Page 16 of Iona's Christmas

“Fuckin’ Detective Noah Myers,” Warden spat, and I felt his anger and dislike from where I sat.

Warden’s phone rang, and he glowered before answering it.

“Yeah?” he snapped.

“Detective Myers wants you, Prez,” Priest replied.

“He doesn’t come in without an escort. Undertaker is on his way,” Warden said, and Undertaker glared. I guess nobody liked Detective Myers.

Warden turned to us as Undertaker left the clubhouse.

“Cécile, take Etienne and head downstairs. Now. We don’t want him to see you. Rosalea and Iona, no matter what, keep your mouths shut. Myers’ is alone, which is strange enough. But let’s not give him ammunition to return,” Warden ordered.

“Got it,” I agreed. “Would you prefer us to leave?”

“No. I do not trust Myers’, and I don’t want you out of my sight,” Warden said.

The door opened, and the club fell silent as Undertaker brought a man in. My first thought was this was a cop. He was around thirty-five and quite good-looking. He wore jeans and a Henley with a jacket over the top. Myers had on cowboy boots, and they weren’t for show; they were well-worn.

“Got a warrant?” Warden snapped.

Myers’ ran his hand through his neatly trimmed hair, and that’s when I saw it. Myers was tired. Something heavy was weighing this man down, and whatever it was had brought him here.

“Not here to bust your balls. I need your help,” Myers said, holding Warden’s gaze.

A surprised murmur arose from the family before silence fell again. The atmosphere was tense with hostility, dislike and a lot of other negative emotions. Nobody took their eyes off the intruder in our midst. I was shocked Myers had the fortitude to stand there as he was.

“My help?” Warden drawled from where he lounged.

“Yeah, and I’m not afraid to beg,” Myers replied.

Warden’s eyebrows shot up. “This must be serious,” he said with a hint of amusement.

“A one-year-old baby boy and a three-year-old baby girl were snatched by their father, Liam Conway, yesterday morning. Before he kidnapped the children, he slaughtered their mother. Warden, I do mean slaughtered. Conway gutted her like a pig. Poor woman was alive when he started and would have died in agony. She was unrecognisable as a human by the time Conway finished. Worse, we know he did this in front of his kids,” Myers said, softly wincing as he looked at me.

“Lindy, take the girls now,” Warden ordered.

I didn’t put up an argument as Lindy led us away. We headed upstairs, not to draw attention to Cécile in the basement with Etienne.

Warden

I regarded Myers. I hated the man and everything he stood for. He was a pompous ass who had a legal stick wedged so far up his butt you’d have to operate to remove it. Myers had sworn to bring my club down and yet here he was, begging. I’d been prepared to toss him out when he first mentioned help.

Now, I couldn’t. There was no way I was going to leave innocent babies in the hands of a nutcase. A man who’d slaughtered their mother in front of them. My gut twisted as I thought how anguished and scared they must be.

“Tell the prospects to lock the compound down,” I said to Undertaker. “Noble, you’re staying here. Everyone else is with me. Where do you want us searching?” I turned to Myers, who was shaking his head.

“We got people combing the woods. Search parties are out there. But I need your…” Myers swallowed as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say.

“My what?” I snapped, not wanting to waste time.

Fuck Myers. I didn’t give a shit if he wanted our help or not. The RBMC was going to look for those kids.

“I know Warden… about…,” Myers said, and I stared at him.

“Say it.”

“Warden, it’s hard to believe.”