Lying along a nearby sloping hill, they kept watch on the mouth of the bunker. It was much more noticeable than Margaret thought it would be. The top was similar in appearance to the top of a tank and it had a huge metal door that appeared to be vaulted outwards slightly.

“We ain’t gettin’ through that without dynamite, mate.”

Margaret sighed, “You know they’re probably torturing her for information, right.”

Darkness growled. “We need to do something besides watch.”

Dark asked without looking away from the door, “I get the feeling that I’m not going to like your plan.”

“Who says I have a plan?” Her eyes gleamed with admiration for the man who was growing to know her so well.

Darkness’ face lit up. “You have a plan?”

Steeling herself against Dark’s fury, she stated flatly. “I’m going to give myself up.”

That got Dark’s attention. “The fuck you are.”

“I’m not leaving her in there all by herself. I’ll wear one of Dark’s bugs in my hair, so you can hear everything going on in there. I’ll talk them into letting me show them where you are. I’ll give them a hard time and make them smack me around a little to make it look real. I’ll get you an opening and I’m counting on you to do right by us.”

“No.” Dark’s tone was stubborn, but she knew he’d cave. They had no other options.

“Yes, baby. I trust you to come and save me.”

Even Darkness wasn’t on board with her plan. “Fuck that. I say we grab one of the guards outside and force him to let us in.”

Margaret sighed. “They use their family as leverage. The guards are not going to tell us a damn thing when they know Dragonfly will go after their family. I can do this.”

Little John stroked his chin thoughtfully, “What if I turn her in? There’s a bounty on her head.”

Margaret’s head jerked up to look into his eyes. She could tell by his expression, he was probably telling the truth. “How much?”

“Ten grand. They’ll probably want to know how I captured you and after a short debriefing, they’ll send me on my way.”

“They’ll kill you.”

“Ten grand is chump change in their world.” Darkness chimed in, “Would they risk killing a brother over that?”

Dark was the one who clarified, “They might, just to cover their trail. Most likely it’ll go down like Little John said. They’d be stupid to stir up a bunch of bikers over something like this.”

Little John’s deep voice delivered the bad news, “Our crew typically does not give any fucks about things that don’t affect our club. We’ve got a reputation for taking the cash and going on our merry way. It’s our best chance.”

“I’ll take a chance if there is even a chance of getting Elsie free of the mess I put her in the middle of.” Margaret’s level stare apparently got through to Dark. A swift jerk of his chin had Darkness digging through his pack for a tiny mint tin with a couple of tiny makeshift bugs wrapped in clean tissue.

“Attach it to the nape of my neck, about an inch up from my hairline. If they check me for an earpiece, they’ll be less likely to find it there.”

“You got it.”

Dark’s cool voice murmured, worriedly, “Dial down the snark while you’re in there. Be a good girl and tell the bastards the kind of bullshit they want to hear until we can get to you.”

Cupping the side of his face with her hand, she looked up at him, “I know letting your woman walk into this kind of danger has to be eating away at you. Just remember, we’re all adults here. I have the right to enjoy the dignity of a little risk in my life. I’m never going to be the kind of woman my sister is.”

“You mean the kind that lets her man do the heavy lifting?”

“I’m a free spirit. It’s part of what makes us such a good fit together. Don’t spoil it by trying to sideline me when I know I can help.”

His expression cleared. “You like action and adventure?”

“I usually deny it, but why lie to you of all people. I fuck love it. There’s nothing quite as exciting as tearing victory from the jaws of defeat.”

Little John quipped, “Fuckin’ hell, mate, if she’s too much for you, I’ll damn well take her off your hands.”

“Touch her and I swear you won’t live to see another day.”

The British biker tilted his head, “Now that we got that out of the fucking way, can we get moving? Elsie is our mate and neighbor. I don’t fuckin’ like her being in there any more than you do.”

Nodding, she allowed Little John to haul her roughly to her feet. “Come on, bitch, we ride.”

When Dark growled, Margaret placed a hand on his chest, “He’s just getting into the role. See you soon, handsome.”

Standing idly by watching the big biker drag her to his bike could not have been easy for Dark. She knew for a fact that it was killing the big overprotective bastard, and that tore at her heart. Feeling something in her chest loosen, she thought maybe when all this over, she might be willing to let him exercise his more protective instincts around her. What was the big hairy deal about fighting all her own battles anyway?

Little John stopped in front of his bike as the other bikers circled around. He took a rope from his saddle bag and tied her hands in front of her. Holding up a tiny thumb sized pocket knife, he slid it into her palm. She closed her fist easily around it.

“The minute you are alone, cut yourself free, but be careful they don’t see.”

“Wait until I’m alone and then be ready for action? Got it.”

He messed up her hair, ripped her shirt and slapped her so hard across the face that she saw stars. “Sorry, Eagle Eye, we gotta make it look real.”

She saw Dark begin stalking towards them out of the corner of her eye. Several of his brothers intercepted him and were, literally, holding him back.

Jerking her face around to look at him, Little John barked, “You look at me when I’m talking to you. Don’t look at him. Now as I was saying, try to think of something really sad like a biker kicking a kitten or something, because tears always help a bird look pathetic.”

“I’ll just think of sucking you off. That’s nauseating enough to bring a tear to my eye.”

“I deserved that for the slap, but don’t fuckin’ disrespect me again or we won’t be friends.”

“Roger that, now let’s go before the handprint wears off.”

Pulling her into his lap, he started his engine and headed down towards the road leading to Donovan’s hideout. As the lone bike approached, several men stepped out of the shadows to greet them.

“Who are you?”

“What’s it look like, Yank? I’ll give you a hint. I’m not with Her Majesty’s mail service, but I have a package to deliver for the right price.”

The men circled around them, cutting off any hope of escape.

“What kind of scheme are you fools running here? You put out a contract and I tracked your bitch down. Do you want her or not?”

Two of them whispered together, eyeing his MC patch. One scrolled through this phone. Margaret thought they might be checking the company database for intel on the MC.

“Look, if you’re going to be pricks about this, I can easily get ten thousand pounds for her at the next Creavan auction.”

“Pipe down, we’re just doing our homework on you.”

An evil grin spread across the big biker’s face. “I have a long and colorful history around these parts. We don’t have time for you to crawl into every corner of my dark past, mate. You want the tart little bitch or not, cause she wasn't exactly easy to corner. Fought like a wildcat, she did.”

“I’m sure she did. What happened to the American biker?”

“Dead. You think he’d give up his woman if he weren’t?”

Margaret began to struggle on his lap, elbowing him sharply in the ribs. He was just being a dick because he knew Dark was listening to their conversation. She hated him for rubbing salt in Dark’s wounds over having to let her put herself in danger. “You bastard. You didn’t have to kill him.” The mock outrage sounded real enough since she was supremely annoyed with the man.

As she knew he would, Little John backhanded her roughly across the face. “Look, if you don’t want the merchandise, I’m eager to give her a little life lesson in shutting the fuck up.”

“Bring her in. We’ve got your money.”

“Great, because I’m no venture scout lookin’ to do my good deed for the day.” Hauling her roughly off the bike, he dragged her to the huge metal door. Stopping short, he eyed the men before speaking, “My entire crew knows I’m here. If you do try anything, they’ll rain fire and brimstone down on your asses.”

“How did you know we were here?”

“We’ve known for years. Just never gave a fuck. You stay out of our club business, so who cares what you fuckers do. You were nothing to us until today. Now, you’re easy money. Tomorrow, you go back to being nothing. Is that plain enough for you, you stupid wanker?”

“You’re one mouthy fucker. Get her into the building. We’ve got a lot to talk over with our little Eagle Eye.”

“Talk ‘til your fuckin’ heads fall off. Just pay up the bounty so I can be on me merry way.”

“Patience is a virtue.”

“Fancy yourself a priest, do ya? Gonna teach me to be all polite and virtuous? You’re a bit late for all that, mate.”

Margaret almost smiled at how brilliant Little John was at playing his part. The Dragonfly goons bought his little song and dance, lock, stock, and barrel.