Angel was standing in the kitchen of the clubhouse. She’d been talking with Kat while she stirred what she had simmering on the stove, but the guy at the bar out front had caught her eye. She knew that with Josiah out and on the run, security on the ranch was almost impenetrable. So, in other words, this guy had been invited in. She wondered why and by whom. She’d never seen him before, she was sure of that. She couldn’t tell how tall he was because he was sitting, but his shoulders were even broader than Dax’s and that was saying a lot. He had dark hair that hung down to his collar and dark eyes that looked sad, or lonely, or lost. She couldn’t tell if he had any tattoos because he was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, but the leather kutte he wore was definitely not one of theirs. She could see something that looked like a flame on the patch on the left side. The name on the right said “Garrett.”

“Whatcha looking at?” Kat stuck her head up next to Angel’s to look through the slat in the small kitchen window. “Who’s that?”

Angel shook her head. “I don’t know, but you’re crowding me here a little bit.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “We’re going to be sisters soon. Don’t sisters do that?”

It was Angel’s turn to roll her eyes. She was really trying with Kat, for David’s sake, but most of the time she still wanted to throttle her. She did have to admit that after she was assaulted, Kat had been super sweet to her. She’d made up a bunch of food and she’d taken it to Angel’s and Dax’s house. While she was there, she’d quizzed Susie on what she liked to eat. Of course, Susie had told her brownies and milk shakes and French fries. The next day, Kat showed up again with a batch of homemade brownies, homemade French fries, and a quart of chocolate ice cream. Angel had been touched by her kindness…but that was weeks ago, so she was annoyed with her once again. “I wonder if Dax knows he’s here,” Angel said.

“Dax knows everything that goes on around this ranch,” Kat said. It was things like that. Angel knew rationally that Kat didn’t even realize what she was doing, but it felt to Angel like she was trying to prove she knew Dax better than Angel did. Annoying. She became especially annoyed when she saw Dax come out of his office and go straight toward the guy. Kat had a smug smile on her face. With a sigh, Angel went out front, both to keep from throttling her and to be nosy. Dax and the giant were shaking hands.

“Hi,” she said, as if she’d just come up on them.

“Hey, baby. This is an old friend of mine, Garrett Banks. Garrett, this is Angel.” The man held out a hand that was twice the size of her old man’s hand. Damn, she wondered what his mother fed him. He didn’t look to have an ounce of fat on him, but he was built like a tank. She took his hand and smiled.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. His tone was as sad as his eyes.

“You too. Where are you from, Garrett?”

He shrugged. “I used to be from here. Now it’s here and there.” Angel took a step toward Dax so she could see the back of the big man’s kutte. It said “Sin City Flames.” It had a chapter number and underneath that it said “Nomad.” When she looked up, Dax’s blue eyes were on her face and he was smiling.

“I invited Garrett. I think maybe he can help me with my situation.”

“Oh, okay. Well, never mind me, you know I don’t involve myself in club business.” Dax bit down on his bottom lip and Angel knew it was to keep from laughing. Fine, she was nosy, so what? She smacked her gorgeous husband on the arm and said, “I’ll see you at home later.”

Dax grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in for a kiss, right there in front of God, the giant, and everyone else in the clubhouse. She’d grown accustomed to his PDAs, and she even liked them. It was like Dax was constantly reminding everyone that she belonged to him, and she was more than okay with that. When he finished kissing her, he smacked her on the butt and said, “Is Kyle still coming to dinner?”

She wrinkled her nose and said, “Yeah…and Mickey and Sam and David and Kat.”

Dax shook his head, but smiled. “Can’t wait.”

Angel loved her brothers. She was so glad Kyle was on the mend. But like Dax, she wanted to shake her head. She couldn’t wait for Mickey and Sam to get back on a boat, and David to get married, though God forbid he was marrying Kat…and once Kyle was one hundred percent, she was finding him a woman. They were all way too dependent on her and sometimes, just like Kat, they could be really annoying. She loved how supportive Dax was, though. Even with everything he had going on, he could still smile about it. She headed out the back door of the clubhouse and toward the teen center. Susie took dance lessons from one of the teen girls and she should be just about finished for the day. Angel looked around at the beauty that surrounded her on the ranch as she walked, and thought about how lucky she was. She’d found the love of her life, and he was still living and breathing. She’d escaped death and she made it home to him and the other love of her life, her little girl. She lived in one of the most beautiful places in the world and she never wanted for anything. She reminded herself to stop complaining about her brothers….and her soon to be sister-in-law…and count her blessings.

* * *

It had been quite a few years since Dax had seen Garrett. He’d almost forgotten how no matter the size of the room you were in with the guy, it always felt cramped. When they were kids, everyone called Garrett Bear. His dad was an enforcer for a club out of Connecticut back then. It was a rival of the Southside Skulls, so Doc had forbidden Dax from being friends with Garrett. But Garrett wasn’t afraid of anything, even back then. He wouldn’t be dissuaded from coming around the clubhouse and hanging out at the ranch and before long he’d won Doc over too.

When Garrett was twenty, his father was killed in a motorcycle accident. The MC was struggling for members and Garrett was just not interested in that life at the time anyway. Instead, he joined the Army. He spent two years in the Army and when he got out, he joined the Navy. After a two-year stint in the Navy, he applied to become a SEAL. He spent the seven years after that as a SEAL and over the years when he’d come home on leave, Dax had noticed the change in him. His easygoing manner was replaced by an edge that made him almost unapproachable. His eyes used to always look amused, and now they just looked sad. Dax wasn’t sure what had happened to him over there, but he was sure from the change in his friend that it was all bad.

“I’m glad you could make it out, Garrett.”

Garrett nodded, slowly. That was how he communicated…slowly. Sometimes, when Dax was in a hurry, it bothered him. But today he let him take his time and when he finally spoke he said, “Me too. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah it has.” Garrett had gotten out of the Navy and joined an MC in Vegas called the Sin City Flames. He was a nomad, which meant he never stayed in one place too long. Dax wondered how his friend handled the loneliness of that. He had always loved the camaraderie he had with his brothers; as a nomad, you missed out on that.

“I have a problem, brother, a big one,” Dax said. “I was hoping you might have some ideas, or a way to help me.”

“Sure, I’ll try.” Dax started telling him what was going on in his life, starting with the photos and ending with Josiah being loose. When he stopped talking Garrett said, “You want me to find him?”

Dax shook his head and said, “No. I know where he is, Garrett. I need you to kill him.” Garrett’s expression didn’t change. His eyes didn’t look confused or worried. The only thing about him that changed was the way he had his mouth held to the side like he was thinking. Garrett was the biggest man Dax had ever known, but he was the stealthiest. Garrett didn’t talk about what he did overseas when he got shipped out, but Dax would bet money that it had to do somehow with sneaking up on people. Dax wanted to kill Josiah almost worse than he wanted to take his next breath. But he would be the first person the police would come looking for and Dax didn’t want to have to leave his family and go to jail. His other reason for not going after Josiah himself was where the man was at. Hunter and a few of the guys had tracked him to a remote area in the Adirondacks, but before they caught up to him, one of the guys got caught in a trap. It was no ordinary trap. It was a small-game trap, and the teeth on it were designed to inflict the maximum amount of damage. Dax was against hunting for sport and he was even more against knowing this son of a bitch was up there hunting any man that came after him by whatever means necessary. Dax had already gone up after him twice, and he’d lost one good man and the other had ended up with his foot caught in a trap that was designed to crush bone, Dax so badly wanted to kill this guy, up close and personal, but he had to think of his club and his family. The longer Josiah was out there, the more damage he would inflict on the club simply by existing. Dax had to worry about security and manpower around the clock and because security had to be so tight, their other business dealings were suffering. He needed him dead, and Garrett was the only man in the world he thought could do it.

Garrett sat there like he was thinking about it for a long time and when he finally spoke again he said, “You have any preference on weapons, or just dead?”

Dax sighed. His preference was his own two hands, but the power he had as the president of the Southside Skulls also came with great responsibility. “Just dead,” he said.

The giant man stood up. “Consider it done,” he said. “Text me the location and I’ll be on it as soon as the sun rises,”

“Thank you, Garrett. You need a place to stay while you’re in town?”

Garrett shook his head. “Nope. I’m leaving town tonight and I’m going to make sure someone sees me. I’ll come back Sunday afternoon. Have a good weekend.” Dax watched him walk out. Garrett definitely danced to the beat of his own drummer…

“Garrett, wait! Will you do me one more?” Garrett nodded. “I know you usually ghost it, but if there’s any way you can let him know…”

Garrett nodded and he focused his sad eyes on Dax’s face and said, “He’ll know the bullet came from the Skulls before it hits him, I guarantee it.”