Page 28 of The Devil's Reward
“I doubt our mole bought it himself,” King mutters. “Probably got it from Dmitri or one of his goons.”
“Probably, but if we can trace it back to them, then it’s possible we could find a path to our mole,” Viper points out.
“Do we have any ideas about who it might be?” Stone asks, glancing at Viper and I.
I shake my head. “It’s still too early to speculate. Not with so many possibilities.”
“Can we eliminate anyone besides ourselves and Sniper?” Bullet asks.
“Still too early for that too,” Viper replies grimly. “I hoped that Syn’s dogs would find something, which they did, but all it did was send us in circles.”
We’re all quiet for a moment. Finally, Bullet sighs and says, “Alright, well, let’s head back to the clubhouse. I don’t like being away from it for too long. We’ll start raising suspicion otherwise. Best to stagger ourselves back, though, so we don’t all arrive at the same time. I’m going to put some thought into our next move and then I’ll call Church.”
“The brothers are going to have some questions,” Stone points out. “I’ve heard a few mutterings and questions about why we haven’t discussed our mole much in the past few days.”
Bullet gives a curt nod. “They will, but I don’t give a shit about what they want or feel. One of them is undermining our club, and we need to figure out who and take them out. Make sure that every other brother sees the example we make of them. We’re a brotherhood, and we have each other’s backs. Shouldn’t ever be a time that we ever have to worry who’s behind us.”
We all voice our agreement at his words. “We also need to focus again on where Dmitri and his men are running their businesses, and how the hell they’re staying off the radar so well,” I remind them. “It’s one thing to track down the mole, but we have another enemy behind him. We need to cut him off before they’re so entrenched in our town we’ll never get them out.”
“I’m going to check on some snitches,” Viper says. “See if any of them have reconsidered about talking to us.” He cracks his knuckles for effect. I smirk.
“I’ll come with you,” I offer. “I doubt there will be much, but I also have a few sources we could tap.”
“I’ll have Cryos do another search on possible Russian and Italian run businesses, and any new names in town,” Bullet says thoughtfully. Then he grins slowly. “After he’s done plotting his revenge on your asses. I’d be watching your backs if I were you two. He’s damn creative.” He eyes both Viper and I.
Viper snickers. “We’ll see you back at the clubhouse.”
Everyone disperses, while Viper and I hang back in my office. Better for us all not to be seen leaving the building at once. I blocked some cameras and turned off others, but Cryos will have them back on in no time.
Once they’re gone, Viper looks at me and asks, “Who do we want to visit first?”
“I say we visit Louie,” I reply after a moment, grabbing my gun out of the locked drawer in my desk and tucking it into the back of my waistband. “This time of day, he’s usually not drunk yet. He’ll be looking for some cash to grab his next bottle from the store.”
“And his spot is close to Volos Garage,” Viper adds, cluing in to my train of thought. “Might as well see what we can find out from the Russians-turned-Italians, I suppose.”
We make our way out of the office, locking up the building behind us before we straddle our bikes and head towards the edge of the uptown core. It’s early evening, so there is still some decent traffic, but definitely not as much as during the daylight hours.
We make it in record time, parking our bikes down the road from the garage, and head off in the opposite direction. If anyone is watching, we don’t want them thinking we’re snooping around. Instead, we head for the alleyway Louie likes to frequent. It’s our lucky night when he lifts his head from where he’s sitting beside the dumpster between two buildings.
I’d put him in his late fifties, with stringy grey hair that hasn’t been washed in a few weeks. His clothes are dirty and full of holes. His eyes are glassy, but still clear enough that I know he’s not quite to the drunk and belligerent stage. His entire body straightens to attention when he sees us and he gets to his feet, though he’s not quite steady enough to do it without leaning on the dumpster for support.
“How’s it goin’, boys?” he drawls at us, showing us a mouth with a fewer teeth than the last time I saw him. “Long time no see. You got somethin’ ‘or me?”
Viper leans against the brick of the building to our left, perched not too far away from the opening of the alley, but enough to keep someone from coming in or out while we talk to Louie. He crosses his arms over his chest and levels Louie with a cool stare. Not that Louie is affected, since he never loses his smile.
“That depends, Louie,” I tell him easily. “What do you have for me?”
He scrunches his brows together in thought. “Hmmm, well let’s see,” he replies slowly. “Uh, that old son of a bitch on the corner down the way is always taking my place. Fucker. He knows that’s my spot. I’m going to kick his ass. You just wait and see. Oh, and that whore that works the next street over got offed by a John. Dumb bitch. Told her. I told her you don’t do shit without the money up front, but she didn’t lis’en. Told me to fuck off. Well, he showed her.” He cackles and I bite back a sigh.
“Louie, I don’t give a shit about street drama. I want to know if you’ve seen anyone hanging around and doing things they shouldn’t,” I tell him patiently. There’s no point in getting pissed at him, because he’ll only clam up and refuse to talk. Even with a bribe.
“Ooooh,” he drawls. He looks both ways down the alley, like he expects someone to overhear. “Yeah, I saw somethin’. Some big bastard strutting around like he’s cock of the walk. Fucker. Gave some guy something in a bag down by the garage. Pretty bag too. Like one of ‘dem girlie ones. Thought it was for some kid or somethin’ but then he opened the bag and I saw a bunch of white shit inside.”
I glance back at Viper at this information, but he gives nothing away. “Did they see you, Louie?” I ask.
He shakes his head hard, almost tipping himself over. “Nuh-uh, I’m sneaky.” He giggles. “I was by the wall and just slunk down the alley when they turned around. Never saw me. I’m real good at hidin’ when I don’t wanna be found.”
“That’s good, Louie,” I assure him. “Do you know what they looked like?”
