Chapter 38

38

Gunnar looked at the warehouse looming in front of him. "You found equipment."

"From what we can tell, this is the newest manufacturing facility. But the bastards cleaned it out," Dom told him, almost rumbling like he always did when he spoke. Dom looked like a battered thug, but he had one of the sharpest minds Gunnar had ever encountered. He was good at investigating—street level. "They know we're on to them. They are two damned steps ahead of us at all times."

Of course, they were—it was common knowledge on the task force that there was a leak in the TSP Major Crimes. They just didn't know who yet.

Jake was bloodhounding that investigation now.

Gunnar studied the warehouse. "Who owns this?"

"Co-owned. Barratt-Handley and Lucas Tech. Imagine that. Already called their representative. He'll be here shortly."

"How was this found?" Gunnar asked. "It is much larger than any other of the plants we've found."

They'd found six facilities where OPJ had been manufactured. In very small quantities. But this rivaled some smaller drug companies for the sheer amount of equipment. Dom nodded. "This was the main facility. If not now, at least at one time."

"Probably. Probably was in here for years."

Jake came up behind them—with Mac Barratt at his side.

"Erickson, long time no see," Mac almost growled. Well, Gunnar knew he'd pissed the man off earlier. That whole kissing Mac's sister in the park thing.

"No kidding. I was at your sister's when I was called in." No sense lying about it. Gunnar planned to be at Mac's sister's a whole lot more often too. He was the father of Mac's niece or nephew, after all.

"What exactly were you doing there?" Mac's expression tightened. There was fury in the man's eyes now. "Or should I ask?"

"Feeding her leftover beef stew from the Colesons, actually. She was hungry."

"Work up an appetite with your girl, did you, Gun? She finally figure out you're not too much of a Neanderthal?" Jake asked. Mac snarled at him. Jake just smirked in return.

"Barbarian, actually. She's called me a barbarian a few dozen times before. She likes that side of me."

Mac growled again. Well, there was one Barratt who wasn't too happy with their impending bundle of joy. Gunnar shot the man a challenging look of his own. He strongly suspected Mac needed a rabies vax tonight.

Or maybe Gunnar should just sic Heather on him? For shits and giggles?

This wasn't the place or the time, but Gunnar couldn't resist. "Your sister was hungry. So I fed her the leftovers Heather packed for me. We were talking about our next steps."

"Better figure it out fast," Mac said. Dom was just watching curiously. "Before my sister's kid gets here and everything."

" Our kid gets here, you mean. Our kid. I was there, too, you know. My part was kind of required."

Dom and Jake's surprise was on their faces. Gunnar shook his head at them. They weren't telling many people yet. Just not yet. Not until they figured out more between them. "She's not ready to spread the word, boys."

"Gotcha," Jake said. "When?"

"Mid-September."

"A month after Lake's," Jake said. "Congrats."

He was fighting the urge to climb to the top of this very damned warehouse and shout to the stars. Powell Barratt was his. Forever.

But now wasn't the time.

"We'll discuss family matters later, Barratt. For now, exactly what do you know about this warehouse?"

"Outside management. Barratt-Handley and Lucas Tech have created an umbrella company to cover storage businesses they are snapping up. Secure warehouses to protect proprietary information are about a fifth of this company's particular holdings. They have some cloud-based storage companies, some government contracts, and, plus, your general run-of-the-mill hundred-dollar-a-month private physical units. Those storage units make up the bulk of their inventory. Lower security. This one was miscategorized as lower security. It has less oversight. That will be rectified by tomorrow afternoon. Luc and Houghton will get on it when they can, but they are dealing with a damned hacker messing with their systems right now." Mac looked around and swore. "This is a big place. How long has this been here?"

Gunnar wasn't going to answer that. Even with Powell's brother. "How long have your clients owned this?"

"Twelve years. Luc and Houghton merged then. It is under the LTBH Storage Zoom brand. There are general managers in charge of keeping an eye on things. I think that's who you need to talk to. I'm going to suggest that Houghton and Luc order inspections of every major unit."

"We'll get you a list of signs to look for. But you need to make sure Luc and Houghton understand that these assholes are dangerous. If any place looks suspicious, your inspectors need to back off immediately. We'll get the necessary warrants and get in. Your people stay out. These assholes kill. Without hesitation," Gunnar told him. They'd had far too many innocent people killed by stumbling into these assholes. He wasn't going to send more into the line of fire.

"How was this one found?" Mac asked. "I'll get you the registered renter's information, as well."

Powell's brother would be reasonable. That would help. If not, Gunnar would get the damned warrants and serve them to his baby's uncle himself. "Be careful, Barratt. These assholes aren't playing around. They are at war with the TSP. I don't want to see Luc or Houghton or Uncle Mackie caught in the crossfire."

"Better me than my baby sister ever again. These guys had something to do with what happened to her and Haldyn—you can count on our cooperation completely." He held out a hand to Gunnar. Gunnar shook quickly. Mac didn't let go. He pulled Gunnar closer for a moment. "But if you do anything to hurt my baby sister, I'll rip your guts out myself."

"Noted. I am in love with your baby sister, you know. She just hasn't caught on yet. But she will, eventually. I've been voted third most wonderful man on the planet, you know. It was Coleson-unanimous."

He was almost certain Mac growled then. Almost certain.