Page 26 of Victorious, Part 2 (The LA Defiance MC #6)
LOKI
We raise our hands slowly. The door opens wider, revealing two men who look as if they haven’t slept properly in weeks. Both have weapons trained on us—Luke with the shotgun, Logan with a pistol. Their eyes dart constantly, checking the hallway behind us, looking for threats.
“You’ve got thirty seconds to convince us not to slam this door or shoot you where you stand,” Luke grunts.
Montana speaks up again, his voice calm, but stern.
“Eight months ago, you filed a report about irregular inmate transfers and suspicious guard behavior. Two days ago, my mother sent me a message saying new inmates were coming in and things were about to get real fucking bad . Yesterday, she stopped responding to my calls entirely.”
Luke’s grip on the shotgun doesn’t waver, but something shifts in his expression.
“Anyone could have that information,” Logan growls.
“There’s a guard there, Rhonda,” Montana continues desperately. “Said she’d look out for my mother. My mother trusts her. We all trust her. Do you know her? Surely, she could vouch for us?”
Both brothers go completely rigid at the mention of Rhonda’s name.
“Fuck,” Luke mutters under his breath.
“What?” Montana asks, confusion clear in his tone.
Logan looks at his brother. They’re visibly having another one of those silent conversations.
“Get inside,” Luke says finally, lowering his weapon. “All of you. But if this is a setup, I promise you won’t live to regret it, and your deaths will be slow and very, very painful.”
We all glance at Alpha for direction, and he lowers his gun, making the first move inside the apartment. The rest of us follow suit, Montana picking up his gun on the way inside.
Their apartment is sparse but organized. Military neat. Maps and documents are spread across a small dining table. They’ve obviously been doing their own investigating. Both brothers keep their weapons within easy reach.
Because clearly no one trusts anyone right now.
“You’re still tracking the corruption,” I observe, noting the extensive documentation scattered across every surface.
Logan nods grimly. “We couldn’t let it go. Too many good people are getting hurt.”
Montana steps forward, desperation crossing his features. “As I said, my mother’s been in contact with Rhonda. She’s looking out for her, keeping her safe. If you know something about what’s happening in there…”
Both brothers exchange a look, and the temperature in the room seems to drop ten degrees.
“Montana,” Luke says carefully. “I need you to sit down.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Just… sit the fuck down.”
Montana reluctantly takes a seat, his hands clenched into fists. “Do you know why I haven’t heard from my mom?”
Logan moves to their filing system and pulls out a thick folder. “Rhonda isn’t protecting your mother.” Logan lets out a hesitant huff. “I hate to tell you this, but she’s the one coordinating everything inside that damn prison.”
“ What do you mean coordinating everything?” Montana snaps, standing from the sofa like an enraged bull.
Luke opens the folder, revealing photographs, financial records, and communication logs. “Guard Rhonda Williams. Fifteen-year corrections veteran. Model employee until about eight months ago, when she became the Cartel’s main inside coordinator.”
My eyes meet Alpha’s, and we both slump our shoulders in defeat.
How the fuck did we not see this?
Montana stares at the documents, shaking his head. “No. No, that’s bullshit. Rhonda’s been helping my mom. She warned her about the new inmates, told her to keep her head down—”
“To keep her isolated,” Logan interrupts. “To make sure she didn’t interfere with their operations.”
“You’re fucking lying!” Montana growls, beginning to pace. “Rhonda’s one of the good ones. She’s been looking out for my mom since day one.” His anger becomes more evident as he storms through the apartment.
Luke spreads out bank records across the table. “Regular deposits of five thousand dollars every month for the last eight months. All cash. All untraceable.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Montana says, throwing his hands through the air, though his voice is wavering.
Logan adds communication logs to the spread of evidence. “Phone calls to known Cartel operatives. Text messages coordinating inmate transfers. Visitor logs that show her facilitating unauthorized meetings.”
“And this,” Luke says quietly, pulling out a photograph. “Surveillance photo of Rhonda meeting with Cartel leadership two weeks ago.”
Montana stares at the photograph, and I watch all the color drain from his face. I peer over to see the image. Rhonda is clearly visible, shaking hands with a man I recognize from our Cartel files—it’s one of Javier’s lieutenants.
“No,” Montana whispers, his anger fading to devastation. “She… she told my mom she’d keep her safe.”
“She was keeping your mother contained ,” Logan explains gently. “Making sure she didn’t see too much, didn’t ask too many questions. Your mother probably thought Rhonda was protecting her, but really, Rhonda was protecting the operation.”
Montana sinks back into his chair, and I’ve never seen him look so broken. His hands visibly shake as he picks up the photograph, staring at it like he can’t make it make sense.
“She’s been playing us this whole time,” he whispers, his voice barely audible. “She fucking warned me… the bitch warned me the last time I was there.”
We all glare at him as his fingers run through his hair, gripping tight in his anxiety. “Jesus Christ, why didn’t I figure out her cryptic bullshit wasn’t bullshit at all?”
“What exactly did she say? Luke asks.
Montana furrows his brows and begins pacing again. “Something about storms not hitting all at once… something about pressure, things moving. I thought she was trying to give me some kind of pep talk.”
Logan moves in front of Montana, looking right at him. “This could be really important, Montana. We need you to think, what else did she say?”
He slumps his shoulders, rubbing the back of his neck.
He turns to face Alpha, the fear in his eyes tells me he knows now the words have more meaning than he originally thought.
“Fuck, she said the smart ones don’t wait.
They know when to break from the flock, which I now realize she’s clearly talking about fucking birds.
She also said the ones who don’t think they’ve got time, and that’s how they end up missing when it’s all over.
When it’s too late, then, she warned me to be careful.
” He snorts out a laugh, shaking his head.
“I can’t believe I didn’t fucking see it.
She told me, right then and there, and because I was so rattled by my visit with my mom, I couldn’t see she was telling me, right to my face. I’m a fucking idiot!”
Alpha moves closer to Montana, placing a protective hand on his shoulder. “Montana—”
“My mom trusted her,” Montana cuts him off, his voice getting stronger with rage again. “I trusted her. Every time I visited, Rhonda would check in, ask how my mom was doing, and tell me she was keeping an eye on things.”
“Because she was,” Luke says. “Just not the way you thought, and by the sounds of it, whatever Rhonda has going on in that prison, it’s moving. Soon. And whoever isn’t on board is gonna be collateral damage.”
Montana’s hands ball into fists, and for a moment, I think he might punch something. Instead, he just sits there, staring at the evidence spread out in front of him.
“How long?” he asks quietly.
“How long what?” Logan asks.
“How long has she been working for them?”
The brothers exchange another look.
“Based on our investigation? At least two years. Maybe longer, but definitely on the payroll for the last eight months.”
Montana goes completely silent, just staring at the table. Alpha keeps a careful eye on him while Loki and I try to keep the conversation moving.
“Why don’t we all take a seat?” Luke finally suggests, his tone gentler now. “This is gonna take more than five minutes to go through everything we have. Looks like our timeline is moving fast, but without all the information, we could be going in blind, and blind is deadly.”
Alpha, Rip, Maverick, and I move in to sit with Montana, and the Martinez brothers get to telling us the information they have.
Over the next hour, with Montana sitting in stunned silence, the twins lay out everything they discovered during their time inside the system.
I keep one eye on Montana while Luke and Logan explain how Rhonda isn’t merely taking money, she’s the central coordinator for a network that spans multiple facilities.
“She’s got guards in at least seven facilities across three states,” Logan explains, spreading out a hand-drawn organizational chart. “They’re moving people around like chess pieces.”
“For what purpose?” Alpha asks, glancing at Montana, who hasn’t said a word in twenty minutes.
“Recruitment,” Luke replies. “They’re building an army of female operatives who are completely off the grid. Women with nothing to lose who disappear into the system and emerge as loyal soldiers.”
Alpha snorts out a half scoff, half laugh. “Oh, the birds, yeah, we know aaall about that.”
Luke and Logan furrow their brows. “You really have done your research into this,” Logan states.
Alpha sighs. “We have our own history with The Nest and birds. It’s a long story for another day, but us and the Cartel… we go back, and if we can bring these fuckers down, yeah, we want to do it properly this time.”
Luke smiles. “That’s what we want to hear.
The corruption we saw when we were working was fucking crazy.
When we found out it was stemming from the Cartel, we started collecting as much information as we could to bring these assholes down.
The shit they’re doing inside these prisons, it’s not fucking right. ”
“And you tried to report this?” I ask.