Seth stood in the kitchen idly stirring a skillet full of scrambled eggs and ground sausage. He heard Nikki in the shower and couldn’t halt the images of her creamy flesh, her rounded breasts, and that gorgeous ass of hers. Those long legs that had wrapped around him, urging him . . . it hadn’t been long after their lovemaking—after Seth had dressed again, thank God—that Doc had stuck his head through the door. Declaring Nikki out of any danger and ready to be released, it hadn’t taken long for them to escape the hospital. He was under strict instructions from Doc to watch her for any signs of a concussion, but otherwise, she was out of the woods. Seth was more grateful than he knew how to be. He wasn’t used to things working out for him, in any way, really, but having Nikki safe and in his cabin, of her own free will now, warmed something inside him he’d thought long dead.

After making slow, sweet love to her again as soon as they’d walked through the door, she had risen from the bed, softly laughing at her shaky legs, teasing him that she wasn’t sure whether her “spaghetti legs” were from the aftermath of the accident or his skills that had left her so weak-kneed. It was the first time he’d seen her laugh, truly laugh, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Sure, she looked battered and bruised, with smudged dark circles of worry under her eyes, and her skin was still pale, but at least it was a spark of life, a spark of hope that had transformed her features when he promised, once again, that he and the Steel Kings would do whatever they could to try to help find Stacey.

He didn’t want to hold out false hope to her. He knew as well as she did that there was a possibility that Stacey would never be found. He hoped that—

“That smells good.”

He turned to find Nikki standing in the kitchen opening, towel-drying her hair. She wore a pair of his sweatpants and a T-shirt, her bare feet slid into a pair of his sandals. They were too big for her, but her tennis shoes smelled of gasoline and now sat outside his cabin.

“Nikki, you do realize that there’s no promises, no guarantees, right?”

He cursed himself as the light went out of her eyes and she froze, staring down at the towel in her hands, her hair tangled next to her face. Why the fuck had he just blurted out what was on his mind? Finally, she looked up at him.

“I know, Seth. Believe me, I’ve considered every horrifying thought. I know that if we do find her, she’ll be different in some way, just like I am. Just like you were after . . .”

“After I got out of jail.” He nodded. “Those kinds of events change us for the good or for the worse. You’re strong, Nikki, and if your sister is anything like you, I know that she’s strong, too.”

He turned around and returned his attention to the eggs, ignoring the renewed desire he felt for her even though they had climbed out of bed only ten minutes ago. He wanted nothing more than to spend the entire day in bed with her, but he couldn’t. After breakfast, he and Nikki were going to talk to Levi again. Everybody needed to lay their cards on the table.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced down to find Nikki standing next to him, looking up at him with wide, sorrowful eyes. “I’m sorry, for everything. It was fear and prejudice talking.”

“I get it,” he said. He did. People had their own ideas about motorcycle clubs. It was often difficult for people to imagine a group of guys like the Kings not being like the clubs that made the news. It was groups like the Jokers and the Vagos, rumored to be nearly four-thousand strong, that everyone knew. They made the Hells Angels look almost gentle. “None of us are perfect,” he said, slowly nodding, the wooden spoon stirring the browning eggs. “A number of us, the Steel Kings, I mean, have been in prison, like me. Some are on parole.” He glanced down at her. “Not me, but some of the others. Most of us work blue-collar jobs, get by with good old-fashioned elbow grease. But we’re good people, Nikki, and we’re stable.”

“You mean legally, mentally, or financially?”

Her voice was teasing, but he wasn’t when he replied. “All of the above.”

Her eyes widened. “I’ve been so wrong . . . I should’ve . . . I’m not big on trust, you know.”

“I get it. I’m not big on trust, either. I would venture to say that none of us are, but sometimes, we have to rely on each other, don’t we? You know the saying, birds of a feather flock together?” He gestured with his spoon toward the compound. “That’s us. Birds of a feather. And we rely on one another, even though we squabble sometimes, just like any family. It’s just that—”

A bang on the door startled both of them, prompting Nikki to instinctively move to the far side of the kitchen, Seth between her and the door. Seconds later, the door burst open. He stared at Grady, wide-eyed and surprised. What the hell? He never just barged into his cabin like this—

“I think we found her.”

“Found who?” Seth asked, glancing down at Nikki, who had grabbed his forearm, her fingertips biting into his skin. “It’s all right,” he told her. “That’s Grady. You remember him, don’t you? He’s the head of our security.”

She nodded as Grady looked right at her. “Your sister. I think we might know where your sister is.”

A garbled cry erupted from Nikki’s throat as she stared at Grady, eyes wide, a hand clapped over her mouth. Tears filled her eyes. If she hadn’t been hanging on to his arm so tightly, he feared she might have buckled.

“Where?” he asked.

“My sister, where is she? Let’s go find her!”

Nikki let go of his arm and started for the door. Grady still blocked it, and she glared up at him.

“Tell me! Get out of the way, we have to go getter, right now, before—”

“Calm down.”

“Nikki, hold on a second,” Seth said over Grady’s, voice. He turned to Grady. “Explain.”

Grady still blocked the door, one hand still clutching the doorknob. “The Joker told me.”

“The Joker you guys brought in, the one you dragged from the truck?”

Again Seth glanced at Nikki, understanding her anxiety as she tried to maintain a handle on her emotions and failed miserably. Automatically, he clutched her shoulders, gently tugged her back to his side, and then placed his arm around her shoulder. He held her close, preventing her from rushing headlong into yet another . . . what? Disappointment? A fucked up outcome? Again he turned to Grady.

“How do you know he’s not lying?”

Grady shrugged. “We don’t. But let’s just say he realized it was in his best interest to tell me the truth. Even so, I don’t trust that everything coming out of his mouth. He might not know the real story.”

“Like what?” Seth asked.

“Come on,” Nikki interrupted. “You can deal with these questions later, can’t you?”

Grady took a step forward, eyeing her. “No, we can’t, Nikki. He could be lying. He could be telling the truth. We still don’t know exactly what we’re up against. If we rush headlong without thinking, without planning, we could very well end up doing more harm than good. You understand?”

His voice was gentle but firm. Seth eyed Nikki. She didn’t want to wait, didn’t want to be patient, and didn’t want to be cautious. She wanted her sister, come hell or high water. Finally, after several seconds, she finally nodded. A tear trickled down her cheek, and she angrily swiped it away.

“I’m sorry, it’s just . . . ”

“I know,” Grady said. “I know you’d do anything to get to your sister. But we can’t go in there without a plan.”

Seth watched as a brief shadow crossed over his features. Was Merc remembering the guys from his unit in Afghanistan that had gotten killed, supposedly because he’d acted too quickly? “What do you suggest?”

“The Joker said that she’s being held in a storage locker in South Oklahoma City. You know, one of those places where people store their stuff and have to punch in a code to get in and out?”

Both Seth and Nikki nodded.

“Shakespeare checked it out online. It’s got security cameras, or at least that’s what the website says.” He shrugged. “They might not be hooked up to anything, but we can’t just go charging in there, or the cops will be down on us before we get to the locker. You get it?”

“I do. Can we get someone in there to check it out? Did he give you a locker number? What kind of lock does it have on the door?”

Grady grinned. “All things that I’ve already sent one of our guys to check out. He’ll go to the management office, rent a locker for a month or two, and then once he’s inside, he can pretend to get lost and look for the locker that the Joker said Stacey was supposedly being held in. Make sure there is such a number and its location.”

Seth shook his head, frowning. “Why the hell would they keep her in a storage locker? How can they keep an eye on her there? What’s to prevent her from screaming for help or banging on the door or to prevent someone from hearing her?”

“That’s just it,” Grady said. “Supposedly, one of the employees of the storage place—”

“Belongs to the Jokers or is working for them,” Seth interrupted.

“Bingo.” Again he gazed at Nikki. “But I’ve got a plan.”

Grady proposed an idea, a surprisingly simple plan that nevertheless would require timing and caution. It might just actually work. It was dangerous, and the last thing he or any of the others wanted was to engage in a lopsided gunfight, outnumbered by the enemy, but the Jokers were cowards. They usually ran in packs. If they could surprise them, sneak into the storage lot without garnering attention . . . it just might work. If their “advanced scout” came back with information that only a couple of Jokers or their minions guarded the place at night, and got a good look at the security system, it might work in their favor.

“Good work,” Seth agreed. He glanced at Nikki. “I was afraid that when we did find her, she would be held in a house filled with the bloody bastards or in a warehouse like we first found you.” He frowned and shook his head. “I wonder why they put her in a storage locker.”

Again, Grady glanced at Stacey before he answered that question. “The Joker told me that’s where they put the girls just before they’re loaded for transport.”

“Loaded? Transported where?” Nikki asked, eyes wide again.

Her pulse thrummed in her throat, and Seth felt her trembling beside him. “Probably to her final destination.” Nikki paled and once again reached for his arm. Her fingernails dug into his skin in fright, but he didn’t blink. He saw Grady watching them and merely shrugged. No doubt everyone in the club had figured out by now that Nikki belonged to him. If not, they’d know it soon enough.

“But she’s alive? They’re not going to kill her?”

“If we can believe the Joker, she’s still alive. And no, they’re not going to kill her, at least not yet. She’s worth more to them alive than dead at this point.”

The fucking bastards. Seth could imagine the terror Stacey felt, knowing what was going to happen to her. Surely she had to know her fate by now. And for what? What had she seen? Or was Nikki right? Had they mistakenly kidnapped Stacey instead of Nikki? The thought of Nikki being in the same position prompted a surge of anger that started in the bottom of his gut and blossomed outward. His free hand tightened into a fist as he looked at Grady.

“Levi’s heard your plan?”

Grady nodded and glanced down at his watch. “As soon as our scout gets back, we’ll implement.”