The next day, Margaret caught a ride with her sister to gather up some equipment from their old Conex. Sarah was intent on using some of their old electronic equipment to help her big sexy mobster make sure Dragonfly didn’t insist on her returning to work there.

After a brief discussion, she came to the conclusion that Sarah was more than serious about making things permanent with Johnny.

“I say we weapon up and bug the shit outta your guys,” remarked Sarah.

“I hate doing that, but we need to know exactly the kinds of thing they’re not going to tell us.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. A little snooping never hurt anyone.”

“I suppose we can at least alert the cavalry if things get sticky,” Margaret responded.

“Yes, and a whole lot more. If you’re serious about keeping your guy safe, this is the only way to do it.”

Apparently, Johnny didn’t leave anything to chance when it came to his lady. He called before they even got to the Conex, demanding to know what they were up to. As the conversation dragged on between the two of them, Margaret thought back to the night before. That sexy biker really knew how to fill a woman up. Whether she managed to get herself free from Dragonfly or not, she wanted to see him as much as possible in the limited amount of time she had.

At some point, he must have carried her to bed because she woke curled up to his warm comfortable body. His prospect had made them breakfast and coffee. Though Dark was plain-spoken and flirtatious, he’d also been a perfect gentleman. She liked his straightforwardness. There was something to be said for men who liked to fuck and said exactly what was on their mind. She never had to guess where she stood with him, allowing her to relax and enjoy the ride.

Unfortunately, her sister’s grating voice kept interrupting her trip down memory lane and then she put her guy on speaker phone.

“I thought you were going to your place and now you’re headed to the dock. I don’t like surprises, Doll. You know that.”

“Liar. You just like sexy surprises.”

“Don’t fuckin’ try to sweet talk me,” Johnny growled.

“Fine. We’re going out to the Conex. Sarah wants to grab some stuff and so do I. Thought I might grab you a party favor or two for this faceoff with Dragonfly. I know what kind of toys you like.”

Sounding relieved, he responded slowly. “Well, that’s fine. Just let me know from now on when you change up the plan. I’m not tryin’ to be a grade A asshole or anything. I need to know where you are in case things go bad.”

“You know something, Johnny. I did just fine by myself long before you ever came along. You know that, right?”

“No, you fuckin’ well didn’t. You lost your sister and couldn’t find her. I’m not lettin’ that shit go down on my watch. If I have to assign you a couple of guys, I will.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll let you know where we’re going from now on.”

“Fine. Get your sexy ass home as soon as fuckin’ possible. I miss you.”

“Will do. I miss you too.”

The moment she clicked the phone off, Margaret commented, “Your guy’s an ass to say that shit about you losing me.”

Sarah sighed, glancing over at her, “He ain’t wrong though, is he?”

“Whatever. I still think he’s a ridiculously sexy overprotective bastard.”

“Maybe, but he’s my overprotective bastard and I want him safe.”

“I’m hearing what you’re laying down, sister.”

“And stop noticing how sexy he is. He’s off limits.”

Margaret laughed at her totally smitten sister. “He’s nowhere near as sexy as that big biker anyway.”

Sara’s head swiveled around to look at her. “You like one of the guys from the MC?”

“Like as in maybe like fucking him, not as in like to keep or anything like that.”

Sarah shot her a knowing glance. “It’s Charlie, right? That would explain why Enzo nearly flattened him last night.”

“Nope, not the pretty boy. Try the dark and dangerous one.”

“Darkness? Isn’t he a little young for you?”

“His father, Dark. It’s strange that they named his son after him that way. Dark and Darkness? I’m sure someone thought that was hilarious.”

“I heard his wife committed suicide and he hasn’t been in a serious relationship since.”

“If I hook up with him, he still won’t be in a serious relationship. Don’t get any ideas about hearts and flowers.”

“You’re seriously not interested in a real relationship?”

“Why would I be?”

“You’re welcome to stay with Johnny and me. You don’t have to make any rash decisions about long term relationships. I think you’re being smart, taking your time.”

“The thought did occur to me that the MC would a nice safe place to hang out while I figure shit out. Let’s face it; I’m not Johnny’s favorite person in the entire world.”

“That’s not true.”

“If anything, I’m a distraction. He wants it to be just the two of you. I can feel that, even though he’s never said a word.”

“I don’t give a shit what he wants. I want you to stay with us for a while.”

“We can spend time together. I don’t have to live with you for that.”

“You could stay at my place, or even Johnny’s old place. Now that the guys are all buying houses, no one will be there. Hell, he can even put you up at the club or one of the properties his father owns. You’ve got a lot of choices.”

As they pulled up to the Conex, Margaret asked pointedly, “What do you have against the MC?”

“Nothing. I just want you to know you have choices.”

“Sarah...”

“There are a lot of drugs, alcohol and club whores at the MC.”

Laughing off her concerns, Margaret replied cheerfully, “That’s not me anymore. I haven’t used drugs or drank since I’ve been with Dragonfly. Don’t even miss it anymore. After putting that shit behind me for a year, I can see how it screwed me up. I have no intention of going through that again.”

“You really have the hots for this MC president, don’t you?”

Margret replied, “Didn’t know he was their club president till last night, but he’s nothing short of spectacular. Perhaps you didn’t notice, but he’s built like a freaking bodybuilder and all that long, gorgeous black hair. Let’s just say I could get used to the rest of what goes on at an MC, at least long enough for a short vacation.”

“Can’t think of anyone who deserves a ridiculously sexy, overprotective bastard more than you.”

“Fine, throw my words back at me. You’re not funny, you know. You look as though you should be but you’re not.”

Quoting one of their favorite movies made her laugh. Cracking open the huge doors, they followed the sunlight right into the dark interior. Sarah switched on the battery powered lighting and they began pulling the place apart.

Margaret went straight for their surveillance equipment. Opening a hard-sided case, she pulled out a tiny ear bud. Shoving one in her ear, she tossed one to Sarah.

Sarah quipped, “It’s been a while since we used this kind of stuff.”

“Speak for yourself, sister.”

Sarah pulled out a huge trunk of weapons, appearing deep in thought. “How’d you get over your aversion to shooting folks in the head?”

“Who says I did?”

“You must have. Back in the military the few times you did it, you kind of mentally checked out afterward. That must not have been a problem, or they would have tried to trade us out. Did they give you some therapy or something to help you get over it?”

Slamming the case shut, Margaret twirled around and pressed her back to the side of the Conex and slid down to rest on her rear. Sitting there for a brief moment, she closed her eyes, her head lolling back. Finally, she spoke, “Want to know the God’s honest truth?”

“If it won’t damage you to tell me, yeah, I’d really like to know.”

“When they first took me, I was terrified that they’d go after you as well. I realized at some point, Dragonfly didn’t even know about you, only Petrov did. I knew that if my performance was shitty, they try to get a refund from the dirty Russian and that would lead them to you. I was panicking and really felt like my back was against the wall. It’s not like I could ask them for help because you had a reputation as someone who could get the job done.”

“Jesus. It sounds like just the kind of thing to make a person totally lose it,” Sarah swore.

“I did the only thing I could do. I pretended to be you. I went through all the intel on each target, read his dark deeds and reminded myself how much better the world would be without him. The thing is, most people who utilize Dragonfly are shady themselves. The people they want to have killed are invariably some of the worst of humanity. I simply phrased the self-talk in exactly the same way you always explained it to me. I woke up and told myself I was channeling my inner Sarah, went out, did the job and came home. You’d be surprised how easily I conditioned myself, knowing that it was to keep you safe. After a while, I just didn’t think about it anymore.”

Sarah wrapped her in a tight hug and Margaret could feel the guilt and empathy oozing from her every pore.

About that time, Johnny showed up unexpectedly. Margaret realized he was never far from her sister. They were two arguing, lovey-dovey peas in a pod. It was cute but nauseating to see. Once they cleaned out the Conex and got back to Enzo’s place, all hell broke loose.

Johnny’s old man, Don Carlo, had been abducted, requiring all hands-on deck to locate him. Sarah headed to Homeland to track down some loose ends, but Margaret had a bad gut feeling it was Dragonfly related. She did the only thing she could under the circumstances. She immediately put out feelers to anyone she thought might roll over on Dragonfly and waited for callbacks. Dragonfly had made some enemies and she knew exactly who they were, what they valued, and how to turn them.

Waiting for callbacks was always the worst part. Yanking out her beloved sniper rifle, she began breaking it down, cleaning it and reassembling by rote memory. Her mind drifted to possible ways to gut Dragonfly. Johnny had money and guns. Dark seemed like an ally and he had guns and muscle, if not money, as well. Margaret knew the company inside and out.

Worry niggled at the back of her mind. She didn’t like Sarah being off on her own. Dragonfly could easily grab her. In her heightened state of anxiety, she noticed Gino’s fiancé sitting on the arm of Johnny’s chair. Her arm was draped around him, as she murmured sweet nothings in his ear. The clicking of her scope into place drew his attention. The look on his face said it all. He’d been caught allowing another woman to hang all over him.

Looking down at the weapon in her hand, she realized that all men were basically assholes. They acted like you were their whole world one minute, and ended up in bed with another woman the moment your back was turned.

Johnny’s irritated voice drew her from her thoughts, “What did you find out?”

“They aren’t answering any of my calls.”

“Did you leave a message?”

“You don’t understand. No representative of Dragonfly is answering my calls in any office around the globe.”

“How did you suddenly get to be persona non-grata?”

“Tell me and we’ll both know.”

“They got my pops. The only question is where.”

Tiffany withdrew her arm from around him when Cheryl walked in with coffee.

“What do you say about me going in and bugging them?”

Steepling his fingers together, Johnny thought it over for a moment before responding, “No. I don’t want you anywhere near Dragonfly. We’ll let the nerds hack them. I want every goddamned man on the streets.”

Walking out to the garage, they watched everyone setting up. Johnny moved around the makeshift tables, giving orders and literally jerking men into place.

“Your father’s men all do what you say?”

Frowning at her, Johnny growled, “They damned well better if they know what’s good for them.” Seeing her pensive expression, he asked, “Why the hell wouldn’t they?”

“Normally, the second in command gets advanced, not the lawless son who’s used to doing his own thing.”

Leaning over the makeshift table made from an old door and some sawhorses, Johnny glared at her, “They’re smart enough to know who’s the bigger danger. Ain’t nobody killing my pops but me.”

Margaret glared back at him, “Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?”

Tiffany walked in carrying a stack of laptops. “He always says his old man is outliving his usefulness.”

“Does he now?”

“Yep. In fact, he says it so often I’ve started thinking of it as his catch phrase.”

“Bitches are gonna get yourself whacked.”

Both women burst out laughing.

Snarling at the two women he muttered, “It’s all fun and games ‘til someone gets poked in the eye.”

Tiffany shrugged, “Or kidnapped and taken to Russia. I haven’t forgotten what you and your pops did for me, Johnny. Whatever you need, you can count on me.”

Blinking, he swallowed thickly, “Think you could check on my mom?”

“Consider it done.”

“Thanks, Tiff, I appreciate it.”

Margaret watched her touch him on the arm as she walked by. Maybe she’d been wrong and they were just good friends.

Sarah was back within a couple of hours and they got to work digging through Dragonfly’s personnel files, trying to identify who might be tapped to grab Don Carlo.

By that time, the computer hackers were in place along a table in the garage.

Almost an hour passed before Margaret looked up with a huge smile on her face. “I think they’ve only got two of us who aren’t on the regular roster. I guess that explains why we’re always so busy. The other person is a Frenchman by the name of Leo Durand. I met him one time when he was injured on location and I took over for him. He’s almost three hundred pounds and looks like a freaking rock star. He’d stand out like a sore thumb. My guess is they’ve got their regular employees handling this operation.”

The hacker with the dreads spoke up, “I got a hit on one of the credit cards. It belongs to a woman by the name of Cynthia Hasbro. It was used at a convenience store two times. Once for gas and one for transactions totaling fifty dollars and seven cents.”

“Where?”

Pulling up a popular mapping program, he pinned the two shops. “If the time stamps are correct, they are heading further inland away from the coastline.”

Margaret spoke up, “Dragonfly has a substation about a hundred and fifty miles west of there.” It was bad news because this one was set up for interrogations. Once Johnny figured that out, he was tracking them like a bloodhound.

Once he started snooping, all kinds of skeletons came falling out of the closet, including a couple of internal snitches. Johnny bled them until they admitted his father was taken because Dragonfly wanted access to the Mafia's gun trade. It made sense. They could divert the shipments before they reach the US and sell them anywhere they wanted. It would allow them to cherry-pick the shipments for the best weapons for their own operation.