“What kind of warehouse is this and what do they use it for?” Hawk queried.
He shrugged. “She said it looks like an old barn, there is a farmhouse on the property, but it’s far enough away you can’t see the barn from the house. It doesn’t really mean anything, there’s no one living in the house for the last few years. She said the Ratz use the barn for storage between runs. They store their guns and drugs there and when they do there’s always someone there guarding the place. They have built it up to be a virtual vault inside. The boys usually stay there where they need to.”
“Well, let’s just see what we got here,” Tank stated as he began punching keys to get a satellite photo of the area. Moving the mouse around he scanned the area and after a few minutes, he finally located the farm house. Then he found the barn and noted the activity in and around the barn. “Got it.”
The others crowded around him and they could all access the situation. At the moment there were about a half a dozen men present. They were armed but not on alert. They were standing around smoking and laughing.
“Find us a way out there,” Judge ordered.
Tank zoomed out and found the quickest way to the location using GPS. Then he loaded the coordinates into his phone and shared the information with the others in the group.
“We can’t just walk in there. We have to have a plan,” Hawk suggested.
Judge nodded. “I’ve been in contact with FBI and ATF. All they need is the word and they’re ready to jump in.”
Bull snapped his head around and stared at Judge. “You already have set up the FBI and ATF? And you didn’t say anything until now?”
“I’ve been in contact with FBI and ATF all along,” Judge responded. “The other guys know this.”
“But I didn’t,” Bull stated.
“Well, you do now.” Judge nodded. “And it shouldn’t make a difference one way or the other. We can’t just move in and take over like we could over in the sand box. That was a whole other time and place. The rest of us have had to become legal Bounty Hunters in order to do our security gigs because thanks to Ritcher we’re civilians now. If we want to bust this up, we have to work with the law not against it. That’s just the way things are now.”
“He’s got a point,” Hawk agreed.
“I know he’s got a point.” Bull argued. “I just wish I’d known this shit earlier. So okay, what’s the plan then?” Bull asked. “How do we get all the Ratz and Bane over to the warehouse and bring them and the FBI and ATF all together at the same time?”
“You use me as bait.” Charlie’s voice came from the top of the steps.
“What the fuck did you say?” Bull growled as he turned to glare at her.
“I think you heard what I said.” She looked from man to man. She refused to look at Judge, instead she turned to Bull last. “If the River Ratz caught me, they’ll take me to the warehouse. Paolo will want to ‘talk’ to me in private or if you prefer away from where the authorities can interfere. I can make it seem like I know something damning about them and he’ll need to find out what I know about him and his gang. For all his stuff and nonsense, he really doesn’t like having people know their business. If I tell him certain things, he’ll call in Bane and then it will be up to you guys to clean up the mess. They will be all together for you to take down.”
“No fucking way.” Bull growled loud enough to let everyone know how bad an idea her plan really was.
“What would you tell him in order to get Bane there?” Judge wanted to know.
Charlie didn’t answer him, instead she kept her eyes on Bull. There she began walking toward the man. When she got close enough to him, she reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand. Gazing into his eyes she whispered, “You know this is the only way. You need time to get into position and get ready to take them out. I can give you that time. This might be the only chance you have to take them all out or down or whatever you want to call it.” She paused then added, “Then the only ones you have to worry about are the Minions, and after the firefights, there shouldn’t be too many of them left anyway. They were no match against the Ratz, between them and the police they never stood a chance.”
“Have you forgotten just a few days ago they beat you? They slit your throat and left you to die?” Bull argued.
Charlie smiled faintly. “No I haven’t forgotten. I’m still wearing the bruises. But you know I’m right.”
“I could be the bait just as well as you.” Bull insisted. “Bane wants me as bad as the Ratz want you. I am the one who shot his brother Salim after all.”
Charlie shook her head. “No, Bane wants you dead, it won’t bring him where you want him, but I will. He’ll come if Paolo calls him.”
“I repeat what do you have that Bane wants so badly?” Judge asked again.
“That’s between me and Bane and you don’t need to know.” Charlie turned to glare at the man. She knew she had a card or two left in her hand to play, even if she wished she wouldn’t ever have to, she would play them. Turning back to Bull she said, “Just get into position and don’t forget to come and get me when it’s over. Please promise me you won’t forget me when it’s all said and done.”
“I’ll be there, don’t you worry about that,” he promised. “I just wish there was another way to do this.”
“Me too, but there isn’t.” Charlie leaned in closer and pressed her forehead against his.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Hawk asked.
Charlie closed her eyes briefly then turned her head without breaking contact with Bull. She nodded slightly when she met his eyes. “Can you guys do your part?”
Hawk nodded. “We can.”
“Do you promise to come after me when it’s over?”
Hawk nodded shortly again. “I promise.”
“Then let’s do this.” Charlie insisted. “How much time do you need to get set up and get the authorities in place?”
“A couple of hours is all we’ll need,” Judge assured her.
Charlie shuddered. “Just don’t leave me in there too long. I don’t think I could take it. Their company leave much to be desired.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do this,” Bull said. “They could kill you before they get your message to Bane.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle Paolo, besides I have some information I think he’ll want to know.”
Judge snorted. “You’re your father’s daughter alright. Secrets and more secrets.”
Charlie turned to glare at him. “We all have our own secrets don’t we? I’m sure you have your fair share of them too. You may hate me for who my father is and you have that right but at least I’m not the asshole you are and have been since I met you. Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to judge someone you didn’t even know? You don’t even know me, yet you feel you have the right to judge what kind of person I am simply because of who my father is. Living up to that supposed name of yours. Well, I’ve got news for you, you bastard, I didn’t know who the man was that fathered me. Not his name or what he did. Hell, I didn’t even know what really happened to my mother until recently. I grew up alone and unwanted. I don’t say that to garner your sympathy. I don’t want it and can’t use it. Growing up the way I did, I learned very early to depend on no one but myself. I don’t need you, but at the moment you need me to get this done. So let’s get this party started, so I can get the hell away from you!” With that, Charlie turned and went back down the steps to the second floor.
Not one of the six men standing there said a word for the longest time.
Then Bull left the room. He turned his head just before reaching the top of the stairway and glared at Judge. He turned and disappeared down the steps.
“Make your calls Judge. Let’s get this fucking party started,” Hawk told the other man. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee.” Then he too, disappeared down the steps.
One by one, the others joined him, leaving Judge alone on the third floor.
J
udge made his calls and when he hung up the phone, he realized something. He was losing control of his team. That had never happened before. Not in all the years he served in the military had he ever lost control of his unit. These men had followed him to hell and back. They’d been together for so long, they could finish each other’s sentences. Hawk, Mustang and Bull had been with him the longest. They were all together when the ambush happened, but Wild Child and Tank had served under his command as well. It had only been a few months and it had been before the others joined him. But now that had changed and he wasn’t quite sure he liked the change. In fact, he downright hated it.
He wasn’t wrong about how he felt about Conrad Bane as he called himself nowadays. This wasn’t his first go around with the man. In fact, this would be his third go around with Conrad Bane. The first one happened a year after they had been forced to retire from the military because of their supposed PTSD. That would have been four years ago now. He’d been living quietly under his real name of Kale Arndt. They had just set up the agency of Brava Victor Security in Shreveport and he’d decided to go to his cabin to get away from the stress for a while. He’d gone fishing for a week and on his last night there just as he was settling in for the night, when he was ambushed by two men busting down his door and coming in shooting. It had been dark in the cabin so they hadn’t exactly known where he was. That had been their disadvantage. His advantage was he knew every inch of the cabin and pinpointed their every move. Knowing he was ex Special Forces, they should have known he’d never be far away from a weapon.
He shot back and wounded both of them. One died before he could get any information out of him but the other one didn’t. Even though he didn’t want to answer any questions, in the end he did. He admitted his role and who hired him. The man admitted Conrad Bane had hired them to track down the members of the Brava Victor Security Team and take them out. When Judge asked, the man had been adamant about that last thing. Bane wanted them all dead and he wouldn’t stop until his goal was accomplished. Then the man died choking on his own blood.
Judge decided not to leave it to fate. He hadn’t heard the name Conrad Bane before the ambush but the more he researched the more the name stood out. Conrad Bane, he learned was a man that quietly stayed in the background. He was powerful and had his thumb in a lot of pies. He also ran his own people with an iron will. Then Mustang had found a slight connection to the drug trade and the more they found the less they liked the man. They whole group began working toward getting the evidence they needed to bring Conrad Bane down. He had warned his men about the attempt on his life and they were all watching each other’s back but since Charlie’s arrival, he was losing the loyalty of his men.
So for the sake of his team and his men he had to make nice with Conrad Bane’s daughter. As much as the idea made him shudder, he knew what he had to do.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Downstairs, Charlie was trying to tell the guys about the warehouse. It looked old on the outside but wasn’t on the inside. They had reinforced the walls, floors and ceilings with steel. They had also put bars on the windows to prevent anyone from breaking in.
“Damn,” Hawk swore as he threw his pen on the table. “That place is impenetrable. We’ll never get inside without coming through the front door.”
Charlie sat back in her chair and smiled. “Oh, there’s a way in that doesn’t include the front door.”
Hawk snapped his head to glare at her. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Charlie shrugged. “People on the streets love to talk. They’ll talk about anything if you know how to get them started and you know the right people to talk too. I met an old man once, he was ninety if he was a day. His name was Silas and he’d lived in this area all his life. When I first found out about the barn being one that belonged to Bane, I asked Silas about it.”
“And what did Silas have to say?” Mustang interrupted.
“B ack when he was a lad the land belonged to a family by the name of Wainwright. Wainwright was a farmer but that the land wasn’t used all that good for farming. Too many trees and the ground wasn’t rich enough to harvest good crops. Old man Wainwright wasn’t exactly the nicest kind of neighbor either. In fact he was often seen toting around a shotgun and he wasn’t exactly afraid to use it either.”
“Well, this is interesting enough but what’s it got to do with the barn?” Hawk quipped.
“Well, if you wouldn’t keep interrupting me I’d tell you.” Charlie frowned at them. “Anyway, Silas told me that he and some friends went into the woods one night with the thought of messing up Wainwright property. They were just going to cut his fence lines and make him chase his cattle but instead they found something unexpected. Old man Wainwright had himself a couple of stills hidden in the woods. He’d been making moonshine for years. Now you have to remember this used to be a dry county, no booze allowed. Wainwright was not only making shine, he was selling it too. Silas found out he had a business going selling his hooch all the way into Louisiana.”
“Ok but what’s that got to do with the barn and a way inside it,” Bull urged.
“Old man Wainwright had to have a place to store the shine until he had enough to make a run.” Charlie explained. “There is a tunnel system that goes from deep in the woods to right under the barn. I found it after Silas told me about it. I’ve been inside it. The tunnel comes out in one of the tack rooms at the back of the barn.”
“Is the tunnel still intact?” Tank asked.
“It was about a year ago. Now I know most people down here don’t have basements because the ground is too hard but old man Wainwright was a stubborn old fool. He had to have a way to store his shine. The tunnel is old but it still should get you there.”
Hawk looked at the other men. “Too bad we can’t check it out before this all goes down. I hate doing this without being prepared all the way.”
“We’ve gone in blind before,” Tank suggested.
“Once you get into the tack room, there’s a ladder on the wall just outside the door. The tack room is at the very back of the barn, so no one should see you go in or out of the room. The ladder will lead you to the top of the barn. It used to open to a silo but the silo is long gone. But if you can get high enough you can have the advantage of surprise.”
They all turned when they herd heavy footsteps coming down to their level. Judge came in to the kitchen area and looked at his men. “FBI and ATF will be ready to storm the barn in three hours.”
Hawk nodded then pointed at Charlie. “We got a way in that doesn’t require storming the front door.”
“Really?” Judge frowned. “Do tell.”
“There is an old tunnel leading from the woods to inside the barn.” Hawk explained.
“A tunnel?”
“Yeah at one time the land belonged to a moonshiner. He needed a way in and out of his barn without being seen,” Tank explained. “Charlie says she’s seen the tunnel and been inside the barn.”
Judge felt Bull’s stare. The other man was waiting for him to say something but Judge wouldn’t, not this time. They needed to get going and get things set up for the takedown. Just this one time, he would trust that she knew what she was talking about and that she wouldn’t betray them and get them all killed. He turned to stare at her. “What’s your plan for getting the Ratz and Bane to the barn?”
“Well,” Charlie drew out the word. “When I first went to the farm and found the tunnel and got inside the barn, I may have found a shipment ready to go out. I may have and I’m not saying whether I did or didn’t but I may have hidden part of that shipment and several more. I may have even broken into the safe in the office and misappropriated some large stacks of cash and a few of the ledger books I found in the safe.” She dropped her gaze down to the floor and wouldn’t look at any of them as she confessed to what she’d done. She cringed when she heard a chair being pushed back and footsteps coming toward her chair. Then she saw Bull kneeling in front of her.
Bull reached out to tip her chin up so he could see her face. Expecting to see disgust in his eyes, she was surprised to find compassion.
“Where did you put all this booty?” he asked.
Closing her eyes she sighed. “It never left the barn. I just hid it inside the walls. The drugs anyway. The books and the cash I did take that but I hid them inside a tree near the entrance of the tunnel. As far as I know, they’re still there. But it’s been about two years.”
“Why didn’t you just use the cash and blackmail the Ratz with the books?” Judge asked.
Charlie turned her head and stared at him. “Because it wasn’t mine to use. What little I have I’ve worked for. I waitress when I need money. I don’t steal or use what isn’t mine.”
Judge shrugged but didn’t say anything.
She turned back to Bull. “I can offer to tell them where everything is to get inside. Paolo really wants that stuff back. That will give your guys time to get inside and take care of business.”
“That might just work,” Hawk admitted.
“You’re putting your life on the line and I don’t like it,” Bull argued.
Charlie reached her hand up to cup his jaw. “Don’t you guys do that every day too? I know you’ve been out of the Special Forces for a while now but you put your life on the line every time you went out on a mission. You did it for our country and didn’t hesitate for any reason. Well, I’m doing it now for you and all those kids out there that are dying because they made a bad choice. Doing drugs is just that, it’s a choice you make every day. They are looking for escape but there is no escape from the reality we have to live with every day. This is one thing I can do that might make a difference in someone else’s life. I can’t walk away from that any more than you can. I’m no hero but I can do this.”
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