“You totally are.” Ghost pointed at him accusingly. “You already got the protective husband routine down.” Buck flipped him off without heat.
Ghost’s grin softened into something more genuine. “For what it’s worth—” Buck looked over at him again. “I think she loves you, too.”
Emotion flickered across Buck’s face too fast for most people to catch, but Ghost saw it anyway. “She loves both of us,” Buck corrected. “And if I’m planning a future, it’s with both of you, Ghost. You got it?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it,” Ghost agreed, not hiding his smile. He had been thinking about a life with them both since Wren walked into the damn clubhouse. He was just happy to hear that he and Buck were on the same page now.
Then the radio crackled violently between them; Reaper’s voice cut through the static. “We got movement near the ridge.”
Buck’s entire posture sharpened instantly. “How many? Reaper didn’t respond immediately, and Buck shouted, “How many?” again.
“Shit,” Reaper breathed. “Looks like they’re moving hostages.”
The second Reaper said they were moving hostages; every instinct Ghost had gone feral. Buck slammed the truck into a harder gear immediately, tires spitting snow across the frozen road while the engine roared beneath them.
“How many?” Buck barked into the radio.
Static crackled back in response. “Three trucks are leaving the warehouse perimeter,” Reaper answered. “Looks like transport vehicles.” Ghost’s stomach twisted viciously because transport vehicles meant that they were relocating them, and relocation meant girls disappearing forever. And if Wren gotmoved, finding her again in northern territory would become a nightmare.
“They’re running,” Ghost muttered.
Buck’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “No, we won’t let them.” Ghost looked over sharply.
Buck’s eyes stayed locked on the storm ahead. “They’re splitting assets.” Understanding hit instantly.
“It’s a diversion,” Ghost said.
“Yeah,” Buck growled. Eli wanted chaos. He wanted the Kings chasing the wrong vehicles while the real operation disappeared elsewhere. Ghost’s pulse kicked harder. Wren had warned them that it was a trap, and this was part of it.
The radio crackled again. “We got visual on armed escort bikes,” Reaper continued. “Looks like Vultures.”
Buck made a decision instantly. “Reaper, take the SUVs and intercept the convoy.”
Ghost frowned. “Buck?—”
Buck ignored him. “Disable the trucks if you can. Prioritize the hostages.”
“What about you two?” Reaper asked.
Buck’s expression turned ice-cold. “We’re getting Wren.”
The line went silent for half a second before Reaper answered quietly, “Copy that.”
Ghost stared at Buck as the truck tore through the snowstorm. “You think Eli kept her at the warehouse.”
“He’s obsessed with control.” Buck downshifted sharply around an icy bend. “Men like that don’t let important leverage out of sight.” Ghost hated how much sense that made.
The snow thickened around them while Blackwater Ridge loomed darker ahead through the storm, and Buck suddenly killed the headlights. The truck plunged into darkness. Ghost immediately straightened and looked out the window into the darkness.
“You see something?” he asked. Buck pointed ahead to the faint lights that glowed through the trees near the ridge line. “Front convoy,” Ghost realized.
Buck nodded before steering sharply off the main trail and down a narrow maintenance path buried beneath snow. The truck rocked violently, and Ghost grabbed the dashboard again. “If I die because you think you’re in a Fast & Furious movie, I’m haunting your ass.” Buck actually snorted softly because underneath all the rage and fear, Buck was still there. He was still human, and still the man Wren somehow managed to soften without even trying.
Ghost looked out into the storm. “You know she’s gonna be furious when she finds out we came despite her warning.”
Buck’s mouth twitched faintly. “Yeah.”
“She literally told us that it was a trap,” Ghost reminded.
