Tina

T ina knew that it was a long shot that they would find Chasity again. She had been out on the run for weeks now, and if her niece wanted to, she'd stay hidden for a while longer. The problem was her very savvy niece seemed to stay two steps ahead of them at all times.

Hurricane was right—finding out that the baby was okay helped to calm her frayed nerves. Seeing that they were having a boy seemed to bring an unexpected joy that brought her hope for the future. Maybe that was premature on her part, but she knew that Chasity would love a baby boy cousin if she would just come home to them.

Hurricane had gone down to the clubhouse to meet with a few of the guys about where to search next. A part of her wanted to tell him that it was no use, but couldn't give up on her niece. She owed it to her brother to keep looking for her and with Hurricane leading the search, she knew that they were doing all they could to find her.

had agreed to stay home and find something to do to fill the time, but that was getting harder and harder to do. And when the doorbell rang, she knew that Hurricane had sent Wren over to babysit her, as usual. Every time he had to leave her since they found out that she was pregnant, he had Wren casually stop by to check on her to make sure that everything was all right. It was sweet, really. She liked Wren and didn't have many friends in the area. She never really hung out with anyone from work, and since losing her job, she had no one to talk to except poor Hurricane. Sometimes, she felt as though he might get sick of her going on and on, but he never seemed to.

She pulled open the front door to find Wren impatiently pacing on the front porch. "What took so long?" she grumbled.

"Is everything okay?" asked.

"Yes, and no," Wren said. She made her way past , into the family room and sat down. "I can't stay long. My mother-in-law is watching the baby, but I was thinking about something this morning and I just can't get it out of my mind."

"What's that?" asked. She sat down in the chair next to Wren and she swore she could feel the excitement and tension rolling off her friend.

"Remember when you and Chasity first moved in with Hurricane and Yonkers and I came over for a barbecue?" Wren asked.

"How could I forget?" said, rolling her eyes. "It turned out to be the barbecue from hell." The grill had caught fire, and poor Hurricane had singed off his eyebrows. "His eyebrows are just now growing back in," she teased.

Wren giggled and nodded, "Yep, that night. We talked about living in Alabama and the Royal Bastards down there. Chasity seemed to ask a million questions about living down south and kept telling me that she liked my accent, remember?"

"Yes," breathed. She was starting to see where Wren was going with all her questions. "Chasity seemed to be fascinated by you and the South. All she's ever known has been the city. Do you seriously think that she went down to Alabama?"

Wren shrugged, "We talked about the guys and where the club is and all that. I'm wondering if she was listening more than we thought she was. It's worth a shot, you know, to have Hurricane call down there and check our theory out."

"You're right," agreed, "but, if she's down there, why wouldn't someone from the club call us to let us know?"

"Maybe they don't know who she is," Wren said. "I mean, Chasity is smart. She'd never tell the guys down there that she's from up here. I'm going to call my brother, Blade, and see if a young girl has been trying to hang around the club. I'm sure that he'll get Savage involved and if Chasity is down there, they'll track her down."

pulled Wren in for a quick hug. "I know that we haven't known each other long," said, "but I honestly love you, Wren."

"Right back at you," Wren said, pulling her up from the sofa with her. "Let's call my brother and then, we can tell the guys if we get a lead on Chasity. No sense interrupting their meeting without solid proof."

Wren rummaged through her giant diaper bag and found her cell phone, holding it up triumphantly, and making laugh. "You just wait until you have that kid and need all this crap. I feel like I have to pack for a three-week vacation every time I leave my house."

"I can't wait," admitted.

Wren smiled back at her, "Yeah, it is pretty great." She dialed her brother's number and put the call on speaker. "Let me do the talking," Wren insisted. "He's going to be pretty pissed that I haven't called in a few days."

"Wren," Blade growled into the other end of the call, "where the hell have you been?"

"Um, up in New York, with Yonkers," she sassed. could tell that Wren liked giving her older brother a bit of grief.

"You know what I mean," Blade shouted, "why haven't you called me? I've been worried sick about you."

"Well, the phone works both ways," she said. "You know how to use a cell phone, right?"

"Of course I do, I just don't want to call and wake up the baby," Blade said.

"While that's very sweet, it's not why I'm calling," Wren said. "I need a favor. Have you seen a teenage girl hanging around the club? She's thirteen, has dark hair and brown eyes. Although she might have dyed her hair to throw us off her trail."

"Why would she want to throw you off her trail? Who is this kid, anyway?" Blade asked.

"Do you remember I told you about Hurricane hooking up with some woman?" she asked.

"Hey," breathed.

"I do, and I take it that she's there with you," Blade said.

"She is. , meet Blade," Wren introduced them. "Now that the formalities are out of the way, the kid is 's niece. She has custody of her since Chasity's parents passed and she's a runner."

"What makes you think that she'll show up here?" Blade asked.

"Because she was hanging out with us a while back and Yonkers and I were telling Hurricane about the clubhouse down there. Chasity asked me a lot of questions about Huntsville and my accent. She was intrigued about us living in the South and I didn't make anything of it back then. But now, she's been missing for a few weeks and the guys have been out searching up here for her, but have had no luck."

"You think that she'd be hanging out down here and we wouldn't notice?" he asked.

"She looks older than her age and I know that she can make herself look older with the right clothes and makeup," interrupted.

"Shit, if she's sneaking in and acting older, we might be in some real trouble. You know Savage won't let that kind of shit happen in his clubhouse. Send me a picture of the kid and I'll show it to Savage and Bowie. Maybe we can get some guys out looking for her down here too," Blade offered.

"Thank you," breathed. "I appreciate you being willing to help us find her. I just hope that she's okay." The thought of Chasity hanging around with older guys, pretending to be of age, scared the hell out of her. She already had to grow up faster than most kids her age, with the passing of both her parents, but this would take things to a new level.

"You're a part of us now, ," Blade said. "If you're with Hurricane, then you're a Royal Bastard." It felt strange being a part of anything. For so long, it had just been her against the world. When Chasity joined her life, she felt less alone, but having the backing of the Royal Bastards behind her felt like she had a family again. Hurricane had given her that, and she was thankful for both him and his guys.

"Thank you, Blade," said. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"Not a problem," Blade insisted. "I'll be in touch tonight, sis," he said.

"Okay, don't forget that the baby goes down for the night at nine," Wren reminded.

"I haven't forgotten," Blade grumbled. "Talk soon." He ended the call, and Wren slipped her phone into her back pocket.

"You look worried," Wren said, taking 's hand into her own. "We've got you," her friend promised. "If anyone can find Chasity, it's the Royal Bastards. With them behind you, you'll have her home in no time." just hoped like hell that Wren wasn't making her a promise that couldn't be kept because she wanted her niece back more than anything.