Tex’s Angel (Savage Legion MC #11)

Chapter 25

Tex

I come skidding into the parking lot on my bike at top speed only to realize I’m too late. My kickstand is barely down before I jump off and race the last couple of feet to her vehicle. The passenger side window is smashed, and it looks like someone might have popped the lock on her door manually, then opened her door and pulled her from the car.

I look around and thankfully find no blood, but her cell phone is on the floor. I curse under my breath because her not having her phone on her is gonna make tracking her impossible. Finding her is gonna take good old fashioned detective work. Thank God I’ve been a cop for most of my life.

Rigs pulls in within seconds and is at my side immediately. “What’s going on?”

“Clara’s gone. Abducted.”

He steps forward.

I push him back. “Don’t touch anything. I’m calling this in so the crime lab can go over every square inch with a fine-tooth comb.”

“Right. That’s a smart move. While you’re calling the police, I’m going to call Siege and bring him up to speed.”

“Fine. Tell him to stay away and keep the brothers from swarming the place. If they show up it’ll just get law enforcement thinking they had something to do with her abduction. I want them to run a clean case, so the forensic evidence comes back faster.”

“I’ll tell him. Once we sic the police on this crime scene, Siege will want us back at the clubhouse so we can get started on our own investigation.”

I nod because the dispatcher just picked up my call. “I want to report an abduction. A teacher by the name of Clara Collins was abducted at Las Salinas High School in the last fifteen to twenty minutes.”

The officer on the other end asks, “Wyatt Jones, is that you?”

“Yeah. Who’s this?”

“Officer Blake. I thought I recognized your voice. I just sent word for everyone to scramble. You’re on a recorded line. Tell me what you know.”

“Las Salinas PD already knows she’s had someone stalking her for the last month or so. They’ve been setting off her car alarm in the middle of the night.”

He interrupts me to ask, “What makes you think this is linked? That sounds like kids to me.”

“Someone broke into her house and spray painted insults on her walls, calling her a bitch. Check the case records, a couple of CSI guys dropped by to take prints. I don’t know if y’all got anything back?”

“Is she?”

“Is she what?” I ask, confused.

“A bitch,” the cop says.

“No. Of course not! She’s the sweetest woman I know. But even if she was mean as a mama wasp, she’s still gone missing. Anyway, today was her first day back to school. I thought she would be okay with so many people around, but she stayed late. The stalker must have been waiting for her because when she came out her tires were slashed. I told her to sit tight, and I’d be there right away. I swear to God, I was here in twelve minutes flat, and someone had smashed her passenger window, got her door unlocked and dragged her away. I could tell because there was glass everywhere and the driver’s side door was standing wide open.”

“Pretty speedy response for you to just be neighbors,” he responds almost accusingly.

“We’re dating, if that’s what y’all are hinting at.”

“Just trying to get everything I can on record, Tex.”

The problem is, I don’t have endless hours to play twenty questions with Las Salinas’ finest. Therefore, I tell it to him straight, “There’s more than enough evidence on record of her having a stalker for whoever that is to be considered the prime suspect.”

“You know they’re gonna want to clear you, Tex.”

“I know. This ain’t my first rodeo. I have multiple eyewitnesses that put me at her house painting over the graffiti when she was abducted. I can give y’all plenty of evidence that I had nothing to do with it, but all this talkin’ is just wastin’ time that could be spent findin’ my woman.”

His attitude isn’t helping, I know he needs to get the background, but they need patrol cars out looking. Once someone goes missing, time is of the essence. The longer they’re gone, the greater chance they’ll wind up dead. While we’re finishing up the conversation, I hear sirens approaching. Three patrol cars come flying into the parking lot and my former colleagues come pouring out of the vehicles. The officer who responded to the break in at her house is leading the pack.

I step out to greet him. “Howdy, Officer Ryan. Thanks for coming out so quickly.”

“I remembered Mrs. Collins from when she had that break-in a couple of weeks ago. Do you think this is related?”

“Yeah, I’ve been moving heaven and earth to try to find out who’s doing this and what they want. Unfortunately, I keep on coming up empty handed.”

“Who have you eliminated?”

“She’s in the process of divorcing her husband for cheating with her sister. It’ll be final in a month or two. I ruled out the sister and the sister’s husband. Clara doesn’t believe her ex is responsible for the stalking but even though he’s the laziest asshole I’ve ever seen, I still like him for all this shit. And she made a couple of CPS reports where the kids were taken into state custody. I was looking into whether one of the parents might have an axe to grind over that, but so far nothing has panned out.”

“I had our captain put out an APB and we have every squad car we can spare out looking for her, using this school as ground zero.”

I take a few minutes to let him inspect the vehicle while I reiterate to him everything I already told the dispatcher. I’m not quite so impatient now as I know the cops are onto it. Afterwards, I ask, “Do y’all need me to come down to the station and sign a written statement?”

Officer Ryan takes a step closer to me and taps his body cam with two fingers a couple of times before switching it off. Lowering his voice, he says, “Look Tex, I know you didn’t have anything to do with this abduction. None of us know exactly what freaked the higher ups out about you being with the Legion but those of us who have been on the job for a few years know they’re not a one percent club. If it wasn’t for the Legion, Chief Popelstone would still be in charge. Maybe they’re ashamed that they missed it, and it was your MC who saved the damn town? Anyway, I’m not going to force you to come in at this very moment but once I write up my initial report, I will need you to come down and sign off on the statement you just gave to me. And I hope you have enough trust in us to communicate any relevant information you discover about this case. We all want the same thing and that’s for Mrs. Collins to make it home safe and sound.”

Relief surges through my chest, it really means a lot to know that not all my former colleagues think I’m lower than low for being a member of an MC. “Yes, of course I’ll report anything I find. I trust the LSPD to do everything within their power to solve this case.”

“This is a small town, we look after our own. We’re gonna get her back.” His hand comes up to switch back on his body cam. Like last time, he hit it a few times, as though it’s malfunctioning. This man is smart.

“Well, that’s all I know Officer. I guess I’ll leave you to investigate,” I say.

“We still have to formerly rule you out of the investigation,” he says, more for whoever watches his body cam footage than for me. “We have your contact information on record, and I don’t want you leaving town until the investigation is completed.”

“Yes, sir. I understand completely. Rest assured if y’all call me, I’ll come in right away.”

We say our goodbyes and part ways. I get on my bike and head to the clubhouse to meet with my club brothers. I want to be riding the streets looking for Clara, but without any leads I know I’d be going around in circles. Rigs already left as soon as the cops pulled up, no doubt to try and distance the investigation from the Legion as much as possible.

As I ride to the clubhouse my heart is hammering in my chest because I’m terrified that we might not find her in time. Images of her smiling at me, how she felt in my arms all drift thorough my mind. Clara is a fantastic human being and doesn’t deserve even a little bit of what’s happening to her.

When I approach, Evan and Levi are at the gate. Levi is looking all kinds of worried. I slow down long enough to talk to him. “I guess you heard what happened to Clara?”

“Yeah, I did. How the hell did that happen? I thought we were protecting her.”

“We thought she’d be safe at school with so many people around. She stayed late and that stalker was outside waiting for her.”

When I see the signs that my son is about to panic, I tell him in no uncertain terms, “You’re a junior prospect for the Savage Legion now, Levi. You’ve got to hold it together while we work as a group to find her. Can y’all do that for me?”

He stuffs his hands into his pockets and get a stubborn look on his face. “Yeah, I can do that. Just promise we’re gonna find her.”

“Son we’re gonna find her alright. And when we do, whoever abducted her is gonna spend the rest of his fucking life behind bars.” Yeah, that last part was a bald face lie. I don’t like lying to my boy. Unfortunately, I can’t really tell a fourteen year old that once I get a hold of that asshole, he’s gonna wish he’d never been born.

I park up, and the moment I walk through the door Wade is all over me. “What the fuck happened? I thought you had this under control. You were supposed to be with her?”

Reaching out, I grab his shoulder. “Trust me, man, I feel exactly the same way you do. I thought she’d be safe at that school with hundreds of people around. You know how stubborn headed she can be. It was her first day back, I thought she’d just finish work on time and head back to the clubhouse.”

“So, what’s the plan?” he asks.

“The cops are on the streets looking for suspicious activity. Hopefully, they’re gonna be looking through the school’s CCTV footage and see if they can get eyes on the vehicle. We’ve eliminated you, Clara’s sister, and the father of one of the kids she made a report on. As well as the parents of the other kid, I’m planning to pay another little visit to that ex-husband of hers. It’s a little too suspicious that she’s gone missing when their divorce is almost finalized.”

“No. You had your shot at Chris. Now, his fucking ass is mine,” Wade says.

“You sure you can handle him?”

“Not only him but I’m gonna interrogate my soon to be ex-wife and Clara’s parents as well, see if Clara ever had any trouble in the past. If there’s anyone else we need to be looking at, I’m gonna sniff him the fuck out.”

“Alright. Take a couple of prospects. Y’all never know what a man like Chris is gonna pull out of his hat.”

“Roger that, Tex. Good luck dealing with that last suspect.”

We go our separate ways, each clearly in mind what we’re gonna do. When I walk into the back of the Savage Legion clubhouse, where our huge meeting room is located, I see a multitude of men. Some are gearing up like we’re heading into war. Zen has several brothers all lined up along one table on laptops looking through CCTV footage. I know Las Salinas PD were gonna do that, but I feel much better knowing that Zen is onto it. The other club officers were all in Siege’s office making plans.

Siege startles when he sees me walk into the room. “We thought they’d taken you to the cop shop for interrogation.”

Smoke chimes in, “I was just about to go down there and threaten them into letting you go.”

“No need, brother. I know how to handle my own. The officer in charge is very clear that Clara was abducted by her stalker and her stalker is not me. I’m free as a bird. Where are we on finding the other parents she made the CPS report against? What was her name, Anabel Miller?”

Siege picks up a piece of paper from his desk. “Yeah, that was her name. Zen got us basic contact information for the parents Andrea Miller-Richards and Herman Miller. He didn’t go far, just over the county line in Marlon County, near his family. We think the father is working at a building supply company, but the mother hasn’t popped positive for employment in the state of California.”

“I want to head on out and talk to this man myself.”

Rider jumps up from his seat, as does Rigs. Siege frowns, “I guess you have two takers. I’d like to come along for the ride, but I need to stay here and coordinate the search.”

“Two will be enough,” I say while looking over the sheet Siege handed me. “Looks like he’s only a civilian with no prior military experience.”

Rigs speaks up, “I was hoping you would want to pay him a little visit.”

“Y’all better fucking believe I am not going to rest until Clara is safe, sound, and back in my bed.”

“We assumed as much,” Siege responds grimly. “The clock is ticking. We have brothers gearing up to hunt for her in this area. Since we don’t know for sure it’s Miller, I hate to pull them off assignment.”

“Don’t,” I tell him. “We’ve got this.” Refusing to spend more time talking, I head to the armory and gear up. Truth be told, I’m prepared to kill and to die to save Clara. Nothing and nobody had better get in my way. I swear to God, if he puts one mark on her body, I’m gonna make him wish he had never been born.

Within ten minutes, the three of us are on the road, our GPS pointing the way directly to Herman Miller’s house. If he’s not there, we’ll go to his place of employment and ride down to each of his relative’s houses. After reading the short synopsis Siege gave me of Herman’s life, his employment experiences, criminal history, and a vivid description of the abuse his little daughter suffered at his hands, I’m in a mood to deal out some good old fashioned justice tonight. If I come to find out he’s the one who took Clara, he ain’t gonna survive my wrath.

I roll around all the possibilities in my mind as my tires eat up the road between Las Salinas and the backwoods of Marlon County. As a former cop, I’m supposed to be a big fan of law and order, not vigilante justice. Unfortunately, official justice is thin on the ground here in this remote part of California. That means I have to do what I have to do in order to ensure this fucker doesn’t get away and circle back around to steal her away another day.