Chapter 1

The little girl was barefoot.

That was the first thing Jax noticed.

The second was the money.

She stood in front of him in the middle of a dusty roadside parking lot, her small hands shaking as she held out a wrinkled bundle of bills and coins.

Around them, the engines of twelve motorcycles rumbled beneath the orange light of the setting sun.

Jax Carter had seen frightened people before.

He was the president of the Iron Wolves Motorcycle Club, a giant of a man with tattooed arms, a shaved head, and a beard that made strangers cross the street rather than walk past him.

But he had never seen desperation quite like this.

The girl's cheeks were streaked with dirt.

Her faded yellow dress was too large for her thin body.

She couldn't have been older than nine.

And she was crying.

"I saved ninety-three dollars," she whispered.

Jax slowly looked down at the crumpled money in her hands.

The girl swallowed hard.

"Please help me bring my mom home."

The entire parking lot seemed to fall silent.

Behind Jax, several bikers stopped talking.

One of them, Cole, lowered the bottle of water he had been drinking.

Jax crouched until his face was level with the girl's.

"Your whole fortune is ninety-three dollars?" he asked gently. "What happened to your mother?"

The girl's lips began trembling.

"She disappeared."

Jax's expression changed.

"When?"

"Eleven days ago."

"Did you tell the police?"

She nodded.

"Nobody came back."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"They said they were looking for her. But nobody came back."

Jax stared at her.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Emily."

"Where's your father?"

Emily looked at the ground.

"I don't have one."

Jax felt something tighten in his chest.

He glanced at the money again.

Ninety-three dollars.

Her entire fortune.

Every coin.

Every bill.

Probably collected one piece at a time while she waited for someone to care enough to find her mother.

"What is your mother's name?"

"Sarah Miller."

Jax went completely still.

Cole noticed.

"Jax?"

But Jax didn't answer.

Sarah Miller.

Eleven days earlier, he had seen that exact name in a local news report.

A thirty-two-year-old single mother had vanished after leaving her job at a small medical supply warehouse outside town.

Her car had been found abandoned near the old Riverstone Industrial District.

The police had called it a possible voluntary disappearance.

Jax had thought the explanation sounded strange.

Now he looked at the little girl standing in front of him.

"What do you mean nobody came back?" he asked.

Emily wiped her face.

"They took her car. They asked me questions. Then everybody left."

"Who was the last person to see your mother?"

Emily hesitated.

Then she whispered, "Mr. Kane."

Jax slowly stood up.

The name hit him harder than expected.

Victor Kane.

Owner of Kane Logistics.

One of the richest and most powerful men in the county.

Jax turned toward his motorcycle.

"Show me where your mother went."

Emily looked up.

"What?"

Jax reached out his enormous hand.

Behind him, one by one, the Iron Wolves climbed onto their bikes.

Engines roared.

Jax looked down at the little girl.

"You said you waited eleven days."