Page 40 of The Devil's Reward
“Where are we on the mole problem?” Hammer asks bluntly. There’s a murmur around the room.
Nothing like starting Church with a bang, I think wryly.
“It seems our mole has gone into hiding now that he knows we’re on his trail,” Bullet replies mildly, but there’s no mistaking the anger in his piercing eyes. They sweep over everyone, missing nothing. “Could save ourselves a lot of trouble if someone would just come forward.”
Silence.
“Guess that’s our answer,” Sniper says mildly.
Bullet nods and moves on. “We got some more intel on possible locations for other businesses that Dmitri and his men are operating out of,” he says briskly, lips pulled down into a grim frown. He nods at Cryos, who opens up a map of the downtown core on the screen.
“There’s a possibility that he’s operating out of one of these businesses,” Cryos explains, a red circle forming around the areas of interest we gave Bullet earlier. “I’ve started running them, but so far nothing.”
“Any of them have any clear ties to Russian heritage?” Sniper asks. “That’s how we figured out the deal with the auto shop.”
“Nothing yet,” Cryos replies.
I look at the map critically. Most of them are bars and restaurants, some shops, and a few office buildings. “I doubt it’s the office buildings. They wouldn’t need to move product through buildings that large unless they’re packing or processing plants,” I say thoughtfully.
“Could be they’re using them for laundering money and not actual drugs or weapons,” Stone suggests, jaw clenched.
“What kind of office buildings are they? Any empty?” Viper asks, leaning forward.
“There’s a couple of empty units on the top floors in the new complex that was built a few months ago,” Cryos answers after searching.
“Too new,” King says with a shake of his head. “Dmitri and his goons have been here for years, they’re in an established business, not something new and fancy. ”
“What about the restaurants?” I ask. “Some of them could have ties to someone of Russian descent.”
“There are a couple that could be possibilities, but they’re Italian, not Russian,” Cryos says slowly, fingers clicking away on the keys.
“The garage was made out to be Italian,” Torque says, straightening in his seat. “What if we’re looking for Italian, not Russian places? If shit goes down, people might blame the Italians.”
“There are no Italian mobsters in town,” Bowie says quietly.
“That we know about,” Viper says grimly. Bowie gives him a quick nod.
“Still, you have a point,” Cryos says, brow pulling down as his fingers fly across his keyboard. “I’ll start running a search for Italian run businesses in that area.”
“I still think it’s not all going through a business,” I say quietly. “No way he doesn’t have a place to hide their product until they’re ready for it.”
“Especially if they’re dealing in people,” Hammer remarks grimly. “Back before we were legit, the club was in talks about moving people. Deal was we would hold them in a barn on the other side of town before someone would pick them up and take them to the next stop.”
Bullet’s eyes go flinty. “If they’re doing that in our town, I will burn it to the ground,” he vows furiously. The power in his voice stirs the room, and we all straighten in our seats.
“Do either of you remember any of the old hideouts?” Viper asks Bullet and Hammer. “If you do, we can start there,” he suggests.
Both men exchange a glance. “I only know of one,” Bullet says grimly. “Bull was the only one that knew all of them, and he wouldn’t have written it down.”
Hammer nods. “We weren’t part of his inner circle, so we weren’t privy to the important shit.” He huffs out a sigh. “Fucker probably took those secrets to the grave.”
“It’s still a starting point,” I say. “Move on if we don’t find anything. But we all know they’re here, and they’re operating under our noses. Time to turn up the heat.”
A chorus of agreement sounds around the table. Bullet waits until everyone settles and finally says, “I agree we need to start somewhere, and that sounds as good of a plan as any unless anyone has any objections?” When none are voiced, he nods and says, “Alright, that’s what we’ll do, starting tomorrow. Now, on to the businesses. Viper?”
Viper launches into his treasury report, and I listen with only half an ear. Instead, I allow myself to watch my brothers. All appear to be listening to what Viper is saying, but we’ve told our mole some important information. If there is anything hidden out in those places, he’ll be telling Dmitri soon enough, and he’ll be moving stuff quickly.
Which means we need to get ahead of him. And I plan on doing everything that I can to make sure we do.
