Chapter Seven

Atlas

A fter what seems like far too long of a wait, but probably isn’t, a man with his hood up and his hands in his pockets approaches Alaric from the other direction. I train my weapon on him. I do not like the fact that his hands are in his pockets. I like to be able to see someone's hands in this situation, so that I know for sure that they are empty and that the person is not carrying a weapon.

He could be concealing a weapon easily enough in his hoody pocket, it’s certainly baggy enough. I ready myself to pull the trigger the second that it looks like he has something in his hand that he shouldn’t have. I see Alaric glance at the informant's hands, and I know that he has picked up the risk as well. I can’t hear him from here, I am too far away but he will fill us in when we get back to the car.

My breathing is calm, and my hand is steady on my gun as I watch them closely. I do wish that I had my sniper rifle instead of my handgun, but I don’t tend to bring that with me unless Alaric tells me that I need to.

I know that Rage will be doing the same thing as I am and finding the perfect angle to take the shot if he needs to. Alaric says something to the guy, and takes a step back, his hand moving to his hip where his gun is and his other hand held up in warning. He doesn’t pull out his gun though, he looks like he is just warning him, so I wait.

The informant very slowly removes his hands from his pockets and holds them up, showing that they are both empty and that he is not concealing a weapon. Well, he could still be concealing a weapon on him somewhere, and probably is, I know I would be if I were coming to give a cop inside information. The point is, he isn’t about to shoot Alaric on the spot.

I won’t lower my gun; it wouldn’t be a smart idea to do so, and it could put Alaric at risk.

While I am focused on Alaric, I also make sure that I am paying attention to my own surroundings, and listening for any slight noise or shift in the air that could indicate that I am about to be snuck up on. We didn’t spot anyone when we arrived, and I didn’t spot anyone walking through the building, but this place is enormous, and there is a good chance that we could have missed someone, or someone could have arrived while we were focused on the meeting and Alaric.

Thankfully, there have been no signs of Blake either, which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, him not being here means that the informant isn’t going to die and that none of us are going to get caught in the crossfire, or rather just shit because Blake wants us all dead. On the other hand, if he walked into the courtyard now, and made a threatening move, which he would because it’s Blake and that is pretty much the only thing that he knows how to do, then I could take the shot. That may sound harsh; he is my brother; however, after what he has put me through and what he puts others through, I would most likely be saving hundreds of lives by ending him.

I am okay with that, and I am aware that most people in my position wouldn’t be. However, I don’t think that there are many people that will ever be in my position, it’s pretty unique.

These sorts of meetings don’t tend to take very long, but Alaric and the informant have been speaking for quite a while now, and the informant is gesturing wildly. I have no idea what he could be talking about, but Alaric doesn’t look concerned in the slightest, in fact, he looks quite amused and slightly frustrated.

Finally, the conversation seems to wind down. The informant walks off in the direction that he came from, and Alaric stays where he is for a while longer to make sure that he has really gone. When he turns to leave the courtyard area, I finally pull my gun in from the hole in the window and quickly make my way back through the factory that I am in so I can meet him back at the car.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take very long to get back to the car and I don’t run into any trouble on the way. Alaric and Rage arrive at the same time that I do, and I raise my eyebrow in question.

“I will fill you in when we are safely away from here,” Alaric says.

I nod in agreement and pull open the door of the car.

Once we are all seated, we immediately drive off. We have already been here for far longer than is technically safe, and we now need to leave as quickly as possible. Anyone could have spotted us arriving, and then either told Liam or sent someone to lie in wait for us. It is for this reason that we remain on edge until we are heading back in the direction of Blackbreak, although now, we have a six plus hour drive instead of the original shorter drive.

“So, what did he say? He seemed very animated,” I say.

Alaric shakes his head, “Yeah, when Mr R sent me the details, and it mentioned his name, my memory pinged, but I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why. It wasn’t until he started telling me about his cousins, best friends, sisters, husband's aunt, whoever the fuck that is, that I remembered why I tended to avoid any meetings with him.”

I burst out laughing.

“No way,” Rage chuckles, “you mean that some of that conversation that lasted far longer than it should have was because he was giving you gossip about people that you don’t even know?”

Alaric raises one eyebrow looking thoroughly unimpressed as he replies, “The information that he had to give me was that there was some unrest between Liam and Blake. That Blake was taking on some parts of the business, and making decisions that Liam is not happy about. He is using the parts of the business that he has taken over for human trafficking, among other things.”

“We knew about the human trafficking,” I point out. “Blake’s reaction to the first informant saying that he was loyal to Liam makes a bit more sense though. If Blake and Liam are fighting, then Blake would have taken that as an insult.”

“Oh, he definitely would have. I’m surprised that Blake didn’t shoot him as soon as he said it,” Alaric replies.

I shrug, “He wanted information.”

“Hang on,” Rage says, interrupting us. “Are you telling us that is all he told you? So, for the rest of the time, which was probably like what? Twenty? Twenty-five minutes? He just talked shit?”

I look at Alaric expectantly; I hadn’t actually thought of that.

Alaric nods, “Yes, that is exactly what fucking happened. I swear, I will never meet him again. I have always tried to avoid it, but now I will categorically refuse to meet him. Someone else can do it; I just can’t handle the talking. I know more about him and his family than I probably do about my own.”

His rant sets me and Rage off, and we both fall about laughing.

Once we have both calmed down Rage asks, “Can we get food before we go back?”

“Of course,” Alaric replies.

Rage

W e have just picked up the food and are on our way again when my phone rings.

Atlas smirks, and I know what he is going to say before he even says it, “Who is calling you? You don’t have friends, only me.”

“I did not say that, you snarky fucker.” I reply with an amused smirk.

Atlas grins, “Seriously, who is ringing you?”

I glance down at my phone, and my eyebrows rise in shock, “Erm, D.”

“Probably wants you on a job,” Atlas replies as he takes a big bite of his burger.

“Hey, D,” I say as soon as I answer.

D’s voice is gravelly but full of warmth as he replies, “Rage. I have just had a chat with Jynx, and she told me that you were currently with Alaric?”

I nod, even though he can’t see me, and reply, “Yeah. We have just done a job with him. What’s up? Did you want to talk to him?”

Alaric’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror curiously.

“No. But I do need him to drop you off somewhere.”

“You have a job for me?” I ask, excitement spiking through me; I fucking love doing jobs for D. “Atlas too?”

“No, this one requires more of your skillset, and I only need one of you. It’s delicate. Because of that, I can’t give you as many details as I usually do. Are you interested?”

I am immediately intrigued, so, of course I reply, “Yes definitely, just tell me what you can.”

“You are going to be going undercover as a cop, a SWAT cop. You will be covered from head to toe, so no one is going to know that you don’t belong. You will be at the location they are raiding, and you will blend in and enter with them. Once inside, your only job is to take down one target. His name is Marvin, and I am sending you his picture to your phone; delete it as soon as you have memorized it. As soon as your job is done, you are to leave immediately and make your way to the pickup location, which will be outside the trailer park. They will drop you back at Blackbreak.” D explains as quickly as he can, “This job is riskier than the usual ones I send you on, but I needed someone that I could trust completely to carry it out. You need to use the confusion and activity of the raid to get the job done and then leave as quickly as you can, or you are going to get caught.”

“Understood,” I reply. My heart is pumping already, and I have a massive smile on my face. I love shit like this. I also feel incredibly privileged that he is trusting me with a job that is important to him.

“I’m sending an address to you, get Alaric to drop you off there and I will meet you and get you kitted up.” D says. “This job is sensitive, so the details need to stay between you and me.”

“Okay, I understand,” I reply.

“This is our only chance; we most likely won’t get another one,” D emphasizes the point again.

“I understand; I won’t let you down,” I say honestly, hoping that he can hear the sincerity in my voice.

He hangs up immediately like he always does. It is actually something that he has always done, and Alaric does it too. They both hang up without saying goodbye, and I have always thought that there is a reason behind why they do it, but I have never figured out what that reason is. Every time I think about asking either one of them, they have either already hung up, or it isn’t the right time.

Like now for example, now would not be the time to ask Alaric why neither of them ever says goodbye. I feel like it wouldn’t be a simple answer; instead, it would be a conversation, and I have more important things to think about right now. Like the job. Which sounds intriguing as fuck, and I’m excited to get started.

“Is everything okay?” Atlas asks me, and then grins, “Never mind, I know that look. You have a job, haven’t you?”

I grin, but before I answer, I get a text message and look down at my phone, “Alaric, D asked if you could drop me here,” I say as I read out the address and then add, “I think it’s in Fresno.”

“No problem,” Alaric grins.

This is going to be fun.