My hands are shaking as I hand the phone to Gunner.

His eyes lock onto mine as he listens wordlessly to the voicemail. I close my eyes, knowing what he’s about to hear:

“Alix! It’s me!” my sister’s voice breathes urgently into the phone. She sounds scared but confused, her cadence slower than normal. It’s clear she’s trying to talk without anyone hearing her. “Please, please, help me! I can’t… I don’t know where I am, but Gonzalo… oh, my God!”

And then the phone goes dead, the message ended.

“It’s definitely her.” I say, trying as hard as I can to swallow the lump in my throat and not burst into tears. “She left it last night,” I whisper. “I didn’t see it until just now.”

What I don’t say is what time she left it.

It would have been right around the time that Gunner and I were making love.

“I tried to call her back just now, as soon as I heard it. But the number just…” My voice cracks. “Just goes straight to voicemail again. Just like before.”

“Okay. Okay.” Gunner’s brow creases intently as he listens to the message a second time. “This is good.”

“Good?” I cry. “How can it be good?”

“It’s good because she said Gonzalo’s name,” he retorts, grasping me by the arm. “We know where he is, Alix. Or at least where he probably is. And we’re pretty sure that’s where Eden is, too.” He holds up the phone. “This makes it more certain that she’s with him.”

As scared as I am, I can see that he’s right. “You know where he is?” I whisper. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” he nods. “I’m taking some men there this morning. If Eden’s there, we’ll have her by the end of the day.”

“I’m going with you,” I say firmly, wiping the tears from my eyes.

“No you’re fucking not,” Gunner barks, like I knew he would, but I’m not backing down.

“I am!” I half-yell. “You can’t stop me from coming with you, Gunner. You can’t! I’ve been waiting for too long! I’ll stay out of the club’s way, but I’m not going to stay here and just wait again. I can’t stand it!”

“Alix, for God’s sake, think!” Gunner roars at me. His grip on my arm grows tighter, almost painful. “Do you realize how much more dangerous this will be if we have to protect you as well as Eden? Do you want her safe? Then stay here. I’ll send for you as soon as we get her, I promise. But you are not coming with us. It’s absolutely out of the question, and that’s fucking final, do you understand me?”

Gunner’s face is so angry, his expression so intense, that I realize there must be more going on than I thought. I can’t imagine why it would be so dangerous for a group of hardened men like the Lords to go in and get Eden from a couple of petty thugs like Gonzalo. Suddenly, I go from frightened to terrified.

“Gunner, what are you hiding from me?” I plead. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. You don’t need to know,” he snarls. “You just need to back the fuck off and let us handle this.”

“No! I won’t!” I shake my head furiously. “I refuse to back down until you tell me what’s going on. Eden’s in more danger than you thought, isn’t she?” Gunner’s eyes flick away from me, for just a moment, but it’s enough. “Gunner, please!” I beg. “Please tell me!”

For a second, I think he’s going to refuse again, but I’m not backing down, and I think he knows it. After a few seconds, he sighs and loosens his hold on my arm slightly. “Fuck,” he spits out angrily. “Okay. Look.” He pulls me over to one of the couches. “I’ll tell you what I know. If you promise to do what I say afterwards.”

I know this is the best deal I’m going to get.

“Okay,” I promise. He lets go of my arm and I sit obediently on the edge of the couch, my heart beginning to race.

“We found out from a… business associate of Gonzalo’s that his crew is involved in what looks like a sex trafficking ring of some sort,” Gunner begins. “It’s a still a pretty small-time operation, but from what we know now, it sounds like they’re building up a stable of women to pimp out or sell.” His eyes meet mine. “We think Eden might be being held captive by them. And drugged up enough to make her unable to resist much.”

For a second, his words echo in my brain, but it’s like I can’t assemble them to make any sense of anything. Eden’s being held a prisoner? And she might be being drugged, and used for sex? Prostituted — or worse?

I stare at Gunner, and my head begins to shake, no, no, as the full weight of his words come crashing down on me.

“That’s not possible,” I whisper, but it’s not because I don’t believe him — it’s because I can’t believe him. I can’t, because it’s like if I don’t let myself believe it then it can’t be true.

“I know this is a lot to hear,” Gunner murmurs gravely. “Babe, I’m sorry. I was hoping we were wrong, but now that I’ve heard your sister’s voicemail, I’m pretty sure we need to be ready for the worst when we go in to get her.”

“Eden,” I choke, my voice breaking. “Oh, my God…”

“We don’t know how many men or what kind of weaponry we’ll be facing when we get there,” Gunner continues, more gently now. “I can’t afford to have you come with us, Alix. It’s too dangerous. For you, and for Eden. If you want us to get her out of there, you need to let me handle this my way.”

Any protest I was about to utter dies in my throat. “Okay,” I manage, my voice cracking. I remember the panic in the voicemail she left me last night, and my heart begins to pound. “Oh, my God, Gunner!” I wail, my voice rising. “What’s happened to her? What if —?”

“Don’t,” he cuts me off sharply. “Don’t think about that. There’s no use torturing yourself with shit we don’t know yet, Alix. We’ll deal with it once we get Eden out.” He takes me by the shoulders and brings his face forward. His eyes meet mine, intense and searching. “We’ll deal with it. Okay? Promise me.”

“I promise,” I say again, but I don’t even know what I’m promising at this point.

I let Gunner settle me back onto the couch, my mind reeling. “I’m gonna make a call,” he says. “I don’t want you waiting here at the clubhouse. You won’t be able to relax here. I’m gonna get hold of someone who’ll wait with you until we’re back.”

“Who?” I ask numbly. “Sydney? Jenna?”

“My ma,” he responds. “She’s a nurse. And from what it sounds like, we may need her help detoxing Eden when we get her back.”