Page 85 of Royal Sons MC

King punched in the code on the security system. The locks disengaged with a low snick. “Could you imagine what the old timers would think of this shit?” King asked as the red lights blinked green. He shoved the heavy oak door open. The familiar scents assailed him as they entered.

Duke closed the door after he came in last. “Ah, I love the smell of cedar and cigars. Shit never gets old,” he said, breathing deeply. “Who needs a drink?” He raised his right hand, waiting for King and Keys.

“I’ll take one.” King sat at the head of the table, resting his arms in front of him with his hands clasped.

Keys sat to his left, waiting for Duke.

Duke passed their drinks out before taking his seat. They all raised their glasses and tapped them together in the middle of the table, everyone lifting them once again in a silent toast as one, drinking their liquor down in a deep swallow.

“Alright, let’s hear what you’ve found, Keys.”

“Have you ever heard the saying about cutting off a snake's head only to have two more grow in its place?” Keys asked, knocking on the table while he waited for King to answer.

“Of course I have. Are you saying there’s already two other sick assholes taking up where their buddy left off?”

“From what my resources have heard, yes. Not that I’m surprised or anything. These men are well connected and likely already had a schedule set.” Keys sat a tablet down. “Do you want to look at this or see it on the big screen?”

King stiffened. “What’re you showing us?” No way in hell did he want to see some homemade porn that could have a child in it.

Keys snorted. “Not what you’re thinking. Although there was a shitton of stuff on their server that I've forwarded to some authorities I thought might find it interesting.”

The images that came up had King and Duke both leaning forward. “Holy shit, look at those fuckers, rolling up like they’re the king of the world.” Duke turned the tablet toward him. “How do they not cause a scene coming in droves like that?” he asked.

“Because they all live in gated communities that cater to like-minded individuals. Look at this,” he said, pointing at the screen and using two fingers to increase the size of what he was showing them. “This location has one access that isn’t by air or sea. Meaning they control who gets in or out. It’s the perfect place to hold people against their will.”

“How’d you find it?” King was never honestly shocked by Keys’ ability to find shit out on the internet. Still, even he was stunned at how quickly he’d been able to find something on this level, especially given the amount of money involved.

“I got lucky thanks to Traeger’s ole’ lady. She gave me access to her...well, the man she thought was her father’s cell. He was a cocky bastard, which was a stupid move on his part. I started tracing the calls he’d made before and during your rescue of the two women.”

King moved the tablet closer to him, flipping through the screens Keys had saved. “All of them are rich and connected. Look, this one has a wife and a daughter around the same age as Tiana. How could he stomach doing things to...?” He stood up, unable to continue. Men who did what ones like these did had no conscience.

“I’m barely scraping the top of the mound. Imagine an ant hill. If you’ve ever accidentally stepped on one, you’ve seen dozens of the little bugs scurry out. I’m afraid that’s what we’re facing.” King tapped one finger on the table, pointing at the tablet.

“What’s up with you and your references? First snakes, now ants. Shit, I say we go in with some Molotov cocktails and watch ‘em burn. Neither snakes nor ants like fire,” Duke said.

“Listen, we need to slow our roll. We don’t have enough manpower or firepower, pun intended, to take down something on this scale. Keys, what’s your opinion? I know you didn’t bring the both of us in here to show us all that, knowing we can’t do shit without significant losses on our end. We could only get Tiana out because we had the element of surprise. Do I think we could do it again? Yeah, but we’d have to go a whole different way.” King returned to the table, leaning over Duke’s shoulder at his brother’s exclamation.

“Are these images from inside that monstrosity overlooking the ocean?” Duke asked.

Keys nodded. “Yeah, I found them on the Dark Web. Don’t ask,” Keys said, forestalling further questions.

The home in question looked like the Starship Enterprise on steroids, built into the side of the mountain. How many levels does it have?” King asked.

“From the outside, it appears to be at least five, but who knows? From what I found in city documents, there are over thirty thousand square feet in that monstrosity. That’s what they’ve gotten permits for, but who knows what they commissioned without a license. Look at that,” Keys growled, pointing at an image that showed a home being demolished. “They bought up the houses around them, even when the homeowners didn’t want to sell. Intimidation tactics worked wonders if money didn’t. I’m sure they paid as well but look at those homes. We’re not talking million dollar homes, but multi-million dollar homes.”

They spent another half hour reviewing what Keys had found. King was still amazed by the man’s ability to find information that most couldn’t. “Here comes our boy, Trigger, and his woman. Is she sticking around?” Keys asked.

“Looks like it,” King said from his seat.

A hard rap heralded Traeger’s entrance. “What’s up?”

King motioned for the two of them to come in as Keys got up and moved down a chair so Traeger could have his.

“You look better, Kailani. You still look like shit, but I guess that’s your ugly mug.” King grinned at Traeger.

“Sorry, it took so long to get here.” Traeger pulled Kailani onto his lap.

He’d texted King before they’d come in, asking for permission to bring Kailani into the room with him. Since he had an ulterior motive for allowing her in, he agreed. “From the relaxed way you came strolling in, I guess your time was well spent.” King couldn’t help but give his friend shit.

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