“Fuck,” the hacker hissed. “She’s fucking blocked me again.”
“Fucking cunt,” man number two thundered. His voice was loud, and it was clear he was irritated. “Maybe she’ll let you in if she realizes who you are,” he suddenly announced.
“I got them,” Code announced triumphantly. “Team name Ghost. Go by the names Hazard, Maggot, Crisp, Spook and—”
“Slip,” she interrupted, shock and fury burning through her, even as man two, who she now knew was Maggot, ripped off Slip’s balaclava.
Slip’s fingers paused over the keyboard and he stared straight into the webcam before giving her a sly smile. “Hello, Eliza.”
She stared back at the face of a man she hadn’t seen in almost ten years. It looked like the past had finally caught up with her, and knowing it was this man, she realized just how motivated he was to find her.
He wouldn’t stop until she was dead.
CHAPTERTWENTY
CODE
He didn’t know the man, but whoever he could be, he clearly knew Glitch, and from the look on her face, she knew exactly who he was. Her eyes glowed with anger and determination. He wanted to ask the question, but noise coming through the headset brought his gaze back to his screen. Seemed that the team in the Predator’s clubhouse was done waiting around.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Hazard ordered. “Grab whatever shit you want since they’re not here to stop us.” He gave a dark laugh and then turned to leave the room, but not before kicking the door off the hinges and tossing a grin up at the camera. This asshole clearly had an ax to grind with the Predators, and he was taking advantage of their absence.
“Looks like I’m going to have to hunt you the old fashioned way, Eliza,” Slip remarked as he stared back into the camera again. Code instantly disliked him. He knew his type. Arrogant assholes who thought they were so much better than everyone else. That no one could touch them. “Just like old times. But this time, Eliza, I’ll be taking you down.”
“Not fucking happening,” Glitch muttered harshly into the headset.
“See you soon, Eliza. Better get ready, because once I find out where you’re hiding, I’m going to enjoy taking you apart piece by piece.” With that final threat and an evil smile, he retreated from the system, leaving them to watch him and the others through the cameras.
No one spoke as they watched them trash the clubhouse and take the things they wanted. Glitch cursed and fumed as Slip pulled apart all her equipment and took the pieces he wanted, most of them being the expensive stuff that Code knew would probably sting. Hell, he knew how much he had spent on getting his equipment to where he was happy with it, and he would be livid if someone dared to mess with it.
The team didn’t leave the clubhouse for another ten minutes, taking what they could fit in their backpacks, or carry. Crisp decided that he would take a piss on their furniture, adding further insult. “Looks like I was wrong, Code,” Glitch said absently as she watched the scene. “You’re not the only one who needs a dick pump, a magnifying glass and some tweezers. Looks like this guy is in much bigger need than you. Maybe you can lend him yours.”
The line filled with chuckles, and he turned to glare at her. She didn’t even glance his way, but he saw the smirk on her lips. He’d make sure she paid for that. Especially when Taz’s voice came through the line and added, “Damn, man, that’s just sad. There are surgeries to help with that, you know. They won’t get you to my level of perfection, but at least it would be something.”
“Fuck off,” he said mildly, though that only made the other man chuckle harder.
Finally, the other team left the clubhouse. “Can your cameras follow them, Glitch?” Simba asked her.
“Only about half a mile into the treeline,” she answered grimly. “I didn’t go further.”
“Will still give us an idea of which way they’re heading,” Simba said, clearly not too upset. “Keep the audio going, maybe we can hear them drive away.” Everyone went silent as they waited, and Code could faintly hear the sound of a vehicle starting and then fading off.
“Heading east,” Jag announced.
“On it,” Glitch said, already clicking away. Code looked at his screen and saw the map she had pulled, tracking the vehicle’s path to the point where the road ended and split in opposite directions. “If they go right they’ll be heading toward the old saw mill,” she told them. “If they go left, it’s toward the center of town.”
“Anything out near the saw mill that they could use as a home base?” Simba asked.
“Nothing showing on the map, but this isn’t a satellite view. I’ll run a search shortly once I make sure that everything is shored up so Slip can’t try and get in again while I’m sleeping later.”
“Good,” was Simba’s reply.
“Now that we know who’s after us, we need to decide on our next steps,” Karissa pointed out seriously. “Because if they do figure out where we are, they’ll be heading here soon enough.”
“Code, you think you and your club would be willing to patch us into your Church so we can have a video meeting?” Simba asked.
Code pulled out his phone. “I’ll message Savage now. We can probably meet within the next hour or two.”
“Good. We’ll be close to our destination by then. Glitch, can you find us a spot to stop and have the meeting? Off the beaten path but with good reception?”