Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
It was me.
My pride. My stubbornness. My dedication to the club. I hadn’t let her in. I’d built walls around the club and around myself, keeping everything out that wasn’t tied to this life, including her. If I’d fought for her back then, if I hadn’t let my hard head get in the way, then we could’ve had this years ago. We could’ve had a home, kids of our own, and a life I’d tried to convince myself wasn’t for me.
But then again, maybe this was how it was supposed to happen.
Maybe we had to take the long road.
Maybe we had to grow the hell up before we could find our way back to each other. Either way, I had her now.
And I was going to fight tooth and nail to keep her.
Devin turned and caught me watching her, and her smile softened as her eyes met mine. I gave her a chin lift, then tossed my gloves on the seat of my bike and went to track down Shep. He was talking to a couple of prospects when I stepped up next to him and asked, “You got a minute?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
The prospects could see this had nothing to do with them, so they turned and made themselves busy elsewhere. As soon as I could see we were out of earshot, I asked, “How good are you at what you do?”
“Why do I feel like that’s a trick question?”
“Just answer it.”
“I’d say I’m better than most. Why? What’s on your mind?”
“I need you to find someone.”
“Who ya got this time?”
“A girl.”
“Gonna need more than that.”
“Sorry, brother, but there is no more.” I shook my head as I told him, “She was there the night Devin was attacked. She was one of the girls they were trying to help.”
“Got a name?”
“No.”
“What about a description? Age? Height? Weight? Special tattoos? Anything?”
“Nope.”
“Creed.”
“I don’t know what to tell ya.” I was frustrated as hell, but I tried to keep my voice low as I told him. “All I know is the girl was being trafficked. She thought Devin and her partner were going to save her, but the partner got shot and Devin got the hell beat out of her before either of them got the chance.”
“Damn, that was rough.” Shep glanced across the lot as he asked, “Devin ask you to do this?”
“No. She doesn’t even know I’m talking to you about this.”
“I can try to hunt her down, but I’m gonna be real with you, brother. The likelihood of finding her is slim at best. You know how that trafficking shit works. There’s no telling where this girl ended up. For all we know, she’s at the bottom of some lake.”
“I get it.”
“See what you can find for me. I need a name or photo. Something that I could match up to the missing persons list. But even then, it’ll be a stretch.”
“I’ll talk to Devin and see if she has something that might help.”
“Sounds good, but don’t get her hopes up because…”
“I know. I get it. I appreciate the help.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
I didn’t get the answer I wanted, and there was a good chance I would never get an answer. But I had to try. Devin deserved that, and so did the girl who went missing. I wasn’t feeling very hopeful as I made my way back over to my bike. Thankfully, the guys were there to distract me from my heavy thoughts.
I overheard Goose giving Rusty shit about his bike. “Still got that two-up on there, huh?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“You keepin’ it warm for your imaginary girlfriend or what?”
“I’ve got options.” Rusty shot him a look. “I’m just taking a break.”
“Man, you ain’t had a girl on that thing in months.”
Rusty’s jaw tightened, and he flipped Goose the bird before grabbing his helmet off the handlebars. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”
Goose just kept laughing, clapping him on the shoulder hard enough to make Rusty stumble a step. “Hey, don’t get salty, brother. I’m just sayin’ that bike’s probably gettin’ more action than you.”
Rusty muttered something under his breath, but Goose was already laughing and turning away to his next victim. I shook my own head and chuckled as I passed by Preacher and Tabitha. Preacher raised an eyebrow like he wanted to know what the hell was so funny, but I didn’t bother explaining.
“Morning.”
“Morning.” Preacher was leaning against his bike with his coffee in hand, watching the lot fill up. “I saw you brought your girl with you.”
“I did.” I gave Tabitha a nod as I said, “I see you brought yours as well.”
“Hell, yeah.” He gave her a wink. “Hoping to get a peek of her in her bathing suit.”
Tabitha gave him a playful nudge. “You’re terrible.”
“I’m just telling it the way it is.”
“You’d think she’d be used to that by now,” I teased.