“Drive safe. I won’t be home in time for dinner. So head over to the clubhouse or one of your friends. Just call and let me know where you go.”
“Will do. Love you, Dad. Bye, Maddox.” He rushes out.
“That kid knows something.”
“Without a doubt.” Something he doesn’t want to share with me. Or is it Maddox? I’ll ask Creed again tomorrow. “I’ve got to head to the clubhouse. Want to come? You’re welcome to stay here and wait for Mindy.”
“Let me see how long she’s going to be.” Maddox picks up his phone and a second later says, “Let’s go over the plan again. They’re just settling in for the day.”
What could those women possibly have to talk about?
***
The waiting is going to kill me. Six brothers and a half dozen of Maddox’s guys are staged with us at a warehouse two blocks away from the club where Ryot is working.
“Someone said you needed my help.” Everett saunters in with a laptop bag on his shoulder and Max Rage behind him, glaring.
“Glad you could make it.” Maddox stands up. “We were hoping you could get us eyes inside the drug deal. We have kids in there, and we’re flying blind right now.”
“It wasn’t safe setting any up. They might own the club.” Fly steps forward. He’s coordinating tonight’s OP as much as possible. “We definitely know they have dealers inside.”
“It’s a good thing we don’t need to install cameras. We’re going to use the ones they already have.” Everett sits down and starts setting up.
Max joins us instead of sitting by his side.
“Is the kid really that good?” I whisper to him.
“This is child’s play for him.” Max leans back. “I just came in case there was someone I could hit. Fiona is driving me nuts.”
“What’s new? That’s what women do.” Maddox starts to relax. “Sometimes I think it’s a game. Mindy drives me out of my mind one day. The next day, she’s the sweetest ever. What is Fiona doing?”
“She keeps waffling about when to get married. I plan to ask her soon, but I don’t want to wait. So if she started planning with my family, that would help.”
“Don’t even talk about getting married.” Maddox pulls a box out of his pocket. “Aren’t we the ones who are supposed to be afraid of commitment?” He flips it open, revealing three rings that all came together to form one. Two snakes wind around a central stone. One of the snakes is black. The other purple. They’re each made of dozens of stones.
Creepy.
Creative.
Perfect for the two of them.
“We’re in,” Everett announces.
“Are you sure this can’t be traced?” Fly moves in front of the screens to get a better look.
“Not a chance. A five-year-old could have hacked their system without them knowing.” Everett flips through images until Ryot is up on one side of the screen, with the others focusing on the ‘kids’ Maddox sent in. They’re all Adder prospects and in their early twenties, which is perfect for college students.
“If things go sideways, the guys are able to defend themselves, right?” There are a lot of moving pieces on this small OP.
“Yeah, they’ve all been training for over five years. We were careful about who we picked for just that reason. Two of them have been out of the country, which means there’s no way anyone would tie them to us. Your guy is safe.”
I want to believe Maddox, but nothing has gone smoothly with this group.
***
Two long hours and three cups of coffee later, Everett shouts, “Ryot was just handed a bag of pills. Pulling the guy up on facial recognition to see if I get any hits on the police or FBI database.”
Everett can do that? I glance over at Max, who’s moved over to the ring surrounding Everett. He doesn’t look at all worried.
