Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“I want in on this.” I met Jezebel’s gaze with a hard one of my own.
She shook her head. “Much as I’d love to tell you the guys would be happy to have the help, they won’t. Any of the guys who go into the field on this are all highly trained ex-military. Anyone else stays here. You’ll only be in the way. If they are distracted by you, someone could get killed.” Jezebel looked sincere. She was as refined as El Diablo seemed to be but had that same core of ruthlessness inside her. The couple was a great match.
“Then I want to know everything they know. I want to be in on any meetings or planning, and I want to hear everything that goes on when they’re in the field. I have no idea how you guys operate, but I’m willing to bet there is always someone listening in no matter where the main team is.”
Esther ducked her head, but not before I saw the grin on her face. Jezebel cocked her head to the side, studying me. “Yeah. I like you.” She nodded her head as if she’d proved a point to herself. “You have spunk. I’ll talk to my husband. He has final say.”
“It’s not a request.” I was pushing it, I knew. These women were being nice to me. The club was going to help me find Jerrica. Making demands would get me nowhere, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“I definitely like you.” To my surprise, Jezebel looked proud of me. “Excuse me. I’ll go tell my husband he needs to make a seat at the table for you.” It was possible she was making fun of me. I was at least a decade younger than she and vastly less experienced with the male-dominant aspect of a motorcycle club. But I didn’t think she was. I thought she might respect me for demanding what I wanted. Either way, I hoped it would be enough to get me on the inside. Because, once I found out where Jerrica was, there was no holding back. I’d bring my sister home the second I knew where to go, and damn the consequences.
Unfortunately, finding any of the missing children took time. Time they might not have…
* * *
Iris
They’d been at it for more than two months. El Diablo welcomed me into every meeting they had regarding the situation, and it really seemed to be all they were working on. They were careful how they worded it so none of them sounded like they were glad Jerrica had been taken, but it seemed like Jerrica going missing was the break they needed. Unlike the other children, they had a close timeframe for when Jerrica had been taken, and the trail was fresh. Didn’t mean it was easy going.
Also, one of the men working on finding Jerrica… intrigued me. I didn’t want to notice him. Didn’t want to think about him instead of my sister, but Sting was fascinating to me. He wasn’t as old as the others and seemed unsure of himself at times. Other times, he took charge from men far older and seasoned than he was. I tried not to stare at him, but he was in charge. I justified my preoccupation with him because he had the final decision in anything that happened. The reality was far less noble. I pulled my attention back to Shotgun, needing to keep my eyes on what was important.
“There’s so many roadblocks and hairpin turns, me and Esther are having trouble breaking through.” Unlike most of the time I’d seen Shotgun, he was agitated and frustrated as hell today. “These fuckers better hope someone other than me finds them, ‘cause if I get to deal with them, I’mma throw a motherfucker a beatin’ he’ll never fuckin’ forget.” The normally easygoing man was ready to go to war. Anyone could see that.
“Have you reached out to Giovanni Romano?” Unlike Shotgun, El Diablo was calm as ever.
“Last night. After I realized we were getting nowhere. He said he’d get Bones involved in this too. And Ripper at Salvation’s Bane.”
“Good. With all of us working on this, it’s only a matter of time. Questions?” When no one voiced any, he dismissed everyone.
I followed Shotgun out of the room. He was muttering to himself and seemed none too happy. It was a bad time to bother the man, but I wanted to watch over his shoulder. All the information was coming to him, and I wanted to be there when he got the word Jerrica had been found.
He went to his and Esther’s office, and I was hot on his heels. He did a double take when he went to shut the door and I slipped in before he got it shut.
“Oh, shit! You OK?”