My mind spun through an endless amount of scenarios that could go wrong before Cole and I reached the club. And with every mile we put behind us, I cursed this fucking place being so far away. Every time we got caught at a stoplight, my head was on a swivel to find a quicker way out of there.
But short of popping up onto the curb and killing people in my way, I had to suffer through all of them.
As they happened back, to back, to back.
“Fucking hell,” I groaned.
My Bluetooth speaker beeped before Cole’s voice sounded. “Hello? Testing? Is this working?”
I rolled my eyes. “For a young guy, you suck with technology.”
He chuckled. “You know you’re talking to the first half of the two-man team that hacked into that club’s employee files and planted Josie’s identity, right?”
“Which is why I can’t believe you don’t know how to work a damn Bluetooth helmet. All you have to do is pull up beside me.”
“Which is hard when you’re doing seventy in a thirty-five, sweet cheeks.”
I looked at my speedometer and slowed down. “Well, fuck.”
“Hey, I got a call coming in from Tanner. Patching him in.”
“Fantastic. I’ve been wondering what the hell’s—”
Tanner’s voice interrupted me. “Wherever you are, turn around and head back to the clubhouse.”
I came to a screeching halt at a yellow light. “Why?”
“That’s a good question,” Cole said.
There was rustling on Tanner’s end of the line before that wonderful, beautiful, angelic voice appeared in my ear. “Archer?”
I sighed with relief. “Josie. What’s going on?”
“Seriously, go back to the clubhouse. We’re all in the van. We got out before Chops spotted us.”
Cole and I whipped illegal U-turns at the four-lane intersection before we sped back to where we had originally come from. “Are you okay? Are you in pain? Should I go get you some Tylenol from somewhere?”
She giggled, and the sound made my heart skip a beat. “I’m okay. A bit sore, but I eavesdropped onto a particular conversation you guys are going to want to know about. Meet us back at the clubhouse, okay?”
Cole nodded his head. “On our way now. Give us seven or so minutes to get there.”
“Hey, Josie?”
She paused. “Yeah?”
I smiled softly. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”
I heard her smile in her voice. “Me, too. See you soon.”
I revved my engine and sped in front of Cole. “See you very soon.”
I couldn’t get back to the clubhouse fast enough. I didn’t care if I was doing ninety in a thirty-five, I wanted to beat them back to the clubhouse. I wanted to receive Josie in my arms instead of her waiting for me. And when we pulled into the parking lot without the van anywhere in sight, I raced inside and started putting things out for Josie to eat.
And drink.
And snack on.
“Uh, you need any help, my man?” Cole asked.
I ignored him and rushed around, gathering a few plates of food for her to pick from. One of them had sweets, the other had some meats and cheeses, and yet another had vegetables with some dip. At the last second, I put out a bowl of fruit, and when I heard those van tires crunching against the gravel, I drew in a deep breath as the clubhouse door whipped open.
And Josie’s gorgeous face smiled upon me as she limped in my direction.
“Don’t worry about the limp, just sore from dancing,” she said breathlessly.
I scooped her into my arms and held her close. “Did any of them touch you?”
She sighed. “We can talk about that later. I mean, it’s them, you know?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Did they grope you?”
And when she paused, my blood boiled. “I want descriptions of all the men who put their hands on you. They’re dead, and they will never touch another woman in that establishment—”
Cole placed his hand on my shoulder. “How about you show her the food you set out first, then we can talk about killing later. Yeah?”
Josie smiled up at me as I drew in a sobering breath, but when she tucked her head beneath my chin all of my worries seemed to melt away. I scooped her into my arms and walked her over to the table before I placed her down in a chair.
Then, I sat beside her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “What would you like to drink?”
I felt the guys staring at us as she smiled up at me. “Water is fine, thank you.”
Without thinking, I leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss. But once she cupped my cheek, my tongue pushed through her lips. She caressed my face in ways that sent shivers down my spine, and all I wanted was to pin her against the wall and claim her entire being as my own.
She pulled away much too quickly, though, and that was when the guys chuckled amongst themselves.
“Well, now I see why you were so upset over this mission,” Cole said.
Josie giggled. “You guys are nuts, you know that?”
Someone patted my shoulder, but then Brooks’ voice sounded. “Why didn’t you tell us that the two of you were together? We could’ve helped you through this shit.”
Porter sat in front of us. “Especially me and Astrid.”
I shrugged. “We aren’t really sure what’s happening.”
Josie leaned her head against my shoulder. “All I know is that I enjoy spending time with him.”
“And she’s a good kisser.”
She snorted. “And he’s a good licker.”
The guys’ jaws unhinged and they clapped their hands above their heads. We all had a moment of bombastic laughter to break the tension swirling around the room. But when the laughter died down, all eyes were on Josie as they all pulled up chairs around the kitchen table and picked at the food I set out.
“I want you to eat something, okay?” I murmured in her ear.
She picked a few things from the cheeses and fruits before she drew in a deep breath. “I have proof that the Black Flags are trafficking women across the border.”
My eyes bulged as Brooks furrowed his brow. “You what?”
Tanner leaned forward. “You overheard all of this in a conversation?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Those guys think we’re all idiots. So, it wasn’t hard to simply listen in.”
Finn blinked. “How did you get in the room with them in the first place?”
And when she looked up at me, I stiffened. “You gonna be okay for this?”
I took her hand in mine. “I will be with time. Just be honest. We need the rundown of what happened.”
So, with a nod of her head, she continued. “Right now, the policy at the club states that the dancers only get thirty percent of what they make on stage. But one of the guys offered to get me bumped up to fifty percent if I essentially agreed to privately dance for him every night I worked.”
“Are you fucking kidding?” Brooks asked.
Josie shook her head. “No, I’m not. It’s the biggest bullshit payment schedule I’ve ever seen. They’ll lose a lot of their good girls that way.”
“If they can even leave,” Tanner murmured.
She pointed at him. “Bingo. Well, after giving this guy a dance—and yes, he was a bit handsy with it, but I managed to wiggle out of it well—another one of the guys came bursting in needing to talk. I just danced around on the pole and acted like I wasn’t listening or even paying attention and played bobble-headed enough for them to talk right in front of me.”
I rubbed her back. “That’s brilliant, beautiful.”
She smiled up at me. “Thank you, handsome.”
Porter cleared his throat. “So, what did you overhear? What exactly did they say?”
Josie sighed. “In a few days, I don’t know how many though, they have a shipment of girls that are Latina coming into one of the docks around here. They talked about paying off dock hands, taking down the security cameras, and they even talked about whether or not beds were set up somewhere. That’s how I knew they were talking about people and not guns or some shit.”
“Fuck,” Finn groaned.
But there was something on Josie’s face that didn’t sit well with me. “What is it?”
She looked up at me. “What do you mean?”
“I know there’s something else rattling around in your head. Tell us about it.”
She swallowed hard. “I honestly don’t know. Tanner and I were booking it out of that place so quickly that I could be wrong about what I saw.”
Tanner clicked his tongue. “I think I saw it, too, if you’re talking about Chops.”
Josie pointed at him. “So, you saw him sit down with them, too!?”
Tanner leapt to his feet. “Holy fuck, I thought I dreamed that shit.”
Brooks’ voice grew hard. “Can someone fill us in on what the fuck you two are talking about?”
Josie drew in a deep breath. “Chops didn’t just go in one of the back doors into the club. I saw him walk into a room with those same two guys that were talking in the private dancing room together.”
Tanner nodded quickly. “I had her in my arms because she couldn’t keep up with my running—sorry, Archer, it was just to get her out of there quicker.”
I waved my hand in the air and he continued. “And as I was running, I watched Chops walk into some room with those of those Black Flags assholes.”
The room fell silent before Brooks shot out of his chair, slamming his fists against the kitchen table.
“Fuck!” he roared.
The plates clattered and I had to catch Josie’s plate before it fell into her lap. Brooks stormed off and Porter quickly followed behind him, and I cradled Josie against my side.
“He’s not upset with you,” I murmured. “I promise.”
She sighed and kissed my cheek. “Trust me, I know. It’s got to be hard for you guys to stomach.”
Finn leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Good God, this is actually happening.”
Tanner slid his hand through his hair. “Since we know the drop-off is happening in a few days, it would be really easy to figure out which dock they’re coming into. And, you know, if we could catch Chops at the docks—”
I shook my head. “I don’t know if he’d be that stupid.”
Finn shrugged. “He was stupid enough to show up at that club and actually walk in the back.”
Twenty points to Finn. “So, I guess the question is: do we want to stake out the dock for more evidence? Or do we want to try and intercept those girls?”
Brooks came back to the table and eased himself into his chair. “Why can’t we do both?”
Porter sat back down in his chair as well. “It’s true. We can go and stake the place out to find Chops, but we can also be prepared to save as many of those women as possible. I mean, it’s what we do, right?”
And as all of the guys nodded their heads at the table, I kissed the top of Josie’s head.
“You did fantastic work,” I murmured into her hair.
Then, she turned her head upright so I gazed into her eyes from an upside-down perched state. “It’s your turn to be careful, all right? Don’t go getting hurt on me trying to be the big man.”
I grinned. “I make no promises.”
Her face grew serious. “You will if you want to get laid again.”
All of the guys barked with laughter as I kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ll be as safe as I can be, and I promise to make it back to you. How’s that?”
And when she smiled, the entire world ceased to exist. “Perfect.”
