The instant she'd walked into the kitchen, his mind split in two. One half tried to concentrate on the conversation at the table about trucks and some of the cool gadgets these guys had in theirs to help them with their jobs. He and his buddies would be able to have their trucks outfitted for service as well. All they needed to do was to make an appointment with their mechanic. First thing tomorrow that's what he'd do, but he had to ask again for the name since Jax held the other half of his mind and he didn't hear that part. With hair freshly washed and pulled back into the braid she'd worn last night, she looked refreshed and ready to take on the day. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about her hair, and how it looked when she sat across from Mangus, falling free from the braid and waves upon waves. Lord help him, even the way it looked as she'd sat on his chest glaring down at him outside of the Copper Cup. She was pissed for sure, but when he looked up at her the way the setting sun wove copper and gold through the dark strands imprinted itself on his brain for some stupid reason

Then his eyes repeatedly locked with hers as she stood at the counter, one foot crossed over the other, eating that gross bran muffin, drinking her coffee. Damn, it was almost unnerving. Her dark eyes shined in the morning light and the look in them was undecipherable. Was she sizing him up or was she trying to figure out how to best him? It bothered him that he couldn't read her.

When she finished her muffin, set her plate in the sink and left the room without a word, all the others stood and left behind her as if she was the alpha and they were all betas waiting for her move.

Stepping into the elevator he eased his shoulders back slowly to lessen the tension. Staring straight ahead he felt he could get his bearings and stop letting her confuse him. Then the doors closed and he found himself more uncomfortable than ever even with all of these giants in the elevator with them. It felt oddly as if he wasn't even in his body. Maybe they spiked his coffee.

The doors opened and they all walked across the hall to the computer lab. Gaige turned in his chair to address them. "Have a seat and I'll show you what I've found on the laptop Jax brought back."

Each man took a seat and he was relieved when Jax sat between Hawk and Josh. Positioning himself on the other side of Hawk meant he couldn't see Jax and there was no chance of their eyes locking. Perfect.

"Okay. So here's what I've got so far."

The projector screen slid down the wall and Gaige tapped a couple of keys bringing the laptop's desktop onto the screen. What they saw were three columns of folders, all alphabetized. Gaige moved the cursor on the screen and pointed to the last folder in the first column named Organization.

"This file contains a few things of interest." He clicked it open and several folders appeared again, all named with three initials. Clicking on the first one, named IOM, the contents were all documents and one spreadsheet, named with only a number - 1, 2, 3 and so on. Gaige clicked on 1 and a picture opened up of the red-haired man called Ian that he and Jax had seen at the house last night escorting each person outside.

"This is Ian O'Malley according to the file in this folder on him. Ian is also the deed holder of the house where Jax and Dodge saw a recruiting meeting going on last night." Gaige looked at each of them then continued. "Ian seems to be the source for bringing possible recruits to Mangus."

Gaige clicked open a spreadsheet with a list of names. Next to each name was a date, followed by either a yes or no.

"Each of these yeses has a file in this ‘Organization‘ folder that is similar to Ian's. A picture and other information but no spreadsheet. So I'm assuming this is Ian's tracking of the recruits he brings to Mangus. The dates are the meeting dates and the yes or no means he's hired or not. The names next to the noes don't have a file, but I have a hunch and I'd like two of you to check it out. That being, what happens to these men once they've met Mangus but are not accepted for the job since they know about him. We might be able to find one or two of the six on this list and see if we can get any information from them."

Axel responded quickly, "I'm in." He then looked down the table, his hazel eyes were sharp and framed by his longer dark hair. He had a scar down the right side of his face, he looked menacing, but upstairs he'd seemed anything but. "Lincoln, you want in on this one?"

Lincoln smiled, "Absolutely."

Gaige finished, "Good. I'll send all information in this folder to your phones." He went back to the desktop with the three columns of folders and clicked on one named "Mags."

"Mags it appears is a partner, though minor partner, with Mangus. She lives in a town called Kingsdale, Arkansas, deep in the Ozarks. She owns a small cafe in a town of about 120 people. But yet, she can afford this." He opened a picture and a gorgeous brick southern plantation style house appeared on the screen completely adorned with a wrap-around porch. Flower baskets hung from the roof of the porch while each railing held baskets of brightly colored flowers. It sat high on a hill on what looked to be four or five acres neatly finished by an eight-foot-tall wrought iron fence. Every eight feet had a wide wrought iron post with a majestic horse welded between them. Imposing wasn't a strong enough word. “According to the information in this file, Mags and Mangus have been working together for many years and met when he was there looking for a place to do business.”

One of the men around the table whistled as they all stared at the large mansion before them. "So tell me how in a town of 120 people she earns enough money in her cafe to support this massive house? That's the next mission. Find out what exactly Mags does for Mangus and how much of it she does. Dodge, I'd like you and Jax on this as I think this is the 'down there' they were talking about last night. I'd also like Josh, Ford and Wyatt on this one."

"Yes." He responded as the rest of the mentioned members responded in kind. His eyes sought Ford's and the smile on his partner's face said it all. Ford was eager to go on a real mission once again. How Megan would feel about that would be a different story. But that exchange surged through him and he felt his excitement grow, too.

"Good. Hawk, I need you here to help me out with the next little discovery this laptop uncovered for us. It appears that the outcropping you found on your recon yesterday holds the entrance to Mangus' hideaway. Are you in with me on this one?"

"I am." Hawk responded and said nothing more. Dodge looked around the table at the group he was privileged to be amongst and his heart beat a bit faster. He was back in it. For the first time since his military days, he felt excitement at doing something that held a bit of intrigue, a bit of danger, and a whole lot of benefit if they succeeded.

"Okay, you all get packed and ready to leave." He glanced at the five of them heading to the Ozarks. "The rest of you give me a few minutes to send you the information you need. Make sure you're all connected to our systems and bounty hunters?" He waited until they responded. "We have a rule here, you check in every three hours. Your teammates will help you out with that."

Dodge nodded and stood, eager to get outside and suck in some fresh air before his exhilaration got the better of him. As he reached the door to leave, Jax approached quietly and his manners kicked in as he opened the door for her. Hearing chuckles behind him, Wyatt ribbed him, "Awww, look guys, Dodge is being a gentleman."

Waiting for Jax to exit the room in front of him, Dodge stood back and held the door open wider for Ford, then Wyatt to exit. "Damn right, I am." He said with pride. The ball breaking would now begin. In the Army that meant you were accepted. He'd take it.