Autumn Lake

Autumn Lake

A Heroes and Rogues Story

DESTINY BLAINE

Autumn Lake

Copyright © 2014

Published by Dark Hollows Press

About the Book You Have Purchased

All rights reserved. Without reserving the rights under copyright, reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Distribution of this book, in whole or in part, is forbidden. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law.

Autumn Lake

Copyright © 2014 Destiny Blaine

ISBN 10: 1940756928

ISBN 13: 978-1-940756-92-9

Publication Date: August 2014

All cover art and logo copyright © 2014 by Dark Hollows Press

Cover design by
3 Rusted Spoons

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Chapter One

“Good morning.” FBI Unit Chief Laron Malory stepped to the microphone and instantly gained the full attention of his subordinates. The room fell quiet. “In a few minutes, I’ll introduce you to the agent who has been assigned to the task of replacing Mark Sampson.” He looked out over the crowd before he added, “We all know Sampson and there’s no reason to show him any further respect by assigning his former title to his name.”

Malory scoured the room and leveled a stare at Autumn Lake. She could only imagine what was going through his mind. It was bad enough she would soon replace Sampson, but even worse that most of the men and women present there wanted the position. Chief Malory had called her in the week before to explain why she’d been chosen. Her upcoming assignment had nothing to do with skill or experience. He wanted her to understand the particulars before he passed along the information.

She’d been chosen for one primary reason and only one—Sampson didn’t know her. She had no personal or professional ties to the undercover agents working the case. She’d been flown from Arizona to East Tennessee in hopes of finalizing two decades of excruciating work.

It was time to bring down the Heroes and Rogues and the Devil’s Angels.

“Before I introduce Agent Autumn Lake, I want to stress
why
she was chosen. Sampson was dirty. All of you knew him. Some of you perhaps realized what he was capable of and still others may have known about his forthcoming plans. If any of you had knowledge of his activities, your hands are anything but clean.

“The reason we brought in Agent Lake has nothing to do with her experience and everything to do with the fact that she can easily move around the Fall Branch, Tennessee area without suspicion. She can provide us with an unbiased opinion in regards to the agents we have working in the field.” He took a deep breath and nodded at Autumn. “Agent Lake, come on up.”

Seated in the back, Autumn made her way to the front of the room. Dressed in casual clothes since she’d soon leave the Knoxville office and drive to her new assignment, Autumn couldn’t help but note the mix of sighs, sarcastic remarks, and snickers as she walked to the podium. She immediately shook hands with the chief. “Nice to see you.”

Malory only stared down the bridge of his nose for a moment before addressing his audience once more. “Given the fact we have a suspected breach on our hands, this isn’t our typical protocol. Normally, other agents wouldn’t necessarily be apprised of a new handler assignment but circumstances require it. Agent Lake will wrap things up this month and her report may include information she receives on some of you. She has a multi-task assignment and once she’s fulfilled her duties, she’ll be pulled out. Those of you who’ve been on this case since the beginning should know this— Agent Lake isn’t here to take your spotlight at the end of the day. She won’t be present for the arrests. She will not have her day in court or in front of the cameras.”

“What does her job entail exactly?” An older agent stood in the back of the room. “I get the feeling she’s doing a little more than trying on Mark’s shoes for size and comfort.”

“She is. Once she steps into those ‘shoes’ as you say, she’ll muddy them up and leave them at our backdoor.” Chief Malory looked around the room. “Any other questions?”

Another agent took the floor. “You’re being evasive.”

“I could say the same about you, Agent Stix, and I could say the same for many of your peers.” Chief Malory frowned. “Most of you are new agent trainees. Unfortunately, some of you fell under Mark’s guidance and for some reason you feel you owe him something. You owe him nothing and if you don’t lose that mindset, it will cost you your career. Sampson stepped beyond the lines of acceptable performance and used his position for perceived power. We nearly lost two of our best.”

“I hope Gaylord Martin isn’t one of those two.”

Chief Malory hesitated before he said, “Gaylord Martin will only be discussed with you behind closed doors. I suggest that all of you think twice now before you throw out another name.” He tilted his head at the exit. “Shall we, Agent Lake?”

A few minutes later, they stood beside her rented sports coupe. Chief Malory pointed at the passenger seat. “The documents in those files should be reviewed as soon as possible. The three boxes in the trunk will better acquaint you with all the main players from both clubs. You’ll have information on their families, their crimes, and their current positions and dealings with their charters.” He took a deep breath and worry crinkled his furrowed brow. “This assignment could end up being one of the biggest of your career, Agent Lake.”

“I hope not,” she said. “I’ve only been on the job for two years.”

“Don’t be flippant with me. You were chosen for the assignment because of your outer appearance and we both know it. The higher ups feel your qualifications, while limited, will allow you to collect the necessary data. Let’s be clear on one thing, Agent Lake. They also feel your personal characteristics will allow you to gain access to the areas where we need an informant.”

“I think we both know why I was assigned to this job and it has nothing to do with how I look.”

“Right,” Chief Malory muttered. “Let me ask you a question. How old are you, Agent Lake?”

“Twenty-nine.” If he’d studied her file like he perhaps should have, he wouldn’t need to ask. “Why?”

“Do you plan to have children, maybe even a big family some day?”

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“Think about it,” he said. “Fantasize about it. Then put it out of your mind forever. With your looks, this is where you’ll find yourself often.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will. You’ve replaced Sampson as the handler for the agents we have in place, but before your first meeting with them, you’re expected to position yourself within one of the organizations.” His gaze swept over her body. “You have two weeks to gain that position. In order to do that, you’ll need to start working every biker and every angle. The only way to do that is from your back.”

****

Later that night, Autumn sat on the floor of her one-bedroom apartment cramming pizza crust in her mouth while researching the files Chief Malory had provided. She wanted to know all the players—the Heroes and Rogues, the Devils Angels, the undercover agents in place, and the people involved with them romantically.

She studied a picture of Summer Pain, a field agent who had apparently fallen in love with the Heroes and Rogues VP. The typical All-American girl stared back at her as she flipped through various images of Summer and Tigger.

“What were you thinking?” she whispered. Summer had been assigned a specific task. Her job was to find out which undercover agents had switched sides or gone ‘rogue’.

She narrowed her gaze on a resignation letter, a letter that had apparently been held over Summer’s head prior to Mark Sampson’s removal as her handler. Sampson had also handled Logan Marcs and Gaylord Martin. Most of those in the Bureau assumed both men now had blown covers thanks to Sampson, but they weren’t making a move to pull either agent out until they knew for sure.

Autumn’s first order of business was to find out if the allegations thrown between men and clubs had begun to generate the kind of whispers that could get one of their agents killed. She also needed to know if anyone had fingered Summer as an agent. When Sampson had been debriefed, he'd indicated all covers were blown, but had never provided proof.

In regards to Summer Pain, Unit Chief Malory had said there was strong evidence to suggest Sampson had threatened her, but nothing to substantiate his claims of a blown cover. He also mentioned surveillance. Apparently those watching Summer and Tigger believed she was head-over-heels for the biker she should’ve been required to bring down.

Tigger Bales’ rap sheet suggested he was a first-rate criminal. It wasn’t hard to guess why the Feds and locals had left him alone. He had better connections than the rest of the MC. From what Autumn had read, Summer’s involvement with Tigger didn’t add up. Why would an undercover agent align herself with a man who was considered one of the most dangerous bikers riding with the Heroes and Rogues?

Tigger should’ve been incarcerated ages ago.

“And that’s where I come in, Agent Pain,” Autumn said, flipping through another stack of black and white photographs. “What do you see in him?”

After shuffling through the pictures a few times, she tossed them aside and picked up another manila folder. Logan Marcs, Gaylord Martin, and Summer Pain were in several of the photographs. One man with an average build, apparently her fourth agent, had his face blacked out of each image.

“Who are you?” She studied everything about him, from his height to his build to the most important fact. He was wearing a club jacket but the top and bottom rockers were blacked out as well. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Gotta give ya props, hon. Even Sampson didn’t know who you were. How’d you get by without a handler? What did you know?” Surely he had reported to someone, maybe one of the higher ups, on a regular basis.

Her cell phone rang and she verified the number. “Agent Lake.”

“It’s me,” Chief Malory said. “Marcs, Pain, and Martin have been apprised of the new assignment. We’re waiting for further details about the fourth agent.”

“Can I at least have a name?”

“We’re hoping you won’t need one.”

“Why?”

“That’s classified and if you do your job, you shouldn’t have a problem gaining the intelligence you need and we want. Have a good evening, Agent Lake.”

Chapter Two

“I don’t like it, man.” Jake Covington steadied his bike underneath him and looked around the clearing. “If this is a setup, we’re all dead.”

Damn place looked like an ambush waiting to happen. Not even a mile off Beech Creek Road, the dirt path they’d followed had been full of rock. Near the top of the incline, they’d walked their bikes up the remaining steep path to the clearing.