Chapter Five #2
“I didn’t expect you back until tonight.”
He held the bag out to me. “I looked in your fridge last night. There’s barely enough food in there to keep a mouse happy so I picked a few things up to tide you over.”
I automatically took the bag, almost dropping it. “This weighs a ton. What did you get?”
He grinned. “Food. If I’m going to be spending time here you need real food, not just snacks.”
I stared wordlessly as he headed to his bike. He paused and turned back to me. “I’ll be back around 5:30. Do you have a barbecue?”
“Yes. Why?”
He gestured at the bag in my hand. “Steaks. We’re having steak for dinner. I can grill them.”
“We are?” I felt like I was floundering out of my depth.
“You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”
I shook my head.
“Good. Steak and baked potato with all the fixings. I’ll see you tonight.” Fastening his helmet on, he slung a leg over the bike and took off down the street.
I watched as he disappeared around the corner.
“Not quite hung like a horse, and he cooks.” Janet peered over my shoulder. “If you don’t want him, you can send him my way.”
I turned to my BFF, looking her straight in the eye. “Not a chance.”
Janet laughed. “Thought so. You’re smitten with that biker dude.”
“I’ve barely known the guy for twenty-four hours!”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve seen that look before. You’re hooked.”
“I’ve never looked like this before.”
“Didn’t say I’d seen it on you.”
“I need to put these away.” I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Deuce was right. I had lots of snacking type things but no real food. Being single, I often ate out or grabbed something at the local drive-through.
“Those are premium steaks. You should marinate them.”
I shrugged. “I don’t have anything to marinate them in. I wasn’t exactly expecting steak to push its way into my dinner plans.”
“Listen to you. Talking like you make dinner plans.” Janet grabbed the package of steak. “We can go to the store.”
“Deuce told me to stay home.”
“No, he told you that you had to take one of those brawny biker boys with you if you went anywhere.”
I looked at her with one brow arched. “Exactly how long were you eavesdropping?”
She grinned. “Long enough. Now get this stuff put away and we can grab some lunch while we’re out.”
I rolled my eyes. It did sound like a good idea, though. Apparently early morning sex gave me an appetite. “Fine, but you get to pay for lunch.”
She grinned. “Can I choose which biker to bring?”
* * *
Deuce
I pulled my phone out and glanced down at it. A text from Thor let me know Sophia and Janet were going out for lunch and he was tagging along. Tiny was staying behind to guard the house. I slipped my phone back in my pocket.
“Everything okay?” Ace asked.
“Just an update. She’s going out with a friend, but Thor is with them. Tiny’s on guard duty at her house.”
He nodded. “Good. She’s our only solid lead so far.
Our contact at the bureau is excited. Up to this point, they knew an active human trafficking ring was operating in the area, but they had no idea how the victims were targeted.
This dating app scam is a new twist. Prior to this they were going on the assumption that the victims were random, chosen by opportunity. ”
He continued, bringing the brothers up to date on missing women from the area and theories on how the victims were being transported. This wasn’t just a local problem. They had credible intel that the women were being shipped overseas to buyers in Asia and Europe.
My mind wandered as he went over the details I already knew. The idea that someone had deliberately targeted Sophia, had chosen to buy her like a piece of meat or a pet dog infuriated me, but anger wasn’t going to help us find and take down this ring.
We were a team. We might not belong to the SEALs anymore, but the training and years of experience were hammered into our brains.
We needed to be clinical, look at the data from all angles.
I needed to put aside personal feelings if I was going to make sure Sophia was safe. That was going to be tough.
“Do we need to upgrade the security on her house?” Beast was the enforcer for the club.
“I think she’s good. Her father’s some kind of doomsday prepper and he’s got it rigged up tight. Might be a good idea to hack into the feed though, so we can keep a watch on her from here.” Ace glanced over at me. “Think she’ll be okay with that?”
“Can’t see why not. There’s nothing inside so not like it’s an invasion of privacy. We probably want to be careful not to trip any hidden hooks in it though. She doesn’t want her father to know what went down.”
“Why?” Ace frowned.
“Seems to think he might go hunt the guys down and land himself in jail. Sounds like the kind of guy who’s not into polite debates when it comes to his daughter’s wellbeing.”
Beast snorted. “Understand that. Someone touches one of my kids, they might as well just put a bullet in their own brain and save me the trouble.”
Ace shot Beast a quelling look before turning his attention back to me.
“Then we need to be careful around the father. You can ask her about tapping into the camera feeds if there are any. We need to know exactly what kind of security system the house has. Anything else we need to know?”
I cleared my throat. “I like her.”
That got everyone’s attention. Eight pairs of eyes zeroed in on me.
“Figured that out right fast.” Rattler had been silent up to this point.
“Explain.” Ace crossed his arms.
“Pretty simple. She’s cute, she’s feisty as hell, and she doesn’t take shit from anyone, including me.
But she’s also smart. She knows she’s in a bind, and she knows when to accept help.
Plus, she feels protective of her gun toting, ‘knows where to hide the bodies’ father.
I’ve only known her since she landed herself at my feet yesterday, but I can see a future for us if I don’t fuck it up.
” I glanced around the room. “So hands off.”
“You told her yet, or is it a secret?” Shadow had a smirk on his face.
“‘Knows where to hide the bodies’?” Blast, our munitions master, picked up on that one pretty quick.
“Her description, not mine.” I shrugged. “Think she was just trying to make a point.”
“You being a biker isn’t an issue for her?” Ace narrowed his eyes. “How much have you told her about our club?”
“Not much. Told her I used to be a SEAL and left the rest out.”
He nodded just as my phone vibrated. Pulling it out, I gave it a casual glance, expecting an update on the lunch. I did a double take as a picture of a strange man opening the door to Sophia’s house filled the screen. What the hell? The text was from Tiny.
House is empty. What do you want me to do ?
Detain the fucker. On my way. Warn Thor to keep the girls out .
I clenched my fists, choking down a rush of anger. “Gotta go. Some guy just broke into Sophia’s place. Tiny’s going to hold him till I get there.”
Ace nodded. “Rattler and Beast can back you up.”
I didn’t bother to answer, heading for the door double time. Might be getting some answers sooner than we thought.
I pushed my bike to the max, ran a few stop signs, and pulled into Sophia’s place in half the time it had taken me to leave it. I parked my bike and ripped the helmet off my head, tossing it onto the seat.
The place was quiet, the back door not quite closed. I’d talk to Tiny about that later. “Tiny!”
He didn’t answer right away, which given my current mood pissed me off even more.
I stepped through the open doorway and opened my mouth to holler again when I caught a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye.
Years of instinct and training kicked in. I dropped to the floor and rolled. The baseball bat whistled through the air and made a sizeable dent in the wall where I’d been standing seconds before.
Son of a bitch. Asshole must have taken Tiny out. Hopefully not permanently.
I twisted sideways, sweeping a leg out to take the asshole down, but he danced out of the way. I leapt to my feet and got a good look at my assailant.
Guy probably had twenty-five, thirty years on me. Grizzled beard that looked like he’d used a dull knife to hack it off short. Lots of muscle though, and he still had the fucking bat.
I’d committed the one cardinal sin of urban warfare. I’d let my emotions dictate my actions. I’d outpaced my backup, and I’d walked through that door without considering whether there might be an enemy behind it.
Rookie mistakes.
A quick glance around told me there wasn’t anything close at hand I could use as a weapon.
My opponent gripped the bat in both hands and took a step toward me, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.
I took a step backward. Now that he’d lost the element of surprise, it was a standoff. I didn’t want to kill the guy. Dead guys don’t answer questions, and I had a lot of them.
I pulled my gun and held it by the barrel, safety on. I didn’t want to kill him, but you don’t have to shoot a pistol for it to hurt.
“Fucking pervert.” He took another swing at me with the bat.
Okay, now I was pissed. “You want to die, old man?”
“Could ask you the same question, pervert.”
“You brought a bat to a gunfight, old man.”
“Looks like you don’t know which end of the gun the bullet comes out, pervert.”
I sneered at him. “Thought I’d take it easy on you given your advanced age.”
The guy snorted like he thought that was funny. “Still young enough to lay you out alongside your buddy.”
I’d worry about Tiny once I’d taken care of this guy.
“Don’t think so.” I hefted the gun, estimating how long it would take if I needed to reverse my grip and shoot the guy. Didn’t have to be a kill shot but I didn’t want to get blood on Sophia’s flooring.
The faint sound of motorcycles approaching filled the hallway.
Rattler and Beast. The old man’s eyes flickered toward the sound right before he rushed me.
I turned, letting my left shoulder bear the brunt of the first strike.
He outweighed me, and his attack took me to the ground.
He landed on top of me and sat up, straddling my chest.
I took a swipe with the pistol, and the blow glanced off his chest. He dropped the bat and started to pound me with his fists. I twisted, trying to free myself, and hit him again. He grunted, but didn’t stop pummeling me.
The door slammed open so hard it bounced off the wall. Rattler stood in the doorway, his shotgun pointed at the old guy. “Hands up or I shoot.”
The old guy didn’t even bother to look up. “You shoot, we’re both dead.”
“Guess we’ll do it the hard way then.” Striding into the hallway, Rattler clocked the guy on the side of the head with the stock of the shotgun. The old guy collapsed on top of me, out cold.
Beast entered, shaking his head at the sight. “The old guy got the drop on you, Deuce? That’s sad. And where the hell is Tiny?”
I squirmed out from under the old man, feeling the side of his neck for a pulse. It was strong. He’d live to answer a few questions. “Don’t know. Guessing this guy took him out. And yeah, he jumped me when I came in.”
“Tsk, tsk.” Rattler looked amused. “Didn’t think I’d live to see the day you’d get taken by a grandpa.”
“Funny. He’s a tough old geezer. Go find Tiny. Hopefully he’s still breathing.”
“Found him.” Beast’s voice came from the kitchen. “All trussed up like a pig ready for roasting.”
I got to my feet and dusted myself off before holstering my weapon. Rattler followed me into the kitchen. Beast was busy cutting freezer twine off Tiny, who looked as angry as a hornet.
“Old guy did this?”
He nodded. “I asked how he got in the house, and he made like he was confused or something. Stumbled over his own feet, and when I went to help him, he clocked me. Bastard!”
It was my turn to chuckle. “Wily old bastard. He jumped me from behind the door when I came in. Had a bat aimed at my head.”
Beast raised his brows. “So that geriatric old buzzard out there managed to get both of you?”
“He looked old. I didn’t want to hurt the guy.” Tiny looked sheepish. “Didn’t expect human traffickers to be guys in their sixties.”
He did have a point. The guys in the van had been younger. Much younger.
Something here didn’t make sense.