Chapter 15
Axel
W e were all in Storm’s office again because someone was messing with our damn club again. This time the insurance for all the club businesses was canceled, and we received notice of a state tax audit. It was a fucking double whammy.
“First it was the environmental complaint and now this. I don’t have to think too hard to figure out who’s behind all this shit,” I told them. “It’s Bryce fucking Sterling.”
“Let’s not get carried away. The tax audit might be random,” Thunder said, trying to be reasonable.
He looked over the notice one more time before handing it off to Storm.
“The state audits small businesses on the regular. We knew it was only a matter of time before they came sniffing around again. We’re all up to date, so we shouldn’t have any problems passing an audit. ”
“Random,” I repeated out loud, trying to get my head around that idea. I wasn’t buying it. “I don’t see how three administrative problems in a row can be construed as just random. The probability that these three events are unrelated is fucking astronomical.”
Storm spoke up. “Unless we get clear evidence that Sterling was involved in triggering this tax audit, I’m going to have to go with Thunder on this one.”
“I still think it’s Bryce messing with us.
Let’s face it, a regular rando might slash our tires or set fire to one of our properties, Bryce was more discriminating.
He liked to do things that were hard to track back to him.
Triggering a state tax audit was just the kind of shitty, underhanded thing he would do. ”
Celt snorted. “Yer sayin’ Bryce picked up the feckin’ phone and ordered the state tax department to crawl up our arseholes?”
“No. What I’m saying is he’s a well-connected businessman.
He knows people who know people,” I told him.
“I can see him calling in a favor, to keep us running in circles while he does God only knows what. This smells like some kind of distraction, and I want to track that bastard down and beat some information outta him.”
Storm’s gaze lifted from the letter to land on me.
He rubbed at his jaw with one hand, looking just plain tired.
“We can fight the fucking paper war. We’ve done it before and won.
” Looking from one face to the other, his gaze landed back on me.
“What we can’t fight is heat from multiple directions at the same time.
For all we know, whoever is doing this is just getting warmed up.
We figure out who’s doing this shit. Axel is right, while the tax audit might be random, everything else looks personal. ”
Celt muttered, “We need to smoke the bastards out.”
Storm jerked his chin at Thunder and began assigning jobs. “I want you to focus on the tax audit. I know you think you’re running a tight game but double check every fucking detail. I don’t want to end up in an orange jumpsuit over some tax fraud.”
“I’m gonna ask Mack to speak to his police contact, Harvey. Maybe they can tell us if any other businesses are being targeted and if they are, what’s being done about it.”
When he turned to me, I spoke up before he could, “I’m staying on Bryce because I guarantee you that asshole is the root of all the fucking evil in our lives.”
Celt leaned forward in his seat. “Or you could let me handle Bryce the old-fashioned way. If I give him a feckin’ dirt nap that solves all yer problems in one fell swoop.
” I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was dead serious.
Sometimes, I forgot that Celt grew up in his old man’s one percent club and wasn’t the least bit squeamish about throwing down when he needed to.
Storm dragged a palm over his face. “That’s a quick answer to our problems, alright. I’m not gonna say it’s not. But it just complicates everything.”
Celt gave a thin smile. “I’ve yet to see any man pop back up from six feet under to file feckin’ complaints.”
Storm shot him a look. “We’re not putting a man in the ground because you want to get this over with and go running back to your old lady.”
Celt’s eyes jumped to mine. “Ya said this whole situation reeked of yer old lady’s ex. I agree about that. My solution solves the problem with no messin’ about.”
My nostrils flared with anger. “That’s just what the stupid fucker wants, to provoke us into extreme reactions. Then he can call the cops and claim harassment. He wants to make us mad, so we’ll get sloppy. So no, I don’t vote for killing this asshole, at least not yet.”
Celt tilted his head. “I seriously thought you would be with me on that one, brother?”
“I’d love nothing better than to drop him where he stands, but I’m not a big fan of giving this fucker what he wants. He’s already got us at each other’s throats today. Going after a clever fucker like Bryce comes with risks. We need to save that as a last fucking resort.”
The phone in my pocket started to buzz, but I kept my eyes on Celt. He finally leaned back in his seat, “Yeah, I get it. Play it cool and try to resolve it the right way.”
I nodded, “That’s the safest bet.” My phone kept buzzing.
Grit’s irritated voice sounded off, “You gonna answer your fucking phone? Or at least turn the damn thing off.”
I pulled it free and saw Jamie’s name again. I could see from my call history that he’d called three times in a row, “What’s up, Jamie? Did Tracey and the girls get finished shopping?”
“Axel, thank fucking God I got through to you.” Jamie’s voice was panicked. And I could hear the girls crying in the background. I bolted to my feet and began pacing beside Storm’s desk.
“What the fuck happened? I can hear the girls in the background. Why are they crying?”
“You have to come to the west side right now. I’m serious. Tracey’s missing. I can’t find her anywhere. Fred’s gone as well, he left his post.”
“What the hell? You know Fred’s brand new. You were in charge of this trip. What the hell happened?”
“Fucking your boy, Bryce Sterling is what happened. He showed up wanting to talk to Tracey. She told me to take the girls and go. Fred stayed behind to protect her. Like a lot of fucking good that did. Now, they’re both MIA.”
Dread surged in my chest. “Wait, Jamie. Slow the fuck down. Where are you right now?”
“I’m at Daisy Dots Ice Cream Shop. When Bryce showed up on the street, Tracey told me to take the girls to a nearby ice cream shop and wait on her.
When she didn’t show up, I went looking for her, only to find no Tracey and no Fred.
Are you hearing what I’m laying down? The Land Rover is still where we parked it, Fred’s bike is gone. I can’t believe we let this happen.”
“Calm the fuck down. It could be that something popped off with Bryce and he put Tracey on the back of his bike and got the hell outta dodge. It’s the whole reason we ride escort on our Harleys.” Even as I said the words I didn’t believe them, Tracey would have texted me.
I didn’t like the sound of this at all, I just hoped there was an explanation for it.
“I didn’t think about that. I fucking hope and pray that’s how it went down.”
“Hang tough, I’m on my way.” I bolted into action with Storm yelling my name. I didn’t stop for anything. “I’m putting my earbuds in. Slow down and tell me every detail, while I gear up.”
Jamie took a deep breath and started at the beginning once again.
His voice was shaking as he quickly walked me through the whole ordeal from the hair salon to what happened when they left.
When he got to the part where Fred and Tracey went missing, he was rambling a bit, but I kept up as best I could.
“I turned around, and Fred was gone. He was supposed to be right beside Tracey. Only he wasn’t because they were both just gone.
Neither of them answered their phones when I called.
I left voicemails just in case they picked up their messages.
I took the girls and ran around looking everywhere.
I found her shopping bag outside by the side doors.
Her purse was in it. Her phone was in it.
The girls are screaming that their dad took her. ”
He hesitated for a moment before adding.
“Jenna swears her dad was outside her bedroom window and she thought it was a dream, but it was real life. Do you think that’s even possible?
I mean Bryce looked like a bit of a fancy pants.
Not the type to be climbing up to a second story window or abducting anyone. ”
My voice went steely. “I’ve known Bryce for a lot of years, and I can tell you he’s brazen as fuck. So, I wouldn’t put it past him.”
I stepped into the armory and geared up. Grit threw me a spare two-way radio. I caught it one-handed and clipped it to the shoulder of my cut.
“Where are Jamie and the girls now?” Grit asked.
I glanced at Grit over my shoulder, “Sounds like they’re running around the west end of Main Street. Near the ice cream shop.”
Storm popped his head into the armory. “Hacker said to take them to Angel. She’s a familiar face and can console them while we work to get Tracey back.”
“Jamie, did you hear that?”
“Yeah, take the girls to Hacker’s old lady. I’ve got the keys to the Land Rover. They were in her purse.”
“Got it. They want to talk to you.”
“Put them on speaker phone,” I told him.
The next thing I heard were their tearful voices. They were talking over each other, saying their dad took her and begging me to get her back.
“Hey, listen to me,” I told them in a calm voice. “I don’t know what happened, but we’re gonna get your mommy back. While I’m doing that, the two of you are gonna stay with Angel, okay?”
There was some back and forth, but they eventually agreed. “Don’t worry sweethearts, I’m gonna bring your mommy straight to you.”
I just had to hope I wouldn’t be breaking that promise to those little girls.
***