Prologue
"You asked to see me, Prez?"
I strolled into Cox's office and dropped onto one of the chairs in front of his desk. Cox was the president of the Iron Rogues Motorcycle Club and the father of one of my best friends.
I met Kye at a…questionably legal…drag race when I was a senior in high school. He'd been in college at Princeton University but had come down to my hometown in Florida for the races during spring break. I'd practically grown up in that world—a fuck you to my parents since they were basically useless and made it their mission in life to disapprove of everything I did anyway.
Fox and I hit it off and stayed in touch. The Iron Rogues pretty much ruled the underground racing world in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. When Fox expressed an interest in expanding even farther south, I facilitated a partnership between the Iron Rogues and the man who bankrolled the majority of the races in Miami and the surrounding cities. Over the years, they'd taken control of the racing scene in the entire state and were creeping into Louisiana and Mississippi.
When I turned eighteen, I was willing to do pretty much anything to get the hell outta my town and away from my parents, so I joined the military. But I spent every leave with Kye—now Fox since he'd patched recently—and his family, which meant I spent most of my time at the MC.
Despite being absent so much, Cox let me prospect any time I was home. Whenever I decided to leave the service, I'd become a patched member of the club.
"Need a favor."
My brow shot up as I wondered what kind of favor this badass biker, who ran an entire club, would need from me.
"Fox tells me that you've been working in hostage negotiation."
I nodded. When I became a Ranger, I'd taken the mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution—a fancy term for negotiation—two-hour course and excelled at it. So they'd put me through both of the weeklong courses. When I made Delta Force, it became my specialty. I didn't share that with many people, so I knew if Fox had told the prez, it was for a very good reason.
"Hate to take up your leave time, kid, but a friend of mine needs your skills. His twelve-year-old daughter's been kidnapped."
"Fuck." I frowned, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees.
"Saber's the president of the Westland Riders MC."
My brows shot up. "In my hometown?"
"Hell of a coincidence," Cox muttered with a nod.
The Westland Riders had a similar reputation to the Iron Rogues, but they were known to cross some lines that we wouldn't. "Saber pissed someone off enough for them to snatch his kid?"
"They want a ransom. WR is extremely successful at…what they do. And Saber already came from money when he patched. He dumped a huge portion of his inheritance into the MC coffers."
"They already received the ransom call?" Even if I rode hard, I was still a ten-hour ride from where I grew up.
Cox shook his head. "Left a note in her backpack, which was found a block from the club. Said to expect a call in the next twenty-four hours."
"You have a file for me?" I assumed he'd give me as much information as he could so I would be able to familiarize myself with the situation and the players.
Cox picked up a yellow folder from his desk and held it out to me. "I'm sending Fox with you. He'll drive so you can look shit over. It'll also free you up if you need to get involved over the phone before arriving."
I lifted my chin in acknowledgment, my attention already on the dossier he'd provided. "Have Saber email me everything."
"Will do."
Twenty minutes later, Fox and I were on the road. I hated the idea of the little girl being in the hands of those assholes any longer than necessary, but trying to mediate from the truck would have been a fucking nightmare. So I was grateful they didn't receive the call before I arrived.
We pulled into the compound around four in the morning, but there was no time for sleeping. I immediately got to work.
The call came a few hours later. Twenty million, and they expected Saber to deliver the money, then they would release Blakely within two hours.
My instincts were roaring, telling me they had no intention of letting her go. I talked them into sending a proof of life video, and when we received it, I cursed a blue streak. "She's not blindfolded."
Saber stared hard at the screen, seemingly unable to look away from his daughter's terrified expression. "What does that mean?"
I scrubbed my hands down my face and grunted in frustration. "It's likely that she's seen them."
"Motherfucker," Fox muttered, pacing away to glare out the window across the office.
Yeah, those fuckers had no intention of letting Blakely go.
When they called back, I managed to get them to agree to a place and time of our choosing for the money drop. They also agreed to show us a live feed of Blakely at the pickup. They would leave a cell phone for us to confirm, then we would be directed to leave the money and go.
During the conversation, I used tactics I'd mastered in my training and got them to admit to a few things that would aid us in figuring out who they were. After they hung up, I filled everyone in on what I learned and why the intel helped us.
Then we devised a plan.
I slammedmy foot against an exit door at the back of the warehouse and immediately put a bullet in the back of the guard's head. Some WR brothers came barreling in after me while several others barged in through the front entrance.
Trusting them to watch my back, I focused on finding the door—there it was.
I stayed along the perimeter of the large open space as I hurried to a door that matched the one behind Blakely in the video. The fuckers had been stupid enough to let us walk away with the phone connected to the live feed of their hostage. And their encryption on the signal was shit. A hacker friend of mine broke it in less than a minute, giving us the location where they were holding her.
The men who retrieved the money were in the wind, but the only thing any of us really cared about was Saber's little girl.
A man opened the door I was moving toward, looking around wildly, obviously having heard the commotion outside. I raised my arm, and a second later, he dropped to the ground thanks to the small hole in his temple that trickled blood. I holstered my gun as I reached the room. The girl may have grown up around an MC, but I didn't know what her mental state was and wanted to appear as nonthreatening as possible.
She was huddled in the far corner of the room, half hidden by the metal cot on the wall next to her. Tears poured down her reddened cheeks, and her bangs were plastered to her damp forehead. The rest of her blond curls fell away from her face as she looked up at me, and my heart twisted at the terror filling her clear blue eyes.
As I approached, she suddenly sprang to her feet and slashed something in front of her, nearly slicing my stomach. "Get away from me!" she screamed. Then she whipped the weapon in front of her again, but I caught her wrist and grabbed the …straightened mattress spring? Clever girl. I tossed it to the ground and yanked her into my arms. "Copperfield," I said loudly, so she would hear me over her screams. It was the codeword that Saber had given her so she would know the person using it was safe.
Her shouts and attempts to hit me ceased immediately. She seemed frozen as she stared up at me, and I could see her mind working, trying to decide whether she'd imagined what I had just said. "Copperfield," I murmured again.
A second later, she threw herself at me and hugged me so tight that it was almost painful as heaving sobs ripped from her chest.
"Your dad is here, Blakely," I told her softly as I picked her up and made my way to the door. Before I reached it, Saber came bursting into the room, and when he saw the girl in my arms, he dropped to his knees and sucked in a great big gulp of air.
"Blakely," he croaked as tears dripped from his eyes. Saber was a tough motherfucker. He ruled with an iron fist and could be lethal if necessary. But I wasn't surprised to see his display of emotion. It had been clear from the moment I met him how much he loved and adored his daughter.
"Daddy!" Blakely shouted and I quickly set her down so she could run into his embrace.
I made a hasty exit, not wanting to intrude on their reunion. Glancing around, I was relieved to see everyone we'd brought with us still breathing. Several of them stood in the center of the room talking while a few others dragged the dead bodies out the back door. Their fixer waited outside to collect them.
Fox's head lifted, and when he spotted me, he jerked his chin to the side to indicate that I should join them.
"We think we've got a location for the men who collected the money."
I was glad to hear it, but those guys were just lackeys. We needed to find the mastermind behind the kidnapping. "Any luck figuring out who they work for?"
Blakely
"Blakely. Wake up, sweetheart."
My dad's gritty voice penetrated my sleep, and I slowly woke. Knowing he was there stopped the panic from overtaking me, and I took a deep breath as my eyes fluttered, then opened. I'd been home almost a week, but I still had to remind myself that I was safe every time I woke up.
"Hey, there, ladybug," he greeted me with a strained smile.
"Daddy?" I struggled to sit up.
Gently, he helped me into a sitting position, then smoothed my hair back away from my face.
"I love you more than anything. You know that, right?"
I smiled and nodded. "I love you too, Daddy." Glancing around my room, I frowned when I realized the sun hadn't come up yet. "What time is it?"
"Early, sweetheart. I…I just needed to see you and…" He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. "I just…I couldn't let it go, Blakely. They had to be punished."
"What?" I was confused by what he was saying, but something in his tone and expression had the panic threatening to cut off my air again.
"I couldn't take the risk that they would come for you again, ladybug. Even if it meant not seeing you grow up."
"What?" My voice hit a high pitch, and my heart beat hard against my ribs. "What do you mean? Daddy—"
"Saber." A deep voice from the doorway interrupted me. A voice I'd come to know well since I'd been brought home. One that made me feel safe and happy.
Gideon took a step inside, and his face softened when he looked at me. But unlike most times when he saw me, his lips didn't curve into a playful smile.
His brown eyes shifted to my dad, and he grunted, "They"re here."
"I need you to stay here, sweetheart," my dad said, his tone earnest.
"But—"
"No buts, Blakely. Promise me that you will stay in your room until the sun comes up." I opened my mouth, but he gently grabbed my arms and demanded, "Promise me."
"I'll stay with you, Blakely," Gideon told me.
"Okay," I whispered.
My dad kissed my forehead and gave me a tight hug. "I love you, ladybug. Never forget that."
"I love you too, Daddy." I didn't know what was going on, but I knew something was wrong. A feeling of dread settled over me.
He stood and faced Gideon. "You promised you'd take care of her," Dad said.
"You have my word." Gideon tilted his head to the side and studied my dad for a moment. "I will make sure she's protected and taken care of, but it's not me she needs, Saber. She needs her dad."
My dad inhaled raggedly, his shoulders slumping forward. "I just…I couldn't let them get away with it."
Gideon's voice was low when he replied, but the room was so quiet that I still managed to hear him. "And now she's paying for it all over again."
"I know…" My dad sighed and glanced over at me; his blue eyes, like mine, filled with something sad. "Love you, ladybug. I hope you can forgive me."
Then he stalked out of the room. I threw my covers off and hurried to follow him, but Gideon scooped me into his arms and moved to the rocking chair by the head of my bed, then sat down, keeping me cuddled in his arms.
"You promised, Blakely," he murmured.
"He's not coming back, is he?" I sniffed as my throat clogged and my vision blurred.
"No."
"I'm going to be all alone."
Gideon put a finger under my chin and gently lifted my head. "I won't always be right by your side, Blakely. But you aren't alone. I'll always be there for you. Always."
Something in the way he promised me so fiercely helped to soothe my fear. I believed him. Gideon would never let me feel all alone.