Teagan wrinkled her nose. “Only as much as I have to. I’m not that impressed with him. I know what an actual leader is supposed to do, and Dutch King has only done one thing since we arrived in Red Rock that hints he’s the leader of an MC.”
Rayne nodded. “He refused to quit, even when he was past exhausted. He kept pushing forward until our session ended.”
Iona smiled. “Dutch got a huge second wind when he realized he’d kept up with us while his own people had given up and were lying flat on their backs.”
Elias narrowed his eyes as he studied Echo’s leader. “Wait a minute. Did you guys notice the pace was slower than normal?” he asked his teammates.
Noah gave a curt nod. “Now that you mention it, I didn’t sweat nearly as much as I usually do.”
“Why is that?” Andre asked. “Did you take it easy on the MC leader?”
Seth’s cheeks burned. “Maybe.”
The operatives laughed.
“I didn’t want him to look bad in front of his men.”
“Understandable.” Noah clapped him on the back.
“Does anyone have anything to add or ask before we move on to more research?”
This was her chance to brainstorm with everyone in one room. “I do.” When Seth stepped back and motioned for Iona to take center stage in the living room, she stepped into the circle of operatives. “We’ve been digging for hours into Dutch King’s background, or more accurately, trying to dig into his background. We’ve come up with zip. After all this work and effort, I’m wondering if we’ll ever find anything for an MC leader named Dutch King.”
“What do you mean?” Elias asked.
“What if Dutch King is an alias?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Think about it. An alias is the only thing that makes sense. We’re pretty good at research, but Riley rocks at it, and even she can’t find anything. We sent Zane after him, and he got nowhere. Nobody can hide from Z. The only answer that makes sense is he doesn’t exist.”
More silence, then Elias rubbed his jaw. “She’s right. How did we miss that?”
Seth squeezed Elias’ uninjured shoulder. “You’ve got a smart one there, buddy. Hang on to her.”
Elias’ gaze locked with hers. “That’s the plan.”
“Elias can congratulate himself later,” Andre said. “If this guy is working under an alias, how will we break it without resorting to a little clubhouse B & E in the middle of the night? I don’t fancy spending time in the hospital because I was stupid enough to encroach on another MC’s clubhouse which also houses their president. You know they’ll have their best guards on him and his Old Lady.”
“When you put it that way, we’d be idiots to attempt such a maneuver,” Grant said.
“I have an idea,” Riley said. “Might be nothing, but I’ll have to chase it a while before I can rule it out.”
“Do it,” Iona said. Riley’s hunches usually panned out. At the moment, they had nothing. The only thing they’d waste by chasing her hunch was a little time. They could afford that. With Riley’s track record, Iona would bet on her ideas any day of the week and come out the winner.
Riley hurried upstairs with Andre two steps behind as Seth turned to Iona. “That idea was brilliant.”
Her cheeks burned. “Thanks.” Took her long enough to come up with that bit of brilliance. She was glad Echo’s leader hadn’t paid attention to that part of the equation.
Seth shifted his attention to the remaining operatives. “Listen up, people. I don’t know how long it will take Riley to work her magic. While we wait, let’s see if we can find a location connected to King that could be used as a place to hold a sale of this magnitude. Run the same searches for Merriweather. Let’s see what we come up with before Riley is finished.”
They scattered in couples, with Iona and Elias working on their laptops at the breakfast bar. Thirty minutes into the search, Elias growled and pushed back from the counter.
“Problem?”
“This is pointless. I’m getting nowhere. King, or whatever his name used to be, doesn’t have any property to his name that I can find. The only thing Merriweather owned was his farm.”
“I’m getting nothing, too. Perhaps the others will stumble upon something that will help.”
