Page 58 of Angel

After he made his first kill, Sam would have been patched over into the club.

The Pythons lined up in the main room, fourteen were accounted for. Two of the Pythons, the club discovered, were from the Atlantic City chapter. While Cage didn’t mind that they had taken two more criminal scum from this world, he was grateful that the club had gone incognito on this siege. With the alibi Keys was working on—making fake posts on social media, a newspaper article from the Mount Grove Chronicle, and the party announcements—it was doubtful anyone would be able to point a finger at the VDMC and prove they had been anywhere other than at their property this night. However, the Pythons were not the sort to care about proof.

Which was also why they were planning on leaving just enough evidence behind to point the finger at the 3Ts. With any luck, the AC Pythons would go after the gang and they would wipe each other out.

Per Keys, all of the heat signatures were accounted for. Bulldog and Ghost went to collect ‘the evidence’. Cage started unpacking the C-4 with remote detonators. Based on the floor plan Keys had provided him, he’d already worked out which support beams to target that would take down the building.

As he neared the beam where Star was sitting with a napkin pressed to his face, Cage asked, “She got you good, huh?”

Star’s eyes went to the women. “Oh, they didn’t do this. Remember that other heat signature Keys sent me after?”

Cage nodded, pressing the block of clay onto the column.

Star pulled down the front of his shirt. A small furry head popped up and released a pitiful meow. Cage’s jaw dropped. Star reached up to scratch its head. The black and white cat started purring with contentment.

“Couldn’t leave the little guy to burn,” Star said as if he didn’t look equally contented with the cat’s presence in his shirt. “Figured one of the kids would want him.”

Star pocketed the bloody napkin to ensure he didn’t leave his DNA behind. Cage shook his head at his friend’s back. He would bet money that the club kids were never going to get the chance to claim that kitty and that Star would soon be purchasing cat supplies for his clubhouse apartment.

Angel did another sweep of the perimeter through her scope. Bear was driving Keys’s van to pick up some of the members. With the women they had to take with them, there was not enough room in the club SUVs. They needed to get the women away before they could blow the building.

With King and Fang absent, Angel was keeping an extra close eye out. They could not risk being spotted by either member and identified. She saw Ghost and Bulldog carry in the bricks of heroin with the 3Ts signature blend. With it, they were going to stage a drug deal gone very bad between the two criminal groups.

Movement in the shadows of a surrounding building had Angel take a closer look. She was about to call it over when she recognized the face of the man.

Despite the distance, as if he sensed her eyes on him, Scar looked her way. Then he used his right hand to point to the left. Angel swung her scope on instinct to see what he was pointing at and found a wounded Python limping his way towards a metal link fence.

She pulled the trigger and the rabbit dropped.

Angel scanned the area again but did not see anyone else. She moved her crosshairs back to where she’d seen Scar. The man was no longer there.

“Motherfucker,” Angel muttered to herself. Had Scar been there the whole time watching them? Had he been there as their backup or to witness? Either way, a part of her felt like he’d only stepped forward so she could catch a glimpse of him.

“Bulldog,” she called over the radio. “You were right. He showed.”

“Scar?” came back at her.

“Affirmative. He pointed me in the direction of another rabbit. I got the runner but now Scar’s gone.”

Bulldog cursed. “Slippery bastard. Which direction did he go?”

“East,” she told him. “No sign of Ivy.”

“Scar is free to come and go as he pleases,” Steel reminded them. “Let’s get this done and get out of here. Someone go get Angel’s rabbit. Are the women loaded up?”

Angel moved her scope to see Pumpkin and Grumpy assist the last one into the SUV. They were taking them elsewhere to be assessed by Bear. All of them were going to need medical attention prior to a rehab program. The saddest part of watching them was the fact that they had been willing. Their consent did not make their treatment right in any regard, but it did make it less wrong in a way. Which still fell under ‘sick’ in Angel’s book. She hated to see women mistreated. She hated even more to see women mistreated who thought that was their only way to live.

Cheryl, however, would be coming with the VDMC back to their clubhouse.

Pumpkin answered that all of the women were accounted for and ready to go. Steel gave the order for Pumpkin and Grumpy to take the women away.

Pirate drove the other SUV into the lot as Bear pulled up with the van.

“Angel,” Steel called. “Time to go.”

Angel moved swiftly. She was packed up and out of her perch in seconds. Her rifle was broken down and in its case along her back. She climbed down the fire escape. Part of Keys’s job was to also fake the surveillance videos from the surrounding street cams and businesses. Personal pictures were another issue, which was why the club was wearing their balaclavas outside of the Pythons’ clubhouse building.

“Ready when you are, Steel,” she heard Cage’s voice over the radio.

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