Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Blaze stood near the bar, arms folded, a glass of whiskey in hand, wearing an easy expression. Tomcat had parked himself in one of the oversized armchairs, leg bent, his ankle propped on the other knee. He and Rebel were engaged in a conversation that had them both smirking. Ace was pacing slowly at the back of the room, his brows furrowed as he tapped on his tablet.
Cruze was sprawled on the couch playing with the locking mechanism for a safe like it was a Rubik's Cube. As one of our enforcers, he was the one leading the breach tonight. Before he’d patched with the Hounds, he’d been a ghost—one of the most elusive thieves in the world. His identity was never confirmed, though, and his alias was still whispered with awe in certain circles. Now, he used those skills for the club. Mostly.
Wizard was seated at the head of the conference table, his laptop open and the screen angled toward him. I stood behind him, my arms crossed, spine straight, and my whole focus locked on the screen.
We weren’t planning a takedown. Not yet. This run was about intelligence gathering. Strategy. The kind of precision work that made sure we didn’t get sloppy—or dead.
I pointed at something on Wizard’s computer, and he nodded, then tapped the table once to get everyone’s attention. “All right. We finally pinned it.”
He’d connected his laptop to the flatscreen in the office, so he was able to throw the image up on the screen. It showed a squat, concrete building on the outskirts of Riverstone, half hidden behind chain-link fencing and scrubby trees. At first glance, it looked dull and forgettable.
I took the chair next to Wizard as he went on to explain.
“That is officially listed as a municipal utilities depot. Water pressure regulation, electrical redundancy, and emergency infrastructure storage. That kind of shit.”
Ace snorted quietly. “And unofficially?”
Wizard’s mouth curved into a humorless smile. “A major pipeline node. Storage, staging, and redistribution. Clean paperwork, but a dirty purpose.”
My jaw tightened as I studied the image Wizard had shown me this morning. I’d driven past that building more times than I could count. We all had. The idea that it had been sitting there the whole time, quietly feeding something rotten into our territory, made my blood burn.
Blaze pushed off the wall. “You’re sure?”
Wizard didn’t respond, just shot him a glare that would have made a lesser man wet his pants.
Blaze held up his hands in surrender and chuckled. “Stupid question.”
“Damn straight,” Wizard grumbled, turning his attention back to his screen.
“Security?” Cruze asked. I’d never seen him rattled by anything. It was gonna be fun watching him lose control when he met the right woman.
Wizard tapped the corner of his screen, switching to a schematic of the warehouse compound. “Front-facing business looks like the typical utilities depot, but that’s smoke. Security is layered. Heat sensors along the fence line, infrared-triggered floodlights, and rotating digital locks on both entry points. No exterior signage. No traffic in or out unless it’s controlled.”
He zoomed in, highlighting camera placements across the perimeter. “Twelve high-res cams with thermal, all patched to a remote loop. Facial recognition on gate access. The night crew rotates every three nights—same faces, different order. They run a four-man rotation from eleven to five, plus an off-site response team on standby two miles out.”
Cruze muttered, “Efficient but not subtle.”
“Exactly,” Wizard agreed. “They want it quiet, but if it goes loud, they’re ready to bury the problem and bleach the floor.”
Cruze leaned forward, his fingers steepled as he studied the map. “Don’t need to go loud. You slip the IR with a blackout field, time the patrol shift on a soft loop, and crack the gate sync with a cloned badge. From there, it’s just a matter of not breathing too loud.”
“Money trail checks out, too,” Ace added. “Payments routed through three shell accounts, then buried under public works contracts. It’s clean enough that no auditor would blink unless they already knew where to look.”
King had been silent through all of it. Watching, listening, and weighing. When he finally spoke, the room went still.
“Let’s get this done. I want to know what the fuck we’re dealing with so we can shut it down.”
“Dunbar?” Rebel asked, sensing there was more to King’s statement.
“All of it. But we’ll start with the motherfucker poisoning our territory.”
“When?” Tomcat asked.
Wizard glanced at me before answering. “Three a.m.”
I nodded.
“Maren gets off shift at two,” Wizard added. “I want her back here before we move.”
King’s gaze cut to me, sharp and assessing. “You staying put with her until then?”
“Of course,” I replied evenly.
“This is a recon-first operation,” Blaze stated. “We get eyes inside, confirm contents, tag anything that needs tracking, and get out. We’re not burning it down tonight.”
Tomcat cocked his head, deadpan. “Guess that’s why you’re not coming along.”