Prologue
PROLOGUE
New Orleans, LA- March 2020
“PROSPECTS! Listen up.” Our heads turn to Cowboy, the vice president of the MorningStar MC.
When the bikers from Nevada rolled into the bayou, they immediately made a name for themselves. Rumors of what the original club in Paradise did to stop trafficking circled the Quarter, and I knew I had to join the MC.
For Eden.
“YOU!” Oh shit.
I wasn’t paying attention, and by the look on Cowboy’s face, he knew it.
“If you think you’re too good to listen, then you might as well pack your shit and leave.”
I shake my head frantically.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about how important it is to me to be here.”
Cowboy crosses his arms across his chest and nods.
“Fine. How about you share it with the rest of us?”
I swallow hard and look around. The last thing I want to do is look or sound like a fucking pussy in front of all these guys I don’t even know. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
“We’re waiting, son.” Cowboy sounds pissed ’cause I’m making him wait, so the words tumble out of me faster than I can think of them.
“I need the Dahilia Innovate to help find my sister.” There, I said it.
The room goes still. The other men waiting to be hazed alongside me start mummering, but the club’s officers all stare at me.
“What’s your name?” The president, Seer, addresses me directly.
It’s the first time he’s even spoken tonight.
“Brice Wyatt Dare, sir.”
He stands and starts to leave the room.
“Well, you coming?” Seer glances over his shoulder, and I stumble off my Harley, running to catch up.
He takes me behind the bar to a private room with an oblong table large enough to seat twelve or more people.
“Abel.”
Who?
I look up to see the president on his cell phone and frown.
“I got a job.” Seer turns and presses a button on a device set in the middle of the table.
A screen lowers against the wall along as the projector lights up, and then suddenly I’m looking at the face of a man I’ve never seen before.
“Sit.” Seer points at the chair in front of me, and I do as I’m told.
“What you got for me, Seer?” The guy’s eyebrow rises as he surveys me.
“This here is Brice. He’s one of my prospects. He’s joined for the club’s help.” He waves at me to talk, and I nod, gathering my thoughts.
“My sister, Eden, was taken from the hospital after a car accident that killed our parents. She was five. When I heard the rumors that you help find missing women and children, I knew I had to try at least to join.”
Abel started typing halfway through my story and hasn’t even looked up. I glance at Seer, who’s staring at me like I’m a puzzle he’s trying to solve.
“Eden Harper Dare, five years old, last seen in the emergency room of Roanoke General Hospital eighteen years ago.” Abel finally looks at me for confirmation.
“Yes,” is all I’m able to say around the lump forming in my throat.
I lost everything that night.
“Son, look at me.” I meet Seer’s eyes.
“No matter what happens or if you patch in, I promise you one thing. We will do everything in our power to help find your sister.” The tears I’ve been fighting since hearing Abel say her full name finally fall.
“Thank you. Both of you.” I clean off my face and realize that even though these two men are virtual strangers to me, I’d be damn proud to call them my brothers.