Page 177 of Golden Atonement

“Alright,” I sighed, leaning forward after Gunner walked King out of church. “What do we know besides Sypher, Pippen, and Phantom being arrested?”

“Whoever is behind this is patient and methodical. They waited for the precise moment when the children of three major players would be in the same location,” Vladmir said, and Bayou looked up from his phone and cursed.

“Fuck, Vicious just texted. York is missing too. Montana’s losing his shit. He’s locked down the Soulless Sinners and put all his clubs on alert with orders to shoot on sight anyone wearing a Satan’s Angel cut.”

“Bayou, call Player and tell him and Matrix to get on their fucking computers and start digging. I know they are not as good as Phantom, but maybe they can find something. Then call Sandman and tell him to get all the kids and Sunny to a safe location. I don’t want to know where he takes them. Just make sure they leave within the hour.”

Bayou nodded quickly, leaving the room only to shout seconds later, “Reaper, we got company!”

Walking out of church with everyone else, I spotted the local town sheriff of Rosewood walking through the front door of the clubhouse, carrying a small pink bundle in his arms. Bailey cried, running toward the man, who happily handed over the little baby, and King gathered both of them in his arms.

“Someone want to tell me why I found Rose laying on the front step of the sheriff’s station?” the sheriff firmly asked.

“Mike, now is not a good time,” Pyro cautioned.

“Make the fucking time,” the sheriff growled.

“Short version,” Gunner started. “Someone came into the clubhouse and kidnapped three kids. Rose was one of them.”

“My grandbabies?”

“All good, Mike,” Gunner quickly confirmed. “They are with Sarah and the others upstairs.”

“And the other two?”

“My daughter,” Vladmir said, stepping forward. “Along with my godson.”

“You’re the Russians visiting Banks?”

He nodded. “Aleksandr is Nikoli’s older brother.”

“Missing kids is a federal crime, boys. Know you gents like handling shit your own way, but I’ve got to call in the FEDs.”

“I can’t let you do that,” I replied sternly, then lied, “They are the ones who took them.”

The sheriff stared me down, then sighed. “This have anything to do with that shit in the news over a year ago? Because if it’s connected, I’m not gonna be happy if that crap spills over into my town. Don’t know if you know this, but Rosewood is a clean town.”

“I am aware of that,” I stated, holding my ground.

“Fine,” the sheriff groaned, reaching for his phone. “If you won’t let me call the FEDs, then I’m calling in for reinforcements. You might know the man. Goes by Merc.”

“Phantom’s brother?” Vladmir questioned, looking at me as I frowned, then asked, “You know Merc?”

“Yeah, served together before I got out. Mean fucker too. He and his team are still together. Last time we talked, he was thinking about joining some group called Harbor Security.”

“Hold that call,” I ordered and started pacing the room.

That couldn’t be a coincidence.

It was too motherfucking easy.

Ace and the rest of his team were in hiding. Only two people knew where and I was one of them. The other would die before he gave them up. Now the FEDs chose to use their warrants against Sypher, Phantom, and Pippen. The same fucking night three kids of three major players in the underworld go missing.

Yeah.

If I wasn’t sure before I sure as fuck was now.

Someone was fucking feeding the FEDs information, to bring everyone to heel, and there was no better way than kidnapping kids. And when I got my hands on that son of a bitch, I was going to rip his fucking body to shreds.