Hunter smiled sadly. “It doesn’t matter. The girls are gone now, and we may never see them again… But I knew you might not stay the course if you thought there was a chance those girls might still be on this side of the border.”
“They might still be here! What else aren’t you telling me? Do you know where those girls are?”
“Sarah,” he tried to cut in.
“No, Hunter, you don’t get it,” I insisted. “I can get the Tucson police out searching every damn drop house on file if there’s even a possibility they’re still in the states! We might be able to save them!”
“Sarah!” He demanded, fiercer now. His hand rested onto my shoulder a little harder than really necessary. It was when his fingers clamped tightly that I glanced up, full of confusion and irritation.
Something inside me puffed up in irritation, but I stilled my tongue. Instead of losing my shit at him, I nodded slowly.
“I have no idea where those girls are, now… they were moved very, very quickly. It doesn’t matter which side of the border they are on, because the only way to find them is to help me track down the kidnapped immigrants. Do you understand me?”
He was telling the truth, and I knew it.
“You told me you had a plan,” I recalled, wanting to change the subject.
“I do,” he revealed, letting go of my shoulder and crossing his arms. “But I need to wait for my men to – ah, Grizz! There you are.”
We watched his second-in-command file back into the room, followed by several bikers – all of whom looked like they had just crawled out of bed.
“I have assembled some volunteers,” Grizz explained, stepping aside. He took a position near me, crossing his thick arms and leaning back against the bar countertop.
We shared a quick glance as Hunter walked forward to address them.
“I have a plan,” Hunter explained to those of us assembled. “As some of you are aware, there was a midnight operation. We received a lead on the latest local abductees, and tracked Víboras Verde to a farmhouse out of town… Needless to say, it didn’t end well. They moved quicker than we suspected, and were already assembling the hand-off when we arrived. As a result, we lost the girls, but took a big bite out of the cartel in the process…”
“All except one,” Grizz clarified. “He’s having a heart to heart with the Desert Owl…”
Hunter gave a nod.
“Turns out the girls aren’t going far. They’ll be held at a safe house on the other side of the fence for a few days before they’re moved further into Mexico. This provides us with an opportunity to reclaim them fast. If we let this window close, they’ll disappear forever… and there’s no telling how soon the cartel will re-emerge here. They may take their chances somewhere else along the border…”
The bikers in attendance were quiet. It was clear that they were emotionally invested, but I couldn’t quite understand why.
“My instincts tell me that we won’t be prepared for what we find there… I don’t think we’re going to find your run-of-the-mill safe house. I think we’ll be heading into trouble. Serious trouble. We don’t have the luxury of time, but there’s no way in hell they expect us to come hauling ass into Mexico. This is our last chance.”
The bikers were hanging off of his every last word.
“That’s why I’m risking sending you into the night. You ride in different directions and connect with the other clubs. I need each of you to come back with a team of able-bodied men.”
One of them spoke up.
“Sir… what do you want us to tell them?”
“Tell them everything I have told you,” Hunter replied confidently. “Lay out everything we have done so far… the battles we have fought, the distances we have crossed, and the enemies that we face… And offer up the usual cut of the take. Our little friend told the Owl these assholes are sitting on at least seven figures, cash. I don’t want the money, I want the girls.”
“And if they refuse?”
“Do not let them,” Hunter replied. “If they don’t want to answer the call, they’ll be answering to me tomorrow…”
Another biker grimaced. “When do you need them? You know how this works. It’ll take days to get the Outlaws together…”
Hunter pointed to the floorboards beneath his boots. “I need them here before noon.”
Everyone in the room was stunned.
“Tell them to come locked and fucking loaded. I don’t have time to assemble everybody, but I want to see representatives from the five closest motorcycle clubs. I expect thirty or forty men here when the sun is high,” Hunter commanded. “If we don’t make this happen now, we are never going to see these girls again…”