Lana sighed.“Just getting started. It’s more complicated than it looks and needs a lot of digging. We need access to more information and can’t wait to get our hands on the computers, but at least we know where to start looking.”
“Well, if anyone can do it, you can, Lana.”
She stood. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I guess I’d better get back to it. Take care, Mitch.”
A glance at his watch toldhim it was just after 1:00 p.m. He wanted to go downstairs, but a quick glance at Ross, who was on the phone at his desk, put paid to that idea. Mitch flipped the lid on the tin of gum and threw a few of the small squares into his mouth as he resigned himself to spending the next hour or so completing paperwork.
A couple of hours later, Mitch stood and stretched out the kinks in his back. Hegroaned at the instant relief to his tired muscles.
“Old man,” Ross commented under his breath as he walked past.
“Fuck you,” Mitch retorted but couldn’t keep the smile from his voice. He picked up his folders and followed Ross into the conference room, where a number of team members joined them. The briefing started immediately.
THEY DECIDEDto send Mitch in straightaway.
They had toget things moving, and since they couldn’t seem to get Pete alone, he needed to confront Pete while he was with Rocky. Catching up with Pete in Rocky’s presence meant going undercover. It wasn’t hard for Mitch to put on the clothes and appearance of a biker, particularly as he rode regularly and already owned the gear. He swapped out the dark suit and white shirt for a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt,and a well-worn leather jacket. Biker boots on his feet and a couple days’ growth on his face, and he fit the part perfectly. It was amazing how much wearing a suit could change the appearance of a person and how little was needed to give them a completely different background.
As far as establishing his cover, it didn’t take long to rent a run-down apartment using Mitch’s cover name, and toorganize false identification and critical supporting evidence of his new shady background. When the Soldiers of Fury did their digging, they’d find evidence of a man who lived on the wrong side of the law.
The main problem they faced was how Pete would react to seeing Mitch and whether he would blow his cover. But the consensus was, given Pete was most likely the person sending the anonymousnotes to the police, there was only a small chance he would let Rocky know Mitch was a cop.
There were a couple of things going in Mitch’s favor. Firstly Pete probably wouldn’t want it known he and Mitch had a history together, that they’d been intimate. Peter was also unlikely to raise his association with a police officer. It was guaranteed knowing one of the newest members of their club hadan active police officer as a personal friend wouldn’t go down well with Rocky.
Getting into Rocky’s home would be difficult. The sprawling house was situated overlooking the river, making the most of the water views. It was surrounded by high fences on the street side, and coming up with a reason to approach was difficult. Of course Mitch could go to the Fury Hotel and intentionally run intoRocky and Pete while they were at the pub. He could make it look coincidental, but that would not necessarily give him reason to have continued association with Pete. He could run into Pete at the pub and try to find a way to speak to him separately, then arrange to meet again elsewhere. But given that Pete and Rocky hadn’t been apart in days, there was no guarantee Pete would find the time to stepaway. There had been some brief times where Rocky went off to do his own thing, but the length of time was generally fairly short. Often it was Pete who drove Rocky from place to place when Rocky didn’t take his bike.
The final option was for Mitch to go to Rocky’s place of business. Rocky ran a bike shop with a retail showroom and a workshop out the back. Mitch could take his bike in for serviceor buy a new bike. Either way it gave him the opportunity to run into Pete and hopefully make a plan to catch up with him. And even if Mitch couldn’t meet Peter separately, there could be benefit in spending time in the company of him and Rocky. Mitch could be seen to have similar interests to the other members of the club and, if he played his cards right, could get an entry into the Soldiers’inner sanctum.
