The Blackthorn Rider’s eyes glittered with fury. Although he said nothing as he dropped the key on Seth’s palm, he made his feelings quite clear. He stalked back to his bike, revved the engine again, and took off, leaving a plume of dust behind him.
As soon as he was out of sight, Seth signaled to Echo and Artemis to clear the cabin in pairs.
Smart. Chances were excellent that Dutch had his men install cameras and bugs throughout the cabin to see what the operatives were up to. Elias grabbed his electronic signal detector and glanced at Noah, who was handing out the assignments so they wouldn’t waste time checking rooms more than once.
When it was their turn to receive an assignment, Echo’s second in command whispered, “Second floor, first two rooms on the right. Bring everything you find to the kitchen.”
Iona walked with Elias up the stairs. They opened the door to the first room, and Elias got to work with his signal detector. By the time he and Iona finished with that room, they had removed two bugs and two cameras.
Fury knotted Elias’ stomach. Talk about an invasion of privacy. This room was a bedroom. He supposed Dutch or one of his cronies was hoping to listen in on some interesting pillow talk. Too bad for them that Fortress trained its operatives to be paranoid enough to sweep their dwellings.
Elias found an extra pillowcase and dumped the unwanted electronics into it. They went next to their second assigned room and discovered two more bugs and two cameras in this bedroom as well. The Blackthorn technicians hadn’t bothered to find different hiding places for the electronics. Lazy men, just like the Reckoners. Good for Fortress. Bad for the MC leadership.
Would they continue to be lazy? That was the question of the day. When the operatives dumped the destroyed pieces of electronics they’d collected, would Blackthorn tighten up?
Elias had also noted that the cabin didn’t have an alarm system, so they’d have to rig up an early warning system for themselves in case Blackthorn made a move.
He signaled Iona to head downstairs while he checked the two rooms again to be sure the detector had picked up everything. She nodded and slipped out of the room.
Once more, Elias turned on the signal detector and swept each room. Nothing. He turned off the gadget and slid it into his pocket, breathing easier. At least he didn’t have to worry about saying something that tipped off Blackthorn that Elias and the others were a lot more than what they claimed to be.
Elias walked out into the hall and closed the door behind him before he descended the stairs and joined Iona in the kitchen with the bag of electronics. He upended the pillowcase and dumped the contents of the bag onto the kitchen table, where they joined other bugs and cameras from various places in the cabin.
Seth scowled. “Destroy the cameras. Dump the bugs into a glass of water.”
Gladly. Knowing someone was spying on them made his skin crawl.
He and the rest of his teammates stomped on the cameras with their tactical boots while the women gathered the listening devices and poured them into a glass of water.
“What are we going to do with this mess?” Andre motioned to the crushed cameras and the bugs.
“Deliver them to Dutch. We’ll have to check the cabin every time we leave and return. I’m betting the key I have isn’t the only one.”
Grant snorted. “I wouldn’t bet against you. We’ve already ticked bikers off. This pile of junk won’t win us any friends.”
Andre wrapped his arm around Riley’s waist. “And what’s this crap about Blackthorn taking our wives?”
Seth looked at Elias. “Your take on it?”
He frowned. “Things typically don’t work that way in an MC. The wives and girlfriends of full-patch members are treated with respect and protected from all threats, both inside and outside the club. The only club I’ve ever known to act as though Old Ladies are the spoils of war is the Reckoners. Dad wanted his pick of women, so he invented a new rule for his club.”
Noah rubbed his jaw. “Your father sounds like a man setting himself up as king.”
“That’s an excellent description because he views himself as the top dog in his world. Either you bow to his wishes or you pay the price.”
“Including you?” Violet looked horrified.
He nodded. No need to deny it. These operatives were his friends, and they’d go to the wall for him just as he would do for them.
“Do you think Blackthorn’s view of the wives and girlfriends has been influenced by the Reckoners?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Like calls to like. I think Blackthorn is as corrupt and perverted as the Reckoners. Why else would they seek to associate themselves with my father and his crew?”
Teagan scowled. “How sure are we that the Reckoners won’t make an appearance during this operation?”
Seth’s mouth curved upward. “The FBI assured Maddox that they were 90% confident the Reckoners wouldn’t come here.”
“Got news for you, baby. That doesn’t make me feel better.”
