Page 17 of Property of Mako (Kings of Anarchy MC: Louisiana #1)

Cracks in the Foundation

Mako

By the time we rolled back into the clubhouse, the air felt—off.

Too quiet.

Even the usual bass thump of music from the bar had been cut.

Dexter had parked, ripped off his helmet, saying, “I’m here.” That told me he’d been on his Bluetooth headset. He hopped off his bike and rushed inside.

Crypt Keeper pulled in beside me, his wolf still pacing under his skin, itching for another fight. I understood how he felt, but we’d been severely outnumbered. Spook ghosted through the front doors without a word, the shadows clinging to him like they didn’t want to let go.

Lyra stayed close. I could feel the heat of her at my side, could smell the stubborn edge in her scent. She was still rattled, but she’d die before admitting it.

Inside, the smell of blood hit me. Fresh.

Dexter was already in the back room we used as an infirmary, hands deep in Bugsy’s torn side, muttering curses in some old tongue that probably wasn’t fit for polite company.

The man’s normally steady hands were quick and rough tonight—not because he didn’t know what he was doing, but because Bugsy’s life was dangling by a thread—I could smell it.

I stepped up beside him. “How bad?”

“Bad,” Dexter said without looking up. “Silver in the wounds. They knew what they were doing. Whoever sent them didn’t want him healing fast. I can’t believe I missed it.”

Lyra’s fingers brushed my arm, tentative. “Can’t you?—”

“No,” Dexter cut her off. “Not until I get it all out.”

The words he left unspoken said he blamed Lyra for him not being here. That set my hackles up, but I bit my tongue. This wasn’t the time.

Crypt Keeper joined us and closed the door before he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. Then he quietly spoke up. “We got set up, Mako. Question is—how?”

I didn’t answer right away because I already knew what he was thinking.

Same thing we all were.

Someone in this chapter was definitely feeding the Covenant our info.

They knew exactly where we’d be, they moved the girls, and they came loaded for war.

The thought of a traitor in the Kings’ ranks churned in my gut like broken glass. We were more than a club—we were a pack, a crew, a family. You didn’t betray family.

Spook appeared from the corner, his voice low. “Checked the perimeter. No tails.”

For a moment, everyone was quiet.

“Brothers, the way they moved? That wasn’t luck. That was insider info,” Spook added.

Dexter’s lip curled as he looked up. “You saying one of our own sold us out?”

“I’m saying,” Spook replied, “someone’s talking to the wrong people.”

“That’s what Boomslang and Killswitch were afraid of,” I admitted. “That’s why they don’t want us to tell anyone where we were going or what was up.”

My gaze swept the room. The guys I’d bled with. Rode with. Buried bodies with. And for the first time in years, I didn’t trust all of them.

Lyra’s hand found mine, and for a second, it grounded me. But only for a second.

Frustrated, I pulled away and headed for my room.

Lyra followed but wisely stayed quiet. After unlocking my door, which I never used to lock, I stood there with my hands on my hips as I studied all my notes.

Maps of the city and surrounding parishes covered the surface, dotted with pins and scribbled notes.

I stared at the one down south of New Orleans.

An old plantation.

Not the one we’d just searched.

Another one.

By Jean Lafitte…

A different mark I’d been chasing for months, tied to someone older, richer, and far more dangerous than the flunkies we’d fought at the old abandoned bread factory. A personal target.

Thane.

That property had been passed down in the same family since it was built. They kept passing it down, but no one ever did anything with it. It was abandoned and falling apart worse than the place we’d gone to today.

Yet something had told me he was the owner.

Little whispers from my personal informants, public records that were too perfect.

Maybe I needed to actually check the place out.

Maybe there was an underground bunker or something.

A place to hide out and store things one didn’t want found.

Like abducted teenage and early twenties girls.

Otherwise, what was his draw to that place? Why keep it for centuries?

I didn’t tell the others yet. No sense stirring more paranoia before I was sure. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me before, but the more I stared at that pin, the more my gut told me that Lily was there.

And I knew Thane wouldn’t keep her hidden forever. He always had an endgame.

The cryptic message the Covenant assassin had left me with before disappearing now made sense. I didn’t think he’d get tied up with the Covenant, but he was a power-hungry piece of shit.

Sick to my stomach at the thought, I wondered which of my brothers had entered my room and looked through my notes.

That ominous clock in my head just kept ticking.