by KJ Dahlen
Racer swallowed hard. Cobra’s words were softly spoken but deadly and even he knew it. The knife in his hand was too close to his manhood not to have an effect on his psyche. Racer didn’t dare move a muscle or he knew he’d feel the bite of the steel.
“Cobra,” Tate called out the other man’s name softly.
Cobra snapped his head over to glare at Tate. Neither of them said a word but after a moment, Cobra lowered the blade in his hand. He looked back at Racer. “You’re lucky he wants you alive for a little while longer.” He leaned closer. “But your time will come maggot. And when that time comes, I’ll be more than happy to watch you bleed out.”
Creed grabbed the bucket of water and put the fire out then he and Harry grabbed the barrel and hauled it out of the basement.
Cobra left the cell and Tate made sure the door was locked. Then everyone left the basement.
Tate shut the lights off and left the three prisoners alone in the dark.
Chapter One
Harry went over to Annie, grabbed her in a hug, and just held her for a long moment.
Annie hugged him back as the tears well in her eyes. She could only hope he found her sister. She leaned away from him and searched his face. She could read him well enough to know the news wasn’t good. “Where? Where is she?” she whispered.
“He fucking sold her to a man in the sex trade.” He growled.
Annie caught her breath and couldn’t breathe for a minute. “Is she still alive?”
“As far as we know.” Harry gently put his hands around her face and gazed into her eyes. “He gave up the boss’s name and the name of the club. If we can find him, we’ll find Becky.”
“Oh god...” she shuddered. “After all this time, this is the closest we’ve come to finding her.”
“Honey, even if we do find her, she’s going to need our help to come back from whatever she’s been through. She may not be the girl you knew her as, you know that right?”
Annie nodded. “I can help her through this, I know I can.”
“You and me together,” Harry assured her. “I won’t give you up woman, you belong to me now, and I’m not going to lose you.”
Annie looked nervous for a moment. “Harry, there’s something I need to tell you. I can’t wait any longer and it may not be something you want to hear but I have to say it anyway.”
Harry searched her eyes and saw the uncertainty in them. “What is it sweetheart?”
“You’re gonna be a daddy,” she whispered as she closed her eyes.
Harry was stunned for a moment then broke out in a huge smile. “Are you sure?”
Annie nodded with her eyes still closed.
“Open your eyes sweetheart. I want to see you.”
Annie slowly did as he asked her. When she saw the joy in his eyes, she relaxed. “You aren’t mad?”
“Why would I be mad?” His gaze was full of joy.
“Well, we never talked about this or anything. I didn’t know if you’d want to keep me after you got the MC back. Or when we found out where Becky was.”
“Do you love me?” he interrupted her spiel.
“I do. I do love you so much but we never talked about this.” She rested her head against his chest. “We’ve been together for a while now, but I was afraid to ask for more. I didn’t know how you would take this news.”
“Do you want this baby? My baby?” Harry asked as he pulled back to scan her face.
“A mini you? Of course, I want this baby.” She declared as she rested her hand on her tummy protectively. “I was just hoping you would want me too.”
Harry smiled and wrapped his arm around her again, as he walked her over to the group. “I’m gonna keep you girl. I love you too. I don’t know when it happened but I can’t live without you now and I get a baby too? You and Jr. aren’t leaving me.”
“Jr.? What if the baby is a girl?” She smiled.
“Then we’ll name her Henrietta.” He chuckled.
“The bloody hell we will.” Annie growled and tried to pull away from him but he wasn’t letting her go anywhere.
Harry was beaming. “I really don’t care if it’s a boy or girl. I’m just happy we are having a baby together.”
Silas raised a brow at the couple as they all overheard this last part and he seemed to know what was going on. “Well, it sounds like we’ll be having a double shotgun wedding before this is over,” Silas grumbled. “You boys were taught better than this. You don’t disrespect your women like this.”
Tate went over to his Nita and smiled. “Well woman, our family is growing by leaps and bounds. We’re gonna hear the pitter patter of tiny feet again.”
Nita smiled and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Let’s hope we can keep up with them then, husband.”
Cobra shook his head as he smiled at the good news. “I hate to break up the party but we have things to do and people to see before we can rest. So what are we gonna do about our guests?”
“I’ve already called Quint about Racer and Bandit and he’s on his way here,” Harry told them. “In fact, he was very happy to hear the news about both men.”
“I have a friend over in Jasper I can call to see if he can locate Becky. If anyone can find this underground club Gunner can,” Cobra informed the group. “He’s got a good MC over there and he might help us out.”
“What are we gonna do about Bonner?” Tate asked the whole group.
“Seems to me like a man such as him doesn’t deserve to breathe clean air.” Cobra growled his threat. “I can send a couple of my men over there to hunt him down and watch him until we find the girl.”
Tate looked at him for a moment and both men said a lot without saying a word. Cobra nodded after a moment or so.
Tate turned to look at Doubletap. “When Quint gets here, you tell him everything you know about Bandit and Snake. I don’t want any chances that the man will pull out his identity card when it comes to the trial. I want him behind bars for the rest of his miserable life.”
Double Tap nodded.
“What are you going to do about the rest of the money?” Creed asked his father.
“I’m going to burn it. I don’t want to start over with tainted money and god only knows whose blood is on it. If we’re going to start this MC over it’s going to be a clean start. It will take some time for us to come back but when we do we’ll be able to hold our heads high.”
Cobra looked over at his VP and then back to Tate. He gave Tate a nod and he saw Thor nod as well. Cobra walked over to Harry and Annie and congratulated them on the baby. “Hey you two, or should I say you three?” He smiled at them. “I need you to dig up anything you can on this Bonner character. I’m going to get in touch with a friend of mine that runs an MC over there and get him to help us root out Bonner and his club. If they find your sister they will protect her until we can collect her and bring her home.”
“Why would you do that?” Harry wanted to know.
Cobra grinned. “Just cuz I’m a nice guy.”
Harry just stood there and stared at him for a minute.
Cobra leaned closer and harshly whispered, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to. Just get me the information I asked for.” Then he turned and walked away to talk to Thor.
Harry looked down at Annie.
She shrugged. “He’s got a point. He might be able to get in there, get her out and bring her home, quickly and quietly better than we ever could.”
Harry wasn’t sure he liked that idea. His dad was a different kind of man than Cobra was. But if there was a chance to get Becky back, then he would do as he was asked to do and not question the other man’s methods.
They went to the room they shared and got on their computers and began hunting down any and all information they could find about a man named Bonner.
Annie looked up at Harry. “I am just so tired. She’s been gone all this time. Then when we got that call from that man name Rigger.... I got all excited. I so badly wa
nted to believe that the girl they found was Becky. He said she didn’t know who she was. Then...” She started to cry. “He never called back. I tried to trace where his call had come from, but he had a scrambler.”
Harry nodded as he patted her hand. “I know I thought it was her too. I couldn’t find any man named Rigger, maybe it was some prank? Cruel people always come out when there’s a reward, Annie. I’m sorry babe.”
When Cobra and Thor came in, several of his men joined them both and listened as Cobra outlined his plan, “I want to set up a parley with Gunner. He knows every inch of his town and he might know exactly where this club is. If he doesn’t, I’m sure some of his men do. He works as a bounty hunter and he follows the rules, as he knows them. He can at least find the club and let us do the dirty work. I won’t risk his livelihood. First, we need to verify the girl is even there before we move in to get her out of there.”
“Will Gunner and his crew work with us?” Jett asked.
“I think he will.” Cobra nodded. “He’s like me, as long as a woman is okay with selling her body he don’t mind, but I know for a fact he just hates the skin trade. The woman doesn’t usually have a choice there.” Cobra chuckled. “Hell, he might even give us a hand in rescuing her, for a price.”
“You thinking Tate might not have to burn that money after all?” Thor snickered.
“Might as well put it to good use.” He nodded.
“If we do find this club, what do you want us to do about it?” Jett asked.
“After you free the girls, burn the club to the fucking ground to hide the bodies of his men, of course,” Cobra told his men. “I’ll give your twelve hours to find the club before I send you backup. I’ll work it out with Gunner. All you two have to do is find the club and keep an eye on Bonner. Find the girl and get her out of harm’s way then join up with backup and Gunner’s men. Let him take the glory if that’s what he wants but get your hands on the girl.”
“And Bonner? What do we do with him?” Thor asked.
“I’ll let you know after I talk to Gunner.” Cobra turned and walked outside to have his conversation with the president of another MC.
When he returned half an hour later, he went straight over to Tate and Silas. “We need to have a word,” he informed Tate.
Tate didn’t hesitate nor did he ask any questions. He simply turned and headed down the hall to the meeting room most MC’s called church. Everyone followed and there was barely enough room for everyone.
Cobra stood up and faced the group. “I called an old friend of mine. Gunner runs an MC in Jasper called the Savaged Souls. I figured since we want to go into his territory we should at least be polite and ask his permission. Gunner and his boys are primarily bounty hunters and they are good. They are fair but just, if you know what I mean. They can find anybody they want to at any time. I mentioned this man Bonner to them and Gunner definitely wants a piece of this action. He’s been watching the man for a couple of years now but hasn’t been able to get anything one him. Bonner hides his underground activities very well. We need to find something, anything that will link this man to the skin trade and Gunner said the mission will be a go.” He turned to Tate. “I know you said you didn’t want to keep the money Racer and Bandit hid but would you consider paying Gunner for his services using part of their money?”
Tate didn’t even hesitate before he gave his answer, “If they can find this fucker and get Becky back, I’ll pay them well.”
“Good, because Gunner hates the skin trade as much as you and me. I told my boys if they find this club, to free the girls and burn the place down to hide the bodies they leave behind.”
Tate raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
“I want to send two men over to Jasper tonight. With Gunner’s men that should be enough and we don’t want to pour in there in mass. That would only alert Bonner and I don’t want him to see us coming until we’re breaking down his fucking front door. Our best chance of rescuing Becky and the other girls is surprise.”
Tate nodded. “I agree with you. Harry and Annie are working to track him down so as soon as they find a lead, your men can go.”
“We still need to tie him to the trade,” Cobra reminded him. “We can’t just go on a prisoner’s word.”
“Well, Racer did say he sold Becky to the man. Can’t you go on that?” Creed asked.
Daniel walked over to the box on the table. It held all the items Jett had taken from the two men he found watching the compound who were looking for Racer. He thought maybe there would be a link to Bonner among their things. He began pawing through the items in the box. There were a couple of guns, a couple of knives and three cell phones.
Daniel frowned as he stared at the three cell phones. Why would two men need three cell phones? He checked the numbers in the directories. One was listed under Jeff Paul’s name. The second phone was listed under Randal White’s name and the third phone was a burner phone.
He checked the directory and there was only one phone number listed. He looked up at his father. “Dad, we may have found that link Cobra was talking about.”
Everyone turned to stare at him.
Tate walked over to him. “What do you mean?”
Daniel held up the phone. “There is only one number in this. I’m betting it Bonner’s number and after the two dumbasses downstairs hit Racer, they were supposed to call it in.” His fingers tightened on the phone. “If this is Bonner’s number wouldn’t that link him?”
“How can we trace the number?” Cobra wanted to know. “And yeah, that would link him at least to a possible murder charge. It might be enough for Gunner.”
“Let’s ask Harry and Annie to find out who this number belongs to,” Tate suggested.
Jack left the room and a moment later Harry and Annie joined them. Harry had a laptop with him, as did Annie. They both worked on finding the number.
A few minutes later, Annie looked up and smiled. “This number belongs to a man named Douglas Bonner. It’s a business line and it’s a direct line to his business account at Shady Willows Hotels, located in Woodville, Texas.”
Cobra nodded. “That’s a start and Woodville isn’t that far from Jasper.”
“So the man runs his clubs under the guise of a legit business,” Thor said what they all thought out loud.
“That doesn’t make the man legit.” Cobra growled. “Just makes him a lowlife, covering his ass.”
“No, it doesn’t but I’ve heard rumors about that line of hotels,” Thor admitted. “Bonner and his business partners too. I just never put the two together until now.”
“This could be what Gunner would call a connection,” Cobra stated. “What were the rumors about?”
“Something about a connection to the Mexican cartels,” Thor replied. “Oh and he’s got a chain of hotels that reach all the way from Woodville to the other side of the Tex/Mex border.”
Cobra shook his head. “Well damn, nothing is easy about this is it?”
“It never is my friend, it never is,” Tate surmised. “Better make sure this Gunner is still on board with us or we might not get his help. We have to tell him about this new wrinkle.”
Cobra nodded then went over to the far corner and made his call. As he finished speaking to him ten minutes later, he had a smile on his face. “Gunner said bring it on. He’s been looking for a reason to bust that chain of hotels for a while now. There was never any evidence they could use before and he hates the fact the cartel is doing business here. He wants to clean out the sex trade in Jasper and this is all he needs to get started.”
“If he helps us get Becky back, he’s got his help.” Tate nodded. “Hell, if he only can tell us where to find her, we’ll help him. Annie deserves that much from us.”
Cobra issued orders to the two men he wanted to send over to Jasper. His best men were Thor and Jett. As soon as he got them on their way, he headed back over to Tate. “By the time they get there, Gunner will have verified the info we sent
him and they will be ready to hit the club before daybreak. They’ll have five hours to do all that which will get my boys there just in time to crack some heads and find the girl.”
“And your boys are okay with that?” Tate asked.
Cobra shrugged. “My boys have been known to get bloody once in a while. But only for a just cause. And only on my orders. We aren’t killers but we will stand up when the situations calls for it. This is one situation that calls for it. Besides, Gunner wants the credit for this hunt and I’m okay with that.”
Tate nodded. “So am I. The skin trade makes my skin crawl.”
As soon as Cobra heard back from Thor, he got on the road to Jasper.
Chapter Two
When Cobra and his 2 men arrived at the MC gates, they all stared up at the creed above the Savaged Souls MC logo.
“Never Say Die To Save Your Soul.”
Thor raised a brow and looked over at Cobra.
Cobra nodded. “Yeah, I like it. I know Gunner from way back and he went legit years ago. They are the best hunters in the industry.”
Jett shook his head. “That makes sense never say die, but the soul part?”
“Yeah, but their MC name is the Savaged Souls, so to them it has meaning,” Cobra explained.
“Well, at least it ain’t as far out as our creed.” Jett laughed.
Thor laughed too. “Not even close.”
Cobra shook his head. “Lead them to hell just to watch them burn.” He looked over at his men and shrugged as he gave them that wicked smile of his. “Well, I always liked it.”
The gates opened and they all rode in.
They no sooner got there and both MC’s working together caught Bonner before he even knew what hit him. They had busted Bonner with very little resistance. They caught him literally with his pants down. As in... they busted down his front door and caught the man in his own bed. But they also found enough evidence to hang the man.