SWNOVELS The Devil’s Reward: Chapter 15
Let the search begin.
“They’ll be here any minute,” Viper says quietly as we stand close to the fence and wait for Syn and the dog. They were here last night to search the grounds but came up empty. No surprise there. Still, I’m eager to see what they find in the clubhouse.
We cleared everyone out, including Cryos, who was not happy that I sent him to the office to work with Crypt on a case. The rest of the guys are running errands that Bullet made up for them. To keep from arousing suspicion, the only people here are Viper and I, and Carson and Kaleb down at the gate. Neither of whom will know Syn is here because they’ve been told not to leave their post.
Viper was the one to pull the plug on the cameras in Cryos’s command center, and I know Cryos is going to want to kill us once he figures out it happened, but I’m willing to deal with the consequences.
Viper’s phone buzzes and he glances at it. “Syn’ll be here in five minutes. She said the dogs are well rested from last night after searching the out buildings and are already eager to get to work again.”
I nod. “Can’t believe we have to stoop to this,” I grumble. “Feels fucked up, especially bringing a woman into this; she’s not even an Old Lady. Once the brothers find out, they’re going to be fucking pissed.”
“They’ll have to deal with it,” Viper replies, voice firm. “When it comes to dealing with Dmitri Norikov, and almost killing two Old Ladies, I don’t give a shit if they are pissed. If they’re not guilty, then they’ll suck it up and agree it’s the right thing to do.”
I nod. He has a point. “What are we going to do if Syn finds anything?” I ask him.
“Call Bullet and he can decide,” Viper answers immediately. “Shit like this, Prez makes the final call. I have no problem carrying out the plan and seeing it through to the end, but I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision.”
I know what he means. With my team, I was never the leader, and I was glad for that fact. Now, I’m also glad that Bullet will handle the major decisions, but there’s no way in hell I won’t be one of the men doling out the punishment. King and Torque will want their pounds of flesh, but neither of them will end the life of our mole. Neither of them has ever had to bloody their hands, and this isn’t the time to start. No matter how much they may want to.
“So, before the lovely K9 trainer gets here, you going to tell me what the deal is with you and Quinn Holt?” Viper suddenly asks, making my head jerk around to look at him.
“What about her?” I ask in confusion.
He gives me a droll look. “Really? That’s how you want to play this? You think I didn’t notice the way you two were staring at each other? Or that you’ve never looked at a woman like you want to both push her away and pull her closer, all in the same instant?”
I keep my face blank. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, brother. We were talking about Crypt and the reception position, that’s it.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “You might fool anyone else with that line of BS but we both know it’s more than that. So are you going to fess up, or do I need to go digging?”
I glare at him. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that, right?” I gripe.
He smirks at me. “So everyone keeps saying, but as you can tell, I don’t give a rat’s ass. Start talking.”
I huff out a deep sigh and finally admit, “She looks like my old teammate.”
His eyes widen. “Wait, you mean she looks like the one you had a thing for? Susan? Sarah?”
“Sam. Yeah, she does. Sam had blonde hair and dark eyes, while Quinn has the coppery hair and green eyes, but everything else about her looks exactly like Sam. Height, body structure, all of it. Hell, even her smile is like Sam’s when she lets it show.” I look away from him, pain twisting in my chest. “It’s like the universe is trying to get in its last kicks. It’d be one thing if I knew I would never see her again, but I keep running into her.”
Viper is quiet for a moment. Finally, he shakes his head. “Damn, brother, that’s damn weird. You have Cryos or someone look into her to see if they’re related?”
I shake my head. “If Cryos is the mole, I don’t want her on his radar. She’s innocent, not involved in this at all. She has a little girl, Macy.”
Viper slowly nods. “Yeah, I get your point. Still, there’s ways we could find out about her without Cryos. Or you could just ask her.”
I snort. “Yeah, like that wouldn’t be creepy as hell. Hey, so you look like my former teammate that I had feelings for before she died in action. Any chance you’re related? She’d run screaming for the hills.”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Viper groans. “Okay, so scratch talking to her.” He purses his lips in thought. “Wait, what about Crypt? You said that his specialty is intelligence, so if anyone else could figure that shit out, it’s him. Also, might be a good way to test him out, see just how good he is.”
“She’s his social worker. That’s probably crossing a few lines.”
He waves that away. “He doesn’t need to report to her again, she even told him. She’ll follow up in two months, and by then, we’ll have the information we need. Though, if you really don’t want him on it, you could ask Sloan to have his guy find out the information for you.”
I groan. “Then Raven would get wind of it, and I don’t want that headache.”
Viper chuckles. “Bet you a hundred bucks she could get the information faster than any of us.”
“I’m not taking a fool’s bet. If I decide I want to know, I’ll ask Crypt,” I concede. “But for now, it’s a moot point. We have this shit to deal with, and I need to forget about Quinn Holt. I’m not ready to dredge up the old feelings that I worked through.”
Viper sobers. “You were in love with Sam?”
I pause. Was I? My therapist asked me that before and I said I didn’t know. Now, I’m questioning myself all over again. I shake my head. “I think I was infatuated, certainly in lust, but not love in the romantic sense. We had out of this world chemistry, but neither of us acted on it. I don’t know that we would have moved past a hook-up.”
“And is that what you feel when you see Quinn?”
I scuff my boot on the ground, not wanting to reply to that question. Thankfully, I’m saved from answering by the sound of someone coming through the trees on the other side of the fence. Looks like it’s showtime.
We both straighten as Syn makes her way out of the trees, her face set in a determined expression, with a dog at each side. I’ll never get over the way those two walk, like they know they’re on a mission and are seconds away from attacking at one word or gesture from their handler. Neither dog so much as barks or moves to greet us, fully in work mode.
Both are full black German Shepherds, and if I had one of them coming at me in the dead of night, I’d probably piss myself. They’re normally well behaved and love to beg for treats like any other dog, but when they’re in work mode, there’s nothing friendly about them.
“Gentlemen,” Syn says as she hops over the low fence and both dogs slide under it, sitting beside her.
“How you doing, gorgeous?” Viper asks her.
She cocks her head slightly as she looks up at him. “About as good as expected, considering the circumstances. Game plan still the same?”
Viper and I both nod. “Both dogs working at the same time?” I ask her.
Syn nods. “If only one is doing the work, it will take more time, and this needs to happen fast before someone comes back. My plan is to have the dogs move through the rooms at their own pace and we’ll follow. The good thing is that most of your rooms are bunched together in the wings, so we can see them go in and out easily. Last night I used a specific command so they search but don’t bark, today I’ll use the normal one. If they find something, they’ll alert and you can check it out.”
“I have a list of all the rooms, so I’ll mark off what’s found and where,” Viper tells her. “Where are we starting?”
“Common room first, let them get their bearings, and then we’ll move upwards,” she replies.
“Works for me. Alright, let’s get to it.” We turn and head for the clubhouse, my gut tight with both anticipation and uncertainty. If the dogs find anything, we’ll find our mole, and I just hope I can control my reaction enough not to rush out and grab the fucker.
When we get inside, Syn puts the dogs in a sit by the door and tells us to stand back, warning us not to step in front of them as they work. Viper and I fan out and away from them, but in positions to see the room at the best angles. We nod at her when we’re ready to begin.
It’s amazing to watch the transformation in Syn. She goes from cool to steel, her expression hardening, her gunmetal blue eyes determined. Her voice is powerful as she gives the dogs the command to get to work. “Such Rauschgift,” she barks, and both dogs are immediately on the move.
We’re silent as they move through the rooms, noses to the floor. Neither dog gets too close to the other. Neither dog alerts, and we follow them into the kitchen where Syn helps direct them to search each cupboard and shelf. Again, nothing. Back out we go to the common room and down to Cryos’s space.
Syn has Loki go in alone since it’s not a large room, while Ebony sits patiently just outside the door, watching her brother. Loki pauses on a cabinet, sniffs it again, and then sits and barks. Viper and I immediately share a look, waiting until Syn opens up the small cabinet before reaching in and pulling out a small baggie full of white powder. She hands it to Viper, who puts it in a baggie he pulls out of his back pocket. “Continue the search?” she asks us calmly.
I nod. “We need to search everywhere.”
She nods. “Alright, let’s keep on going.”
We leave the room and head down the hallway off the kitchen that leads to the club girls’ quarters and Prospect areas. Loki searches one side of the hall, while Ebony searches the other. Viper quietly remarks to Syn, “They’re damn impressive.”
Syn gives him a slight smile. “Lots of training hours and lots of patience. They’re not fool proof though.”
“Still, they’re moving fast and not missing any important hiding spots,” I point out quietly, watching as Ebony climbs up on Carson’s bed, sniffing the neatly made bedding and then up along the wall, even stretching her head towards the ceiling.
“We practice in the house all the time, and I’ve taught them never to overlook the odd places,” Syn explains. “To them, this is just another training exercise. When we’re finished, I’ll reward them both with some tug and throw their balls on the way home. They only get them after their session is done, so they work extra hard for them.”
Both dogs finish their searches of the bedrooms and bathrooms and head back to Syn. “These wings are clear, so where to next?”
“We’ll head up into the upper wings. We’ll start at the top and work our way down,” Viper directs.
Syn nods and we head upstairs, the dogs immediately falling in step with Syn. We make our way to the top floor, starting with Bullet and Rose’s room. Both dogs enter the room quickly and search it from top to bottom, along with the bathroom. They find nothing. We head to the next room, which is Bullet’s office. This floor contains only those spaces, so it’s quick before we head downstairs to where the rest of us sleep.
We start where Viper, Torque, Stone, Cryos, and I all have rooms. There are a couple of empty ones as well, and we’ll definitely be searching them all. Syn has Viper unlock and open each door and then step back. She commands the dogs, and they’re off.
I’m itching to check out Cryos’s room, my gut burning with anger, but I force myself to stay put. I know better than to get in the way.
Suddenly there’s a bark, and we all share a look. We move towards where Loki is in Cryos’s room, but stop when another bark sounds across the hall.
In my room.
Viper and I share a look, shock clear in our eyes. Syn moves towards Loki first, noting him sitting by the bed. She moves the mattress carefully and finds another packet underneath. She pulls it out and hands it to Viper without a word, then sends Loki on another search. He’s off and heading for Viper’s room next door.
We barely make it into my room when Loki barks again. Viper and I share an incredulous look as we immediately realize what’s happening here. Syn frowns as she quickly looks under the mattress in my room and finds another packet. She releases Ebony again, and we head to Viper’s room. Again, we barely make it in there before Ebony barks again, this time in Torque’s room.
“Fuck,” I hiss, anger burning through me. “That son of a bitch.”
Syn makes her way back to Ebony and checks under Torque’s bed. The same one he shares with Izzy. “You don’t think that she put that there because she’s slipping into addiction, do you?” Viper asks me softly as we follow Syn to Stone’s room.
I shake my head. “Nah, I think our mole got wind of our plan. I bet we’ll find some in every fucking room.”
Viper’s eyes are hard as he nods. And I’m right. We find more packets in all the other rooms. No room is without. Some in closets, others under the mattress, and in a couple instances, in desks.
When we’re finished, we make our way out of the clubhouse and back towards the fence. We don’t have a lot of time before someone gets back and we need Syn and the dogs out of sight before then. “Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting,” Syn remarks when we finally reach the fence line.
“Thanks again, Syn,” I tell her. “Not exactly the result we anticipated, but the dogs did a great job. I’ll buy them both some steaks next time I’m in town.”
“They’ll hold you to it,” she says with a small smile. “Let me know if you need us again. Otherwise, I’ll see you next time I’m here to piss off Sage or King. Or, you know, with the other women.”
“The coven,” I supply helpfully.
She gives a small bark of laughter. “I should be annoyed at that, but I like it.” She pulls out two balls from her coat pocket, and both dogs instantly go on alert. “Home,” she tells them, then throws the balls in different directions into the woods before following the dogs over the fence.
We wait until she’s out of earshot before we turn to each other. “Fucker,” Viper hisses. “How the hell did he know about our plan?”
I give him a grim look. “Either he’s skulking around corners or…”
“He’s got bugs we haven’t found,” Viper fills in. “Damn it. Alright, I’ll tell Bullet, and then we need to get everything back to the way it was. You get Cryos’s shit back together so he doesn’t have a stroke.”
I nod and we hurry to get things done. I seethe with anger. Our mole thinks he’s clever, but all he’s done is made me more determined than ever to make him pay.