Chapter 35
Hawk
My phone was blowing up on the stand, but I was on the highway and laser focused with a singular mission: go get the First Ladies.
In my mirror, I saw Red, Rooster, and the crew with me, but the others hadn’t caught up. I didn’t see Petrov or Coop yet. Once we got outside of Atlanta, traffic had cleared up.
I was peeling up the highway and on alert for the Georgia State Patrol. Those boys loved to camp on the highways up further north and would pull some crazy shit to get their targets. The further away from Atlanta you got, the faster you could go, so it was easier for them.
But even if one clocked me, they’d have to follow me straight to hell because I wasn’t stopping until I could get to my woman.
I didn’t love that it was the middle of the day, but we couldn’t wait. Who knew if they were being tortured? My chest tightened at the thought. My mind wouldn’t wander to anything worse than that, but it was enough to send me into a blind rage.
As we got closer to the address, I looked in my mirror again and everyone had caught up. The airport was close but the address Keys sent took us somewhere else.
We turned off the highway onto a side road that took us a few miles down. An old gas station that looked to be an old cabin at some point was at a three-way stop. It was the ping Keys sent. Slowing, I pulled into the lot with just one other car parked up front.
There was no traffic in either direction as I parked and looked around. The front door, plastered with flyers and ads for cigarettes and chewing tobacco, flew open and Keys rushed out.
After pulling my helmet off, I hung it on the handlebar and met him halfway. “Keys, what the fuck? Why didn’t you just have us meet at the fucking Walmart and hang a fucking sign?”
“Because I couldn’t get my drone close enough from there,” he said, like it was a dumb question for all the wrong reasons.
“They’re up that road,” he said, pointing behind the gas station.
“Ronnie said there’s been more weird shit than normal recently and didn’t trust all the fancy cars coming and going. ”
“Who the fuck is Ronnie?” I asked, waving my hands.
“The clerk.” Again, Keys spoke like I should have known all of this.
“What, did you advertise what’s happening? Why didn’t you just call the fucking cops then?” I shoved my fingers into my hair as I paced and the others came over.
Keys didn’t look concerned and instead started talking. “There’s a cabin up that way. A metal building is on the property as well but I couldn’t tell if it was a holding area or just a garage. But that’s where Katya and Mama Hen are.”
“So you got your drone over there? Did you see ‘em?” I needed to know if they were alive.
Keys shook his head. “I didn’t see them.”
“Fuck!”
Petrov cut in. “How do you know where they are?”
“Because of the tracker,” Keys said, rolling his eyes. “Plus, I’ve been listening the whole time.”
My head whipped in his direction and I stomped over, gripping his leather. “Listening? So they’re alive?”
“Well, yeah. Do you think I’d be so calm if they weren’t?” He pushed his hair from his eyes. “They activated a signal and it started streaming.”
Streaming? Did he go behind my back? “How? Did you give her something?” I shook him by the cut. “The only tracker she has is on her phone. How can that stream to you?”
Keys glared at me. “I wouldn’t do that, and you know it. I think it’s your mom’s.”
I pushed him just out of reach, but he didn’t move further away. “Okay, why? And what is it?”
“When I first started as tech, Raven asked me to fashion something for Mama Hen. I thought they’d forgotten it or something because I never saw her wear it.”
“What was it?” Eagle asked.
“Just a necklace. But the pendant has a bug hidden on it. And it’s activated with a click of a rhinestone.”
I rubbed at my chin. “Is it a motorcycle?”
Keys nodded. “Yeah. With a black rhinestone.”
I’d only seen her wear that maybe twice. Ma wasn’t one for jewelry.
“I think it was a test to see how good I was,” Keys said.
“It’s not worth much, money wise. But we tested it together and he told me to keep it to myself.
Never thought twice about it until a signal came over.
It took me a few minutes to figure out from where.
Once I did, I opened the line, and sure enough, they were talking. ”
“When’s the last you heard?” Falcon asked, then said, “We checked at the clubhouse. The other Old Ladies are all accounted for.”
“What about Klara?” Petrov asked.
Keys said, “They were all safe at home when I left. And they were talking as you pulled in.”
Walking toward the sidewalk, I pulled out a smoke and lit it up. “How the fuck did they get past the front?”
“I think Katya snuck out with Mama Hen. It was her normal store run day so nobody thought twice.”
“Okay,” I said, blowing out smoke. “What’re we looking at over there? How many people?”
Keys said, “At last check, two SUVs, at least four men and Jeannie. But there were three other SUVs that took off a little while ago. I think to the airport. No telling when they’ll return.”
“They got Jeannie, too?” Red asked, his brows furrowed.
Keys shook his head. “Not exactly.”
Blowing a plume of smoke with a scowl settling in, I asked, “What the fuck does that mean? Why would Jeannie be with them after the shit she pulled?”
Keys looked down at his feet before lifting his head but looking everywhere but at me. “I’m pretty sure she has something to do with all of this. I’m sorry, Hawk. I should’ve figured this out a long time ago.”
My brows pinched. “Jeannie? Stripper Jeannie? I don’t understand.” I couldn’t even be mad. I was confused as fuck. I started replaying every interaction with her leading up to now and none of it made sense. “You’re wrong.”
Keys shook his head. “Admittedly, I don’t know how she ties into the Martinelli crew.
But listening to their conversation, she’s definitely in on it.
I think Katya cracked it because she seems to know who she is.
But the only possible clue I got was that she called her Gianna instead of Jeannie.
I tried a quick lookup but I was managing the drone and trying to listen and I–”
I grabbed his cut, inches from his face. “Look at me, Keys.” I waited for his pained eyes to look up. “This isn’t your fault. But we gotta get it together to go get them. We’ll work out the rest later. Show me the feed so I know what we’re working with.”