Chapter 39
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Jack
It took half the night to track Buck down. Nick sent me all the information he had on Randle White. For a while there, I thought I was going to be stuck in Chattanooga for a few days. Oddly enough, the same universe trying to kill me threw me a bone. Well, maybe two universes collided, and this is what fell out. Either way, it’s turning out to be a good night. Morning? It’s getting close to three am. That’s definitely morning.
The Midnight Mavericks have gotten sloppy lately. What club declares war on another club and then lets its members roam around unprotected? Maybe after, what is it now? Four or five days? I shrug to absolutely nobody. Well, unless you count Buck. He’s unconscious at the moment. So yeah, it’s nobody.
The moron at my feet decided he was going to get a drink at a bar down the street from his house, all by his lonesome. Thanks, universe . I tap Buck’s cheek. He doesn’t wake. You know who else won’t wake up? My ole’ lady. She can’t. Her body won’t let her. She’s trapped in a void somewhere, trying to heal because somebody came for me and missed their target.
I’m not a betting man, but I’d bet my left kidney that the unconscious man on the ground was part of it. Oh, I doubt he was one of the crew who shot up my house. This man is on camera helping a lowlife piece of dung try to kidnap my woman. He gets no sympathy from me.
The video of Joel Clark hitting Lily in the face plays on repeat in my head tonight. Seeing this man trying to communicate with Clark through the window pisses me off. I kick him in the side. Buck grunts. Oh, good. He’s waking up. Sadly, he doesn’t. This is taking too long. I need to get out of here. I grab two bottles of water from the van and twist the tops off.
“Wakey. Wakey.” I nudge Buck with my foot again and pour the water over his face.
Buck coughs and rolls to his side. His body jerks and his legs kick out when he realizes his hands are tied behind his back. He looks like a fish out of water.
“Ah. We can’t have that now. Can we? Let me help you up.” It’s not help. Trust me, it’s not. I grab Buck’s arm and pull him to his feet. I prefer a man on his feet when I face him.
“McLeod?” Buck frantically turns his head in every direction.
He won’t find help. We’re in a small field surrounded by forest on three sides and a small hill on the other. You can’t really call it a mountain. City folk might. We’re about fifty miles west of Chattanooga. I have no clue exactly where. I saw the dirt road going into the forest and decided to take it. The universe threw me another bone. This spot’s perfect.
“What are you doing?” Buck asks.
“You’ve been a bad boy, Buck. You shot up my house and shot my ole’ lady in the back.”
“I did nothing.”
I’m not convinced.
“You may not have done it yourself. You didn’t step foot on Viking property. You didn’t pull the trigger once, but you did send them.”
He stares at me but doesn’t speak. Good. We’ve come to an understanding. He doesn’t deny it, so it’s close enough to admitting it.
“You did, however, personally help Joel Clark try to kidnap my woman.”
He sucks in a sharp breath through his nose.
“We have you on camera behind the library in Willow Creek. You don’t belong in Willow Creek.”
His eyes drop but don’t close. He knows he links his club to crimes against mine if he says anything.
I grab him by his cut and jerk him forward hard. “Why? What does Trace Coombs want from me?”
“For you to die.” Buck laughs like a maniac.
Well. Well. Well. He just linked the Mavericks.
Buck’s eyes widen, and so do mine, when a knife lands in the side of his neck. We’re not alone in this field. Buck gets one gasp for air. It’s over. I release his cut, dropping his body to the ground.
I don’t run. I don’t pull a weapon to defend myself. There’s no need. I know that knife.
“Blade!”
I whirl around as my psycho cousin walks out of the forest. Rodeo, Bankz, and Hendrix follow him out. Those are supposed to be waiting for me a mile down the road at an abandoned country store.
“What are you doing? I was questioning him.”
“You didn’t come here to play around and ask questions. You don’t need ‘em. We have this man dead to rights on camera working with Clark. You came here for revenge. You know as well as the rest of us. You serve that hard, cold, and fast.”
“You’re supposed to be at the hospital,” I snap.
“Which is where you need to be heading.” Jay bends down, pulls the knife from Buck’s neck, and wipes it on the man’s shirt. He stands and shoves the knife into my hand. “Now, when we find the next one involved with hurting your ole’ lady, don’t talk. Use that.”
“Head on to the hospital. We’ll handle this,” Bankz says.
“Is she awake?” I ask Jay.
“No, but you’re needed. You and Rodeo take the van and go. My truck’s at the end of the road. We got this.”
“Why, Jay? Why am I needed? Don’t keep something from me.” I understand why they didn’t tell me about Sandman and me being the target. But this is Lily.
“Flowers were delivered today.” Jay’s word drives a knife in my heart. “Don’t worry. She’s well-guarded.”
I don’t ask any more questions. I don’t waste time. Rodeo and I jump into the van and rush back to Willow Creek.