"Cami Johnson is pregnant," he blurted. "I'm riding out."
"Son of a bitch." Priest walked around the table. "Give me five minutes to get a crew together and say our goodbyes."
He walked out of the room, needing air. Cami's pregnancy had changed Priest's opinion of the situation. Tarkio was in.
The outcome would be anyone's guess. None of them were strangers to the prison system or losing a brother. Paco stepped into the main room. He'd killed when the situation came down to his freedom or losing his position within the club.
Taking out men who sold women, pregnant women, disgusted him.
Josie spotted him and rushed across the room. He needed to talk to her, but he needed to get out of here first.
Finding it difficult to breathe, he guided her down the hallway to the back door. Out of view of the main road, it would be safe for him to talk to her privately.
"Well?" she said, facing him.
"We're going in after her." He grabbed his pack of smokes with a shaky hand, needing to distract himself. "You'll stay here. Don't think about running off. There will be others watching over you."
"I want to go with you." She reached for him and stopped before making contact. "Cami will be scared. She doesn't know you."
"No." He exhaled harshly, needing something stronger than nicotine to calm him down.
"What are you going to do if someone catches you?" Her gaze intensified. "Who will help her?"
Her cheekbones became more pronounced as her mouth tightened. Paco's thoughts came fast and furious, knowing her past. He could come up with a hundred reasons why she wouldn't want to deal with the men at the casino, and despite her own fears, she was willing to step forward to save her friend.
He admired her bravery and hated her foolishness.
Someone needed to take care of her to make sure she stayed safe from herself, not to mention from others.
"I'll stop Robert Shaw," he said. "So, he can't do this to any other woman."
"There's more than just him." Her brows lowered. "You have no idea."
"I know."
"You can't." Her eyes narrowed. "You're an outsider."
"I know." He'd poured through her journal so many times, he'd memorized every word.
He understood that she'd left the reservation after her father sold her to someone named Askook, who then killed her father. He understood that she'd escaped. He understood that every day she feared getting caught alone and forced to go back to the reservation. He understood her deep desire to kill her father's killer, and she suffered over her father's betrayal and rejection.
Josie shook her head, doubting him. He wouldn't tell her how he knew. She was not a woman who would want others to know her sadness.
Just like he would never tell her, he understood more than she realized.
"What if you don't get her? What if she's gone?" she asked.
"Then, I'll follow the trail and try to bring her back."
"In Mexico?"
He shrugged. "Wherever."
Josie studied him. Uncomfortable under her inspection, he turned sideways to hide his ghosts.
The recent missing girls. Reading Josie's journal. The danger standing in front of him. Everything brought up his past and played with his thoughts.
His head throbbed. Tingling covered the back of his neck. He couldn't breathe.
"Why are you doing this?" she whispered.
He flicked his cigarette to the ground, stepped on the butt, and looked at her. "I'm doing it for you."
She frowned. "You don't even know me."
"I know you."
She shook her head in confusion. The back door opened.
He looked toward the building, needing the distraction from Josie when Curley stuck his head out. "Are you coming?"
"Yep." He put his hand on Josie's back and took her back inside the clubhouse with him.
Handing her off to Chrischris for safekeeping, he stepped away and stopped himself from leaving. Going back to her, he leaned down and put his lips to her ear. "Whatever happens out there. Whether I come back with your friend or not, I'll make sure no one ever comes after you again."
Her hand landed on his chest. His heart pounded.
"And, you should never have any doubts about yourself. You're good enough," he whispered.
Josie's body stiffened, and she pulled her head back to look at him. Eyes rounded, she stared at him—whether, in fear that he knew her past or in surprise that he admitted he would kill, he couldn't tell.
He pointed his finger at her, making his point, and walked backward, wanting one more look at her before he turned and hit the door, not knowing if he'd return.
If he ended up dead today, his life would be worth the price if Josie gained the freedom to live without fear.
His life was worth shit.
Broken and damaged, he held no hope for changing or escaping. Whatever good came out of helping Josie wasn't enough to redeem him. He would never be good enough for her.
He was on a one-way ride to hell.
Chapter 6
Josie
The door of the clubhouse opened. Josie raised her gaze from the bike magazine on the table in front of her, hoping Paco returned with Cami.
Disappointment at seeing another woman enter the clubhouse, she went back to staring at the pages of motorcycles she had no interest in but continued to look at, needing the distraction from her wait. Only on page sixteen, she'd already counted one hundred and two bikes shown on the pages.
The table vibrated. She looked up and found a woman standing in front of her, sliding a covered dish toward her.
"Hello." The woman sat down, moving her long, curly hair over her shoulder. "Priest never told me if you're a vegetarian or not, so I put the chicken pieces in a sandwich bag on top."
Josie peeked under the foil and found noodles with a white sauce and the package of chicken. Her stomach growled. Besides the piece of toast at Paco's house before he rushed her to the body shop, she hadn't eaten. She hadn't even thought of food.
"Thank you." She covered the plate up again.
"I'm Nicole. I belong to Priest." Nicole gazed around the room. "Nobody else is keeping you company while you wait?"
Too worried about Cami, and now Paco, after he sprang her insecurities in her face, she'd closed herself off from the others who offered to feed her.
"I prefer to be by myself." She played with the edge of the foil. "I apologize if I seem rude, but I don't know anyone here."
Banks, Frank, and Slick, who she knew from work, had left with Paco and the others. Chrischris was around, but he'd gone outside an hour ago after telling her a man named Wyatt would watch out for her.
"Well, now, you know me." Nicole smiled. "Usually, there are other women here who would make you feel at home, but it's a weekday. Most of them are dealing with their kids or working."
She glanced over at the half-dressed women hanging on the bikers around the couch. Nicole laughed, catching Josie's wandering attention to the others.
"Those aren't the kind of women you want to hang out with. I'm talking about the ladies that are committed to the men." Nicole leaned forward. "So, tell me about yourself."