Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Knight nodded and tapped at his tablet, his fingers flying over the screen. “Already done. I’ve sent him an encrypted message with the names and a brief summary of the situation.” He glanced back up at Knuckles. “Headed to my office to do this. I’ll give you an update as soon as I have it.”
“Good.” Knuckles stood. “I want round-the-clock lookouts by patched members. Keep the prospects already assigned guard duty with you. We sleep in shifts until this is over. Though, honestly, if he’s half as good as Carrie says, I expect he’ll get in without us knowing much.”
“I’ll know.” Knight gave an arrogant lift of his chin.
“Good.” Knuckles turned back to me and Carrie. “For now, you stay with Hawk. If your brother Victor is still watching, we want him to know you’re protected.”
“I really don’t think Victor would hurt me,” Carrie insisted. “He’s the only one who ever really stood up for me.”
I exchanged glances with Knuckles. Neither of us was convinced, but pushing her on this wouldn’t help. “Maybe so, but until we know his intentions, we play it safe.”
Just as he’d turned to leave, Knight’s tablet pinged. He glanced up at Knuckles who sat back down.
“What is it?”
Knight frowned at his tablet. “Rocket.” He looked up, his expression serious. “He wants a video call. Now.”
“Do it,” Knuckles ordered, gesturing to the tablet. “Can you put him somewhere we can all see him?”
“Yeah. Give me a second.”
Knight tapped out a few commands and the big screen TV along the wall flickered to life. Followed soon after with the image of a man with a closely cropped dark beard appeared. His eyes were sharp, assessing. I got the feeling he didn’t miss much. The plain black T-shirt he wore molded his powerful arms and shoulders. Over his shirt, he wore his colors with his name and rank as president on the chest. Beside him, a fierce-looking blonde pixie stood with her hand on his shoulder. I noticed she also wore a vest, but instead of something like “Property Of” and the name of her man, the patches said, “Lemon” and “Vice President.”
I gave Rocket a questioning look. The other man raised an eyebrow and practically dared me to say something. Right. Not on my life.
“You’re on the big screen, Rocket.” Knight held the tablet up so he was looking into the camera as he spoke. “Everyone can see and hear you.”
“Understood.” He sat back slightly, ready to start the conversation. “This is my vice president, Lemon. Any time there’s a woman involved, Lemon is in on the conversation. While I know Flagg and Vic, I’m not familiar with Carrie, though I know of her.”
“Will you tell us what you know?” Knight was soft-spoken and delicate as ever. He had an arrogant streak with us, but he was always respectful when dealing with another club. He always said his job was to make them comfortable. Despite his appearance, Knight was an expert at putting people at ease.
“First, let me meet the young woman, Carrie.”
Knight brought the tablet to us and I took it from him, holding it so Carrie and I were both in frame. “I’m Carrie’s protector,” I said by way of introduction. “This is Carrie.” Carrie gave a small wave but said nothing.
Rocket stared at us for several seconds. Then his expression changed subtly. Had I not been watching so closely, I doubt I’d have seen the slight widening of his eyes or the tightening around his mouth. “Well, shit,” he muttered. “You’re Flagg’s daughter.”
“Yes.” Carrie’s chin went up and she put her shoulders back slightly. An expressionless mask fell over her face as she met Rocket’s gaze calmly. “I am.”
Rocket took a breath, closing his eyes as he held it in. Then he exhaled and put his hands flat on the surface in front of him. Lemon glanced his way before putting her hand over his. Rocket turned his hand over and grasped her hand in his. That told me I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.
“Carrie, did you know your mother?”
I didn’t want to take my eyes from Rocket, but I needed to see Carrie’s face. That mask was still firmly in place, giving nothing away when before she’d been an open book. “No. She died shortly after my birth.”
“Your mother was the daughter of a mafia boss named Seth Miles. Flagg made a deal with him years ago that was supposed to unite his army and the Miles Syndicate. I knew her when my father was still alive and a patched member of Grim.” He glanced at his VP and she nodded at him. “One of my first missions as team leader was with Vic.”
“You know my brother.”
“I do. But your father doesn’t know. If he did, he’d be furious. Vic was supposed to kill me on that mission. Something about closing a trade route and rerouting it to another port to shift the flow of money. I honestly didn’t pay much attention past he was supposed to kill me.” Rocket shook his head as he chuckled. “The point is, I don’t think Vic is there to hurt you, honey. I also don’t think your father knows where you are or Vic wouldn’t have let anyone catch even a glimpse of him.”