Chapter 42
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Jack
Don’t take a helicopter ride across the country. Just don’t. Trust me. Choppy was putting it mildly. However, our plans didn’t allow for a nice, sweet commercial flight. Flying coach is better than this.
Dobson’s connections at our little county airstrip and all the private ones along the way were exactly what we needed to get into California quietly. Drew was waiting for us at a small airstrip outside the city. We could be in the desert for all I know. We rode for over an hour. Drew didn’t take us to his clubhouse. We’re hiding out in one of the safe houses his charter brings angels to when they have a layover in LA.
Rodeo, Jay, Hendrix, and Bankz are with me. My brothers and I slept for about four hours this afternoon so we would be rested for tonight’s hunt. It’s hard to sleep when you’re on a mission.
This one is going to be tricky. We’re in a city with cameras everywhere. The moment LA rose in the distance, I knew this wasn’t my territory. I understand why Dad said to listen to Drew. He has some off requests and instructions. If we want to get out of here, we have to follow them to the letter.
“You do this a lot?” Rodeo asks. Drew just stares at him. “Hunt men through the city, I mean.”
“Not really.” Drew hands us a pair of black gloves. “We have roughed up a few abusers. My job mainly consists of transporting angels in and out.” His eyes meet mine. “I hear you claimed one I carried out.”
“Yeah,” I admit. “Nina brought her to you.”
“We’ll talk about that later.” Drew takes up to an underground garage and flips the light on.
Hendrix whistles when he sees all the bikes lined up on one side. Cars, vans, and trucks are on the other. Wow. Drew’s charter stocked a fleet of vehicles down here. He leads us over to the row of bikes. They’re a mix of Harleys and crotch rockets.
“You know how you wanna handle this?” Drew asks me.
“Not like the last one.” Jay walks over to one of the Harleys.
He’s right. The last one was messy enough in the country. There’s no way we could pull anything close to that here.
“I don’t care how we do it. I just don’t want him coming after Lily again.” The last flower delivery is proof he won’t stop until he kills her.
We had to use Lily’s real name at the hospital. We should have gotten her a fake ID weeks ago. Once again, it’s where I failed her. We didn’t have her social security number. Somehow, the hospital found it in their system, maybe because she was a nurse. Nick thinks Clark’s dad had Lily’s name and social security number flagged, and that’s how he knew she was in the hospital. Or the Mavericks could have told him since they were helping him.
“Leave it to me.” Drew walks over to the first crotch rocket and takes the license plate off. “Leave the Harleys. Pick another ride.”
Jay looks heartbroken. The way Bankz’s eyes dance as he walks around a Ducati, he may ask it to marry him. After removing all the plates, we suit up head to toe in black. It’s fine with Jay and me. It’s what we wear nearly every day. It’s weird turning our cuts inside out and wearing a plain black jacket over them, but we do it.
“All right, brothers. Joel Clark is a cocky douche who thinks nobody can touch him because his old man’s a cop. His dad is a dirty cop, so that’s close to being true. We can’t get near him at his job or his house.
“Every Thursday night, Mr. Clark meets his friends at a bar for dinner and drinks. He leaves between eleven and one. We’ll be waiting for him at the back of the parking lot. He doesn’t like parking near the front. We’ll have some fun with him first and wait for him to run. There are no mics in these helmets, so follow my lead.” Drew starts up his bike and leads us out of the garage.
He's got some great intel on Clark. His plan concerns me. What does fun mean to him exactly? And why do we want Clark to run? This is going to be a disaster.
The ride through the city streets is a nightmare. Give me a country road and let go. Thankfully, we turn off the main streets and move to smaller neighborhoods. It’s still too much traffic for me.
Sure enough, we find Joel Clark at a local bar with his friends. We watch and wait for an hour and a half. Most of his friends have left. Clark shows no sign of leaving any time soon.
“You sure about this?” I ask around 12:45 am.
“Just wait. He sets an alarm on his phone to ensure he leaves on time. After all, he has a big boy job and has to get to work in the morning. If this were Friday or Saturday night, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Uh, Drew.” Rodeo turns his back to the building and points to his chest with his thumb. He’s signaling at something behind him. I see nothing out of place. “There’s a camera across from us.”
I drop my head. As long as we’ve been waiting on the edge of the back parking lot, someone somewhere knows we’re here. I’m surprised the cops haven’t shown up already.
“That particular camera malfunctioned early this evening. The replacement won’t be delivered until Monday.” Drew grins.
As Drew predicted, at 12:50, Clark pulls out his phone for a moment. That must be the alarm. He says goodbye to the two friends still inside and walks to his car. It was so nice of him to park in the furthest row from the building, away from most of the cars. Guess he doesn’t want anyone to scratch up his paint with their doors. It’s happened three times since we’ve been here.
“Remember, hard, cold, and fast,” Jay whispers.
“Here. You’ll need this.” Drew shoves something in my hand.
I glance down and freeze. “Why do I need this?” I don’t even want to touch it.
“Trust me.” Drew dips his chin and steps back.
Just as Clark gets his door unlocked, I grab him and slam his back against the side of his car. His eyes almost pop out of their sockets when he looks up at the dark figure looming over him.
“Joel Clark,” I growl low and deep.
“Wh… What do you want?”
“I want you to pay for your crimes.”
He bravely lifts his chin. “My father’s a cop.”
“Not a problem.”
Fear flashes in his eyes. He just lost his biggest bargaining chip.
“I can pay you…what ever you want. Name your price.”
Of course, this douche resorts to money. Money isn’t a factor for me. It never will be.
A long whistle comes from behind me. Okay, Jay. I hear ya .
I hold up the Black Dahlia Drew handed me. “An eye for an eye.”
The whites of Clark’s eyes overtake the blue. I crush the offending flower into my fist, draw back my arm, and punch him dead center of his face. Blood splatter sure is pretty tonight. It’s not enough for me.
Cold, hard, and fast. I beat this evil man to the ground. Before I slam my boot into his face, arms grab me and hold me back. Clark scrambles into the car and starts the engine.
“Let him run,” Drew says in my ear. He pushes me toward the bike. My brothers are already on their rides. “Let’s go, boys. Stay close. Follow my lead.”
We chase after the Mercedes. Drew risks getting next to the driver’s door several times and tosses something from his pocket onto the windshield. Each time he does it, Clark makes a right turn. If Drew’s on the passenger side, Clark turns left. This is insane.
Somehow, we end up in a high-speed chase on the freeway. This is beyond dangerous. There are too many innocent people out here. As the first sirens pierce the night, my worst fear happens. A woman in a Toyota Camry panics and swerves into Clark’s lane. He jerks the steering wheel to the right to avoid her. His car slams head-on into a concrete pillar near an exit ramp. The car shatters to pieces before our eyes. Drew motions us on. We hit the gas and leave Clark and the freaked-out lady behind. What in the world just happened?
We don’t return to the safe house. Instead, Drew leads us out of the city, away from the traffic and sirens. We don’t stop until we reach an abandoned building an hour later. A black van waits for us. We get off the bikes, and the five of us stare at Drew, speechless.
“Drew, I’m glad you’re a brother and work with Ariel’s Angels.” I jab my finger in his face. “But, man, I’m never coming back here to work with you.” I point back toward LA. “I don’t know what that was, but you could have gotten us all killed.”
“Nobody died.” Drew shrugs. “We need to talk.”
I toss my hands up. “Sure, brother. What would you like to talk about?”
“I have an angel I need you to move. No file, but I think your dad will make an exception this time.” Drew opens the van’s sliding door. A woman steps out with tears running down her face.
“Nina?” I haven’t seen her in years, but it’s her. “What’s going on?”
“They found Lily through me.” Nina wipes her tears away with her sleeve.
“How?” We’ve had suspicions about how Clark found Lily but couldn’t confirm anything.
“Lily sent an email from a new address to my hospital email. I didn’t open it, but I knew it was her when I saw the address. I deleted it, but Joel’s dad’s friends found it. He’s a dirty cop with less than legal connections. They figured out where she sent it from.”
“You sure about this?” Jay asks.
Nina nods and wipes more tears away.
“His dad’s buddies have been threatening her for weeks. A few of them like to brag. They wanted her to know it was her fault they found Lily. I took Nina from the hospital garage just like I did Lily. They’re hunting Nina. Figured sending her to your dad was best. We haven’t been able to move her across the country yet. Thought you boys wouldn’t mind escorting an angel tonight.” Drew doesn’t have to ask. He knows we will.
This woman saved Lily’s life. If it weren’t for her, Clark would still be hurting Lily. Without Nina, I wouldn’t have my angel.
“We got her.” I proudly shake Drew’s hand, even though he tried to kill us an hour ago.
My brothers and I surround Nina and climb into the van. Dean, one of Drew's helpers in the area, drives us to the airstrip, where Dobson is waiting for us. Hearing the word angel, he asks no further questions. We’ve kept radio silence with our families on this trip. We couldn’t risk being tracked. We’ll deliver this angel to Dad. Hopefully, my angel will be awake when I get to the hospital.