“Darth, Shiloh goes nowhere without you. Understand?” Booth ordered. His reaction was better than mine was. I was still seething with unbridled anger. Somewhere out there, someone had photos of my baby, and I felt more helpless than I had ever felt in my entire life.
“No need to ask, Pres. If Deck can’t be with Shiloh and Charlie, I will be.”
Hearing Charlie’s name, I snapped out of my trance. The last thing I wanted was for Charlie to freak out over this. We didn’t know who it was nor why it was happening, but it was possible she might think it had something to do with her family. We had taken care of her debt payments and got them up to date, but Booth also called in his lawyer and had him send a cease and desist letter to put a stop to all the random extra payments her family kept insisting she owed.
So far, they had complied, and the originally agreed upon terms were back in place, but it could be possible they got their snotty noses out of joint and decided to take a different route.
“Pres, is it possible it could be Charlie’s family?” I asked, voicing my theory.
Booth took only a handful of seconds to consider it, but then quickly shook his head.
“Doesn’t feel right, Sarge. Even if they have looked into Charlie’s relationship with you, there is no way they could know about the businesses owned by the club. Not in the short time between our lawyer sending that letter and the start of all this fuckery.” Booth paused, looking pensive. “No, that’s not the direction we look.”
Steel came closer to the laptop and took a good look.
“Ford, will that military facial recognition software help?” he suddenly asked.
What the fuck? That kind of software was only helpful if the person looked at was in the system.
“Only if their photo is on file somewhere,” Ford answered with what I had been thinking.
Steel didn’t seem to be listening. His steely glare was on the grainy photo of the SUV, hence his nickname. The best damn sniper in the commandos. Steel could see a target a mile away and never missed. He kept our arses safe and alive more than once. So, on this, I was going with him.
“What are you seeing, brother?” I asked him. I didn’t take my eyes off the computer screen, hoping what Steel saw was something important.
“Steel? What’s got you?” Booth questioned quietly. We rarely yelled or shouted at each other. Other motorcycle clubs may carry on like that, and sure, we did at times when the moment called for it, but mostly, for us, it was only in fun or to bust someone’s chops. However, in situations like this, we stood back and let the training take over.
Each of us had a specialty, and we took those specialties seriously.
Steel finally broke free from his concentration, but his look was not one of triumph. Instead, he looked utterly devastated. Pointing at the image of the vehicle sitting in front of the gun shop, he then looked up at us—especially looking at Creed.
“Tell me that isn’t what I think it is, Creed?” Steel asked with his finger now on the screen and sitting on the image of the person, specifically at the arm.
Creed leaned in closer and took a real close look. His facial expression changed almost instantly. His look of bewilderment and annoyance morphed into complete and total disbelief. He almost staggered back from the desk.
“Holy fucking shit. No fucking way.” Creed sounded like he really didn’t want to believe what they were seeing. And I mean they because I still saw shit. What I saw was a black blob type of detail on the forearm. My heart was screaming that it wanted to know what the fuck it was they were talking about. My soldier’s mind was telling me to wait.
Ford, however, had never been one for mind games, and he let them know it.
“Will you two stop talking in fucking code, and tell me what the fuck you are seeing?” Ford shouted, exasperated with our former commando snipers, too.
Yeah, what he said.
Steel looked over to Booth, then to me. Then he rolled up his shirtsleeve to reveal the tattoo on his forearm. Creed then held out his arm, and his tattoo was the exact same as the one on Steel’s arm—a sniper rifle with a pair of dog tags wound intricately around the barrel of the rifle.
“We got these after we finished sniper training just before we joined the fifth commando regiment.” Something about Creed’s tone had me very worried. My mouth was dry, my brain was starting to catch up, but Jesus Christ, I hoped I wasn’t on the right path. It couldn’t be.
“Me, Creed, and five others have this same tattoo. I designed it, and we used our actual dog tag numbers for the tattoos.” Steel sounded shattered.
All of us were silent as we stared at the tattoos and then back at the screen, the second square on the screen our only target. Finally, our former commanding officer and current club president said the thing no one else wanted to. I knew I sure as fuck didn’t want to say it.
Booth had a look of fury on his face as he still stared at the laptop. “It’s one of our own.” He growled.
28
CHARLOTTE
“Look at me, Char,” Shiloh yelled at me for what seemed like the hundredth time since we got to the park. Deck’s little treasure was so full of beans today. She’d woken up this morning bouncing and ready to go. Most people would want to spend a day off from school lying in bed and being lazy, but I didn’t want to be anywhere else but here with Shiloh. I adored her. And not just because I was crazy in love with her father. Shiloh had made her way into my heart well before I first laid eyes on my soldier man.
“I’m looking, baby. You are so clever,” I praised her. This park was her favourite because of the huge wooden play fort with its ladders, firefighter’s poles, and the suspended bridges. She loved to run from one end to the other, and then stand in the turrets to yell at me to watch her. I didn’t know where she found her energy. Just this morning, we spent an hour dancing around the dance room Deck and the others had set up for Shiloh and me. He even put in a couple of poles for exercise and so Rainn, and I could make up routines for her. Even though I hated every minute of being on Shifty’s stage, I found I really enjoyed the actual exercise of pole dancing. So Deck said as long as Shiloh didn’t see any tits and ass, we could have it in the room.
Without taking my eyes off Shiloh, who was now climbing the rope ladder, I sat down on the soft green grass under a tree and watched my beautiful little dancer happy and enjoying the day.
29
DECK
A fucking fellow soldier.
I was having a hard time trying to digest what just went down in the war room. The code between comrades was something that should never be broken, and now it looked like a rogue soldier was targeting us. Well, let’s just say, we were all reeling from that shit. Especially Steel and Creed. Since they pointed the tattoo out, I could see it plain as day—except for the number on the dog tag. That would be too fucking easy.
Walking into the main room, my eyes searched for Shiloh and Charlie. Not finding them, I went in the direction of the new dance room I had set up for them and the other girls in the club. Smiling to myself as I walked, I thought about the private showing I would be getting from my sweetness as she wrapped herself around a pole. I was more than happy to see her swinging her butt, only in private this time. The memories of Gypsies still plagued me.
I found the dance room void of my girls, and after a quick search of the rooms, I came up the same.
“Where the hell are they?”
I jogged back to the main room and walked through to the kitchen. I found Stella up to her elbows, literally, in cookie dough and went straight to her.
“Stella, have you seen Charlie and Shiloh?”
Stella didn’t stop mixing what was in the bowl. “No, Deck. I saw them about thirty minutes ago when Charlotte grabbed two apples and some waters, then took off out into the main room.”
“Thanks, honey.” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple. Her smile seemed strained but there. I also noticed a yellowing under her jaw, but I blew it off as fo
od colouring from the icing used on the cookies. My focus was finding my girls. The shit with the security footage left me with a desperate need to have them close.
As I passed by the pool table, Seb stopped me.
“Wanna play, Deck?”
“Nah, brother, just heading to Shiloh’s playground out back to see if I can find my girls,” I explained from nearly halfway to the other side of the room.
“They aren’t out there, Deck. Teach and Shiloh headed out a bit ago for that park Shiloh loves so much,” Squid piped up.
My steps instantly faltered. Turning around, I stomped back to where they were playing pool.
“Did anyone go with them?” I asked, grinding my teeth. I was nearly ready to tear someone a new arsehole. How could they let her take off without a detail? I knew they had no idea about what was happening with the rogue soldier, but they fucking knew Shiloh never went anywhere without protection.
My mind was screaming at me to get to them fast. I took off at a dead run and shouted out to Darth, who was coming out of the kitchen with a large sandwich in his hand.
“Shiloh and Charlie are at the park exposed. No one on them.” I didn’t bother to stop. I knew he would follow right behind me.
Darth growled, “Fuck.”
I made it to the parking lot and then heard Darth behind me.
“Fuck! Brother, they went on foot.”
I looked around and saw my truck was still in the parking space.
“Goddammit.”
My heart was beating out of my chest. I’d just seen my little girl on a security screen being watched by some fucker with a camera and a grudge. And I was scared. I could face bullets and bombs with my eyes closed. Facing the fact that my daughter and woman might be in danger and knowing I wasn’t there to protect them? No fucking way could I face that.
Jumping on my bike, I fired her up and took off, spewing gravel as I left. I saw Darth jump into his truck and pull out behind me. All I could think was that they were walking and someone could have taken them already. There were endless possibilities as to which way an abductor could go, I wouldn’t know where to start looking. Feeling the tightness in my chest growing and growing, I doubled down on the throttle and wove my way through the light traffic.
In my mirrors, I could see Darth keeping up with me, keeping the truck on my left. I then noticed three other bikes closing in quickly. Booth, Creed and Mannix. The four men I depended on for my life had my back, and that made all the difference to me.
Finally, we arrived at the park. Knowing Shiloh loved the merry-go-round and the massive adventure playground, I quickly deduced where to begin my search. The two were close together, so without too much thought, I lowered the bike’s stand and just barely made sure the bike was still upright before I took off. I could hear multiple footfalls behind me.
“Split up, and circle the whole area, boys,” Booth boomed out the order. And they complied immediately.
I kept my sights on the merry-go-round. I didn’t know how many hours I had spent there, watching Shiloh going around and around. Her giggles always filled the air, but as I approached, I noticed it was empty. No one was there.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Where are you, Squirt? I repeated over and over in my head.
I cupped my hands over my mouth, and at the top of my lungs, I shouted, “Shiloh.”
In the distance, I could hear my team yelling her name.
As I sprinted towards the playground, I prayed they were there. When I arrived, Booth and the others were already there. Creed and Mannix were on the ladders, climbing to get a better vantage point of the park.
“Shiloh. Charlie.” My voice was becoming hoarse from yelling out their names, but I couldn’t stop. Finding them was my only option.
My phone started to ring in my pocket, and the ‘Paint It Black’ ringtone pierced the silence of the nearly deserted park. Hoping it was Charlie, I neglected to look at the caller ID.
“Charlie?” I nearly shouted into the phone.
But a distorted voice was on the other end. “Looking for someone, Sergeant?”
I could tell whoever was on the other end was using a voice changer. It was coming out like a digital robot.
“Who the fuck is this?” I shouted. My voice was full of so much anger that it caught the attention of my fellow brothers.
“Put it on speakerphone so the others can hear, or I will hang up, and you will never know where they are,” the disembodied voice demanded.
Taking the phone from my ear, I pressed the speakerphone option. “Okay, we can all hear you.”
Creed and Mannix had joined us. I was ready to fucking spit nails. This fucker was playing games, and I just wanted to find my baby girl, then hold her and never let her go.
“You boys look a little distressed. Have you lost something? Perhaps a pretty blonde with smallish tits, nice arse, and a decent face? And perhaps a cute little black-haired girl wearing a ballet tutu and chunky black boots?” A laugh erupted from the phone, sounding distorted just like the voice.
I saw red.
“Listen to me, you fucking prick. You touch them, and I will—”
“You’ll what?” he interrupted me. The laughter was gone from his tone, and I could hear his anger. “You can’t do fucking shit to me. I have all the power. I can take everything away from you like you took everything from me. I can see those two pretties of yours right now. In my sights. It won’t take much to pull the trigger and take them both out with one shot.” Another laugh, and then he hung up.
“Where is my daughter?” I screamed at the silent phone. Looking up, I saw Darth was panting with anger. The others weren’t doing much better. Someone was playing us, but the fucker was using my woman and child to fuck with us.
Had he shot them already? He said he had them in his sights. The very thought literally brought me to my knees. The sharp cobblestones of the path bit into my flesh. I noticed Creed had taken off for the ladders again. I couldn’t breathe. The pain in my chest was making it impossible to take in a deep gulp of air. I raked my fingers through my hair and let out a growl.
“Shiloh, where are you?” I screamed again. I vaguely heard Booth on the phone to Ford, telling him to tap into the security cameras the local council had put up around various areas of the park.
“Fuck me, Deck. Deck, there they are,” Creed yelled from his vantage point high up on the wooden structure. “There is a dark blue SUV parked about one hundred metres from them,” he cried out at the same time as he scrambled down the ladder.
I quickly rose to my feet and took off after Darth, who had a head start on me. My legs were still a bit unsteady from falling to my knees. All six of us were running faster than we ever had before. Steel wasn’t as quick because of his leg, but he was no slouch. Mannix, Booth, and Steel broke off and headed straight for the SUV. Darth and I only had eyes for the two people who had no idea they were sitting in the crosshairs of a sniper rifle.
Pumping my arms harder, I tried to gain speed any way I could. I was still a good five hundred metres from them, and one thing I couldn’t outrun was a bullet. As I got closer, I saw the girls were eating what looked to be ice cream and were giggling together.
“Charlie, get the fuck down,” I shouted as loudly as I could when in a dead run.
Charlie looked towards us, and a look of shock crossed over her face as her eyes took in Darth and me running towards her. Then she must have seen Booth, Creed, Mannix, and Steel running towards a car because understanding dawned on her face. She instantly gathered Shiloh into her arms and put her back to the car, putting herself in the firing line. My heart swelled at her gesture, her natural instinct to protect my child, but what she didn’t realise was the bullet from that particular rifle was capable of going through her and into Shiloh.
“Daddy!” Shiloh finally saw me and happily yelled out my name. She broke out of Charlie’s embrace and started to run to me.
Oh, fuck. No, no, no, no.
Ignoring the burnin
g of my lungs from sprinting so far, I pushed a bit stronger and made it to Shiloh, grabbed her in my arms, and threw us to the ground, rolling so she was on top of me to protect her from any kind of impact. Her tiny body hugged into mine.
As I rolled, I saw Darth grab Charlie in the exact same way, rolling so he took all the impact of the fall. Her shriek penetrated my overloaded brain. Was she hurt? Did she get hit? But I couldn’t form the words to ask. My little girl was in my arms, thank fuck.
I felt wetness against my chest, and for a second, I panicked, thinking Shiloh or I had been hit. Still cradling her head and body to me, I lifted my other hand and saw it was covered with a chocolate coloured muck.
Fucking ice cream.
In the distance, I heard a high-powered engine rev and tyres screeching. Hearing Booth’s and Creed’s cursing, I guessed the fucker got away.
“Daddy, youse is crushing my icy cream,” Shiloh cried indignantly at me.
Oh, Jesus Christ, save me. My breathing was out of control, my chest covered with ice cream, my knees and now my elbows skinned from the tackle, but my daughter was in my arms and pissed off at me for destroying her dessert.
I couldn’t help it. I let out a loud bellow, more from relief than anything else because it certainly wasn’t funny.
“Sorry, Squirt. Let’s get up and see if we can save it.” My voice felt like I’d eaten gravel. I needed a drink, badly. My lungs were screaming.
“That was fun, Daddy. Can we doos it again?” my pint-sized pain in the arse begged, not understanding the gravity of the situation at all.
“Like hell,” Booth muttered, coming over to see for himself that Shiloh was indeed okay. Darth came over, too, and his eyes scanned my baby girl with his medic-trained glare, making sure a bullet or the tackle hadn’t hurt her. His hand searched and found a small cut on her arm. There must have been glass or something on the ground when I went down because her little arm had a two-centimetre gash on the top of her forearm.
HIS SWEETNESS Page 16
