“Does that mean going this time is off then?” she asked, her stomach dropping. She’d so been hoping this would all be behind them sooner rather than later.
“No. Me, Caine, and Phoenix are still going in. Martin and two other sheriffs are going to give us some backup, but it’ll be a smaller operation than we initially hoped.”
Cora gasped, because that sounded really freaking dangerous. “Slider, I don’t like the sound of this.”
He grasped her hand against his thigh. “Don’t worry. The plan’s still the same. Observe. Find out who’s running this ring. Get some pictures of Davis there. Get back out. Hopefully we won’t even have to be there that long, because I am not looking forward to watching dogs tear each other apart.”
Her mind scrambled for an alternative. “Why can’t more of the Ravens go so it’s not just the three of you?”
“Because, sweetheart, if the 301 Crew perceives us as attacking their territory, it’ll start a war that’ll only end when a whole bunch of bodies are lying on the ground, and that’s the last thing we want. We have to do this low key, and hopefully, they won’t even realize we were there.”
“But won’t Davis recognize you?” she asked, stepping in closer. He put his arm around her waist.
“If we spot him there, we’re going to keep our distance. And we’re going to borrow a page out of his book. Street clothes. Hats. Phoenix even found an old pair of glasses he’s going to wear.”
That made her smile, just a little. “I just don’t like the idea of you in danger, Slider.”
“That’s why I gotta do this. It’s time to put it behind us.” He handed her a helmet, and too soon they were back at the house so Slider could change. He came downstairs fifteen minutes later in the same jeans and boots, but wearing an oversized hooded sweatshirt under a blue and brown flannel jacket. A Ford baseball cap sat low on his head. And he had a clean shave.
“You make redneck look good,” Cora said, trying to inject a little humor into the situation. But it fell flat.
“Right?” he asked, crouching at the end of the living room couch where she sat with Bosco at her feet. “The boys will be home in a few, so let me ask you before they get here and want to interject their opinion. Would you prefer to spend the evening at the clubhouse or at Dare and Haven’s? Meat had reserved the clubhouse tonight for his fortieth birthday party, so it might be a little crazy there, but of course you can grab one of the rooms upstairs.”
“Would Dare be okay with us crashing over there?” she asked, not sure she was up for pandemonium tonight with the way her head already pounded with tension.
“Yes. He said he and Haven would hang with you wherever you wanted to be.”
“Then I’ll go there. The boys love Dare anyway.”
The bus pulled up just then. “I’ll get them,” Slider said. And it was such a normal thing. A dad meeting his kids off the school bus. It was hard to believe that in just a few hours, that same dad would be walking into the middle of a bunch of criminals betting on animals attacking each other, all while also trying to nail a dirty cop.
Cora just hoped with all her heart that he’d be walking back out again, too. And coming home to her.
Chapter 23
“This ends tonight,” Caine said, a beat-up John Deere baseball hat on his head. In baggy jeans and a gray hoodie cinched at the neck to hide his ink, he almost looked like one of the skate rats they’d seen.
“A-fucking-men,” Phoenix said from behind the wheel. A cowboy hat sat beside his lap.
“In and out, just like we talked about,” Slider added, hoping like hell that nothing diverted them from the plan.
They rode to the fight in one of the old pickups used for the Ravens’ track business, not wanting to put anyone’s personal vehicle in the 301 Crew’s sights. The address they finally received was located about forty-five minutes away, and luckily the early sunset of the season meant they’d get to go in under the cover of darkness. Martin and two of his officers followed in unmarked cars, giving them at least a little backup in case shit went south.
As shit was wont to do.
Which was why they were all riding hot. Slider fucking hated it—hated the risk of it—but they’d be stupid to go in unarmed with the Crew involved.
The address led them to a long gravel driveway that cut through a stand of woods and emptied out into a big field. A barn sat at the center with maybe forty cars and trucks parked all around, many of them with trailers attached—likely belonging to people who’d brought their own dogs to fight.