Chuck Parker stood in front of Erikka after shaking hands with her. She put the pistol on the surface of her desk and sat down, motioning for him to take the chair across from her. Whatever she'd expected when talking with Lieutenant Gomez and having Notus Motorcycle Club recommended to her, it wasn't the intimidating biker who strolled into the office.

Her gaze went to Chuck's shaved head. There was no hint he was going bald. He had signs of regrowth. Blond regrowth. She lowered her gaze to his strong forearms littered with tattoos. She liked that. Not the ink, but that he was a physically fit man who would scare normal men.

"I'll make this short." Chuck leaned back in the chair and crossed the arms she'd admired. "Notus doesn't hunt down bail jumpers."

Erikka shook her head, prepared to do whatever necessary to have the biker club work with her. Gomez had stated they were the best at what they do, and she needed someone to help her. "I want to hire you, your club, to help me find someone."

"We only deal with missing persons, not criminals on the run."

She sat straighter, trying to hold her temper inside at his jab toward her livelihood. "This is personal. My sister is missing."

"The police will help you with that," said Chuck.

"They can't." She clenched her teeth. Until she had a verbal or written contract with Notus Motorcycle Club, she feared giving more details to anyone about why her sister was missing. Never before had she missed her dad, the original E. Levenson, who'd started the bail bonds business and was in charge of everything that happened. He would've known what to do, but he'd died of a heart attack while bringing in a jumper. Her dad would've walked straight into trouble and saved his daughter.

But, she couldn't risk getting killed because if she were gone, nobody would be around to help Rachel. She needed Notus Motorcycle Club.

"Why not?" he asked.

She inhaled deeply and studied Chuck. How far could she trust him?

Almost her whole life was spent tagging along with her dad at the office, going out with him on contacts, and eventually, she became his partner and helped lead the way to bringing in those who skipped their payments or failed to follow their probation rules and had a warrant out for their arrest. She relied on gut instincts regarding people. She usually could pinpoint the good from the bad by merely watching their body language and the way they talked.

She needed to trust Chuck with the information she had. Her sister's life depended on it.

"On Wednesday, my sister walked out of the office with a client we'd bonded that was due for his scheduled court sentencing appointment. We offer that service to those who are not at risk of running." She rubbed her thighs under the desk. "She never showed up with the client to the court appointment, and I haven't heard or seen her since."

Chuck leaned forward and his brows lowered, hardening his rugged face. "That's an emergency situation and needs to be reported to Lieutenant Gomez or anyone at the police department. Regardless if you hire us privately or not, you need to make a missing person report with the lieutenant. If the police deem they need our help on the ground and with your approval, we search for free."

She swallowed and lifted her chin. "There are reasons why I can't go to the police with help in finding my sister. I had hoped Notus Motorcycle Club would agree to work with me, and then at the time your club agrees, I will give you more details to help you in your search and recovery."

Chuck rubbed his jaw, disrupting the long whiskers. Her stomach fluttered in hope. For reasons she couldn't explain, the unconcerned act of ruffling his beard made him appear not as scary.

"I'm assuming there's a crime involved." He looked straight at her, never wavering his attention away from her. "And, you expect Notus to commit a crime on the recovery."

He held his cards close to his vest. Literally, his black leather vest held all the secrets of who and what Notus MC stood for. She had no idea if his club would work with her or think she was half-looped.

"I want my sister back." She leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk. "With or without Notus, I will do whatever I need to do to bring her home."

She'd been around criminals her whole life and worked with probation officers and knew enough about the law not to say anything that would come back to bite her in the ass. Studying Chuck, she failed to read what he was thinking. He was either smarter than she'd imagined or she hadn't been blunt enough.

Chuck stood. She jumped from the chair prepared to try to explain again when he rapped his knuckles against the surface of her desk stopping her.

"I'll need to talk to the others." He held up his hand when she opened her mouth. "I'll call you, and if we decide to help, we'll want to meet with you between midnight and one o'clock in the morning."

"But, can't you come sooner?" She pressed her hand to her stomach, trying not to get excited about the possibility of the motorcycle club helping her.

"One of our members just got married today. I won't interrupt a celebration." He walked toward the door and turned back around before leaving. "If I get an answer from everyone before then, take care of a few things on my own, I can come back earlier if you'll be around or I can meet you at your house."

She pointed up. "I've been staying in the apartment upstairs. You can come here."

He nodded and opened the door, dismissing their meeting.

"Chuck?" she said, approaching his back.

He turned around. She came up short. Her heart pounded in her chest. At a dead-end, she'd had nowhere else to turn.

She held out her hand. "Thank you."

He shook and held onto her instead of moving away. "Don't thank me yet, sweetheart. Your sister is still missing."

She sucked in her breath, steeling herself for the hard fact that she could already be too late to save Rachel. Chuck left without another word, nothing to console her or give her hope. She stared out the glass door until the roar of his motorcycle faded away.

Walking back to her desk, she tried to go through the files of clients who were scheduled for court tomorrow. She needed to call each one and make sure they had a way to the courthouse and get a verbal reply on whether they were planning to go or skip. Their answers were always the same, regardless of their plans. To them, she was as welcome as a cop knocking at their door to harass them.

She stared at the top file until the words and numbers blurred and a teardrop fell, splattering the paper. Quickly swiping her hand across the paper, drying the file, she let out the shudder that constantly built, released, and rebuilt inside of her lately.

Sniffing, she dropped her head forward and cradled her forehead. When she got Rachel back, she was never going to let her go out alone with a client again. Even though she was two years younger than Rachel, she had always been the one who took an interest in her dad's business. While Rachel only started helping her out at Bail Bonds after their father died. Rachel wasn't trained or had any experience with criminals, but she was qualified to escort the non-dangerous clients to court. Or, that's what she'd thought until Rachel had gone missing.

She squeezed her eyes closed. Chuck had to convince the other members of Notus to help her. She'd pay them any amount of money they required and even sell the business if she had to in an effort to get help.

Banging interrupted her plans. She startled and knocked over her Dad's jar of rocks that had sat on the desk since she was little. Ignoring the pebbles, she quickly rushed to the front door, turning the deadbolt to lock everyone out. Groaning at her forgetfulness while panicked, she hurried back to the desk and grabbed her pistol. Standing halfway between the back door and the front, she waited and watched the screen where the security camera showed what was happening outside the back door of the building.

The same two men had shown up again. They weren't going to get inside this time.