Chapter 30
Ryder
The entire house smells of mold, dust, and something dead. Some rats must have starved to death in this place.
With my gun securely nestled in my palm, I make my way through the house with Maddox by my side. It’s completely quiet, a little too quiet, and it was suspiciously easy to get in here.
I glance over at Maddox, and without saying a word, I know he is having the same thoughts, which only intensifies the bad feeling in my gut. Something is off, and I don’t like it.
“I don’t think he is here,” Maddox says when we clear the second floor, anger lacing his voice.
“Who told you he was?”
“Buck. He said he was sure too,” Maddox growls. My anger multiplies. Buck and Tucker are pretty close. “I didn’t think he would betray us.”
“I know.” I nod, and I really do. I believe Maddox, and I didn’t think Buck would have betrayed us either. Not knowing what that would mean. Buck just signed his death certificate.
“The question is, why did he send us here?”
“Let’s get out of here before this place blows up,” I half-joke. Why else would he lead us here? Just to show that he can fuck with us? I wouldn’t put either past him.
Not wasting any time, we move out quickly and get back to the car.
“Fuck,” Maddox punches the steering wheel. “Fucking prick.”
“Let’s go back to your place and figure something out from there.” I try to calm him down while there is a storm raging inside of me as well. “We’ll get him.”
Just as Maddox cranks the car, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I get it out and look at the screen.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?” I growl. “It’s him.”
I answer the video call, my thumb swiping over the screen so hard it might crack. The video comes on, and I freeze. My heart stops, and terror settles deep in my bones.
“Hello, old friend,” Tucker greets, looking amused with himself.
He has the camera angled from above him.
He is sitting on the floor, and behind him is Penny.
She is lying on her side, her hands and feet tied together, leaving her even more helpless than she already is.
The side of her face is swollen, and her eyes are red from crying.
“You’re a dead man,” I grit through my teeth, just as Penny raises her gaze to the phone. The moment our eyes meet through the screen, my chest aches. There is a distinct pain that only she could ever make me feel. It’s a mixture of longing, sadness, and lost hope.
Knowing that I never told her the truth is eating me up inside. I should have told her I forgave her. She doesn’t have to carry that guilt any longer. I should have told her she was safe here instead of toying with her. I should have done a lot of things, but it’s all too little, too late now.
“Am I? I feel like I’ve got a lot of leverage here, and I’m not just talking about your little sex slave here. See, there are some guys in the club who are sticking by my side. They are tired of your bullshit, Ryder, putting some slut before your brothers.”
“You’re lying,” Maddox growls.
“How do you think I got Buck to send you to that house? Are you really that stupid that you can’t see when your men are turning against you?”
“What do you want, Tucker?” I ask him.
“I want you to leave the club. I’m taking your spot. The guys are okay with Maddox being president, but they want you gone.”
“You know there is only one way out of the club,” Maddox answers.
“I guess death for you it is.” Tucker shrugs. “Look, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. Maddox can kill you now where you stand. Quick and easy. I’ll even untie your pet and let her go. Then everything goes back to normal… well, almost. I’ll be VP.”
“Fuck you,” Maddox roars, trying to snatch the phone from me.
“Let her go first. Untie her. I want to see her walk away, then I’ll do it.”
“You think I’m stupid? No deal. Do it now, or I’ll take my frustration out on her.”
Maddox lunges for me, and this time he is able to grab the phone from my hand. “No!” I yell, but he’s already disconnected the call. My mind goes blank, and I throw punches. “You fucking asshole!”
“Calm down!” Maddox yells back at me, his fist connecting with my ribs. “Listen to me.”
I don’t. I keep hitting him as hard as I can, not caring what the fuck he has to say.
“I know where he is!”
My fist freezes in midair. “What?”
“I know where he is,” Maddox repeats. “I recognize the fucking wallpaper.”
The fucking wallpaper?
I look at him dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you lead with that? Where the fuck are they?”
“Tucker’s old man used to have a convenience store on the corner of Main and Bristol Street. It went bankrupt years ago. I used to joke it was probably the ugly ass wallpaper.”
“Shit, that’s an hour away from here… but only ten minutes from the club. Call the guys, Maddox.” I stare my friend down, urging him to pick up the fucking phone.
“Ryder…” There is a tone in his voice I haven’t heard in so many years, I can’t recall the last time it was.
Uncertainty. Maddox, the president of the MC, who is always so sure of himself, hesitates.
“What if Tucker was telling the truth? If there are guys against you, this will only make it worse.”
“He is fucking lying, and you know it. Maybe Buck is in on it, but that’s it. No one else would go against us.”
Maddox contemplates my words for another moment before unlocking his phone. “If I do this. If I involve the club to rescue your girl, then I need you to promise me something.”
“Promise you what?” I’m almost scared to ask.
“That this will be over after. You send her away, and that’s the very last time I see and hear about her.”
“Deal,” I say without thinking. We don’t have time for a fucking discussion. I’d agree to anything right now, no matter how much I don’t want to do it.
Maddox calls the club as we are speeding down the road. He puts the phone on speaker and explains what’s happened.
“Maddox, I swear Tucker was lying.” Trick’s voice comes through the car’s speaker. “None of us would go against you or Ryder. That fucker is trying to play you. We got your back all the way.”
I look over at Maddox, who is nodding and giving me the look that says, you’re lucky.
“Yeah, Prez,” Bear comes onto the line. “We didn’t know, and none of us would have been okay with this shit. Tucker is a dead man.”
“Buck is here now; what do you want us to do with him?” Trick asks.
“Put his ass in the cell, and I need at least five guys to this location,” he tells him the address and gives him all the detail they need. “Get Tucker, but don’t kill him yet. We’ll do that slowly later… and don’t hurt the girl. Just keep her there until we get there. We’re on our way now.”
“Done and done,” Trick’s deep voice agrees through the speaker before the line goes dead.
Sighing in relief, I say, “I told you–”
“Shut up and tell me you understand what I’m asking you to do?” Maddox interrupts.
“Cut her loose. I got it.” I huff, annoyance lacing my voice. “It was my fucking plan all along.”
“Sure it was,” Maddox quips.
It was my plan; I just never knew if I could go through with it.
Now, I don’t have a choice.