Page 12 of Jake

“No. she wasn’t sure, and I haven’t had time to look into it when she wasn’t with me. She gets anxious when left alone for too long and sometimes it’s all I can do to go to work. I’ve called in a couple of times because I couldn’t leave her like that.” He turned and watched the woman in question. Jake assumed it was not only to make sure she was okay, but to be sure she wasn’t approaching and might hear them talking about her. “She didn’t want to come today because she was afraid your club was tied to them, I convinced her it would be safe and that she would be surrounded by me and my brothers and would be safe. Then by chance, someone she knows from down there is here. How can I not draw conclusions?”

Things were becoming more clear to Jake. “Until I walked into that museum and saw her, I hadn’t seen her or heard anyone speak her name since my family left Alabama roughly twelve years ago. I was just as surprised to see her as she was to see me. And the look of terror on her face before she spotted me just about gutted me.” He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. “I’ve thought about her over the years. I want to help her in any way I can.” He wasn’t going to admit to this near stranger how he felt, at least not all of it. But he needed her cousin to trust him. To tell him what he knew so Jake could help protect her. So he could make sure she was safe. He needed to do that, even if he could never have what he wanted from her.

And he wanted now, a hell of a lot more than he’d wanted twelve years ago. More than he’d known existed twelve years ago. But did she want it? That was what mattered.

No. What mattered first was making sure she was safe. He also wanted her happy but happy came second to making sure she was safe. Somewhere farther down the line was wanting to be with her, so far he wasn’t considering it right now.

“Tell me what you know, before she gets here.”

“I already did. That’s all I know.”

“You said she didn’t know the club, do you know the ex’s name?”

“Mitch Coleman. She’d been seeing him for the better part of a year, had moved in with him. She said she went home, knowing he wasn’t there, grabbed a few things and got the hell out of Dodge. I didn’t know until the next morning. She stopped for the night, slept then called me.”

“Do they have anyway of tracking here up here?”

Iceman turned and watched Heather again. She was getting closer to the table where all the food was laid out, which meant they were running out of time.

“Maybe. I don’t know what kind of resources they have. I’ve been hoping that it’s been this long, they’re not following her, but I can’t count on that.” He turned back to look at Jake. “I had her take some precautions, but there were others I just couldn’t risk.”

“Tell me.” Jake pulled out his phone so he could make notes of anything he’d need to check.

“I had her pull cash and use that after she called me from Tennessee, but I couldn’t have her get rid of her phone. I needed a way for her to call me or to call for help if she had trouble on the road. And her truck is only a few years old. I don’t know if it has any kind of tracking in it. Fuck, it just occurred to me that the asshole could have planted some kind of tracker in it. I didn’t even think to check it.”

“But you said it’s been almost two weeks, so one might think that if they were looking to get her back, then they would have made it up here by now.”

“That’s possible. It’s also possible she’s just a low priority at the moment or they’re waiting for her to let her guard down. Maybe waiting for the heat to die down on something else or even this. The longer they wait, the less it seems like them when they do snatch her.” Iceman shrugged. “I don’t know these guys, and she said she’d only met them a couple of times, but they gave her the creeps. Said they talked about things no one who cared about staying out of jail would say in front of someone they weren’t sure wouldn’t turn them in.”

Jake was quiet for a moment as he considered that. He and the Demented Souls were careful what was said around anyone, not about the things that could be criminal, but about the things that could get them killed. The criminal stuff that had to be proven, or at least they had to have evidence of some kind. Maybe knowing that had made this club, whatever it was, bold.

“Good to know. What else do you know? Is the club from Mobile or maybe one of the surrounding areas?” MC’s and even motorcycles had barely been on his radar the last time he’d been in the area. Hell, he’d considered himself lucky to have the old beater pickup he’d worked his ass off for the summers of his freshman and sophomore years to buy.

They talked a little more, Jake taking down all Iceman could tell him. He’d do some inquiring once they got back to the ranch.

As Heather approached, they changed the subject, Jake asked Iceman how long he’d been in the area as she sat down, not next to him as he’d hoped, but beside her cousin. Maybe with time he’d get her more willing to come over to his side.

10

“Don’tbothertryingtofool me. I know you were talking about me and what’s going on.” She met Aaron’s gaze as she spoke, then turned to Matt. “I thought we were going to keep this quiet.”

“We are keeping it quiet, but if you’re going to be seeing him, he needs to know. Besides, he was from the area, he may know some of these guys. He might be able to help,” Matt said.

“I’ve not been in touch with anyone I knew from school, but I’ve got a couple of buddies from when I was in the Army who settled down there after they got out. I’ll reach out to them, see what they can tell me,” Aaron said.

She started to say something, she didn’t know if it was say that wasn’t necessary or to caution him about being too specific with what he was looking for. He held up one hand, letting her know he wasn’t done.

“I’ll be careful. I won’t give your name or any details, but I can do a little fishing and see what I can find out. I’ll do a little looking online too, see if I can figure out who these guys might be and if they’re even looking for you.” He gave her what she thought was a hopeful smile. “For all we know, they’ve written you off as gone for good and have moved on.”

She watched him for a moment, trying to decide if he was lying to make her feel better or if he really believed what he was saying. After a moment she nodded, accepting it. She didn’t think he was lying or at least not outright. He might be fudging the truth a bit, but she didn’t know him well enough to be sure anymore.

“I thought we were told no poaching?” A blond with his hair pulled back onto a low ponytail and a couple months growth of beard came up behind Aaron and demanded.

Aaron turned his head far enough he could likely see the new guy, at least enough to identify him, if he knew him.

“No.Youwere told no poaching. But there are two differences here.” Aaron kept his voice even, as if he was trying to teach the other man something.

“What? And don’t tell me you’re not trying to pick her up. I heard enough earlier to know you’re making plans to take her out.” The newcomer sounded defensive.

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