“I’ll take care of it,” I promised. I’m not sure what triggered it, maybe it was part of his plan for revenge or maybe it was just seeing her again that did it, but Derek’s obsession with Sara was back. Whatever the reason, I’d have to do whatever I could to protect her.
She sighed with relief and said, “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“I’m going to need everything you’ve got on him and his crew.”
“Most of it’s on my computer, but I can get Seth from work to send the rest.”
“Gonna need you to stay here till we get this thing sorted.”
A nervous grin crossed her face as she said, “I guess it’s pointless for me to say I can stay at mom’s.”
“You’ll be safer here,” I told her. I decided to wait until our meet with Big Mike to fill her in on Derek’s attack on the club. I’d let her get settled first and explain everything when she gave us her intel on Derek. “I’ve gotta take care of a few things. I’ll get one of the girls to help you get settled.”
“I don’t need a babysitter, Cotton. Just tell me which room, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“The last two rooms in the left wing are open. Don’t get too comfortable. We’ll be leaving for Anchorage as soon as I get things sorted,” I told her as I stood to leave.
“Okay,” she agreed. She stood up and quickly wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thanks, Cotton. It’s really good to see you.”
“Good to see you too,” I told her then gently pulled free from her embrace and headed for the door. Even though I knew Guardrail and Maverick were waiting to hear what was going on, I needed a minute to myself to decompress. I went straight to my office and shut the door behind me, trying to shut out all the noise in my head. I sat down at my desk and had just reached for a cigarette when there was a knock at the door.
“Yeah?”
Guardrail slowly eased the door open, and I nodded for him to enter. He took a seat in front of my desk and said, “So, I just saw Sara bringing her bags down the hall. What the hell is that all about? Is she really staying here?”
“Yeah,” I told him as I lit my cigarette. “For now.”
He cleared his throat and asked, “You good? Couldn’t have been easy to see her after all this time.”
“Yeah, I’m good, but things just took a turn, brother. We’re going to need to head to Anchorage. The sooner, the better.”
“Anchorage?” he questioned. “Why the hell are we going to Alaska?”
“Because Derek’s there, and we’re going after him. Sara managed to get some intel on him before he pulled his stunt last night.”
His eyebrows furrowed as he asked, “What stunt?”
“The asshole broke into her house last night, and it took some maneuvering, brother. He got past her high tech security system. Even took a fucking picture of her sleeping and used her phone to take it.”
“Damn. Why didn’t he just kill her while he had the chance?”
“We both know why. Sara has been gone a long time, but she’s still family-our family. He knows I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He wants me to come after him, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
After Cotton left, I couldn’t go back to sleep. Every time I rolled over and smelled his scent on the pillows, my mind would start racing a mile a minute. I tossed and turned, and finally decided it was pointless. There was no way I was going back to sleep, so I got up and headed for the kitchen. I decided to make the guys some breakfast, and just as I started to heat the sausage, Clutch walked in, wearing his cut with a pair of beat-up, old blue jeans. His green eyes sparkled when he smiled, making it irresistible not to smile right back at him. He sauntered over to me and leaned against the stove, and as soon as he looked up at me, I could tell he was going to hit me up for something. I didn’t know why he even tried being slick. He’d never been very good at hiding anything from me.
“Hey, beautiful. You need any help with that?” he asked playfully.
“I’m good. Thanks, though.”
“It smells great,” he smiled.
I turned to face him, pointing the spatula at his chest, and asked, “I know you’re up to something. Just tell me. What do you want this time?” Of all the brothers at the club, we got along the best. He was always in a great mood and never failed to make me smile.
He cocked his head to the side and said, “Who, me? I don’t want anything.”
“Spill it,” I told him as I poked him in the chest with the spatula.
“Okay, I might need a little help with something,” he admitted. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I mean, I could do it by myself, but I’m wounded.”
“Oh, please. Are you still milking that?” I teased. I’d been fussing at him for days to take it easy. His arm was wrapped up in a sling, and he’d barely started to get his color back. He’d gotten shot a week ago when another club broke into Wren’s house and kidnapped her. Typical Clutch, he was more upset over them getting Wren than he ever was about being shot. I don’t know if he will ever forgive himself for letting them get past him.