Chapter 22 Let the world burn
LET THE WORLD BURN
PIERCE
The last place I want to be right now is walking into church, but Pres called, and I can’t really say no after he gave Silas and me permission to go after the thorn in my side.
We just haven’t had the opportunity to put our plan in motion yet. The man is constantly out of town or in meetings with officials. The rare occasion he’s out of the office, his wife’s alongside him or his mistress, if what Silas reported back was actually what it looked like.
The solid wood doors hang open, revealing an almost empty table. I thought the call went out to the entire brotherhood, but it looks like it’s just the three of us and Chopper.
“What was so urgent that I had to race over here? I was at the doctor with Lexi.”
Silas immediately pops up, eyes wild with worry.
“Calm down, it was just a standard appointment.”
I want to blurt out the news. Scream it from the top of my lungs, “I’m going to be a girl dad!” but Lexi might castrate me if she doesn’t get to share the news with her family first.
Pulling out one of the many open chairs, I kick back and nod to Vik. “So, Pres, what are we doing here?”
“Chopper came to me with some news that I thought might interest you two.”
Vik nods to Chopper, opening the floor for him to speak.
“I had a meeting with one of the contacts we use to keep an ear to the ground about what’s happening in town. He’s chatty when he gets nervous.”
“Which is every time he’s around us,” Vik mutters.
“Exactly, he let slip the Mayor’s been squirrely lately. Taking meetings with people he’s never seen in the office. Hiring beefed-up security. Which is why I know all this. He asked me what we were doing working for him. When I mentioned this to Pres, he said you’d want to know.”
“He’s getting nervous,” I finally add to the conversation. “His spies keep disappearing, but he can’t quite figure it out, or else we’d have already had a visit from him.”
“And that’s exactly what I told you two couldn’t happen,” Pres barks. “So, tell me what you two have planned.”
Before I can lay it out for him, a hard knock steals all of our focus.
“Hey, boys.”
“Harlow,” Si growls.
Her interrupting a closed meeting is something that could land him in some deep shit. The club’s been lenient with her after what she did to help us bring retribution to the man who ripped the club apart, but I can tell by the look on Vik’s face that his patience with her is wearing thin.
“Hush,” she chides, rolling her eyes at her husband and looking to the head of the table where she knows the real power lies. “I’m not trying to interrupt what I’m sure is riveting MC business, but I need to speak to Pierce. Can I borrow him for two seconds?”
Pres shakes his head, but gives me the go-ahead to step out.
Immediately, my back is up. She wouldn’t have taken on Silas in the middle of church without good reason, regardless of what they all might think in there. We step out into the open space that’s usually overcrowded, foggy with smoke, and disorderly, but it’s quiet at this time of day.
“Have you heard from Lexi?”
Anxiety spikes through my veins, leaving panic in its wake. “I left her at home about an hour ago. Why?”
“Because she called and I missed it. It went to voicemail, but it wasn’t clear like she’d left me a butt dial.
I had to listen to it three times before I could make heads or tails of it.
I heard a bunch of distorted voices. It could be nothing—the TV playing in the background—but usually she answers when I call back.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but I figured I’d run over and check on our girl.
I just thought I’d ask you about it first.”
The room darkens and narrows. The more she shares, the more my blood pounds dramatically in my ears—incapacitating my senses.
“Pierce! Did you hear what I said?” Harlow yells, finally breaking through to me.
“I have to go.” I shove past her, not giving two shits about the meeting I’m supposed to go right back to. She’ll tell the guys, and if I know her and Silas, they’ll be on my ass anyway.
The bike roars to life beneath me. A beast of steel and thunder, as I twist the throttle back until the pipes scream through the sky.
Gravel kicks free, blowing dust up, blocking out the parking lot behind me.
Shooting onto the road, my tires grip just enough to keep me upright.
The wind tears at my skin, stinging my eyes and filling my lungs with the sharp taste of panic.
Every mile between us stretches like a never-ending nightmare. My heart rate hasn’t calmed; if anything, it pounds louder than the engine rumbling beneath me. Louder than the terrible thoughts that won’t stop racing through my mind.
Something’s wrong. Lexi’s in trouble, and she didn’t send me an alert. If I’m too late and I lose her, lose the baby, I’ll burn the fucking world down. I thought losing Branson was the worst thing to happen in my life. But losing her would end it.
The words beat against my skull with each passing second.
Streetlights blur into streaks of green or maybe they’re red, it doesn’t matter.
I’m not stopping for anything. Roadside shadows snap past so fast they hardly hold shape.
Every car in my lane is a threat, stealing more time than I can afford to lose.
I lean hard into the last curve, the back wheel skidding just a breath before catching again, the danger feeding into my desperation to reach her.
Lexi’s voice filters through my head—angry, laughing, sinful, telling me about the way the baby kept her up with heartburn. And now, something’s happened. I know it deep in my gut. She would have used the tracker if she could; the bracelet was around her wrist when I left her.
My stomach flips, cold dread washing over the murderous rage. If she can’t use her hands…
The house comes into view. Our usually quiet street crackles with the roar of my engine. I’m off the bike, not bothering to pull my keys from the ignition or stand it upright, before my feet take off for the front door.
Unholstering my pistol, one I rarely have to use, but am intimately familiar with, I pull the lever on the front door. It’s unlocked, something Lexi never does when she’s home. I squeeze my eyes shut, drawing in a steadying breath before pushing it open slowly.
The sucker punch comes from my right, sending me crashing into the wall as I reestablish my surroundings.
I keep a grip on my gun, throwing my elbow back with full force into a bone that crunches under my assault.
It’s enough to distract whoever’s got a death wish to get a shot off into his leg and keep him down on the entryway floor.
I rush further into the house, gun drawn, and stop short when I see her. My entire world turns on its axis, throwing off my center of gravity. She’s tied to a chair, gag forced haphazardly in her mouth, a black eye blooming on her beautiful face.
Her skin is bright pink and tear-stained, blood runs from a cut in her lip, and if it weren’t for the man currently standing behind her with a knife to her throat, I’d be at her side in a millisecond.
“I’d say this is unexpected, but my men have seen you everywhere lately,” the smarmy voice states, and my eyes fly from Lexi’s to the man sitting across from her.
He’s at ease, relaxed back in the chair, as if he’s here for tea while the mother of my child is in mortal danger.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
“Here, come take a seat.” He waves to the open couch pushed off to the side. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her.” He shifts his attention back to Lexi before adding, “It doesn’t have to be like this. Just tell me where you hid the files and I’ll be on my way.”
Files? So, this isn’t about Evan?
A loud crash comes from the back of the house, and my head snaps that way.
Maybe Silas and Harlow finally made it, noticed my bike tipped in the front yard, and are coming in through the back.
But I didn’t hear their bikes approach. It doesn’t mean they didn’t; I’ve just been a little distracted with more important things since I arrived. Yet, no one comes down the hall.
The man of the hour. The one I knew we should have made a move on as soon as that two-cent PI told us he was after her, quirks an eyebrow at me.
“Don’t mind my men. They’re just doing… a little redecorating.”
I put my gun away, throwing my hands up, before taking slow and steady steps toward Lexi.
No one stops me when I squat down in front of her and pull the gag from her mouth.
The knife still hovers against the delicate columns of her throat.
The sinister look I throw over her shoulder doesn’t spook the guy in the least. If anything, it pulls an even more smug smile to his lips.
“Baby, shh,” I coo, reaching up to wipe away her speedy tears, while avoiding the bruises against her pale skin. “I’m here, everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”
“I wouldn’t go making promises you can’t keep, boy.”
Clenching my free hand to keep myself from doing something rash that could harm Lexi in any way, I stand and steel my spine.
“Tell me what files he’s talking about, Lex.”