Chapter 22
Angel kicked in Fox”s door, not giving a flying fuck if the club treasurer was balls deep inside a club whore or not.
”Fuck you and your bullshit spy ware!” Angel roared.
Fox sat up straight behind the three computers in front of him, lifting one eyebrow. ”What are you on about?”
”She”s completely off the grid!”
Angel had woken up with the worse hangover in history, but when he tried to pick up a signal of Nora’s whereabouts, it read that she’d been lying still in the hallway right in front of their front door.
He instantly tried calling Nora over and over, afraid that she’d taken a nasty fall or worse, while checking the security footage from outside the girls’ apartment. And then it clicked. Her phone was still inside while he saw Rosie and Nora leave their apartment not long after he’d dropped her off last night. And they never made it home.
Fox slowly raised himself from behind his desk, his sharp eyes disturbingly calm.
“I heard about you fucking things up with your Old Lady just a few hours after you got together. Maybe she just wants to be left alone.”
Angel ignored Fox”s smirk. “She went out for a drink last night, but never came back!”
Fox rubbed his temple and sighed. “Maybe she hooked up? Your obsession with Nora Walker is getting?—”
“She”s gone out with YOUR damn cousin, and she also didn’t come home.”
Fox stepped away from his desk, his eyes on his phone in hand. ”Which one? Jo... or Rosie?”
”Rosie.”
Fox”s drawn eyebrows as he dialed, Rosie told Angel everything he needed to know.
”I”m guessing she”s not picking up on you either?”
Fox shook his head.
Angel stepped further into Fox”s den at the back of the first floor at the clubhouse, sitting down on the leather sofa in the corner as Fox tried his other cousin.
”J… Did you hear from Rosie?”
Fox’s phone conversation faded into the background as Angel thought back to kissing Nora in the clubhouse’s kitchen on that first night of lockdown. He knew right then and there that she was the one.
He should have stayed with her last night. He never should have left her alone at her apartment.
Fox hung up the phone and retook his seat behind the desk. ”Shit.”
“Shit?! That”s all you have to say?” Angel spat as he fought the urge to take a swing at his friend.
Fox”s fingers flew across the keyboard as he added, “Better call Prez, if you hadn”t already.”
Angel”s gut churned. Bringing Zeus into the mix brought back memories of the kidnapping of Brass Balls and, later on, Whirlwind. He couldn’t believe that the Storm Riders had probably also snatched the third Walker sister.
He’d been so cautious since he’d felt something brewing in the air.
How could he have missed this?
”Just do it now and get it over with. Time”s not on our side, brother,” Fox said.
“Z. I need your help,” Angel said after Zeus picked up his phone after one ring.
”What”s up?” Zeus mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.
“My Old Lady and Rosie haven’t come home last night. Their roommates haven’t heard from them. Nora’s phone is in their hallway and Rosie’s phone has been switched off for the past twelve hours. I know something bad happened to them, Z. I feel it in my bones.”
Zeus sighed. “Maybe they?—”
“Call for church in ten minutes. Now!” Fox bellowed from behind his computer.
“What did he just say?” Zeus grumbled.
“Tell Zeus that the girls were dragged into a black van outside that Irish pub last night!” Fox said to Angel.
Angel dropped his phone on Fox’s bed in shock. He joined Fox behind his computer to see with his own eyes how Nora and Rosie stumbled out of the pub, nearly falling over their own feet before a couple of black hooded scumbags dragged them into their van.
“I’ve hacked into several security systems and I’m following the van as we speak. Tell Zeus we need to have church asap.”
Angel nodded.
“You’ll need your phone to call him, brother,” Fox said while typing away on his computer.
“Right.”
Angel picked up his phone and Zeus already said, “I heard everything. Church in ten and I’ve already sent a text to everyone. See you in ten.”
“Go ahead, brother,” Fox said. “I’ll be a few minutes later. I need to gather some data on my laptop to show the rest.”
Angel had no recollection of entering church or sitting down at the hard wooden oval table with the Iron Viking carved on top.
“Shit, man. We’re gonna bring your Old Lady back in one piece,” Dragon said upon entering church.
“And Rosie,” Zion corrected Dragon, his face glacial.
Dragon brought a hand through his sandy brown hair. “Of course. And Rosie.”
Zeus and Wolf entered church right before Fox, who sat down next to Angel.
“Take three wild guesses where that scum took our girls to?” Fox said, his eyes narrowed, looking over at their Prez and VP.
Angel just needed one guess, just like Dragon, who said, “Vegas.”
“Mother fucker,” Zeus roared before slamming both fists against the tabletop.
“This got Silas’ signature written all over it. He’s taken Rosie. He’s taken Angel’s Old Lady. This scum of the earth needs to die.”
All officers bumped their closed fists against the tabletop in agreement.
“Call Branko,” Angel said to Zeus.
Zeus blinked. “Branko?”
“Green told me his brother has been up there. We all know Branko, man. He always keeps an ear to the ground and knows exactly where to find these bastards.”
“It’s worth a try,” Wolf said.
Zeus dialed Branko while the rest of them sat in silence, waiting for the Nomad to pick up his damn phone.
“He’s not picking up. Zion, get Green in here,” Zeus said.
“Green told me that his brother has been off grid for the past few weeks. Haven’t really spoken to any of his brothers.”
Wolf rested his elbows on top of their oval table. He leaned in and said, “Branko? Not talking to his brothers for a few days? That’s weird, but that Croatian not talking to them for a few weeks is givin’ me nasty chills all over. Somethin’ is wrong.”
Angel nodded. “I know.”
“Before we assume the worst, didn’t this Branko guy leave IVMC Austin to ride as a lone wolf?” Dragon asked.
Demon pushed the tip of his knife under his thumb’s nail. “You’ve never met Branko, Cuz. Those four brothers are practically joined at the hip. He might have left our charter, but he’ll never leave his younger brothers hanging like that.”
Dragon held up a hand. “Okay. Just checking.”
Green’s broad shoulders filled the doorway and Zeus bellowed, “Don’t just stand there. Come in.”
Green entered church before Zion, who closed the door behind them.
“Call Branko. Now,” Zeus said, leaving no room to misinterpret his intention.
“W-why? Has he done something wrong?”
Wolf cocked his head. “Now, why would you ask that?”
The prospect rubbed the palm of his hand with the thumb of his other hand.
“Dunno. You can call Branko yourself, don’t you? Don’t see why?—”
“Boy, if you don’t want an ass whooping in the next three seconds, you’d better choose your next response wisely,” Wolf said.
“S-sorry. It’s just that I-I’ve never been in this room before. And you’re all staring at me, asking me about my brother, but I haven’t spoken to him in weeks! He doesn’t pick up his cell whenever I call him. Don’t know why he would pick up now.”
“Call him,” Dragon said with a nod of his head.
Green’s hand shook as he took out his phone from his jeans’ back pocket.
“Give me that,” Wolf said before snatching the phone from Green’s hand.
Wolf dialed Branko, but after a few rings, the phone gave a shutdown sound.
“Your brother just hung up on you, prospect,” Demon said, his dark eyes scanning Green for any minor little tells to see if he’d been lying to them.
“I know. He’s done that for the past few days.”
“You’ve said you haven’t been in contact for weeks,” Demon said.
Angel knew their Enforcer tried to make Green doubt his own words, trying to see if the prospect would slip up and catch him on a lie.
“Yes. I haven’t spoken to him in weeks. But for the past few days, he did not even let his phone ring. He declines my calls.”
“Okay. Fuck off and don’t say a word about any of this to anyone. You hear? Or this entire table will come after you and the rest of your brothers,” Wolf said before handing Green his phone back.
“Yes, VP,” Green said and closed the door behind him.
“Shit. I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Fox said.
“Me too,” Zion said.
“Zion, Fox, Angel, Dragon and Demon, we’re leaving for Vegas in thirty minutes. Ya’ll know what to bring. We’re gonna go hunting.”
“Finally,” Dragon said.
“And keep that attitude in check, brother. I’ve had just about enough of you,” Zeus grumbled.
Demon gave his cousin a look that said, ‘told you’, but Dragon pulled a shoulder and mouthed, “What did I do?”
“Fuckin’ wisecrack,” Zeus muttered while exiting church.
Angel followed his Prez up the stairs before going into his empty bedroom. At least they had an idea where to find his Old Lady and they would head out to Vegas.
If Zeus hadn’t ordered him to go, he would’ve left for Vegas, anyway.
Angel knew in his gut that Jump Fire was waiting for him in Vegas.
She just needed to hold on.
Fuck, he didn’t want to think about what happened to Cat when she’d been kidnapped by the Storm Riders.
He took a deep breath through his nose while grabbing his gun from the safe in the bathroom. Nora needed him to keep his head screwed on. He couldn’t afford to fuck this up.
Angel would bring Nora back and kill anyone standing in his way.
Even if it meant killing his old friend Branko, if it turned out that he had a hand in this.