Page 12 of The Riders’ Reign

He’s right, but all I want to do is stay here. Then I think of Vani and her anger, and my body sags a little as I give in to what Ace is saying.

“Okay, let’s go back. But the minute he’s out of the OR, I want to return. Promise?”

“Of course. I want to see him, too.”

“Fine. You have a deal.”

His hand snakes into the hair at the back of my head, cupping my nape, and he lowers his face to mine once more. This time, the kiss isn’t just a brush of lips. It’s a deep, lingering moment that makes me melt against him. Kissing Ace is like drowning but in the best way. He pulls me into the depths with him and, for a while, there’s nothing but him and me, no other noise or stress. It’s beautiful.

When we finally break apart, he brushes his thumb over my mouth and kisses my forehead. “Come on, brave girl, let’s go get our other man back.”

Out in the hallway, I see that Vani is still in the waiting room, and a thought hits me. “I just want to do one thing, okay?”

Ace sighs, but he nods his acceptance. I walk over to the nurses’ station and ask if I can borrow a pen and paper. She hands me over a Post-it note and a pen. I thank her and write hastily.

Jack, get better, be strong. I love you, Camile.

After handing her the pen back, I keep the note in the palm of my hand, and as we walk down the corridor to leave, I search the room numbers on the doors. I see the one I want, room seven, according to Tank’s sister.

“One moment,” I whisper to Ace.

I push on the door and, relieved to find it open, slip inside. I walk to the bed and sneak my note under the pillow. If, for some reason, I can’t get back to Jack anytime soon, I hope he’ll find it.

I do love him, and it’s time he knows how I really feel.

5

ROOK

Ace and Camile have returned from the hospital with Mike, Zoo, and Tank, and some of us have reconvened in the office. The space is wall-to-wall with bikers in leather cuts, shoulders jostling for space. It’s only the trusted circle here, but now we have Jack’s old chapter, as well as the new one, so we’re struggling to fit.

Jack is still in surgery, and we will be called, Ace says, as soon as he’s out and in the recovery room.

We’ve received footage from the available road cameras—our contacts in the police came through for us—and it shows three big, black cars driving along the road about a mile from where we were ambushed. The registration plates are clear, and one matches the one I saw, confirming it’s them, but when the police ran the plates, they were not registered. So, we must assume they’re fake, which makes sense. The cartel are hardly going to hire cars from a major rental firm and drive them around. It means they must have some contacts here in the US, however limited.

The good news is that the same three cars, with the same registrations, were also spotted on the freeway, about ten minutes later, and the exit they eventually took leads to a very small community.

As well as the video footage, we’ve also got a couple of guys searching the cache of cell phones we’ve collected from everyone in the MC. It’s a slow, painstaking job, going through them, checking for messages that seem suspicious, but it needs to be done. Someone leaked our route, and we need to find out who.

I’ve brought the group up to speed, and as I point out the tiny town on the map, I look up at them and grin. “This place is all mom-and-pop stores, a couple of diners, a church, and a beauty parlor, so it seems an odd place for them to come off the freeway for, right?”

There’s a low rumble of agreement in the room.

“Except, right here,” I tap a spot about two miles out of town, “there’s a private airstrip.”

Ace sits forward. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”

“Very,” I agree. “I would bet good money this is where they are holding Ghost.”

“So, what are we waiting for?” Ace is almost bouncing on his toes.

“We need a plan,” I state. “I think we’re all in agreement that this has to be the cartel?” I glance around at nodding heads. “So, what exactly is it they want by taking Ghost?”

“Camile,” Ace suggests, shooting her an apologetic look.

She gives him a tiny, sad smile in return.

But I shake my head. “I don’t think she’s important enough to them to bring so many men here. No offense, Camile.”