Chapter Twenty-One Babe

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: BABE

Mode's video has the club members reconsidering the option of leaving Jordan and his men to the cops. None of us would refuse to go into battle because we're scared, but we didn't have a death wish. We're outnumbered and outgunned.

"We could attack the building. We have several men who can snipe, and we have access to smoke bombs and explosives. But my biggest concern is the women. They're stuck inside with no way out unless we go in first and remove them," Chrome says. "If we attack from the outside, we can't guarantee their lives. They could kill them or use them as shields."

"They'd do the same if the cops took the offensive," Piston reminds us.

"Two of us could sneak in and barricade the room with the weapons and drugs, while another group frees the women before we open fire on the men furthest to the back. We'd have to time it so we can move the women out just as the battle starts," Bush suggests. "We have bullet-proof vests we could put on the women for extra protection."

As we throw out additional suggestions to the scenario, I can see how we could take on these bastards and win. While I'd like to have more manpower working with us, especially the men I'm used to going into battle with, I can see how we could take them by surprise and come out the victors. The biggest problem I'm seeing is Min. She'll want to join the fight. As the man who fucked her earlier, I don't want her risking her life. Because I want to fuck her again and again. But as her partner and someone who has seen her fight, I know she'd be an asset on this mission. We need someone stealthy for the first half and she's stealthier than a cat stalking its prey.

We're ready to take a vote when someone pounds on the door. Bush rises and opens it with a glare for whoever is on the other side. "What the fuck, prospect?"

"I'm sorry, but I thought you'd want to know. We just left the community center. They vacated it," the prospect says. Bush opens the door to let him into the room. "We tried calling to let you know what was happening, but we couldn't reach anyone. They loaded up everything into SUVs and trucks and moved out. We tried to follow, but they spotted us and shot out our tires. So we took a taxi back here. We thought you'd want to know right away."

"Son of a bitch!" Chrome shouts out, making the prospect cringe. "Did they make you? Is that why they packed up?"

"I don't think so, sir," he says. "We were leaving when I glanced in my side mirror and saw an SUV hightail it out of the parking lot. We circled back and hid amongst the trees to watch. The guy in charge was shouting orders about taking the drugs and guns first and coming back for the women. He said they didn't know how much time they had."

"Did they take the women?" I ask.

He nods. "Took them last. Loaded them into a truck. That was the one we were following when they shot at us."

"Good man. Okay, grab a truck and retrieve your bikes. Take backup. Can't be certain that they won't try to ambush you," Scorch says before turning to Chrome. "What do we do?"

"What can we do? Mode, check out the footage, see if you can find a clue about who or what tipped them off and then do your thing with the traffic cams. See if you can track them down again," Chrome orders.

Mode jumps up and leaves the meeting while I watch Chrome pace the room.

"They might have seen the drone," Scorch says. "Or they could have made the prospects."

Chrome nods. "Both are possibilities. I just hope Mode can track them. Next time we get a bead on them, we'll need to move faster. How many hiding places do these bastards have?"

I shrug. I'm confident that Mode can track them down. So far, he's come through for us. If he needs help, he can always reach out to my brothers in San Diego. Smoke, Byte, and now Maestro are the best at this tech stuff. However, my mind isn't on where the enemy is now, it's on how the enemy knew we were watching. I saw the drone video. None of the footage showed those inside the building noticing the surveillance. It also didn't show anyone heading toward the exit. So did they see the drone or the prospects? Or did someone call them and warn them we were watching? Does the Chicago Chapter have a rat?

We've had two instances where they knew we'd discovered their location. The first I can understand. We caught one of their men and stole their vehicle. Maybe they had someone tracking it and realized their man wasn't driving it to the designated location. However, I'm having a harder time believing they figured out we had them in our sights less than an hour ago. I can't say anything to Chrome without proof. I stay silent for now. Vigilance is my best option.

Returning to the common room, I see Min heading in my direction.

"I had a thought about where we might find Dr. Blankenship," she says.

"Shh," I warn her, earning a frown. She wasn't being loud, but I'm worried about someone listening in on our conversation. Glancing around, I don't see anyone paying us special attention, but I pull her outside and away from the clubhouse.

"What's wrong?" She asks, yanking her arm out of my grip.

"I think there's a snitch in the clubhouse," I tell her what happened at the community center while keeping my back to the clubhouse.

"Fuck. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know. Keep our guard up and our eyes open. Now what were you saying? You think you might know where to find Blankenship?"

"Maybe. Cicely made a comment that had me thinking. We were talking about Angie and the Mountebank Medical Group. How Vivian and Colin hid their trafficking victims in the hospital. She said that it was a great place to hide women as patients. Well, what better place for a doctor to hide than in a hospital? And wouldn't Mountebank be the best place to hide since they're fixated on those who work there?"

"You think Blankenship is working at Mountebank?" I ask, considering her logic. It's possible. We don't have any other leads, so why not check it out? "I think it's worth riding over there."

"We could have Mode check hospital records. See if anyone started working there recently who fits Blankenship's description?" Min suggests.

I nod, but know that Mode is busy. Instead, I take out my phone and call Byte.

"What's up, Babe? You and the lovely Min coming home soon?"

I growl when he mentions Min, which has him chuckling. I have to stop myself from saying ‘mine'. Instead, I tell him about Min's idea regarding Blankenship.

"I'll have Smoke check the records. That's a good idea. If we don't find him there, we'll check other hospitals and clinics. Blankenship's an excellent resource to have. Why not put him to work? We know he has no morals. I'll let you know if we discover anything on our end. Anything else?"

I debate telling him about my suspicions around the Chicago Chapter having a vermin problem, but figure I'm better off warning my club about the possibility. "Yeah, there is. I don't have any proof, just a gut feeling," I start.

"Never ignore the gut," Byte says. "We've all learned that the hard way."

"True. Okay, here goes. I think the Chicago Chapter has a rat." I tell him why I've come to that conclusion. Byte doesn't interrupt or try to dissuade me from my suspicions. Instead, he gets serious.

"Well, fuck. Sounds like Chrome has a problem. I'll do some sniffing around to see if I can find something. We need to tell Dante. He can send the rat squad to Chicago to get eyes on the situation. They're in Pittsburgh and getting ready to head out. I'll see if Dante wants to divert them."

Only the Executives in the San Diego Chapter knows that our three Nomads, Eagle, Preacher, and Stone, are more than nomads. After Dante discovered his father was part of a human trafficking ring, he and Chaos cleaned house. The only surviving members from that time were Grimm, Stone, Eagle, and Preacher. Dante had a major task ahead of him to rebuild the original chapter, but he also worried about the other chapters and if they were involved in trafficking. Grimm stayed to help Dante rebuild, while the other three went nomad. They had a cover story. The other chapters believe that while the Nomads are loyal to the Demon Dawgs, they couldn't stomach staying at the San Diego Chapter after everything went down. But the truth is, they travel to each chapter and report back to Dante. They make sure each chapter remains loyal to Dante, and they help weed out potential threats from the inside. Knowing that Dante will probably send them here eases my concern.

"Byte and the other techies in San Diego will do some searching," I tell Min. "In the meantime, let's check out the hospital. We might get lucky and spot Blankenship."