PROLOGUE
Twelve Days to Present
Pandemonium was the only word to describe the scene in the motel room. Pointing an accusatory finger at the club’s treasurer, Ivy “Poison” Benson shouted at Tabs, who was on the bed with her laptop. Tabs, clearly frustrated, had her eyes transfixed to the computer screen, and not at Poison.
Which was only further pissing Poison off.
Mercer was trying to hold back Phoenix, who was trying her damnedest to get to Viper. Though Phoenix’s Knightmare went by the road name of “Ghost”, Poison refused to call him that. She already knew one Ghost, and having to explain which Ghost she was talking about got annoying and Poison did not have time for that bullshit. So “Ghost” was her friend and theVia Daemonia’snew president, while “Mercer” was Phoenix’s lover. And no one would ever change that.
Viper, theNon Cras’road captain, was the only one in the room who appeared calm, though that might have more to do with the absence of emotion on the Cajun woman’s face than a tranquil one.
Gypsy, Scissors, and Sissy were in the corner by the bathroom. Tears streamed down Sissy’s cheeks as she hugged her wife, while Scissors rubbed her arms up and down her Knightmare’s back. Gypsy looked pissed as she talked to Scissors, but Poison wasn’t paying much attention to them. All she cared about was getting some fucking answers.
A shrill whistle rang through the room, making everyone, including Poison, stop what they were doing and stare at the doorway where Wendigo stood with one of her men, Benjamin.
“What the fuck is going on?” she demanded to know.
Anger heated Poison’s veins as she stared across the room at her SAA. She was barely holding it together, but Kitty was outside on the phone with Jack from the Mountain Mutineers to figure out whatheknew. And Poison wasn’t some fucking girly-girl who needed her man to keep her calm and centered anyway. For fuck’s sake. But…even she had to admit, it was nice to have him at her back. He was soothing, if nothing else.
Poison’s jaw ticked in frustration. “If you would answer your fucking phone, you’d already know what is going on!”
Benjamin opened his mouth as if he was going to snap back at Poison, but Wendigo wisely held her man back. She stepped forward. “We were sleeping in, something you,” she pointed at Poison, “told us to do. Now you can stand here and blame me for still being asleepin the fucking morning, or you can tell me what’s going on so I can help.”
Poison stepped out from the other side of the bed. She no doubt looked murderous, but Wendigo didn’t back down. A hand on her arm stopped Poison from charging her SAA, though, and Poison rounded on Scissors. The two shared a stern look that Poison knew well. Scissors had been a prospect with the VDMC when Poison had showed up on the Pennsylvanian club’s doorstep with a pedophile hogtied as a special gift to the club. There was a reason Poison chose Scissors to be her VP. All theNon Crascould be hotheaded, and even unhinged at times.They were all brash, unafraid of challenging authority. Poison didn’t mind club members who spoke out or made their opinions known, but she refused to allow disorder or challenges to her leadership. Scissors had a way of making Poison see the difference between a member being disobedient and being vocal.
But this morning was not the morning to test her, as Wendigo had done. Poison was nowhere evencloseto her normal amount of patience, which Kitty would have laughed and called it her normal amount ofimpatienceif he had access to her inner thoughts. Scissors’ stern expression silently reminded Poison that everyone was short tempered right then, and Wendigo had no idea why.
Poison, begrudgingly, nodded to her VP, and slowly, Scissors dropped her grip on Poison’s arm.
Squaring her shoulders, Poison faced Wendigo and Benjamin again. She was still pissed, but at least she didn’t feel like going for Wendigo’s head anymore.
“MV’s missing,” she informed the couple.
Wendigo’s eyebrows shot up as her jaw dropped. “Why? What? How?”
Pulling out her phone, Poison walked over to them. She pulled up her text message app before turning her screen around to face them.
Unknown: If you’re reading this, they found me. Don’t look for me. I’ll be in touch when I can.
Wendigo stared at the message, likely reading it numerous times. From the way Benjamin’s body curled around hers, Poison knew he was reading it, too. The door behind them opened, and Waya, Benjamin and Wendigo’s partner, slipped into the already crammed motel room.
Wendigo finally looked up from the phone at Poison. “I don’t understand. How do you know it’s from her?”
It was a valid inquiry, even if being questioned irritated Poison.
“For one, we can’t get a hold of her,” Poison answered shortly, repocketing her phone. “For another, my phone’s secure.Sheset it up that way. The only people who have my number are in this room and some of the VDMC.”
Wendigo nodded once, accepting that explanation. “All right. So what do we know? Who found her? She said ‘they’, which means we’re looking at a group.”
Poison’s nostrils flared as she felt the helplessness of the situation stab at her. She was not good at waiting around with her thumb up her ass while others looked for answers. But unless she had someone to pummel, she had no fucking clue where to start looking herself. “Unfortunately, you now know everything we do. Kitty is outside on the phone with Jack from the Mountain Mutineers. I tried getting a hold of Keys, but he’s busy with stuff going on there.” She rounded on the bed. “And so far Tabs has been absolutelyuseless!”
“Hey!” Tabs snapped. She slammed her laptop closed and stood up from the bed, tossing the computer onto the soft mattress. “You think this is easy? I’m anaccountant—or as close to one without a degree,” she clarified. “I’m not some hacker who knows code or some shit. I followmoney trails! I have no idea how to trace a phone number!”
“If you know how to follow money, how hard can it be to track a number?” Poison demanded, even though she knew it was unreasonable.
“I don’t know,” Tabs sneered, her hands on her hips. “You’re the former cop. You know how to shoot a gun. Does that mean you know how to use a military tank?”
Wendigo stepped forward, putting herself between Tabs and Poison. “Enough!” she shouted. To Poison, she said sternly, “It is not fair to demand her to do something out of her skillset andyou know it! I know you care about MV. We all do, but putting the blame on Tabs helps no one.” To Tabs, she asked, “Is there anything youdoknow?”
