Chapter 30 Raid plans
JASON'S POV
I stood in the clubhouse garage looking at the map Marcus had spread out on the workbench. Red circles marked all of Collin Hayes's known operations around the city and we were planning to hit the biggest one tonight. A stash house on the east side where he kept product and money before distribution.
"Security rotates every four hours," Marcus said, pointing to the building layout. "We hit them during the shift change at midnight when they are most vulnerable."
"How many guards?" I asked.
"Usually six," Marcus said. "But we have inside information that says tonight there will only be four because two called in sick."
"Inside information from who?" one of the other guys asked.
"Someone who wants Hayes to go down as much as we do," Marcus said. "That is all you need to know."
I studied the map and considered the best approach to take. We needed to get in fast and get out faster. Take what we could and destroy the rest. Every hit we made on Hayes weakened his position with the Volkov organization and that was the goal.
"What about cameras?" I asked.
"There are eight cameras total," Marcus said, and pulled up photos on his phone. "Two at each entrance and four inside covering the main storage areas. We will need to cut the power first which should take out the cameras too."
"And if they have backup generators?" another guy asked.
"Then we work fast," I said. "In and out in fifteen minutes max. We cannot afford to get caught on this one."
The plan was solid. Marcus always did good work when it came to planning raids. He thought of everything, and that was why we had been so successful in hitting Hayes's operations over the past few months.
"What about Hayes himself?" someone asked. "Will he be there?"
"Doubtful," Marcus said. "He does not get his hands dirty with the actual operations. He leaves that to his guys while he sits in his fancy office and collects the money."
I felt anger rising in my chest thinking about Hayes. He was living in his mansion with Caitlyn while I was out here planning raids and trying to survive. He got to see her every day, and he got to see my kid growing inside her. And there was nothing I could do about it.
"Jason you good?" Marcus asked and I realized I had zoned out.
"Yeah I am good," I said. "Let us go over the exit strategy one more time."
We spent the next hour going through every detail of the plan. Who would cut the power, who would handle the guards, who would grab the product and money? Where we would meet up afterwards. Everyone needed to know their role exactly or this could go very wrong.
"Questions?" I asked when we finished.
Nobody said anything. They all knew what they needed to do. This was not our first raid, and it would not be our last. We had gotten good at hitting Hayes where it hurt.
"Alright then," I said. "Everyone get some rest and be back here at eleven. We leave at eleven thirty."
The guys started filing out of the garage but Marcus stayed behind. He looked at me with that expression he got when he wanted to say something I was not going to like.
"What?" I asked.
"You need to be careful tonight," he said. "Hayes is getting desperate. Desperate men do stupid things."
"I am always careful," I said.
"I am serious Jason," Marcus said. "Every time we hit one of his operations he loses credibility with the Volkov organization. Eventually, he is going to snap, and when he does, it will not be pretty."
"Good," I said. "I want him to snap. I want him to make a mistake so we can finally take him down for what he did to Tommy."
Marcus nodded slowly. "Just do not let your need for revenge get you killed. That is all I am saying."
My phone buzzed before I could answer. It was one of the guys I had watching the Hayes estate. I had people keeping tabs on Caitlyn whenever they could without being too obvious about it.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"We got a problem," the guy said. "The Vipers confronted Mrs Hayes at the grocery store today."
My blood went cold. "What do you mean confronted?"
"Two of their guys cornered her in the parking lot," he said. "Grabbed her arm, made threats, told her to pass a message to you."
"What message?" I asked but I already knew.
"That you are a dead man and anyone connected to you is going down too," the guy said. "Boss they scared her bad. She went home shaking and has not come out since."
I felt rage building inside me. The Vipers had threatened Caitlyn, they had put their hands on her. She was pregnant with my kid and they had threatened her.
"Where are they now?" I demanded.
"We do not know," the guy said. "They took off after she left. Do you want us to track them down?"
"No," I said even though everything in me wanted to hunt them down right now. "Keep eyes on the Hayes place. Let me know if anything else happens."
I hung up and Marcus was watching me. "What happened?"
"The Vipers went after Caitlyn," I said. "They threatened her because they think she is with me."
"Damn," Marcus said. "Is she okay?"
"I do not know," I said and grabbed my jacket. "But I need to find out."
"Jason we have the raid tonight," Marcus reminded me. "We cannot postpone it."
"I know," I said. "But I need to make sure she is safe first. The Vipers knowing about her changes everything."
"How do they even know about her?" Marcus asked.
"They must have seen us together that night at the bar," I said. "Or maybe they have been watching me too. Either way, they connected her to me, and now she is in danger."
"What are you going to do?" Marcus asked.
"I am going to watch her," I said. "Make sure the Vipers do not come back and then I am going to deal with them permanently."
"And the raid?" Marcus pressed.
"Still happens," I said. "But I might be late, start without me if you have to."
Marcus looked like he wanted to argue but he knew there was no point. When I made up my mind about something, that was it, and right now my mind was focused on making sure Caitlyn was safe.
"Be careful," Marcus said. "Hayes has people watching her too. If they spot you it could get messy."
"It is already messy," I said. "But I do not care. She is carrying my kid and I am not letting anyone hurt her."
I left the clubhouse and got on my bike. The ride to the Hayes estate took twenty minutes, and the whole way there, I was thinking about what I would do to the Vipers when I found them. Nobody threatened my kid, nobody threatened Caitlyn.
I needed to find a way to protect her without revealing myself to Hayes. And I needed to send a message to the Vipers that going after her was the worst mistake they could make.