Page 48 of The Devil's Conflict

I grin to myself as I make my way through the common room and up the stairs. Probably not the best time to mention I’m also very well trained in concealing weapons as well, is it? And that I’ll happily teach the other women.

TWENTY-ONE

SNIPER

They try to hide things, but we always will figure them out.

Shadowand I make our way silently back to our bikes as we leave the old dilapidated barn. Since the last time we were here, the place is practically falling down. And the hidden vault is still empty and doesn’t look at all like it’s been used since. Which means this place is an official dead end.

When we reach where we’ve hidden our bikes off the dirt road, I look at Shadow and tell him what I’ve been thinking for the last few minutes. “Something’s off,” I say quietly, just in case someone is around that we can’t see or hear. “I don’t know what, but something is off about this place, even though it doesn’t look like it and we’ve already found that Dmitri was using it.”

“I know what you mean,” Shadow agrees softly, looking around carefully. “We keep coming back to this place, but I can’tfigure out why. And we’ve searched all around for anything that would make sense, but nothing.”

It’s frustrating that we can’t seem to catch these assholes, and even now the impatience settles in my gut. I look around myself and then up into the trees. I see nothing that would indicate any kind of cameras or equipment, and nothing that would show that someone had been around either.

“Something I never noticed before,” Shadow suddenly remarks, making me look back at him. “It’s silent here. And I’m not talking right now, but any time we’ve been here since we found this place, it’s been silent. No birds, no crickets, no frogs, nothing. Even this late at night, and in this many trees.”

My senses sharpen as I listen and look around once again, assessing. “You’re right,” I finally answer. “What about any of the other places that we’ve searched?”

“Most of them have noise, except for the asylum place, but when Hulk and Twigs were out there last week, they said that it hadn’t looked like anything had changed there either, though it was hard to tell with the place being such a mess from the cops and everyone going through it. But they also said they didn’t see any fresh footprints or tire marks.”

I nod slowly, my brow creasing as I try to figure out why it would be like this in my head. “So what would make this place silent? I mean, I know we’re here, but wildlife and things still move around normally. Crickets and bugs don’t give a damn and just make all the noise they like.”

“Animals move away from danger if someone or something is about that they want to avoid,” Shadow agrees. “I wonder if Bowie or Frost noticed anything the last time they were here.” He pulls out his phone and shoots off a message. We wait for another couple of minutes until he gets an answer. “Bowie and Frost both said that they noticed it was very quiet, but figured it was because they rode up on their bikes. They were only aroundfor an hour before they went to other areas to check out, so they figured it wasn’t enough time for the animals to feel safe again.”

“That makes sense, but still, doesn’t feel right.” I step back out on the road, looking at it and then follow the line of it all the way up to where the old barn is sitting, hidden amongst the trees. And the longer I stare at it, the bigger the feeling that something is off grows. I look around a little more, but I can’t figure it out.

“We’re probably overthinking it,” Shadow suggests. “I mean, we did just have ourselves almost blown up yesterday so we’re all on high alert and the need to see this done and over with.”

He has a point. “There are a couple of spots down past the clubhouse we haven’t looked at yet. I keep meaning to, but most activity has been in town or going out the other side of town that we haven’t paid attention to this side,” I point out as I straddle my bike.

“You think he would be that close?” Shadow also straddles his bike, sitting for a moment and watching me carefully.

“Anything is possible.” I shrug. “And honestly, it would be just like Dmitri and Dagger to cook up some kind of scheme that would have us looking stupid by having it right under our noses. He already used one of our outbuildings, and even though we searched all of them and the back of the property, we own so much that we can’t be everywhere at once and Dmitri, and now Vlad, probably know that.”

Shadow nods. “Yeah, that makes sense. Not to mention, if Dagger was involved in the selling or collecting of the drugs, he could slip there and back without being spotted. Especially with the jammer and knowing where Cryos put all the cameras and sensors.”

We head back down the dirt path, pulling out onto the road and head back toward the clubhouse. The darkness and few cars on the road make our bikes noticeable, but that’s fine with me.We’re not going for stealth. Not yet anyway. As we eventually pass the clubhouse, I nod at Theo is one the gate. He gives a quick salute before turning his gaze away.

Which of course makes me wonder how Thea is doing. And hoping no one has scared her off yet. I have no blinders on where she’s concerned. We slept together, both literally and figuratively but that doesn’t change anything between us. We have a lot of shit to talk and figure out. Though, knowing her, she’s definitely not going to make this easy.

Good thing I don’t mind a challenge.

When we finally reach our destination, I instantly know that people have been here. The tire tracks are everywhere, along with many footprints. But whether or not it’s Vlad’s men remains to be seen. I glance over at Shadow, who gives me a grim look. Clearly, he’s of the same mind. We start walking along, following along the edge of the trees, following the tracks and tire marks until we crest over a small ridge. We both get low to the ground, careful to stay concealed in the tall grass.

I narrow my eyes when I see nothing. The tire marks stop, and there are no buildings or anything that would indicate that anyone was operating out of this spot. Shadow and I both rise to our feet. “Maybe this is a meet-up spot,” Shadow suggests as we go over the ridge and down into the valley.

“Could be,” I agree, still looking around for any trace of anything that might give away what it’s being used for. “Or it could be a hangout spot for teenagers.”

“No trash or anything left behind though. And when kids do that, they normally leave plenty of evidence behind.”

He has a point. And there is definitely nothing like that around. When we reach where the tire tracks end, I stop to look around and get my bearings. It’s dark out, so we can’t make out much, but the moonlight at least lets me know where we are. Noone can be seen from the road, and we’re also a few miles from where our club land ends.

It’s far too close for me to be comfortable with it.

I pull out my phone and call Cryos. “We need aerial views of the valley up the road from us. Heading east. We’ve found some tracks that indicate it’s used frequently. And I want to know who owns this,” I add when I hear him clicking away. “When we moved out here, it was still up for sale, but I didn’t see any kind of for sale sign.”

“I actually already looked into that area,” Cryos answers after a moment. “The land was bought by a man named David Moses two years ago. According to the deed, he was going to farm it, but when I looked into him, he’s in poor health and in his mid-seventies. No known connections to Vlad or Dmitri, and he is a farmer in the next county over, just over the line which is where this land borders, so it checks out on the purchase and use for it.”

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