Page 38 of Hell Yes

“It’s my fault,” Xander muttered. “I was too concerned with Val and Sage in there. I didn’t stop to think.”

Xander was waiting for Gage’s blowback, but he didn’t yell like Xander expected him to.

“The tech thing is a learning curve for all of us. Like us, other crews are using it to run their operations and hack into their rivals, and we need to be on guard. And increase our own measures. Given that, Xander, you need a backup, someone who can help you. I’m gonna talk to the prospects and see which ones might be a good fit.”

Xander nodded. “Now that I have the dead members’ phones, I’m gonna see where the money’s coming and going. We can also mine their contacts.”

Gage nodded. “That’d be useful and profitable. But first, we need to hit the kill switch and eliminate the immediate threat.”

“I can pretend to be one of them and text the rest of the members using one of the phones. Tell them that we gained access to the compound but we need more guys to unload the drug and gun supplies from one of the tunnels. I’ll put down our security temporarily so they think they’re all in, and boom, we hit them.”

“Be careful. They get a hint that it’s not one of their own and they might go into hiding. Then we gotta go hunting on their turf, and that ain’t always easy.”

“I’m on it,” Xander muttered. “There are messages piling up already. If I don’t reply soon, they’re gonna be suspicious for sure.”

“Get on it. Me and the rest of the crew will be ready to trap them when you say the word.”

Xander was about to leave but hesitated.

“Anything else?’ Gage asked.

“Yeah. Our cameras at the bar and the body shop in town caught an unfamiliar vehicle riding around. I traced the license plate, and it turns out to be a car rental from Mosley. Whoever it is, my gut says they’re here for Val.”

CHAPTER 14

JESSE

Jesse got up and stood in front of Xander. “We can’t let her off the compound.”

“No shit.”

“I’m serious. What are we gonna do?”

“We have two choices. We threaten them and they leave, or we get rid of the problem the way we usually do.”

“I vote for number two,” Gage replied. “If they came all this way, I doubt they’ll turn tail and run. Not if they think it’s their ‘holy obligation’ to punish her. Religious cults like this have their orders. And the people in them don’t exactly think rational.”

Jesse shook his head. “So more of their members go missing?”

“So what? They won’t call the cops. They don’t like any government agency knowing their business. They’re saying nothing.”

“True,” Gage agreed.

Xander tried to outwalk Jesse but a hand on his shoulder had him turning around.

“What?”

“What if that’s not the end of it? What if more members come for her?”

Xander was going to make a joke about coming but he was too damn tired at this point.

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes. First off, let’s get the Krypt here. Then we deal with the other.”

Xander headed for his office, ignoring Jesse’s presence. Which was not easy to do.

“Where’s Val?”

“She’s with Sage.”