Page 72 of Sypher

“And you have us.”

Turning quickly, I stood protectively in front of Dante when he gasped. There, standing in my living room, stood Reaper, Remi, Sandman, and Bullseye.

“How you holding up?” Reaper asked, sliding a bottle of beer toward me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, turning to look down the hallway Dante disappeared into with Remi and Sandman.

“He’s safe, Sypher. Remi and Sandman will take care of him.”

Nodding, I turned back in my seat. “Can’t take much more of this, Reaper. It feels like my world is imploding around me. How can I protect Dante and still do what needs to be done when all I want to do is find that cunt and kill the bitch?”

“I know what you mean,” Reaper replied. “When Remi walked into the clubhouse all those years ago, my life shifted. One minute I was on a path of self-destruction, the next I wanted to burn the fucking world down to protect her. So trust me, I know what you are feeling, but, brother, you need to channel that anger and focus it on what really matters. This cunt, whoever she is, will get hers, I promise you that, but until then we still have other adversaries that need our attention.”

Reaper was right.

I couldn’t do anything about the bitch who tortured Dante until I learned her true identity. In the meantime, I had other obligations that seriously needed my expertise, and while I wanted to hole up in this place and protect Dante, it would solve nothing.

Rubbing my hands down my face, I took a deep breath and focused my mind and said, “Everything is on schedule and going according to plan.”

“Ace came through?” Bullseye asked.

“Yeah. He found the information I planted and, like I knew he would, he destroyed the servers, but not before downloading everything into my MicroDrive.” Looking at my watch, I added, “And if I’m right, Ace should have already showed up in Lawton.”

“What information?” Bullseye asked, looking at me as Reaper slowly shook his head. Reaper wanted Ravage’s identity kept secret for as long as humanly possible and I didn’t blame him.

“It doesn’t matter,” I cautiously replied and continued, “I’ve got my algorithm running the traces now. Once it’s done, I’ll have the list of everyone associated with the Trick Pony and the last remaining sympathizers of theSociety. From there, you and the club can do your thing.

“And Montana?” Reaper asked.

“Still oblivious. The sooner you bring him into the fold, the faster we can get this mess over with ‘cause I really hate lying to everyone. As it is, I’m already walking a fine line, and if the table gets word I’m double dipping, my ass is grass,” Looking at Reaper I added, “Which means you need to play your part perfectly, because if that fucker even thinks for one fucking second he’s being set up, it’s game over.”

My president smiled. “Not my first rodeo, kid. You leave fucknuts to me and worry about the other shit.”

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and groaned.

Taking a deep breath, it was now or never.

“While I have you, Dylan, there is something I need to tell you. Something that’s going to come as quite a shock. I’m only telling you this now because I need you to not lose your shit and go on a killing spree when Dante, Phantom and me hack into the Hoover building and the FEDs show up to arrest us before sending us to an off-site instillation.”

Bullseye frowned, confusion written all over his face as he looked at Reaper, who gave nothing away, knowing what I was about to say. Sitting up slowly, Dylan sneered, “Why the fuck would my wife hack into the fucking Hoover Building? Since when was that fucking part of the plan?”

“Let him finish, brother,” Reaper firmly ordered.

“Then he better talk fast.”

“When I approached Reaper with my plan, it was rudimentary at best, and he wasn’t sold on the idea, but I knew it was the only way. Over the last few years, I’ve been biding my time, collecting data, plotting and planning because I didn’t have all the missing pieces. When I learned about Dante’s past, I started connecting the dots and everything fell into place. I knew I couldn’t get rid of theSocietyif the Trick Pony was still active, but every time I tried, I couldn’t breach its security wall. Well, about a year ago, when the club was in the city to bring down Baranov and Petrovitch, I learned that Harbor Security did the security systems for the Trick Pony, and I also learned Ace used my tech to do it. I tried creating a new algorithm, but the problem was, Ace was slick and added biometrics to access the Trick Pony’s servers. The only one with access was Devlin Scott.”

“Fucker’s dead.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “He is now, but that still didn’t get me access to his servers. I needed Ace because he set up the damn thing. Only he could walk in and access the servers.”

“And he did.” Dylan huffed. “But that doesn’t explain why my wife will be arrested by the fucking FEDs.”

“When I told Ace that Dante was at the Trick Pony, he agreed to help me, and when I started working with Ace and Harbor Security, I learned two astonishing things. The first was Phantom’s brother Gadget is alive. He’s been working with his brother Jason Collins and Delta Team, trying to find a way into an unsanctioned off-site military instillation.”

Dylan looked at me like I’d lost my motherfucking mind.

Shaking his head, he whispered, “Jared’s dead. Lena and I flew his body to Chicago and buried him. Jason was with us. Lena cried for months, grieving him.”

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