Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Nora
I hurry to change out of my work uniform, tugging my jeans up my thighs and pulling a thick cable-knit jumper over my head. Kate is working the same shift as me and if I’m lucky, I can catch her and convince her to listen to me long enough to explain why I backed out of the flat rental.
I toss my work shoes into my locker and slide my phone into my back pocket. The clang of metal echoes in the small space when I slam my locker door shut. She didn’t come into the change room, so I assume she’s still avoiding me.
Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I exit the locker area and catch sight of her exiting the staff entrance to the back of the building. Running, I hurry to catch up and almost plow over Alexis coming out of Jay’s office.
“Where’s the fire, girlfriend?”
“Sorry, boss. Catching up with Kate.”
The door clangs shut before I get there, but I hit the push bar with both hands and momentum carries me outside.
“Kate! Wait up!”
The night air hits my face, cool and damp, and I stumble to an abrupt stop. The three men in suits are in front of me. One of them is sitting in the driver’s seat of a black sedan, the other two scoop Kate up as she crumples toward the ground. What happened? What did they do to her?
When they drop her into the boot of their car, I’m frozen.
This can’t be happening. They’re taking her.
My mind is still tripping out on that when I realize their attention has switched to me. “Oh, no. No, no, no…”
I spin around, my fingers fumbling over the keypad beside the door. 5-8-3…
The numbers swim before my eyes, but I don’t get the chance to finish the code.
Strong arms wrap around my waist from behind and lift me off my feet.
I kick backward, connecting with something solid. One guy lets off a grunt, but his grip only tightens. “Fucking bitch.”
I thrash wildly, trying to break free. “Help! Somebody he?—”
A sharp sting in my arm cuts off my cry. The world tilts sideways, my limbs turning to lead. The last thing I see is Kate curled up and unconscious before I’m tossed in beside her and darkness claims me.
Brendan
By the time we roll into the parking lot of Legend, I’m losing my mind. All the way over here, I’ve been imagining Nora doing something incredibly stupid, like stepping in if she saw these fuckers do something to a woman at the club. She’s got a pure heart, my angel, and is too brave for her own good.
The moment our tires stop moving, I’m out of the SUV and booking it toward the entrance of the club. Either the bouncer on the door recognizes me or he’s concerned patrons are about to be trampled because he calls out for people to make a path.
My brothers, as well as Keefer and Kieran, are hot on my heels, so I imagine we make an intimidating impression. Inside the club, I scan the crowd and the servers of the first dance area, but there’s no sign of Nora.
My gut twists tighter with every step deeper inside.
She’s not here. I don’t know how I know it, but I do.
She’s not here. Something has happened to her.
I pull out my phone and tap her contact. I tried a dozen times in the car, but there’s still no fucking answer. Fucking hell.
I missed a call from Frenchie.
Inside the main bar area of the club, I spot Frenchie standing in the shadows, looking pissed. “You’re not making me feel good right now, Frenchie. Where the fuck is my girl?”
He purses his lips and shakes his head. “Sorry, boss. I have no fucking clue.”
“Tell me how that’s possible when you’re my fucking eyes on?”
Frenchie shakes his head, scratching his beard. “We watched over her for her shift, like normal. Then, about twenty minutes ago, she went in to change and never came out. She always leaves out the front and goes to the bus stop, but not tonight.”
“Was Drake watching Kate’s car in case she got a ride?”
“Of course. She didn’t come to the parking lot, either.”
“Fuck.” Panic spikes in my chest. I push away from them and weave through the crowd toward the staff door he pointed out.
“Oi, mate, you can’t go in—” I’m not sure what the bartender do-gooder sees in my expression, but he takes several quick steps backward and holds up his hands. “You do you, mate.”
Yeah, I fucking thought so. I burst through the Staff Only door and storm down the hall. Drake is coming up the hall with Jay in tow. “She’s not here, boss.”
Jay is looking all kinds of worried, which only shows how intelligent he is.
“I fucking warned you to take care of Nora. I warned you there would be consequences if anything happened to her.”
Bryan and Tag are there a second later, getting between me and the motherfucking tool who was supposed to help me keep her safe.
Jay holds his ground as my brothers cut off my need for blood.
“When was the last time you saw Nora?” Tag asks.
Jay shifts his gaze to Tag and takes a step back. “She raced past my office about twenty minutes ago. She was catching up with Kate as she went out the back door.”
“Show us.” Tag’s voice is low and tight.
Jay nods and leads us down the hallway to the end.
My blood runs colder with each step we take.
We burst through the back door into the alleyway behind Legend, and the night air bites at my skin. “You see? It’s fine. She probably got a ride home with Kate.”
“That’s Kate’s car.” Frenchie points out a red beater in the parking lot.
Bile burns up the back of my throat and I swallow against the acid and grit my teeth. “So if Kate’s car is here and there’s no Kate or Nora, where the fuck are they?”
I feel everyone’s eyes on me, gauging how long before I detonate. Every part of me wants to explode through the screen of my brothers and snap this fucker’s neck.
But that won’t get me any closer to finding Nora.
It takes everything in me to pull my phone out of my pocket and dial my youngest brother.
“It’s really fucking late, B, so I assume this is important.”
“Finny, that phone I bought Nora…can you track it?”
“Aye, sure. Give me a second to get set up.”
“Seriously?” The woman that chimes in on his end sounds half-amused and half-annoyed.
Finny chuckles lightly. “Sorry, babe. If you’re rolling with a Quinn, it’ll always be bros before hos.”
If I wasn’t about to lose my tether on sanity, I’d advise him not to call the woman he’s spending the night with a ho—but that can wait.
“Okay,” Finn says finally, pulling me back into focus. “I’ve got it! The signal from her phone is traveling east toward the docks. Give me a second and I’ll loop you in so you can track her on your phone.”
“Thanks, Finn. You rock, brother.” Hot fury rages through me as adrenaline pumps like nitrous in my bloodstream. They’ve got Nora and they’re headed for the docks. “They’re going to ship them off.”
“The fuck they are.” Tag’s gaze is as murderous as mine when he pulls out his phone. “Bring the car around to the back. We need to catch up with these fuckers.”
I stare at the pulsing dot on my phone screen as I track my angel. Part of me is willing it to stop before it gets to the docks, and another part of me thinks Nora will be safer while the vehicle is still moving, and they can’t do anything to her.
Aiden swerves the SUV around a granny in a Corolla, the squeal of rubber on road echoing in the empty streets. The dark fury boiling in my blood has me lit to explode.
How dare they fucking touch my girl.
How dare they think to take her from me.
My hands shake as I grip the phone tighter, knuckles white.
Aiden takes another corner at breakneck speed, tires squealing against wet pavement. The SUV fishtails, but he controls it perfectly, accelerating through the slide as buildings pass by in a blur.
“They’re heading toward the container terminal.” My voice is strangled, tight and hoarse. “Those sick fucks are going to lock her in a…”
The thought of Nora trapped in a metal box, terrified and alone, makes me sick…
My chest constricts painfully. I haven’t even told her how I feel. Haven’t had the chance to show her that what’s between us is more than just attraction.
Tag’s hand grips my shoulder from the back seat, steady and grounding. “We’ll get there, B. I swear we’ll get her back. And as soon as we verify that they’re at the port, Bryan will call our guy in the worker’s union. No one will move any containers or any ships tonight.”
I nod, not trusting my voice. The dot continues moving along the harbor road, the rage inside me threatening to go nuclear. When I get my hands on those bastards…
The phone creaks in my grip, and I force myself to ease up before I crack the screen.
“Easy, brother.” Bryan’s voice is as dark and filled with the promise of violence as mine. “Your phone is our connection to her. Focus on us closing the distance and guiding Aiden in.”
He’s right—I know he’s right. I swallow and rein it in. “Take the next right. They turned down Alexandra. And then another right onto 3 Branch Rd.”
“There’s a warehouse down there on berth 35,” Tag says.
Bryan already has his phone at his ear. “On it.”
The green dot stops moving on my screen and a wash of panic hits so hard, I let off a primal scream and slam my fist sideways into the window. Glass shatters as the window of the SUV explodes into crumbling bits.
Tag and Bryan are shouting at me to calm down from the back seat, but there will be no calm until Nora is safe and in my arms.
Hold on, angel. I’m coming for you.