Abandoned Treasure
Rip Crew

Warrior Vic Knightly’s POV

Enroute Los Angeles, California

Monday, December 14, 2018

Spider Monkey went through the financial information while I drove. Chase would give it to the DEA as proof for their RICO case against the Sons. It wasn’t enough for me, though. “There’s one thing I haven’t heard in all this talk. You talked about how much cash these guys generate and how difficult it must be to collect and launder it. I’ve seen Breaking Bad. Do they have pallets of cash sitting somewhere, waiting to get rolled into the system?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Spidey said. “Look. Bank accounts can be traced, but cash can’t be. They collect it at a secure facility in Los Angeles, then ship it across the border to Mexico. That’s where the money laundering starts. The Sons have to pay for their drugs, so their Chapters bring the money back to the central location, then they send it across to pay for the next load.”

“Sounds straightforward enough,” Chase said.

“It is, especially when they are using their cellphones. We tracked the couriers to this location, two buildings north of the Sons clubhouse in Los Angeles. This building and the one in between trace back to a shell corporation out of the Cayman Islands. Nothing connects it to the Sons of Tezcatlipoca, and the places appear empty. My contact in Los Angeles set up surveillance on the building two days ago. Check this out.” I couldn’t see it, but Chase did. “See the shocks? I measured the difference in the height of the cars as they entered and exited the garage. They are unloading between one and three hundred pounds per car plus the passenger. Tracing the car registrations? They are coming from the same chapters that are picking up the drugs.”

That’s a lot of cash. “How much money is a hundred pounds of cash?”

“Almost five million dollars if we are talking bundles of hundreds. In twenties? About a million. I estimate we have somewhere between ten and fifty million dollars in cash sitting in that warehouse right now, and nobody but us and the Sons knows about it.”

Chase didn’t think it was a good idea. “We’ve got at least a half-dozen guards in there. They’ve got to have security, alarms, even a tunnel from the Clubhouse. We’d never be able to hold them off if we try to steal it.”

I didn’t want the Club to have it, though. “We don’t have enough people to knock off a hard target like this, boss,” I said. “We’d need a truck, drivers, lookouts, and people to bust in and take out the guards. A dozen more good people would do it.”

“It would be easier if we had a diversion,” Chase said.

“Work with the DEA to raid the Los Angeles clubhouse,” Spider Monkey replied. “Have your people in place, and everyone will be so busy watching the bust go down they won’t pay any attention to you.”

My girl wanted to hurt them bad. If we could keep the cash? “You’re a genius, baby.”

“I’m not just a great fuck, you know,” she said as she kissed my cheek. She was that and more. “Intelligence is my game; the shooting and muscle stuff is yours. Can you handle this?”

“Not alone, but I have a lot of friends,” Chase said. He pulled out a phone and started calling his brothers. He smiled after the first call. “The cavalry is coming.”

“Your brother?” Spider asked.

“Probably several of my brothers and in-laws before it’s all over. Things have been pretty boring for them in the past year, so they’ll jump at the chance to get a little action.”

“You’re the weirdest Doctor I’ve ever come across. Are you sure you aren’t an adrenaline junkie? Most people wouldn’t want to go anywhere near those animals.”

Chase laughed. “I’m a psychiatrist, not a real Doctor. Maybe I’m just as much of an animal as they are, but I’m domesticated like a sheepdog. I’d rather not use violence, but this is personal. They’ve hurt my friends and family, and Club justice must be done. Any good that can come out of them dying is a bonus in my book. My brothers are worse than me; they love the action. There’s no one I trust more than them and the people they bring with them.” He was getting ten Warriors or higher from his brother’s Packs.

“Why not people from back home,” Spidey asked.

“Rori and my friends up there might be watched; I can’t take the chance. I think we should turn over the list of phone numbers to them now, along with the list of law enforcement you suspect are on the payroll.”

“The list is pretty long, and I don’t want to email it.” She moved to the front and went to sleep. Chase texted the list of crooked officials and phone numbers to Frank Grimes, finishing just before we hit LA traffic.

“We’re going to need to rent a vehicle for this, maybe two,” Chase said after Spidey woke up from her nap.

“What kind,” Spidey asked.

“Depending on how much cash they are holding at that building, it could be a pallet or more. Add in that my brother is going to be arriving with between eight and twelve more men, and all their gear?”

“So a van, something with a closed back that we can load into. A U-haul? The men could sit in the back, and it would be quick to load.” She told us she had a false identity she’d maintained for years.

“That would work,” I said.

“Spider, you should reserve the truck and maybe replace a hotel for the night,” Chase said. “After we’ve got the truck, I can go visit Director Grimes while you guys pick the men up at the airport.”

“We should drive past the warehouse and their clubhouse just to get familiar with the area,” I added.

“All good ideas, but let’s get some food.” Chase took the car, while we drove to the hotel in the U-haul just after nine at night.

“Let’s go check-in,” Spider Monkey purred.

“We’ve got a few hours until we pick the brothers up,” I observed. “What shall we do?”

“You’re going to pound me into a puddle in the middle of the bed,” she said with a kiss. “Come on, stud.”

She’d been pushing my buttons the whole trip, and it was time to replace out where her boundaries were. After pounding her in front of the open hotel room window and a wild 69 on the bed, I still didn’t know. We didn’t have time to sleep before we had to head to the airport.

We picked up Sawyer, Carson, and ten other warriors from the private airfield in Long Beach. Chase hadn’t told them anything, so Spider Monkey laid out the intel for them on our target warehouse. We were still briefing it when Chase arrived.

Sawyer got to him first. “Chase! Quite the fun job you’ve got for us.”

The brothers embraced. “Never a dull moment for your baby bro,” Chase teased. “Thank you all for coming.”

“Mom would have our asses if we let the Cats get to you again,” Carson said. “I’m glad I don’t have to deal with Coral after this. She’s going to be pissed about missing the fight.”

“I’m glad I’m not waking you up or pulling you out of the bar because we need to move quickly. I gave the DEA the information they need to get warrants, and Director Grimes told me things would happen soon. We need to get our plans down because we’ll get less than an hour warning before the Feds strike the clubhouse.”

Carson looked at me. “Do we have anyone watching the warehouse?”

“Not yet,” I said. “Now that the car is back, I’ll take Joe with me. We’ll set up some wifi-enabled cameras for Spider to watch, and we’ll set up surveillance.”

“Just stay on the far side of the clubhouse; we don’t need you being spotted by the Feds as they close in. I’m sure they have people around there somewhere.”

“Roger that, boss.” I grabbed a bag from Spider, kissed the hell out of her, then headed out.

Chase was linking me as I left. “Vic, you know you can’t get close to Spider Monkey.”

“I know, and she does too. We’re having fun, and that’s all we’ll have.” Maybe if I kept saying it, I’d convince myself. She was fun, spirited, intelligent, and fiercely loyal. If she were a wolf, I’d mate her in a heartbeat.

Joe and I drove to the area, climbing onto the roof of a few surrounding buildings to set up cameras. We ended up at a position across the street and one building down from the target warehouse with views of the Sons clubhouse.

It wasn’t long before Chase linked they were coming. I watched as the moving van dropped off its cargo of black-clad warriors before parking out of sight. “Any activity, Vic?”

“Nothing, nice and quiet. We’ve got a good spot, views on the front and clubhouse sides.”

“Keep low. The strike on the Clubhouse is supposed to be at six.”

Our men moved into position around the warehouse, and I didn’t see any activity at all there. I did see the SWAT vehicles coming closer. “Chase, the SWAT vehicles are moving into staging positions now. There’s a drone in the air, too. It’s high up, but I can hear it.” Joe and I had made a crude sniper hide out of cardboard boxes, using air conditioners for cover. I had to hope they weren’t looking at the roof of this building.

“Stay hidden. Everyone move to final positions; we go when they do. The sounds of their attack will cover our own, and the drone won’t be looking our way.”

It was only a few minutes before the vehicles left the staging area. “Their raid is beginning, estimate sixty seconds,” I sent Chase.

“Stand by, go on the first explosion or announcement.”

The armored vehicle led the way as the SWAT team went to breach the doors. “POLICE!YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!” I could hear gunshots and explosions from down the street while our men breached the warehouse doors. The sound of the small explosions was drowned out by the gun battle at the clubhouse.

The doors blew open and our men moved inside. I could see flashes from their suppressed pistols. Joe smiled at me ten seconds after the last shot. “Six men down, no casualties. Tell Chase to bring the U-haul. He’s not going to believe this shit.” Joe was smiling as he stood up and started to jog for the fire escape we’d used to reach the roof. I passed along the message and ran after him.

We ran across the street as the guys opened the loading dock door. “Holy shit,” I said.

A dozen bags sat on a pallet, one unzipped to show it was full of cash. Matt held up a couple of ten-thousand-dollar bundles of hundreds. “Can you believe this shit?”

“Grab a fucking bag and get ready to load. Our ride is coming,” Carson said as he came in from a back room.

Sawyer followed him. “I gotta say, Chase is never boring.” We all grabbed one of the heavy bags as Chase backed the U-haul to the dock. We had the truck loaded and gone within two minutes of the raid starting.

“Come on, let’s get to our ride,” Joe said as he slapped me on the shoulder.

I pulled the loading dock door closed and followed Joe to the side entrance door. I heard shots from behind me as something hit me in the back, then in my right thigh. I drew my pistol and turned as I spun, putting two rounds in his chest and one in his head as I fell back against the wall. I looked for another target and found nothing.

“Fuck, Vic,” Joe said as he ran back in. “We’ve gotta go.” He tossed a bag towards the back of the room. He had me up and out the door. Five seconds later, I felt the fireball as it destroyed the room.

Joe had me around the waist as he helped me walk to the car. I ignored the pain and limped along on my good leg. We had a block-and-a-half to go. “Chase, I’m hit. Joe’s helping me to the car now. Someone came up behind us and put two into me.”

“I’m coming for you,” he replied.

“NO, you need to get everyone away from here before the cops show up. We’re almost there; we’ll meet you at the rally point.” I was coughing up blood as we turned the corner.

Joe leaned me against the rear passenger side as he opened the door, then set me in. As soon as he got in, we were rolling.

I pulled my belt off and wrapped it around my thigh, tightening it up over the handkerchief he gave me. I couldn’t do anything about my chest, and I started to feel woozy as I lost more and more blood.

Everything went dark when we pulled up behind the U-Haul.