Page 72 of The Devil's Conflict

“Were you able to find out where they went afterward?” Stone asks him.

“They dumped both vehicles, same MO as last time. Went to a parking lot, set the vehicle on fire, and then got in another vehicle that came to get them. That one remained off screen for the most part except for the front part of the hood at the edge of the frame.” He shows us that and my anger only grows. “And from there I tried to find them again, but they jammed the cameras, which means they knew we would be looking.”

“So we lost them?” Arson asks. Cryos nods. “Fuckers. They always seem to be one step ahead. And you think this is because of that other cabin you found?”

“Would make sense. We burn their shit, they burn ours,” Stone says grimly.

“Speaking of which, we need to make our next move and fast,” Silver announces, leaning forward. “If he knows we’ve found one of his secret hideouts, this bastard is going to try and move his shit as fast as possible. But I doubt we’re going to get as lucky as you did this time.”

Bullet glances at me and I nod. I get up from my seat, leaving the room. “Where’s Thea?” I ask Crypt quietly when he shuts the door behind me.

“She’s in your room,” he answers in an equally low voice. “Hasn’t been out of there since you left. I’m on guard duty or I would have offered to help.”

I nod. “Thanks, man.” Then I hurry up the steps. I don’t have time to waste. When I open the door, I find her sitting on the bed, her brow furrowed as she works on the paper in front of her. She looks up quickly when the door opens. “We need you in Church,” I tell her as calmly as I can. “Bullet would like you to explain what you’ve figured out.”

“I haven’t been able to do the whole journal,” she warns, even as she pushes herself up off the bed, grabbing at everything. “But I’ve gotten another ten pages done. Most of it I think is just notes, but there are a few more locations.”

“Good,” I say, waiting as she puts on her shoes and heads my way. I stop her before we leave my room. “Baby girl, I need to warn you that the Misfits are going to throw a fit when they see you coming into the room.”.

She nods. “I figured as much. But don’t worry about me, I’ve faced scarier men than them.” She gives me a quick once-over. “You’re okay?”

I lean down to press a quick, hard kiss to her mouth. “I’m fine, promise. Now let’s go.” She follows me out, saying nothing. When we reach the Church room door, Crypt opens it and gives me a brisk nod before he looks at Thea with a respectful incline of his head. Thea does the same back, and I have the brief thought that if Thea had been on Crypt’s team, she probably would never have gone through what she did. Still, they’re on the same team now and I doubt I’ll ever have to worry she won’t have someone at her back.

When we walk in the room and the door shuts behind us, the room goes silent, until Arson asks tightly, “When the hell are women allowed in Church, Bullet?”

“Since she’s the one who figured out the journal’s code and figured out the decoys,” Bullet returns coldly. I lead Thea over to my seat, indicating for her to have a seat, and I stand behind her, hand on her shoulder in a clear sign to every man in this room. Iglance down at Thea and see that her face has become cool and impassive. Just like she used to do when she was in the military, but her gaze is direct on Arson and his men.

“You let her deal with club business?” Silver demands, clearly angry. “What, now it’s that you don’t fucking trust me and want some blonde with a great set of tits to do our work now?” The other Misfits make noises of agreement.

“Enough!” I bellow, my voice shaking the room. Everyone goes quiet, but the tension doesn’t lessen. “You and I, we’re going to deal with the disrespect you just showed my woman when this is done,” I tell Silver furiously. “As for the rest, you’ve been told multiple times that you do not dictate how we run our club. And you were also made aware when you first arrived we might ask for her help. The time has come and you’re going to fucking deal with it. Thea is Special Forces, and her whole damn career she trained and worked her ass off to accomplish. Silver, you were able to decode one set, sure, but you missed key differences in the second. Now, two of your men have sustained injuries, and we have lost two of our businesses, not to mention finding out that Vlad and his men are using our land to run their business off of, we’re done playing and we will use whatever assets we have. So you will shut your mouths and treat my woman with respect, or you will answer to me. Is that understood?” My last question is a bark, much like I used to do when I was in charge in the military.

No one replies, but no one argues.

“Thea,” Bullet says calmly. “I need you to tell us how you figured out the code and what you’ve decoded so far.”

Thea nods. She launches into an uncomplicated explanation of the two journals and the differences. Once she’s finished, she explains, “I also analyzed the handwriting, and I can determine the smaller journal is the original.” She holds up the journal we found in the wall of the bar. “There are two different types, andit looks like the later pages are newer entries. The other journal is all the same handwriting and matches the ones in the original that were recorded later. He kept the same code, but changed some of the markings to give the decoy locations.”

“How would he have remembered the real one locations?” Shadow asks.

“He never moves more than two to three degrees each one,” Thea explains. “Now, that’s all based on the original pages. I don’t know about the newer ones, but it would stand to reason he just remembered the correct ones, or he had another record of the information.”

“Digital even?” Cryos asks, giving me a pointed look over Thea’s head. I can see where he’s going with this. This might just be the information that he gave to Dmitri, Misha, and whoever this third person might be. But being shrewd, he always kept the originals just as a safeguard.

Thea nods. “Probably. It would make it easier to look at them.”

“And you figured this all out in just a few hours?” Silver asks snidely. I shoot him a warning look, which he promptly ignores. “How do we know that you’re not just fucking this all up?”

Before I can snarl at him for daring to ask that question, Thea merely looks at Cryos. “Can you pull up the location of the decoy camp that was decoded?” He nods, doing that. “Good.” Then she looks back at Silver. “I know another camp was found and that it was on the border of the club’s property line, but I actually don’t know the exact location. Especially considering how long the property line is. But I can tell you exactly based on this code.” She tells Cryos another set of coordinates that are just slightly different. Cryos pulls it up on the map, and drops the pin on the exact location of the cabin. “Anymore questions?” she asks Silver politely. There’s a light snicker from a few of the othermen in the room, but Silver’s gaze is cold as he stares back at her, refusing to reply.

“What else did you figure out, Thea?” Bullet prompts.

She looks back at him. “I’ve done about ten pages so far of both journals so you can have both locations.” She looks at Cryos, who nods at her to begin. She reads off the coordinates, letting him know which one is the decoy and which ones are real. When she’s finished, she also adds, “There seems to be a pattern in the locations, but until I finish them, I can’t tell you what it is. Looking at the map it looks like most of the locations are random so far, but I get the sense there’s more to it.”

Bullet nods. “Thank you, Thea.”

“Wouldn’t the fact that they’re all so close together mean there was already a pattern?” Dozer asks. “I mean, maybe you’re looking for something that’s already there. It’s not always as complicated as women like to make it.”

Once again, before I can snarl at him for talking that way to her, Thea says mildly, “Sure, but when you study codes as long as I have, you learn that there is a purpose. There is a pattern that a coder always uses. It’s not always the coordinates themselves, but what they create, or what they add up to for them. Some coders have an obsession with a certain number, and when they finish with their targets, or their safe houses, or whatever it might be, there will be a common number in each one. Or when you plot it out, there’s an image it creates, like an X marks the spot kind of thing. So, no, I’m not over complicating it. I just don’t have enough data yet to tell you what the specific pattern is that whoever made this code set up.”

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