Silent Night - By Tom Barber Page 0,93

quality of their product and apparently the New Yorkers wanted in. The club had been enthusiastic; none of them had suspected they were being manipulated.

They’d ridden up to New York and arrived yesterday, Friday 17, setting up base on an old retail estate in New Jersey. Three of the guys who ran the meth arm of the business set up three caravans to start cooking, using the isolation of the estate to create some fresh product ready for the so-called deal. Rourke had left the estate with Finn as soon as they’d arrived and headed into the city to go and meet with Paul Bleeker and his contact.

However, things hadn’t gone to plan.

Bleeker had gone dark, not answering his phone. His contact they’d met at the rally was unreachable. Finn had broken into Flood Microbiology but couldn’t locate any sign of the virus. Bleeker and his contact had screwed them. Bob and Finn agreed they should have guessed Bleeker would do this. He was an unreliable asshole.

But they sure as hell hadn’t come all this way for nothing.

Rourke had called Wicks and Drexler and told them to meet him in the city. He’d shared with them the real reason they were here and that Bleeker had fallen off the radar. That had been just after 10:30pm. He ordered them to find Bleeker or one of his known gang before sunrise. They’d done just that. Wicks had called a friend in the New York Chapter and he’d given addresses for Bleeker and the four guys he always hung out with. Bleeker wasn’t at home but they’d captured one of his friends. They’d just broken into the man’s house when the guy had pulled up in a car and walked straight in.

He’d told them pretty much everything they wanted to know. Apparently Bleeker had decided to steal the vials himself, cutting his three partners from the rally out of the deal. He was planning to use some of them in Manhattan as a demonstration that coming morning then leave town with three of his friends. The tortured man had given the locations and the times. The original plan cooked up at the rally had been to mix the virus with a liquid broth which could then be transported in canisters. Increasing the quantity without losing the quality would drastically increase their margin of profit. Rourke had located a lab in New Jersey which would be an ideal place to do it. They’d never intended to kill the doctors at Flood Microbiology and Kearny Medical, but Bleeker’s double-cross had enraged the two men. Wicks had called and told them what the tortured man had said. He and Drexler had orders to gain a sample of the virus and take out all the doctors who worked at Flood Microbiology as well as Bleeker’s crew. Rourke wanted everyone who knew about this virus exterminated. No more chances of getting screwed.

He and Finn had waited outside Kearny Medical until the guard arrived, then killed him and let themselves in. Finn had taken a spare uniform from the man’s locker out back whilst Bobby went upstairs. They then murdered each member of the team as they arrived for work, one by one. Wicks and Drexler had done well. Before noon, they brought a doctor from Flood Microbiology to mix the virus and had also got hold of a vial.

Bleeker was an idiot. He and his three friends had got themselves killed and also attracted the attention of the entire NYPD. Reese’s death and Finn’s sudden departure were also setbacks. Bobby didn’t have any siblings but he knew if some pig killed his brother that he’d want revenge too. He wouldn’t want to be the cop who’d killed Reese for all the guns in Texas right now. But not everything was bad. Rourke had received an interesting phone call earlier from Bleeker’s contact. The information that had been passed was interesting and invaluable. The contact had warned Rourke of a situation at the campsite where the Chapter were holed up.

Bobby had taken the appropriate measures to counter it.

So behind the wheel of a white van, moving fast through rural New Jersey, Rourke glanced at Drexler. She was sitting beside him, watching the road. They were the only two in the vehicle.

‘How we doing?’

She checked her rear view mirror.

‘We’re good. Nothing but night.’

He grinned, and put his foot down.

He liked happy endings.

FORTY FOUR

Fire crews had arrived and were battling to put out the blaze at Kearny Medical. The explosion