Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Bye, baby girl. We'll be there soon.” As soon as we hang up, Shelby lets out a deep sob of relief. “God, I thought I'd lost her.”
I put my arm around her because it feels like the thing to do. I don’t have much experience in comforting anyone, let alone someone like Shelby, but this feels right. I don’t remember a time when Mom cared where I was. She must’ve at some point because I lived long enough to take care of myself, but I mostly remember her getting high and partying with Dad. Razor told me they weren’t always like that, but I don’t know if I believe the old geezer.
Havoc takes her purse. “I’m driving. She shouldn’t be on the road right now. I’ll grab my bike later.” He gives Anna a hard look. “Keep a better eye on it than you did Mia.”
Tears streaming down her face, she nods.
Sledge and I ride honor guard to Shelby’s car. The diner's a popular one. 24-hour breakfast, on the corner of two busy roads, and customers in and out all day. This whole situation feels off. This wasn’t random. They knew her name and where to find her. Someone targeted Mia.
Some of us signed up for a certain amount of risk, living the lives we do, and sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it splashes out onto people it shouldn’t. But you don’t fucking target innocents.
Shelby is out of the car before the engine stops, running for the doors.
“Jesus, Shelby! Wait!” Sledge yells. “It could be a trap!”
She completely ignores him, charging in with the three of us on her heels. My gut tells me the waitress was telling the truth, and whoever did this is probably long gone, but I’m not betting our lives on it. I notice that I’m not the only one adjusting my cut to make sure there’s nothing getting in the way if I need to draw.
Mia's in a booth off to the side, coloring on a kids' menu with a glass of milk in front of her. A woman in a diner uniform is sitting across from her, pointing at something on the paper. When she hears us bust in, she looks up in surprise. Her name tag reads Maggie.
“Mia!”
“Mommy!”
We couldn't separate them with a crowbar.
The waitress’s eyes widen as she takes us in. I'm sure she’s seen our members come in, but dishing up pancakes to a couple bikers occasionally is nothing like having three of us show up ready for a fight. I’m very aware that we’re a lot fucking bigger than she is, and my hand's still resting on the grip of my gun. I take it off and let my cut slip down so it covers it. “Thanks for taking care of her.”
Maggie slips out of the booth and nods. “Of course.” She sounds relieved. “I’m just glad everything is okay. Is one of you her dad? You should be proud. Mia knew exactly how to contact her mom. It would have been a lot harder if she didn’t.” She leans in a little closer. “I don’t know who to give this to, but the woman who came in with the girl left this at the table.” She hands me a slip of paper.
We protect what’s ours. Can you?
Jesus. I pass it to Havoc.
He crushes the note in his fist before carefully opening his fingers and smoothing it back out. “I want to know who the fuck did this, but what do you want to bet the woman is just following orders?” He looks around, scanning the faces of the other patrons before focusing back on Maggie. “Describe exactly what you remember.”
She nods nervously. “A tall lady came in with her. I don’t remember exactly what she looked like other than skinny and bright orange hair. Sorry, people are coming in and out all day. If I had to guess, she looked like the kind of woman that hangs around with guys like you. No offense. I noticed the girl was alone because I was waiting to see if the lady wanted coffee or anything but she was never there when I looked. Like I said, I thought she'd gone to the bathroom, but eventually it started to feel off and I saw Mia looked upset. I'm so sorry,” she adds at the end like this clusterfuck was her fault.
“Nah, you did good.” I try to smile. “If you hadn't called, we still wouldn't have known where the fuck she was.”
“Here.” Sledge takes out his wallet and pulls out two hundreds. “Keep the tip. You deserve it.”
Maggie looks at the bills with huge eyes. “Oh, but… I couldn't, I mean, thank you. I really wish I had more to tell you.”
“Any security footage?” Havoc gestures towards the parking lot. “We’re already working on a picture from the daycare when she was taken, but anything would be good. If you have cameras outside where we might see how she got here, that’d be perfect.”