“I wish you could have gotten clearer shots.” It was Friday morning and Kyle was looking at the photos Angel had taken of the plans for Friday night. She’d had them printed off and enlarged and they still weren’t good enough for her brother. She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes met her father’s across the table and he winked at her. That made her smile.

“Well, next time I risk my life to steal something from an outlaw biker gang, I’ll make sure and linger around long enough to take super clear pictures. I mean, it’s only my life, that’s all.”

It was Kyle’s turn to roll his eyes. “No one wants that,” Micah said, but to the room, not directly to her. “Where are they lining up?” he asked Kyle.

“Looks like Culberson and Main to start,” Kyle said. He pushed a button on the computer in front of him and the map Angel had photographed was suddenly up on the screen. Kyle got up and went over to it. Using his pen, he pointed at an area that he’d circled in red. “This is where they’re planning on waiting until Miller pulls out of the cemetery. These two here will follow him all the way from that point on. The rest of them will be posted at these different places along the way.” Then he pointed toward the bottom of the map and said, “This is where they end up at the limo service offices.”

“So, Angel, did you hear anything more about the coins at all?” Chris Matheson, a new addition to the task force, asked her.

“No, nothing.”

“I’m just trying to figure out where the coins are in all of this. The body and the casket will be gone at this point—am I correct? I mean, this is after the burial?”

“Yes, that’s the way it looks to me,” she said. “But he wouldn’t be carrying them in the limo anyways.”

He made a face. “I know that. I’m just wondering why a funeral unless the body has something to do with the coins. Do we know who is being buried?”

“A man named Gregory Lloyd. He was 92 years old and lived in an Alzheimer’s care home for the past ten years. He has two sons who are both in their late sixties and as far as I could find out, none of them know Vince Miller.”

“Hmm, okay…well then, maybe it’s not about the deceased or the family, but about the cemetery itself,” he mused.

“Are there any stops on there between the cemetery and Miller’s business?” her father asked.

“Yes, he’ll take the family back to the oldest son’s house and drop them off and then continue to his office,” Kyle said. “It’s a forty-mile trip straight through. They’ve estimated an hour and fifteen minutes from start to finish, taking the one stop, evening traffic, and stoplights into account. They only added in a few minutes at the house, enough for the family to unload. It doesn’t look like they’d be picking anything up there.”

“So the coins are at the cemetery somewhere,” Zandt said. It seemed to be the consensus, as everyone at the table nodded. “You think we should go out there this morning and take a look around?” he asked Angel’s father.

“I’m not sure that’d be a good idea,” Sean Brady said. “We don’t know if any of them are doing a trial run. We don’t want to spook them ahead of time. Honestly, I think our best bet is going to be to wait until they’re at the final destination and take them there. Is there any indication of how many men Dax Marshall plans on taking with him?”

“Well, the green circles are Skulls,” Kyle said, pointing at them. “Here, here, here…There are six of them along the way, I don’t see where it indicates how many men at each post. If it’s only one, that’s eight, counting the two that start out following him at the cemetery.”

“I wouldn’t think they’d only put one guy at each post,” Micah said. “At last count the gang had thirty-seven members. Of that thirty-seven, four are currently locked up and two of them are so arthritic they no longer ride. There are six prospects as well. I’m not sure if they ride with them on these types of jobs or not. I’d assume with something this big they’d want to take their best and most experienced men.”

“The prospects won’t be with them,” Angel said. Micah still didn’t look in her direction. “And just so you guys know, one of the four locked up was killed early yesterday morning.”

“Killed? In jail?”

“Yeah, in County.”

“Shit!” Sheriff Zandt had his phone in his hand. “I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“Dax’s road captain got the call early this morning. Patrick Stinson was the guy’s real name. He went by Scar. He was shanked by his cellie. That was the word the Skulls got, anyways.”

Zandt got up and went across the room next to the window to talk on his phone. Kyle looked mostly annoyed at the interruption. “Okay, so if we go with Micah’s math and Angel’s knowledge that the prospects won’t be with them, we’re looking at what…twenty-six guys?”

“There are three out of town right now, one is not working because his old lady is having their baby today, and I still haven’t heard where this Mad Max is at, but he hasn’t been around, so that’s another five that won’t be with them.”

“Twenty is still a small army if these guys are heavily armed,” Chris said. “Have you seen any weapons?”

“None other than the handguns that most of them carry,” she said.

“Damn bunch of felons armed to the teeth. We should be able to just bust in and take their asses down for that,” Kyle said with disgust.

“How many men did the chief say he’d authorize for this?” Angel’s father asked.

“I requested ten like you asked me to,” Chris said. “So far he’s got eight lined up for us. There are four of us because Officer Brady can’t be in on this. So, that gives us twelve for sure.”

“Against twenty thugs with guns,” Micah said, almost in a whisper. Angel didn’t look at him that time because she got the feeling he was, finally, looking at her.

“But we have the element of surprise,” her father said. “Are the bikes at each post following Miller as he comes by?”

“See these arrows?” Kyle said, pointing at green arrows that had been drawn in over where the roads were. “This is the limousine route. They made the same arrows for the bikes or bike that follows him all the way. The rest of them are simply marked with ‘W,’ which I would guess means waiting or watching. It doesn’t look like they’ll be following.”

Angel’s dad nodded. “That makes sense. The limo service will still be open when Miller gets back. Driving up with twenty Harleys in tow would attract a hell of a lot of attention. One or two could be explained away easily enough.”

“So how do we get the guys that aren’t following him?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Chris said. “What if we just have a regular patrol unit approach each one after the car has already passed? They can make contact with them and if they’re carrying weapons, they can detain them for that. The DA can figure out how to stick them with the conspiracy and transporting stolen property charges.”

“So we let Miller make it all the way back to his offices?” Angel’s dad asked.

“I think that’s our best bet…to take them down once they get to the office,” Angel said. She had been racking her brain, trying to figure out how to keep Dax out of the shit storm that was going to happen at that office. At the last minute, she decided not to include one of the photos she’d taken of the plans. It was the route that went from the limousine service to another rendezvous point about twenty miles away, as well as a list of exactly who was involved and what their specific jobs were.

Dax had eighteen of his men on it, counting himself. Dax and Handsome would be riding behind the limousine from the cemetery to the limousine service just as Kyle had noted on the map…but what they couldn’t see from what they had in front of them was that Dax and Handsome weren’t stopping. Angel thought her father was right—Miller didn’t want to draw attention to himself. He didn’t want a couple of bikers showing up with him at his office, any more than he wanted a pack of Harleys following him through town. So, when he stopped, Dax and Handsome would roll past. Vince Miller would change from the limo into his own car. They’d be waiting for him at the next major intersection and follow him from there to some “rendezvous” point where this “Dan” would be waiting as well.

The men at each post were there to watch for police and the Sinners. Angel hadn’t figured out just yet how the Sinners knew what was happening, but she’d heard Dax tell Dan not to worry, that they wouldn’t get near the coins, so she knew they were involved somehow. She had to accept, with frustration, that there was nothing she could do about those guys being arrested. She had to do what she could to protect Dax, though, and if they made it to the limo service by the time Miller stepped out of his car and the task force descended, he wouldn’t give up without a fight. Somehow she knew that like it was a fact. She wanted him away from there when it all went down—far away.

Surprisingly Kyle said, “I think Angel is right. There are too many variables along the way. I say we have one unmarked unit following them from the cemetery and we post everyone else at the limo service, since it looks like each time they pass a post, the MC will follow from there. We’ll have all twenty of them, and Miller…and hopefully this Dan person, whoever he is.”

Sheriff Zandt was back. “Patrick ‘Scar’ Stinson was stabbed with a homemade shank by a penny-ante drug dealer turned murderer from New Haven.”

“Why did he stab him?” Angel asked.

“The word is that he’s indebted to the Sinners somehow.”

Angel shuddered. It would be one more nail in Hawk’s coffin as far as Dax was concerned, she was sure. She knew he didn’t want a war with the rival bikers, but Hawk seemed to keep upping the ante.

They finished hashing out the details of the sting and the whole time, Micah never spoke directly to Angel or even looked at her. She heard them talking about having the van standing by to film what was happening, just in case they needed it for evidence later. In the age of cell phones, it was a wise thing to do when something big was going down. If they didn’t film it themselves, someone else would. They would also act as a central point of communication, letting the others know if the route changed or anything else unusual went down. That was perfect for her. She could ride in the van without being seen by either Kyle or the Skulls.

Angel had noticed her father quietly observing her and Micah both throughout the meeting. When it was over, Micah got up and walked out without saying a word to her. She was secretly relieved. She could tell by his vibe that he wasn’t in a mood that she cared to deal with. She wanted to get back to the ranch anyways and find out if there were any new developments.

“Hey, kid, you have time to get some lunch with your old man?” She looked up at her dad and smiled.

“I’m sorry, Dad. Can we do it tomorrow, maybe? I want to get back out to the ranch before they take off, and make sure nothing new came up.”

“Of course. That’s a good idea. I appreciate how dedicated you are. You make me proud.” Angel ignored Kyle’s glare as she stood up and hugged her father. At least someone was proud of her. She kissed her dad on the cheek and walked out of the meeting unaware that she’d spend the rest of her life wishing she’d taken that hour to spend with him.

* * *

The ranch was a flurry of activity when Angel got back that afternoon. Dax was doing something to the motor of his bike and when she walked into the shop and he saw her, he grinned. Her heart swelled every time he did. “Hey! How was work?”

“It was work,” she told him with a smile. She went over and gave him a kiss, greeting the other guys as she passed. Handsome was working on his bike a few feet away. He smiled at her too and the fears that they somehow figured out she’d taken photos of the plans fell away. “How are you doing?”

He nodded. “I’m okay. I waffle back and forth between focusing on this big job we’ve got going this evening and thinking about Scar. His mother called me earlier…” His voice trailed off. He looked around like he suddenly realized they weren’t alone.

“You have time to take a walk?”

He looked at his watch. It was just about two o’clock. Angel didn’t want him to know that she knew he didn’t have to be in town for a few hours. “A short one,” he said. He looked at Handsome and said, “I’ll be back in a few.” Handsome nodded at them both, and Dax took her hand and led her out of the shop. They turned right and walked away from the buildings on the ranch and out toward one of the pumpkin fields. The pumpkins were small and green, about the size of softballs, but destined to be big, round, and orange in time for the fall season. They walked along a path that had been carved out by tractors and other farm equipment, silently for a while. When Dax broke the silence, he said, “Scar’s mother cussed me up one side and down the other.”

“Oh! I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. She didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. She said he died for nothing and she’s right. The guy that killed him was working for the Sinners before he went in. He wasn’t part of the club, just one of their little street dealers. If he’d been affiliated, they never would have celled up him and Scar in the first place.”

“What was he in jail for?”

“Awaiting trial on drug trafficking and murder. He was sitting on about thirty grand worth of meth that he was supposed to be transporting to New York for Hawk. But, apparently, he wasn’t able to keep his big mouth shut. A couple of thugs he’d bragged to about it showed up with guns and took it from him. He tracked them down and took it back, killing both of the thugs in the process, in front of witnesses. He was arrested the next day.”

“I don’t know much about this,” she lied. “But since he was affiliated with the Sinners, and Scar the Skulls, what were they doing in the same cell?”

Dax shook his head. “Technically he wasn’t affiliated. Hawk uses these meth heads on the streets because if they get caught, he and his club have no connection to them. Whoever celled them up at County either knew who the guy was working for and thought it would be fun, or just had no idea since he wasn’t formally affiliated.”

“Damn.”

Dax nodded. “Yeah. So, when Scar’s eighty-five-year-old mother told me that we were a bunch of losers and her son died for no reason, I had to admit that she was right. It seems like the harder I try and get us out of ‘illegal’ activities, the more shit we get from the Sinners and the more interested the cops are in us too.”

“Well, you didn’t force Scar to be a part of the club, so I think maybe she’s being a little harsh. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, baby.”

“Why do you do this?”

He stopped walking and looked down at her. God, she loved those sexy blue eyes. She almost forgot everything she was going to say anytime he looked at her the way that he was now. “This is my life. This is who I am. I don’t think of it as something I do. It was what I was born into.”

“Please don’t take this wrong, but people are born into things all the time, and they choose to do other things instead.” The little voice in her head was saying, “Look who’s talking.” But she was going to choose to do something different, and soon. She felt selfish, but she couldn’t help thinking that if Dax would choose something else too, things would be a hell of a lot easier.

“These people, Angel, this place, they’re my family and my home. I’ve never even wanted anything else. What I want is for this place to thrive and my family to stop being killed off one by one. This all started with Hawk and what he did to my dad, and it’s time for it to stop. After we get paid for this security job we’re doing tonight we’ll have the money we need to get this ranch and the motorcycle shop built up to a place where they’re both turning a profit. Eventually we can get out of the porn business too. But in order for this club to go anywhere except prison or the grave, we have to get rid of Hawk. I’m working on a plan to do that.” He squeezed her hand and said, “Then, baby…then everything is going to be okay.”

She wished that the task force, namely her brother Kyle, would believe her when she told them how hard Dax was working to go legit. But even if he managed to get rid of Hawk…especially if Hawk turned up dead or disappeared…they’d never leave Dax alone. Not as long as he wore that patch on his vest. She smiled up at him and then stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m not sure if I told you lately, but I’m really glad I stopped in the bar to have a drink that night.”

He pulled her in tightly and in that sexy voice that sends chills racing down her spine, he said, “It was the best thing that ever happened to me.” She hoped that it would end up that way. She couldn’t wait for the day when she could be a real part of his life, and him, hers.