Page 79 of Eden's Joker

But arguing with him will achieve nothing. So I stand up and tell him to lead the way.

I will follow every dead end, turn every rock, chase every rumor to get Eden back. I just no longer hope to get her back alive.

Hawk and the rest of the execs are gathered in one of the larger rooms in the bunker, which is still too small to hold this many men. Especially since the execs of the other two MCs helping us out—Rogue Angels MC and Forsaken Outlaws MC—are also here.

Hawk has his laptop open and is projecting some sort of a map onto one of the concrete walls. It’s not much of a map. It’s just pictures of somewhere in the middle of the desert with some dots that could be houses. Or they’re rock formations. Impossible to tell.

Everyone in the room takes a step away from me as I enter.

“What is this?” I ask. “A slideshow from your last trip?”

Hawk clears his throat and won’t meet my eyes. We’ve had a lot of words over the last few weeks. None of them friendly. He’s our intel officer and until now, he’s always found everyone and anyone that we needed found. But not my daughter. It’s not something I can understand.

“This is some long-lost town in the middle of thedesert,” Hawk says. “And everything points to it being the place where Joker has Eden.”

“You said that about the last three places we hit.”

“But this time, the signs are clearer,” Hawk says.

I know he hates himself for not being able to find Eden. But not as bad as I hate him for it. He’s my brother, he’s family to me and we’ve been through a lot together, but that’s the truth now.

“What’s left of the MCs warring against us have been converging on this place for days,” Hawk says. “All my eyes and ears are telling me that. They’ve been doing it in clumps of ten or twenty, but it’s been non-stop happening day and night. Something’s brewing. Something big.”

“And these photos are the best you have of the area?” Tank asks, saving me the trouble. He’s our VP and normally always ready with a joke. But even he’s found no humor in anything during these last few weeks of failure and defeat.

“Unfortunately,” Hawk says. “They’ve been shooting down all the drones I’ve sent. Only one got through and back. The town is smack in the middle of a lot of hills. Whoever built it didn’t want to be found.”

“And that’s the only road in or out?” Cross asks, pointing at a winding line that reminds me of a snake.

“There’s ways in over the hills,” Hawk says. “But they’ll be guarding those, guaranteed.”

Cross walks closer to the projection and studies the pictures. The room is so quiet I can hear the soft humof Hawk’s laptop. We’re all seeing the same thing. But no one is saying it.

“We’ll be trapped the moment we ride in,” Cross finally says, speaking what we’re all thinking. “How sure are you this is where they’re holding her?”

My phone chimes in my pocket and I check it right away, like I always do, day or night, hoping to see Eden’s face.

It’s a text from an unknown number.

“What is it?” Cross asks as I just stand there, holding the phone in a shaking hand.

“It’s a text from that bastard. It says, “You’re invited to Justice. She’s waiting for you.” There’s a map attached… and another photo…”

I can’t speak about that photo. I can’t describe it. For as long as I live, I’ll never not see it.

It’s of my daughter’s body. Lying on the dark ground, her dress ripped, her face obscured by her hair. All of her covered in bruises and blood.

Hawk takes the phone from my hand and stares at the map. The whole room seems to be buzzing and the walls are closing in.

“It’s the same place,” Hawk says after comparing the image on the wall to the one on my phone. “The town of Justice. This Joker’s got a sick sense of irony, I’ll give him that.”

“All I’m gonna give him is a slow and painful death,” I say through clenched teeth. “When are we riding?”

My brothers stay perfectly silent, but the execs of the other MCs are buzzing again. Whispering protests. Saying it’s a suicide mission.

It probably is. But I’ll ride on it alone if I must.

“Soon,” Cross says, his deep voice cutting through the buzzing. “But we’re going in to kill them all. And that’s gonna take some planning.”

---