The sun wouldn’t be up for another hour or so, but Dax was on his bike, adjusting his helmet, when he got a text from Angel. He looked down at it and smiled. It was just a red heart. She always sent him one before he went on a ride, even when she didn’t know what was going on. Angel knew about the coins. When Angel’s ex-boyfriend nearly killed Dax in that warehouse, Dax had walked away with more than his life. He’d walked away with Angel, and a key she found in her ex’s things to a safe deposit box. She’d turned all of what she found into the police, except for the coins. Those she’d given to Dax. Those coins had become personal to them both. Angel had lost her father because of them and Dax had lost more than one good man either to prison or death. They had also brought the two of them together. It had been almost a year since all of that happened, and after a lot of discussion they’d finally agreed that they’d keep the coins until their first anniversary, just to make sure that no one suspected they had them, and then they’d sell them and use the money for the legitimate operations of the ranch. Most importantly, for the new building that Dax had in mind. He’d been thinking about it for years, but the timing had just never been right. He wanted to build a rec center of sorts for the kids. He was sick and tired of kids getting lost in the shuffle of the adult business that went on at the ranch. Kids like Michael and Cody and Keller, and the little girl he’d taken to her aunt on the border of Canada the year before that had been abused for years and never told anyone. Those kids didn’t belong growing up in the great room where some biker was likely to be getting sucked off by a club girl or the smoke was so thick some days you could hardly breathe. But they did need a place where they could go when shit got too bad at home. They needed a safe place where they could feel like they belonged, and Dax wanted to provide that for them more than anything.

“You ready, boss?” Handsome was geared up and on his bike next to him. Nolan, Jimmy, Pablo, and two other guys named Hank and Jet were behind them. Hawk rode in the back, alone. It was his way and since he’d joined them, Dax had come to trust that he knew what he was doing and he wasn’t going to betray him. It had taken a long time for the rest of the club to come around. Hawk had a bad history with the club, based mostly, Dax had found out, on lies, innuendos, and rumors.

In the van that would be following them was Marty and a young guy Dax had just patched in about six months before that they called Whip. Whip hadn’t been on any major rides with the guys yet, but the kid was a crack shot and Dax had a feeling they were going to need as many of those as they could get today. Cody had watched them all leave the clubhouse and for a second Dax felt guilty about leaving him behind. But he’d done a lot of soul-searching about that and he knew it was the right thing to do. Liam still wanted a piece of Cody, and taking him to West Virginia would be like offering the kid up on a silver platter. If all went well with this ride, Cody would be a guest of honor on the next one. Dax already had plans in the works to go after Johnny O’Toole, and make good on the promise he’d made to a sixteen-year-old boy eight years before.

Dax nodded at Handsome. “I’m ready.”

Dax started his bike and tucked the phone into his vest pocket. As he drove out, Handsome motioned to the other guys to start moving. Poor Handsome had taken on the job of VP, not road captain, but Dax had yet to decide who he wanted for that position. His last one had been killed in the shootout with police over the coins, and Dax had been finding that he was going to be hard to replace. He had someone in mind now, that he’d introduce to the club soon enough. He had a feeling none of them were going to be happy about it, but sometimes that was just business. He was confident that they’d go along with his decision without too much crap or drama—at least he hoped they would.

The ride ahead of them was going to take about ten hours. It was just after five a.m. when they left the clubhouse, so they should be at their destination by three that afternoon. Dax hoped that all of his men had followed his orders to not drink or smoke the night before and to go to bed early. That wasn’t exactly the life of a biker, but he needed them fresh. Liam was keeping the coins at a home they’d rented in West Virginia. He didn’t have them at the clubhouse because he’d known that was the first place Dax would come looking for them. Luckily, Dax had made a friend inside the club during Liam’s visits to the ranch. One of Liam’s guys named Bull, who had been passed over for executive positions time and again after ten years of service, was disgruntled with Liam and the Irish Mayhem. He hadn’t known what to do about it, until the home invasion. Afterwards he’d come to Dax and offered him information in exchange for a position on the executive board of the Skulls. Dax was torn. He didn’t like the idea of a brother turning on his own club. But he needed what the man was offering and he finally decided that it was for the betterment of them all, so he’d take the deal.

Bull had not only given Dax the location of the house, he’d installed bugs in every room of it and in the garage so that Dax could hear what was going on in real time. That’s how Dax found out when the Appraiser would be there and who else would be there at the same time. The Appraiser was one of the men that Liam and his club use to fence stolen goods. It was only three days after the guy got a look at what Liam wanted to fence when he was back with an offer from one of his clients. It was a good offer, over a million dollars in cash, bills that had been laundered so many times already they were untraceable. Liam jumped at the offer and they’d set the buy up for almost four weeks later. Today was the day and Dax not only intended to walk away with the cash…but he was going to try and take back the coins as well. That was the part of the plan he hadn’t shared with Angel, but the biker in him couldn’t resist.

They reached their destination just before three p.m. They met up with Bull at a house a few blocks away from the target. Some of Dax’s guys were suspicious of Bull, but the fact that the house they met him at wasn’t a setup, helped, some. Bull had floorplans of the house, and they laid them out on the table and Dax issued assignments to each one of the guys. Once everyone knew what role they’d play, the van was brought into Bull’s garage and the back of it was opened. Dax pulled up the carpeting and used a special key to open the compartment that contained their weapons. He had scored some smoke bombs from a guy that Hawk knew from his days with the Sinners. He handed those to Hawk, who would be in charge of tossing them in the front window at just the right time. He gave each one of the guys a handgun and a rifle, and when he got to Twister and Jimmy he said:

“Number one thing is you go home alive, got that?” The two young men nodded. It was Jimmy’s second ride involving firepower and if you didn’t count the home invasion, it was Twister’s first. “I don’t care if you have to put your guns down and take cover behind the van. I don’t want to carry any bodies home with me tonight.” The guys nodded again and Dax turned his attention to Bull. “I’m counting on you.”

Bull smiled. “I’m looking forward to the look on Liam’s face when he figures out that he’s not the fucking king of all bikers.” Bull had a thick Irish accent. Dax didn’t know a lot about him other than he was about thirty-two or three and he’d come over from Dublin with his father when he was twenty, to join up with Liam. His father was killed in a bar fight with another club when Bull was twenty-five. By that time Bull was a fully patched member of the Irish Mayhem, and the fact that Liam hadn’t gone in to avenge his father’s death was the first slight Bull felt against him. Judging by the way he spoke about Liam, he’d grown to hate the man over the years. It worked for Dax…at least he hoped.

Once everyone had their weapons, Bull left to take his shift at the house. Liam and his executives were expected at four-thirty p.m. and the Appraiser at five. Bull would make sure that when the smoke bombs hit, he knew exactly where the coins and the money were so there was no confusion about finding them in the chaos that would follow. Dax had an earpiece; he’d be able to hear everything going on in the house so that he’d know when to signal Hawk to throw the bombs and his guys to move in. He was anxious, but it was a good kind of anxiety. He was confident they’d walk away victorious, and richer than they’d ever been before.

They took off their vests and anything that might identify them as Skulls and pulled black caps on to cover their hair. The caps would be used later to cover their faces, both to protect them from the toxic smoke and keep them from being recognizable. Dax made sure they were all wearing long-sleeved t-shirts and bandanas that covered their tattoos as well. They walked the two blocks to the house. Bull had mapped out a path for them to walk with alleyways and backyards they could use. They’d be hiding out for the most part at the house on the corner of the lot next to the one they were hitting. Liam had found a house in an old neighborhood that was surrounded mostly by vacant and condemned homes for their privacy…it worked for the Skulls as well. By four-fifteen they’d taken their places outside the house, out of view of anyone coming or going through the front door. The following forty-five minutes of waiting was the worst for Dax. He watched Liam and six of his guys arrive and go in through the front door. He listened to them bullshit and laugh and talk about partying the rest of the night after this deal was done. Dax wondered how many of them would still be alive when the smoke cleared. If he and his guys wanted to make it out alive, it would have to be very few.

At five o’clock on the dot a big black car pulled up and a chauffeur opened the back door. A man in an Italian suit, carrying a leather bag, stepped out. Behind him came two huge men, obviously bodyguards, dressed all in black. They stayed outside the front door while he went inside. The chauffeur parked the limousine a few doors down on the street. Dax looked at Handsome, who was in the bushes a few feet away from him. Handsome gave him a silent nod and motioned at Twister. He whispered instructions to the kid, and Twister gave him a nod before crouching low and heading for where the car was parked. Dax pressed the earpiece to his ear and listened to the conversation happening inside. The man in the suit didn’t seem interested in the small talk that Liam was trying to make with him. He suggested more than once that they just make the exchange so he could be on his way. For a few seconds Dax worried that Liam and his incessant talking would screw up the deal. The Appraiser finally said, “You’ve got five more minutes before I leave and this deal is off.” That was when Liam got down to business. The bag with the money was opened up, as was the bag of coins. It was then that Dax signaled to Hawk. With a smile on the old man’s face, he pulled the pin on the first smoke bomb, held it in his teeth, and with the precision of a major-league pitcher, threw it at the front window. The window shattered, Hawk threw another, smoke filtered out of the house, and the chaos took over.

The two big guys at the door were taken out with one shot each by Nolan. Handsome and Dax stepped over their bulk as they busted in the front door. Handsome caught one guy as he was trying to run down the hall. Dax saw him push him up against the wall and put a gun to his head just as he turned the corner into the smoky living room. Everyone was coughing and gasping, but no one was moving. That was thanks to the fact that the Skulls who weren’t waiting outside had come in the back and were now pointing automatic rifles at everyone in the room.

“What the fuck is this?” Liam asked. Dax didn’t say a word. He motioned at his guys to take the money and the coins. Pablo and Hawk stepped in and took care of that while Liam cursed and spewed threats. The Appraiser stood ramrod straight with a blank expression on his face. His eyes looked angry, but he didn’t appear anxious at all. This was definitely not the first time he’d been held at gunpoint.

Once the money and the coins were out of the house and Dax knew they were on their way to the van he and the rest of his crew began tying up the men left in the house. Liam was screaming “Fucking Skulls” and “I know it’s you, you fucking pussy!” Dax still didn’t say a word but when no one in the room seemed able to handle the sound of Liam’s voice any longer, Dax used the butt of his rifle to knock him and a couple of his teeth out. They finished tying everyone up, even Bull, since that was part of the plan. He’d come over to the Skulls later on, so as not to make it obvious he was involved in the heist. When Dax and the rest of the Skulls left, the only injuries were to the bodyguards and Liam, and none were fatal. Twister had knocked out and tied up the limo driver, and everyone left in the house was tied up and probably on the verge of passing out from the smoke bombs…but alive and well. By the time the men got back to their bikes, the van was gone, on its way back to Massachusetts with the money and coins aboard. Dax and the guys got out of town as quickly as they could too and once they crossed the state line out of West Virginia, Twister was designated to make the call to the police.

“Hello? I have an emergency!” The kid was good. He sounded like he was pressured and on the verge of tears. “I live on Bridgeford Drive in Aldrich. I think something bad just happened at the house behind me. I heard gunshots, I think, and squealing tires. Please help us!”

“Sir, what’s your name?” Twister hung up. It wouldn’t be long before the police found the house with the broken front window. They might not find anything in the house to hold the Irish Mayhem or the Appraiser on…but it would take them a while to sort it out. By that time, the Skulls would be back in Massachusetts with no witnesses to their trip out of town. Dax smiled as the night wind hit his face. He was hungry and he needed a beer and a joint…and Angel. Other than that, life was good.