Chapter 10

Kracken

We ride until we're about a mile or so from their compound, then start walking through trenches and overgrown landscape. I'm impressed that despite the overgrown grass, Selah manages to keep up until finally, Butcher leans down and she climbs onto his back, her giggles ringing in the air. When we see the outline of the building, we all crouch low while Selah murmurs something about there being no guards on the gate.

We spread out along the fence, guarding as many points as we can cover while I stay close to Selah and Butcher since we'll be the first to step inside. Selah is going to have to check the other side afterward to make sure no alarms are set to go off and alert those fuckers that someone's broached their property line.

While I don't understand all of what Selah's doing, I still watch with avid fascination as she puts some clamps that are tied together by wire into her mouth then begins to disassemble the electrical security box. All of us are quiet, which is saying a lot, considering we're a group of bikers who aren't known for our ability to stay silent even on expeditions. We're usually communicating, not caring if our enemy hears our approach or not, so this is all new territory for us.

However, as important as this particular mission is, outside of the night sounds filtering through the air, none of us is making a peep.

"Night goggles on, guys," Dragon commands through the mic system we're wearing, and I watch as all of my brothers comply.

"I'm through the first obstacle. Give me five minutes to dismantle the one inside that guard shack and we'll be ready to go," Selah apprises us.

After what seems like an eternity, she opens her laptop, and her fingers fly over the keys as she begins setting their feed on a continuous loop. Not that I grasp what that means, but from what I was able to gather, anyone inside will see what Selah wants them to see, not us as we creep through their facility to find our people.

"How do we know they didn't see us before now?" Scythe asks her.

"I ran their lines. It won't trigger them that we're here until we cross that barrier there," she says, pointing to some wires that you wouldn't see upon first glance. "Until then, they're blind. Whoever their new tech is sucks at his job."

"That's a good thing for us," Butcher says. "Damn good thing."

"I'm glad she's on our side," Wrecker mumbles.

"Beast, I need you to follow this program and every now and then, add the secondary loop to their feed," Selah tells him.

"Got it, little lady," he replies.

"We're set to go?" Dragon asks her.

"As good as we're gonna get," she remarks, placing her equipment back into her backpack.

Banshee, Phantom, Jingles, Scythe and I take off together to go in search of Moira. Dragon, Wrecker, Python, Animal, Butcher, and Selah stay together as everyone else branches off into their pre-appointed squads. They're going to be finding Hannah and getting her out safely as the other teams eliminate any threat to us.

While I focus, I can hear the other brothers talking discreetly through our comms. I'm confident, however, that no matter what, we're going to achieve what we're here for.

Coming for you, roisin, hold on a little longer,I think.

"Heads up, security check happening at our six," Wrecker whispers through the mic, allowing us all to hear what's going on around them.

The comms continue to crackle in real-time inside of my ear as they converse. "Did y'all bring your silencers?" Dragon asks.

"Do we ever leave home without them?" Butcher asks, causing me to silently chuckle as I stay in step with my group. "We're like American Express, brother, we never leave home without ‘em!"

"That says so much about you," Selah says. "I like it!"

"Great. Now that we've established y'all are the perfect rabid couple, can we continue what we were doing?" Wrecker asks.

"Please, almighty enforcer, lead the way," Butcher retorts. I shake my head in amusement, they remind me of a few of my brothers when we're on jobs.

"Children!" Dragon snaps. "Enough, already. For fuck's sake, it's like rounding up a bunch of toddlers. Hell, maybe even a herd of cats in a room full of rocking chairs."

Since Brick often laments over our behavior at home, which is so similar to my Cedar Creek brothers' right now, I'm glad that I wasn't RiffRaff's son. Because I sometimes want to whack my brothers when they get going, only as the Sergeant at Arms, I have to behave. Well, that's what Brick and Ban remind me whenever I bitch about it to them.

"I resent that, I'm at least old enough to wipe my own ass," Butcher teases.

"Shut the fuck up, Butcher, and take them out," Dragon demands.

"It'd be my pleasure," Butcher announces. I hear the popping of muted gunfire thanks to the silencer he's using, then he says, "That was too easy. Give me something more challenging, Pres."

"I'm sure you'll find something along the way," Dragon remarks. "Remember, no survivors."

His vow floats through my head as I shake it even though he can't see me from his side of the property. I allow their banter to anchor me, it allows me to not let my anxiousness of finding Moira overwhelm and control me.

"Not going to argue with you there," Wrecker states. "It's too quiet, surely they"re not all asleep."

"Only the night guards will be awake at this hour," Selah advises. I hear movement in the background and what sounds like clothing rustling before she continues speaking. "You remember early mass, right?"

"How could I forget," Wrecker mumbles. I can hear the strain in his voice and realize this bunch of assholes has a lot to answer for, since Wrecker comes across as so self-assured, so confident. Yet, at one point or another, they tried to break him.

Just like my woman.

"They have church every morning?" Butcher questions.

My group and I veer off further into the entry point of the building we've been assigned to infiltrate from, before I can hear their response, switching over to the secondary channel that Hawg is focusing on so we can maneuver through this place and find Moira.

* * *

"There's a trap door inside the pantry," Hawg advises. "Ten steps down, then it opens into a large room. Several bedrooms are along the hallway to the right. The guards are now all incapacitated in one way or another," he adds.

Personally, I hope they're all headed straight toward Hell, complete with fire and brimstone and a personal audience with Lucifer himself.

"Going first," I advise. When Banshee tries to object, I glare at him, causing him to put his hands up in surrender. "You're our VP, Ban, gotta protect you," I mutter. "That's my job."

"Should only be women and children down there," Hawg cautions, "so, no excessive force unless absolutely necessary."

"Ten-four," I reply, slowly opening up the hatch door. Those dim lights that I've seen on many overnight infomercials come on, lighting our path without letting anyone below know that we're heading down.

Phantom, the last one through the door, gently sets it down without a sound, as one by one, we carefully head downstairs.