Page 35

Dagger

I ’d been sitting listening to my club brothers giving updates on all of our businesses and we were just starting to wind down the meeting. We all turned to look at our Prez for the final item.

“Bloody Devils,” Diesel said simply. “Reaper brought some of his product to the dispensary the other day. Says it’s cleaner and more potent than the last two runs we’ve been stocking.”

Maverick snorted. “Dude would say that.”

A few chuckles rippled through the room, Diesel continued. “Jokes aside, the guy’s trying to build something, and I respect that. If he can come up with the goods, then we might be onto a winner…” he paused. “But I’m not sure I trust them yet.”

“Agreed,” Rocky, our VP added. “I say we buy a batch but keep it as a one-off. Then maybe if he proves himself, we take him up on his generous offer.”

I stayed quiet, arms crossed, listening. I’m not one of the officers and ultimately, while the MC is a democracy, when it comes to club business the officers get the final say.

Diesel finally raised a hand, silencing the room. “I’ve sampled the stuff. It’s good. Real good. Cleaner burn, tighter buds. Might even do better in our downtown shop.”

That got a few nods.

“But…” Diesel continued, “we’ve got history with our current growers. We know where the plants come from. We know the transport routes. We know the hands touchin’ the product. With Reaper, we’re guessing.”

He looked around the room. “This club doesn’t guess.”

No one argued.

“So here’s where we stand,” Diesel said firmly. “We park it—for now. If Reaper and his men prove themselves over the next few months—we’ll revisit it. Until then, we stick with our people. Is everyone in agreement?”

Just then, the door pushed open and Falcon stepped inside, eyes scanning the room until they landed on me.

“Dagger. You got a minute?”

I nodded, standing.

Falcon stepped in closer, dropping his voice. “Just got off the phone with Minx. She’s at the shop.”

My stomach tightened. “Yeah?”

“She said a blond guy came in about an hour ago. Claimed he had an appointment with you—asked what time you’d be in.”

I frowned. “I don’t have any appointments today. I blocked it out.”

“Exactly,” Falcon said. “She told him you weren’t working. Said he acted cool, left right after. But afterward… she said the whole thing felt off. Like he wasn’t there for the ink. Like he was fishing.”

The air shifted.

“Blond?” I asked.

Falcon nodded. “Minx said he was tall, looked clean. Almost too clean. Like he didn’t fit.”

My jaw clenched. “Nick.”

“Probably.”

“Fuck.” I grabbed my vest off the back of the chair. “I have to go check on Sinclair.”

Nobody stopped me. They all just nodded as I stormed out, heart hammering with every step.

Because if he was asking where I was—he might be planning to show up where I wasn’t.

And that meant Sinclair could be next.

As I headed through the main bar area of the clubhouse I stopped at the sight of my little girl staring up at me with tears in her eyes.

“Daddy!” she called out.

“Not now, Dani.” My tone was harsher than I intended. I didn’t want to worry her, but I had to get to my house.

“Something’s happened to Miss Bronson!”

“She’s fine,” I insisted. At least she would be fine if I could get home in time to stop her asshole brother from doing something.

“She’s not,” she shouted back, crying harder.

“I called because I left my tablet at home, and I wanted her to bring it if she came here later. A mean man answered the phone, and he said… he said that she was dead! Daddy, she’s gone.

” Her little body shook from her sobs and tears streaked her cheeks.

I dropped to my knees and held her. “She’s not dead, baby. I’m going to get her right now. I promise.”

“Why would he say that, Daddy?”

“Because he’s mean and sad. Stay here with Ellie and Peyton, okay?”

She nodded. “Get her, Daddy. Please.”

“I will.” I kissed the top of her head, handed her off to Ellie, and headed out. I had to find Sinclair and save her from her asshole brother.

Fuck, I loved her, the thought of anything happening to her terrified me.

***

My heart slammed against my chest so fucking loud that even the sound of my bike and my brothers’ bikes was drowned out by it. My thoughts were twice as loud as I went over Slate’s words a thousand times before my bike came to a stop outside my house.

“Come on, brother, get off your ass.” Hawk clapped me on the back and made his way up to my front door. “Door’s wide open,” he said over his shoulder before glancing up and down the block as he pulled out his gun.

“Wait,” I called out, and nodded to the sporty red car beside Sinclair’s sedan.

“Her friend was coming over to stay with her. That must be Sarah’s car.

” Another thought hit me—maybe it wasn’t hers.

Maybe he’d stolen it. “Car might be too small for him, but we need to be careful in case we’re walking into a trap. ”

“Me and T-bone will go around back,” Maverick called out as they slipped between the houses.

I got my shit together and joined Hawk at the front door, tapping his shoulder to let him know I had his back. My house looked just how I left it two hours ago. “Shit. It all looks so fucking normal.”

“Not completely,” Hawk said as he peeked inside the kitchen. “Blood on the front door but not a lot.”

I turned to see what the fuck he was talking about and then my stomach bottomed out. The blood was right at Sinclair’s height. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“And I’ll be your alibi, but for now we need to clear the house.”

I nodded and quickly went upstairs to clear the bedrooms and bathrooms before joining Hawk in the kitchen where Maverick and T-bone had already gathered. “Upstairs is clear.”

A muffled scream sounded followed by pounding on a wall near my pantry. My gaze flew to Hawk. He shrugged. “Didn’t know there was a closet inside the closet.”

“Fuck,” I growled, and then shot a quick prayer out into the universe that Sinclair was safe. Maybe rattled or shaken, but ultimately safe. Since it was my woman in danger, I went to the pantry where the knocking and muffled screams grew louder.

I gripped the knob, twisted, and pulled, but the sigh of relief was short-lived when a woman I didn’t recognize tumbled out. Her wrists were bound together with plastic zip-ties and she had a rag shoved in her mouth beneath the tape.

“Who the fuck is that?” T-bone asked the question we were all thinking.

“One way to find out,” I said as I removed the tape.

“Holy fucking shit! I’m so glad, at least I think I’m glad, you’re here. Which one of you is Sinclair’s sexy biker?”

“I think I’m sexy, but I’ve already got a woman,” Hawk began, but Maverick smacked him. “What? It’s true.”

“Are you Sarah?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes wide with terror. “Sinclair was kidnapped by this tall blond dude who said he was her brother, but she didn’t seem to know who he was at all. He was really fucking angry and he kept saying how he wanted to make her pay.”

“Did he say where he was taking her?” It was a long shot that he’d given away his plans like an evil fucking villain, but he hadn’t been particularly fucking smart about any of this.

Sarah shook her head, gaze flicking to T-bone as he carefully sawed through her binds with his blade.

“He didn’t say anything, but his leather bag had a familiar logo on it.

Wings, like airplane wings.” She closed her eyes, searching her memory.

“It said something-something airstrip,” she said slowly. “Like a private airstrip!”

“On it,” Maverick said as he pulled out his phone and called Slate.

Sarah turned to me and grabbed my hands the moment she was free. “The last thing I heard was a loud thud and then nothing. Find her. Please.”

Find her. As if I could do anything else. I wouldn’t be able to rest, to think, to fucking breathe right until I knew she was safe. “I will. T-bone, take Sarah back to the clubhouse. You’ll be safe there,” I told her.

She reached out and grabbed my arm. “I don’t know if she told you or not, but—” she began, but Maverick’s words cut her off.

“Silver Arrow private airport,” he said as he tucked the phone into his pocket. “It’s about ten miles from here. Slate’s trying to tap into the feed, but we should get on our way.”

I gave a short nod and turned back to Sarah, but she was outside with T-bone, trying to get the helmet on with shaky hands. “Shit. Later.” I turned back to Maverick and Hawk. “Let’s go.”

The only thing on my mind was getting to the airstrip to find Sinclair, to free her from the psychopathic fucking clutches of her half-brother.

***

“What’s the plan?” I asked as I finally slowed down just outside the airstrip, Maverick and Hawk on either side of me.

“Diesel and Rocky are on the way with backup just in case we need it. Slate’s into the surveillance system so we’re just waiting. Can you do that?” Hawk gripped my shoulder tight, forcing me to look at him.

“I don’t fucking know, man. I can’t think straight.” I pointed at the airstrip. “She’s with him enduring who the fuck knows what, Hawk!”

“Yeah, man, I get it. Maverick gets it too. It’s hard to do the smart thing when the woman you love is in danger.”

I blinked and then frowned. I knew I was thinking it, but to hear one of my club brothers say it out loud brought it home. “No, you’ve got it all wrong. It’s just casual, nothing like what you guys have with Laura and Grace.”

Maverick barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Oh shit, he doesn’t even realize it yet?”

I tried to get my head back into the game. I needed to focus. “We need a plan. Those fuckin’ hangars have too many entry and exit points.”

Hawk and Maverick shared a look while I focused on the property. It was large and mostly abandoned, but the third building from the left was occupied.