club problem. As much as I want to rain war on whoever took Lola, I haven’t made her my old lady. Of course, I don’t share what’s mine, but I haven’t taken that leap. To be honest, I didn’t see a need. I love Lola, and Lola loves me. It’s not something I’ve ever questioned. For me, marriage is about children, and that’s not something I’ve ever been interested in. As the head of my family and the MC, I take care of a lot of people, and adding children to that felt redundant. My brothers will carry on the family name, so what’s the point?
I’m in the club meeting room, the place we hold church. I’ve watched the video of Lola’s abduction at least twenty times. Waiting for Angus to arrive is torture. The things he does with a computer baffle me. He’s like a savant with code but looking at this, what can he do? It shows a guy arguing with Lola, another guy knocking her out, and I’m assuming an unknown person driving the van. So, at least three people.
“Why’d the mother ring you today?”
I flick my eyes up to Cutter, who’s got a sandwich in one hand and has a cigarette tucked behind his ear.
“What do you mean?”
He takes a bite of his sandwich and talks to me through his mouthful. “That junkie-whore only calls when she wants something. Why’d she call today? Something’s not right.” Crumbs fall out of his mouth onto the table as he speaks.
Leaning back, I tap my chin. “You’re right. You think she’s involved?”
“Looks like a duck, sounds like a duck. You get the picture.”
Sean is walking toward us with Angus following close behind. He knocks on the glass door once, opens it, and both of them walk through. Angus is dressed in his normal attire— skinny black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a black hoodie with black wraparounds on. Under his arm is a laptop. Angus removes his glasses and smiles at me with dark circles beneath his eyes, looking like he hasn’t slept in days.
“You look like shit.”
He nods. “Yeah, been doing some work for a large conglomerate who’s being attacked by a hacker.”
“You catch them?”
“They’re sneaky fuckers, but they’ll make a mistake, they always do.” As he speaks, he hooks up his computer to Mr. Beetson’s laptop. Without even being told anything, he then swivels the screen away from me and begins tapping on his keyboard.
“How long has she been missing?” asks Angus.
Glancing at the watch on my wrist, which was a present from Lola, I say, “She dropped Annie home at eleven. It’s four now, so about five hours.”
“Shit,” mutters Angus.
“What?” I ask.
“That’s a lot of lead time. It’s going to take me a while to go through camera footage of the area and track the van.”
Sean pulls out a chair to sit, but Angus holds up a hand to stop him.
“I need Red Bull. I need at least six.”
“Do I look like your fucking maid?” asks Sean.
“No, but I’m tired, and this is going to take a while.”
Sean scowls in disgust at his younger sibling then looks to me. I nod.
He points at Angus. “This is the first and last time you treat me like a dog, brother.”
Angus waits until he leaves and shuts the door. “You need to keep him out of this.”
“Why?”
“Remember what he did when Cherie was taken? We can’t have that kind of heat on us so soon. Keep him insulated.”
I’m the eldest brother of the six of us. Well, seven if you include Heather, but she’s been dead for a while now. Her death broke us. Heather was murdered in a car bomb, and we thought Maddock, our brother, went with her. Well, I did, but Angus kept following leads. He never believed Mad was dead. Getting Mad back after so many years helped to heal us. We found him in witness protection. Let’s say I’ve learned to trust Angus’ instincts. But not in this case. Sean will do what I might not be able to do to get Lola back.
“I’ll keep him on a short leash. Besides, with Beth here, he’s not as keen to put himself in the firing line like he used to.”
Angus nods. “Beth has been good for him. Hell, he rides like an old lady since she moved here.”
Cutter barks out a laugh, and when Sean comes back through the door, he smirks at him.
“What the fuck are you smiling about?” asks Sean.
“Nothin’. You look good,