to have taken place yesterday,” his voice low and slightly menacing.
She waved his words off. “I know but I needed some time to verify a few things before I brought it to all of you.”
It was a good enough answer for me, but I could see Terry, Virgil and Jasper shaking their heads angrily.
“Savannah Rhymer is not with The Crusaders.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Kat asked with wonder in her voice.
“Because this is what I do. Gather intel we might need at a later date. And this intel required me to meet with Ronan for lunch.”
“You met with that old fuck for lunch?” Jasper was up and out of his seat in a flash. “What were you thinking?”
As was her way, Sadie shrugged and leaned back in her chair to sip her coffee as if she didn’t have a care in the world. But I knew better. I could see the tension around her eyes and lips. Whatever news she had; it wasn’t good.
“Ronan and I needed to speak privately. He thought we killed his precious daughter and wanted to bargain for her body.” She laughed. “Wanted to give her a proper Christian burial.”
“And you believe him?” Jasper shook his head in disgust. “He could have killed you. What were you thinking?”
“Relax, son,” she said, not offended by his assumption. “Are any of you familiar with the Black Jacks?”
Virgil responded. “No, who are the Black Jacks?”
Sadie lit a cigarette, and Thomas was at her side in a split second with a crystal ashtray. She took a drag off the cigarette and blew the smoke away from the table. Trying to be respectful I guessed.
“They’re a novel motorcycle club trying to make a name for themselves. One of Ronan’s security guys saw the VP having a long, serious chat with none other than Brendan Rhymer. That could mean more trouble for all of us.”
“Jesus, Ma. You can’t be serious.” Jasper reached across the table and grabbed a cigarette from Sadie’s gold case. “You believe this shit?”
Sadie eyed Jasper with a cool green gaze. “Do you have information that says he’s wrong?”
“No. But I will. Soon.”
“Then shut up. When you have information, bring it to me, and I’ll be happy to listen to you. I don’t trust Ronan either, but until we know for a fact that he’s full of shit, we move forward as if it’s true. I’ve also put a call in to Cross of the Reckless Bastards to get more information.”
“What does that mean? Move forward as if it’s true?” Terry asked in an even voice, meant to cool the Irish tempers in the room.
“It means we need to work with Ronan and The Crusaders to find Savannah, only we need to find her first and see what the old fuck’s willing to give up to get her back.”
At her words, my mind immediately went to Vanessa and Fiona, and all the other women those thugs could be after just to get at the Ashbys. They’d all be in danger, and Vanessa had no idea she had a target on her back just because of where she worked.
“She could be anywhere by now.” The words were out of my mouth before I thought better of speaking out loud.
“That’s why I’ve called you all here. We need to find Savannah. Yesterday. It’s more than important; it’s necessary.”
“You think Brendan has her?” Virgil’s question had the whole room falling silent. “The Black Jacks are a small outfit, but they’re trying to take over Reckless Bastards’ territory. Most of their money is in heroin, meth and sex, all of which are good ways to hide a woman. Brendan would know that.”
“Shit,” Kat growled. “Not even sure the Rhymer Princess deserves either of those fates.”
“She doesn’t. So keep your eyes and ears open. If any of you spot anyone that looks like her, could be her, I want to know.” Sadie ended her command with a frown. “Get Cal’s scrawny ass down here, now,” she growled at her right hand man. Thomas nodded and left the room.
“We have to find her first.”
“We need extra security on all the women,” Terry said, his gaze focused on my face. “Vanessa and Maureen included.” Maureen waited tables at Midnight Mass, but even if she wasn’t close to the action like Fiona, she needed protection.
Sadie took another drag off her cigarette and stubbed it out. “Of course. In addition to finding Savannah, we still have to figure out who killed poor Fiona. Any leads, Jas?”
“No,” he