I followed him, shaking my head.“You’re incorrigible, but rest assured I will invite all of you to the wedding.”I paused, picturing how many of the guests would show up on motorcycles.“If you promise to behave yourselves.”
“We always behave.”A hundred-watt grin lit Max’s face.“Sometimes we behave like civilized people, sometimes we behave like wild animals, but we always behave.”
“I give up.”I rolled my eyes.Good thing these guys were on my side.“Where’s the car?”
* * *
The drive to the Operations Center was relatively uneventful, unlike the last time I’d travelled in a vehicle with Max.There were no exaggerated hand gestures, creatively honking horns, or sudden swerving and lurching to cut in front of other drivers.Interesting.Max must be more disturbed by recent events than I’d realized.
We pulled up to the gate of the compound, the car idling as the high-tech security system verified the vehicle and occupants.Once the gates swung open it took mere minutes to navigate to the front door of the large brick building.
“You’re the last one here, so you might want to grab something from the kitchen on the way past.Billy boy isn’t wasting any time on this one, so all the usual British niceties will be noticeably absent.”Max turned to give me an evil grin.“And it looks like the leak came from your area.You might want to think up a defense for that one.”
“My area?”That caught me off guard.As far as I knew, the poachers hadn’t even been aware of me tailing them or my presence on that damned island, so how could the leak be traced back to me?
Unless Kimberly had let some info slip, but to whom?Her social circle definitely didn’t include anyone with a penchant for transatlantic hops.She barely had one.She’d probably filled in my sister, but I was willing to bet that was it, especially after I’d made such a big issue about not telling the cops anything.No, Kimberly wasn’t the source of any leaks.
The operations room resembled the NASA command centers I’d seen in Hollywood movies.Rows of computer banks flashed numbers and letters up so fast it would take a cyborg to be able to read them.A large oval table the guys liked to refer to as their own little version of the round table occupied the center of the room, surrounded by seven leather executive chairs.If we were going to spend our time working for the greater good, we intended to do it in comfort… at least in the planning stages.
The Brotherhood of the Wild had had a less than spectacular start to it.About a decade back, I’d been at loose ends and decided to embark on a camera safari.Noah and Sam had been working as guides for an outfit out of Arusha and I’d known them from the SEALs so I’d hired them to take me to photograph rhinoceroses.
The twins were very good at what they did, and the trip had gone smoothly at the start.The three of us had become friendly, talking about what we did after mustering out.In a bizarre coincidence, they too had made a fortune after leaving the SEALs, in their case on a lucky stock trade.They didn’t need to work, but they were too young to stay home with their feet up, so they’d decided to hire out as guides in Africa, a place they knew well from earlier expeditions.
I’d gotten some excellent shots of various animals on the Serengeti and enjoyed the luxurious tents and food the twins had arranged for.We hadn’t managed to find any rhinos though, and the twins promised to take me to an area known for its herds of rhinos in the hopes of getting some good shots before the end of my stay.
The day had started out well enough, but by noon we found ourselves surrounded by a group of poachers intent on killing the rhinos for their horns.
The poachers had taken down a magnificent specimen, a male in his prime.Both outnumbered and outgunned, the twins and I had hunkered down in the bush, hiding from what we feared would be certain death if the poachers detected our presence.Then, like a shootout scene from an old western, a group of Interpol agents appeared with guns blazing.
The twins and I had cheered when the Interpol agents won the day, but reality set in when we found out the poachers wouldn’t suffer anything more than deportation.The disgruntled agents explained that as citizens of a nation friendly to Tanzania, they would not be prosecuted or held responsible.The worst they’d suffer was the loss of the rhino they’d taken down.
Sometimes, law and justice were two entirely different concepts.
That was when the Brotherhood of the Wild had been born.
Using the money Jacques and I had made in software, the four of us bought a large chunk of land in the Montana mountains and set up the Operations compound.We recruited William, a former MI5 operative with a flair for organization, to keep things running smoothly.He supplied a wealth of knowledge on tactics to help track down the poachers.Eventually we were joined by Danny, a young marine biologist whose specialty was the Great Barrier Reef.Max, a self-confessed lover of spreadsheets, had joined us later as our numbers guy.He managed the Brotherhood’s finances and made sure we could afford to do what we did.If we needed more boots on the ground, we called in the guys from the Riptide MC.We’d served with them and trusted them not to betray our secrets, just as they trusted us not to take the legal aspects of anything too seriously.
Our tactics were simple enough.Jacques monitored the dark web for any hint there were poachers operating.It didn’t matter if the offense was in Africa, Asia, or the Australian outback.Or in this case, Canada.When we had enough intel, we took action.We made sure the poachers and their illegal merchandise landed in countries that were noted for their lack of sympathy toward anyone who would harm an endangered animal.If that wasn’t an option, the poachers just met with an unfortunate accident.We were good at arranging those as well.The rhino who’d died that day on the Serengeti did not die in vain.
William looked up as Max and I filed in.“We all here now?”
Jacques nodded as the men drifted to the table and took their seats.He hit a few keys and Sam and Noah appeared on the big screen on the wall.“All present and accounted for.”
William ignored the sarcasm.“You’ve all had a chance to look at the data packs I sent you.The poachers have some way of knowing what we plan, and they’re using that knowledge to circumvent our traps.It was inevitable our organization would become known to our targets, but what we didn’t anticipate was they could find a way to infiltrate us.”
“No!”Danny half rose from his seat, horror written across his face.
“I know it doesn’t seem possible but…” Jacques shrugged.“The evidence is there.”
“You’re losing it, Billy boy.”Danny narrowed his eyes, the only outward sign he was upset.“Take another look at those computer printouts of yours.None of us are traitors.There has to be another explanation.”
“Can’t be true.None of us would roll over.”I spoke calmly, firmly.
William skewered me with an icy stare.“Glad to hear you say that, because according to the data I’ve been able to collect so far, the leak is coming from your area.”
I took a deep breath and spoke, amazed I even had to ask this question.“You think I’m sabotaging the group?That I’m feeding info on our operations to the poachers?”
“Hell no!”The Vikings jumped to their feet, Noah slamming his hand down on the table for added emphasis.
