“I’m on it, Jinx. If it’s on a wireless network, I’ll find it.” There’s a long pause before he speaks again. “I got it. Say when and I’ll cut the power.”
“Not yet,” Jasper says. “When we’re inside.”
Slate picks the lock and within moments the door gives under his gentle push. And just like that, we’re in.
The ground floor of the building is pretty much what I thought it would be, which is one big storage room. This looks like it may have been a mixed-use business at one time that they’ve repurposed as a warehouse. It’s full of boxes, bike parts and more fuckin’ drones. These guys are drone-making fools.
I stop at a long workbench, pick through some parts and have a bit of an epiphany. I gesture for Jasper to come and show him how there are boxes and instructions written in Spanish. “They’re building them for a buyer,” I whisper.
Slate speaks up. “It looks like they have a side gig, selling drones to their cartel buddies.”
Onyx runs his hand over one of the drones. “This changes everything. Running a chop shop is one thing,” he says quietly. “But making and selling drones will make their club real money.”
We all realize this is why Coal wanted to solidify that cartel alliance so badly. His club stands to make bank on selling tech, enough to make selling his only daughter worth the sacrifice. The realization of what it took for a man to sell his own kid makes me sick to my stomach. I hope and pray that I’m never that blinded by greed.
We move towards the stairs. The area smells of piss, and I wonder if the disgusting fuckers use the stairwell as a fucking toilet. Then I see a door to what I assume is the restroom, with asliver of light at the bottom. I gesture for the others to stay still and wait for the person bungling around inside to come out.
About three minutes later, a Hyena steps out, looking refreshed and relaxed. For one second, he freezes when he sees us. Then he opens his big, fat mouth and raises the alarm before any of us can shut him up.
I yell into my mic, “Striker, kill the gennie!” I bark, and the world drops into black.
Every light in the building dies at once, including the floodlights outside. We’re all thrown into absolute darkness. That half second of blindness belongs to me alone, because I knew it was coming and they didn’t.
By my reasoning, this will minimize our risk. The Hyenas can’t shoot what they can’t see and they’re not gonna start shooting off their weapons without risking killing each other. Besides, we already know where everything in this room is. I start moving immediately, taking down the yelling Hyena with a forearm across the throat. I step over his gasping body to look for my old lady. Nothing and nobody is going to keep me from finding my old lady tonight.
Hyenas seem to materialize out of nowhere. Brothers and enemies brawl among the boxes, clumsily knocking parts all over the place. One of the Hyenas becomes airborne and almost smashes into me before hitting the wall with a sickening thud. Merc passes me, slams one hand into my back, and says, “Sorry about that, brother.”
Onyx and Jasper come up on either side of me, and we make our way upstairs. All I can do is keep pressing forwarduntil I find her. I have a gut feeling that she’s being kept under lock and key.
We run into a Hyena patrolling the hall upstairs. I can see him at the end of the hallway, a shadowy figure silhouetted by moonlight shining through a large window. When his hand comes up, I see the glint of metal and realize it’s a gun. Instead of drawing down on him, I pull out a knife and throw it straight and true. It doesn’t end up sticking in his chest, like in the movies, but it leaves him cursing and distracted long enough for me to run down the hallway at full speed and tackle him to the ground.
Onyx drops down onto one knee, and we zip tie his hands behind his back. Up close, with the moonlight shining through the window, I can see my knife sticking out of his thigh. I wrap my hand around the handle and jerk it free from his leg. When he groans, I whisper, “Sorry, this is my favorite blade.” Then I plant my hand over his face and shove him away as I get to my knees.
There are three doors on the second floor. Two are standing open, empty and dark. The third is closed. Jasper tries the handle and finds it locked. Onyx and I hustle over to the locked door.
I call out, “Nora, are you in there?”
There’s a muffled sound and she screams, “Run, Jinx. Run!”
Of course I don’t run. Instead, I hit the door with my shoulder. It’s made of oak and it takes all three of us to kick the door in. When the door flies open, I see two men standing in the room. Nora’s sitting on the edge of a sofa. Anger rolls through me when I realize they took my property cut from her.
I step into the room with my head tilted down slightly and my knife still dripping from that Hyena’s blood. “You’d best let her come to me because I’m not fuckin’ leaving without her.”
The older one steps forward. It’s Stripe. “Just because you slapped a property cut on her back and a baby in her belly don’t make her yours, Rager.”
Shit. He knows.
“Jinx!” Nora calls out my name and reaches for me.
“Let her pick, Stripe,” I say reasonably. “If she picks you, I’ll leave. If she picks me, I’ll pry her from your cold, dead hands. How does that sound?”
“Like bullshit and you know it,” Stripe flings back, pointing at me with the tip of his hunting knife. “She’s mine and you need to understand you’re starting a club war over this.”
“Don’t lie, old man. We were at war with the Hyenas a long time before your club princess became my old lady.”
His voice drops to a low rumble. “Think about what you’re doing, Rager.”
Instead of continuing the conversation with Stripe, I look directly at Nora. “Step back and find cover, darlin’. This is gonna get ugly real fuckin’ fast.”
