Rich shut down the computer on Wayne's desk in the garage. The son of a bitch from Komoon wasn't going to stop coming after him.

Cross had gone too far the moment he put his hand on Gracie's door. To come after him was one thing. He would not let Cross harm a woman.

He walked out of Wayne's garage and into the house, finding Gracie with her sister in the living room. Cross's job to take him out wouldn't be stopped because there was a woman around him. Komoon Motorcycle Club had no honor system. They'd kill a man or woman and turn around and party as if it was a celebration.

Clara said, "I called Wayne."

Knowing it was Gracie's sister, he ignored her and faced Gracie on the couch. "You okay?"

She stared back without answering, but he could tell she connected with him. She hadn't checked out over her fright.

Now that he had his motorcycle, he needed time to take care of the problem himself or be killed trying. Either way, Cross would be gone from St. John's and nobody would be hurt.

"I need your keys." He held out his hand.

Gracie reached into her purse and handed the keys to him.

"Stay here." He then looked at Clara. "Make sure she stays inside."

"Where are you going?" asked Clara reaching over and slipping her fingers into Gracie's hand.

"Out." He walked to the door. "Lock up behind me."

Not waiting for a reply, he strolled outside and got on his motorcycle. Cross would stick around Gracie's townhouse waiting for him to return. His ex-MC brother would want to see his reaction to the tormenting, or if Cross were successful in breaking in, he'd be inside the house waiting for him.

He arrived on Gracie's street in record time and found Wayne and Thad headed toward the house coming from the opposite direction. "Fuck," he mumbled into the wind.

Cross wouldn't go up against all of them unless the whole Komoon Motorcycle Club was here in St. John's—an impossibility. They'd send one guy, and if something happened with that member, they'd send another.

Komoon Motorcycle Club stayed to themselves, ran the clubhouse, and only stepped out of their territory if they were going after one of their own.

He pulled into the driveway and waited for the others to park. Once their helmets came off, he said, "I'm going in."

"You looked at the recording," stated Wayne, walking beside him to the house.

It wasn't a question. "One plus one is two. I needed answers. I got answers."

He'd concluded that Notus protected Gracie as soon as he'd sobered up. A single woman, sister to the president's woman. He knew that Wayne had his hand in protecting his family.

"Who are we dealing with?" asked Thad from behind him.

"Same guy I spotted snooping around here, and you've seen drive by the house a dozen times." He stopped at the door. "His name's Cross."

"Anyone else on the camera?" Wayne took the keys offered to him.

"Nope." Rich removed the pistol from his lower back and handed the weapon over, too. "Take this."

"What are you doing?" Wayne held out the gun. "You'll need this."

"I don't want it. If he's in there, I'll use my hands." He motioned toward the door. "Open it."

Wayne looked at the others and then silently slipped the key into the lock.

Thad took the side, and Rich stepped over the threshold the moment the door swung open. He scanned the living room and walked forward, his arms loose and ready.

"I'll take the kitchen." Thad moved ahead of him.

Wayne followed. "Garage."

That left the upstairs for him. He walked up the stairs, his gaze on the hallway, taking in the closed bedroom doors and the open bathroom at the end. Everything looked the same as when they'd left earlier.

It took him two minutes to sweep every room and go back downstairs. Wayne and Thad shook their head, finding no one in the house. He watched them put their pistols away. If he was out on his own, he could wait for Cross to make his move. Hell, waiting meant he lived another day. But, with Notus involved, he wanted to find Cross and take care of business. He only had to figure out a way to search on his own. And, figure out what to do with Cross once he had him.

The others all had a woman at home. They should be with the one they love, safe, knowing tomorrow would come.

"It's Saturday." Thad shrugged. "Let's do a search."

"Rich doesn't know the procedure." Wayne cocked his eyebrow. "I'll call Chuck and Glen."

Rich walked over to the window. The digs that he wasn't a part of Notus rolled off him.

His gaze landed on his motorcycle. He'd stuffed two bottles of whiskey out of the hallway of Vavoom's in his duffle bag earlier when he'd gone to the bathroom and Gracie went into the kitchen at the bar. His plan to come back to her house, go to the guest room, and drink until he no longer hurt and his regrets disappeared was canceled at the sight of Gracie scared to death.

Cross would need to be taken care of first, and then he'd have time to make himself forget.

A half-hour later, every member of Notus rode away from the house on a search to find Cross after pointing Rich in the right direction on where to look and giving him a meeting place for when his laps around the blocks ended.

It was hard to understand how the others could search for missing persons, one after another, and not get depressed about the failures. He couldn't imagine going through losing Thalia again or not finding a child. The ghosts would haunt him.

He'd loved Thalia as much as a twenty-year-old kid could love someone. She'd been pure, innocent, and his world.  Life back then, before her murder, was perfect. He had his friends at his side, Mr. and Mrs. B. in his life, guiding and loving him, and a few times a week, he might've caught his mom sober, and she'd ask how he was doing. Every dream he had back then was at his fingertips.

The night Thalia disappeared, everything had been ripped from him.

Something had snapped inside of him.

He'd done the unthinkable.

At the time, he couldn't control himself, but he could stop the upcoming disaster that would fall on Notus and the ones he loved if he'd stayed in St. John's. He'd left. There was never any hesitation. It was the only answer.

He scanned each house on his assigned route looking for the obvious. A motorcycle, an abandoned house Cross could crash in, and Cross himself. He looked back at the house at the beginning of the street. Tim Tanini used to live there when he was a kid, and he wondered whatever happened to him. Tanini had planned to hit the Nascar track and then spend his time with his head under the hood.

Stopping at the stop sign, he spotted an empty house with a For Sale sign in the front yard. Going on gut instinct, he skipped checking it out further. There was only a carport and nowhere to park a motorcycle out of view of the street.

Turning right, he continued on. It was ridiculous to search each house. Cross could be anywhere, even staying at one of the motels in the business district or downtown Portland. It'd be better if he fucking stood on a street corner and put a target on his back. Cross would come gunning, and he wouldn't have to wear down the rubber on his tires.

Fifteen minutes later, he stopped beside the St. John's Fire Department. Wayne arrived first and shook his head as he shut off the engine to his Harley. Being alone with his oldest friend, the bottles of whiskey in his bag behind him called his name. It would be more enjoyable to drink himself numb than look in Wayne's face.

Wayne leaned his forearms on the handlebar without getting off the bike. "We paid for your mom's burial out of the club fund." Wayne lowered his gaze and rubbed the dust off the chrome bar. "She's laid to rest over at Willamette Cemetery. We were all there, and as soon as...if you want to visit her gravesite, we'll show you where she rests. Far as your mom's house, the bank took it back. We couldn't find you to straighten out her shit, so we didn't step forward and purchase the house when it went to auction."

He looked down the road. His mom's house was never a home. He'd spent more time growing up at Thad's house or Wayne's house or bullshitting with Chuck's dad who seemed more like a grandpa than a parent. Even Glen's parents welcomed him into the house anytime he needed to get away from the chaos when his mom was on a bender.

Rich gazed around, Cross in the back of his mind, and said, "What do you want from me?"

Wayne heaved a sigh of frustration. Rich glanced at him. Every Notus member wanted to dance around the reason for why he was here and pretend that it was some kind of fucking reunion.

"I left Notus twenty-five years ago. I joined Komoon Motorcycle Club after I left." Rich gritted his teeth, trying to keep neutral. "You've seen my leg. You know where I stand now."

Wayne glared. "That fucking black square is a fresh tattoo and not done by you. Don't give me some bullshit reason to explain where you stand. You're Notus."

"I rode with Komoon."

"Fuck Komoon." Wayne clenched his hand into a fist and pounded his chest. "I know what's in here. You never betrayed us."

Rich's lip curled. He wanted to argue the point. They were never supposed to search for him for twenty-five years. He wanted them to move on with their lives—from what he'd learned, they had.

Except, for one part. They'd never forgotten him.

Thad, Chuck, and Glen rode in from different directions. Glen lowered his hand off the handlebar and raised his palm up. Rich started his Harley, recognizing the universal signal to hurry. Following the others, he turned in the middle of the road and fell into line in front of Chuck who rode at the end.

Glancing in the side mirror, he caught Chuck's hardened face as he rode. He had a shit ton of feelings he couldn't control that had put distance between everyone in his life.

His life after losing Thalia had taken him down a dark path, and he couldn't turn back. He could only move forward. Alone.

Glen motioned ahead. Rich accelerated and passed everyone but Wayne. Pulling abreast of the president, he spotted the motorcycle two houses down from the end of the block. He shouted, "Pull over."

He downshifted, veered to the curb, and cut his engine. When the noise from the motorcycles quieted, he shifted on the seat. "If I go in now, I'll lose him. It's broad daylight. He's surrounded by other houses. I don't want him spotting us, so we need to turn around. I'll come back under darkness."

"We're coming, too." Thad rolled his bike backward. "Let's go to Wayne's house before we're seen."

He wasn't going to argue against Notus coming with him tonight. Somehow, he'd finish the job that needed done, for them, and he'd stay long enough to make sure Komoon wouldn't send anyone else to St. John's, while keeping Gracie safe. Then, he'd ride out of St. John's and disappear without Notus knowing what kind of man he'd become.