Wayne, Glen, and Thad stood around the fire, away from the women sitting in the gazebo clustered around Lena. Chuck had already filled his MC brothers in on the job prospect, and one thing was clear.

Wayne and Glen were looped off their ass.

Chuck widened his stance. What the fuck was he supposed to do with them?

He gave them the bones of the case as he'd heard it from Erikka, and received a hearty yeah on searching for her missing sister, except from Thad. The vice president of Notus stared into the flames of the fire not saying a word.

Glen thrust a whiskey bottle Chuck's way. "Have a drink, brother."

He waved off the offer. Any other time, he would've been the first one to get shit-faced and let the responsibilities toward the club fall on his brothers. Any type of celebration called him to party. But, he'd promised Gracie a ride home before dark, which meant he'd remain sober.

"The woman never mentioned why she wouldn't report to the police that her sister was missing?" Thad glanced over at the gazebo.

"Nope." Chuck lowered his voice. "She wants an agreement with us before she tells us anything more."

"What's your feelings about the woman?" Thad grabbed Wayne before he could stumble back on the rocks lining the fire and shoved him in the opposite direction.

"Around thirty-five years old, hot as hell, and hid her fear for her sister better than most families who we've worked with on searches. She pulled a pistol on me the moment I stepped inside the office." Chuck blew out his breath. "Whether she held the information secret while she got a read on me, I don't know. Whatever she was doing, she made sure she didn't come straight out and ask us to get rid of whoever has her sister."

Thad squinted. "Others have asked us to do that very thing. We've done it with no requests. It's a normal feeling to want someone to pay for a crime if they hurt a loved one."

Chuck lifted his chin and looked at Glen and Wayne bullshitting on the other side of the fire. The longer they talked, the farther away their MC brothers moved across the backyard. "That's why I called a meeting, but by the looks of things here, those two are done until tomorrow."

"Wayne and Glen needed to let loose. The women have decided to spend the night here and let everyone else drink. Something about wanting to help Lena put away all the baby things she got yesterday at the shower. I'd go with you to the meeting, but I need to stick around in case Lena goes into labor." Thad rubbed the back of his neck. "Though, this is a missing person we're talking about. We've never turned down a private hire before and time matters."

Every time someone came up missing, Chuck was reminded of Thalia. Thad's sister had also gone missing years ago when they were barely adults only to later be found raped and murdered. Soon after, they lost their MC brother, Rich, who had loved Thalia, when he up and ran.

Chuck could read the pain on Thad's face as he contemplated how to handle club business, knowing if it was his sister, he'd want someone out looking for her immediately. That was the whole purpose of Notus. To bring back the missing to their loved ones, so nobody else had to live through the pain of losing someone.

"Do you think she'd be willing to talk with you alone?" asked Thad.

"I think she'll take any help she can get." Chuck put his hands in his vest pockets. "The only thing I can do is try and get more information, so the club is better prepared to give an answer tomorrow."

"Go ahead and do it," said Thad.

"I'm on it." Chuck nodded. "Sober those assholes up. I'll want everyone riding out tomorrow early. Say...six o'clock?"

"That'll work." Thad knuckle bumped Chuck. "Call if anything new comes up."

"Will do." Chuck walked toward the gazebo and caught sight of Gracie laughing over something one of the other women were saying.

He crooked his finger and motioned her to him. She'd changed her dress for a pair of jeans and a tight, long-sleeved shirt. He grinned at finding her feet bare. She'd complained about her heels being uncomfortable earlier during the wedding.

"You came back." Gracie stopped at the railing of the gazebo and leaned over to talk to him instead of walking down the two steps to her left. "We put the food away, but I can cook you a hamburger if you're hungry."

"I'm not staying." Chuck stepped forward until he had to look up into her face and slipped his fingers into her hand. "Thad said Clara and Ingrid are staying the night. What about you?"

"I don't know," she muttered, looking over his head.

In a half hour, the sun would go down. Gracie would need to be inside before darkness fell, either at Thad's house or her own, where she'd feel safe. He brought her hand over to his mouth and kissed her fingers.

"You should stay." He bit the tip of her index finger. "Have fun."

"You do realize that this party isn't going to go past ten o'clock tonight." She pulled her hand away and looked across the backyard. "Wayne and Glen are wasted. Lena's pregnant and already yawning, and it's only seven o'clock."

"Your sister is staying because Wayne can't ride home in his condition."

If he'd learned one thing, Clara and Gracie, being identical twin sisters, liked to stick together.

Gracie wrinkled her nose. "I'll stay the night here."

"Good."

She rested her elbows on the railing. "I wish you'd stay."

"Can't." He tugged a long strand of her hair, pulling her head down closer and kissed her nose. "Sweet dreams, sweetheart."

"You, too," she whispered, giving him a sweet wave.

She'd never know how proud he was of her. She'd come so far after experiencing one of the worst fears of any woman. Hers even more so, because the man who'd taken her was the serial killer who had kidnapped and killed her mother, who she'd lost when she was young. He winked at her, waved to the others, and left the backyard.

At his motorcycle, he looked up at the sky and decided not to zip his sleeves to his vest, yet. He could get to St. John's Bail Bonds before the air cooled enough to need a jacket. Deciding to skip calling Erikka first, he rode away from Thad's house and headed toward Lombard Street. Until he knew the whole story behind Erikka's missing sister, he rather go into the situation without any announcement. People were more real and less likely to hide important facts when they didn't have time to think up an alternative story and try to hide their emotions.

Ten minutes later, he pulled up to the front of the building. He shut off the engine and gazed around. The place was shut up tight. Blinds covered the front windows, and not a speck of light came through. He tipped back his head and looked up at the second story. The two windows to the living quarters upstairs were also dark.

There was no use going and trying the door. He took out his phone and the business card he still carried in his pocket and called Erikka.

She answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"This is Chuck Parker. We've had a change of plans. Is it possible to meet with you now and tomorrow the club will be available to discuss an arrangement with you that will work for both of us?" He wanted to make her believe they'd help. The more comfortable she was with him, the more she'd share. He could fill in the rest of the members when they got together in the morning to discuss the situation.

"Now? Yes. I can do that." Her voice came and went over the phone as if she was moving.

"I'm at the front door," he said.

"Oh." She paused. "I heard a motorcycle but thought it was traffic. I'll open the door. Give me a few minutes."

She disconnected the call. He pocketed the phone as he waited for a light to come on. Not knowing Erikka's schedule, maybe she'd been sleeping when he called.

The front door opened and Erikka stuck out her head, motioning him inside. He carried his helmet with him. If she'd been resting, she looked damn good with makeup around her eyes, her dark brown hair bound in a braid over her shoulder, and still dressed in the jeans and green shirt she'd worn a couple of hours ago.

"Just follow me. I'm going to take you upstairs." She walked forward through the room without turning on any lights.

He blinked, forcing his eyes to adjust to the dark. Giving up on his surroundings, he concentrated on Erikka's body. At least she moved and let him have some sense of where he was going.

She stopped. "We're at the stairs. There's eighteen of them, and the steps are steep. It's an old building. The handrail is on your right."

Her footsteps filled the narrow area, and the wood creaked with each step. He followed her, determined not to reach out and feel his way up to the second story. The whole time, he remained quiet, hoping she'd explain why they were going through the building in the dark. There was money to be made in bail bonds, and he doubted if the lack of lights came from a money shortage.

At the top of the stairs, Erikka touched his arm. "We're going to walk forward and then left. Once you're in my bedroom, I can turn on some light."

He let her pull him through the upstairs while he ran his hand over his jaw and tugged on his beard. He'd done a lot of fucked up things in his life, but he'd never been escorted through the dark to a woman's bedroom. Every woman he'd been with preferred the lights on. Hell, he liked to see what he was getting.

But, he wasn't here to fuck Erikka. At this point, he had no idea what was going on.

Her hand tightened on his arm, stopping him. "Stay right there, so you don't trip over a shoe or anything."

She let go of him, and her footsteps hurried across the room. "Oh, can you reach behind you and close the door. Quietly."

What the hell? He decided he was done following her instructions. "How about we turn on the light, and you tell me why you brought me up to your bedroom?"

"Please," she said.

"Lady, I'll do about anything with a pretty woman in her bedroom, but listening to one boss me around has never been something I enjoy."

A loud sigh came from across the room, followed by her footsteps getting louder until they stopped beside him, and then the door clicked. "Was it that hard just to shut the door?"

She walked back across the room without waiting for him to answer and a dim light pushed some of the darkness away. He squinted wanting to know where that attitude came from when he was the one without a clue on what the fuck was going on.

Erikka pulled her gaze off him before stretching and pulling the comforter over her unmade bed. "Go ahead and sit down."

The vagueness of her getting him up to her room was starting to entertain him. A woman who looked and acted like her would be wild in bed. It'd be a challenge to get her to submit to not being in control, but hell, he was confident that he could get her bending over without wasting too much time.

"I don't want anyone knowing I'm staying in the apartment. That's why I brought you up here without turning on the lights. I rather have everyone believe I close it up at night and it's empty." She sat down on the edge of the mattress.

He glanced at the one window in the room. She'd covered it with a dark blanket. Her only light source came from a small outdoor camp light that ran on batteries and failed to provide enough light to see much more than shadows.

His hope of an evening of sex dashed, he sat down on the bed. She was starting to give him more information about her situation, though she probably wasn't aware of how much.

"Who is after you?" He sat, leaned forward, and braced his elbows on his knees.

Her mouth tightened. "Has Notus Motorcycle Club agreed to let me hire them?"

"That's not how we do business." He softened as she slumped forward and hung her head. "As much as you want to protect your sister, we must protect our club. You need to understand that while we would work for you privately, there could be more missing persons who come afterward that the police department asks us to search for. More people will need to be found. More bad guys who need to be caught, so no more women and children are hurt."

She nodded. "I understand, but..."

"But?"

"I have no one to help me, and I'll do anything to find my sister." She looked at him. "I'm flying by the seat of my pants, Chuck. I know what you want me to say, and I also know I can't because I know the law. My hands are tied."

"I'll advise you again to go to the police for help," he said.

Her mouth tightened. "If I do, I'd be killing my sister. There are other people involved who are watching me and telling me what I need to do because they're trying to find the man who has my sister. That's why I have this room protected, so nobody knows I'm staying up here. I left my car in the garage at my house, and I'm trying to buy myself some time to figure out how to save Rachel. But, my business needs to stay open and eventually, they'll find me during the daytime. I just know that when they come back, I've run out of time to save my sister."

"Jesus," muttered Chuck.

He believed her. The little things she'd mentioned were red alerts. Notus wouldn't only have to find Erikka's sister, they'd need to save her from the man who abducted her, and find out who the men were that were after the kidnapper and make sure no one harmed her sister. It was a fucking war game.

"Lieutenant Gomez said Notus Motorcycle Club was the best at finding someone," whispered Erikka. "I'll pay any amount you ask, if you help me."

"Who are the men that are after the man that you believe has your sister?"

Her lips closed. He wanted to wait her out. Her silence wasn't helping anyone and the information she'd given him painted a different picture than he came here prepared for. The time needed, along with Notus getting involved in something that could be bigger than they would want to handle, made him leery of giving her any encouragement. Wayne, Thad, and Glen could still vote down the job.

"I don't know who they are, but I have two different pictures of them. One when they succeeded in getting inside the building and made a mess of everything downstairs. The second time, I was prepared, and they weren't able to get inside, but the security camera recorded them outside the door in the back of the building. I also believe they were the same men who broke into my sister's house and thrashed her home." She sat straighter. "Agree to help me, and I'll show you who they are. I'll give you the client's information who has my sister. I'll even sign over the bail bonds business to you. The building, the clientele, and everything that comes with it. I only want my sister brought back to me alive."

"I'll do it." He raised his brows stopping her from relaxing. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow until I run this by the others before I know if they'll take the case. If not, you've got me to help you."

She nodded enthusiastically. He gritted his teeth. His decision came not because of the amount of danger surrounding her or the triangle of people after each other. It was because her sister needed help, and he would not let another woman go unfounded until it was too late to bring her home alive.