I dress quickly after sending a quick text message to Tank, asking to meet with him. Then, double-checking the alarm, I leave my house with unease.
Pulling into the Hellions’ compound, I don’t hesitate to get inside the clubhouse and to the table Tank is occupying.
“Beer?” he asks as I sit beside him.
My eyes are as big as saucers at his question. “It’s not even ten yet; don’t ya think it’s a little early to drink?”
“Well, I’m not the one texting in such a panic I misspell words. I’ve seen a lot of shit over the years, Des. In all this time, you’ve never once asked to see me out of our scheduled training time. I figured you might need a drink; that’s all.”
I laugh, but it is not genuine. “I think my sister’s in trouble, Tank.”
He leans back in his chair as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. With his arms crossed over his chest, his tattoos seem to jump out at me.
Trepidation fills me. What if he won’t help me find out what is wrong with Suzie?
“Trouble, huh?”
I nod at him and bite my lip, silently praying he will step in for me.
“What information do ya have?”
Hell, how do I answer this?
“Umm … I have a hunch, a feeling.”
He throws back his head, laughing. “You called me out here over women’s intuition?” He leans forward, putting his elbows on the table and staring at me intently now.
“Well, you make it sound kinda stupid, but yes, it’s mostly a feeling I have.”
With a glare that would make some men cower, he says, “Tell me every detail. Leave nothing out, including your hunch and all those feelings you women have about everything.”
He is serious. He is going to help me. Whew!
Relief washes over me.
He looks at me intently. “Des, don’t ever doubt me or the Hellions. We’ve got your back … always.”
With a sigh, I begin. “I don’t have much, Tank. Suzie came here unannounced. She’s been on edge. Then, this morning, when I said I was spending the day with her, she freaked out. When I questioned her, she told me to drop it for my safety and hers. I think my baby sister is in some kind of trouble. I don’t have the first clue what kind, though.”
He raises his pierced eyebrow at me. “She got a reason to run from something? From someone? Bastard ex? Motherfucker at work?”
I shake my head. “Not that I know of.”
“But your gut says she’s runnin’?”
I nod as tears fill my eyes.
“My woman, she learned the hard way that you women gotta trust your gut. Listen to that intuition y’all got. Don’t ever hesitate about anything involvin’ your family. Des, you helped me heal. You’re family. Let me handle this, yeah?”
“Thank you, Tank,” I whisper as my heart beats loudly in my ears.
“I need her full name, social security number if you have it, and her address in Chi-town. Keep her close and keep a low profile. I’ll get some boys on it.”
Pulling out my phone, I forward her contact information with her address to him. “I don’t have her social.”
“Send me yours. We might be able to use your parents’ old tax docs to get hers. Give me a few days to see what we come up with.” With a nod, he gets up.
We hug and say good-bye, and then I head back home with the hope that, whatever is going on with my sister, Tank and the Hellions will fix it before it gets worse.
Chapter
3
~Hammer~
After months of work, recon, and putting our entire team on the job, we are set to infiltrate the office of Lazaro Sandoval, the man discovered to be behind the kidnapping of Brooke’s friend and the other missing women from the area. It wasn’t easy information to discover, and it took the combined cooperation of both the Regulators and another black ops group, the Ex Ops, to find the man responsible. Two good men from the Ex Ops team lost their lives while trying to close this case, but now the Regulators are set up to shut down one of the biggest sex slave traffickers in North America.
Using the reputation we have gained as a motorcycle club who likes to cross the legal lines, we worked our way into buying drugs from Sandoval. Then, after a few transactions, we inquired about buying the other hot commodity on the black market—girls. It was risky with a man like Sandoval, but it was what we had to do if we were going to find Madyson before it was too late.
Today, we are ready to shut down Sandoval’s operation, and we’re hoping like hell the best friend of our prez’s daughter is still alive for us to rescue. We have men in prime locations to cover our entrance and extraction from the building, but we chose a smaller team to deal with what we find inside.