Judgment Road (Torpedo Ink 1)

Code bumped casually into Anya as if he hadn't seen her. "Sorry," he muttered.

Reaper saw Anya's eyes go wide and knew Code had shoved a gun into her hand. He was proud of her. She hadn't so much as flinched. She was very pale, but she kept it together. She stepped away from Code, toward the bar, where she could place the weapon on the shelf below the bar for easy access.

"No problem. I hope you can help them, Code." There was sincerity in her voice. She had seen the work of the Ghost hit men.

Code made his way to the table and plopped his computer between the two presidents. He leaned in between them, his body blocking Plank from Czar deliberately. No one had liked the idea of Czar exposing himself to danger. As long as he was in such close proximity to the president he was vulnerable.

"They have a small club in Marin. No underground, and the layout of the club doesn't leave a lot of places they could hide her. But if they took her fast, they'd have to have her close," Code said. "I've got my girl fishing right now. She can hack anyone. If she gets a nibble, she'll find your old lady."

"Your girl?" Plank raised an eyebrow. "If they think we're going after her they'll kill her. I had the feeling they wanted to kill her. Make us all think they can get to us any time."

"Don't know her name or where she is," Code admitted. "She's an elite hacker. We met online several years ago and struck up a friendship. We help each other out occasionally. She won't get caught. I've tried tracing her and can't find her."

Czar had been studying the layout of the club. Reaper saw him nod. Code was right. There didn't appear to be a place to hide a prisoner. "Anya, you ever work at the Ghost Club in Marin?"

Anya leaned her elbows on the bar. Reaper guessed her legs were shaking and she didn't want to draw attention to that fact. "I subbed in a few weeks when one of the bartenders was really sick."

"What comes to mind? Take your time and think it over."

Anya bit her lip, frowning a little. "The club is the draw for the big spenders, Czar. All their clubs are."

"How many do they have, sweetheart?" Czar asked.

"In the Bay Area? Just the two. They're very popular. Marin and San Francisco. In San Francisco, the casino is underground, but in Marin, it's at the round tower building. Big complex. A few condos. It's about six to ten miles from the club. The club owns the building. The casino takes up the entire second floor. Security is particularly tight because they need time to hide the equipment from the cops if a disgruntled loser is ever stupid enough to turn them in. So far that hasn't happened because they play rough."

"She's got to be there," Code muttered. "I was already searching for properties owned by the club. It would have come up eventually, but Anya got us there faster."

Plank started to rise. Anya's breath hissed out of her lungs. "No. Stop." She held up her hand. "You can't go after her. Not if she's there. Not like that." There was real fear in her voice, and for the first time Reaper was torn between his duty to protect Czar and to get to his woman, who was clearly afraid.

To Reaper's shock, Plank lowered himself back into the seat, looking at Anya. The president of the Diamondbacks beckoned to Anya. "Come here, sit with us. Why can't we go after her if we know where she is?"

Anya hesitated. The enforcer for the other club made a move toward her, and Reaper came out of the shadows. Every member of Torpedo Ink stood up. Lana slid between the enforcer and Anya while Alena positioned herself directly in front of the road captain, a faint smile on her face.

"Did I ask you to escort Reaper's woman over to me?" Plank demanded. "Go outside and take a breather. I know Sylvia is your sister, but she's my wife. I'll get her back."

That put things in perspective for everyone. Jiff was strutting around trying to make something happen. Anything. Just to bring his sister home safely.

The enforcer stomped to the door but didn't go through it. Instead, he turned back toward the table, arms folded across his chest, a stubborn look on his face.

Reaper held out his hand, gesturing once toward the table, and Anya immediately came out from behind the safety of the bar. Alena glided away from Pierce, giving him her sweet smile. He grinned and shook his head. Lana followed Anya, making certain to stay close enough that Anya might feel safe, but enough of a distance that she could fight if need be.

Keys vacated his seat to allow Anya to sit beside Czar. She did so reluctantly. Plank leaned close. "Why shouldn't we go after her?"

Anya took a breath, touched her tongue to her lips nervously and then glanced first at Czar, and then Reaper. Czar nodded. "Tell him, Anya." His voice was very gentle.

"They'll kill her before you could ever reach her, and they'll be gone like smoke. That's why they call themselves ghosts. You can identify the main players by the little gold cuff links they wear. They're in the shape of a ghost. They dress in suits, and if they do ride, they only ride to try to fit in. That building is very secure. Cameras, audio recorders, guards at every entrance. On every floor. At the elevators. I was taken there several times in the weeks I was subbing and worked the bar at the casino. I had to be escorted in and out. If they think you know where she is, they'll slice her into little pieces just the way they did my roommate."

Plank went silent. He sank back in his chair, staring almost uncomprehendingly at Anya. Reaper couldn't blame him. The Diamondbacks were considered one of the most powerful and dangerous clubs in the United States. Few crossed them. No president of a chapter would ever think someone would have the balls to kidnap his old lady. It just wasn't done. The entire club would hound you for the rest of your days. No one would stop until you were dead. If the Diamondbacks went after Plank's wife, they would do so in force and she'd be dead before they got to her. That was plain to the club president.

"We got out Hammer's old lady," Czar said. "We were able to use blueprints of the tunnels and plan each move carefully. You know we're originally from Russia. Taking back people and things was sort of our business over there."

"Why'd you leave?" Plank asked.

"It got a little hot for us. Don't worry, we're legitimate here." Czar glanced at Code, who flashed a brief grin that failed to light his eyes. "The point is, that's our area of expertise, if you care for help in planning."

That would be a big one for the club president of the Diamondbacks to swallow. On the other hand, Plank was a very intelligent man. So far, Torpedo Ink had been respectful, even when they made it clear they would be willing to fight if the Diamondbacks tried to take Anya from them. Plank was smart enough to use every resource available to him.

"Do your thing. I have to make a couple of calls."

"Plank, it's your call," Czar said, "but I'm warning you, the more people who know you're going in after her, the less her chances are. Let's find your mole, figure out how to get her back and then make any necessary calls."

Plank put his phone away. "How can you find the member betraying us? I would stand behind every member of my chapter. They're brothers."

Code's fingers were flying on the computer. Data was moving across the screen fast. Almost too fast for the human eye. Plank craned his neck at first trying to see what Code was accessing, but it was almost impossible from his angle. Code continued for a few minutes. In the silence, one could have heard a pin drop. He sucked in his breath and turned the screen toward Czar. While he did, his fingers tapped on the table. The sound was barely perceptible.

Reaper read their code. Few things shocked him. He moved ever so slowly. A soft glide on the floor. Staying in the shadows, trying not to bring attention to himself while he made his move, stalking his prey from the darker corners of the room. Ice, already with his back to the door, shifted subtly as well.

Czar turned the screen toward Plank. The financials were there in black and white. The wins and losses. The losses piling up until the amount was obscene. Plank stood up, pushing back his chair slowly so the legs scraped over the wooden floor.

"Anya," he said very gently. "I would very much like you

to go to the back room for just a little while. I need to chat with Czar."

Anya glanced at Czar, who nodded. Reaper appreciated that Plank realized Anya was new to the life. She got up without a word and turned toward the bar. Instead of going to the hinged slab that Reaper expected her to go to, she went around the bar toward the door that led to the back. To do that, she went dangerously close to the Diamondbacks' enforcer. Jiff reached out with both hands and yanked her hard against him. One hand held a knife and he locked Anya to him, the blade of the knife against her throat.

"Anya. Baby." Reaper spoke gently. No alarm. No expression. "Don't move until I say to move. Give me your eyes." He stepped in front of the Diamondback enforcer, right under a light so that it spilled down on him, bathing the lines and scars carved deep into his face with a yellowish, malevolent glow.

Anya's gaze jerked to his, went wild in alarm and then settled. He willed her breathing to do the same. The Diamondbacks surrounded Reaper, but he didn't back off and he didn't look at them. Only Anya. Keeping her grounded to him.

"What's the problem, Hogan?" Plank asked, calling the man by his legal name instead of his road name.

Plank walked through his men to stand beside Reaper, something Reaper would never have allowed Czar to do, and he hoped like hell that Ice and Storm or someone would prevent Czar from making that mistake. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alena moving through the Diamondbacks, coming in from the left. Lana was taking the right. Jiff didn't bother to look at either of them. No one could ever conceive of the two women being a threat. The truth was, they were every bit as lethal as any of the male members of Torpedo Ink. They'd had the same training in every way to kill another human being.

Jiff shook his head. He was sweating. "Step back. All of you need to step back. I'll slit her fucking throat if you get any closer."

Anya made a soft sound of distress that crawled right down Reaper's throat and hit him in the heart, piercing deep, settling in his belly. She was pale, so pale her skin looked almost translucent. He took a deep breath. He would have to move fast. The knife was too close, skimming her flesh, a thin line of red appearing.

"Hogan, take the knife from her throat. What the fuck is the matter with you? You've already cut her. We need their help in getting your sister back. You don't want to get them all riled up so we go to war and don't have time to bring Sylvia home."

"You know. I know you know," Jiff blurted. His eyes were wild. He was going to kill Anya. Reaper could see he'd made up his mind that he had nowhere to go. He'd double-crossed his club. He'd traded his sister's life for his own. He'd betrayed their code. Plank wouldn't forgive him. They'd kill him, and if they did it fast it would be a miracle.

"What do I know?" Plank asked softly. Making him say it.

Jiff threw his head back and howled. "I owed them hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you'd just let them run their fuckin' money through our pipeline, they would have backed off, but you said no. I had to give them Sylvia. I had no choice. They were going to cut me up."

"Who?" Plank prompted. "Who threatened you? If you'd come to the club we would have protected you. Taken care of it for you. That's what we do."

Hogan had not only given up his sister, two Diamondbacks had been killed when she'd been taken. He knew, no matter what Plank said, he was a dead man. Jiff shook his head, his eyes wild with fear. Reaper could smell his terror. He'd smelled it enough times. With each back and forth of his head, the knife slid lightly over Anya's throat in a sawing motion. Blood trickled down her throat onto her chest. Reaper's gaze followed the drops.

"Czar, when I kill this douchebag are we going to war?" It was a warning to them all.

"No war," Plank said.

Reaper didn't wait. At the same time, Alena went in from one side, Lana from the other. Lana sliced right through Jiff's arm, the one holding the knife, cutting up, not down, going through the under part of his arm, the blade continuing in one motion right under his armpit where she slammed it deep.

Alena simultaneously yanked Anya free as Jiff's arm lowered just enough to get his victim out of the way. Alena pulled Anya with one hand and went up under Hogan's other arm with her blade, twisting back to slice deep under the arm and then shove the knife all the way into the armpit.

Reaper went straight into the man, blurring fast, one, two, three seconds and he was stepping back. Jiff stood absolutely still, shock and horror on his face. Reaper's blade had sliced him up the middle, sliced open his belly and twisted through his heart in one continuous stroke. Reaper didn't wait for the enforcer's brain to acknowledge death. He stepped into Anya, facing the Diamondbacks, sweeping her behind him with one arm.

"You okay, baby?" he asked without looking at her. He was already feeling in a murderous rage. He wanted to carve a few of the Diamondbacks up. They'd come with their show of force, threatened Anya and then tried to act as if they should help with the president's wife.

"Reaper." Czar's voice cautioned him. "Plank gave you the go-ahead. Anya's okay. Take her into the other room and clean that up. It's a knife wound. Infections are the worst."

Plank kicked the body. Blood pooled on the floor around and under it. It was going to take a hell of a lot to clean that shit up. Reaper didn't do as Czar commanded. Alena pulled Anya to her, circled her shoulders with her arm and took a step toward the back. The Diamondback road captain was blocking her way.

"Nice moves," he said softly. Admiringly. "You got a name?"

Alena's chin went up. "Alena. Sometimes my brothers call me Torch."

"I'm Pierce."

"She's bleeding, Pierce," Alena said.

"You got a man?"

She didn't answer for a long minute and then she shook her head.

He stepped out of the way slowly. "Be back this way sometime soon." He turned, caught Reaper's eyes, shrugged and stayed where he was.

"We've got work to do," Plank said. "We need that girl to talk us through the building."

"I've got my girl on it," Code said. He wasn't about to give up the name she went by on the Internet, not to the Diamondbacks. "She's hacking into security while I'm working on getting the entire layout of the building and parking garage."

"I want this piece of shit out of my sight. Buried deep. Hell, feed his ass to the sharks if you want, just get him out of here," Plank said. "He's gone, and as far as Sylvia has to know, those fuckers who took her killed him. You understand?" He looked around at his brothers. "She doesn't ever know her brother betrayed her."

TWENTY

The Marin Ghost Club was a small little building sandwiched between two other buildings right on the edge of the water. The views were beautiful, and a long deck allowed those in the club to spill outside when it was too hot inside. The club was immensely popular with the wealthy, celebrities often visiting. Just as in San Francisco, the cars were assessed along with clothes and jewels, the valet radioing the managers of the club to let them know of potential players for the casino.

Lana and Alena had already been given the VIP card from the San Francisco managers, and they were recognized. It had taken them exactly four and a half minutes to be approached by the manager of the Marin Ghost Club, and another seven before he offered them the card that would get them into the casino. The manager made it very clear they were welcomed back. They stayed another half hour, flirting and laughing with him. Alena danced with him twice.

Keys and Pierce entered, each man dressed in a suit worth well over two thousand dollars. Pierce glanced at Alena as they found a table. "You always have your women do your dirty work for you?" he asked Keys.

Keys shrugged, gave his order to the waitress and looked across the table at the Diamondback enforcer. No one had bought his road captain patch. "First, Alena is a fully patched member of the club. Both Lana and Alena grew up with us. They have a full vote in everything we choose to do, like running this little errand."

"You're still pissed because Plank insisted I come along."

"This is what

we do. We count on one another. You're an unknown, and that could get one of us killed."

"I can hold my end up. You have any idea how difficult it was for Plank to turn this job over to you in the first place? Don't worry about whether or not I can take care of business."

Keys didn't say anything for a long time, but watched as Pierce stared across the room at Alena laughing up at the manager. "You did hear me when I said she was a fully patched member of Torpedo Ink, right?"

Pierce shrugged. "I heard you. You do understand that I'm a fully patched member of the Diamondbacks, right?" That was pulling rank. Blatant pulling rank.

"Exactly," Keys said, not in the least disturbed by the reminder. He tilted his head and gave another female manager his megawatt smile as she approached their table. He was happy when Pierce did the same.

The woman made it clear she was all over Keys, and he asked her if she had time for a dance. Pierce waited for the music to start and then he sauntered across the club to Lana and Alena's table, bending close to be heard above the nightclub DJ and the pounding beat he provided.

"Dance with me." It wasn't a request. He knew he was pulling rank a second time. His club held jurisdiction over theirs. He wanted to make that very clear to them.

Alena tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes searching his. With a small, rather haughty nod that made him want to smile, she stood, and he didn't hesitate, taking her into his arms. She felt as good as she looked. She had curves. The kind he liked. Her full breasts pressed against his chest as he whirled her deeper into the shadows. His hands slid down her back, following the curve to that sweet, round ass he'd been thinking about since he'd first laid eyes on her.

"You shouldn't have come with us."

It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he'd take it. Her eyes were on his face, all blue. A deep, ice-blue. Gorgeous. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Russia." She knew what he meant, but she deliberately misunderstood him.

She made him want to smile. He hadn't felt like smiling in a very long time. His hands curved over her ass, pulled her closer into his body. Fit her to him. She fit perfectly.