Page 91 of Dagger

Elise’s head swiveled toward me. “They don’t mean any harm. Layla has stuck by my side since she came up from the Cell. I think she’s feeling protective because of the whole Sunny thing. Abe wouldn’t tell them what you wanted me for, so they all got it in their heads that you were going to lecture me about putting myself in danger.” She winced. “I don’t think they were happy about it.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but Bowie beat me to it.

“Wouldn’t happen on my watch, Duchess. What you did for my girl was…” he trailed off and inhaled a breath to keep his shit together. “There are no words to convey how grateful I am. Just know you’ve got my marker for life. Anythin’ you need, I’m here.”

“Same,” Cash added. “You’ve got my marker, too.”

Breaker shot her a wink. “May as well give you mine then.”

My mouth fell open.

“And mine,” Abe declared. “Though, to be fair, you had it before this anyway.”

“My ma already knows she’s got mine,” Atlas muttered.

I held my hand up to stop any more markers from being tagged on. “Whoa! We don’t give markers out willy-nilly. Elise is part of the family anyway; she doesn’t need markers.”

“Thanks,” Elise retorted, her tone full of sarcasm. “Maybe I like markers.”

The men chuckled, except for Atlas, who bit out, “Willy-nilly’s almost as bad as deary me. Get a fuckin’ grip, will ya, Prez.”

I looked to the heavens and sighed.

“You better stop winding him up, guys,” Elise murmured, smiling fondly at the men. “His brain’s about to explode, especially after the girls gave him shit, too.” She clutched imaginary pearls. “I mean, women in Church? How dare they?”

Atlas flashed his white teeth at Elise through his beard. “See how much we think of you, Ma?”

My lip curled in disgust. “Fuckin’ brown nose.”

“John,” Elise snapped. “Behave.”

Grudgingly, I shut my mouth.

“Now,” Elise said. “Why don’t you tell me the reason you got me in here? I haven’t got all night. We’ve got a wedding tomorrow to prepare for.”

I sat straight in my chair, softening my voice. “An FBI face recognition system in Mapletree snapped Henderson and Bear Rawlins a few days ago. They were in the same gas station, on the same day, a few hours apart. We think they may be meeting somewhere near there, but we’ve got no leads to indicate where they’d go. We were hoping you’d know something.”

Elise’s eyebrows drew together. “Robert hasn’t had dealings in Mapletree for years. He used to, but it was back when we first got married. As far as I know, the only connection he has to the town is an old mistress who Monica Barrington kindly told me about a few years ago. He’s always looking for the next young, pretty little thing to throw his money at, so I doubt he’s still seeing her. Honestly, even if he was, I don’t know where she lives or even if she’s still in Mapletree.”

A wave of disappointment washed over me.

“Fuck,” Colt muttered. “I really thought you’d have an idea of where the fuckers were holin’ up.”

“I’m sorry.” Elise shot me an apologetic smile.

“Not your fault, baby,” I assured her. “You can’t force a lead. Thanks for comin’ in to talk to us.”

She smiled sadly again, getting to her feet and making for the door.

“And there was me thinkin’ Loaf and Jug would give us somethin’ back after all the money we’ve put in their coffers for gas over the years,” Atlas muttered. “I’ve no doubt that our club single-handedly stopped the damned place from gettin’ closed down.”

Elise’s steps faltered, and she craned her neck, her eyebrows drawing together questioningly. “Loaf and Jug? The gas station to the North of the town? Near Hilton Heights?”

I leaned forward, watching something flicker over her face. “Yeah. D’ya know it?”

“I used to,” she confirmed. “Years ago, back when I still believed you were dead, I was terrified of running into Bandit. I begged Robert not to bring me back to town, so he took me to his mother’s house in Mapletree. I went into labor there…” She cleared her throat. “It was where they took Sophie from me.”

A low growl emanated from my throat.

---