Page 120 of Redemption

“What do we know?” Jared tossed down his phone and cracked an entire hand’s worth of knuckles. Glaring at the silence, he shook his head. “Great. Nothing. No location. No weapons. No woman. No nothing.”

“It sounds like petty, local bullshit,” Colin mumbled.

“Except for the fact that it’s not.” Jared scowled. “You seen a bloodbath like that over petty and local?”

Colin shook his head.

“So what’s the plan, Boss Man?” Sugar interrupted before he could go on a tear.

He looked his wife in the eye. “Find the girl and the guns, and take both back to where they need to be.”

“That simple, huh?” She challenged him.

“You bet your ass, baby cakes.”

Sugar raised an eyebrow. “CIA says don’t touch those guns. Let them go.”

“And you said that so that everyone in this room knows what the fuck we’re getting into.” He grabbed her chin, hauling her in for a kiss. “I owe you one.”

“Like hell, baby,” she said, eyes locked on Jared. “Get those weapons, and get them off the streets. No one in this room likes to play the CIA’s farm boy games when they’re warring with ATF. And Victoria?” Sugar leaned back. “You’re telling me she helped a secondset of women? Someone find that woman a halo because I’m already getting her a set of wings.”

Ryder was able to contain thehell yeahbrewing deep inside his chest.

Jared nodded. “Two teams. Two operations. Neither of which we have enough intelligence to make actionable. But we know our objectives.”

Brock leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “What do they want from her? She’s local. Someone probably knows her. Nothing there but dirty laundry.”

A quiet knock sounded before the door opened, and Seven’s pink head popped in. “Hello? Oh, wow. There’s a lot of you.”

“Thanks for coming in.” Brock stood as Jared did the same.

Both men could be intimidating. Ryder had to give them that, but Seven didn’t seem to notice.

“Anything for my girl.” She seemed more interested in the number of people in the room and hadn’t yet walked away from the door. Her eyes landed on his. “Ryder. Hi.”

Ryder decided to join Brock and Jared as they walked over to greet her, giving her a friendly face in the crowd. Introductions were made. Small talk wasn’t so bad, and Seven stuck by his side, opting to take a seat next to him. Luke scooted over one to allow it.

Brock sat across from her, next to Parker, and all eyes were on Seven. Ryder had no idea if that was a good thing or not. Pink hair and piercings said attention seeking. Or did it say, strangers back the hell away? Either way, it said something.

“Seven,” Brock said calmly. “We have two teams here. Both are personally vested in Victoria’s safety.”

“Personally because of Ryder?” She kept her eyes on Brock then turned her head to him and back to his boss.

“What Ryder does on his own time is his business.” Brock pressed his lips together. “She’s helped a lot of people out, some we were also trying to help, and we’re in her debt.”

“That’s what she does,” Seven said. “She’s a giver. A fixer. One hundred percent other people before herself.”

That part scared Ryder. “I think she has a solid self-preservation streak in her.”

Seven nodded. “Only because it comes naturally. She’s naturally a…”

“Warrior,” he finished.

“Exactly,” Seven said. “You know what you need about her. What do you need to know about Mayhem?”

After Seven answered every question they had, the response wasn’t great, and she could likely tell. “I didn’t bring new?”

“All news is helpful,” Brock said.

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