2019 Trixie Publishing, Inc.
Copyright © 2019 by Piper Davenport
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States
Hatch is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover Art
Jack Davenport
Trixie Publishing, Inc.
Cover Model
Jack Davenport
CONTENTS
Copyright
Praise
Back Blurb
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Primal Howl
About Piper
Get ready to fall head over heels! Road to Peace is another page turner of alpha brilliance from Davenport. I fell in love with every single page and spent the last few wishing the book would never end! ~ Harper Sloan, NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author
Dogs of fire series is sinfully hot, creatively captivating and each book has left me anxious for more. Road to Peace was no different. I loved every second of reading as the pieces of Hatch & Maisie's lives and hearts intertwined. Piper Davenport paints the most beautiful pictures of love with her words. I'm in awe. Felicia Lynn, Contemporary Romance Author
Piper Davenport can write one hell of a sexy biker! I can’t get enough of the Dogs of Fire MC series ~ Geri Glenn, Author of the Kings of Korruption MC Series
All it took was one page and I was immediately hooked on Piper Davenport’s writing. Her books contain 100% Alpha and the perfect amount of angst to keep me reading until the wee hours of the morning. I absolutely love each and every one of her fabulous stories. ~ Anna Brooks – Contemporary Romance Author
If you're looking for a take-charge alpha hero who'll protect his heroine at any cost, then you HAVE to read Hatch and Maisie's story! I was swooning from the moment that badass biker stepped on the page! ~ Sybil Bartel, Author of the Uncompromising Series
This is one series I will most definitely be reading!! Great job Ms. Davenport!! I am in love!! ~ Tabitha, Amazeballs Book Addicts
When Hatch, the beloved Sergeant at Arms for the Dogs of Fire MC, finds himself falsely incarcerated, his woman, Maisie, must move heaven and earth to release him, while holding back a pack of ravenous bikers whose bite is worse than their bark.
For the Den
Thanks for all the support and constant encouragement!! You’re the best readers on the planet!
Maisie
Two years ago...
I stretched, my body, well and truly sated from the royal shagging my husband, Hatch, had provided before heading off to work. He was a mechanic and owned a garage not far from home. He’d left me in bed with a promise to drop our boys at school before heading to his shop, so that I could have a lie in. Today was “Maisie Day.” It happened once a month, come hell or high water, and Hatch took care of everything. Today it was the royal shagging, followed by lunch with my girls, then mani/pedis with my baby girl, Poppy. This particular Maisie Day came during hell and high water, considering someone had stolen Hatch’s identity and it was taking a while to sort it out. Whoever had hacked his accounts was a hacking phenom and not even our resident genius, Booker, could get around it.
My phone buzzed on my nightstand and I answered it, assuming it was Hatch. “Miss me already?”
“Babe, it’s Flea. Hatch has been arrested.”
“What?” I whispered, throwing the covers back and jumping out of bed.
“Hatch has been arrested,” Flea repeated.
Those four words had just turned my perfect world upside down.
“For what?” I demanded.
“We don’t know. Mack’s trying to find out.”
“Flea, you need to get me information. I need to know what the bloody hell is going on.”
“I will, Maisie. I promise.”
I hung up and tried to call Hatch. He didn’t answer...not that I expected him to, but I tended to be an optimist and really wanted this to be fake news.
In hopes of getting something, I called Mack. He answered after one ring. “Babe, I don’t know anything yet. Try not to panic.”
“How can I possibly not panic when my man has been taken by God knows who to God knows where, without a word to anyone? I want to talk to him.”
“Tryin’ to work that out, Maisie. I’m kinda runnin’ into a brick wall.”
“Are you joking?”
“Babe.”
“Look, I get that I’m not versed in how the American jail system works, but I’ve watched enough movies to know that he gets a phone call,” I said. “And I’d imagine, if he doesn’t ring me, you will be the next choice.”
“No one’s getting to him and I’m trying to find out exactly why.”
“No, no, no, no, no, Mack. Not acceptable. You need to shut this down.”
“Can’t do that if I’m on the phone with you, Maisie.”
“Right. Of course. I’m hanging up now.” I did and hurried through a shower before donning clean clothes. I wasn’t really sure why I was even bothering, but my British stiff upper lip required I didn’t show emotion whilst wearing the freshest of knickers.
My phone buzzed just as I pulled my hair into a band. It was Payton. “Hi, Pay. Have you heard?”
“Yes! What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know. I was kind of hoping Hawk would know.”
“No one knows anything,” she said. “Crow and Mack are working on it. Hawk went to the club. Actually, everyone’s there. I’m at your door. Come let me in.”
I rushed downstairs and pulled open the door, finding myself pulled into one set of arms, then another. Payton and Cassidy, who were Hawk and Ace’s women, respectively, lived just down the street and were both speaking at once as I led them to my kitchen.
My phone buzzed, and I answered it without looking at the screen. “Hello?”
“Are you sitting down.”
“What’s going on, Mack?” I asked as I lowered myself into a kitchen chair.
“He’s being held on the Patriot Act, which means, he cannot contact anyone. Not even me.”
“Oh, my god,” I rasped, tears making their way down my cheeks. “Is he okay? Will they hurt him?”
“I don’t know, honey, but try not to freak out, okay? We have friends in law enforcement. You know they’ll do whatever they can to watch out for him.”
“Where did they take him?”
“He’s being held at a secure facility in Portland. That’s all we know.”
“Mack, you have to find a way for me to speak to him. At the very least, make sure he’s okay. Safe. I don’t want him getting shivved in the shower or something horrible like that.”
“Technically, he’d be shanked with a shiv,” Mack said.
“I swear to all that is holy, are you telling me there’s a possibility he might be shanked?”
“Bad joke. I’m sorry. Pretty sure he can take care of himself, Maisie.”
“Not even he can survive a shank wound.”
I could tell he was holding back laughter as he said, “As soon as I know anything, I’l
l call you.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I hung up and Payton slid a cup of coffee in front of me then sat down. “We’re gonna figure this out, honey.”
“God, I hope so,” I whispered, just as my phone rang again. “Hi, Poppet.”
“What’s going on with Sid?”
Poppy had called Hatch ‘Sid’ (Stand-in-Dad) ever since he’d adopted her. Hatch’s love and acceptance of my daughter had helped further soothe the loss of my late husband, Niall. The heartbreak something I thought I’d never survive. Before Hatch and I got married, Poppy had fallen hard for his nephew, which Hatch had kyboshed, but love always found a way, and the two had been married for almost a year now.
“We’re not entirely sure, darling. Just that he’s being held and they’re citing Patriot Act so he can’t ring me,” I said.
“Well, that’s a load of shit,” my daughter hissed.
“I know, love.”
“I’m coming over.”
“Okay, darling. I’ll see you soon.” I hung up again and stared at the wall.
“What does everyone want for breakfast?” Cassidy asked.
“Nothing, love,” I said. “I don’t think I can eat.”
“Which would piss Hatch off,” Payton said.
She was right. It would. I sighed. “Eggs.”
“And bacon,” Cassidy added.
“Sure. I have loads of it, considering I’m married to a bacon hoarder.”
I rose to my feet, but Payton tugged me back down. “It’s Maisie Day, honey. We’re cooking and taking care of the kiddos until all this shit is sorted.”
I sat down again and focused on my friend. “What if he’s stuck, Payton. What if he never comes home?”
“Don’t think that way, sweetie. We’re going to figure it out.”
I wish I believed them, but until we knew exactly what was going on, I was going to have to be strong for Hatch. It wouldn’t do him any good for me to melt down.
* * *
Later that evening, I’d still had no word from anyone when my sister-in-law showed up and let herself in. “Maisie! Honey, you here?”
“Where else would I be?” I ground out. “Kitchen,” I called.
Hatch’s sister, Cricket, rushed in and wrapped her arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“What do you think?”
She met my eyes and sighed. “Well, Minus thinks he’s figured some things out.”
Minus was Cricket’s man and the President of the Burning Saints MC. Cricket had just been hired as public relations liaison and head of the Burning Saints’ charitable foundations, so the two of them were the new kind of biker power couple. I was happy for her, even if Hatch wasn’t a huge fan of Minus.
“Why would Minus figure anything out?” I asked.
She appeared confused as she frowned. “You don’t know?”
“Start talking,” I demanded.
“Oh, god, honey, I don’t know if―”
“I swear to all that is holy, if you don’t start telling me what you know, I will never speak to you again.”
She sucked in a breath, then nodded. “Minus has located the person who kind of set Hatch up.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No.”
“Who is it?”
She bit her lip.
“Who, Christina?”
“Kitty.”
“Kitty, Kitty?”
She nodded.
Kitty had been patched out of the Dogs of Fire just before I’d met Hatch, but I’d certainly heard stories of the six-foot-seven tosser with brains and biceps bigger than anyone else’s on the planet. Framing Hatch would be a perfect way to get even, especially, if he could get the Burning Saints in on his little plan.
“And Minus is going along with all of this?” I asked, pulling open the wine cabinet.
“I wouldn’t say he’s going―”
“I’m out of wine up here,” I snapped. “Bloody hell, now I have to go downstairs and haul some up.” I stomped toward our basement just as I heard the roar of pipes. I let out a frustrated growl. “You deal with that!” I snapped, and continued downstairs.
I didn’t care who it was or what they wanted. I wanted to drown my sorrows in my favorite wine.
“Mummy!” Poppy called as she walked into the basement with takeout bags in her hands.
Her husband, Devon, walked in behind her with a six-pack of beer.
“Are you hungry?” Poppy asked.
“Not really.”
“I dropped Flash and Jamie off at Hawk’s so you don’t have to worry about them.”
“Thanks, lovey.” I grabbed a bottle of wine out of the wine closet and set it on the tiny kitchen island.
Our basement served as both a game room and safe room with fully locking doors and secret exits, but tonight, it was my drunk room, and I planned to use it to its full advantage.
Before I’d had a chance to open my wine, Minus and six of his men walked in the room with Cricket.
“No!” I snapped, shaking a finger toward them.
“I’ve got some news,” Minus said.
“Unless the news is my man is coming home tonight, I don’t want to hear anything out of your lying mouth.”
“Maisie,” Cricket whispered.
“Huh-uh,” I snapped. “I’m sorry, Cricket. I know he’s your man, and I appreciate you needing to support and defend him, but I swear to Christ, if you want to censor me right now, you’ll find yourself out on your arse.”
She nodded and stepped closer to Minus.
I crossed my arms and glared at Minus. “Now, Mr. President, is my man coming home?”
“We’re working on it.”
“And what exactly does that mean?”
“We were able to reach out to Kitty―”
“Reach out to him?” I snapped. “You know him?”
“We’re working with him to get information on who framed Hatch.”
“You mean you know who it is?”
He stalled and I studied him.
“Oh my god!” I squeaked. “It’s Kitty, isn’t it? Kitty framed Hatch?”
“I don’t think―”
“You sodding piece of shit,” I yelled. “This... all of this... is because of you!”
I couldn’t believe Minus was in cahoots with the man who’d framed my man. That went way below the belt.
“Mais―”
“Shut your bloody mouth,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hear any more of your bullshit.”
Cricket stepped toward me. I appreciated her support, particularly since she’d moved to my side and away from Minus’s.
“I’m thinkin’ there are too many people in this room for a simple discussion,” Flea said, and all eyes turned to him. I hadn’t even heard him come in.
Minus nodded to his Sergeant at Arms, Clutch, who ushered the rest of the men out of the house.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Hawk growled as he stalked into the room.
Ace and Maverick walked in behind him. Hawk and Ace both had homes across the street, and Maverick lived with Hawk’s daughter in their basement apartment.
“Do you have news?” I asked Hawk
He shook his head. “Nothing you don’t already know.”
“Goddammit!” I snapped, then focused my evil stare back on Minus. “You need to fix this. Immediately.”
“Maisie, I’m workin’ on it,” Minus said.
“We all are,” Flea added.
I bit back tears. “Does anyone know anything about how he is? Are they feeding him?”
“No one can get in,” Flea said. “But Ryan’s workin’ on that.”
“He is?”
“Yeah.”
“Does Grace know?” I asked.
Grace had a volatile relationship with her father and if she knew he was involved, I wasn’t sure how she’d feel. Her grandmother had just had surgery and she was staying with her while she convalesced, so she had a lot on her plate.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s workin’ on it.”
“All of this on top of her grandma,” I mused sadly. “You take care of my girl, Flea.”
“I will, babe.” He turned to Minus. “There a reason you’re here? Outside of gettin’ grilled by Maisie?”
“I brought a couple guys to watch the house. In case we had issues.”
“In what fuckin’ universe did you think we couldn’t, and wouldn’t, take care of our own?” Hawk asked.
Minus raised his hands in surrender. “Never crossed my mind. Just wanna help.”
Hawk pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. “Yo, Mack.”
The room stilled, and all heads turned toward Hawk.
“Yeah, man, that’s great.” He focused on Maisie. “I imagine she’ll be all over that. Okay, brother, I’ll fill her in. Yeah. Bye,” he said, and hung up. “Mack’s got a way to get you in.”
“What?” I squeaked. “When?”
“Tomorrow. Ryan’s organized it... but you’re goin’ in as a munitions expert. To interrogate Hatch.”
“Is he high?” I threw my arms in the air. “I don’t know anything about munitions.”
“You better get studying, Mummy,” Poppy said.
“Clutch can help,” Minus offered. “He actually is somewhat of an expert.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I admitted.
“Can we come in now?” Payton asked, walking into the room and sliding into Hawk’s arms.
“Were you even gonna wait for me to say ‘all clear’?” he challenged.
“No way in hell.”
Cassidy and Lily weren’t far behind, and Ace and Maverick folded their women in hugs.
“What did we miss?” Cassidy asked.
“Mack’s getting me in to see Hatch,” I said.
“That’s great,” Cassidy said, but I rolled my eyes. “It’s not great?”
“Get this...” I shook my head. “Ryan, in all his infinite wisdom, is getting me in as a munitions expert to interrogate Hatch.”
Payton snorted. “Is he―”
“High?” I interrupted. “Probably.”
“Maisie, I really think Clutch can help,” Cricket interjected.
“Fine!” I ground out. “Have him come down.”
Hatch Page 1