Chapter 5 Rachel
PRESENT TIME—
Time was almost up. I parked my car and shoved the door open, barely remembering to shut it as I slung my backpack over my shoulders. I had to hurry.
The countdown pounded inside my chest as I ran, keeping pace with the frantic beating of my heart. Doubt tried to creep in, nearly making me panic further. I couldn’t afford to lose my shit this close to finding my daughter.
My dad would help. He promised.
I didn’t know what to expect when I ran toward Hannibal, avoiding the crowd as I rushed toward my father, who waited outside the rodeo. It took a few seconds for me to catch my breath, and then I lifted my head, staring over his shoulder as I saw a man standing behind him. Not just any man. A biker. Someone I met only once on one of the most frightening days of my life.
He looked the same.Crypt.
The criminal, or outlaw as he described, that I met that fateful day I visited my father in prison on my twenty-fifth birthday. The man who saved my life when he took a bullet to his right side to keep me safe. I still remember the way he stared at me as I pressed my hand to the wound, crying because I thought he was going to die.
Don’t shed a tear for me, Brown Eyes.
He never cut his hair. Even now, the long, dark blonde strands hung below his shoulders, fading into a lighter shade as they reached his chest. His beard was darker than I remembered, but the mustache matched his hair. There was more dark ink on his body now, too, but that wasn’t what made me gasp in surprise.
It was the color of his eyes and the intensity within them. The dark gray with hints of blue, a smoky shade that was so rare I never saw anything like them again. They were as spellbinding now as they were the day we met.
In three years, I hadn’t forgotten him, not even when I knew that I should. He visited my dreams. Popped into my head when I least expected it. My heart thrummed as much from running as it did from seeing him for the first time since that prison visit.
But it didn’t matter. Not right now.
I had to focus on my daughter. “Dad! We need to go! Now!”
Hannibal reached for the backpack and the money, joining me as we ran away from the rodeo and the thick crowd.
But we weren’t alone.
I heard Crypt join us. “I’m coming with you!”
We didn’t have time for a debate. My little girl needed us. And I didn’t care what danger awaited; I would save her.
In fact, I welcomed more help, especially a guy who knew how to shoot a weapon and wasn’t intimidated by powerful or dangerous men. Crypt wore a leather vest. A GBMC cut. Glancing at it, I grew confused.
When the hell did he join my father’s club?
“Which hotel, baby girl?” My Dad asked as I led the way, pumping my arms and running faster as I realized I was about to miss the rendezvous for Rylee because the timer would run out before we reached the hotel.
“Here!” I shouted, pointing directly ahead of us. “The lobby!”
Hannibal frowned as he held onto the strap of the backpack, nearly colliding with some guy in a suit who couldn’t tear his gaze away from his phone as he stood at the entrance.
“Get out of the way!” Crypt shouted, ramming his shoulder into the guy as he passed him.
All I heard in response was a grunt before the guy hurled insults at Crypt.
I didn’t stop, focusing my gaze on the lobby area. I spun in a circle as I reached it, tears burning my eyes because I didn’t see my daughter or anyone other than people checking in at the front desk. “Dad?”
“I’m looking.”
“Dad!” I repeated with a shout, heaving air into my lungs.
“I’ve got this,” Hannibal assured me, then ticked his chin at Crypt. “Stay with her. Rachel doesn’t leave your sight.”
“I understand.”
