Page 14 of Coveted By Cupid

“Now, Cole,” I say, hiding the humor in my voice, “is this any way to speak to a man who has dirt on you?”

A month after moving to Loveland, me and Oaks agreed we would need a rat in law enforcement to keep us off the police radar and to do our bidding as we saw fit. We kept tabs on the detectives at the local police station, seeing which one had a secret they wanted to keep from being exposed. It took less than a week to find Cole hitting on a redhead at the bar and checking into a dodgy motel on the outside of the city limits with her on his arm. Considering Cole’s wife is a brunette, we had him by his short curls.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and we had an envelope full of them. Cole agreed to be our informant with no fanfare—he was desperate to keep his wife in the dark, saying it was a onetime thing and he loved his wife.

Suited us fine enough—we had our rat and his wife got a more devoted version of her husband.

Cole sighs on the other end of the line. “What can I do for you?”

“That’s better. I need you to run a plate.” I ramble off Vanessa’s plate.

The sound of fingers typing away on a keyboard filters through the line as I wait for Cole to report his findings.

“Vanessa Wright. Age: twenty-three. Address: 417 East Laurel Street, Apartment 7, Fort Collins, Colorado. No record, not even a parking ticket.”

I scribble down her address, snickering to myself.

There’s no way the woman I was riding with today was speeding at the rate she was for the first time in her life. The way she has control of her bike at high speeds makes her an experienced speed demon. The only reason Vanessa has no record is probably more to do with the police not being able to catch her than the likelihood of her being a law-abiding citizen of the road.

“Is that all? Cole asks impatiently, eager to get me off the phone.

“Not quite. What can you tell me about the women who were recently abducted from CSU?”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. “Please tell me this has nothing to do with you. I don’t want to be associated with or cover up for sickos who take women.”

I scoff. “It’s insulting that you ask if I abduct innocent people. I’m a lot of things, most of them bad, but I’m not a kidnapper. Royal Bastards don’t deal in human trafficking.”

“Bikers with a moral compass. How rich?” Cole mumbles.

“Insult me one more time and I’m hand-delivering some redhead highlights to your wife,” I warn, having tolerated his attitude long enough. “Now give me the information I want.”

“Fuck. Fine.”

Cole reads through the seven reports shared with their department from the Fort Collins police. “City cameras show an unmarked white cargo van with a dent in the rear fender, speeding up behind the victims. The driver stays seated while two men from the back jump out, grab the women, drag them back to the van where they throw them inside, climb in, and take off. In five of the incidents, the attackers grabbed the women and were gone in less than a minute. The two from the trail obviously weren’t caught on camera. However, police discovered tire tracks along the trail—possibly linked to the van—and cameras along the nearest roads leading away from the trail show the same van from the other abductions.”

“These are pros then,” I say, cursing to myself. “Aside from the two on the hiking trail, where around campus did these other abductions happen?”

“One happened on West Pitkin Street. Another was on South Shields Street. Two occurred on Plum Street. And the latest was on Prospect Road.”

My fingers fly across my notepad, jotting every detail Cole gives me. “Do the police have any clue who’s behind these abductions?”

“If they do, they aren’t in the report. The only other note worth mentioning is that the Fort Collins Police are working closely with Mercy Ravens Security to get to the bottom of it.”

Fuck my luck. “Mercy Ravens Security? As in the Mercy Ravens MC?”

“One and the same. They’re former military, specifically trained on tracking people down.”

“So I’ve heard,” I grumble. “Keep me updated if anything is added to the report, will you?”

“Yeah, sure.” Cole disconnects quickly.

Processing all the information my informant shared, I realize why the Mercy Ravens I encountered today were hostile. I was chasing a young woman in their city where young women are being taken. Her saying she didn’t know me and that I was following her was problematic. The last thing I need is this MC to think me or my club has anything to do with these abductions.

I look down at Vanessa’s address, curling it in my hand.

First, I need to go to her and get into her good graces. The sooner I do that, the sooner I can have her next to me and out of harm’s way.

Second, I need to reach out to Atlas, letting the Mercy Ravens know my crew is as eager to get to the bottom of the abductions as they are. I will enter their city to get to my Butterfly—it’s best if we’re in good standing.