Page 100 of Declan's Dove

“Those photos were taken twenty-four hours after a child he placed in the Connelly’s home went missing. A week later, the bound, bruised woman you see there in the picture was found dead in a dumpster. Her fingers and toes were burned, and all her teeth had been removed from her mouth,” Kayce says.

“Jesus.” It’s a collective curse throughout the room.

“He covered his tracks. No prints or teeth means no identification,” Hawk explains, though we all already knew.

“And this fucker took my kid to that house?” Rage like I’ve never felt before is pulsing through my veins. My heart is beating so hard it feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest at any moment.

“He did, but we have eyes on them. And nothing has come over the website yet.” Kayce turns to Hawk. “Open the next file.” Hawk looks to Gabe and waits for his approval. Once he has it, he opens the file.

“Yet!” I roar. “Are you fucking kidding me? I want the address, and I want my son, now.”

“Easy, Shamus. There’s a protocol. You know this.”

“Fuck protocol. Get me my damn kid.”

“Declan.” Gabe’s commanding tone gives me pause. “We need to hear them out. Stand the fuck down.”

“They know where my kid is, Pres. I can’t just wait for some sick fuck to show up and steal him away when I have the power to save him.”

“Nothing is going to happen to Carter. You have my word, Dec,” Gabe says. “And Kayce and his men are going to make sure I keep my fucking word. Right?”

“We have to wait for the auction to close before we move in. You want your kid. We want the transport team,” Kayce clarifies. “We know who is supplying the kids and who puts them up for auction. What we don’t have is the transport team. We believe we know who it is, but we only have one photo to go by and can’t verify where they were at the time of the photo.”

“Who?” Gabe asks.

“The Devil’s Order MC.”

The room erupts. No one wants to go to war, but they’ve been creeping up to our back door since they killed George. It was only a matter of time before shit went sideways and we had to face them again. Looks like that time is now.

A photo of three bikers wearing Devil’s Order patches loading a small, lifeless body into a cargo van pops up on the screen.

“This is the only photo I have of them, the DOMC, placing a child in the back of a cargo van. But we believe they’re the ones who are transporting the kids from the transition homes and selling them on the black market as sex slaves. We believe it’s why they stole George Sinclair’s eighteen-wheeler. It’s also why they killed him.”

“George knew what they were doing and handed their shipment over to Parisi, who set them all free in exchange for Skyler’s protection,” Ethan supplies.

“Why haven’t you killed them all?” I ask, not able to keep the steel out of my voice.

“We want the head. In order to get to the head, we have to follow the minions,” Kayce says, shrugging.

“What makes you think they’re here in Oakridge?” It’s Gabe who asks. “They’ve steered clear of this area for years. Until they found out Sky came home, but those two didn’t make it back to tell their story. Why come back now and run the risk of a war?”

“They have Marco Cusenza backing them,” Tate announces. “Maybe they think with his pull and the people he has on his payroll, from cops to judges, they’re untouchable. I don’t know. But what I can tell you is they’ve grown. They have multiple chapters in several states. All of which have noticed an uptick in missing women and children.”

“What do you need from us?” Gabe asks suspiciously.

“Hold it,” Tate calls out. “Boss, we have a situation.”

“What is it?”

“James Swanson is on the move. His GPS says he’s headed to Crestview. If I had to guess, he’s headed to get the kid.”

“But you said the auction didn’t open yet.” Pulling my hands through my hair, tugging and pulling, I try to let the pain ground me. “If the auction isn’t up, how the fuck does he know about Carter?”

“The social worker, Cortez, probably reached out to him,” Tate says. “She has to find next of kin before she can place him in another home. It’s usually a longer process, but he’s a sheriff. It wouldn’t be hard for her to connect the dots.”

“He’s going to be pissed and scared,” Kayce suggests. “Not only is his kid in foster care, but his dead family has resurfaced—alive. He’s going to have some explaining to do.” Kayce smirks. “He became a very rich man in a short period of time. Some assumed he killed his wife and son after it was discovered that Violet and Carter had an inheritance which, sadly, became locked up in probate. He’s been trying for two years to get that money.”

“It’s confirmed. He’s headed to the foster home. The social worker is set to meet him there. He’s less than an hour out,” Tate says.

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