The searches pull patterns but no clear answers. Public records show multiple ex-military contractors working the gun show circuit across the Pacific Northwest. Several with other-than-honorable discharges, forced out for violations ranging from theft to unauthorized weapons modifications. Any of them could have the skills and motivation to run a sophisticated setup operation.
Cross-referencing names with news coverage of Monroe's UC case gets more interesting. Several contractors appear in articles about the Devils MC takedown in Nevada. Could be coincidence. Could be someone with a grudge against the agent who took down their business connections.
I make notes, compile files, but nothing's conclusive enough to take to Monroe yet. Just patterns. Concerning patterns, but not proof.
What I do know: whoever's doing this has operational knowledge of our systems, practiced execution skills, and escalating aggression. The ghost orders were careful, calculated. The pattern suggests someone getting worried, making riskier moves.
Worried people make mistakes. I just need to be ready to catch them when they do.
I'm saving the research files when the security alert sounds. New camera feed, the one covering the back approach to The Forge. Motion detected.
I pull up the footage. A figure moving through shadows, avoiding the old camera positions with practiced ease. But the new feed catches them. Just for a moment, just enough to see the build, the movement pattern, the spatial awareness.
Operator-level. Military training, combat experience. Moves like someone who's worked hostile territory. Professional enough to avoid our old cameras, not good enough to know about tonight's upgrades.
This isn't a local gun runner. Not amateur vandalism or random crime. This is someone with serious training who just made their first mistake.
I capture stills from the footage, enhance the images. Can't get a clear face, but I can see enough of the build and movement to know this is expert-level work. Someone targeting The Forge specifically.
I grab my phone, text Will:
Security breach at The Forge. Operator-level threat. Sending footage.
His response comes back immediately:
On my way. Don't engage alone.
I'm already moving toward my truck, laptop tucked under my arm. The Forge is private Brotherhood property, but it's also home to a community that depends on safety and discretion. Someone targeting it isn't just threatening the club. They're threatening people who trust us to protect them.
That crosses a line I won't tolerate.
The drive to The Forge takes minutes. Long enough for Will to arrive from the opposite direction, his bike pulling up as I'm reviewing the security footage one more time.
"Show me," Will says, no preamble.
I pull up the enhanced stills. "Professional. Knows standard security patterns, avoided old cameras, got caught on new feed I installed tonight. Movement patterns say serious military training. Combat experience. Someone who's comfortable operating at night in hostile territory."
Will studies the images. "Related to the gun running setup?"
"Has to be. Too coincidental otherwise. Someone frames us for weapons trafficking, now they're trying to access The Forge." I close the laptop. "Escalation pattern. They're not just setting us up anymore. They're actively targeting Brotherhood property."
"We calling the cops?"
"And explain what? That someone tried to break into our private BDSM club?" I shake my head. "We handle this ourselves. Figure out who they are, what they want, stop them before it gets worse."
Will nods. Understands the calculation. Involving local law enforcement means exposing The Forge to scrutiny we can't afford. Means questions about the club, the members, the activities. Means destroying the privacy that makes the space work.
"I'll put Nash and Tate on rotation. Round the clock security until we know what we're dealing with." Will pulls out his phone. "You focus on finding who sent them."
I pull up the property schematics on my laptop, start mapping defensive positions. Watch the empty space where the figure disappeared into shadows. Operator-level skills, sophisticated setup, escalating aggression. Someone with resources and motivation.
Someone who just graduated from framing us to actively threatening our people.
That's a different kind of problem. One I'm equipped to solve.
5
SHELBY
