Page 50 of The Riders’ Reign

“You should go to the office,” one of the bikers tells me. “Something’s gone down.”

My stomach lurches. My first thought is of Camile. Is she safe? It feels like I’ve barely seen her all day, and I hate that. I want to be with her every second of every day, but Jack has needed her, and I’ve been caught up in club business. Ace has been looking after her, though.

Phoenix takes out his phone. “I’ll come shortly. I just need to make a call.”

I give him a quick nod of acknowledgement.

Without asking any questions, I hurry to the clubhouse and straight to Jack’s office.

I see Camile and, without even glancing at any of the others, stride across the room and scoop her up into my arms. She wraps herself around me and presses her lips to the side of my neck. I bury my face against her soft hair, inhaling the scent of her. I wish I could bottle it and always carry it around with me.

“I missed you,” she says against my skin.

“I missed you, too. I was worried something might have happened.”

She pulls away slightly. “No, it’s not me.”

It’s then I become aware of Shelley sitting in the corner, looking terrified and miserable.

I look between them. “What’s going on?”

Ace fills me in, leaving me with my jaw hanging.

“Does Saul know?” I ask.

Ace shakes his head. “Not yet. He’s been trying to deal with the shit with the cops, but as soon as I can grab him, I will bring him up to speed.”

I drag my hand through my hair. “Fuck. At least it explains how Hector found out where we’d be. Let’s hope we don’t need to worry about anyone else.”

Ace purses his lips. “Yeah, but it’s turned this thing into a rescue mission for two people now, instead of one. Shit just got a whole lot more complicated.”

I catch my breath. “You think they’re being held at the same place? The airstrip.”

“I’d say so.”

Shelley perks up. “If we know where they are, why can’t we just go now?”

Ace scrubs his fingers across his mouth. “The minute they see or hear us coming, without it being pre-arranged, they’ll put a bullet in both Ghost and Megan. If they already expect us, because they know we’re coming to do the exchange, we can use the distraction to ambush them from all directions.”

I know it’s hard for everyone to wait—I’m a prime example of that—but Ace is right. These people are professionals, and acting rashly will get Ghost, Megan, and possibly the rest of us killed.

“Why haven’t we heard from Hector yet?” I ask. “I’d been sure he’d have made the call by now to arrange the swap.”

“What if something’s gone wrong?” Camile says, worry in her tone.

Ace looks between us. “Like what?”

She bites at her lower lip. “What if Ghost has tried to escape and he’s been killed in the attempt? What if Hector is trying to figure out how to play this, just like we’ve had to do with Ledger?”

So we’d both be trying to exchange dead men? It would be funny if it wasn’t so horrifying.

“That’s unlikely,” Ace says. “Ghost is smart—smarter than the rest of us. He wouldn’t do anything that would put his life at risk. Hector will call. He’s probably just giving Camile time to come to a decision about what to do about divulging the location of the safehouse.”

“Please, you can’t mention to this man that you know about Megan,” Shelley pleads. “If he finds out I’ve talked, she’ll be dead, if she isn’t already.”

Ace nods. “It’s okay, we won’t say a word.”

The phone rings on Jack’s desk, and we all freeze.