Page 53 of Nun’s Prayer

“Kiki’s been kidnapped. Move.” I ended the call. “Sparrow!” I roared as I punched in Earl Gerrit’s number.

“Sapphire,” he answered sourly as Sparrow entered.

“Someone linked to this club was abducted. Loretta was seen at her house. Now, Earl, if I find out Loretta has taken her, let alone touched a hair on her head, we’re at war. No second chances, no doubts, instant declaration, and kill on sight. You listening? My club will ride and wipe you out in a week.”

“I’ll call you back.”

“She’d best be alive, you get me, Earl,” I spat.

“I’ll ring you later,” Earl snapped and hung up.

“I’ve sent an alert; all sisters are being recalled. Where do you want us?” Sparrow asked.

“We hit the Gerrits. If Kiki is harmed, it’s war, and we eliminate those fuckers today.”

Over the next half hour, the club rolled in and tooled up, with Lantern being the last. She must have been tattooing a client.

“We’re riding on the Gerrits. Blue’s Aunt Kiki has been taken, and Loretta Brown, formerly Gerrit, might be behind it. Nun chased her away from Kiki’s.”

“Do we have identification?” Blade asked.

“No. But considering what we know of Blue and Kiki, it is unlikely the woman pissed someone off. The only other option is the Bloody Femmes, and if they have her, she’s dead. So let’s go with the Gerrits and pray we’re right. Kiki, for all intents and purposes, is going to be Nun’s mother-in-law,” I stated.

“What if we are wrong?” Heart questioned.

“Then Earl will love getting restitution from us,” I answered. I was fair; if Earl had done this to me, I’d expect the same.

“Time to ride,” Sparrow said as I began marching through the rec room.

“Do you need another person?” Priest asked.

“No. Stay with Brielle and arm yourself. We don’t know if this is a diversion,” I replied. “Jazz, Fume, and Ace are staying. Protect the clubhouse and listen to Jazz. She’s in charge, Priest, not you. And she knows the escape routes.”

Priest nodded as we disappeared through the doors. I hit my bike and rode out. The Gerrits all lived together on some land they’d bought, all in trailers. The older generation, Earl Luther and so on, had brick-built houses. As far as myself and Portsmouth were concerned, the Gerrits were a plague on society. They were involved in most of the illegal shit happening.

After a few run-ins, the Elders had learned not to cross us. And after what we did to Jed as a warning—they’d be leery. However, they were probably gearing up right now. The problem with Gerrits was that you killed one and two more popped up. They were inbred shits. The Elders hated me, which was fine; I loathed them in return, but we had agreed to stay out of each other’s shit. Jed pushed it when he attempted to extort money from Candle, and we taught him a severe lesson.

This served as a warning to the remaining Gerrits. They didn’t respect women and treated them like shit. They’d tried to treat us like bimbos and paid a heavy price.

Maybe it was past time; they needed a reminder. If they had forgotten what we were capable of, more fool them.

I parked outside the rickety gate that kept people out, and Sparrow blew it open. We rode down the dusty road towards the hovels the Gerrits called home. The first thing I noticed was that the kids were missing; I silently contacted Belladonna.

‘Warn everyone. The brats ain’t visible; they’ve been hidden away. The Gerrits are expecting us and bloodshed.’

‘Will do,’ Belladonna confirmed.

As their trailers appeared, we rode close and stopped. I could see people staring.

“Let’s move. Weapons out. Any sign of a twitchy finger, we’ll shoot,” I declared and began walking.

The club fanned out, all of us alert and ready to act. The Gerrits started forming, and Earl shoved his way through.

“Dammit, Sapphire. I said I’d call ya,” he barked and spat on the ground.

“I think you underestimate what this woman means. Does Loretta have her?”

“You shoulda waited for—”