"What is it?" I growled, losing patience.
Oz continued, unfazed. "Mondays and Thursdays they get a delivery of fresh, young girls, two or three at a time, tops. That's why Toledo thought Stretch could get rid of his sister-in-law and her kid for him. He knew about it. The Knights video those girls while they're being raped and beaten. Then the girls are sold and never seen again."
The thought of that happening to the thirteen-year-old girl from last night sickened me.
"They're taken across the border?" Colton scowled.
"No, Brother. They’re purchased by one of the sick fucks watching them on live stream while they're being assaulted."
"Fuck!" I snarled, feeling my blood pressure rising.
"Are any of those girls there willingly?"
Oz shot Loco a twisted scowl for even asking. "Yeah, because being raped and beaten is a dream all women have, dumb ass." He shook his head with disgust. "I checked out some of their porn, and the girls are switched out almost weekly."
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Cole snapped, slamming his fist down on the table. "I take it we don't know where the girls are being held before they're taken to the trailer?"
Oz shook his head. "Haven't been able to find that out, but there’s probably more than one location."
"You say they have a delivery on Thursday nights?"
Oz nodded.
"I bet they're using a white van to transport them."
I bet that Colton was right, considering that a white van had been seen at some of the places the Knights had hit. Cole and I made eye contact, and I sensed that we were both thinking the same thing. We’d taken one of the Knights' vans when we'd left their warehouse the night before. Snake had been too hurt to ride, so we'd put his and Chewy's bikes in the back of the van, and Chewy had driven him back to the club. It was in the garage out back.
"Need to get the van we brought back painted so we can use it tomorrow night." I glanced over at Oz. "Where is this trailer?"
"Somewhere off Route 66."
"Shit, that's the road LD and Jolene live on. Better warn them." Cole was texting as he spoke.
As the rest of us planned, Demon just sat back and listened silently, but if I knew him he was using the time to figure shit out and put a plan in place. His eyes touched on all of the brothers at the table, but he didn't speak until Cole looked up from his phone. Then he turned his attention to Dancer.
"Can you have shit ready for tomorrow night?"
Dancer nodded with the confidence of someone who knew his skill well.
"Okay then. All in favor of hitting the porn house tomorrow night, hands up."
Everyone raised their hand. Demon cut his gaze to Cole. "Thoughts about how this will go down?"
Cole set his eyes on Oz. "How far off Route 66 are they located?"
"About a mile. The road isn't marked, but I'll map out the coordinates for you."
"Is there a set time that they deliver the girls?"
"Anytime after dark."
Nodding with satisfaction, he turned to Reid. "Get those logos on the van painted over today so it will be dry by tomorrow night. Then I want you to dent and scratch the hell out of it, break one of the taillights, maybe one of the side view mirrors."
"The fuck?" Reid stared at Cole as if he'd lost his mind.
"Don't want the Knights to recognize it." His next comments were addressed to the room. "Since we don't know what direction they'll be coming from we'll park the van at their turnoff, make it look like it's broken down. Raise the hood. In the meantime, we'll be hiding inside. When they stop to take a look we'll get the jump on them. Move any girls they have with them over to the wrecked van and drive in like we're making a regular delivery."
A grunt of doubt escaped Loco. "What if they don't stop?" Leave it to him to play devil's advocate.
"Trust me, Brother, they will," I said with self-assurance. I knew that if we came across an abandoned vehicle anywhere near one of our properties, we would stop to check it out, especially out in the middle of nowhere where we might be doing something illegal. "It'll be too fucking close to their studio for them to just ignore and drive on by."
"Sax is right." Demon leaned forward. "Go on."
"Loco, Chewy, Sax, and Reid will go with me."
"I'm going, too, Brother." There was a grin on Demon's lips. "Not going to miss out on all the fucking fun."
"So will Dancer and his explosives. Once we get inside he can blow the fucking place up. At the same time Spider, Oz, and Colton can hit their titty bar near the strip with cocktails." Cole exchanged a look with Colton. "If you're up to it, Brother."
"What the fuck you mean, ‘if I'm up to it?’" Colton growled. "This is just a fucking scratch." He indicated the bandage wrapped around his ribs.
"Then what the fuck did you mean when I heard you tell Annie to kiss it and make it better when I walked by your room this morning?"
Even though he was grinning, Colton gave Cole the finger. "I was talking about my dick, Brother."
"Whatever women we find there tomorrow night, we get them home to their families," I said once the laughter had died down.
"Unless they need to go to the hospital," Demon added.
Loco snorted. "If there are any there willingly, bring them here. We can use some fresh pussy." The brother was always thinking about his dick.
I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, wishing now that I'd brought a cup of coffee with me. I hadn't gotten much sleep in Goldie's bed. It was too fucking soft and smelled heavily of perfume.
"If we hit their bar during business hours there'll be civilians there." Chewy was leaning back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head.
Demon was quick to make clear that we weren’t in the business of hurting civilians. "Don't want any fucking civilians killed. No guns. Toss a few cocktails and get out of there. More interested in burning the fucking place down than taking out any Knights."
The Knights had screwed up the night they'd gone around Vegas causing property damage for us and the Vegas Watchdogs. They'd not only left witnesses to their crimes, they'd killed innocent people. The cops were out looking for the members responsible, but they had their work cut out for them. Even if they found witnesses who were willing to talk it was going to be hard for anyone to identify the right bikers in a lineup. Plus, it had been dark when shit had gone down.
The cops knew better than to expect any collaboration from us or Vegas Watchdogs. Trouble between MCs was handled between clubs. MCs were already under scrutiny from their local cops and the Feds.
"Sounds good. Anyone in disagreement?"
If anyone had planned to speak up, they lost their chance when the door opened and Doc walked in. Heads turned in his direction. "Snake is good," he said before anyone had the chance to open their mouths. "I got the bullet out. How, I don't know, but he got lucky. It just missed his jugular. I stitched him up, gave him antibiotics and something for pain. Mitzi is with him now."
"That was fucking close," I muttered.
"Too fucking close," Demon mirrored.
"He needs to be still and get rest, and I've got him on a drip for the next twenty-four hours. I'll be back later tonight to check on him, but he should sleep until then."
"Thanks, Doc."
“Thanks” didn't seem adequate for saving a brother's life.
Chapter 18
Holly
I put my phone to my ear and waited for Samson to pick up. I was scheduled for a shift that night, and though I knew about the recent trouble at Grinders, I doubted that they would be closed. The people who worked there weren't all club members, including Samson. When the Desert Rebels had purchased the bar years ago, they'd kept Samson on because he’d worked there since the beginning and knew what was what. He'd turned out to be a good asset for them.
I liked Samson. He was a tough old man who'd become like a surrogate father to some of the girls who worked at the bar. He looked out for and was protective of them, but he could also dish out tough l
ove when it was needed. He expected to be treated as he treated others, with fairness and respect.
"Hello?"
The frog in his voice revealed that I'd probably woken him up. "It's almost noontime, Sam, and you're still in bed?" I teased with a smile.
He groaned and cleared his throat. "Holly? Jesus, this is early for me, sweetheart. Everything okay?"
"Yes. I'm just calling about my shift tonight. Am I still scheduled?"
I could hear him moving around on his end, and then he released a deep breath. "Yeah I still have you down, but figured you wouldn't be coming in while you’re on lockdown at the clubhouse."
Damn. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to leave, but I hated letting Samson down, and I needed the work. I only had one more week at Grinders before I started my new job at Crickets, and I didn't want to have to dig into my savings. Still, I doubted Demon was going to let me leave the clubhouse. Lockdown meant no one in, and no one out, unless it was one of the men. The last thing anyone wanted to do was to get on Demon’s bad side by ignoring his orders.
Samson made a sound between a laugh and a grunt. "I can almost hear you thinking, sweetheart."
I laughed and confessed, "I may have been contemplating sneaking out for just a minute." Even though I had thought about it, being kidnapped twice in my lifetime was enough. I wasn't about to tempt fate. I supposed I was going to have to dig into my savings after all, because rent was coming up.
"I hope you're smarter than that," Samson grumbled. "We'll miss you, but we will get by."
I knew they would. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I have Ava to think about now. This was my last week," I reminded him. "I guess you should go ahead and replace me."
He snorted. "Sweetheart, the club created that position just for you. I won't be replacing you."
That didn't surprise me. The Desert Rebels took care of their own, and they still considered me family. I had to wonder if it was because I'd been with Sax for so long and had also formed deep friendships with members in the club.
"Don't be a stranger," Samson said in his gruff voice.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure there will be girls' nights in my future," I laughed. We said our goodbyes and I let my mind drift to my new job at Crickets. God, I prayed that we were done with lockdown by the time I was supposed to start, because it was going to be a problem if we were. I knew that they couldn't keep me in the clubhouse if I really wanted to leave, but did I really want to cause bad feelings with the people who were my friends? The people who I loved? They were looking out for me and Ava.
I smiled down at Ava. I'd brought her outside for some fresh air and sun, laying her on a blanket with some toys. She'd played and looked around for a little while, mesmerized watching the other children running on the playground. Gradually she'd drifted off. The noise of their laughter and chatter hadn't bothered her in the least.
I reached for my iced tea. I was sitting next to Ava with my legs criss-crossed, or "criss-cross applesauce" as one of the older kids on the playground had laughed out earlier as he'd run past me. The mothers with children on the playground were obviously taking turns watching them, because I'd watched two arrive and then two take off more than once. Our little group was doing the same thing, and I'd volunteered to take the first shift. A playpen had been brought out, and both Izzy and Samuel were playing contentedly in it. One of the prospects had erected a large beach umbrella over our area to protect us from the hot desert sun.
The ground around the playpen was littered with the toys that Izzy and Samuel had tossed out. I'd picked them up a dozen times before I’d realized they were just going to keep doing it as long as I picked up after them, so I quit. A couple of the bigger kids had run over and picked the toys up once or twice, too, but they were smarter than I was, giving up much sooner.
I watched one of the mothers, Kathy, I believe her name was, fan herself. "There's room over here if you want to get out from under the sun," I called out.
She returned my smile and walked over. "Thanks. I'm not a sun worshiper as some are. I don't care for the heat either, but when you have kids you can't keep them cooped up inside."
I could tell by her pale complexion that she wasn't an outdoorsy type. She was pretty enough to be a model, and it was obvious that she took care of herself. Her short, blonde hair was shaved on the sides and long on top in a flipped over style, and her hourglass shape belied the fact that she'd had any kids, much less the three I’d seen her with today.
"Lockdown isn't easy for anyone," I agreed, making room for her on the blanket.
"Especially for my crew." She had three boys. "Holly, right?"
I nodded. "Kathy?"
She nodded in turn. "How old is your little one?"
"Ava is six months."
"She's a sweetheart. My boys are four, six, and eight." She looked out at the playground, as if searching for them. "I hope this last one is a girl."
My jaw dropped with surprise before I could stop it. "You're pregnant?"
Kathy laughed with a nod. "Just found out. I told Dale this is it. No more. I'm not going to provide him with a baseball team."
We both laughed at that. I didn't recognize her husband's name. "What does Dale do?"
"He's a writer when he's not playing warrior. Once in a while the club calls him in to help out with something. Of course, he doesn't share the details with me because it's considered—" She did air quotes, "’club business.’"
I detected a measure of bitterness in Kathy's tone. "You don't like him being part of the MC?"
She inhaled a deep breath and released it, pulling her gaze away from the playground. "I know when he's called in that whatever he’s doing is dangerous. I don't like that part. But then there are the other things, like the charity runs, and helping out in the community, the club barbeques..." She shrugged. "I don't mean to complain."
I understood how she felt. Belonging to an MC wasn't for everyone, and when your man belonged that meant you did, too. "How long has Dale been a member?"
"Fifteen years," she said without hesitation. "How about your man?"
I didn't feel like getting into it with her about my situation with Sax, so I just said, "About the same."
Samuel and Izzy were both on their feet and watching us, and I wondered if they'd finally tossed all their toys out. I got up and went to them to make sure that they weren't getting overheated. They seemed fine, but I got them each a bottle anyway, and while they threw themselves down to drink, I went around and picked up all their toys. "Last time," I laughed, throwing a look over my shoulder at Kathy.
About that time I heard familiar giggling, and looked over to see JoJo and Ellie walking in my direction. My smile disappeared when I noticed that Goldie and Cherry were also walking a ways behind them. Great. What were they doing out here?
"How are they behaving?" JoJo walked directly to the playpen and glanced down at her son.
"We decided to give you an early break," Ellie smiled, doing the same thing as JoJo. "Hi, Kathy." She reached for Izzy, touching her skin, and I knew that she was doing the same exact thing that I'd done only moments before, checking to make sure she that her daughter wasn't hot.
"Ladies." Kathy's friendly tone included them both in her response.
"What time is it?" I asked.
Ellie glanced down at her watch. "Five till one."
I rolled my eyes and snorted. They were supposed to relieve me at one. "Thanks for the early break."
Ellie giggled but ignored me. "They look like they're getting ready for a nap." She looked at JoJo. "Should we leave them or take them inside?"
"I say we leave them. By the time we get them inside and set up they'll have got their second wind."
Someone began to cry on the playground, drawing our attention. Kathy immediately got to her feet. "That one is mine. See you ladies around." She rushed to the playground, where her youngest was crying. The other mother had already made her way there and was examining his knee.
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"She has three boys," Ellie murmured in awe, stepping away from the playpen.
"Four. Don't forget her husband. Men are just big boys," JoJo joked, following Ellie over to where I was sitting. Her gaze flickered briefly toward the picnic tables. "I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to put the smokers next to the playground," she complained.
I took a quick look. Goldie and Cherry had both lit up a cigarette and were puffing away. They were close, and judging from their smirks, they'd heard what JoJo had said. "At least they have clothes on now," I murmured low, remembering the way Goldie had been dressed that morning.
"Yeah, we heard about that. Demon was pissed when he found out. He has strict rules about the club whores not running around half-naked when we're on lockdown."
I glared at JoJo. "A bikini top that barely covers your nipples and boy shorts up the crack of your ass is not half-naked. She may as well have been nude."
"I'm surprised he even allows them to be here when the wives and families are here."
"They’re considered club property, honey," I reminded Ellie. "And the club protects their own." I knew that Ellie and JoJo understood what the deal was. Hell, they'd both been old ladies long before I’d come on the scene.
I heard the sound of snickering behind me, and I knew that I should stop before my mouth got me into trouble.
"That's right, bitch," I heard Goldie say behind me.
JoJo gasped, but I chose to ignore Goldie.
"I belong to the club more than you do now. You're not even an old lady anymore."
It hadn't taken her long to find out about me and Sax.
"Enough," JoJo warned, shooting Goldie a scowl. "Holly is family. You have a problem with anyone being here, you take it up with Demon." She gave an evil grin. "Or better yet, take it up with Sax, since he's VP."
I rolled my eyes and barely held back a groan. JoJo was a sweetheart for coming to my defense, but I wasn't sure that mentioning Sax was a good idea.
"When I'm with Sax we don't talk."
Sax Page 13