Chef raises a skeptical eyebrow, making the dragon tattooed on the side of his head look like it's nodding. “So what does Eagle-eye say? She would never have been here if it wasn't for your fuckup. Knowing you guys, you need help, or you'd already be over there pulling her out of her bedroom so you can bring her back to yours.”
Eagle-eye nods. Fuck, he's not going to turn us down, is he? He's grown fond of her too, I know that much. And Jupiter fucking loves her.
“Chef has a point,” crunches Eagle-eye. “She's taken a hit for us, but she was never a member. Never officially associated with us. It would be fucking irregular for us to take that kind of a risk for an outsider. Shit, we don't even do this for prospects. It's up to them to keep their noses clean.”
“The difference is that prospects apply to be here. She didn't. We brought her here kicking and screaming. We fucking kidnapped her. And she chose to stay. She's been good to everyone here, and she's put a mark on more of us than just Wild Child, Hero and me. She helped Quickshot when he was wounded. In fact, she aborted her own fucking escape attempt so that he wouldn't die.”
Quickshot nods from his chair in the corner. Viking too. I know they're in.
“She took a swing at a cop with a fucking baseball bat, to keep him from taking out Hero. And we all fucking thanked her.”
Bear raises his bottle in salute.
“And fucking stupid shit, like knowing to avoid Eagle-eye's yogurts or playing fetch with Jupiter. She's become a part of life here. And now she's taking the fall, because she thinks that'll save us. We fucking owe her a rescue.”
The room buzzes with conversation. Some are against, many are for, but Eagle-eye is quiet. Thinking. He's the one I really have to convince.
“And Wild Child, Hero and I have been talking. When we bring her back, we want to make her our old lady.”
Snark's eyes go wide. “Wait, fuck, all three of you? Does that even work?”
Viking shrugs. “I don't see why it couldn't. They fucking do everything together anyway. Including her. She's a lucky fucking girl.” His comment is met with laughter and cheers.
Eagle-eye shrugs. “Not that I have a say, since that's between you three and your woman, but I don't have a problem with it. It's one way to make sure we don't get outnumbered by the womenfolk, I suppose.”
Wild Child grins. “I'd worry anyway. She's enough woman to count for at least three.”
“What are you asking for directly? Give me the list,” demands Eagle-eye.
I nod. “All right. First, we want to let the club know that we're going for her, one way or another. She's our woman, and no man worth his shit would leave his woman in the lurch. They fuck us and we protect them. It's the least we can fucking do.”
“But there's more.”
“We have a plan, set up with Emily through her mama. We have every reason to believe this is on the up front. Emily coded her message to us.” Wild Child and Hero nod to support me. “I'm not asking anyone to go in with us, but I want a distraction while we make our move. So I'm asking for the Cleanup Crew.”
“Fuck yeah!” yells Viking and stands up. “Emily's a sweet chick, and she knows how to bind a bullet wound. I'm in if my boys are.”
“Of course.” Bear raises his bottle again. “I'm in.”
Snark looks more thoughtful, but then he nods. “Sure. I'm in. Scaring some cops? Sounds like a good fucking time.”
“Hawk?” Viking looks to his last member. Hawk runs his hand through his short hair, pushing it down for it to spike up again. “Yeah, all right. Why not?”
And then we all look to Eagle-eye, who makes the final call. It's all up to him whether this is a hit or a miss. We're going to do our fucking best whether we get help or not, but this is going to be a hell of a lot easier with a hand.
He looks from Viking, to each of his team members, and then back to Wild Child, Hero and me. “You're sure the plan's solid? Any fuckup here could cost us the club.”
“I sure as hell am. We're gonna rescue this girl and we're gonna bring her home, and then we're going to make all of you fuckers listen to her screams as we bring her to my room and show her how much we fucking missed her.”
“Jesus Christ,” groans Chef, but the others laugh and holler.
“Then we'll do this. But on one condition.”
Fuck. There's always something. What does the old codger want? But honestly, he could ask for anything, and I'll give it to him if I can.