Page 61 of Anything But Convenient

“No. Too much risk of getting caught,” I mumbled as exhaustion overwhelmed me.

Carver snapped his fingers at me like I’d amused him. “I like how you think, kid. You ever need a home away from home, come find Pops, and I’ll vouch for you. Let’s load up on my bike. I can torch this place later if Tank doesn’t need any evidence.”

With that, I let the big guy lift me up and carry me outside to his motorcycle. I couldn’t believe this was my life. How the hell did my knight in shining armor turn into what I suspected was a motorcycle club golden retriever of a man who killed people for fun?

EPILOGUE I

TAKESHI

If Tank hadn’t hireda guy to take out Mordecai right away, I’d have lost my fucking mind the second Archie showed up for sale on that site. While Memphis had turned off his system in the war room, he’d kept the apps running on his personal phone to ensure anything that popped up for Mordecai or Archie got our attention.

And it definitely got my fucking attention.

My husband was on a human trafficking website going for millions of dollars. The numbers on the screen climbed higher and higher, each bid growing by thousands. Whoever these people were, they thought my Archie to be a catch.

I intended to find every single one of them to show them just how taken he was. I’d string them up one by one until no one was left.

“It’s going to work out. Trust my guy,” Tank whispered in my ear.

While I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t find it in me to agree. The screen was damning, as was the fact that we hadn’t heard anything from his contact yet. If he had Archie, surely he’d have called, right?

My thoughts were interrupted when Tank’s office door flew open. I stood quickly when I saw who was on the other side.

Archie.

My Archie.

He ran straight to me, tears brimming in his eyes. I tugged him to my chest, my heart aching as I realized this was real. It wasn’t a dream.

“Well, fuck. That was quicker than expected.” Tank grumbled the words, though I heard the relief mixed in.

A large man stood in the open door, a leather jacket with patches on the chest and a pair of jeans so tight I could tell he worked out more than the average person.

He gave me an up-nod once our eyes met. “Glad I could deliver him in one piece. He needs a shower and a doctor checkup. The bitch was feeding him, so heaven knows what’s in his system.”

I pulled back to examine Archie. My hands roamed over him, checking to see if anything was amiss. Outwardly, he was fine. I caught the scent of vomit, though I didn’t mind.

If I could smell him, then he was really here.

“Thank you,” I signed to him. Archie grinned at the motion, then turned to the man and said, “He’s telling you thank you. I’ll say it too because we both mean it. You saved me.”

“It’s no biggie. Besides, I couldn’t turn away a three-favor deal from Tank. That’s too good an offer for an easy job like this one.”

“How did you even know where to go?” Memphis jumped into the conversation; his patience clearly gone. “I’d searched high and low for Mordecai, yet you stormed the place within hours of hearing from Tank. Seems suspicious.”

The man stood to his full height, his gaze hard. “You trying to accuse me of something? No need. My club runs on a system of checks and balances. I knew Mordecai was about to wind up inhot shit, and I only needed one reason to go in and take her out. Besides, I had to wait until the rest of my guys could come help me free the others.”

Archie gasped and spun to fully face the man. “The men in the collars, right? You saved them all?”

The guys smiled softly as he nodded. “Yeah. My boy Slayer took a few of the others and went to grab them once we cleared the place.” He turned to Tank. “It’s your call what happens next. We can torch it all or you can dig through the evidence she left behind. Either way, the favor count remains the same.”

Tank shared a look with Memphis. They communicated without saying a word.

“We’ll take a look at the evidence. How big of a mess is there? Can you pile up the bodies to burn outside or is it too residential?”

The pair shared a laugh, then the other guy shrugged. “We can make it work. Doubt your team wants to work around all that death and blood anyway. Can be a real deterrent.”

Archie shivered in my arms, which made me wonder just how much death my husband had to see today. I vowed to make sure he wouldn’t have to see any more in this lifetime. The only blood he’d ever see was from a papercut or a blood donation drive.

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