by Jade Kuzma
The blond nodded with a smile on her lips, whatever she was thinking about putting her in a good mood. “I’m just the opposite of you. I grew up in the city. Never bothered coming to Ivory until… life brought me here. I met the MC and Micah. I can’t imagine being anywhere else now.”
“It’s not that simple though. I know what it’s like to be with a club member. I know what kind of expectations come with being an old lady.”
“The only expectations Micah has of me is that I’m happy. And seeing him happy does that for me.”
“How do you it though? Knowing that he’s out there risking himself. Not knowing what kind of danger he’s facing.”
Audrey twisted her lips in thought and shrugged. “I trust him. I trust him to remember that I love him. When he tells me I’m the most important thing in the world to him, I believe it. And that’s reason enough for me to know he’ll do whatever it takes not to get himself into too much trouble. Besides, the MC is watching his back. The Cobras never get themselves into something deep they can’t dig their way out.”
Audrey had a confidence about her that I admired. I wouldn’t have known it from just looking at her.
“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore,” I sighed. “All I want is for Sage to come back then I can head back to the city.”
“You and Teddy… You sure there’s not still anything there?” She raised an eyebrow at me, trying not so subtly to read my feelings. I was too old to let something like that work on me though.
“Theo and I tried before. It didn’t work. We moved on. It’s for the best.”
“If that’s the way you feel, that’s the way you feel. Just as long as you’re being honest with yourself.” She got up from her seat. “I’ve got a graveyard shift at the hospital tonight. Gonna go home and take a nap. If you’re around, maybe we can have a drink.”
“Yeah… That’d be fun.”
Audrey gave me a wink and left the clubhouse, leaving me alone in a bar filled with enough testosterone and pheromones to give me a headache. I sighed as I stayed leaning up against the bar. I clutched my phone tight in my palm.
Theo. Bradford. Moore. A complete stranger. I was desperate for any piece of information that would get me a step closer to Sage. I closed my eyes and pressed an index finger against my temple to stop the headache from coming.
“Have a drink. It’ll help with that.”
I looked to the side and saw Doc taking a seat next to me. He was the oldest member of the Cobras. You could tell that just by looking at him. But that also meant he was the one man in the room I didn’t have to be concerned with.
“I don’t think I could drink,” I said. “Not with everything going on.”
“Your daughter is safe. Having a drink won’t—”
“I know, I know. Worrying about her won’t get me any closer to her. Theo mentioned something similar the other day. I just need to keep my head straight. The liquor I had earlier isn’t a good distraction. Not worth it.”
“Just got word from him. He’s heading back from the meeting.”
“What? What did he say—”
“Relax, Summer. Everything is fine. Nothing happened to him. Said he’s got the information he needs on Sage. Most importantly, she’s safe.”
I breathed a sigh of relief though I knew the hardest part was still ahead of me.
“Teddy will be here any second now…”
I put my head down to relax as best I could. Even with the noise in the bar beginning to grow, all I could think about was what Theo was gonna tell me when he got back.
“He still loves you, you know…”
Doc said it so suddenly, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. I raised my head up and look him in the eye. There was a slight grin on his lips.
“What?”
“He loves you.”
“I know… Theo still cares about me. He wouldn’t be doing any of this if that wasn’t the case. But what we had in the past is in the past. He got over me.”
“Nah, he hasn’t. After you left, the guy was a wreck… for about 24 hours. Then you know what happened?”
“What?”
“He stopped caring. He started banging every girl in sight. One girl. Two girls. Three girls at the same time.”
“Doc… Is this really something I need to be hearing right now?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Teddy did all of that because he was trying to get over you. Hell, he’s still doing it. He might tell you he got over you but he’s lying. Otherwise, he would’ve settled down by now.”
“Why… Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I know you feel the same way about him, too.”
“Ha!” I scoffed at the thought. My scoff was followed by a laugh. But as soon as I started to smile, Doc didn’t. He just stared at me like he was trying to probe my thoughts.
“You two have got something. Shame if you threw it away.”
“I know what it’s like to be an old lady. I’m not that. I could never be that for Theo. Besides, that’s not important right now. All I care about is Sage.”
“You’re right. Figured I’d let you know. Just do me a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Be honest. If not for him, at least for yourself. Living a lie ain’t no way to live… He’ll be here soon, Summer.” Doc excused himself and left me alone at the bar again with my thoughts. I didn’t bother trying to analyze what he just told me even though I had nothing else to do at the moment. I couldn’t afford to let anything distract me.
Thankfully, Theo walked through the entrance with Rex right behind him. Neither man looked any worse than from the last time I saw them. I jumped up from my seat and walked over as fast as I could.
“What happened? Was it him? Was it… Moore?”
Theo hesitated for a second, a soft sigh through his nose. He looked over at Rex, who nodded back to him. “It was Moore.”
“What did he say? Where’s Sage—”
“Sage is fine. Moore won’t lay a finger on her because if he does, he knows I’ll break it. That and he won’t get his money.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“He gave me this.” Theo held up the cell phone in his hand. “He told me to get his money for him. When I’ve got it, I give him a call and we set up the exchange. The money for Sage.”
Knowing I was one step closer to get back to her gave me some of the relief I needed.
“I told him we were gonna get your daughter back.” Theo gave me a smile that made me do the same. A part of me wanted to lean forward and wrap my arms around him. But while I struggled with what to do, my phone suddenly vibrated in my hand. I looked down and saw the message. Everything else I was thinking about suddenly left me.
“Who is it?” Theo asked.
“It’s Detective Bradford. He wants to talk.”
Chapter 11
THEO
I took Summer to the police station where Bradford was waiting. Just because we were surrounded by cops didn’t mean she was any safer. I kept my guard up in the meeting room. I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed while Bradford sat across from her.
He eyeballed me for a second before turning his attention to Summer.
“Thanks for coming,” he said. “How are you doing?”
“Fine. I’m… fine—”
“Don’t act like you don’t already know the answer to that,” I said. “You’ve been following Summer ever since she got into town. You’re not doing a very good job of it.”
Bradford sighed softly, not bothering to try and hide what was so obvious.
“Go on,” I said. “She ain’t got time to waste.”
“No, she doesn’t. Summer, Moore has your daughter. The only way we’re gonna get him out in the open is if you give him the ransom. It took me longer than I wanted but everything is all set. I’ve talked to my department and I talked to Sheriff Sutton here in Ivory. All you have to do is s
et a meeting with Moore. Tell him you have the money and you’ll get your daughter back.”
“How do you know we can even set up a meeting with Moore? Summer hasn’t even told you whether or not Moore has tried to get in touch with her.”
I kept my eyes locked on him. As hard as the bastard wanted to seem, he couldn’t hide anything from me.
“The only way you’d know is if you were in on it or—”
“You’re a person of interest, Miller.” He turned his attention back to me. “If you insist on being involved in this, then you’re just as much of a threat to Sage’s safety as Moore is.”
“Threat? I’m the only one who cares about the little girl. You’re just doing it because it’s your assignment.”
“If you really think I want any harm to come to an innocent little girl then you’re insane.”
“Guys! Please!” Summer raised her voice and stopped the tension from rising any further. “I just wanna get my daughter. I’ll do whatever it takes. I don’t care.”
“All right then.” Bradford got up from his seat and put his hands in his pockets. “We know you can get in contact with Moore, Summer. Call him. Tell him you have the ransom he wants. Schedule a meeting. A switch. Sage for the money. Once you get your daughter back, we’ll take him down. We’ll be with you every step of the way. You’ll be safe the entire time. Neither you or your daughter will ever be in danger.”
“Ha…” I scoffed and shook my head. “All your plan is gonna do is make Moore go running off.”
“And I suppose you have a better plan?”
“Moore is a piece of shit but he’s not an idiot. He knows the first thing Summer did when she got his message was go to the cops. He’ll be expecting some kinda setup. He’s not just gonna hand Sage over. Not unless he gets his money and he knows he can get away with it.”
“You haven’t answered my question, Miller.”
I looked at Summer. She’d been mostly quiet this entire time. Knowing she was close to putting an end to this probably put her more on edge than ever before. Seeing how worried she was just made me more determined to see this shit through.
“Leave the cops out of this,” I said to her. “Let the MC handle it. We’ll make the exchange. The Cobras will give him the money and make sure Sage is safe.”
“And what’s the difference between your plan and mine?” Bradford said.
“The difference is Moore isn’t stupid enough to think Summer is gonna give him some ransom all by herself. He sees her alone, he’ll know it’s a setup.”
“And he’ll trust your MC?”
“He’ll trust us enough to know that if we try anything, it won’t be because we wanna take him to jail.”
Bradford straightened up, his hands in his pockets as he walked toward me. He moved right to my face, raising his head up and looking down his nose at me. It didn’t matter how young he was. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t from Ivory. Pigs always had that same pompous stink you could smell from a mile away.
“You don’t know what kind of man Moore is,” he said. “You don’t know how much security he’s working with. Your MC doesn’t have the resources to deal with the unexpected.”
“The only thing I’m expecting is for Moore to put up a fight. Some red dot on his chest. Some siren in the distance. Some bug in the briefcase with all of the money. Moore catches a whiff of anything and he’ll know it’s a set up.” I turned toward Summer. “If I make the exchange with Moore, he’ll know exactly who he’s dealing with. I’ll get Sage back to you even if it kills me. Can you say the same thing, Bradford?”
I turned back toward the detective. He still had that quiet arrogance about him.
“I’m not trying to get anybody killed,” he said. “But it’s your call, Summer. You can let Miller make the exchange for you and trust he’ll keep Sage safe or—”
“No.” Summer shook her head, her eyes locked on me. “I won’t risk either of you. No cops. No MC. Sage is my responsibility. Roger… Roger made a mistake. I’ll fix it. I’ll be the one to give him the ransom.”
“I’ll have every man on the case making sure you’re safe. You’ll have eyes on you 100-percent of the time. Moore even thinks about trying anything, we’ll be on him.”
Summer kept staring at me the whole time Bradford was blabbering. I wanted to say something but bit my tongue. It was her decision to make and I wouldn’t make her change her mind.
I reached into my pocket and tossed her the phone Moore gave me. “Make sure these assholes don’t make you do anything you don’t wanna do. Don’t trust anybody, Summer. Not even me.”
Summer swallowed hard and nodded.
“I need to talk to you,” Bradford said to me. “Just give me one second, Summer. Then we’ll set up the switch.”
I didn’t give him a look as I stepped out of the meeting room and into the hall. The detective followed right behind me. Even though he had no expression on his face, he still seemed smug about Summer choosing him over me.
“What do you want, Bradford?”
“I know you’re not happy about the situation—”
“Why would I be happy about it? You’re sending an innocent woman to meet up with a convicted criminal who’s holding her three-year-old daughter for ransom.”
“Three-year-old… What are you talking about? Sage is four.”
“Sage is four… You’re trying to save a girl and you don’t even know how old she is—”
“Look, Miller. You don’t have to like me. You don’t have to be my friend. All I care about is making sure Summer and her daughter are safe. You don’t have to believe me. Frankly, I don’t care. But it’s the truth. Once I know they’re safe, then I’ll focus on taking Moore down.”
“Moore’s not stupid enough to walk into a trap—”
“Don’t… try anything. We’ve got men who have years of experience on the case. You and your MC show up, you’ll mess everything up. Summer made her decision.”
“Yeah… Yeah, she did.”
“I want to make it clear to you I’ll do everything I can to make sure she’s safe.”
I took a step toward him and poked my finger into his chest. “Let me make one thing clear to you. If anything happens to Summer or Sage, you’ll regret it. I don’t give a damn if you’re a police detective.”
“Are you really threatening me right now, Miller?”
“It’s not a threat. It’s just a reminder to do your fucking job.”
“I’ll get it done. That was Summer’s decision. Respect her decision.”
There was nothing more I could say to get my point across. I didn’t give the bastard another look as I turned around and headed out of the police station. As soon as I got outside, I pulled my phone out and gave Rex a call.
“What’s up?”
“Summer’s working with the cops. They’re gonna set up a deal to give Moore the ransom money for Sage.”
“Cobras?”
“No go. She said she doesn’t wanna risk the MC. Wanted to do it herself.”
“Shit… You’re not really gonna let Summer walk into a meeting with a piece of shit like Moore with the fucking cops watching her back, are you?”
If it were anybody else, shit would’ve been an easy decision to make. But there was still a part of me holding back. I couldn’t fuck this up for Summer. Not when everything was on the line.
“Yo, Teddy. You there? What are you gonna do?”
“Shit… Just keep your eyes and ears open. If Summer doesn’t tell me, we’ll find out where that meeting is being held.”
“Don’t worry, brother. Moore won’t get away with this shit. Even if we have to do it ourselves.”
Chapter 12
SUMMER
The phone call was made. Moore gave me a set of coordinates I could plug into my GPS. I put the money down and I would see Sage again.
Detective Bradford assured me he would be with me every step of the way. Even though it seemed like he was doing everything he c
ould, I wasn’t completely comfortable. How could I be? Some asshole had my daughter and there was no telling if the ransom money would be enough to satisfy him.
As I sat in the back of the cab and looked at the small duffel bag Bradford had prepared for me, my heart thumped harder and harder in my chest. I closed my eyes and swallowed as if it would help but nothing could calm my nerves.
It’s okay. You’ll see her again. Everything will be all right.
The taxi ride was bumpy as we headed out of Ivory. The buildings disappeared. There was no traffic on the empty road. Moore picked a place where nobody else was.
I was anxious to see my daughter again. At the same time, I didn’t want the ride to end. I didn’t wanna walk into the danger I was heading toward. I didn’t wanna think something might happen to her.
“We’re here.”
I didn’t even realize the cab had come to a stop. I opened my eyes and looked around. There was nothing in the nighttime darkness around me except for the abandoned farmland. Ivory was a small town. A history of farmers who’d moved on meant it was surrounded by nothing but open fields and empty barns.
I stepped out of the taxi, my heart thumping so hard inside of my chest I could hear it. I kept my eyes locked on my GPS and walked closer and closer to the destination. Eventually, I reached the point and felt the phone I was given vibrate in my pocket.
“Leave the money in the barn to your right.”
I looked to the side and saw the barn next to me. It was disturbing enough not knowing what was inside. But Moore knew where I was. He was watching me from somewhere. I looked around, trying to find him.
Where is he?
I was trying to figure out where Bradford was, too. I was the only person out in the open. I’d never felt so vulnerable in my life.
I headed toward the barn and got another message.
“Next to the doorway. Drop the money and leave.”
“Hey!” I shouted. “Where is she? You’re not getting your money until I see her.”
“Drop the money and leave. Or else.”
I felt helpless as I read the response. I reluctantly dropped the money down inside of the barn and stepped out. I walked back into the open field and looked in every direction, desperate for any sign of her.
