Before I met Ryder, I was a lonely, ambitious undercover cop — still trying to do good work — but running into obstacles and corruption at every turn.
Now, we do things our own way. Now, the work we do produces results.
Now, we’re able to ignore the red tape, the oppressive judicial process, the slow-moving monster of investigative units — and actually save the people who ask for our help.
I couldn’t be more proud.
We’d all been through hell and back, but we’d come out stronger, and we were still standing. And I could contribute that resilience to the family we’d become. Outside of Eli and Nate, none of us were related by blood, but none of that mattered. Our bond was just as strong.
I trailed my gaze around the misfits that made up that family — all scattered around the property outside of our clubhouse doing their own thing — and I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. The joy was real and deep, if a touch bittersweet. We’d lost a few loved ones along the way, and it still felt like my heart was being ripped in two when I thought about them, but they remained a huge part of our family, even if they weren’t here.
Hell, sometimes it felt like Doc, who we’d lost so violently, was still around. Even the ghosts of those who’d departed, but were still alive, were still felt. Every single time Lacey made one of Cherry’s famous pies, the fragrance alone was enough to make me think Cherry would be strutting out the front door of the clubhouse at any moment.
I sighed, a wistful tribute to them both, as Ryder leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.
“I love you, babe,” he whispered in my ear, his voice a low growl of emotion meant only for my ears.
“I love you, too,” I replied, just as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it, his brow wrinkling before he answered.
I turned around and watched his face as he answered. “Ryder.”
He listened, his eyes widening before replying. “Where is she?”
His eyes widened even bigger. “Georgia?”
He looked over at me, and my heart sank seeing the worry in his eyes.
“I understand. I need to talk to Grace. I’ll call you right back,” he finally said after a few moments. He shook his head, his brow furrowed.
“What is it?” I prompted.
“Cherry’s in the hospital,” he said, with a rush of breath. I gasped. I’d just been thinking about her.
“Oh, no! What happened?”
Slade and Riot heard him, too, and ran over.
Ryder ran a hand through his hair, and I knew his mind was going a mile a minute.
“That was Cherry’s sister, Hannah. She was in a car accident. In Savannah. But she said Cherry was working on a dangerous case and she wasn’t completely convinced it was an accident.”
“Shit!” Slade growled. “Is she going to be okay?”
“She didn’t know. She’s still unconscious. She flipped her car,” Ryder said.
“That’s awful!” I cried, picking up Sadie and pulling her close. “Did she say anything else?”
“Just that she doesn’t feel safe, and she doesn’t know if Cherry is, either.”
“I’m guessing the local police have been no help?” Riot asked.
“I’m guessing not,” Ryder said. He looked over at me, his eyes asking me the question before his lips could form the words. “Do you think we —?”
“Of course. We should go,” I answered.
“Right,” he nodded, relief flooding his face now that it was decided.
“Y’all can’t go alone,” Riot said.
“I can’t leave Sadie,” I said. “But it might be hard to work with her.”
“I can come,” Lacey said, with a determined smile. “I can watch Sadie, and I’ve always wanted to visit Savannah.”
“Hey,” Slade said, “isn’t Blade from Savannah? Where is he?”
“I’m right here,” Blade said, his long black locks tied back in a tight ponytail. Blade was one of the quiet ones, but he’d been slowly opening up to us all as time went on. But more than most, he tended to keep to himself since he’d joined up with the Gods after his old club dissolved. He rose to his feet from the porch swing, seeming to literally unfold his limbs until he was standing at his full height — at least a good three inches over six feet. I was told that’s where his name came from — his old friends compared him to a tall blade of grass. It was good to know it wasn’t because he carried a blade. Although, that could have been the case too. You never knew with these guys.
“You’re from Savannah, right?” Slade asked again.
“Yeah,” Blade replied, not looking too pleased about the fact. “I grew up there and left as soon as I came to my senses.”
“Think you might be of some help?”
“It’s possible. It’s a small town,” Blade said, before shaking his head. “I’m not exactly gonna win any popularity contests, though.”
“You’ll come with us,” Ryder said, his words clipped and decisive. The concern for Cherry was written all over his face and he’d quickly switched to business mode, crossing off his mental checklist.
“I’ll go pack for us,” I said.
“I’ll help you,” Lacey said.
“We should leave tonight,” Ryder said.
“I’ll go make the plane and hotel reservations,” Riot said.
“Spread us all out,” Ryder replied. “I don’t want us all in one place. If we need to do any real work, it’ll be easier if we pretend not to know each other.”
“Done,” Riot replied, before walking into the clubhouse to go to his office.
I grabbed Ryder’s hand and made him look at me.
“Babe,” I said, pointedly staring into his eyes. “She’s going to be okay. Cherry’s strong as a horse. She’ll get through this.”
“Hell yeah she will,” he said, lifting his chin. He’d told me once that he got through life willing things to happen. He knew you had to take the steps to put things in place, but the sheer determination is where the magic really was.
I kissed him softly and left
