customers, sure to add to my stress. When I pulled into the parking lot, there was no sign of motorcycles. It would still be a busy shift.
Halfway across the parking lot, a car door closed behind me. I glanced behind me. I didn’t see anyone pull in and I was on my toes from the day before. There was a tall, bald stranger with sunglasses and a business suit nodding at me.
Dust whipping at my ankles. I turned to him.
“Got something for you,” he said.
With caution, I approached. He remained at his driver side door. I looked behind me to check if anyone else was watching.
“Wyatt says to call him,” the man said, pulling something out of his pocket then placing it in my open palm. A burner.
“I think you know what to do with that.”
“Have you been following me?” I studied him carefully.
“No, I’ve got my own business in California. I had to drive a long ways to give you this. I’m too busy for this crap.” Impatiently he grabbed the handle of the door to close it. “Have a nice day,” he yelled, then backed out in a hurry and drove off.
Dropping back into my car, I dialed Wyatt’s number from the burner. He picked up on the second ring.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Are you safe? I haven’t heard from you in days. There better be a good reason.”
Getting ready to try to conceal my outburst, I hunched over in the driver side, managing to withhold my anger.
“You had someone tailing me? He could’ve busted my cover. You might’ve gotten me killed.”
“I thought you might be dead already. And no, he’s not tailing you. He’s handing you the burner and telling your irresponsible ass to give me a call. What’s going on? Please, tell me, because right now I’m ready to pull you out of there myself.”
Like he could.
I was too deep now.
Besides, I had good news for Wyatt. News he would like to hear. “Cool it, Wyatt. I’ve got something. “
“Got something? Go on.”
I flipped through the pictures on my own cell. Roxy showed me around the place, not a long tour, but long enough. After she left me in Red’s place, I snuck out to the equipment room that she mentioned. Being in Red’s room, it was easy to find the keys since he was Sergeant at Arms. He probably didn’t think he needed to hide it, since anyone in the compound would be a brother. They were right on his desk.
Using the key, I granted myself access to the equipment room, a long, wide vault for guns. As soon as the door opened, and the automatic lights flicked on, I knew what I was looking at was highly illegal. The weapons these guys had stockpiled were incredible. They had more weapons than a small country. The ATF would be rubbing their hands with glee if they saw what I stumbled onto.
Automatic rifles, grenades, submachine guns, and what even looked like a rocket launcher and a flamethrower presented themselves to me in that vault. I wondered what more I would find if I went digging. Maybe they had a tank out back. But what I saw was enough to get them put away for a very long time. I snapped the pictures of the most exposed and incriminating evidence.
I flipped through the pictures, over thirty of them as I continued talking to Wyatt. It was a difficult decision. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about erasing the album as I got back to my apartment. With Red gone and Wyatt on the line, it became much clearer. It was time to do my job.
“I have pictures of their arsenal. These guys are stockpiling enough for World War Three.”
“Like what?”
“Automatic assault rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, explosives, whatever else you can think of.”
“You’ve got pictures? How many?”
“Around thirty.”
“I’m guessing they’re on your phone.”
“Yes.”
“All right, good work, Ash. It doesn’t make up for leaving me stressed and on the verge of writing my resignation letter, but it’s a good start.”
“You want more?”
He
Halfway across the parking lot, a car door closed behind me. I glanced behind me. I didn’t see anyone pull in and I was on my toes from the day before. There was a tall, bald stranger with sunglasses and a business suit nodding at me.
Dust whipping at my ankles. I turned to him.
“Got something for you,” he said.
With caution, I approached. He remained at his driver side door. I looked behind me to check if anyone else was watching.
“Wyatt says to call him,” the man said, pulling something out of his pocket then placing it in my open palm. A burner.
“I think you know what to do with that.”
“Have you been following me?” I studied him carefully.
“No, I’ve got my own business in California. I had to drive a long ways to give you this. I’m too busy for this crap.” Impatiently he grabbed the handle of the door to close it. “Have a nice day,” he yelled, then backed out in a hurry and drove off.
Dropping back into my car, I dialed Wyatt’s number from the burner. He picked up on the second ring.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Are you safe? I haven’t heard from you in days. There better be a good reason.”
Getting ready to try to conceal my outburst, I hunched over in the driver side, managing to withhold my anger.
“You had someone tailing me? He could’ve busted my cover. You might’ve gotten me killed.”
“I thought you might be dead already. And no, he’s not tailing you. He’s handing you the burner and telling your irresponsible ass to give me a call. What’s going on? Please, tell me, because right now I’m ready to pull you out of there myself.”
Like he could.
I was too deep now.
Besides, I had good news for Wyatt. News he would like to hear. “Cool it, Wyatt. I’ve got something. “
“Got something? Go on.”
I flipped through the pictures on my own cell. Roxy showed me around the place, not a long tour, but long enough. After she left me in Red’s place, I snuck out to the equipment room that she mentioned. Being in Red’s room, it was easy to find the keys since he was Sergeant at Arms. He probably didn’t think he needed to hide it, since anyone in the compound would be a brother. They were right on his desk.
Using the key, I granted myself access to the equipment room, a long, wide vault for guns. As soon as the door opened, and the automatic lights flicked on, I knew what I was looking at was highly illegal. The weapons these guys had stockpiled were incredible. They had more weapons than a small country. The ATF would be rubbing their hands with glee if they saw what I stumbled onto.
Automatic rifles, grenades, submachine guns, and what even looked like a rocket launcher and a flamethrower presented themselves to me in that vault. I wondered what more I would find if I went digging. Maybe they had a tank out back. But what I saw was enough to get them put away for a very long time. I snapped the pictures of the most exposed and incriminating evidence.
I flipped through the pictures, over thirty of them as I continued talking to Wyatt. It was a difficult decision. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about erasing the album as I got back to my apartment. With Red gone and Wyatt on the line, it became much clearer. It was time to do my job.
“I have pictures of their arsenal. These guys are stockpiling enough for World War Three.”
“Like what?”
“Automatic assault rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, explosives, whatever else you can think of.”
“You’ve got pictures? How many?”
“Around thirty.”
“I’m guessing they’re on your phone.”
“Yes.”
“All right, good work, Ash. It doesn’t make up for leaving me stressed and on the verge of writing my resignation letter, but it’s a good start.”
“You want more?”
He
Similar Books
