“That tracks, considering Vlad would have known that we found the other places,” Viper agrees. “He’s not just going to let us waltz up to his operation, and his men are probably going to be making sure that they are on high alert and hiding to make sure we don’t get too close. We’ve disturbed them enough already, and with Hulk getting out, Vlad is going to be even more careful than before.”
“We need to figure out where Vlad is hiding. What does this have to do with Hulk being captured?” Silver asks, tone bored. “I mean, unless he outright told him, this is a waste of time. We need to make a plan.”
This asshole is pushing on my last nerve. Instead of anyone answering him, Frost says, “We searched the place where wefound Hulk, and most of it is only soldiers' quarters and a few cells and a kitchen. There are no offices, no rooms that make us think that it’s where Vlad or even Nikolai are in most of the time.”
“You think there’s a second place they’re using?” Viper asks.
Frost nods. “It makes sense that they want to keep things separate. They also seem to like to have one location as a decoy of sorts.”
“It also is the perfect setup, just in case the Feds or some enemy comes along to come after him, they’re out of the line of fire,” Bowie agrees with a nod. “The entire same method with their secret stash houses.”
“So, what, you think he has this other house that he’s staying in close by?” Angel asks, leaning forward and bracing against the table. He looks curious, like his mind is already going a mile a minute and trying to figure out what this might mean. Or perhaps he’s wondering if this is a way for him to figure out what we know. I don’t know if he’s the voice I heard in the hallway, but at this point, I can’t rule any of them out.
“It would be on brand from what we’ve seen,” Sniper agrees.
“What about the journals? Did your woman find anything that suggested there’s a second location?” Dozer, one of the Misfit’s Enforcers, asks.
“She’s not found anything that would suggest it, but she’s still working on things,” Sniper replies. “She’s got about another five pages, but most of it is just scribbles and not really code. It’s almost like things were added in later, but the writing is the same all the way through, so it looks like Bull was getting a bit sloppy toward the end.”
“When shit was going down way back when, he probably was trying to find new locations and adding them in quickly so he didn’t forget about them,” Bullet suggests.
“What if the place that Vlad is staying in wasn’t an actual location in the beginning?” Torque wonders. I look at him curiously, and I see Torque’s head tilted back, staring up at the ceiling, and I can see him thinking hard. “What if when Dagger was dealing with Dmitri and gave him the journal in the first place, he told him about one of the locations that he knew was secluded enough for them to build on? It might have been part of his deal with Dmitri. Or, it could be that Dmitri found a spot and that’s why we don’t know about it. It’s not in the journal because it’s not a place that Bull found, but Dagger did when he came back here.”
“You’re giving this Dagger guy a lot of credit,” Whip, the Sergeant-at-Arms, remarks.
“I remember him,” Arson rumbles. “He was a sneaky fucker back then, so I’m not really surprised he was a traitor. He was a cocky prick too.”
“It’s been what, ten years since you last saw him?” Sniper asks in annoyance. “He was a cocky prick then, but he grew out of it as he got older. Considering everything, it’s not surprising that he was able to hide shit as much as he did. But there’s no point in looking at him because he’s dead. We made sure of it.”
“Vlad is our top priority,” Bullet adds firmly. “And finding him and Nikolai before they launch an attack on us and the club because we know it’s coming. I’m almost surprised that they haven’t yet.”
“They’re probably focused on moving their products out of the places we haven’t found yet,” King muses. “And we’ve found a lot, so that doesn’t give a lot of options.”
“They also might be wondering if we’re going to call in the Feds, and they don’t want to make themselves known yet,” Viper agrees.
“Or they’re planning a full-scale attack,” Silver bites out. “One that’s going to take out both our clubs and we’re fucked.”
“That could very well be,” Bullet agrees grimly. “And if they do, we’ll be ready to handle it, but we need to keep trying to figure out where they might be hiding. Sniper, will you ask Thea to work as hard and as fast as she can to finish the last few sheets in the journal? We need everything we can and we need all the dots on the map that Cryos has going. He’s in there somewhere.”
“Why don’t we just look around the place Hulk was taken to?” Crook asks. “I mean, fuck, the guy can’t be that far away.”
If I wasn’t watching, I might miss the way some of the Misfits’ eyes slide to Crook at that question, and then a few of them share a look that is clearly displeased. Looks like they don’t like what he’s trying to suggest. My senses are buzzing, and I wonder if anyone else is noticing what’s happening.
“Because Vlad knows that’s the first thing that we’re going to do,” Torque replies sharply. Crook glares at him, but Torque doesn’t pay it any mind and continues talking. “They built the house that Hulk was kept in purposely so that we can’t find the other one. And it’s not going to be easily found. I wouldn’t be fucking surprised if it’s an underground bunker or something, or hidden in some way to blend in with the surroundings so you don’t realize what you’re looking at. It’s the perfect way for him to watch what’s going on, but feel safe, and stay undetected. He also might have a way to get out of that house to a vehicle that will take you to wherever they’re hiding. Anything that will keep them off the main roads and out of cameras. That’s why they’ve been so good at remaining undetected. They’ve planned for this exact situation.”
“Then it’s a good thing we have a lot of people at this table that will be able to help us find him,” Bullet states, leaning forward and looking around at all of us. “Hulk, we need you to tell us everything you can, then we need to get to work on finding them. Who are on patrol tonight?” A few of our guys and a few of the Misfits lift their hands. “Alright, anyone not on patroltonight, we’re making a plan before we leave this room and we’re hunting tonight. We’re not going to let these bastards get the jump on us, and we need to be on the offensive.”
On that, we can all agree.
The rest of Church is mostly easy-going, almost back to what it was before all the other shit came to light, but I refuse to let my guard down. Some ideas bounce back and forth on the best teams to pair up, and it’s no surprise that most of the Misfits want to stick together. Eventually, we figure out a compromise, but I and Cobra, we’re still not cleared to be on our bikes and have to stay in the clubhouse. Cobra looks downright pissed at that but says nothing.
Finally, once we have things ironed out, Bullet states, “We don’t have a lot of time left before Vlad is going to make his next move. Everyone needs to be vigilant, and alert everyone if they see or hear anything suspicious. Cryos, I want all cameras and sensors on and around our property working all the time. If you need someone to help watch the cameras, then let me know and we’ll assign someone to watch them.”
“I can help with that,” I offer. “I’m here, and when I’m not guarding the women and kids, I’m cleared by Medic to help out around here.” I glance at Cryos, who nods, but I see his lips pulled down into a slight frown. Is that because he doesn’t want my help, or is pissed that Bullet’s suggesting he can’t do the job on his own? Cryos is protective of his inner sanctum.
“Me too,” Cobra offers, nodding. “More eyes on this, the better.”
Bullet nods. “Alright. Right now, I’ll let Cryos figure out the best schedule on that and set up.” Cryos nods again but doesn’t reply. “Any other issues or business?” Everyone is quiet. “Alright, we’ll call Church to a close.”
