrote the code, so I’d find it. It’s her asshole brother that’s dragged her down in this. When he barged into her house yesterday, he told her what she’s gotta do. Like he bore no responsibility.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “What I really need y’all doing is to help me find out what all Greenbriar is involved in. They apparently are running casinos, fight houses, and who knows what all, andwhoall are backing them.”
Bronc waited, let the silence hang. “Shit. Sounds like an entire enterprise.”
I rubbed my hand down my face. “I’m afraid it is. We thought they were crippled. We haven’t been paying close enough attention to what they could be up to. Sounds like they’ve been up to a lot more than we bargained for. I’m thinking they could be banking thousands, hell, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Bronc looked at me, shaking his head. “Well, ain’t that just a real shit sundae with a fucking cherry on top?”
“We need to know what’s happening with them, and she’s our best chance to find out.” As bad as I hated the idea.
“What if she refuses?” That was Gunner’s question.
I smiled, mean and humorless. “She’ll want this over. I don’t see her backing down. Greenbriar wants a war. We’ll give them one.”
Doc tapped his pen on the table. “You’re going to have to get close.”
I nodded again. “I plan on it.”
Bronc sighed with resolution. “You got my blessing, Wrecker. But if it gets out of hand, you’re pulling the plug yourself.”
“Roger that.”
The meeting broke up. Doc left first, then Arsenal. Gunner hung back, looking like he wanted to say something but didn’t. I stayed, packing up the laptop and pocketing the drive. Bronc waited until the room cleared, then fixed me with that blue-eyed stare he’d inherited from his old man.
“You sure about this?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “But I don’t see another way.”
He exhaled, rubbed his face. “If she’s in over her head, you get her out. If she’s playing us, I want her dead.”
“I’m telling you now, that’s a hard goddamn no. She’s my fucking mate, Bronc.”
“Of course she is. Eli, why can’t any fucking thing ever be easy?”
I grinned. “Where’s the fun in that?”
He stood, stretched his back until it popped, then clapped me on the shoulder. “You need to talk to Juliet?”
“I’ll let you know. Parker might need to.”
“Ahh hell. Juliet loves a stray.”
I grinned as I left the war room and stepped out into the cold. The sky over the compound was the color of old ash, the lights of the city barely making a dent in the dark. I felt the wolf within me pacing, restless, ready to run.
I mounted my bike and gunned the engine, the sound splitting the night in two.
I was going to see Parker.
And this time, I wasn’t just going to watch.
