Hell Fire Riders MC: The Complete MC Series, page 52
“Well, damn it, what do you want me to do?” Kenn looked frustrated.
“I want you to run down the players. I want you to find out if any of them have taken a flight or are going to take a flight in the last few weeks. We don’t have much time to figure this out. Use only people you know you can trust.”
“Okay,” Kenn said.
“And pick her up but don’t try and talk to her yet. Let her sit a while. Right now, all we have are suppositions, we can’t connect her to the plot yet, but we can take her out of the loop,” Michael turned to watch Kenn leave then began hitting the keys on his keyboard. He would start with Jasmine and see what he could find.
Half an hour later, he clicked on the name Terri Colten. She had three separate residences listed. Two were residential and one was a warehouse near the harbor. Michael sat and thought for a moment. An out of the way warehouse might be just what he was looking for. While he sat there, he heard Micah’s door open and his soft footsteps coming toward him. He turned and watched Micah viewing the photos and reports on the wall. He frowned when Micah hissed at the emblem of the Viper Crew.
Micah came over to where he was sitting and sat down beside him. Michael searched his face. “You seem troubled, my friend.”
Micah turned his head and nodded at the triangle with the Viper figure inside. “Are these the demons you hunt?”
“Yes, they are.” Michael continued to watch Micah for a moment. “We think we have uncovered what they want to do but we don’t know who they all are yet.”
Micah nodded his head and then turned to stare at the triangle again. “They murdered my son.”
Michael sat up in his chair. “How do you know that?”
“Soon after Davey died, I went on a Dream Quest. I had to know for myself that my son was okay. The Dream Quest allowed me to see and speak to my son over on the other side.”
Michael thought about what he was saying. There were many things about the Native Americans he didn’t know about. Micah and Davey were Sioux Indians and they believed in the old ways. “What did Davey tell you in this Dream Quest?”
“Davey told me you would understand about our ways,” Micah replied. “He told me he was okay with dying. His pain with living was gone now and his mother was there to take him over into the Spirit world.” Micah shook his head. “It’s been just the two of us for so long I almost forgot she would be there for him. Davey showed me the sign of the man that killed him. He drew a triangle with the reaper inside. He said to tell you he had uncovered evidence they would murder many people but they had much work to do first. He said you would find his research in the files.”
Michael couldn’t believe what Micah was saying. “Davey knew about the Viper Crew?”
Micah nodded. “He said he’d been on their trail for months. He told me he hadn’t told anyone what he was doing and that led to his death.”
“Did he tell you why he never told anyone he was searching for these people?”
“He didn’t have the proof of what they were doing, not yet anyway. He said no one would believe him without knowing what they were up to.” Micah paused then asked, “Do you believe him?”
“Yes, Micah, I do. These people had been planning something big for a long time and now they have all the pieces in place.”
“Do you know what they plan to do?”
“Yes, we know what they are planning. We just don’t have all the details yet.”
“What can I do to help you?”
“Actually, I need a ride. I want to check out a warehouse. I’m looking for a hitman and I think he lives there.”
Micah stood. “Then let’s go check out this warehouse.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a set of truck keys. “My truck may not look like much but it will get us from point A to point B.”
A few minutes later, they pulled over and watched the building on the other side of the street. The building itself seemed old and tired. The windows were blackened out and the paint on the outer walls looked faded. There was little traffic on the street and no one was in sight. The only other vehicle on the street was a dark green sedan.
Micah and Michael sat there watching the warehouse for a few more minutes. Michael was about to reach for the handle on his door when a small door of the warehouse opened.
The man he knew as Jethro came out of the building. He glanced around but didn’t see Micah’s truck or Micah and Michael sitting there.
They watched as Jethro locked the door behind him and walked down the street to a dark green sedan.
Michael turned to Micah. “I want you to follow that guy. Try not to be obvious but don’t lose sight of him. I just need you to do is find out where he goes. Call me in half an hour. Don’t try to take him down on your own. All I need to know is where he’s going.”
Michael waited until Jethro started his car to get out of the truck. When he saw Micah take off after Jethro, he crossed the street and checked out the door Jethro had just come out of. The lock he secured the door with was a common padlock and Michael had no problem unlocking it. The door squeaked loudly as it opened under his hand. As he stepped through the portal, he checked the neighborhood again. Pulling the door shut behind him, he paused as his eyes adjusted to the dimness of the interior.
The main floor of the warehouse was an open design. Steel pillars held up the second floor. The windows were smeared with something to block out the light and to obscure anyone from peeking inside. There was some furniture but whatever it was, was covered by oversized tarps. The tarps were covered in dust.
Michael began searching the lower level by keeping his back to the outside of the room. His gun was drawn as he searched the room. When he came to a door, he tried the handle and when it turned under his hand, he ducked quietly into a second room. This room seemed tidy and clean. He saw a table with a computer set up and a phone/fax machine. He also noted another door on the other side of the room. Carefully making his way to the other door, he opened it.
His eyes moved swiftly over the room but didn’t find anything out of order. The room was small, possibly eight feet by twelve feet. There was a long counter along one side of the room. He put a call in to Kenn and explained where he was.
“I’ve been waiting for you. We brought in Jasmine but she isn’t talking,” Kenn updated him.
“That’s okay, when Micah and I got here we found Jethro just leaving. Micah followed him and I broke in here. I told Micah to just follow him, not engage him. Davey Little Wolf died six months before these bastards murdered my wife and daughter. He was killed by this same group we’re hunting now.”
“How do you know that?”
“Micah saw the emblem and he told me Davey was collecting evidence against this group when he was murdered. Micah said there is evidence in Davey’s files.”
“Have you seen it?”
“No, not yet.”
“One step at a time,” Kenn said. “Gather whatever you can find there and see what it means. Where is Jethro now?”
“Let me call Micah and find out. I’ll call you right back.” A few minutes later, he returned his call and told him, “Micah followed him back to one of Jasmine’s houses. He said shortly after Jethro arrived, two more men arrived and then all three of them took off and went to a private residence on Independence Ave.”
“Does he know the other men?” Kenn asked.
“He sent a photo. It was Alex Daniels and Waylon Jefferies.”
“Okay, that ties both Jethro and Jasmine to the Viper Crew. Now we have to start tying up the rest of the loose ends. I gave the job of finding out if our players had taken any flights recently and you were right on the mark with that idea. Alex Daniels, Waylon Jefferies, Drew and Nick Carrington have all just returned from big cities. Jefferies and Nick have more trips in the next few days.”
Harper got on the line, “Carla is badly beaten but will recover. She’s resting right now.”
“That is wonderful news,” Michael replied to Harper then he had to ask Kenn, “Are there any more traitors working in your office?”
“God, I hope not.”
Michael’s hands clenched into fists. “I’m going to go back to the warehouse and find out what Davey knew about this group. We have to finish this ASAP.”
Kenn agreed. “I would feel better if you would start wearing a vest too. You need to be careful out there. They know you’re in town and they might be looking for you.”
“Good, let them come for me. The way I’m feeling right now, they don’t stand a chance.” Michael hung up
Chapter Thirteen
“What else does your program say about Jethro?” Kenn asked a short time later. He’d come over to get his information firsthand.
Michael turned back to the readout. “Not much, he’s very good about not letting out too much information. Even his warehouse was clean.”
“Well, let me know if you find him. Are you guys going to be okay here, alone?” Kenn asked.
Michael smiled. “We’re not alone. Micah is here.”
“I forgot about him. Good luck in your search. I hope you can find him in time.”
Michael turned to watch Kenn leave.
Micah was already back and joined Judson to look over the papers Michael brought back with him.
“When this is over I want you to tell me how Davey died,” Michael told him.
“I’ll tell you right now. It might give you the energy to end this group.” Micah put his arm around Michael’s shoulder. “The bastards cut my son fifty-seven times. They left him in the streets to die. They dumped him out of moving car and just drove away. I couldn’t get to him in time to even say goodbye. He bled out before I could get to him.”
Michael closed his eyes at the sound of pain in Micah’s voice. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Now was not the time to feel sorry for himself. Davey had been with him for years up until they time the Vipers killed his wife and daughter. He had too much work to do and couldn’t dwell on the rage this news caused in him. “Do you have the key to open these files?” he asked.
Micah reached for his neck and pulled a chain from under his shirt. On the chain was a small key. He passed it over to Michael.
Michael took it from him and opened the drawer closest to him. He began searching the files he found but there was nothing there he wanted. He opened another drawer and the first thing he saw was the file with the emblem of the Viper Crew. He pulled the file and took it over to the table, then sat down. Davey had done a good job collecting his evidence. As Michael read through the reports, he found what Davey left for him to find—photos of the group. Most of them he knew but there was one or two he didn’t know about. He took their photos out of the files and put them up on the wall with all the others. He stood back and viewed the boards.
Micah walked over to the table and glanced at the photos Davey had collected. He picked up one of the photos and brought it over to the board. Silently, he pinned the photo up with the others. “That is the man that murdered my son.”
“How do you know that?” Michael asked.
“I saw his face when he pushed Davey’s body out of the car.”
Michael glanced at Micah. Then he turned to look at the face of the man that murdered his friend. The man was a little older than the rest. His dark hair was combed back away from his forehead. His face was rugged and he had a scar below his left eye but it was his eyes that caught his attention. His eyes were grey almost silver and they left nothing to the imagination as they were stone cold. He found himself looking into the eyes of a man with no soul.
“Damn.” Judson shook his head. “This is one cold mother.”
Michael nodded and took his cell phone out, took a picture of the man and sent it to Kenn to see if he knew him. Then he went back to the file. Davey had collected page after page of weapon serial numbers. Michael didn’t know why but he knew they fit into the puzzle somehow.
Scanning the picture, he used the facial recognition software to enhance the man’s face. When he had cleaned it up as much as possible, he found himself looking into the eyes that belonged to the man he knew as Jethro. Michael could feel the rage grow inside him but he knew now was not the time to let it out. His phone rang before he could say anything. When he checked the caller ID, he saw it was Kenn. “Did you get the photo I sent you?”
“Yes, I did. Where did you get a photo of Tobias Plantant?”
“Who is he?” Judson asked as he too, listened to the call on speaker phone.
“At the moment, he’s head of the ATF.”
“Interesting,” Michael commented.
“How is Carla doing?” Judson asked Kenn.
“She’ll be okay in a few days. If we hadn’t found her, she would have died but she got the medical attention she needed in time,”
“That’s good. Now tell me about Tobias Plantant.”
“Tobias has held the position of Director of the ATF for the last four years. He rose in the ranks very quickly and under some speculation. When he was an agent, there were several shipments of weapons headed for disposal that went missing. They were hijacked but it was curious that they went missing on Tobias’ watch. They were never found and the serial numbers of the weapons disappeared from the files.”
Michael nodded. “I may have found a copy of the missing weapons.”
“Where?” Kenn asked. “We thought the numbers were gone forever.”
“Davey was investigating the disappearance of the weapons. He got a hold of the serial numbers and had it in a locked filing cabinet. Micah identified Tobias as the one who pushed Davey’s body out of the car in front of his house the night Davey was murdered.”
“Is this in any way connected to the terrorism we’re trying to uncover?” Kenn sounded stunned by the news
“We think it might be connected in a very big way,” Judson interjected
“How? I mean Davey Little Wolf’s death might be a totally separate issue.” He paused then added, “Wasn’t it?”
“I don’t think so,” Michael replied. “He had a file with the Viper Crew emblem in his files. That’s where I found Tobias’s photo and the weapon’s serial numbers.”
Kenn swore. “Dammit…How many people are involved in this mess?”
“I don’t know. We do need to run the numbers and see if they match the missing guns.” Judson replied.
“I can do that,” Kenn said. “I can send them to Brody Dentin and have him run them down.”
“Just do it on the QT. I don’t want anyone knowing we have these numbers. I don’t want any heat brought down on Micah,” Michael said. “I don’t want anyone to know about him. I won’t put his life in danger.” He ended the call.
Micah came over and handed Michael a file. “I found this in Davey’s cabinets. I have no clue what it means but I think it’s important.”
Michael sat up again and opened the file. He looked up from the file to stare at Micah. “Where the hell did you find this?”
Judson stepped closer to look over Michael’s shoulder at the file.
“I was going through the files left in the cabinet,” Micha explained. “This file was stuck in the back of the files. I almost didn’t find it but the drawer wouldn’t close.”
Before they could look in the file, a shot rang out and all three men dropped to the floor.
A scream rang out echoing in the warehouse.
Michael looked over at Judson. “Where is Phoebe?”
“She was in the kitchen the last time I saw her.”
Michael nodded and took off toward the kitchen. He saw Judson go the other way and they came together just outside the kitchen door. Peeking in the doorway, Michael saw Phoebe kneeling beside the island. Then he noticed Jethro trying to sneak up behind her. He pointed his weapon and took the shot. Jethro fell against the wall and slid down leaving a wide streak of red against the painted surface.
Michael rushed into the room. He checked on Phoebe before he walked over to the man sitting against the wall. Jethro wasn’t moving, but Michael could hear he was breathing heavily.
The gun was still in his hand and as Michael got closer to him, Jethro tried to lift the gun but the weapon was too heavy.
Michael kicked it away from him and squatted down to his level. He could see the blood on Jethro…the blood from the chest wound he’d gotten was still bleeding.
“You bastard, you killed me,” Jethro spit at him. “I was supposed to kill you.”
“I need to ask you a question. Are you the bastard that murdered my wife and daughter five years ago?”
Jethro tried to smile. “Why should I tell you?”
“If you don’t, I’ll let you bleed to death.”
Jethro shook his head slowly. “You can’t do that. It’s your job to protect and serve, not murder and maim.”
Michael scratched his chin with his weapon and glared at Jethro. “You seem to be under a misimpression. I’m not a cop and I don’t belong to Homeland Security anymore. I’m just a regular guy off the streets now, and you were looking to kill me. I shot you in self-defense.”
Jethro’s eyes widened and he sneered, “You won’t let me die. All I have to do is call out and there will be any number of doctor and police in here in no time.”
“No one will come in here until I say so. Again, I’ll ask you, are you the bastard that murdered my wife and daughter five years ago?”
Jethro opened his mouth to call out but Michael put his hand over his mouth. Then he leaned closer to Jethro and whispered in his ear, “If you scream, I’ll put another bullet in you.”
Jethro tilted his head up and looked into Michael’s eyes. He nodded and waited until Michael withdrew his hand. “No, I didn’t kill your wife and kid,” he whispered.
“But you know who did.”
Jethro nodded. “Yeah, I know who did.”
“What’s his name?”
Jethro shook his head. “I can’t tell you his name. He’ll kill me if I tell you.”
“I’ll kill you if you don’t,” Michael warned.
“No, you won’t; besides I think he’s tougher than you are.” Jethro glanced down at his chest. “I need medical attention.”
