Page 19 of The Devil's Reward
Crypt looks over his shoulder at me and gives me a droll look. “Get right on that.” Then he keeps on walking as I chuckle behind him.
We walk out of the building, nodding at people along the way, until we make it to his truck. “You ready to say goodbye?” I ask him, giving him a sideways glance when he looks around.
He turns his head and gives me a blank stare. “Goodbye to what?”
I shrug. “Well, this is the last time you’re going to be on base. Big moment for you, isn’t it?”
His eyes are penetrating as he stares at me. “That what you did? Said goodbye before you left?”
Not like I had a chance, I think to myself. Instead of saying that, I roll my eyes. “Fine, you made your point. Let’s get out of here. I got some work for you to do before I take you to the clubhouse.”
As we head off base, with Crypt ahead of me in his truck and me on my bike, we head towards the office, and I try not to think too much about the place we just left. The last thing I need is more memories. I spent most of my night tossing and turning, trying to banish the memories that plagued me. Dreams bordering on nightmares.
Images of Sam and Quinn kept blurring together, and when I woke up, I was in a piss poor mood. Still, I brushed it off, because I have far too much to do today. Mostly getting Crypt set up. Viper is working with Syn on arranging the search tonight, and I want to make sure I’m around for it.
When we reach the office, I show Crypt around and then get him started filling out paperwork. He sits at the desk we had put in for him this morning, and quickly and efficiently completes the task, ignoring everything else around him. Though, the only other people in the office right now are Viper, myself, and Hulk, who is typing up a report on the other side of the room.
Hulk isn’t one for paperwork, and his scowl makes clear that he hates this part of the job. I definitely feel the same. I gave Rose my ad this morning, so hopefully we’ll get some suitable candidates. I’ll need to make sure they have clear background checks, but that shouldn’t be too hard. If Cryos is busy, Crypt can tag in. Good way to break him into the scene.
I head into my office, not even bothering to look behind me when Viper follows me in. I take my seat and look up at him expectantly, folding my hands over my stomach.
“We’re all set for tonight,” he tells me in a low voice. “You coming for that?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I reply softly. “Syn bringing both dogs?”
“She is, but she’s only going to deploy one at a time. She’ll have Loki start , and then have Ebony do the second half of the search.”
“You set up grids for them to work?” I ask curiously.
Viper pulls some paper from his back pocket and hands it to me. It’s a satellite image of the compound. Viper has already marked it, showing what is priority, and has drawn a line to indicate where the dogs should switch. We own a lot of land, but we’re only focusing close to the compound for now. Especially since most of the acreage is forested.
“We’re going to start here,” Viper explains, pointing at a spot closest to the fence by one of the outbuildings. “She’ll come from the fence side. That way, we don’t alert anyone. She’s going to walk over so we don’t arouse any suspicion with engine noise. If you’re going to be there, we’ll probably have to switch off working with her. One of us holds the dog that isn’t working, that kind of thing.”
I nod. “That’s fine. You want to work with her on the first part or the second?”
“I’ll take the first part. She also assured me that if the dogs find anything, their alert is to sit or lie down; they won’t bark.”
“Good, less chance of people waking up and spotting us,” I mutter, looking at the map again. “You marked which one is being used for Torque and Izzy’s project?”
“Shit, forgot about that one. I’ll mention that to Syn when I text her later. Torque will kill me if we scratch that car,” he chuckles.
I snort. “I think it’s Izzy who will kill you, brother. Torque told me she would gladly marry that car instead of him, so I’d say she’s the one you don’t want to piss off.”
“I’m sure I could charm my way out of it,” Viper smirks. I roll my eyes at him. “I have another copy, so you can keep this one. Mark which one is Torque and Izzy’s spot and I’ll do the same on mine. I’ll show Syn tonight when she arrives. Don’t want any electronic versions rolling around.”
I nod in agreement. If the mole is someone electronically inclined and tracking us there, we don’t want to tip them off. “Hopefully we hit paydirt tonight.”
Viper nods. “Syn said she can help again tomorrow if we need to sweep the clubhouse. If we do, she’ll bring in both dogs, and we’ll allow them to bark; it shouldn’t matter since no one will be around.”
“We figure out what to do about the cameras?” I ask him.
He glances at the doorway and then back at me. “I noticed the kill switch in Cryos’s space at the clubhouse earlier. I’ll turn them off from there. He’s going to be pissed, especially since it will probably mess up a bunch of his shit, but we’ll deal with it.”
I chuckle softly. “You sure he won’t just shoot us?” It’s an unspoken rule of the club that we touch nothing of Cryos’s. The man is fiercely protective of his gear. Still, I don’t give a shit, because if he is the mole, I’ll rip every damn wire out of every damn wall and strangle him with them. If he isn’t, Bullet can deal with the fallout. Perks of being President.
Viper shrugs. “If he does, we’ll see him coming.” Then he gives me a quick salute and heads out the door.
I try not to let my anxiousness and anticipation get the better of me. I need to keep a calm head. So, I put my head towards answering emails and filling out more dreaded paperwork. A new receptionist can’t come fast enough.
