My phone vibrated in my purse as I was sending the last email.
A whimper escaped when I saw who it was. “How did you know I needed to hear from you?”
“I didn’t, but I thought you might like to stop by on your way home. I heard—” He sighed. “I mean, I really wanted to see you.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I lock up.” My head dropped into my hands as I massaged my temples.
“See you soon,” he said, then the call ended.
For a few hours, I needed to lose myself in the bearded biker that had the ability to make me forget all the bullshit. The man who was able to destroy me in the best of ways.
Snow
“Hunt You Down”—Saliva
As I shoved my phone in my back pocket, I raked a hand through my hair. I’d nearly slipped up and given away the fact that we had access to police comms traffic. When I heard about their elopement, I had Hacker on it as soon as they’d made the call to law enforcement.
Once I got home, I planned to talk to Baker to see what he’d heard. Though it wasn’t county, the Leon was on the edge of town and bordered the city limits. They had been called in because Danielle had gone through the trees into county territory.
“Still nothing. I’ve searched every camera in town that records. I’ve looked at everything from before she was last seen to about ten minutes ago. I checked buses, cabs, hotels, you name it. It’s like the kid vanished.” Hacker ran a tatted hand down his face before he fell back in his chair.
“Thanks, brother. I appreciate you staying late for this. Now get out of here. I’m sure Kassi and the kids are waiting on you.”
“I have some programs running that will notify me if she pops up anywhere in the area through facial recognition.” He stood from his desk with the multiple monitors. I nodded.
“Sounds good. I’m gonna have the guys keeping their eyes peeled too. Will you be in tomorrow morning? I wanna have a brief church to discuss this.”
He nodded. “Yeah, but only for a few hours. Sebastian has a doctor’s appointment that I want to be there for.”
His oldest kid had been a preemie, and they monitored his development closely. He was a pretty awesome and wild little kid. One who made it easy to forget he’d been touch and go for the first several months of his life.
“Roger that. I’m out too.”
We walked to the bikes, and as I reached for my helmet, Soap, Reaper, Hollywood, and Blue walked out of the shop next door. Leaving the brain bucket hanging on the handle, I waited until they got to the bikes.
“Hey, Prez, you heard about the kid at the Leon?” Reaper asked with a furrowed brow.
“Yeah, I’ve had Hacker looking into it. I was gonna send out a message for you all to be watchful and to call church for tomorrow. Truthfully, I wanted to have us get on our bikes and scour town, but I don’t think that will get us anywhere. I think she may have run off, and if she did, she’s long gone,” I muttered.
“I don’t like it,” said Hollywood, devoid of his usual grin. Soap stood next to his bike but made no move to leave.
“Trust me, neither do I,” I said before pulling my helmet over my head and securing the strap. I lifted my bike from the kickstand and flipped it up. The center was successful, and kids rarely ran off—maybe one every few years. Yet this was the fourth one this year. Polly had been beside herself before she left. Restless energy surged through me. “You staying here tonight, Soap?”
“Yeah. Blue and I are gonna have a few beers and shoot some pool,” he said as his eyes dropped to the ground and he gripped the back of his neck. I knew why he wanted to stay; I wasn’t stupid. But I hoped he knew what the fuck he was doing.
“What time tomorrow?” Reaper asked as he swung a leg over his seat.
“Bright and early. Zero eight. Hacker has somewhere to be, so I want to be done in time for him to go.” Everyone nodded or gave a chin lift.
“Hey, Prez, Steph wanted me to invite you for dinner. I almost forgot with all this crap.” Reaper slid his shades on and looked my direction.
“Think I’m just gonna head home.” There was something I needed more than food. Though Steph’s cooking was to die for, it wouldn’t satisfy the craving I had. “Tell her I said thanks.” With that, I started my engine, revved the throttle, and pulled out. The roar of bikes followed me as Reaper pulled alongside and the others fell in behind.
One by one, we split off in different directions.
By the time I got to my house, I needed to burn off some restless energy something fierce. I was relieved to see my porch light on. A tired grin lifted the corner of my mouth when I saw that light.
Hailey had a remote to my garage so she could park her car in there when she was here. She wanted to believe no one would know she was coming over. I snorted as I parked in my driveway. She obviously didn’t know how small towns worked.
Deciding I could talk to Baker in the morning, I sent him a text, then got off my bike and headed up my walk.
When I went inside, I smelled something delicious. The scent led me to the kitchen.
“Did you cook?” I asked as she was carrying two plates to the table.
A huff of dry laughter escaped her. “Not hardly. I stopped and grabbed Chinese.”
“Good enough for me,” I said as I approached her when she set the food down.
My hand curled around her neck, and I gave her what was supposed to be a brief
