Page 84 of Avenging Devil: Part 1

I take a shuddering breath in an effort to stop myself from smashing something. Each statement I’m hearing makes Saffie’s ordeal worse. It’s a second or two before I’m composed enough to ask a rational question. “You said they may have had something to hold over the family?” I can’t believe her parents could have turned their backs on such a lovely woman.

Token shrugs. “Rich doesn’t mean folks that toe the straight and narrow. It’s possible, Duke forced their hand.”

“She must know,” Lost states. “She clearly doesn’t trust them. If they’ve got money, they could buy protection for her. Yet it wasn’t to them she ran.”

So Saffie didn’t believe the people who should love her would raise a finger to help her. Placing my head in my hands, I rub my temples.

“Stormy also suggests,” Token picks up the thread once more, “that losing Saffie might have lost Duke any power he had over her father. That could be why he’s so determined to get her back now.”

Fuck.But that makes sense. Sure, losing property is a low blow to a biker, but losing money could better explain why he hasn’t given up searching for her after all these months. It could also mean that she’s important not just to him, but to the whole club. Noticing Dart’s set face, and Lost’s eyes glazing as though he’s deep in thought, makes me suspect I’m not the only one leaping to such conclusions.

Dart all but confirms it when he asks, “How big is the fuckin’ club?”

“Good question, VP.” Lost raises his chin to Dart. “Whatcha know, Toke?”

“Twenty at their base in Nevada. They also have support clubs. Stormy reckons they can muster about fifty altogether.”

“Whatcha thinking, Brother?” Lost queries the VP again.

Dart shrugs. “If they find out we’re sheltering her, there might be trouble heading for us.”

Prez grimaces. “That could be a problem for us.”

“Not with the other chapters,” I state. Their numbers are nothing to our manpower if we pulled in other brothers.

“And why would they ride to us? For a woman who’s not club?” Lost moves his head side to side. “At least Nevada’s a fuckin’ long way from San Diego. We should get warning if they start riding toward us, especially in numbers.”

Head-on, prepared and on our own doorstep, I’ve no doubt we could take them. Though there could well be damage to us.

“It’s just for a few days,” Lost reminds us. “Utah only wants us to keep her under guard until they’ve got a new place sorted for her.”

Dart brings his legs back under his chair and sits forward. “Hopefully, it won’t be longer than that, and not long enough for them to get organised.” I frown, the VP’s desires are at odds with my own. If I had my way, Saffie would be here forever. But Dart sends me a glance and carries on, “We’ve got more worries than just Saffie. We now know they don’t give a shit about hurting women, that they’re into trafficking proves that. I’ve got a wife and two kids. Grumbler’s woman is pregnant. Hell, even the club girls I wouldn’t want to see hurt. There’s a fuckin’ risk keeping her here.”

Token nods and takes over. “They must have a fuckin’ ace computer expert somewhere as they found out her identity. I’ve checked Utah’s shit, and that club knows it’s stuff. Right now, I wouldn’t put anything past them. The moment they link her to us, every one of us is a target.”

“You suggesting we turn her out?” The words leave my mouth on a snarl. “And how the fuck would they link her to us?”

Token widens his eyes and starts a lecture. “You wanna know how I would do it? That nurse who was tortured and killed knew she was pregnant. Pregnant women make hospital visits. With her identity, it would be fuckin’ easy to find which clinic she’s attending, then I’d hack into the security footage at the hospital to prove it was her. Were you ever with her, Niran?”

He makes it sound too damn easy. I shrug. “Only in the parking lot.”

“Yeah. Where the cameras were probably filming. All they’d have to do is run facial recognition and… voilà.”

For the first time, my lips curve. “I’m Black, Toke. Not so easy for cameras to make me.” It’s probably the first time my skin has acted in my favour.

“You want to bank on it?” Lost asks. “You want to risk the safety of the club? Were you wearing your cut?” I grimace. That last time I was. He pauses, then continues without waiting for an answer. “It’s a long shot they’d connect you to her, and hence to us. But for the reasons Dart’s just listed, it’s a risk I’m not willing to take. The sooner Saffie’s moved on, the better.”

“You too?” I’m incensed. “They found her once, what’s to stop them finding her again? You risk literally throwing her to the fuckin’ Wolves. You seriously suggesting that?”

“Not for a fuckin’ moment.” Dart’s angry eyes meet mine. “But we’ve got to be careful as fuck. The longer she stays, the greater the risk. Some of us have a lot to lose, Brother.”

“I’ll get Stormy to hurry up on getting new paperwork for her. He was talking about setting up a few false trails in case the Crazy Wolves IT skills are more than we expect.” Token opens his laptop.

“How long does he need?” Lost asks.

Token shrugs. “A few days. A week perhaps? Then she’ll be out of here.”

“So, we wait it out,” Dart states, and rubs at his brow. “I can live with that.”

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