Page 64 of The Devil's Conflict

“If Dmitri was using it, it would make sense that he would want to make sure it was updated so that nothing could be given away. But he kept it looking like it’s the original cabin, and only a trained eye would realize it’s newer construction. The cabinets and other things still look original though, so maybe they put itall back up when they were done fixing shit,” Bullet muses. “King or Stone would know instantly.”

I nod in agreement. “The only other option we have right now is to start tearing it apart. But knowing Vlad, he wouldn’t want to chance someone getting access, so it’s possible that he also booby-trapped it.”

Bullet scowls but nods slowly, and I can see his mind turning. He glances around the room again until he finally looks back at me. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste, and this is our best shot at figuring it out. Stone or King weren’t going to the job site today, so I say we put the call out for them to come and give us a hand.”

I nod. “I’ll call them.”

It doesn’t take long before Stone and King arrive, both hard-faced, but clearly ready to get to work considering the tools they pull out of their saddlebags. “I thought about bringing Loki or Ebony to see if one of them spotted anything, but that would have meant bringing Syn, and if this place is booby-trapped, I don’t want her near here,” Stone tells us as he walks inside. “And she also said that if there are any kinds of drugs in here, he’ll be alerting everywhere, so that’s not going to help.”

“Maybe Syn is right that we should get our own dogs and have them trained,” King suggests lightly. “I mean, Mom’s already trying to convince everyone she needs one.”

“Your mother is not getting one of those damn things,” Bullet huffs. “She’d be having it chase my ass all over the fucking place, and I don’t have the time or patience for that at my age. Not to mention, her ass would be permanently bruised for all the punishments I’d be dolling out.”

Stone and King scowl at him, clearly disgusted, while I just grin. These boys really haven’t wised up to the fact that if their father can taunt them with their mother and his wild sexual flavors, he will at any opportunity.

“Where do we want to start?” Stone asks, changing the subject.

“Floor and walls are what we need to look at in this corner,” Bullet answers. “So we need to get to work before Vlad sends his men this way.”

Bullet moves with Stone to the wall, and I move with King to the corner where he gets to work on pulling up the trim and then starting to pry up the floorboards. I toss the boards aside, and none of us talk as we work. Nothing is showing up for most of it, until suddenly King stills when he pulls up the next board that’s about a quarter of the way into the room. I look over his shoulder and feel my stomach clench in anticipation when I see the hidden hinge on the board next to the one taken up.

“Got something,” I tell Stone and Bullet, who both stop and turn our way, clearly having not found anything themselves.

King moves to the board beside the one with the hinge, feeling along, carefully, checking the edges of each piece and tracing it. “Damn, they did a damn good job at hiding this,” King mutters to himself. Stone crouches down and starts doing the same thing farther out.

It takes another couple of minutes before Stone finally find the hidden latch. “Fucking hell, whoever they had working on this shit needs to come and work for us,” Stone declares as he carefully lifts a tiny little latch that is tucked between two of the floorboards that are barely farther apart than any of the others. It’s the only reason that Stone found it.

There is the softest of clicks as the door detaches from the floor. None of us say anything as I back away, bringing my gun out from the small of my back, ready just in case whatever is under this door is about to come at us. Bullet and King do the same, and Stone nods quickly before he throws the door open and sits back and away.

I stare down at the dark hole. It’s too dark to see, and King quickly pulls out a flashlight and shines it down. I see nothing but dirt floor, a few larger rocks that look pretty damn clean, and nothing else. But I also note that there are no stairs, which means whoever goes in has to be strong enough to climb back out, or there is a second way out.

“I’ll go first,” I say softly. “Stone, cover me.” Stone nods, getting up and pulling his own gun out. I grab the light from King, put it over the top of my gun, and then jump down into the hole, my entire body on alert. The moment my feet touch the ground, I’m moving to shine the light into every corner and crevice. I see boxes and crates, but thankfully no people. Stone drops down with me, doing the same as me, and both of us move forward, neither of us speaking as I check cautiously around the boxes and crates to make sure no one is hiding to ambush us.

Stone calls out to King and Bullet, and I manage to find a small light just to the side of the hole entrance. The bulb is low, casting shadows, but it’s enough for us to see that this is obviously an extra stash space. King drops down, Bullet staying up top as lookout. Though I’m also sure that his old ass doesn’t want to handle trying to get back out of here.

“Wanna bet that these are more drugs and guns?” King says as he moves to the closest box and rips it open. “Yep,” he announces as he holds up a couple of baggies of white powder and another bag full of pills. “It’s a good old pharmacy of meds in here.”

“Maybe they bulk stash,” Stone suggests as he opens a crate. “Looks like they’re stashing weapons too.” He reaches in and pulls out a semi-automatic rifle. “Serials are gone, so they’re untraceable.” He puts it back and then looks back at me.

I look around the room, trying to figure out what the hell about this room is bothering me. There’s something off about it. Mainly, why did they hide it? I get having extra storage, butthey didn’t bother hiding the stuff upstairs. Why? What’s the difference between the two?

I look around the floor again, taking in the footprints on the floor that would match the shoes or boots of whoever Vlad had here. I follow them around the room, seeing them move to the boxes and crates before moving back toward the hole. Which means they’ve probably been lifting things out. But still, I can’t shake the fact that we’re missing something.

My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket to see Cryos’s name. I put it to my ear as I absently look around, still trying to pinpoint what’s wrong with it. “We found their hidden stash,” I tell him.

“It’s a decoy,” Cryos blurts out. “The whole cabin, it’s a decoy. We figured it out. Well, no, actually, Thea figured it out, but, yeah?—”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I demand, my brain snapping back to what he’s saying. “And what the fuck do you mean Thea figured it out?” Both Stone and King turn back to me at that.

“We can talk about that later,” Cryos says briskly. “All we need to focus on right now is the fact that Thea figured out the two journals aren’t the same like Silver said. One is a decoy, but since I don’t have the originals in front of me, she can’t tell which one is. But the coordinates and locations are so close together that it shows there is a second place close by somewhere that is probably the actual stash house they use. Or maybe the one you’re in is the real one, and the other one is the decoy, but either way, I think she figured out how they’re getting everything past us.”

I want to be pissed because I have a feeling that Cryos left something out for Thea to find and review, but at the same time if he hadn’t, we might be running around in circles. So that’s aproblem for another time. “So there’s another place close to us they are also using?” I repeat, trying to understand.

“That’s what Thea says.” Cryos acknowledges. “Just a second.” There’s a shuffling, and then Thea’s voice is filling the phone.

“I know you’re probably mad, but you can be pissed at me later,” she tells me briskly.

“Your ass is going to be sore for a month, baby girl, but yes, we’ll deal with that later,” I assure her. “Explain to me what you figured out please.” I put her on speakerphone and move close to the hole so Bullet can also hear. Bullet stands above me, a frown on his face.

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