Page 46 of Spook’s Honor

He’d relax eventually, especially once the threat was neutralised. And I was under no illusions that it wouldn’t be. Mulally would rue the day he decided to come after us.

CHAPTER 18

SPOOK

Hands fisted on my hips, I read all the information that Mamba has been able to find. Memorising what I need to and discarding what’s not important.

Chief has been keeping me updated hourly on what his guys are seeing. So far Mulally has only left the house twice. Not sure how normal that was for him.

The brothers are silent, as more and more information is transferred to the screen. The room fills with angry hisses and curses when Mamba puts up the photos of auction sites.

Bile rises and my gut twists at the depravity of some of them. I’ve seen a lot of shit in my life, and some pretty gruesome deaths, but these… they are a whole new level of depravity. The man didn’t discriminate. Men, women, children. If someone wanted to purchase them, Mulally supplied them.

If any of us had any concerns at taking this motherfucker out, they would be put to rest by what we’re seeing.

“I’m going to assume you’re going in on the plane,” Carnage states. He leans forward and stares at the screen, forearms braced on the table, anger visible in every tense muscle and the tight clench of his fists. “You sure you don’t need company?”

I shake my head, “No brother, this is the type of work I’m used to. I want the club clear of this shit, especially after the very public shoot out that Maverick had to pay a shit tonne of money to keep out of the news. Besides, you guys will be having your own fun.”

“You can’t go in alone,” Stout mutters, eyes glittering with anger.

Tilting my chin to look at Maverick, I need permission to bring Rowena in.

He gives a short, sharp nod.

Turning to the brothers I reply, “I won’t be. But I need permission from my brothers to bring the person I’m taking with me into Church, so I can debrief them.”

The brothers share looks. It’s Mamba who speaks up, and I’m somehow not surprised.

“You want to bring Rowena in?” he guesses.

I nod. “You know she handles my tech, and she’s seen this, but I need to brief her on the plan, and it’s easier to go over everything once. Ordinarily we don’t bring women into Church, but I’d like to ask my brothers that we make an exception this time.”

Maverick sighs and drags his hands down his face. “I’ll let you in on something not many people know. The Queens Wraiths deal with cases like this all the time. Their women play a huge role in taking down organisations, exactly like this one. Their women are active in Church. Now, I’m not saying we’ll ever operate that way, but I want to put your minds at ease—Rowena is trustworthy and probably has more secrets than all of us combined.”

He pauses, leaning back in his chair. “But…” His gaze sweeps the room. “This club belongs to all of you as much as it does to me, so the decision is yours. We’re in a time crunch, which means I can only give you five minutes to make it.”

I sink back into my chair as well and wait. If they don’t go for it, I’ll fill Rowena in separately, but it will take additional time we don’t have.

I’m surprised when, less than a minute later, Rusty, our Chaplain says, “Bring her in. She’s putting her ass on the line for us.” He holds up a hand when I start to speak. “We know she works for you VP, but this is club work not Hit It. She deserves to be in the know, and if you trust her with the type of ops you run, then we can trust her not to talk about what happens in church.”

He's not wrong. “Appreciate it brothers,” I say, pushing back from the table and standing. Going to the door I open it and search the common room for Rowena. It’s testament to my time in the field that I don’t jerk in surprise when she emerges from the shadows in the hallway asking, “You need me, boss?”

“Jesus, Rowena,” I mutter with a hoarse chuckle. She grins and shakes her head. “Come in, let's get you briefed.”

Surprise flickers in her eyes before she banks it.

I’d taken Rowena on as a favour to Maestro, when he’d been worried she'd get herself killed trying to dish out vigilante justice alone. She’d started down that path after her twin took her own life, months after being sexually assaulted.

Bringing Rowena onto my team turned out to be one of the best decisions I’d ever made. Not only was she exceptional with all things tech, but she excelled in every form of combat, she could build bombs, and was lethal with both a knife and a gun.

Most would look at her and not see a threat, but they didn’t know her. She was as deadly as dynamite wrapped in a tiny package. A chameleon that could get in and out of places without being seen. She melted into shadows and stayed hidden in ways I’d never been able to fathom.

She was dressed in her usual uniform of all black and a cap covering her bright red hair. When she wasn’t working, she wore glasses that amplified her grey eyes, but when she was working, she wore contacts. She hated them, and I had to agree. We weren’t too dissimilar there.

Turning on my heel, I walk back into the room, Rowena following me. She shut the door with barely a snick, and pads on soft feet to the table standing next to Mamba, eyes flicking between his PC and the screen on the wall. Her face is impassive, but I’ve learned to read her in the last two years. The tick in her cheeks shows how angry she is.

She slants her eyes to Maverick, “Appreciate you allowing me in church.”