Page 35 of Bride for the Bikers

“Boo fucking hoo,” Thunder rumbles like his namesake. “We had to hide out like rats while things died down. If any of us had died, you'd be a dead man walking right now. Hell, I’m not convinced we shouldn’t shoot you right here.” He loosens his gun in his belt.

Harper and Outlaw join us, walking back from where he was teaching her how to shoot. Not sure what passed between them, but if he let her patch him up, that’s a good fucking sign. I was half expecting her to come running back in tears after he tore into her but Outlaw’s walking easy, laser focused on Carnell. I don’t know if the cop knows Outlaw was shot or not, but if we don’t have to reveal that, it’s for the best.

I'll give Carnell points for bravery. The shoe is on the other foot this time and he doesn't shrink back at all. “But you haven't, so why am I here? You have no reason to believe me, but I won’t hold yesterday’s fiasco against you. Mesner’s mystery daughter is clearly choosing to be with you for whatever reason, and if that pisses him off, I’ll count it as the only silver lining in the fucking situation.”

Lightning nods reluctantly. “Missing person.”

He cocks his head. “Okay? It's not my department, but I could make some calls. I want to know why, though. I’m not tracking someone down so your club can execute someone who pissed them off. I feel like I owe you a favor, but contrary to how it might seem, I’m not dirty.”

“It’s Harper’s mother,” I clarify.

He barely reacts, his eyebrows rising just a touch. He turns to Harper. “Your mother? I didn't know she was part of this picture. I’ve been following Mesner for longer than any of youhave been alive, and I’ve gotta say. The fact that he had a daughter came completely out of the blue. Has he had your family hidden away all this time?”

Outlaw and Lightning take positions behind Harper, like bodyguards.

She shakes her head. “I didn’t find out he was my father until recently. Mom moved to the east coast when she was pregnant. As far as I know, they never had any contact after that. He didn’t know I existed.”

Carnell frowns. “When did she go missing?”

“Yes—yesterday,” Harper says, her voice cracking. She starts to cry, and Lightning puts his arm around her.

“We don’t know for sure if it happened before or after we met with him. All we know for sure is that she was in a medical facility recovering, and Mesner had her checked out and moved,” I explain.

“Mesner.” Carnell says it like a curse.

I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the cliff wall. “He was helping pay for her recovery, but he shouldn’t have been able to move her. Harper is her only legal family. I'm betting my left ball that if she’s not in Vegas by now, she’s on her way.”

“Why, though?” Carnell says thoughtfully, only half paying attention to me as he thinks. “What would he have to gain? To use her to force Harper into line? To punish the mother for keeping his child away? I feel like I’m playing cards with only half the deck.”

I glance at Harper with a raised, questioning eyebrow. Her story isn’t mine to tell. Pretty sure she's had enough of fucking men making decisions in her life.

She takes a deep breath and nods. “I can tell you what I know.”

By the time she’s done explaining how she ended up getting mixed up with Mesner, Carnell's shaking his head in disbelief. “I don't fucking believe it. I mean, I do,” he adds quickly, holding his hands out. “I’m not saying you’re lying. It's just so… it doesn't sound like Mesner, is all. Bringing home his long lost daughter, setting her up for some kind of tax fraud marriage… We're still missing the bigger picture. Mesner's got a whole army of crooked lawyers and accountants to deal with keeping him looking clean. Trust me, my life would be a lot easier if he didn’t.”

“But can you find her?” Harper steps forward, glaring up at Carnell in a determined expression that’s a good match for his own. Poor girl's had it rough, but she's still got that fire within. The one that makes me wanna stoke it later to watch her burn, but I table that for when Carnell's gone again. “She was starting to be more aware last time I checked on her, and if he’s hurting or scaring her… I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he pays.”

“I do feel for your situation,” Carnell says with a nod. “I wish I could give you some sort of reassurance, but I know Mesner. I don’t believe he would go through the trouble of taking her just to let her get sick or die, but if he sees it as a punishment of sorts, I could see him emotionally manipulating her in the same way he tried with you.”

“Shit. You’re even worse at talking than me,” Outlaw snaps. “Have a little sympathy, man.”

Carnell winces. “Sorry, just thinking out loud. I’m not usually in direct contact with victims.”

I hold up my hands before things get fucking stupid. “So are you in or not? Harper wants her fucking mother back, and you want Mesner. Do we keep playing ball, or do we all walk away empty-handed. Because just a heads up, if this gets messy and we have to come back and clean things up, it won’t just be the four of us.”

“Is that a threat?” Carnell snaps back.

“It’s a fucking promise. But as long as our goals align, I don't see why we need to fight each other as well as Mesner. You can think whatever the fuck you want to about us, but up until she came here, this girl was living a totally normal life. She’s exactly the type of person the cops are supposed to protect. She fucking deserves a future, one with a white picket fence where her mother gets to play with her fucking grandkids.”

I mean every fucking word, but talking about Harper’s future without us burns. She’s already worming her way under my skin, and I haven’t talked to the others about her, but I can tell Thunder and Lightning are both feeling real fucking protective. More than just for any innocent.

“It's as hot as Satan’s asshole out here,” Lightning says, “We all want the same fucking things, so can we just agree already? What do you need from us to get this moving?”

Thunder rolls his eyes, but nods in agreement.

Carnell huffs. He looks about as tired as I feel. “Fine. I need all the information you can get me about your mother. Pictures, ID, former addresses, anything that could help us track her down. The details of what kind of medication or equipment they might need to take care of her so we can see if anything popsup. Anything and everything, really.” He looks expectantly at Harper.

“Sure. But I’ll need my phone back,” Harper says, holding out her hand. “Without my laptop or any of my stuff, that’s the only way I can get to anything from here.”

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