Chapter Nine Babe

CHAPTER NINE: BABE

We follow Scorch into his office. He has a desk with nothing on it, not even a computer or a phone. He also has a round table surrounded by four chairs. In the corner is a printer sitting on a filing cabinet next to an empty bookcase. The place looks like he's never used it.

"I had a Kutte Bunny clean it up so you can use it," Scorch says. "She packed up my stuff. Will this work?"

I glance at Min, who nods. "This is perfect. Thanks, Scorch."

He ducks his head and leaves us to get settled in.

"I'll go grab my stuff," Min says, leaving the room while I look for Sammy. He's back behind the bar.

"You have the map you made for us?" I ask him.

"Yep, here you go," he says, reaching under the counter and pulling out a rolled-up piece of butcher paper. "I think I covered everything, but if you have questions, let me know."

"Appreciate it." When I get back to Scorch's office, I find Chrome talking with Min.

"I see Scorch let you have his office," Chrome says.

"Yeah, we appreciate the use of it," Min says. "We needed more room to work."

She has her iPad and laptop on the table, along with her notebook. I take the map and spread it over the desk.

"What's that?" Chrome asks.

"Sammy drew a map of the church and its buildings so we can familiarize ourselves with the layout. We need to get eyes inside to see if we can spot our targets."

"I wanted to talk to you about that," Chrome says. "Mode has cameras you can take with you to install in and around the church. I have at least one guy at the garage day and night who will watch the comings and going."

"That's a great help," I tell him.

"It isn't just for you," he says. "I just got off the phone with a detective we work with in Chicago, Detective Teller. When Dante first told us about Jordan coming here, I reached out to Teller and gave him a heads up. Also, asked him to let us know if he spotted an increase in the number of young women disappearing from the area."

"Has he noticed something?" Min asks.

"Yeah, he has. Ever since Jordan purchased the church, we've had eight women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four disappear. These aren't runaways. Each come from good homes, they were doing well in school, and none of them have had problems. Teller's spoken to the parents and friends of the girls."

"You think Jordan has them?" I ask.

Chrome shrugs. "Wouldn't put it past him. The church would be a good place to start. They have multiple buildings that they could use."

The three of us look over the map Sammy drew and we spot several buildings on the property that they could use to hold the women. If they're the ones taking them.

"We need to get eyes inside," Min says. "Cameras would be best. I could go in there and place the cameras throughout the various buildings. Looks like we need at least fifteen cameras. May take more than one trip. I could focus on the doors, see who is going in and out of each building."

"You're not doing it," I protest. "It's too dangerous. What if they catch you?"

She looks at me with contempt and pity. "I'm the only one who can do it. They'd shoot you or any of the guys, but I doubt they'd shoot a woman. They'd more likely question me about why I was there. I could tell them I was visiting the church. I'll go in wired, so if I run into a problem, you can come in and get me. But I'm certain I can talk myself out of trouble, or fight my way out. Besides, I'm the only one who's trained in stealth. You guys go in guns blazing and motors revving."

Chrome chuckles as I struggle to come up with a reason her plan won't work, but of course, I've got nothing. She's thought this through and it makes the most sense. Not that I like it. However, seeing her watching me and waiting for my response, I know I need to tread carefully. If my only disagreement with the plan is because it puts her in danger, then I better keep my mouth shut. She'll balk at my attempt to protect her. This would make her further question our partnership. I can't let that happen. So I nod.

"That's a good plan," I say and see the surprise and suspicion in her eyes. "Seriously. I'll be close in case you get into any danger that you can't fight or talk your way out of."

"Good," Min says.

"Let me get more men to meet you at the garage. That way, if you have to go in, you'll have plenty of backup," Chrome offers.

"Study the layout and figure out where you plan on mounting the cameras," I tell Min. "I'll go grab the cameras from Mode."

Chrome steps outside the room with me. "It's killing you to let her go in by herself, isn't it?"

I run my hand over my head and grin at him. "Yeah, it is. But don't tell her that. Every instinct I have is telling me to not let her do it. But she's already doubting whether we can be partners and I'm not giving her a reason to end our partnership. Besides, she wasn't joking about her abilities. She's lethal. She's also observant. If anyone can get inside, mount the cameras, and get out again without being seen, it's her."

Chrome slaps me on the back before he opens the door to his office. "Wait, one more thing that I meant to mention. Teller told me about older women going missing in Chicago, too. Based on what you've told me, Jordan likes them young. These women are all over thirty. Probably has nothing to do with your guys, but thought you should know. Teller said the women all have ties to the medical profession. Thought maybe Blankenship might be involved. But the women have been disappearing for several weeks. I'm calling Dante to let him know."

I frown at him. "Why would you tell Dante?"

"Because most of the women work for Mountebank Medical Group. It used to be Chambers Medical Group before Dante's father-in-law sold it and moved out to San Diego."

Well, shit.

I consider the ramifications of Chrome's information as I enter Mode's office. His space is considerably smaller than the one Byte, Smoke, and Maestro share. But then Mode is just one guy. As he works on his laptop, his eyes flip to the other monitors around him. All but one monitor display street scenes. Two monitors offer views of empty parking lots. Two others sit higher and point down to the sidewalk.

"Clubhouse?" I ask.

Mode shakes his head. "Jordan's church. Torque put them up last night. We have visuals on both entrances to the church. The front and the back," Mode points at the cameras as he explains. "We can see the license plates of anyone going into the church parking lot and we can get visuals on the drivers. Should help us identify your skips."

"Chrome said you had some cameras we can plant in and around the church," I say when Mode glances up from his laptop to look at me.

He nods and rolls over to a cabinet to remove a bag from the bookshelf. "I have twenty-five cameras in here. Let me know if you need more. Who's placing them? You?"

"Min," I tell him. I see the surprise on his face, so I explain Min's reasoning.

"That's a good plan. Plus, you and several of the guys will be nearby if it all goes to shit."

"Speaking of which, do you have communication devices Min can use to keep in contact?"

"In the bag," he says, pointing at the bag in my hand. "Earpieces and microphones."

"Thanks, man," I say, unzipping the bag and looking at the gear inside. "Have you seen anyone going in or out?"

"We didn't catch it on video, but Torque saw a black SUV drive in late last night before he set up the cameras. He couldn't see the driver. No one's left, so whoever it was is still inside."

"Unless they drove out the back," I reply.

"No, he set up the cameras at the back first since there is less traffic. In fact, your girl may want to enter that way rather than through the front."

I nod. "Good idea. I'll let her know." I examine a camera and realize they're like what we use in San Diego. This will make it easier for me to explain to Min about how to mount and activate them. Each camera has a battery pack that lasts for several weeks, so she won't need to plug them in. Instead, Mode included a screwdriver and screws that she can use to attach the cameras. "I take it these have WI-FI access?"

"Yep, Torque slipped a router inside the gate and the range is wide enough to cover the church and the other buildings. We shouldn't have a problem."