Page 39 of Hell & Back

Darren went back to sitting on his cot. He leaned with his head and back against the bars and closed his eyes, sending up a silent prayer.Please God, help the Sons find me and Joe and even Henry.No one deserved to be put through this hell.

TUCK

“Please,someone, tell us we have some good news,” Dagger gave voice to what Tuck and everyone else was thinking. Something had to give soon. They were all losing their minds.

He sat anxiously waiting for everyone in attendance to take their seat. Kylie had given him new information right before everyone was called to church that he felt was promising.

“Any movement at the rentals?” Race asked Jackson and Trick. They’d been the ones tasked with keeping an eye on the Phantom properties in Redemption. “Anyone show up?”

A look passed between Jackson and Trick, before Jackson replied, “We asked Kylie to let us know if she ever got a hit at any of the properties since we’ve been doing drive-bys. She got an alert that someone was at the rental house. When we got there to check it out we spotted Avery, a stripper from Bottom’s Up, moving around the house last night after what would have been her shift. We called to confirm with the manager that she hadworked last night and he said yes. Someone called out and she took their shift.”

Tuck remembered Kylie’s phone going off last night. He’d been pissed someone had woken her up after he’d finally convinced her to come to bed. After he found out it was an alert she’d set up on the Phantom properties, it had been hard to stay mad. Hopefully, it was a lead that might get them one step closer to finding Darren.

“You’re positive she’s one of our dancers?” Dagger asked.

“Yeah. She had the lights on and the curtains open while she was walking around the living room,” Trick confirmed.

“What the fuck?” Race’s voice dropped to deadly quiet. “Do we have another Phantom spy working for us?” That was a sure sign he was about to erupt. Tuck couldn’t blame him. The thought of another spy in their midst was both worrisome and getting old.

“Not sure, but it is rather strange that one of our new dancers would have access to one of the Phantom properties,” Trick replied.

“Can’t be coincidence,” Maverick said.

“Is she still there?” Race asked.

“As far as we know. We left Miles watching the apartment while we came to church. He’s supposed to let us know if there’s any movement.” Jackson rocked back in his chair so it was balancing on the two back legs.

“We’re going back after church. Maybe we can catch her unaware and get some answers out of her.” Trick scratched his scruffy chin.

Race grunted his approval. “Tuck, you said Kylie has something new for us?”

“Yeah.” Tuck pulled up the information on the laptop Kylie gave him, then slid it across the table to Jackson since he was second to Kylie in computer skills. “Can you get this up on theTV screen?” They had a seventy-inch screen mounted to the wall for just this sort of thing. It also came in handy when Jackson, as treasurer, had financial reports he wanted to go over with the brothers. A couple of clicks of the wireless mouse and the image popped up.

“What are we looking at?” Race asked.

“These are satellite pictures of the Phantoms’ clubhouse and surrounding property.” It was at the edge of town, woods on two sides and a fence surrounding the clubhouse and immediate area. “From what Tulsa and Lance has discovered there is always someone on guard duty at the gate. They take six-hour shifts.”

“Okay. This is interesting and all, but what else are we looking at?” Dagger commented.

Tuck got up and walked around the table in order to get closer to the screen. “See this area? This gray color here? She thinks they might have another building back here in the trees.”

“Can you blow it up a little more, Jackson?” Dagger squinted at the picture. “Okay. That’s good.”

“She says if one of our guys down there can use a drone, we could get a closer look. Other than that, she said someone would have to go in on foot to check it out. She’s hoping this is where they’re holding Darren.”

“A drone?” Race appeared intrigued by the idea.

“Where would we get one?” Chris asked.

“She could order one and have it delivered to the UPS store in town for them to pick up.” Tuck looked around the table, checking to see how the brothers were feeling about this information and the idea of a drone.

“Do any of them know how to operate a drone?” Jackson asked.

“I don’t know,” Tuck shrugged a shoulder. “We’d have to call and find out.”

“If we could use a drone instead of sending a brother inside, that would be the quickest and safest way to get the information we need.” Maverick sat with his arms crossed over his chest.

Race was silent for a moment as he weighed the pros and cons of this idea. “Find out. If one of them feels comfortable enough to do it, have Kylie get the drone to them ASAP. I want to know how many guards they have on the property. How many are on this building out back? How many doors and windows in this building? Is there a way to come in through the back?”

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