Forgotten & Found: A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Boxset

by Serena Akeroyd

  All self-piteous thoughts vanished, Keira and Cyan did too as my focus shifted at the same time as the tires screeched when I slammed back onto the road.

  The vehicle was heading for NY, not the town, so I quickly headed for the turn off and made my way onto the freeway.

  Speeding faster than ever, the wind burning every visible spot of skin as I raced toward the car that contained my brothers’ women, I hunkered down, ignoring more horns as I looked for a car I thought Link’s woman would drive.

  No one had any idea of the vehicle, but when I saw a souped-up BMW in the distance that was lower to the ground than a nun’s skirt, I knew I’d found my target.

  As I slipped through traffic, I roared toward the car, trying to discern what the fuck was going on, and as I pulled up just behind them, I peered in and saw the glint of metal from the passenger seat, and I took note of Tiffany’s terrified features as she peered at me with longing and hope in her eyes, like she knew salvation was on its way.

  Fuck, I hadn’t been that for a long time, but I vowed, then and there, not to let her or Lily or my brothers down.

  I revved my engine, making it impossible for Lily not to hear the deep bass vibrating along the road. She had to know that a bike was in the vicinity, and she had to know what that meant.

  I looked around and saw we were on a drag of freeway where there were a shit ton of trees on either side of the road.

  Pushing my bike hard, I raced past her car, swiping from the side so she had no choice but to veer toward the shoulder or she’d crash into me.

  But as I did that, disaster struck.

  The boom of a gun trickled to me, even over the sound of the wind rushing in my ears. Glass shattered and screams sounded. The brakes screeched as Lily reacted to the gunshot. She and Tiffany screamed as more gunshots rained down inside the car as the bastard kept on trying to hit me, but succeeded only in terrifying the shit out of the women and fucking deafening them.

  I swerved out of instinct, and as I did, rolling over to the side of the road, I saw a nightmare unfold.

  The car drifted a few feet before the tire clipped the side of the asphalt. It teetered on that wheel, and my heart almost fucking seized as I thought it was going to ski, falling onto its side, and drift farther forward, but it didn’t. It just ran forward, but the reason it stopped?

  A tree.

  The passenger side took most of the impact, thank fuck, but Lily soared forward, the web of the shattered windshield almost catching her as the airbags deployed.

  Who wasn’t caught in time?

  The passenger.

  I watched as the fucker soared through the glass, breaking it and any proof of the gunshots, except for the bullet casings, and I didn’t have time to collect them.

  Kicking my engine into gear, and knowing I had to act fast as cars started to pull in to watch the show, which meant the cops would be on their way soon, I drove into the copse of trees and headed for the body.

  He was a fucked up mess, but that was nothing compared to what he’d be when we were done with him.

  I bent low, grabbed him by the hand, and dragged him over to the other side of the road, away from Lily’s car.

  It killed me not to go to them, but I had to think about everyone here—the women and the MC.

  Grabbing one of my two cell phones when I dumped the guy onto the ground in a heap of limbs, I quickly messaged Rex.

  Me: Need a cage. Stat. Bullets in car, need to collect them. Have the gunman.

  Sending him my location, I veered onto the dialer and called 911.

  Shielding my voice, making it high-pitched, I said, “I saw a bike knock a sportscar off the Essex Freeway. Just off the storage place. The car’s wrecked.”

  I cut the call before they could ask too many questions or tell me to stay on the line. Then I pulled off the back of the burner, grabbed the SIM, and pocketed it.

  Rex: ETA, two mins. Understood.

  I waited for the sirens that were going to come soon, but when a cage appeared, Hawk driving it, I nodded at him, even as I climbed off my hog and began to drag the fucker over to his ride.

  When the passenger door opened, I heaved the breathing corpse onto the passenger floorboard, and ground out, “Straight to the clubhouse.”

  Hawk nodded, and while I appreciated him as a man of few words, I finally heard them.

  Sirens.

  With that, I slammed the door shut, raced over to my bike, gunned it, and I rode through the trees to the other side of the road, just off the freeway.

  Taking the backstreets, I didn’t stop until I was back in West Orange, pulling into the garage.

  As I rode in, I wasn’t surprised that Link wasn’t there, but I dumped my bike and to Jaxson, a Prospect for the club, I stated, “Need new plates on this, new paint job too. Emergency.”

  His eyes flared wide, but he nodded. “Sure thing, VP.”

  I peered around the garage and saw no vehicle I could ride in except for a small Mini Cooper.

  I shook my head at the sight, and under my breath, grumbled, “The guys see me in this, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Jaxson snorted out a laugh, but I glowered at him, which shut him the hell up.

  “Get me the keys.”

  I needed to get the fuck out of here, fast.

  Christ, it looked like I didn’t have a choice in whether I was going to Coshocton or not.

  Fuck.

  Lodestar

  I could see it killed Rex to stay in his office. The second Sin had surged in without a knock, shoving his phone in Rex’s face, it had made the Prez morph into a general directing his troops. Of course, most of those orders took place over his cell. The guys’ phones lit up with only fuck knew what, and Rex snarled, “Go!” making me wonder what the fuck was even going on.

  At his command, I watched Sin, Link, Steel, and Nyx take off like their feet were on fire, and when his face turned white as more pinging texts came in, I muttered, “Do you want me to go?”

  He shook his head, just once, and I froze in place.

  I’d called on Maverick to hit up a church meeting because what I’d uncovered lately was starting to add up. At last.

  The guys had grumbled because everyone on the council wasn’t around, but having impressed upon Maverick just how big of a deal what I’d discovered was, they’d come together.

  Begrudgingly.

  Five minutes into my explanation of what the fuck was going on, the guys had run off. I’d think that I stank, but I didn’t.

  I used three different deodorants to make sure I didn’t.

  See, I was smart like that.

  When an antiperspirant didn’t work, the deodorant might, and then I used that cream stuff as well just to make sure.

  Didn’t stop me from lowering my head to the side and cautiously sniffing my pits.

  I mean, I knew it had nothing to do with my stench, but now that it was in my head, I needed to make sure, right?

  When Rex looked up at last, there was fire in his eyes, and even though I’d dealt with nastier fuckers than him, most of those had been back when I wore a uniform and I didn’t have to worry about being shot if I pissed off a superior officer. Stuck in a jail cell, sure! Maybe lose out on a promotion, maybe. But shot? Stabbed? Nope.

  “Get on with it,” he ground out. “I have shit I need to be doing.”

  Though he was rude, I didn’t point it out, not when Maverick quickly shoved his head to the side in a sharp negative—the bastard knew me far too well.

  Huffing, I muttered, “Knowing that Ghost and the rest of the girls were purchased by the Lancasters gave me a clear starting point. Throw in the fact that Tiffany’s father was being funded by them, I’ve been able to identify several large corporations that are fronts of the Fieri family.”

  “You have actual names?” Rex demanded, sitting forward.

  “Yeah. I do. More than just Fuoco as well. Lots of smaller companies, tiny in the grand scheme of things, but all of the
m allowed me to trace their overseas activity.”

  Never let it be said the man was slow… “You know when the shipments of women come in?”

  I nodded. “Using information that Ghost gave me about when she was taken, I managed to track shipping records and found the actual tanker she was brought over on. That tanker sails across the Atlantic twice a month.”

  “You think each one brings in shipments of girls?”

  “Shipments of something,” I replied, “that’s for sure. And each and every time, the shipments are secured by one particular dock worker, also signed by one dock manager—”

  “So we have someone to trace?”

  I nodded. “We do.”

  Rex rubbed his chin, then cast a glance at Maverick. “What do we do?”

  “Depends.”

  I was surprised at how Rex shoved the news onto Mav, but then again, maybe not. He’d always been good at thinking outside of the box. Always been good at thinking about plans that no one really wanted to have to think up.

  “On what?” Rex countered.

  “What you want the reaction to be.”

  “We’re in it up to our necks with the Five Points. We’re already at war with the Famiglia as a result.”

  Maverick shrugged. “Then what’s the hassle? We could bring down their empire.”

  “If I have a vote, that’s what I’d like.”

  Rex shot me a look. “You don’t have a vote.”

  I shot him a smug smile. “I do if you want to know where Donavan Lancaster is at this precise moment.”

  Maverick tensed. “You never said you were even looking for him.”

  I snorted. “If you think it took me a week to trace the money, then you’re an idiot and you don’t deserve my skills, because I’m way better than that.”

  Maverick rolled his eyes. “Sorry, Lodestar.”

  I grinned at him. “So you should be,” I told him as I rubbed my nose with my middle finger.

  Rex grunted. “Get the fuck on with it.”

  “No. I want a vote when it comes down to your movements with the Famiglia. I want in. Been hunting these bastards for a long time. I’m not about to let go of this,” I warned.

  “You’re not a brother.”

  “Because I don’t have a dick? I assure you, my dick is bigger than a lot of the guys who are Prospecting for you right now. Plus, I’m a damn sight more useful. Honorary member, fancy it up however the fuck you want it, but you won’t get shit out of me about Donavan Lancaster unless I get some sway—”

  Rex growled, “I don’t appreciate being manipulated.”

  “Neither do I. Three years I’ve been working on this fucking trafficking business. Three fucking years. It brought Kat into my life, and it brought a shit ton of—”

  Maverick stilled at that. “What? That’s how you found Katina?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “Wait, that doesn’t compute.”

  “What are you? Data?” I retorted. “Of course, it does.”

  “Start from the beginning,” Rex ordered slowly, cutting Mav a look.

  “Kat’s mom,” I started, then I pulled a face. “Ghost’s mom too, she was like Ghost. Shipped over and sold.”

  Maverick’s mouth dropped at that. “You’re shitting me.”

  “No.” I shrugged. “She was one of the lucky ones.”

  “She was?”

  “Her buyer married her.”

  “Fuck. If that’s your idea of luck—”

  “After what happened to Ghost you have to even question that?” I snarled at Rex. Then, grinding my teeth, I growled, “I’ve been on the hunt for these bastards for a long time. If you think you can deny me the satisfaction of seeing their empire crumble, then I’ll head to another fucking MC who’ll help me.”

  Maverick shook his head. “She’ll do it, Rex.”

  “Yeah, I can see she’s a fucking lunatic if she thinks she can threaten me, so why the fuck wouldn’t she think she can fuck off to another MC?” Rex’s mouth twisted into a snarl as he repeated, “I don’t fucking like being manipulated.” He jabbed the air, but he could jab all he wanted.

  No way in fuck was this going down without me being involved.

  “I can unravel their business from the ground up, but that isn’t as much fun as seeing them bleed out too.”

  Rex blew out a breath, slowly. His gaze drifted over mine, and the look in them morphed from irritation into an anger that would raze an ordinary man to the ground.

  Lucky for me, I wasn’t ordinary, and I wasn’t a man.

  “You got your vote, because, to be frank, it sounds like a fucking blast watching them bleed out too.”

  I dipped my chin in agreement. “I have the last place he was staying, and I have a trace on the card he’s using.”

  “Where is he?”

  “After he left Vietnam, Cambodia.”

  Rex cut Maverick a look, but Mav merely shrugged. “Nyx is needed here. Storm will be heading down to Coshocton.”

  Rex sighed. “After what just went down, Sin and Link will need to be here.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “What did just go down?” I asked softly, aware that all the men had received a text at the same time and that they’d all acted as one.

  “Someone took Lily and Tiffany.”

  “Shit,” I breathed.

  “Yeah, shit.”

  “Leaves only Steel,” Mav rasped. “He can go. He has a passport too.”

  “How do we bring the fucker back?”

  I cracked my knuckles which drew their attention over to me. I winked at them. “Leave that to me, boys.”

  Fourteen

  Tiffany

  I woke up to beeps and pain. That was all I heard, all I recognized.

  Then a hand tightened around mine, and a mouth brushed over my knuckles. When the stubble rasped over my fingers, I whispered, “Sin?” When he tensed up, I mumbled, “S’that? Where…I?” My tongue didn’t seem to want to work, and I figured that was because of how dry my mouth was.

  “You’re in the hospital, baby.” His voice was raspy. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “Is?”

  “Yeah. It is.”

  I pried my eyes open at his words, grimacing as pain ricocheted through me as I did so.

  “Hurt.”

  He winced, but he surged onto his feet, then twisted around to grab the jug. It rattled, and he pressed an ice chip to my lips.

  The cold liquid sank into dry tissue, and I almost moaned at the relief. He fed me some more, graduating from the ice chips to a small beaker that he pressed to my lips.

  When I could swallow, I downed as much as I could until my mouth felt some semblance of normal again.

  Only when I was done did he sit down, and though I shielded my eyes by letting the lids hood, I followed the move, and when I did, I saw the pain in his face.

  For a second, I wondered if he’d been hurt too, then I remembered, and I knew.

  I just knew.

  Tears clogged my eyes, easing the pain of opening them, and I tipped my head back against the pillows as grief swirled inside me, amassing power like a hurricane.

  When the whimper escaped me, when it morphed into sobs, he grunted before he carefully climbed onto the bed beside me.

  Burrowing my face into his cut, I whispered, “Gone?” I knew. I didn’t need him to answer for his eyes to have already told me the truth, but when he nodded, I released a keening cry.

  Before things had derailed, I’d been worried about how things would change. How nothing would stay as it was now. Fuck. Had I wished this on myself? Was this my fault? Karma—

  “I’m so sorry, angel,” he rasped, and that last word was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  My entire body ached. Every part of me, from the top of my head to my toes, but what hurt the most?

  The emptiness inside me.

  I’d never felt the baby. Hadn’t felt it move. Hadn’t even seen a difference in my
breasts—aside from the hypersensitivity in my nipples—or in my belly, but I’d known it was there.

  The food, the cravings, the nausea…

  I sobbed hard into his cut, and even though it should have been alien, the leather hit my nostrils, filling me with a comfort I couldn’t deny.

  He was here.

  He hadn’t left me.

  The baby…

  I blew out a breath.

  It wasn’t our glue.

  I’d never been scared that it was, but feeling him here, feeling his distress, I knew what we had was real. I felt him shake. Felt the moisture from his eyes on the side of my face and knew, even though Sin had told me he’d never wanted kids, he mourned our baby too.

  He grieved with me.

  I wasn’t alone in this.

  I huddled into him as much as he huddled into me, and even though I knew what was wrong with me, knew why it had happened, I rasped, “You’re going to deal with him, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  One word.

  I knew not to press.

  Knew not to say anything in the hospital ward, but relief swirled inside me.

  It didn’t outweigh the grief. Didn’t take it away. If anything, it just made a deeper, rawer ache grow—a rage so pure, I’d never felt the like before.

  “Make him hurt.”

  “I will.”

  That was a vow.

  A promise.

  And I knew he wouldn’t break it.

  “Is Lily okay?”

  “Bad concussion. Broken arm, dislocated shoulder.” He blew out a breath. “Badly scraped up and severe whiplash, but she’s alive.”

  “What about me?”

  “Broken wrist, whiplash, concussion.”

  “Did they…” I trailed off and turned my face into his cut again, and into the leather, mumbled, “Was there surgery?”

  He shook his head. “No. Well, you had a D&C, sweetheart. There was no damage other than…” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, angel.”

  “You keep saying that—”

  “Our fault. My fault. We should have had more guards on Lily. More experienced ones.” He blew out a breath. “We don’t know who the threat is yet, not precisely. Still, two Prospects weren’t enough—fuck, I’m so sorry, angel.”