20. Dart

20

DART

I can't stop thinking about Meredith. The night of the patching was the most incredible night I've ever spent with someone, even if I had to share her. I can't get the feel of her body out of my mind, even though I try very hard to think of something else.

I have to get a grip and start thinking about club matters, because I have a job to do. There's been talk of more girls going missing, but I haven't heard anything from my informant in a few days, so I'm not sure if there's any truth to the rumors.

"Hey, Dart, I think your informant is hanging outside in the garage bay. He's asking for you anyway," Colt says as he walks to the bar.

I make my way out to the garage to see him standing in the driveway looking at all of the bikes parked there. When he sees me, he starts to shift his weight from foot to foot nervously. I can tell he's got something to say, but I'm not sure I want to hear it with the way he's acting.

"What are you doing here?" I say as I approach him. "If someone sees you here, your cover will be blown."

"Yeah, I know that, but I've got some information that I think you're going to want to hear," he tells me in a low tone.

"Okay, so tell me what's so important that you had to risk being seen to tell me. You could have just called me on the phone," I tell him sternly.

"The word on the street is the Bratva have taken a couple more girls. One of them was really close to the campus. She was abducted just a couple blocks from the dorm that Meredith and Addy stay in. You would want to know because Meredith is Harlow's friend," he says as his eyes dart around to make sure no one is watching us.

"Thank you for giving me that information, but it wasn't worth risking a trip when you could have just texted me or called me. If we meet, I need to be the one to set it up, so your cover doesn't get blown," I tell him as I pat his back.

"Yeah, I'll do that next time. I stopped by this time because I was already in the neighborhood when I heard the information, so I thought I'd just tell you in person. I'll get out of here before someone can see me here," he says as he starts to walk down the driveway.

I watch him walk away until he disappears around the corner, and then I head back into the clubhouse. I know I have to tell Grizzly about this, but I also know he isn't going to like it. I don't like it, and I know Trap isn't going to like it either. My heart thuds in my chest as I think about something happening to Meredith or Addy at the hands of the Bratva.

I walk back into the clubhouse and head for the bar where I last saw Trap. I find him still sitting on the barstool he occupied earlier, and I slide onto the stool beside him.

"Hey, have you seen Grizzly? The three of us need to have a little talk," I tell him softly so no one else can hear.

"I haven't seen him lately. He's probably upstairs with Harlow and the twins," Trap says as he looks into his glass of beer.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking already? Are you okay, buddy?" I ask him.

"Just trying to get Meredith out of my mind. I don't know about you, but she's quickly becoming an obsession for me," he admits as he takes a swig of his drink.

"I get where you're coming from, I really do. We need to find Grizzly though, I have some information you're both going to want to hear," I tell him as I slide off the barstool.

He knocks back the rest of his drink and puts the empty cup on the bar as he gets off his stool. We make our way down the hall to Grizzly's office. When there's no answer to our knock, we decide to go check upstairs. Sure enough, we find him in the nursery helping Harlow change the twins. It's amusing to watch Grizzly be a grandfather when most of the time we only see him as our tough Prez.

"Hey, Grizzly, we hate to interrupt your grandpa time, but there's something we need to discuss with you," I tell him as Trap stands at my side in the doorway.

"Okay, go back down to my office and I'll meet you there in a few minutes. I'm gonna help Harlow finish getting the twins down for a nap. You two look nervous. I'm not going to like the information you have for me, am I?" Grizzly asks as he hands Harlow the baby in his arms.

"No, boss, you're probably not going to like it. We sure as hell don't," Trap says from his place in the doorway.

I turn and head back down the staircase as Trap follows me. We make our way back to Grizzly's office in silence, thoughts running through my head as I think about what my informant said. I don't understand why the Bratva would be targeting girls by the campus unless they're thinking about taking Meredith again. I can't come up with an excuse for them to do that, but then…it's the Bratva and they can do whatever they want apparently.

As we wait for Grizzly to come to his office, I think of a million different scenarios. I decide that no matter what Grizzly says, I'm going to look into Meredith's father. Even though the debt was paid by us, they could be positioning to take her again and I need to find out why that would be, or if that's even what they're thinking. I know she might not want me digging into her father and his past because of the embarrassment she feels, but it's one thing I can do to help figure this out.

Grizzly comes in a few minutes later and sits in the chair behind his desk. I can tell by the look on his face he's already not happy about the situation, and I feel bad for interrupting his time with Harlow and his grandchildren.

I know that once he hears what I have to say, he won't be as angry with me for interrupting his time. He'll be angry for a whole other reason. I sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk and Trap takes the other one beside me.

"So, what is it you have to tell me? Is it something to do with Meredith? Has something happened to her again?" Grizzly asks, starting to spin out of control.

"No, Meredith is fine. Calm down before you give yourself a stroke, Grandpa," Trap says with a teasing grin.

"I'll show you grandpa when I beat your ass for calling me that," Grizzly says, returning the grin.

"I was approached by my informant today, and he told me that two more girls have been taken and one of them was extremely close to the campus where Meredith and Addy are. I'm not sure why the Bratva are targeting girls close to the campus, but that's something I want to find out. I thought you would want to know what's going on," I tell him as I watch him carefully for a reaction.

His jaw tightens and I see a flash of worry and anger cross his face. We discuss the situation for a while, but ultimately decide that we need more information before we can do anything.

"Do what you have to do to figure out what's going on and then come tell me what you find out," Grizzly says as he stands from his desk.

We leave Grizzly's office and I head for my bike. I'm going to do a little investigating, even though I'm quite sure Meredith would be against it. I just hope I don't find anything that would make me want to rip her dad's heart out.

A few days after my informant came to me, I still haven't found anything that will tell me if Meredith's father is the reason they're taking girls close to the campus. It makes my gut uneasy to think of Meredith or Addy getting taken, but especially Meredith. It's starting to drive me crazy that I can't find anything that connects this to her father, but that tells me that the Bratva are up to something else. There's a possibility that her father could still be involved, I'm just not coming up with anything.

"Have you found anything yet with all of your investigating?" Grizzly asks as he comes to sit beside me at the bar.

"No, I haven't figured out anything yet. Things seem to have gone quiet for now. I don't know what the Bratva are up to, but I don't like it," I tell him honestly.

"Yeah, I don't like it either, especially where Meredith and Addy are involved. I think the girls need to be guarded. We should probably post guards around the campus also, just to help keep a watch on things. I know the campus has security, but they're busy enough with the college kids being stupid and stealing things from each other and things like that so they might miss something like this. I'm just not sure we have the manpower to stick guards everywhere they need to be," Grizzly says as he sips the beer in front of him.

"We could start by sticking guards at the main points of the campus where the girls frequent the most. Then, if anything becomes a problem we can figure out where to send more of the guys. I looked into Meredith's father, but I haven't found anything except his gambling problem that caused her to be taken last time. He's kind of disappeared off the map now," I tell him as I take a drink of my own beer.

"We'll take turns guarding Meredith, and I'll ask a few of the others to take turns guarding Addy. I'll see about adding men at two different points on the campus. We're going to have to keep a close eye on them. Try and keep tabs on her father, I want to know what he's up to. I don't know if it would be a good idea if he came back into her life or not. I know she hasn't talked to him in a while, but that could change," Grizzly says as he finishes his beer and stands up. "We've got to figure out what kind of game the Bratva are trying to play and take them down. That means we're gonna have to get just as good as them, or maybe even better than they are at their own game."

I nod in agreement and down the rest of my drink. I stand from my bar stool and go back to my room where I get on my laptop to see if there's anything else I can find out about Meredith's father. I feel bad for digging into his past the way I have been, but I have to do what I can to keep her safe. After hours of searching for anything that might be relevant, I close my laptop and growl in frustration.

I can't let anything happen to her. I won't.