Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
NADINE
Opening my eyes, I look around the room and wince.
I’m in an office.
No, wait, I’m in my brother’s construction office, on the floor .
And there is a biker standing above me.
He crosses his arms over his chest, tipping his bearded chin down so he can look into my face.
“What the hell are you doing in here, babe?” he demands gruffly.
Blinking a few times, I push myself up to sitting as I cross my legs.
Isn’t that an appropriate question, because seriously, What the hell am I doing here ?
Looking back up at the man, I blink a couple more times before I answer him.
“I’m not sure,” I confess.
I don’t know what’s happened.
All I remember is that I opened the door, looked inside, and that was all.
Then I wonder how long I’ve been here, because it doesn’t feel like late afternoon any longer.
It feels later.
I can’t describe it.
Maybe it’s the way the sun isn’t radiating as much heat into the room, I don’t know.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“Six thirty,” he says.
Standing up, I brush my hands down my skirt, trying to right myself, but I’m not sure what happened or what is happening.
I’m so confused, and the man standing in front of me is waiting for me to explain myself.
“Prez ain’t here,” he states.
Sliding my tongue along my bottom lip, I cross my arms beneath my chest, feeling very vulnerable as I look up at him.
“Where is Brody?”
“Ain’t here.”
Obviously, he isn’t going to tell me where my brother is.
And he’s already told me twice that he’s not here, so we will continue talking in circles if I don’t ask something else.
Maybe he doesn’t know, but whatever the case is, I don’t have the time to sit here and chat.
“Do I know you?” I ask.
“Or do you know me?”
He grunts but doesn’t speak.
His bushy gray brows furrow as he watches me for a long moment.
I try asking him where Brody is again.
“Where is Brody?” I ask again.
I’m starting to worry that this man isn’t telling me where my brother is, but at the same time, I’m standing here with at least two hours lost.
Something is very wrong.
I start to tremble, my mind spinning with worry and anxiety.
“I’m Orion,” he murmurs.
I feel his warm hands curl around mine as he holds on to them.
It’s warm and comforting, the touch calming my entire body as it flows through me.
I don’t move.
I’m frozen where I am.
My body is almost not feeling like my own.
I wish he would wrap his arms around me and hug me.
I don’t know why.
I don’t even know him.
I just feel like it would be comforting.
“Nadine,” I exhale.
He smiles, his eyes sparkling slightly as he looks down at me.
“Yeah, babe. I know.”
“Where is my brother?” I ask in a whisper.
“I don’t know,” he says, except this time, when he says it, he’s lost the gruffness, and I can hear the worry etched in his tone.
He releases his grasp on my hands and takes a step backward.
“He didn’t come back to the clubhouse tonight after the yard closed down. Normally, I wouldn’t even take notice. Not like we really keep tabs on everyone, but we were supposed to have a meeting tonight.”
“And he was supposed to be in charge of it. That’s the way they work, right?”
His lips twitch, and I watch his beard move with the action.
“Something like that,” he says with a small laugh.
“But when he didn’t show, I thought I would come here and see if he was stuck doing some paperwork.”
“I tried calling him,” I blurt out.
He hums.
“Me too.”
Taking half a step forward, I look behind me at the closed back door before I speak.
“What do you know about Landon Tate?”
His brows snap together, and I hear a growl escape his throat.
“Enough to know that he is a piece-of-shit pig.”
I mean, he’s not wrong.
Landon Tate is a piece of shit, the biggest steaming pile of shit that ever existed, and it doesn’t even have to do with the fact that he’s ATF.
He’s just generally an asshole of a human.
I’m under the impression that police officers are genuinely good people, but I know unequivocally that Landon Tate is not one of those genuinely good people.
He’s without a doubt what Orion just said, a piece-of-shit pig.
It’s the absolute best way to describe him.
“He is that,” I agree with a single nod of my head.
“He’s also after me, which means he’s after Brody.”
“You in danger?” Orion asks.
“Probably,” I confess.
“Give me your keys,” he demands.
I don’t do anything at all.
I stand in front of him, staring at him as he watches me.
I observe him.
We stare at one another for a silent moment, then he clears his throat.
“I’m driving you to the compound, where I can keep you safe.”
“I’m safe,” I whisper.
He shakes his head once.
“Are you?” he asks.
“I walked in here, and you were passed out on the floor.”
“I have no explanation for that,” I say.
He presses his lips together in a thin line.
“Until we find Prez, you’re with me,” he announces.
“You’re family, and he would have my balls if I let anything happen to you. We’ve had many discussions about you, Nadine.”
I should tell him no and drive back to my apartment.
But I don’t want to be alone, and the way he says they’ve had discussions about me, it warms my soul.
Reaching into my purse, I take out my keys and slip them into his hand.
He curls his fingers around them as he walks past me to the back door.
I follow behind him and slip into the passenger seat.
Orion grips the steering wheel but doesn’t make a motion to move.
I wait for him to shift the car into Reverse , but he doesn’t, at least not immediately.
Instead, he turns toward me.
His eyes find mine, searching before he speaks.
“We’ll find him.”
I don’t speak, mainly because I don’t know how to respond.
Orion continues.
“And we’ll protect you in the process. You’re family, babe.”
My entire body melts—again.
GRAYSON
When I arrive at the construction yard, I don’t see Nadine’s car in front, and my heart continues to beat harder and faster at the thought of something having happened to her on my watch.
What the actual fuck?
Where could she be?
Boden is standing just a few feet away from my car, his head tipped down as he looks at something on the ground.
Unfolding from the front seat, I make my way over to him, trying very hard to keep from losing my shit completely.
“Merrick said her car was here,” I announce.
Boden hums.
“It was. He’s downloading footage and sending it to me.”
“I’m ready to kill him,” I say.
Boden hums as another car pulls up.
Vaughn is the next to arrive.
His eyes are looking wildly around the area as he jogs toward us.
He does at least appear to still be half asleep, so, as much as I want to demand he give me any answers, I doubt he has a single one.
I am about one second away from losing every ounce of my shit.
It’s so bad that my body is actually shaking with the rage I’m holding inside of me.
“Where is she?” I demand, my gaze swinging from Vaughn back to Boden.
Right now, he’s the only one who can tell me anything.
“Just got a text from Merrick.”
Merrick.
That motherfucker better hope I don’t see him anytime soon.
Instead of saying anything to that effect, I walk over to Boden, who is holding his phone out.
Vaughn joins me.
“What are we looking at?” Vaughn asks.
“It’s this door,” Boden announces.
I watch as Nadine walks up to the front door, then tugs on it, but it doesn’t open.
She glances around, and I can tell she’s nervous just by her movements.
Then she begins walking around the back of the building, and the footage ends there.
“That’s about as helpful as a concrete parachute,” I say with a grunt.
“No shit. Wait, he’s sending another one.”
“If it’s not the back door or something fucking useful, I’m going back to the office,” I announce.
Vaughn and Boden stay silent, choosing not to respond to my threat.
They know better than to get between me and anyone.
Just like I would not get between them and anyone with whom they had a beef, and right now, I have one with Merrick.
“Here it is,” Boden states.
He pushes the play icon on the video, and I watch as Nadine walks up to the back door.
She tugs on the handle, and the door opens.
She doesn’t move inside immediately.
She appears to bend over slightly inside, almost as if she’s calling out to see if anyone is inside.
Then a figure moves up behind her.
I can’t tell who the hell it is.
I can’t even tell if it’s a man or a woman.
The person pushes her body into the room and then follows her inside, and I watch as her feet are dragged inside.
“What the fuck,” Vaughn hisses.
What the fuck again is absolutely the only thing that any of us can think or say.
The sound of crunching tires shifts our attention from the video, and I watch as Theron’s car swings into the parking lot.
The look on his face makes me know without a doubt that he’s just as pissed off as I am at this situation.
“Merrick is lucky he’s not standing right here,” Theron barks as he unfolds from the car and starts moving quickly toward us.
“Where is she?” he demands.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be standing here holding my dick,” I growl back.
“Merrick just sent us some footage. We’re checking it out.”
Boden restarts it from the beginning, and this time, I don’t focus my attention on Nadine.
This time, I look everywhere but at her, trying to see something, anything, a hint of who could be behind whatever the fuck happened.
I know it’s not Landon, because that dark figure is about half his size.
The four of us replay that video five times and watch in silence each and every time.
Once Nadine is dragged into the building, there is nothing else.
I don’t know where or how the figure not only appeared from thin air but also escaped without being seen.
“And there were no disturbances to the surveillance?” Theron asks.
“Merrick says there weren’t.”
And I’m supposed to trust Merrick today?
I think fucking not.
“Here’s one more. He says this is just about forty-five minutes ago.”
And the next video is of a bike pulling up and a gray-bearded guy in a Night Devils cut making his way from the parking lot to the door.
He’s inside for what feels like an hour, then he and Nadine walk out together.
The next video in the sequence shows him folding into the front seat of her car, and he drives them away.
“Let’s go visit the Night Devils compound,” I call out.
“You sure you want to go there pissed off and guns hot?” Vaughn asks.
“That’s exactly what I want to do.”
“Fuck,” Theron hisses.
“I’m driving. Get in the car.”