Bullet smirks at that. “You’d think that you’d milk this as long as you could with a pretty nurse helping you.”
“The same pretty nurse that was just in here poking and prodding at me and being a general pain in my ass?” Okay, so maybe I’m surly, and I’d never say such a thing in front of Avery because she is helping me and I like having her around, but a man is allowed to bitch when he’s laid up this way.
Bullet gives a low chuckle. “Yeah, that one. She’s very good at her job, and she told Medic and me that she was sure that you’d be mostly back to normal in a few days now that the infection is gone and you’re starting to heal.” Then he gives me an amused smile and adds, “And she may or may not have mentioned that she’d be glad to not have to sit around and deal with your grumpy ass all the time. If you’re looking to charm that one, I think you need to up your game and alter your personality a bit, brother.”
I say nothing. My feelings for Avery are complicated, and I can’t sort them out in here. “Well, as soon as we’re finished, I’m out of here and going back to my room. I need a shower and I’ll sleep better in my own bed.”
“Hmmm,” he says noncommittally. “We’ll figure that out in a minute. I wanted to get your side of the story on everything that’s happened. No one else but Avery, the kids, Rose, Thea, and Sniper are around, and he’s outside keeping Avery occupied by checking on Thea and her arm.”
“She’s doing alright?” I ask, concerned. Fuck, I haven’t even asked how Thea is after being shot.
“Brother, get that look off your face,” Bullet orders gruffly. “You’ve been trying to heal yourself and not die. Thea’s fine. She’s going to be in her sling for a few more weeks, but she’s already starting to get better mobility and the pain is starting to lessen. She’s been focusing on the journals.”
“We know where Vlad is now, so do we even need those now?” I ask.
He glances around and lowers his voice. “We think that where he kept you was like the places he was using. It was a decoy to where he was staying. Frost, Bowie, and Sniper checked it out, and there are no offices there. Only soldiers’ quarters, the med bay, the cell you were in, and a few rooms that are supposed to look like bedrooms and an office, but they don’t fit and looklike they’ve never been used, with how much dust is in them. There’s no way that Vlad isn’t on top of this shit.”
I let out a low curse. “These fuckers. There’s no way that Dagger would have not slipped up on those house locations, though. So Dmitri or Vlad had to have built that house and wherever else he’s hiding when Dagger gave over the journal and all the locations.”
Bullet nods. “That’s what I’m thinking. Do you remember anything while you were there? Anything that was said or might make you think that there was a second place close by?”
I close my eyes as I try to think back to everything. I spent so much time in a pain-induced haze that I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. However, if my time in the military has taught me anything, it’s that even the smallest sounds or words that your subconscious picks up might be useful.
My brain works its way through the days as much as I can, recalling every sight, sound, smell, and feeling possible. “A lot was going on while I was there,” I murmur, not opening my eyes. “Nikolai was the one who normally spent the most time with me, but Vlad came in at least once or twice a day. If he’s doing that, he has to be close by. I heard a lot of screaming, mostly male, but every so often I’d hear female ones. It was close enough I could hear them, but sometimes they would sound far away.”
“The soldiers’ quarters were just down the hall from where they kept you,” Bullet explains. “There were women that were kept there or brought in for the soldiers, but we didn’t find any other men.”
“They probably were disposed of when Nikolai and Vlad were finished with them.” I frown, remembering quickly what happened not long before they got me out. “Wait, a few hours before Avery was brought in to get me out, Nikolai came into the room and was searching around the table for something, pissed off. I could hear the screams from the hallway, and I heardvoices that sounded like they were talking when the screams stopped. I was focusing on trying to make a plan to escape so I didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about.” I open my eyes and look at Bullet. “But Nikolai was working on someone.”
“Bowie and Frost checked the place out as much as they could, but they didn’t find a man anywhere. And no blood that would indicate anyone was there.”
“They might have been able to clean up the space where they were working, but not that fast. He was still working on someone when I was trying to grab the items on the table. I could still hear the screams. So he had to have left not long…Wait, after they opened the door to let Avery in and shut it, I could hear angry yelling and shouting. I couldn’t tell what they were saying though, but they must have killed whoever they were working on and Nikolai left not long after that.”
Bullet’s eyes narrow. “Shadow, Viper, Bowie, and Frost were all there to make sure that we got you out of there and none of them noticed Nikolai leaving, and Cryos also didn’t see anything on any cameras.”
“So there has to be another way for them to get out that no one can see,” I say with a slow nod, connecting the dots.
“Did you ever hear any random doors shutting, or any noises that didn’t make sense?”
I think back. “I would sometimes hear people moving down to stand outside my door, and talking in low voices, and then sometimes I’d hear another door, but I always assumed it was the doors in the hallway.” Another thought hits me and I straighten a little bit. “Wait, one time, not long after they brought me there, Nikolai and Vlad were leaving, and I lifted my head and saw Vlad moving to the left of the door, not straight and gone like you would think, but Nikolai closed the door and I didn’t think about it again because I didn’t know the layout.”
Bullet starts typing away on his phone. “I’ll have Cryos look at the layout documents again, but there could be a hidden exit out or maybe one of those doors that are close by is a decoy room that hides where they’re actually working. Either way, it looks like things are still being a fucking pain in the ass.”
“If they’re that close, they’re not going to stay there,” I reason.
“Or they might want to stay close and watch what happens,” he suggests. “We can’t see them, but they can see us and they can see what we’re doing, and who we’re with. I’ll look into it.”
I nod. I shift slightly so I can lean forward, ignoring the tugging and pain in my back and side at the movement. “What the hell happened, Bullet? I remember being out there with Cobra and then something hitting me on the head, and it was lights out.”
Bullet’s mouth pulls down into a grim frown and he moves closer so that our heads are close together. “We found your phone and you had a phone recording. We don’t know if the voice is Cobra’s or someone else’s, though. They were working with the Russians and there was something about repayment mentioned. Cobra was found beaten bloody, which casts doubt that it was him, but we can’t be certain that it wasn’t him and he had a partner to help him.” His eyes are cold as he adds in a very low murmur, “There’s also a chance that someone in our club is also a rat and working with them and/or Vlad.”
I should be surprised, but I can’t be. “Fucking mess,” I mutter with a slight shake of my head. “You have Cryos looking into it.”
He nods and gives me a quick rundown on what Cryos found. “And now Stone and Shadow are both gone to check on their women and kids,” he adds. I stare at him in confusion and he gives me a grim look. “Vlad sent men after the Syn and Macy. Almost got them both. The Misfits don’t know about it yet, and neither do the rest of our men. We need to make sure that we’rekeeping it under wraps in case someone tips off Vlad that they went, or if anyone slips up and reveals they know.”
“Fuck, who the hell would shoot at a little girl?” I hiss, infuriated. “Shadow’s probably about to go nuclear.”
“He said that he won’t, but when it comes to Quinn and Macy, there’s nothing that will stop him from protecting them,” Bullet agrees. “I have to hope he keeps his head and gets back soon. Stone is worried that something happened to the baby when the dog knocked her down, but he’s strong and trying not to freak the hell out.”
