Page 24 of Echoes of Danger
“Damnit, Knoxy,” I growl.
“Sorry,” he whispers.
“I need answers…now,” Ghost orders.
Ghost stands tall, his shoulder wide and his eyes blazing, as he looks at my best friend.
“I know,” Taylor answers. “This isn’t just about security anymore. They know who we are, and if we’re being bugged, this has crossed into club business.”
Ghost shifts his weight, his eyes burning into me as I feel the weight of his authority settle in the room. He’s the presidentandnever one to shy away from a fight. This is no different. The club’s safety is on the line. Taylor’s right. Time to bring the rest of the Obsidians into play.
I stand, my mind racing. “What are our options?” I ask, my voice steadier than I feel inside.
“We’ve got to relocate the client,” Taylor says. “That safe house was the only livable one we have. The rest are little shacks that haven’t been stocked in years. We need someplace new.”
“Where?” Steel asks, his tone sharp. “If they knew about your safe house, they’ll have eyes on any other property you have.”
Taylor nods grimly. “Exactly. Which is why I think we need to move them somewhere no one would expect.”
“Club territory,” Ghost says, his voice low but commanding. “Bring them to one of our strongholds. King has one close by.”
“That’s a risk,” I say, glancing between Taylor and Ghost. “If the enemy is smart enough to find a safe house that wasn’t tied to any of us, then they can do the same thing to any that we have tied to the club. They might not hesitate to come after the Obsidians.”
“Then we show them what happens when they mess with us,” Ghost growls, his fists clenching at his sides. “This is our house. No one threatens us on our own turf.”
Steel steps forward, his gaze serious. “If we bring them into club territory, it’s all hands on deck. Every brother needs to be prepared for a fight. Is the client worth that kind of heat?”
Taylor doesn’t hesitate. “Yes. The man holds information that could take down powerful players. The people after him aren’t small-time. They’re dangerous, organized, and they’ve got resources.”
I take a deep breath, trying to push aside the doubts swirling in my head. Bringing this heat into our world is risky, but leaving the client out there, exposed, feels like a death sentence. Not only to him but to any potential victims these fuckers go after.
I look at Taylor, the final decision weighing heavily on our minds. He stares back, his expression unreadable. “It’s your call,” I say. Ghost may be our club’s president, but Obsidian Security is Taylor’s baby. He started this business, and the final decision is his and his alone.
“I’ve told you from the beginning that your security business will remain yours when you merged with our club,” Ghost says. “And I stand by that. But if you bring this to our doorstep, I expect full transparency about your client and the people after him. And you better be damn sure you’re ready for any fallout.”
Taylor nods, and I take a deep breath, knowing there’s no turning back. “Alright,” he says. “We move the client to club territory. Full lockdown.”
Ghost steps forward, his hand clapping on Taylor’s shoulder. “Then we handle it like we always do. As a fucking team.”
The room falls into a tense, charged silence as everyone prepares for what comes next.
“Alright,” Taylor sighs. “Two weeks ago, we received a request from an old buddy of mine who works Interpol.”
Taylor’s eyes darken as he continues. “He needed off-the-books protection for someone under international surveillance. Someone important. A whistleblower. We weren’t told the fulldetails at first, only that this guy had dirt on a network of powerful players, and they wanted him dead before he could testify.”
Ghost narrows his eyes. “A whistleblower? You brought someone like that into our world?”
Taylor holds up his hands. “I know what you’re thinking, and I wouldn’t have agreed if I didn’t believe in what he’s doing. He’s got information that could topple organized crime operations across Europe and beyond. If this falls into the wrong hands, entire governments could get exposed for turning a blind eye to trafficking, arms deals, hell, things we can’t even imagine.”
Steel curses under his breath, pacing the room. “And now they know where he is.”
Taylor nods grimly. “That’s why the safe house was hit. These people don’t miss. They’re precise, they’re deadly, and they’ve got resources we don’t even know about. It didn’t take long for them to track him here.”
“Hell, they might not even know who we are,” I say. “They might have their very own Knox who tracked his face or some shit.”
“True, but not likely,” Taylor says. “These guys are Knox on steroids. They’ve probably had eyes on our client the entire time. I would bet my life that they know everything about each one of us.”
The weight of Taylor’s words sinks in, thickening the already tense air.