Viper leaned back in his chair as he announced, “Looks like it’s time to start calling in favors.”
“You think you’ve got someone who can help with this?” Noah asked sounding hopeful.
“Absolutely.”
“See. It’s all coming together.” I nudged Noah with my elbow. “My plan wasn’t so bad after all.”
“I’ll guess we’ll see soon enough.”
Shotgun
There was a lot I didn’t like about Remington’s plan. It was dangerous and borderline crazy. We were talking about breaking into a fucking cop’s house. And not only that, we were going to be drugging her, locking her inside, and crossing our fucking fingers the asshole didn’t show up while she was there. If that wasn’t enough, there were no guarantees that anyone would buy her story. More than anything else, I didn’t like that we didn’t have more time to plan. If this thing was going to work, we had to move fast. We needed to get Remington to Mathews’ place while he was busy investigating the explosion at the Tyson plant. Billy had done his job well. Not only had he removed the Punishers’ causalities from the scene, but he’d also made sure to leave no trace of evidence behind, making Mathews’ job even more difficult. Knowing he’d be there for most of the day, we set Remington’s plan into action.
While Menace got busy gathering everything he could find on the layout of Mathews’ place, Doc took Remington down to the infirmary and helped her get ready. I gotta admit, when she stepped out from behind that curtain, she definitely looked like she’d been held captive for the past couple of weeks. Her hair was a tangled, matted mess, and there were dirt smudges all over her clothes and face. An unsure expression crossed over her when she asked me, “Well, what do you think?”
“I think you did good.”
“Really?” She stepped closer and extended her hands, then said, “Doc helped me dirty up my fingernails and added oil to my hair to make it look like it hadn’t been washed in a while.”
“Good idea.” As I looked down at her, my stomach was in knots. Even though I knew my brothers would be there watching over her, I hated the idea of putting her at risk. I knew what it was like to lose someone I loved, and I didn’t have it in me to go through that again. “We can find another way around this, Remington.”
“I’m sure you can, but this will work. I feel it in my gut. You just have to trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“Then, stop worrying so much, and let’s get this thing over with.” I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her towards me. I was about to kiss her when she held up her hand to stop me. “You don’t want to do that. I’m all gross, Noah.”
“I don’t give a damn.” I crashed my mouth down on hers, kissing her long and hard. When I finally released her, I looked down at her and whispered, “You look beautiful to me. Always have. Always will.”
“You’re crazy, but thank you.” She lifted up on her tiptoes as she gave me a quick kiss, then said, “Okay, now what?”
“We’ll head over to Mathews’ place and assess the situation. There’s a large shed in the backyard and a basement. We won’t know which one will work best until we get there.”
Doc stepped over to her and said, “I’m going to give you half a valium now, and a whole one when we get there. The half won’t knock you out, but it’ll help steady your nerves and get it into your blood stream. The second will most likely make you groggy, but with all the adrenaline that’ll be pumping through you, it’s doubtful that you’ll be completely knocked out.”
“Okay.”
“As soon as we have you in position, Viper will reach out to his contact, and it’ll just be a matter of waiting for the cops to show.” I had no doubt that Remington was starting to get freaked out, but she was fucking bull-headed and wouldn’t back out. Hoping to set her mind at ease, I placed my hands on her shoulders as I said, “Widow and Ransom are keeping an eye on Mathews, so we won’t have to worry about him just showing up, and even if he did, we’ll be right outside to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“I know you won’t. I’m just ready to get this over with.”
“We all are.” I glanced over to Doc as I asked, “You ready?”
“Absolutely.”
With that, the three of us left the infirmary and headed outside to join the others in the parking lot, where Menace was already in the SUV with Doc and Axel. Remington and I made our way over to mine, and I was pleased to see that Country and Hawk were already inside waiting for us. “Where’s Rafe?”