Page 47 of Rattler's Revelation
“I have his cellphone and I’ve been communicating with Wade as Walt,” Spark says. “I told him I had to go into hiding because the Demon Dawgs figured out what was happening at the casino. Wade thinks Walt barely escaped capture and didn’t want to lead the Demon Dawgs, or the cops, to their hideout. I can send him another message, saying he is heading back to the hideout.”
“Where does Wade think Walt has been all this time?” I ask.
“Hiding at the casino. I cloned Walt’s phone and left it at the casino in case Wade could check the phone’s location. It looks like Walt has been hiding out in a hotel room. I can switch off the clone when Rattler is on the road.”
“You can’t take your motorcycle or one of the club’s SUVs,” Puma says. “We can get you a car from the auto shop.”
“It would be helpful if you could get as many of them outside and in the open as you can so my guys can pick them off,” Taylor says.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I say.
“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time, and then we’ll head out,” Puma says.
After we review the plan, I step outside to find a nondescript sedan pulling to a stop. Gears gets out of the car and tosses me the keys, just as Viper joins me. We watch Randy and Rafe arguing at the far side of the compound. Neither looks in our direction.
“You going to be okay?” Viper asks.
“Yeah, I have to be. My focus is on bringing Bianca back and saving the other women. I can’t think of anything else.”
“Rafe will talk him around,” Viper says.
“Will he?” I ask, turning to look at her. “Is that what he should be doing? Randy’s a cop. So’s Rafe. Is being with us causing them to sacrifice their beliefs?”
Viper sighs. “I worried about that with Rafe. He was able to rationalize bending the law in the name of justice. I’m certain Rafe isn’t happy to learn we kidnapped Walt and have kept him prisoner, but he isn’t a stupid man. The law doesn’t always protect the innocent. Bianca and those other women are innocent. The cops didn’t know they were missing. Even if we had called them about Walt, we couldn’t have proved he was dangerous. They wouldn’t have had enough to hold him, and he would have disappeared.”
“What if you cross a line that Rafe can’t accept? I can’t believe Rafe would be okay with our torturing Walt for information.”
Viper smirks. “Rafe knows what I do. Or at least he has an idea. He’s not a stupid man. He knows what Enforcers do in an MC. I gave him a choice and he chose me. I won’t second-guess his loyalty to me until he gives me a reason to do so.”
I glance at Randy. “I don’t know if he will choose me. But I can’t worry about that now. We need to save Bianca and the others.”
With a final glance at Randy, I hop into the sedan and take off.
CHAPTER THIRTY: RANDY
When Rafe claims that we don’t want to know how they got the location of Wade and his men, I want to protest and insist they tell us. Why should we be kept in the dark? However, the look on Rafe’s face and the inability of Rattler to look me in the eye tell me that I won’t like the answer. I still want to know. I open my mouth to say so, but before I can, Chill draws our attention back to the satellite images.
“There.” She points at the spot. I focus on the image and recognize it. They’ve added a few more buildings, but the layout looks familiar. It’s the place where Tommy took me all those years ago.
“That has to be them,” Puma says. “You have the location, Taylor?”
I keep half an ear on the conversation as Puma and Taylor discuss the attack plan, while I study the satellite image. After identifying the house where I knew Walt and Wade lived, I shifted my attention to the other buildings to see if I could figure out where they’re keeping Bianca and the other women. The containers are the most likely, since the Demon Dawgs believe Wade and his men plan on shipping the women to New Orleans. The thought of Bianca trapped inside one of them has me itching to move. I tune back into the conversation when I hear Rattler volunteer to provide a distraction.
I frown at him. “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.
“He won’t be. He’s currently our guest.”
“That’s good news. One less asshole to deal with,” Taylor says while I gape at Rattler.
Walt is their guest? I’m not stupid, I know what that means. No wonder no one seemed worried about locating Walt. Why search for him when you already know you are holding him captive? The Demon Dawgs are holding him against his will. I know Walt is an asshole, but I’m a cop. How the fuck do I reconcile that the man I’m growing to care for is blatantly breaking the law? I’m not the only cop in the room, so I look to Rafe for his reaction.
“So, much for plausible deniability. I choose to believe that Walt’s here visiting his cousins,” Rafe says with a smirk at Viper. Seriously? He’s just going to ignore the fact that they are holding a man prisoner? Have they tortured him, too? I’m betting yes, since how else could they have gotten the compound’s location?
“You’re okay with this?” I demand of Rafe. The man I respected so much that I followed in his footsteps is now making jokes about the club kidnapping and torturing a man? It’s one thing to ignore the club members making threats to get information and quite another to know they’re using torture. They are no longer bending the law; they’ve broken it into pieces and ground it into dust. “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 situation isn’t okay.”
