Page 26 of Viper

“We already know about it, so I don’t think it’s us. It’s probably any other competitors that might be lurking around and trying to figure out how to swoop in and take over,” I suggest. “Which is a problem, because the last thing we need is dealing with not only the Russians and the Japanese, but if there is a third group, we’re going to be terribly out-numbered.”

“Let’s hope we can get ahead of that then,” Sniper agrees.

“But the most important news is one of the men mentioned that Misha liked to go to a warehouse a few towns over where they have operations set up as well and fuck women in cages. And apparently his best night was ten women in a few hours, which suggests he was on something, and no doubt it was whatever Vlad is trying to push here on our streets,” I add grimly.

The room fills with angry curses and exclamations. “Those fuckers better not be trying to pedal people in our territory,” Stone grits out, anger making his face red and his eyes go icy cold. A chorus of agreements go around the room, and Bullet bangs his gavel.

“Even if they are, we haven’t found how they’re doing it, so there’s no point in getting pissed off about it right now,” he says briskly, eyeing everyone. He looks back at me and nods for me to continue.

“In short, we need to start looking at different areas that Vlad and his men could be using and hiding in. Because it sounds like while they are working in our town, with everything going on, they’re using other areas that they know we don’t go because it’s not our territory,” I finish.

“Depending on which way you go, it could be either the Wild Devils MC or the Satan’s Swords MC,” Shadow says thoughtfully. “Both are 1%er clubs, but we’ve always had a cordial relationship with them.” He glances at Bullet. “They were both around when Bull was still running things, so do you think that Vlad would have gone to them?”

Bullet purses his lips in thought. “Anything’s possible,” he says after a moment. “I know both clubs have gotten a new President in the last ten years, but other than the times they drive through and let us know, I don’t keep tabs on them much. I know the former Presidents were tight with Bull, but when shit went down, they rarely got involved. They were happy to keep out of it. Could be because they were smaller then and didn’t have the numbers to lose otherwise the club would fold.”

“Should I look into them and see if we can find any information?” Cryos asks.

Bullet glances at Sniper and the two of them share a silent conversation before Bullet replies, “Do it, but be careful about it. Last time I paid attention, they have their own computer guys so I imagine they have enough smarts to know if we’re snooping around, and I don’t want to bring down any more heat on us.”

“Do you think it’s a stretch that Dagger would have gone to them as well?” Torque asks curiously. That makes me and everyone else pause. Shit. “If he did, it could explain why we haven’t found them or why Vlad isn’t really coming hard after us anymore. They have another source, and while it’s another club, we never looked at them before.”

“I did briefly,” Cryos corrects. “But only once we found out about Dagger’s betrayal. And it was super light and superficial. Nothing showed up that indicated they were working with Dmitri at the time. Not to say that hasn’t changed. But if they want to peddle shit in our city, with this other club’s help, they’d be hard pressed to come in without us knowing.”

“Unless they’re using information Dagger sold to them or Dmitri that we might not know about yet,” King points out, bracing his forearms on the table. “Which means we need to find out that information, and fast if we want to get ahead of him. And maybe it will help us figure out where they’re hiding.”

“I agree,” Sniper says, looking at Bullet. “I think we need to step up our efforts on figuring out if we can find if Dagger hid anything else around here, and then we need to really get to work on trying to get through Misha’s phone. There has to be some stuff on there.”

“I’ve been trying, but the guy, or whoever locked this phone down is damn good and I haven’t been able to get into it yet,” Cryos says grimly. “I’m almost to the point where I might need to bring in someone to help me. I have a contact that can help, but I’ll need approval before I do that.”

“Who is it?” Bullet asks, narrowing his eyes.

Cryos hesitates slightly before he finally replies, “I don’t know their real name, but that’s on purpose.” He quickly hurries on when he sees Bullet’s scowl, “We don’t want to have any connection to each other, especially since we don’t do the most legal shit. But I’ve met them in person and they’re damn good at what they do. There’s not much they can’t hack in to.”

“And you trust that they won’t tell our business to anyone else?” Sniper asks.

Cryos nods. “I don’t know everything they get involved in, but they are hired by some far scarier people than Vlad and his men, and their reputation is that they keep their mouth shut, do the job, and then they continue on to the next one.”

“You keep calling them they,” I point out, curious. “Is it one person or two?”

Again he hesitates. “It’s technically one,” he finally admits. “But there is a second person employed. And I know the reputation of the second person is also highly respected for being discreet, so I don’t think we have to worry about the second person. But we also don’t share anything that could give away identity, so we use generic pronouns so we don’t give away something like gender.”

“And you think they’ll be able to get into Misha’s phone? Or are we going to be on the back burner until they have time?” Shadow asks.

“They owe me a favor, so I think we could get it done quickly. But I mean, I can’t promise anything until I talk to them to see about timeline,” Cryos shrugs.

“So is this person, or these people if there are more than one, able to tell us anything more on Dagger?” Stone questions. Cryos’s face falls slightly at that, and Stone quickly holds up his hand and adds, “I’m not saying you’re not working hard or capable of finding it, but Dagger knew you for years. He knows exactly how you work, and if he had that information, he would have been smart enough to work around that to make sure that you can’t find shit and leave you and the rest of us in the dark. Two birds one stone, kind of thing. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think you can do it, Cryos. You’re damn fucking smart, but you’re only one person and on time crunch, burning you out isn’t the right solution.”

“I agree,” Torque adds, and the rest of us nod.

Cryos settles, and I see the relief in his eyes. I guess I haven’t realized how much Cryos puts stock into his abilities, and the fact that we’re questioning, probably has him worrying that we don’t believe in him. “Alright, well, if you’re on board with it, Prez, then I’ll reach out and see if I can get this going,” Cryos says to Bullet.

Bullet glances around the table. “We’ll put it to a vote,” he informs Cryos. “All in favor?” We all agree, and he nods. “Alright, Cryos, you get to work on that, and make sure to keep me and Sniper updated. Any information comes through, we’ll call Church immediately because we don’t have time to lose.” Cryos nods. “And you’ll handle looking at our neighbor clubs to see if they have any involvement?” Another nod. “Good, then I think that’s where we have to leave it for now. Unless anyone has any other suggestions?”

“What if we have Syn’s dogs search the place again?” Timber suddenly suggests. Stone scowls at that. Timber ignores him and continues, “When she did the walk through last time, they were looking for drugs, and since then, Dagger could have moved things around thinking that it wouldn’t happen again.”

“He has a point,” Torque agrees, glancing at Stone.

“She’s already been put in jeopardy because of that,” Stone reminds us. “And Ebony is still healing so she won’t be able to do too much I don’t think.”

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