Reid shrugged his shoulders.
Niko knew from experience that the process could be long and frustrating. There were several steps that had to be followed before a warrant to search the farm could be issued.
Marcus shook his head.
“That’s not good enough. Cade, Blade, and Ace, go downstairs and gather supplies. Lucas, you look up the details for travel. Find out the quickest route to get us to this farm,” Marcus ordered.
“What? Wait. No. Marcus, we can’t just go there and bust down the door. If we’re going to arrest these guys, the authorities need to follow their proper procedures,” Reid argued, placing his beer down on the bar and stepping forward.
“Your guys can follow their procedures and take down the guys at the top. We are just a concerned biker gang who happened to accidentally stumble across a human trafficking ring and decided to step in and rescue the victims. Sounds pretty plausible to me.”
Reid turned to Niko, as if searching for help.
“I’m sorry, bud. We can’t just stand around and let people suffer while the bureaucrats take their time. Marcus is right. These people need our help now.”
Niko could see the frustration in Reid’s eyes. He knew that the most frustrating part of his job had to be waiting for all the paperwork to be completed.
Yes, it was important to do things by the book, but every minute they waited was a minute someone was suffering. And Niko wasn’t okay with that.
“Fine. Let’s go rescue these people,” Reid said, giving Marcus a knowing nod.
29
REID
The gravel crunched beneath Reid’s feet as he and Niko walked back toward the motel they were staying in.
Ace booked them all in this shitty-ass motel about thirty minutes away from where the farm was located. They needed time to create a plan of attack and make sure that everything was all set up.
They arrived at the motel just after dark the next day and spent the evening settling in. Marcus and Ace had a few errands to run, while the other guys made sure they had all the necessary supplies.
That gave Reid and Nikolai a couple of hours to themselves. They decided to grab some dinner at a pub down the street before walking back to the motel when they were done.
“You’ve got a good group of friends,” Reid noted, kicking stones as they walked slowly along the side of the road.
“Yeah. The guys are great. Being a part of the Shadow Vipers means being a part of a family. Have you given any more thought to staying?” Niko asked, lifting his head as he waited for him to answer.
Reid stole a glance at his best friend. He couldn’t imagine life without him. He had gone ten years already, and in all those years, he had never felt settled. It was as though something was missing from his life. He now realized that the thing missing was Nikolai.
“Yes, of course I’ll stay,” Reid said, giving him a smile and reaching out for his hand. He swore, Niko’s smile nearly swallowed his face.
“You’re not going to regret it!” Niko hummed, bouncing forward before being jerked back by Reid’s frozen body.
“What the—” Niko began, startled by the sudden pull of Reid’s stiff body.
Reid’s eyes were wide as he stared at their motel.
“Please tell me you see that,” Reid whispered as his grip on Niko’s hand tightened.
“What?” Niko asked as his head turned in the direction of their motel.
His body jerked back when his eyes landed on what had caught Reid’s attention.
“Is that…?” Niko began, his brain and body suddenly no longer working.
“A clown?”
“Yeah,” Niko answered, practically cutting off the circulation in Reid’s hand.
