Deceptive Beauty (8 page)

**The Next Day**

The next morning I was nursing a little bit of a hangover as I made my way into my office. The lights were flashing again in my office. I stuck my head out my door and called to Laurie.

“
Hey, can you get maintenance down here to fix this stupid light. If I have to sit in here all day, it’s going to give me a migraine.”

Laurie nodded yes and picked up her phone. I sat at my desk and waited for my next briefing.
I flipped through my calendar on the computer and realized they had me, “in the field,” for over three months.

I felt the throbbing start in my eye socket. I sighed and opened my pill bottle, pulled out a couple and popped them into my mouth. Laurie stepped into my doorway as I was swallowing them down with my water bottle. I held up a finger for her not to go anywhere as I choked down my horse pills.

I smiled and put my bottle away as I said, “What’s up?”

She nodded towards her desk and said, “The joint team is here waiting on you, they want to meet with you before Mia. Should I let them in?”

My eyes got wide and I said, “Yes, of course, let them in.”

The DEA agents walked in
, looking around as they searched the room for their chairs.  A short man with salt and pepper hair extended his hand for me to shake. I reached out and took it firmly with my good hand. As he said, “I’m Special Agent Davis, and this is my partner, Special Agent Peterson.” I turned to the tall female and shook her hand as well.

Nodding
towards the chairs I said, “Hi, I’m Agent Quinn. Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable. Would you like some coffee, soda, or water?” They both shook their heads no. I nodded to Laurie and she turned and walked out, closing the door behind her. 

I sat back in my chair and waited for them to say something
.

Agent Davis
cleared his throat and said, “I just wanted to meet the Agent that Special Agent Marshall was bragging on. I saw your track record and it’s quite impressive. But how about this Agent Mia Meritt? Did I say that right?” I nodded yes, and he continued. “Well she doesn’t have much under her belt. A lot of helping behind the scenes but doesn’t seem to know her ass from a hole in the ground in the field if you know what I mean.” I waited to make sure he was finished, then said my piece.

“Agent Meritt is
a great agent; she may have been riding the pine desk for her career, but that’s because no one wanted to take a chance with her.”

Special
Agent Davis put his hand up to stop me, then said. “I see you’re willing to give her that chance, but you’re responsible for her. And when I say responsible I mean if she fucks up, it’s on you. Make sure you brief her on the suspects.”  He stood up and started to walk out as I said. “I already had, yesterday. I will see you this weekend in New Orleans.” He turned nodded at me and walked out. Agent Peterson hung back for a second, and with her kind grey eyes she mouthed ‘sorry’ to me. I smiled and nodded as she turned to walk out.

The moment my office door was closed I hit my intercom button for
Laurie and said. “Hold my calls for the rest of the day. That was a shitty meeting.”

Laurie
replied, “No problem, do you need anything?” I shook my head as if she could see me and said, “No I'm good. You can go ahead and leave in thirty minutes. Just make sure my phone calls are all forwarded to voicemail.”

Laurie replied with, “Sure thing! See you tomorrow.”

I sat back and pulled out my cell phone. I had missed a few texts from Blades girl Casey.

Hey
, just got some great news!

~Casey

OMG, how am I going to tell Blade?

~Casey

Do you think he’ll marry me because I’m Pregnant?

~Casey

I smiled as I scrolled through. I quickly thought of what I was going to say as my cell dinged again with a new text, this time from Gavin.

Hey Darling! Just wanted you to know we made it here ok and I’ll talk to you later.

Love ya

I quickly responded to Gavin before Casey.

Love you, I’ll be leaving tomorrow afternoon. I’ll text you as often as I can.
 

Hey Casey, Great News! I’m so happy for you two! If you need anything just let me know.

~ Rebecca

I put my cell in my bag, looked at the clock and decided it was time to head out. I have a long day of briefings, tomorrow before I leave for New Orleans with Mia.

Chapter 14

*Gavin*

I put my cell away in my pocket after reading Rebecca’s text. My smile faded away when I looked at Blade on the phone. Blade quickly hung up, and said. “He’ll meet with us but he made sure I knew there was no such th
ing as niceties, in this war. He’s going to meet us at the Handlebar in twenty minutes. I have directions, so you can follow me.”

I quickly responded. “Ok, let’s go then. Just make sure you have a few extra clips in your vest for me. I don’t want to be caught
off guard again. Did you tell the guys to unload the weapons?” Blade picked up his cell and texted Papa. Papa whistled and gave us a thumbs up.

***
*

The parking lot of the
Handlebar was packed with motorcycles, of every kind. There seems to be a lot of crotch rocket riders here in New Orleans.  When we walked in Gabe stood up and waved us over. I walked up to him and put my hand out to shake. Gabe looked at it like it was a rattlesnake, and continued drinking his beer.  I raised two fingers at the bartender and he brought two beers for me and Blade. 

Gabe broke the silence by saying. “I don’t know what yawl are
tryin to prove here. This little pow wow won’t change what’s going to happen.”

I patted my hand on the table trying to buy my time before I gave him an ultimatum. I was running out of time though and this had to be dealt with before Rebecca gets hurt again.

I cracked my knuckles then said, “You’re not going to do anything. Your brother disgraced himself and the MC. He got the feds down on all of us, but he was the one they were after. If you keep fucking around you’ll have the feds on you also.” I said the last word while looking him in the eyes.

Gabe stood, slammed his hand on the bar and said. “I’m going to get your little Fed whore. I’m going to make
her scream, cry, and beg for mercy before I eviscerate her. She will pay for killing my little brother Hammer! Who’d of thunk the big bad Prez of the Outlaws, would fall for a rat bitch?”

My eyes got big, I grit my teeth, and swung hard, and fast, waiting to feel the bone crunch under my knuckles.

In between punches I said, “You’re not going to fucking touch her. I’ll kill you before you set eyes on her.”

Gabe picked up his beer mug and hit me in the head. I could feel the blood and beer mix as it trickled down my face. Gabe was pretty wasted so he started stumbling a little and lost his balance. I used that to my advantage and pressed my hand against his chest and kept wailing on him. After I had hit him about a dozen
times, I realized my hand was the only thing still holding him on his feet. Blade tapped me, and nodded towards the bouncers that were running towards us. I put my hands up showing no resistance, and Gabe fell to the ground, bloodied and gagging on his own blood.  I leaned down so Gabe could hear me and said.

“Next time I won’t stop.” I spat at Gabe as I stepped over, tossed a fifty dollar bill on the counter, and walked out the door.

***

Blade and I went back to the hotel. After a quick clean-up Papa decided, I needed a few stitches in my eyebrow. I couldn't help but have a little satisfaction knowing that Gabe was much worse than I am. A little chuckle escaped my lips as I felt my cell vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and read the text.

Just wanted to tell you I miss you and can't till we're together again. I'm heading out now for my assignment a little early, I'll check in with you whenever possible.

~Rebecca

I smiled and as I texted back.

I wish I knew where you were heading. I miss you too Darling. I will make sure to check in with you as often as I can also.

Love ya,

Gavin

I put my phone back in my pocket as Blade came around the door of
the adjoining rooms and said. "Hey Prez, once you're done getting those stitches put in, you might want to listen to this voicemail Gabe left you." I waved Papa away with the needle, as I grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding. Pulling the phone out of Blade's hands, I listened.

Next time we meet, it'll be after I gut your fed whore here in New Orleans. Oh didn't you know; she's on her way here.

(Click)

I was almost shaking as I handed the phone back to Blade. I turned and walked out, throwing my bloody towel on the ground as I crossed the threshold of the door, slamming the door behind me as I went. Blade tried to quickly follow, but I waved him off as I jumped the last stair. I walked up on the black van and with all of my might I punched the drivers-side window. Shattering it into millions of
tiny sharp, sparkling fragments. As I grabbed my hand and watched the blood pool to the ground, I had an idea.

I rushed off towards the staircase taking the stairs two at a time until I reached the top. I burst into the room, but not before Blade had is gun out
  and pointed at me, to get the assailant that burst through the door.

I narrowed my eyebrows at him, pointed with my bloody hand, and said.

"Hey Blade, you still know how to make bombs right?" Blade shook his head yes, and responded. "Yeah Prez, as long as I have the components. I have plenty of C4" I nodded to him, and pointed at Papa and said. "I need you to get Blade anything else he needs." Papa nodded in agreement with me and walked into the other room with Blade. I went into the bathroom to wash my bloody hand and thought about what to say to Rebecca. I don't know how I'm going to tell her that she's walking into the lion's den. Or if I should even warn her. She can take care of herself that's for damned sure.

I started cursing to myself as I pulled
the glass out of my hand. I was at a loss if I should warn her or just let her do her damned job.

"Fuck!" I cursed again when I pulled the last, large piece out of my knuckle.

Chapter
15

*Rebecca*

My morning went as planned. I was busy with briefings then my visit to the infirmary. The doctor said I was healing great and could return to my normal schedule. The best news was I only had to take the pain meds as needed, not specific times. Mia was packed and ready to go. I stopped into my
office and told Laurie she could leave early today, and grabbed my bags. Mia was talking to Laurie as I walked up, she stopped mid-sentence when I walked out. Smiled at me and continued on with her conversation. I checked my cell, and was pleased I had no missed calls. I tossed it into my weapons bag. Walked to the security office, checked out an unmarked car, and started walking towards the car. Mia came running up behind me like I was going to leave her behind.

Out
of breath she said, "I didn't know we were leaving so quick. I would have walked with you." I shook my head and responded to her, "You're fine. I wasn't in a hurry I just wanted to make sure I got the new black charger, and not the black Malibu. Did you pack your snacks or do we have to stop?" Mia laughed and said, "I got my snacks, our outfits, a gun collection and my trusty IPod filled with awesome music for our trip."  I nodded, opened the trunk and started loading our bags into it. I kept my long black bag, filled with all of my weapons and tossed it into the backseat.

Mia tossed all of her bags except a medium sized black one. Mia stopped what she was doing and glared at my big bag in the back seat.

"What do you have in there a body? It’s big enough for me to fit." I laughed and replied. "It's my weapon bag. I know it's big, the last time I went through the airport with it, they asked me if I transported bodies in it." We both had a good chuckle just as my phone alerted me there was a text waiting on me.

Hey Darling, Missing you terribly. I don't want
to, but my heart is telling me I need to ask where you're going?

Love you,

Gavin

I pulled open the
driver’s door and sat in the seat, I thought about what to say, then texted him back.

I miss you too. I'm heading out now. I can't tell you where we're going, but I can tell you it's not too far from my field office in Atlanta. Where are you, or are you in the same situation?

Love you,

Rebecca

I asked Mia for a soda if she had one, and she handed me a mtn dew. I popped it open as another text came in.

I can't tell you either. I hate to ask you this, but I have no one else to ask. What would you do if you knew a lot of people were in danger? That this certain group of bad guys are going to do even worse things to someone I love? What would you do in that situation?

Love you,

Gavin

I sat back and sipped on my soda, and thought about what I was going to say.

I'd kill them all. Sometimes we need someone to do bad things that no one else is willing to do, for the good of the rest of us. Do I dare ask why you're asking me this? I'm heading out now. Stay safe, I love you,

Rebecca

That text kept ringing in my ears, making me think twice about what I just said to him. Was he asking for himself or something just in general?  The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, other than a few instances of road rage on my part. I stopped just before we got into the city of New Orleans, and grabbed a strong cup of coffee. Everyone knows there won't be much sleep for this task force.  Mia fell asleep on me leaving me by myself for most of the ride. I've had a long time to think and made a decision I thought I'd never make, especially not on my way to a mission. But if we make it out of this unscathed, I'll make sure to keep my promise to myself. I woke up Mia as we were coming into New Orleans, and handed her the coffee I got here at the rest stop.

I pulled into the safe house and realized there were a lot more DEA agents then us. It’s not like the ATF to only send two agents in on something so big. But hey here we are. I turned the car off, got out and grabbed my bags. Flinging them up onto my shoulder, I made sure my shoulder holster was in the right place, checked my hair, and walked up the walkway. Agent Davis answered the door, shook our hands and quickly closed and locked it behind us. Sylvia was right behind him, she smiled at us through her cold steel eyes, and showed us into the dining room. At the table was a headphone box, set to a tap on our targets. And what looks to be a cache of weapons, and rounds we're gathering. We always have to be accountable for how many rounds and weapons we have with us. I pulled my checklist out of my black body bag.

Agent Davis
cleared his throat as I handed him my checklist and said. "I'm sorry, where the hell are my manners? Everyone these are the ATF agents, Rebecca, and Mia. Rebecca, Mia, this is the team. Some are FBI, four DEA, and you two." I waved, and walked over to the black haired, brown eyed young agent from the FBI, to introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Rebecca, or Agent Quinn."

He smiled and said, "I'm Agent Mark Stewart."

Mia stepped up beside me and
quickly introduced herself to everyone. Pulling my bag closer I busied myself unloading my bag of weapons and ammo. I pulled my Glock from my shoulder holster and checked the ammo. Checked my extra clips and put everything back nice and neat where it belongs. I gripped the small 9mm Beretta in the holster at my lower back and started loading ammo into my extra clips.

“Dammit!” I said when I realized I didn’t have an even number of bullets for my Beretta.

Mia stepped closer and said, “What’s wrong?”

I held up my clip and showed her I
was missing two bullets for my clip. She smiled and reached into her bag, pulled out a package of brand new ones and handed me the two I was missing. I smiled at her and mouthed a
thank you
just for her to hear.

Agent Davis, stepped in front of a large white board, flipped it over and started his briefing.

“Now that we’re all here, we can get started with the briefing.” Pointing at the individual bad
guys he goes on to explain each of their roles in the club. Only one kept catching my eye, and that was Gabe. There was something about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. He has a look that I swear I have seen before, I just couldn’t remember where.

Agent Davis
broke my concentration by talking to me. “Agent Quinn, you have been reassigned, you’ll be going into the club house with Galina, she says Gabe is going to be doing something really bad, and we need you there to take care of whatever he’s doing. We’ve already gotten a tap on all of the Club President’s phones. His wife is cooperating, with us. If we help her sister, she’ll testify against The Roadsters, when she finishes her secret divorce from him.”

I nodded and took in everything he said. I thought for a second and said, “I was told by Special Agent Marshal, that I wouldn’t be going undercover in the club house.”

He blinked long and slow as if irritated by my revelation, before he says. “As I have already said Agent Quinn, the plans have changed. You don’t have to go as deep as you did in Savannah, but we need you in the clubhouse.” He all but spit it at me as he said everything. When he said my name I could feel his disdain for me dripping from every word.

I looked over to
Mia, and motioned for her to get closer. When she moved closer, I whispered into her ear. “I hope you brought some of the clothes I would need. I don’t want to have to go to the fucking mall.”

Mia nodded to me in
agreement, and continued listening to Agent Davis. Irritation kept growing in me with every word he said, I was finally able to cool off when he stopped and I noticed a text on my phone from Gavin.

Just wanted to let you know I miss you. I’m going to start calling you Becca, it’s easier to type, and as pretty as you are Darling. Love you, Gavin

I smiled and wrote back.

I miss you too. That’s fine, only my grandpa ever called me Becca, and that was a long time ago.

Love you, miss you.

~Becca

I waited for another text, but nothing came in. Mia grabbed my shoulder and motioned towards her bags. I followed her and saw, her pulling out jeans, shirts and everything I would need to go into the lion’s den.

I didn’t pack to go deep undercover. I’ll have to rework my holsters so I’m always carrying something with me no matter where I am.

Agent Davis’s booming voice echoed through the briefing room for all to hear.

“Everyone
get a good night sleep, we go full force in the morning.”

I grabbed my bags, and headed up the long wooden staircase to the first room on the right, two beds greeted me when I stuck my head in. I chose the one closest to the door, thinking Mia would take
the second. Mia stuck her head in, saw me, winked then walked through the doorway to the open bed. I pushed the door closed and changed into my comfy boxer shorts. Pulled my Beretta out of my holster and shoved it under my pillow. I closed my eyes, and fell quickly into a restless sleep.

Chapter 16

*Gavin*

“What do you mean you don’t have everything we fucking need to get this done?” 

Blade spoke up and tried to reassure me, “
Prez, I know what I need I’m just missing a couple parts of it. I need Ball-bearings, and a few kegs, to put the explosives in. I have the C4 and the container for the ball bearings but need to get the ball bearings themselves. It’s an easy fix I just need to get a few things. I’ll get them tomorrow and we’ll deliver it to their clubhouse tomorrow afternoon.”

I took a second thought about what he said then answered him. “Ok, let’s get it done as soon as possible. Is there any way we can go out and get it tonight?”

Blade stopped for a second, picked up his cell phone, asked a quick question– then answered me.

“Yep, Papa can go get them now.” Blade walked over to Papa, sitting at the table next to the window and handed him a list of what he needed. He smiled, patted him on the back and headed out.

I stopped as I was grabbing my cut, and said,

“
Hey, you want to go to the Hard Rock cafe?”

Blade nodded, and we grabbed our cuts and headed out the door. On the way to the Hard Rock
cafe, we came across a lot of weekend warriors. Which to most sounds like a weekend soldier, but to us simply means a person that only rides a tricked out motorcycle on weekends.

We pulled up to the curb and put our bikes in gear. Blade started to pull his cut
off, but I stopped him. There is no reason to hide we’re here. They already know. Why not draw a little attention; right?

When we walked in, all eyes were on us. I mean think about it, we dare to wear colors and
a cut different than the local outlaws right. We’re just asking to be fucked with. But we went about our meals with no interruption. As we were leaving we got a text from Papa.

Got them, and a few other things I thought we could use.

~Papa

Just as I was about to head back to the hotel with Blade, I got a text from an old buddy in the area. He’s at a little place downtown and wants us to hook up with him. I motion to Blade to come over to me.

He gets off his bike, walks over to me,
and then says. “What’s up Prez?” I smirked, then said.

“I have a buddy that’s over at Passions on Bourbon St. Want to come with me?”

Blade thought for a second, looked around, and then nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll have a couple of beers with you, but I still have to make
the explosive. So I can’t stay late.”

We took off towards Bourbon St. and found parking next to Passions
Men’s club. Hell who could blame us, the beers are cold, and the chicks are hot.

I stopped at the curb, with Blade right behind me. It was a hot and muggy night. My black tank top was sticking to my skin under my leather cut. I wanted more than anything to remove my cut, but that’s something the President of the club doesn’t do.

The bass from the club could be
heard and felt on the curb. We finished putting our stuff in our side saddles and walked into the club. I quickly spotted Dan and motioned to Blade to get us some beers.

Dan was sitting at the corner seat, with nothing but a wall behind him. He thinks like I do, no one can sneak up on you if you can see everyone coming. The three ladies on stage were gyrating on their poles. They were all at different levels of undress, but they all had a different look. The brunette caught my eye. She was gorgeous. If I didn’t have Becca, I’d have to invite her back to my room. But after Becca no one compares.

I stepped up beside Dan. He smiled, stood up and wrapped an arm around me in a brotherly hug. He leaned in to say something, “Hey Bro! Glad you’re here. Been a long time! But why the hell are you in NOLA?”