“So, what does this mean?” Porter asked.
Archer scoffed. “It means we go after his fucking child, that’s what this means!”
“It could be a trap,” Brooks said.
“That’s true,” Cole said, “especially since he’s this blindsided about it.”
“Does he have any idea who the mother could be?” Finn asked.
“Summer,” I said flatly.
“Why does that name sound familiar?” Archer asked.
As I stood by the window gazing out at the ocean, I thought back to the strip club. To the first time I’d seen Summer since our high school days. I looked back down at the note that had been left behind for us and read the words over again since my clouded mind had a hard time adjusting.
It had been one thing for me to run into her in a strip club of all places.
But she had a child?
We have a child.
“Tanner,” Brooks said.
He placed his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. “Just give me a few minutes.”
“We’ve given you an hour.”
I glared at our President. “Then, give me a few minutes more than an hour, yeah?”
He patted my shoulder and cleared the room of the guys so I could breathe, but it didn’t help. Sure, I saw Summer at the club. Yes, we talked. But it hadn’t been anything important, and she sure as hell hadn’t mentioned anything about us sharing a child. I crumbled the note in my hand and shoved it in my back pocket. I turned away from the window and drew in a deep breath, relishing the silence of the room.
Then, I whistled at the top of my lungs and the guys trotted back in.
“Did you see her when we were undercover?” Brooks asked.
I nodded. “But before you ask, she didn’t mention a kid at all.”
“But you’re sure it’s her?” Finn asked.
I shrugged. “Has to be. She’s the only woman I ever…”
Porter’s eyes bulged. “That you’ve ever slept with?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, you asshole. She’s the only girl I’ve been with unprotected.”
“Ah,” Brooks said.
I groaned. “We were in high school and young and in love and stupid. We weren’t worried about protection. All we cared about was spending the rest of our lives together.”
“High school sweetheart,” Archer said.
I nodded slowly. “Yep.”
“Why didn’t you tell us you saw her? That you knew her?” Brooks asked.
I shrugged. “I mean, I kept it professional while we were on the job. We didn’t interact much, just a few stares here and there and some simple conversation. We both grew up on the outskirts of town in the poorer neighborhoods, so it doesn’t shock me that she’s still in town. It just didn’t cross my mind. For all I know, she never left.”
Cole clicked his tongue. “And you’re sure she’d be the one that has your daughter?”
I gazed off at the wall over his shoulder. “I’m not sure about anything right now, man.”
I hated how weak I felt. How vulnerable I felt. Summer was the only woman that had ever gotten me to drop my walls, and her only advantage was probably how young I was when we met.
“We were only seventeen,” I whispered.
Finn gripped my arm. “What happened between you two?”
“Jesus, Prospect. You don’t just ask a man that,” Brooks said breathlessly.
But I turned to face Finn instead. “Seriously, nothing. We just—had plans, and then we didn’t. High school love. That kind of thing. Why the fuck would the Black Flags care about some high school whatever?”
Then, Brooks growled behind me. “Because you knew damn good and well Chops was willing to do anything to hurt us.”
I whipped around on him. “Even digging up a past we didn’t know we had? I’m still not sure it’s even Summer that’s had my child! Maybe one of my condoms was compromised or some shit, I don’t know.”
Porter stepped up to the plate. “All the more reason to research this and figure it out. They’ve got someone, and that someone has had your child. It’s important.”
I slowly looked back over at Brooks. “What if you were in this position?”
He clenched his jaw. “I didn’t fail to inform my president that I saw my high school sweetheart stripping at a club our enemy owns.”
“And no one’s told you that you have a child you didn’t know about, either. Brooks, I haven’t talked to that woman in years. Almost a damn decade. How in the world was I supposed to inform you of a family if I honestly didn’t know I had one?”
Porter leaned into Brooks’ ear. “He’s got a point.”
“Yeah!” Brooks exclaimed. “I know he’s got a damn good point! But the issue is that this fucking crew is one step ahead of us all the damn time because I’m stuck with a bunch of assholes that don’t ever talk about themselves! Or their lives!”
I knew why Brooks was frustrated, but at that moment I didn’t care. I stormed out of the room and headed for the front door, ignoring all calls to the contrary. Porter yelled at me not to leave and Finn physically tried to stop me. Even Brooks threatened to take my leather cut away if I walked out that door.
I didn’t give a shit, though.
Because if my child was out there—scared, alone, and confused—then I had a duty as a father to go get them.
Well, her.
Jesus fuck, I’ve got a daughter.
“Tanner, would you just fucking wait up a second!” Archer yelled.
I threw my leg over my bike and peered over my shoulder. “What?”
He panted for air as he rushed up to my side. “Look, everyone is on edge right now and we’re all pissed. And you know Brooks is only mad at himself because there’s a child that needs protecting and none of us knew about it.”
“Yeah, then how do you think I feel?”
He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “You have to come back into the clubhouse.”
I shrugged him off. “No, I have to go find Summer and my child.”
“You know you can’t do that alone. We don’t even know where the fuck those assholes are right now.”
“Well, I have to do something!” I bellowed.
“Then, come inside and talk to us,” Porter called out from the porch.
I felt helpless and weak. It felt like a raw nerve had been exposed to the elements. Every lick of wind against my face pierced me to my core. Every thump of my rapidly beating heart rattled my bones. My body hurt. I hadn’t slept well in weeks. My diet was shit, I chugged way too much caffeine in the mornings, and I was lucky if I had the energy to go out and have any sort of fun.
But the thought of finding Summer and our child filled me with a renewed sense of vigor.
So, I slid off my bike and made my way back inside.
“Now that that’s over,” Brooks said as he closed the front door, “time to do some talking.”
Porter glared at him before clearing his throat. “What he means is, is there anyone at all you’ve talked to about Summer?”
I shook my head. “No. No one. It’s…kind of a chapter in my past I sort of left there intentionally.”
“Why? Because you’re the one who fucked it up?” Archer asked.
I pinned him with a look before I sighed. “Seriously, there’s no one. I haven’t so much as uttered her name since high school.”
Brooks walked up to me. “Then, have you told anyone about your high school sweetheart? How much you cared for her? Even if you didn’t mention her name?”
It took a lot of soul-searching and digging back into the recesses of my mind. But then, it clicked and memories flooded my mind, my vision suddenly dripping with red.
“That fucking son of a bitch,” I growled.
“Who?” Porter asked.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Fucking Chops, god damn it!”
I whirled around and punched the wall behind me, sending my fist shredding and tearing through the drywall. I ripped my fist out and punched it again, creating a bigger hole before I cocked it back one last time. And as the frustration drained from my body, someone caught my bloodied fist in their grasp and stopped me from wreaking anymore havoc.
And when I looked over at Cole, he led me to the couch.
“Someone get my bag. It’s in the corner by the front door,” he murmured.
Finn got it and dropped it beside him before he cleaned me up. And as I sat there, wondering when this nightmare was going to end, my lips started flapping.
“Remember Chops’ party? When we swore him in as our president?” I asked.
Brooks barked with laughter. “The party Porter told me about where Cole got so drunk he shat himself and passed out?”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Fantastic.”
Porter tilted his head off to the side. “And you had a very long conversation with Chops that night, didn’t you?”
I closed my eyes. “Right there at the kitchen table. We were taking shots and chugging back beers, and he started talking to me about how he never understood men who let women get away if they wanted them that much. He said if he’d ever fell in love, she’d always be at his side.”
“Oh, boy,” Archer murmured.
I opened my eyes and looked up at Brooks. “I never said her name, and he did more talking than I did. But there was a brief moment where I told him I was one of those guys, but that we couldn’t all go tracking down our high school sweethearts.”
“And that’s all you said?” Brooks asked.
I held up my good hand. “On my soul, that’s all I said.”
Cole wrapped up my hand. “And it’s apparently all he needed, too.”
“Still,” Finn said as he perched himself on the couch beside me, “that’s not really enough to go on. High school sweetheart? There must’ve been something else you said?”
I shook my head. “If there’s anything else, then—”
The memory washed over me like a fucking ocean pouring out of the sky and it left me breathless. But not for long. Cole slapped my chest and it forced me to inhale. After the world stopped tilting around on its damn axis, I leaned back against the couch cushions.
“We’re ready when you are,” Brooks said.
I cleared my throat. “I briefly remember one point in time where Finn and I were comparing tattoos.”
Finn gasped. “Oh, shit! I remember that! We planned my arm sleeve at that party.”
I pointed at him. “Yep. We did. I pulled up my shirt to show him the big chest piece I have, but he was more concerned about—”
“Wait, oh shit. The matching tattoo.”
Porter cocked his head. “What matching tattoo?”
I motioned for Cole to help me up off the couch, and he did. And even though my hand was sore, I kept talking.
For fear that I might not remember if I didn’t spit it out.
“Finn and I were comparing tattoos and he came across this little number I have on the back part of the right side of my ribcage. It’s a tattoo I got with Summer when we were back in high school. It was supposed to resemble us always being together. But when we parted ways, I used my back tattoo to sort of blend it in with the rest of me.”
Finn raised his hand. “But I found it. I saw it. It’s pretty neat, too. Very sweet.”
“I take it you told Chops this?” Brooks asked.
I turned to face him. “No. But that’s not to say he didn’t overhear it. We were all pretty wasted that night. Fuck only knows how loud I was talking.”
Brooks’ head fell back. “Well, that would do it. A matching tattoo and a high school sweetheart. That would be enough information to track someone down with.”
“Which means they’ve been planning this for a very long time, if he stored that information for that long,” Porter said.
Archer puffed his cheeks out with a sigh. “Or they’ve been working on this plan for that long. Which means they’ve got at least a five-year head start on us.”
“God DAMN IT!” Brooks roared.
He whirled around just like I did and punched the wall behind him, giving Cole more work to do as Porter swept up the mess. Our lives were utter chaos, and yet the only thing I could think about was getting Summer and our daughter back to safety.
But once Cole was done with Brooks’ hand, he stood and let his voice bellow over our heads.
“Our main mission is to get Summer and the little girl back. And we’ll start by figuring out where she lives so we can stake out her place,” he said.
Archer pulled out his phone. “I’ll give Josie a call. Her and Summer are close, so she probably knows where Summer lives.”
I looked over at him. “If they’re good friends, she might be of more use to us.”
Archer shot me a look. “One step at a time.”
I rolled my shoulders. “But if we get there, I’m just telling you to be prepared. Because I’ll beg her to help if necessary. My child’s at stake.”
“A child you didn’t know about,” he spat.
“That doesn’t make her any less my child!” I said curtly.
“Enough,” Brooks growled.
That silenced us quicker than anything he could have yelled over our heads. And once the room had settled down once more, I drew in a deep breath as it hit me.
“What if this was a last-ditch effort for them?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Brooks asked in return.
I swallowed hard. “I mean, what if the Black Flags are holding her hostage at her place or something? What if they’re already there? What will we do then?”
And when no one answered, my heart shattered in my chest.
