Stolen: Hell's Overlords MC (2 page)

Cole

“I’m putting everyone on high alert status,” I announced to the members sitting around the boardroom table at HQ.

I looked around at the stern faces staring back at me. We all came from different backgrounds. Some of the guys grew up on the streets. Others had run from the quiet, sterile suburban life to find something with more meaning. And we had members who hit every point in between, including military vets who hadn’t been able to find a place among the normals after returning home from war.

“We’ve lost a lot of money because of this thief. We were hit on the south side again last night,” I explained. “Whoever it is, they’re good. No one sees or hears anything. They strike in the blink of an eye, when you turn to investigate a noise, when you step away for one moment to take a piss.”

“I’m sorry about that, Cole,” Andre said, raising a hand. “But at least I checked the bags when I returned. Something told me to.”

“That’s good,” I complimented him. “That’s more than we’ve been doing. See, we don’t know
when
they’re hitting us. Most of the time, we don’t realize it until we’re delivering the drugs. I’m surprised no one has been shot over this yet. For that, you can thank the reputation I’ve built for this MC. But it won’t be long before they start asking for more concessions than just a lower rate.” I leaned on the table, hoping they all got my meaning without having to have it spelled out.

I’d worked too hard since taking over as president of Hell’s Overlords to start losing customers because some little punk ass thief thought they could pull some bullshit on us and steal our drugs. So far, though, it felt like everyone else was just dragging their feet on this matter. They were all waiting on me to figure something out, instead of just trying to keep a better watch over our satellite stashes.

“What do we do to stop it?” Dante asked, giving me a knowing look. That was why he was my right hand man. He already knew I had something in mind. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have called a meeting.

“I’ve already put the word out that we’re moving the drugs back to HQ.”

A murmur rushed through the room as all of my senior members looked at each other. Dante smiled and nodded. We were on the same page.

“Why weren’t we made aware of this?” Gage asked.

“For security purposes, I reached out to the community myself to spread the word,” I told them.

“You paid a crackhead, didn’t you?” Dante asked, laughing at me.

“I may have,” I answered with a smile.

“This isn’t some joke, Cole,” Gage said, standing angrily, planting a hard finger down on the table.

“I never said it was, Gage.” I rolled my shoulders and cocked an eyebrow. “But let me ask you something. Whose ass is on the line here? If shit goes sideways, who do you think has to answer for it?”

“Each and every one of us,” he snapped back.

“I don’t think so. When your mouth gets you shot because the dope isn’t there, who has to answer to your family, Gage? Who was supposed to have your back in that situation? Who was supposed to make sure that we delivered what
I
promised to deliver? Who?” I slammed my fist down on the table.

Dante put an arm on Gage’s shoulder and pushed him back down into his chair. He shook his head when Gage looked back to see who it was, letting him know it would have been a bad idea to try to resist or start anything with him.

I sighed and shook my head at what I was about to tell them. If they didn’t like the idea that I’d gone behind their backs to put the intel on the street, they really wouldn’t like the next piece of information I had to share with them.

“Also, in the name of security, I
have
had our heroin stashes shuffled around to other locations. Only the men guarding them know where they are, and they’ve been paid nicely to keep their mouths shut, even if asked by any Overlords. The only people who have access are myself and Dante.”

A wave of protests rippled through the room. I held a hand up to get everyone’s attention.

“I know what I’m doing is unorthodox. I know it’s not a popular choice. Once we solve this problem, I’ll loosen my grip, and we’ll start doing things the way we always have, but don’t think I won’t do anything I have to do in order to protect the MC. And that’s what I’m doing right now,” I explained.

“Where are the drugs, Cole?” Gage asked.

“Safe under lock and key,” I replied.

“Guys, we haven’t even heard the plan,” Dante announced. “You all want to fight, and we don’t even know what the hell Cole is doing.”

“Fuck, he doesn’t even know,” Gage chimed in.

Dante grabbed Gage by his salt and pepper mane and slammed his face into the table.

“Watch your mouth, old man,” Dante threatened.

“Dante. Gage. Are you two finished?” I asked sternly.

“I am if he is,” Dante said.

“You’re the boss, Cole.” Gage held up his hands in submission before wiping his bloody face on his old t-shirt.

Sometimes it felt like I was in charge of a bunch of children. Everyone else, of course, simply sat and watched the spectacle unfold as Gage decided to test me once again. If he hadn’t been around since the early days of the MC, I would have booted him first thing upon taking the president’s seat; but he had contacts that we needed if we were going to continue to prosper.

“Alright, guys, if we’re done showing our asses, I’d like to tell you the rest of my plan. The reason I put it out there that we’re moving our drugs to HQ is so that our thief will come to us.”

“So, we’re planning a trap?” Andre asked.

“We are. Whoever is doing this is good, Andre. They get in and out without making a sound, and they leave absolutely no trace of their presence. They don’t want us to know who they are. As both Dante and Gage have found from talking to some of the other organizations out there, no one even knows about the operation,” I explained for everyone’s benefit.

Dante and Gage have gone out for me at different times to track down our rivals and see what information they could find. They were pretty persuasive when they wanted to be; they just couldn’t work together. I’d spoken with some of our partners, and I believed them when they told me that all they’d heard were rumors that some of our deliveries had been short. No one knew anything about a thief hitting us, which also led me to believe it could have been an inside job.

“Either that, or they’re all in on it and lying to our faces,” Gage growled.

“Way to stay positive, old man,” Dante added.

“No, for once, Gage is right, Dante. There’s always a possibility that some of the folks you’ve talked to were lying to us about this. I can’t believe that everyone’s working together on this, but I would be surprised if it turned out that everyone was being completely honest with us. That would be a first.”

I looked from Dante’s face to Gage’s. Dante’s expression went sour as soon as I said Gage could have been right. Gage looked like he was fighting the urge to turn around and stick his tongue out at Dante.

“While we wait for the thief to show their face here at HQ, I want you all on high alert, like I said at the beginning of the meeting. We need eyes on all of our safe havens. I’ve got guards posted at every single one to make it look like we might have drugs there. If you hear or see anything suspicious, here, at a haven, or anywhere on the street, you call me immediately and let me know. We’ve got to catch this person before we start losing buyers because of their bullshit.”

I slammed a fist on the table to let everyone know we were done. As the seven other senior members got up to leave, Dante hung back. We watched the suspicious eyes of the MC’s leadership cut towards us with suspicion as they left the room. We listened to the murmurs.

“You’d better hope we find something soon,” Dante told me. “I don’t know how long they’re going to put up with this.”

“Well, if my suspicions are correct, it won’t be long before our little thief tries to hit us,” I said, sitting down in my chair for the first time since the meeting began.

“What are your suspicions?” Dante asked. He leaned over the table, his inked arms flexing, his dark brown beard hanging down. He tilted his shaved head, showing off the tribal ink wrapping around his bald skull. My right hand man was a badass, and he knew it.

“I’m pretty sure our thief is working on their own,” I started. When he scoffed at the idea, I continued. “If they
are
working for someone, it’s someone in the shadows, someone who’s been hiding out for a while, but I’m almost willing to put money on the lone wolf here.”

“If you’re right, that would explain why no one knows about it,” Dante agreed.

“Exactly, and wouldn’t it be some shit if this person was able to get by all of the watching eyes we have in the city?” I marveled. The thought of an independent rival, working only for themselves without a boss to answer to, was pretty thrilling. But it was also terrifying to think that we were being had by someone who didn’t have to answer to anybody. That meant we would probably never find them.

“It’s highly unlikely, Cole, and you know that. I’m willing to bet that at least one person has lied to us. We’re going to find out that this thief is working for someone, and we’ve already talked to someone in their organization. It’s not going to be a new boss. I can almost guarantee that,” Dante said.

I knew he was probably right, but I wanted to believe. There was something really fascinating about the idea of a rogue agent out there doing their own work. Unfortunately, we weren’t living in a movie. This was the real world, and more often than not, people able to pull off what this thief was doing had the backing of one or more of the major crime lords.

“Oh well, a fellow can dream, can’t he?” I laughed. “Too bad the days of the great lone outlaw are gone.”

“You’re still a little kid sitting in front of the TV playing cowboys and Indians, aren’t you?” Dante joked with me.

“I guess so. But tell me, which side are we?” I asked him.

“We’re the outlaws. We’re neither the good guys nor the bad guys,” Dante answered.

“I like that.” I leaned my chair back.

“So, what’s the next step, boss?” Dante asked, still leaning on the table.

“Well, now that everyone’s gone, I guess I’ll get my things and go sit downstairs while I wait for our guest of honor to show up for the drugs that aren’t here,” I told him.

“You’re going to catch them yourself?” Dante asked, astonished that I wasn’t sending a group of guys downstairs to wait.

“Of course I am. I want to be the first one to set eyes on our little thief. And if they don’t work for anyone, I’m going to offer them a job working for us,” I told him.

While he stared at me with his jaw on the floor, I got up and walked out of the room.

Sasha

The Hell’s Overlords MC was headquartered in an old building they’d bought and converted into their HQ and clubhouse. At one point, the building had housed either another warehouse or some type of manufacturing plant. Unlike so many other buildings in the old industrial section of town, the Overlords had renovated the building.

The three-story brick structure was clean and well-lit. New windows had been placed in the arches in the brick façade. The garage doors in the old delivery bays were new as well. There was a flag out front with the Hell’s Overlords’ back patch on it. It was the Grim Reaper riding an old motorcycle. The blade of his scythe arching overhead with
Hell’s
written in what was supposed to be blood. Underneath the reaper and his bike was a frayed banner with
Overlords
burned into it.

Even at night, there were lights on inside. The Overlords never slept. I figured they had a use for each floor of the building, but I wasn’t sure what to expect once I got inside. Working for Fang, I wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with other local bosses. No one really liked Fang, and since I’d probably stolen from everyone, no one wanted to talk.

So I had to resort to what I did best. I had to wing it.

The key to my success was avoiding the light and staying in the shadows. As far as I was concerned, I was a shadow. I dressed all in black. I wore shoes with smooth soles that didn’t leave prints. I wore gloves and a ski mask at all times. Even my backpack was black. One thing I didn’t carry was a weapon. I didn’t want to give myself the option of getting caught and fighting my way out.

I cased the joint first. I had to know where the entrances were, where the light fell around the building, and where the cameras and other security features were, among other things. I watched members come and go all night, starting with what looked like a meeting. A bunch of guys rode up on their motorcycles, riding into the building through the bay doors, which were then closed to hide and protect the bikes.

I waited until they left a little while later. Then, I approached to get closer to the building. A few guys came and went all throughout the night. I figured there was still someone inside to act as security, along with whoever was keeping the lights on upstairs.

There were cameras outside on the corners of the building, but after looking them over again and again, I realized there were no cameras facing the rear of the building. I moved to the rear door and found it unlocked. As I opened it, I checked to see if there were any wires or sensors, anything. The door was completely unguarded and unwatched.

This must be where deals are made or where certain guests are accepted
, I thought as I quietly stepped into the building. It still seemed odd to me that a door like that wouldn’t be locked.

Regardless, I was in.

The ground floor was open from wall to wall. There were thick columns that looked like they were supporting the upper floors, but there were no inside walls. A few bikes were parked on the concrete pad just behind the bay doors, so I could count and guess how many people were at HQ overnight.

I crept around the room, looking for stairs or a door that would lead me downstairs. There were pool tables, dart boards, and TVs in the room. There was a bar along the opposite wall, and it looked well stocked. It was late enough that there was no one downstairs when I entered. I didn’t see any internal security measures either. They probably felt like they were their own security, I figured.

I eventually made my way around the room and found an open stairwell next to the bar. I walked carefully, trying to keep the hardwood floor from creaking beneath my footsteps. I crept down the concrete stairs, my padded feet not making a sound, until I reached a large sliding door set back in the wall.

My heart raced with adrenaline. My pulse echoed in my ears, and it felt loud enough to give me away. I put my hand on the handle to pull the door open and waited to listen for anyone who might have been waiting behind it. All I could hear was my breath. I waited for my breathing and my pulse to calm down before doing anything else.

I slid the door back, slowly at first, trying to be quiet, but the door could not be quiet as it slid into the wall.

“Fuck it,” I said under my breath, and shoved the door the rest of the way open.

I stepped into the concrete room underneath Hell’s Overlords’ HQ. In the brief moment before the door rolled back into place behind me, I clearly saw that there were no drugs waiting for me. The floor was bare, and darkness shrouded most of the room.

“Shit.” I jumped as the door slammed behind me, leaving me in complete darkness. I knew at that moment that I’d been caught in a trap. I knew Fang and I had been set up by his faulty intel.

Then, out of the darkness came a voice.

“Seems to me you were expecting to find something down here,” he said. “Well, you did find something, just not what you were looking for.”

Light suddenly filled the basement, and I could see that the square concrete room was empty except for a chair and myself, and a stranger. The stranger was a broad man with thick, muscular shoulders and arms. His wavy golden brown hair was brushed back away from his clean-shaven, chiseled face. He stared at me with intense green eyes. He kept his arms crossed in front of his chest as he leaned against the wall.

“Have a seat,” he said, nodding toward the chair in the center of the room.

I didn’t budge. I needed to find a way out of the room. I needed to get away from the gorgeous man in front of me with the entrancing green eyes.

“So, you’re the one who’s been stealing from me.” He pushed himself off the wall and started walking towards me.

My heart raced. My mind screamed at me to move and to find a way out, but I was frozen with shock. I’d never been caught. In fact, I’d spent the last six months stealing drugs from Hell’s Overlords without anyone ever seeing me. Yet my boss and I fell for the oldest trick in the book, faulty information planted on the street in order to catch someone.

He grabbed my thin arm in his firm hand and held me still as he circled around behind me. I wondered if he’d noticed I was a woman yet, because I definitely noticed he was a man. His touch through my long black sleeves was electric. I felt my body quiver with desire for him almost immediately.

“Sit down,” he barked, shoving me down against the chair.

If he’d only known how much I liked to play rough! I grinned under my ski mask and considered getting up to fight back, but I thought it best to go ahead and take a seat as he’d insisted. I turned and sat with my back straight, staring up at the man with the beautiful green eyes. He didn’t look like just another lackey. He looked like a top member of the MC. He had a confidence about his expression and posture that wouldn’t have been present in someone beneath him.

“Let me see who’s behind that mask,” he said, leaning over to remove it from my head.

As the cloth revealed my face and let my blonde hair spill down from atop my head, I watched surprise register itself on his face. His jaw grew slack, and his eyes grew wide.

“You’re a woman?” His voice roared in the small room.

“You expected a man to be able to do what I do?” I asked him with a cocked eyebrow.

He looked at the ski mask in his hand and back at my face. His shock slowly turned into anger.

“Are you embarrassed?” I asked him.

“You’ve caused a lot of problems for me,” he said lowly, fighting back a growl. I watched as his arms and fists flexed in an attempt to contain all the rage that was flowing through his body.

I wished I could have offered him a better way to release all that pent up rage and frustration. It had been too long for me, and I was pretty sure it had been a while for him, too, judging by just how angry he was.

“You’ve been shown up by a girl,” I teased, “but you caught me, so that’s something.”

“I haven’t been shown up by anyone,” he barked in my face.

I shrugged. He was close enough to kiss, and I thought I could see the desire shared in his face. I had to look away from him to keep from indulging in my little schoolgirl fantasy. It just would have made things worse to try to kiss the man I’d stolen so much from over the last six months.

“You know, you’re the first person to catch me, so you should be proud of yourself.” It wasn’t entirely true. I’d allowed myself to get caught a few times before, but this was the first time that it hadn’t been part of my original plan.

“I’m honored,” he said sarcastically. “Now, look, I’ve got a few questions,” he said, starting to pace around me.

“People usually do when they meet me. I guess you can fire away. I’ll tell you what I’ll tell you, and the rest, well, we’ll see.”

“What’s your name?” he asked.

I sighed. Was he trying to establish a dating profile for me?

“My name is Sasha Winters. I’m a Sagittarius. My favorite color, despite my profession and attire, is green. When I’m not at work, I enjoy long walks, lounging around in my pajamas, and listening to music while I clean my apartment. I’m currently single, you know, since my lifestyle isn’t all that compatible to relationships. I barely graduated high school and never made it to college. Is there anything else you need to know?” I watched for his reaction, hoping my little outburst would piss him off enough to leave me alone.

“Are you crazy? Who do you work for?” he asked.

“My boss.”

He levelled his eyes on me. They were a beautiful emerald green, and it was hard not to just spill everything out.

“Who’s your boss?” he asked.

I bit my lower lip. I wanted to tell him, “the guy I work for,” but I figured I was already pressing my luck. If he was who I thought he was, I’d heard stories about him, and pressing my luck with him wasn’t the wisest idea. But it was so much fun!

“Who’s your boss?” he asked again, forcing his words out of his mouth. He grabbed my shoulders and gave me a good shake against the back of the metal chair I sat in.

“Who’s your boss?” he asked a third time.

“I’m not going to tell you, so you can stop asking me.”

“You bitch,” he said as he let go of me and stood back up.

“So, can I go now?” I asked him.

“No, you can’t go now.” He chuckled and shook his head. He placed his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned back in my face.

“You know, I have ways of making people talk,” he threatened before standing up and walking way.