Page 2 of Double the Redemption

He took his usual seat, nodding at Ice on his left and Razor on his right. Razor moved his seat to sit closer to Karissa, who took her place at the end of the long table where the Devil’s Predators were sinking into their chairs.

Minus two.

Taz and Glitch were missing, and there was no sign of them. When he eyed the other Devil’s Predators’ members, their expressions were carefully blank.

Shit. This wasn’t good. His gut tightened, and he exchanged a glance with Ice. Ice didn’t seem outwardly concerned, but they didn’t call him that for nothing. He rarely showed emotion unless the situation called for it. Even now, his icy-blue eyes lingered on Simba, the other MC’s president, for a second longer before he turned away and focused back on Savage, ready to hear what the hell was going on.

Savage was a good president, and Ink respected him, especially with all the crazy shit that’d gone down with their club in recent years. It was never quiet.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Savage announced, dropping in his seat. “Simba has asked that we assist with the protection of a key witness in a case in Texas. They will be here for the next six months until the case moves forward and they are required to go back to testify.”

“Wait, we’re playing witness protection now?” Razor asked, eyebrows raised. Ink had to agree. “Why aren’t the Feds involved?”

“They are, but we have been tasked with making sure this witness is protected at all costs,” Simba stated. Everyone looked at him expectantly. “This witness is crucial in taking down the American side of one of the biggest cartels in Mexico. They cannot risk her being taken.”

“Her?” Ink repeated, straightening.

Simba nodded. “Yes, her. The cartel used her to keep track of their accounting.”

“They could just change that without worrying about her,” Fury pointed out. “So, what makes her so special?”

“She has an extremely high IQ and an eidetic memory. She’s the one who knows where the bodies are buried, both figuratively and literally, and she also has access to information stored in her head that was never written down.”

“She’s like some kind of fancy computer,” Jax summarized. He raised his hand to stop the barrage of angry words about to come his way. “I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing. She’s fucking smart, and they knew it, clearly. That’s why they hired her.”

The Devil’s Predators exchanged a glance. “She wasn’t hired. She was sold.”

The tension in the room escalated. Ink’s anger burned, and Rogue’s blue eyes blazed with fury. Wren and Win were sold into a sex trafficking ring, and even though the club had eliminated the ring, it still infuriated everyone whenever it was mentioned.

The club protected women and children; they were not chattel to be sold.

“Who sold her?” Ink finally asked.

“Reports indicate that her father is one of the leader’s right-hand men, but only after he agreed to sell his daughter to help keep things moving,” Jag said, his dark eyes hard and jaw clenched.

“Fucker,” Code spat. The tech expert and probably one of the smartest men in their club, he would know exactly what that looked like. Also, having worked for the CIA, he had probably heard of situations like that before.

“So we’re her guards, then?” Razor asked, looking at Savage. “What kind of security do we need?”

“We don’t need to go into lockdown,” Savage said, getting a nod of agreement from Simba when he glanced at him. “But we need to keep our eyes open. The cartel is not going to let her go easily. They’ll be searching for her. Any mention of her will need to be kept off official channels, phones, or emails.”

“That’s where Glitch and I come in, then?” Code asked.

“Glitch has already been briefed,” Simba said. Code’s lips pressed thin at that, but he kept his thoughts to himself and simply nodded. Ink was sure it was a struggle not to be in the know when it came to his Old Lady. The two of them mostly worked as a team, but there were times Glitch couldn’t tell him what was going on with her team, and this was probably one of those times.

“Will she need to stay at the clubhouse at all times?” Steel asked. The man was hard as stone most of the time, but when it came to his son, Old Lady, or any of the women, he was as sharp as Rogue. And from the sharp, distrustful look in his eyes, this wasn’t going to be any different.

“She’s already donned a disguise, but she will need to limit how often she’s in public—especially if she’s going to be around cameras. The cartel will have access to some of the best technology, and any facial recognition could pick up on her,” Copper, the Devil’s Predators’s secretary, explained.

“There’s also another thing that needs to be considered,” Ursa, their treasurer, added while looking at Simba. “It’s not just her. She has a two-year-old son who needs protection as well.”

The room fell silent. Ink’s fists clenched on the table. That one sentence shifted things even more. The cartel wouldn’t give a damn about a child, and they’d get rid of him if it meant they got to his mother. Or they’d use him to keep her in line, and he didn’t want to even imagine what that could mean for the toddler.

“Why can’t you protect her?” Ink asked. “Not saying we won’t, but this seems like a job that’s more up your alley.”

Simba and the others exchanged a glance. “We have jobs we still need to do, and she can’t come with us.”

Ink didn’t need to be a genius to know there was more to it than that, but they weren’t going to be forthcoming with the information.