Page 106 of Traitor

Apparently Detective Rangel had just been a cog in the wheel that was SODMC. Up until now, we hadn’t even known where to begin finding the others.

Grey took the phone and scrolled through. “Jarvis, what the fuck am I looking at here? You know I can’t read that code bullshit that you love.”

He took the phone from Grey’s hand and pointed. “See that? It’s an IP address. Fucker didn’t hide behind a proxy server when he contacted that tweaker, Brianne. He had the firewall component—that was a fucking nightmare to break through, but I did it. Usually you do both, but who knows, maybe he’s new at this shit.”

We all stared blankly at him and he rolled his eyes before exclaiming, “Christ, guys. I have access to the mole’s computer—I can damn near tell you what he had for lunch.”

Comedian laughed. “Fuck, Jarvis. Why didn’t you make that your headline? Give it up, let’s go get this prick.”

He hesitated. “Well, it’s not really that simple. I embedded a VNC server and those fuckers aren’t stealthy. But, as soon as he’s asleep, I can take over.”

Once it was obvious that Jeremy had shit, I went and refilled my coffee. He was standing behind me when I turned around and I jumped, spilling the hot liquid on my hand.

“Fuck, Jarvis,” I hissed. “Was that necessary?”

His face had lost some of its color. “So, Grey said I could trust you with anything—”

I looked over his shoulder to where Comedian and Grey were deep in discussion before looking back at him. “Yeah?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Well, I lied just now.”

I closed my eyes and grimaced. “You just lied to your Pres and you wanna share that with me?”

“It’s not like that,” he kept his voice low. “I hacked our guy’s computer and I know for a fact that he’s a cop. Not only that, but he’s attending Dakota and Zane’s wedding tonight. That means something, right?”

Somehow, in the fucked-up family that I was now a part of, shooting someone was an invitation to propose. The bigger problem was that Zane was a cop, so trying to figure out which wedding guest was our mole was going to be damn near impossible.

Dr. Husband walked into the waiting room before I could respond to Jeremy and I walked over to hear an update. He and I hadn’t hit it off when he was married to Elizabeth’s best friend and the tension between us had only gotten worse since he’d been married to Kate.

God, even she’d ended up down at the station, just like her sister.

There’d been credible threats against her from the Sons, so I’d ensured that I was the only one with her the entire time. The threats had been so legit, that I’d been convinced that we were going to be ambushed in that interrogation room while trying to clear her name. Every little sound had me reaching for my piece.

If any of us made it out of this alive, I was going to strongly suggest that Grey get the girls to a safehouse.

Nate nodded at me. “Mike. Let me start by saying that he’s stable. One of the bullets exited his chest and the other grazed his temple area. There was obviously damage to the chest wall and right lung, which resulted in a hemopneumothorax. We inserted a chest drain and his BP stabilized. He’s sedated for now, but I’m going to watch him closely for the next hour.”

Once he left, I sank back down onto one of the plastic chairs. After assuring them both that I’d stay with Grey throughout the day and for the wedding, Comedian and Jeremy headed back to the clubhouse, leaving the two of us alone again.

“We’ve gone without colors and brought other chapters in, but the Sons have recruited everybody and their fucking mother for the sole purpose of outnumbering us.” Grey sat back in his chair.

I chewed at the inside of my cheek. “No colors ever. Drop the kuttes. From there, we’ll stake out what they’re claiming is their territory and light ‘em up.”

He ran a hand over his face, exhaustion etched into every line. “Fuck, Mikey. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to hold onto that lower rocker.”

I took a deep breath. “You know, there’s a conversation we need to have.” He dropped his shoulders, but I just shook my head. “Old man, I’ve listened to you my entire life. It’s your turn to listen to me for once. We both know that you’re my father and if Lauren figured it out based on our mannerisms alone, we’re fucked.

“It won’t be long before others notice—my mother made it very clear that if Comedian found out, all hell would break loose. Are you prepared to deal with that on top of everything else? Because I don’t know that I am.”

He watched me throughout my speech, nodding at the appropriate times, but remaining silent otherwise. His head dropped to the ground and then back up toward me. “I was a fucking kid, Mikey. If I had it to do over again, I would’ve claimed you as mine from the beginning. I did my best to keep you safe from him, but I know I fucking failed you. I should’ve just put him in the ground when I had the opportunity.”

It wasn’t an outright apology, but damn if I didn’t feel myself getting choked up anyway. I clenched my jaw and nodded vigorously instead, like the goddamn man that I was.

“I know things look beyond fucked right now, but I’m going to do everything in my power to keep my family out of this—”

I talked over him. “Exactly what I was thinking. We could get the girls to a safehouse, just until this blows over—”

“Mike—”

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