No chance of anyone hearing or finding us.
We all took seats at the worn round table. A single, yellowed bulb hung from the ceiling and cast a hazy glow over our faces.
It never failed that the second we sat around this table, the mood shifted. The easiness the rest of my crew wore evaporating into the shadows. Instantly replaced with the grim fervency this job required.
River stretched out his left fist that was tattooed with the same design we all shared, but at the top of the hilt of his dagger sat a crown since he was the one who had set this whole thing into motion.
Our secret society borne in the depraved streets that we’d ruled when we rode with the Iron Owls MC.
We all put our fists out to meet with River’s.
“I call to order this meeting of Sovereign Sanctum,” River intoned as he looked around at our mismatched family.
Each of us so different yet so much the same.
For years, we each had a specified role.
River, a dark deliverer who extracted the women and children from their dire situations and brought them here before they forever disappeared.
Their identities changed so they could live out a life in peace without the monsters who tormented them.
Otto, a burly motherfucker who would be the one to transport the families to their new homes.
Kane, our launderer. The four bars he owned used as a cover for the money we bled dry from the fiends who had harmed their families. That was if we left them living.
Theo, who owned and lived at The Sanctuary. The protector who watched over those under our wing in the interim while they were given time to readjust. To hide and to heal the best that they could.
Then there was me.
The hacker.
The one who could create new identities like the flip of a switch and erase the existence of others with a few strokes of my fingers across my keyboard. One who could siphon, pilfer, and steal every cent from the corrupt so we had the funds to support the projects that we did.
I was also responsible for filtering through the submissions and messages from the few trusted counselors and crisis lines that we’d brought into our fold. The ones who reported to us the direst of situations.
But since every single one of my brothers had gotten tied to their women, their families, the roles had shifted a bit. Each of us stepped in for each other whenever necessary since we wanted to keep those who had families out of the line of fire the best that we could.
In theory, we would sneak the women and children out of their abusive homes unnoticed, but there were ample instances when it didn’t go to plan and we had to fight it out.
Blood drawn and bodies put in the ground.
I’d taken to doing most of the dirty work.
But I was only one man, and I couldn’t stand in every position, though I had been giving it my best. Still wasn’t sure how any of this was going to play out. How we were going to keep up the way we’d been doing when it put my brothers and their families at risk.
Only thing I knew for sure was we would always stand for each other.
River looked directly at me. “What’s going on?”
Agitation blistering through my veins, I rocked in my chair. “Know this is outside our normal parameters, but Silas came to me, asking me to find his sister after he hadn’t heard from her in a few days.”
A ripple of unease rolled through my crew.
Silas might not have been a part of Sovereign Sanctum, but he was part of our crew. Our brother. A piece of us from back in the day. He and his MC, Crimson Crows, had helped to get Theo’s wife, Piper, out of harm’s way this last Christmas.
No way we weren’t going to stand up for him.
Worry whipped through Theo. “You find her?”
