Page 46 of Rattler's Revelation
“Oh, we’re going to get out of here. I have every confidence that the Demon Dawgs will find us.”
The sound of a vehicle arriving has us standing and looking out the window. We can’t see anything until Billy steps into view, dragging a young girl behind him. She’s crying as she struggles against him. Billy ignores her pleas as he leads her to a pole cemented into the ground. He grabs the rope that hangs from a hook near the top of the pole and ties it around her slender wrists. She’s tiny and can’t be more than twelve. My heart breaks at the sheer terror on her face. I can’t help notice that her skin color is precisely the same shade as mine. Now I understand the look on Wade’s face when he stared at me and directed Billy to get dark meat. The fucking bastard.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: RATTLER
Viper and I follow Chill into the clubhouse and directly to Spark’s office. Before we reach it, we hear Puma relaying the information that Taylor is ready to track the assholes back to their base. Chill pushes into the room and announces that we already have the location. I can’t look at Randy when I realize he and Rafe are in the room and heard her announcement. Viper skips over to Rafe’s side, but I hover near the door.
“How the hell did you get the location?” Rafe asks.
Chill raises her eyebrow at him. “Do you really want to know?”
Rafe shakes his head before glancing at Randy. “No, we don’t want to know how. Just give us what you learned.”
I sneak a glance at Randy, who is studying the floor. The wrinkles between his eyebrows tell me he’s thinking it through. I hold my breath as I wait for him to draw his conclusions. He must feel my eyes on him, because he raises his to mine. He opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, Chill announces she’s located the compound on the satellite feed.
“There.” She points at the spot where several buildings stand close together. It almost looks like a small neighborhoodrather than a ranch. However, not all the buildings are houses. Many appear to be storage units. There are even half a dozen shipping containers stacked on top of each other. But the most telling indication that we have the correct location is the giant Confederate Flag drawn on the ground, which becomes visible once Spark zooms in closer.
“That has to be them,” Puma says. “You have the location, Taylor?”
“We’ll follow the vans for now. If they don’t follow the route to the hideout, then we’ll switch out,” Taylor says. “I have four vehicles tailing them. My guys are pros. The assholes won’t figure out that they have a tail even if they’re looking for one. They have Christine’s box, so I can also track the AirTag later if they take the boxes to a different location. I’d like to look at the satellite feed, see what we’re dealing with.”
“I’ll send it to you,” Spark says. He works his magic as he sends the feed to Taylor and shifts the display to the television mounted on the wall. This way, we can all view the footage more clearly.
“Got it, thanks. Okay, it looks like an outcropping of rocks protects them from view. We can use that to our advantage. We have drones that we can send in to take out any guards they might have in place. Then we’ll use their position to take out the men below.”
“We can take the backroads on our bikes,” Puma adds. “We’ll approach from the east and west, keeping the outcropping between us and them. That way, once you take out the guards, we can rush into the compound before they know we’ve found them.”
“My guys can position themselves on the rocks once we’ve taken out the guards,” Taylor continues. “They can position themselves along the outcropping. It would be nice if we coulddevise a distraction, something that brings the majority of the club into the open courtyard.”
“I could do it,” I say.
Randy frowns as he looks at me. “How?”
“Walt and I look enough alike to fool most people. We can use that to our advantage. If I show up, I can distract them long enough for everyone to get in position. I’ll lure them into the open with a ploy.”
“What if the real Walt is already there?” Taylor asks.
I close my eyes as I realize my mistake. “He won’t be. He’s currently our guest.”
“That’s good news. One less asshole to deal with,” Taylor says.
I glance at Rafe, who is shaking his head but smirking at Viper. “So, much for plausible deniability. I choose to believe that he’s here visiting his cousins.”
“You’re okay with this?” Randy demands of Rafe. “They’ve admitted to kidnapping a man and holding him against his will. I’m guessing they tortured him to get information from him. This isn’t okay.” Randy is practically vibrating by the time he’s finished his speech.
Puma glowers at Randy. “Are you planning on arresting us, or do you want to rescue Bianca and the other women? If you’re going to be a hindrance, get out now. We don’t have time to convince you to help us.”
Randy turns to Rafe, perhaps looking for support, but Rafe’s expression tells him that he won’t be getting any from him. Randy then glances at me. I don’t like the suspicion I see there. Without another word, Randy pushes past me and leaves the room. I flinch when I hear the clubhouse door slam shut.
“I’ll talk to him,” Rafe says, following Randy out the door.
“Walt fooled people who didn’t know him or you,” Puma argues. “Walt’s father knows his son. Fuck, I bet all the bastardsknow him. You won’t last two minutes before they figure out you aren’t Walt. It’s a big risk.”
“It is, but I’m willing to do it to rescue Bianca and the other women,” I tell him. “I know I can’t fool them for long, but if they think I’m Walt for five or ten minutes, then will that help?”
“If we time it right,” Taylor says. “We can hit at dusk. My men can approach the compound without being seen. We can have the drones in the air before Rattler arrives, then when he does, we’ll take out the guards as soon as he drives into the compound. My men will be in place in seconds. We can start taking out the targets right away. Rattler won’t be in danger longer than a few minutes. We’ll make sure he stays safe.”
“Won’t our uncle be suspicious if Rattler shows up as Walt?” Viper asks. “He’s been our guest for several days now.”
