Chapter Twenty-One Dixie

"Before we end this meeting, we need to figure out what to do about the hit on Vladimir," I remind Hex and his brother. "Do we kill him or not?"

"I'd prefer not to die," Vladimir says. "But I think it might be useful to be presumed dead. At least for a short term."

"Why?" Hex asks.

"I have my reasons," Vladimir says, but doesn't elaborate. I grin at Hex's scowl of frustration. "There is a project I'm working on that will take me out of the public eye for a few days. We could fake my death, and that will let me disappear. I take it someone else is handling the other targets?"

"Yes. The shortened timeline made it necessary for the Sigil to dispatch multiple assassins. Whoever is paying for these hits has deep pockets. Because he's also offering a bonus if they complete the hits within three days," I add.

"Can you plan out the details, or do you want me to do it?"

"I'll take care of finding a location," Pirate chimes in. "What do you need to provide to Sigil to confirm the death?"

"Just a photo."

"I want my death made public. I need a few people out there to think I'm out of the picture. Is there a way we can accomplish that without making my death permanent?"

"I can come up with something," Pirate says. "We may not get your death televised on the news, but I can add the story to various news websites."

"That works," Vladimir says before ending the call.

Hex ends the meeting and we file out. I was hoping to find Delphine in the common room, but the room is empty except for an anxious Jack, who pounces on us as soon as we exit Church.

"Cleo sent me to get you and Abra," Jack says to Hex. "We found something that you need to see right away."

We follow Jack outside toward the garden. I'm expecting to see the girls working on it, but Jack leads us further into the property.

"What were they doing back here?" Hex asks Jack.

"Shayna went exploring," he explains as he leads us into a clearing where an old building sits neglected.

Hex heads immediately for Cleo while Abra follows Levi around the corner. I spot Delphine, who is watching Cleo and Hex, with a satisfied look on her face.

I slide my arms around her and whisper into her ear. "What trouble did you find?"

She shrugs. "I think we've found a spy's lair."

Giving her a squeeze before releasing her, I join Hex, who has taken off after Abra and Pirate. Abra and Pirate are examining the equipment while Hex and I glance around the room. Whoever is spying on us has quite the setup. He's made himself a comfortable spot to eavesdrop on the club. We need to find to find out how much he's learned about us.

"Whoever this guy is, he didn't scrimp on his equipment," Pirate says. "He can likely hear everything we've been saying in the common room and in the other rooms along the same wall. I don't think he can hear what we've said in Church, unless he has a way to extend the coverage. He's recording everything on that laptop. I'm not seeing a Wi-Fi connection, so he either transmits when he's onsite via his phone or he's taking the recordings back with him."

"Any way to tell how long he's been here?" Hex asks.

Pirate shrugs. "I'll have to go through the files and see what he has on here. I also need to check our permitter and review our security to figure out how he's bypassed them.."

Pirate takes off while the rest of us search through the room, but we find nothing to tell us who this guy is or how long he's been squatting here. Either way, I'm pissed off, but not as much as Hex.

"He should have never gotten this close," Hex snarls. "This is unacceptable. I thought we had this place secured."

"We obviously have holes," Abra says. "Walls would help, but I doubt we can surround the property. We could build walls around the clubhouse, but that wouldn't have stopped this guy from reaching this spot. We have too much acreage to cover and most of it's overrun with vegetation. Anyone can hide in that mess out there." Abra gestures outside, and he's not wrong.

The clubhouses in San Diego and Las Vegas have wide open spaces beyond their walls, nowhere for anyone to hide. However, an army could hide in the dense underbrush or up in the trees and we'd never know until it was too late.

"We need more people, especially prospects," I add. "If we could clear out this place and eliminate the hiding spots, we'd make it harder for anyone to sneak up on us."

"Yeah, I know," Hex says, running his hand down his face.

"I know of some guys who might be interested in prospecting," Jack says. "My brother owns a construction company. He has several guys about my age working for him. They'd be good prospects. They also have knowledge and experience clearing land and doing construction."

Hex frowns at him. "Can't imagine your brother would be too happy if we stole his men."

"He has more men than he needs. Jason hoards people instead of things. He started his construction company when he left the service. He wanted to offer jobs to former vets. Then he started accepting those getting out of jail and then foster kids graduating out of the system. He'd like to do more."

Hex leans against the desk and studies Jack. "I'd like to meet your brother. Does he ride?"

Jack nods and gives Hex a grin. "He's the one who taught me. Helped me get my first bike. Jason quit the military after just one tour. Our parents died when I was fourteen, so he came home to raise me. He's mentioned wanting to meet you, too. I was going to suggest it once I'd proven myself more."

"Set it up," Hex says.

Jack grins before pulling out his phone and heading back outside. He passes Pirate, who is on his way in.

"I checked the perimeter and found the weak spot. This asshole jerry rigged the system to create a hole. I patched it up. Unless he checks, he won't be able to tell that I removed it. The alarm's silent."

"Whoever this guy is has balls, we could have stumbled on him here," I say.

"I'll be happy to detach those balls," Abra says. "I want to catch this guy and show him how much I dislike being spied upon. It's been too long since I had a guest in the Shed. The last guy was Mikel, and he escaped before I had some fun. That won't happen with this asshole."

"If he triggers the alarm, we'll all get notified," Pirate says.

"Sounds good. Let's get back to the clubhouse. Levi and Jack can stand guard while we have Church. Pirate, move the equipment into the clubhouse. No reason for this guy to get his hands on it. I want to know how much he's recorded and how much he may know."

We follow the women back to the clubhouse while Jack and Levi shimmy up trees to keep watch while remaining out of sight.

The common room is empty, except for Zip and Lake, who are sitting at the bar. There is no sign of the girls, even though they beat us back. The space behind the bar is empty.

"Grab some beers. We're having Church." Hex tells Zip, who hops behind the bar to grab six beers.

"Where's Irish?" I ask as I take the beer Zip offers me and another one for Hex.

"He's on a mission for Nora. I sent him to go pick up the greenhouse kits that she wants to use in the garden," Hex says. "He won't be back until late. Had to go to Shreveport to get them."

We file into the Chapel and take our seats. I allow myself a few seconds to appreciate that not only am I still invited to sit at this table, but I'm still sitting to the right of Hex as his VP. The burn on my chest reminds me of how close I came to losing everything. It's also a reminder that I can't screw up again. From now on, I have one allegiance, the club. No more secrets. Not from the club or from Delphine.

Hex starts the meeting by filling in Zip and Lake on what we found in the abandoned building.

"What were the girls doing out there?" Lake asks.

"We can ask them later," Hex says. "In the meantime, we need to discuss how we're going to capture the asshole who has been spying on us. Pirate has fixed the hole in our security, but I want two guards in place to catch him when he comes back."

"You're certain he'll be back?" Zip asks.

"Pretty certain. If he wants to get the recordings he made," Pirate says. "He has the equipment setup to record to this laptop. There is only a day's worth of recordings on here. So, either he's been coming back here to grab the latest and delete them, or he's only been spying on us for a day. I need to check if I can find any deleted files to know for certain."

"So, it's possible he has nothing on us?" I ask.

"It's possible," Pirate agrees.

"We can't count on it. I want to get my hands on him," Hex says.

"Any idea who's been watching us?" Lake asks. "Not very many people know of our location."

I glance at Hex, who frowns. "Vladimir knows. He had a driver pick him up here, so the driver knows. Then there is Mikel. Vladimir says Mikel didn't remember the exact location, but that could have been a lie. Either Mikel's or Vladimir's. I can't think of anyone else."

"I doubt the person spying on us is Vladimir," Pirate muses. "He wouldn't need to sit out there in the abandoned building. Since he's been in the clubhouse. He could have planted a bug. He didn't, I checked."

Hex gives Pirate a thoughtful look before nodding.

"I can take the first watch tonight," Pirate continues. "I want to examine the equipment he has and I can work on digging through his computer while I wait for him to show up. Plus, I need to finish setting up Vladimir's death."

"Have Levi watch with you," Hex says. Pirate nods in agreement.

"I can take the second watch," Abra offers. "I'll have Jack help me."

"I can take the next watch when Irish gets back," I offer.

Hex nods. "We need more men, club members and prospects," Hex mutters. We all nod in agreement.

"I have the alarm set to alert everyone in this room once he's crossed onto our property," Pirate says.

"Good. Once we have him captured, take him to The Shed," Hex says, ending the meeting.