Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
JACK
“WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?” I bellow.
My anger and fear surfaces as we look for Lilith.
She was taken from Wicked Sugar twenty-four fucking hours ago and we have nothing. Cal called in all of his deputies, and Maverick and Astrid have been looking non-stop, but we have fuck all. It is like she vanished into thin air.
I run my hands over my head, my stomach in knots at the thought of her being hurt, or even worse.
Just the idea of losing her makes me want to puke my guts out. We have just started our time together and now she has been ripped away.
“Christopher has not been at work for three days. He called in sick, and no one has heard from him since,” Maverick says, not looking up from his laptop.
“Shit,” Astrid says in a tone that has me spinning around to look at her.
“What?” I snap.
“Hey, cool it, brother” Lennox says from behind his woman.
“It is fine, babe. I know that Jack is not directing his anger toward me. He is worried for Lilith.” She smiles at me, and I give her a nod.
She is right, no one here is to blame for Lilith going missing. Even the prospect who was found unconscious at the back of the store. When he came around and was able to think straight, he was pissed that someone got the jump on him.
“What information do you have, Astrid?” Magnum asks, stepping closer.
“Lilith’s cousin, Vanessa, you know the one who cheated with Christopher?” I nod, snarling, thinking of that bimbo bitch who hurt my woman.
“Well, she has not been at work for a week. According to the company phone records, Christopher called in sick for her, saying that she would need the rest of the week off to recover from an illness,” she fills us in.
“It has to be him,” I growl. “They took my girl. He hated that she moved on. Vanessa was sneering at her at the wedding, and they fucking hate that Lilith won.”
“She was always a bitch growing up. Vanessa always needed to win, in everything,” Kady informs us.
“She was a bully, and not just to Lilith. It was to everyone who stood in her way, but I also got the vibe from her that part of it was an act, to stay within the rules of their rich society,” Tree adds, holding my nephew close to her chest, my twin at her side.
“Both of their phones are off. Vanessa has a tracker on her car, but it is still at their apartment; so far there has been no movement from either of them,” Cal says from behind Maverick. “I have called in a welfare check on them both, so we should hear something soon.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“We will find her, Jack,” says my father, the man I have looked up to my whole life.
He has never steered me wrong, he has always been there for me when I needed him the most, like now.
Looking at him, I can’t hold back the emotions that rush through me. I feel like I am on a rollercoaster and I can’t seem to get off.
“I need her found, Dad.” I choke up.
My chest feels like it is being crushed.
My father grips the back of my neck, pulling my head to his in support.
“We will find her, Son. Lilith is a strong girl, and I know that she will fight the fucker who has her. She has too much to live for now to just shy away from him. Together, as a club, we will bring Lilith home, mark my words, Jack. The Rugged Skulls will not stop until she is home. You get me, Son?”
“Yeah, Dad, I get you.”
“Does the ex have a tracker? You said that Vanessa does, so, does he? He is a cop, so I would assume that they would have some kind of tracking system in place,” Travis asks.
“Most turn it off when they are not working, but it is worth looking into,” Cal explains. “Let me make a call.” He walks off, putting his phone to his ear.
“Damn, my man is hot when he is in work mode,” Maverick murmurs.
“Baby, our man is hot twenty-four seven, just like you,” Darcy replies, kissing him on the lips.
“Dad.” My heart lurches hearing this sadness in my boy’s voice.
He walks toward me, my mom hot on his heels. She offers me a sympathetic look.
“He wanted to be with you.” I nod at her.
Crouching down to meet Dom’s eyes, my heart fucking hurts seeing the pain and worry shining back at me. It mirrors my own emotions right now. We are all feeling like a piece of us is missing with Lilith not being here, and it only makes the need to find her so much more powerful.
“You will find Lilith, right?” Tears run down his cheeks and it breaks my heart.
Pulling him into my chest, I fall back on my ass, keeping him close to my body. Both of us need the support and strength right now.
“We will find her, baby,” my mom calls to my boy.
Dom sniffs, his arms tightening around my neck, and my gaze connects with my father, my president, who nods and steps forward. His hand rests on Dom’s head.
“We will find her, Dominic.”
“NO,” he yells. “Only Lilith calls me by my full name. You all call me Dom or Kid.”
Pres nods.
“I am sorry, Dom. You are right. Only Lil calls you by your full name. We will find her, and we will hurt the person or persons who took her.” My throat tightens, clogged with emotions as each of my family steps up, offering their strength.
“No one stands alone, Dom. We are all in for a ride to bring Lilith home.” Royal kneels next to us.
He nods and peels his face from my neck to look at everyone standing around us.
My son brings his red watery gaze back to mine and he grips my cheeks, leaning his forehead against mine, just like my own father does with me and my brother.
“I love her, Daddy. You need to bring her home so we can love her and show her that she has a family who is strong and will be there for her. Like Grandpa and Uncle Royal said, no one stands alone.”
“Fuck.” I feel helpless, as I cling to my son.
Hearing him call me ‘Daddy’ makes my heart hurt even more, one word showing his pain. He stopped calling me that when he was six, claiming that he was too big to call me Daddy.
We have looked everywhere for her but found nothing. There was blood at the store, and it made my blood boil that she was hurt.
“Baby, come on. Let’s go and get you a treat; let your father and the club find Lilith, okay?” My mom reaches for Dom, helping him off my lap and to his feet.
He steps away, and I push to my own feet, watching my son walk across the room with the strongest woman I know. She looks just as worried as I am, but I see the anger swirling in her green eyes.
“Dad.” Dom stops as they reach the door, the other Ol’ Ladies stop, moving so he can see me.
Pushing down the lump, I need to focus on the anger that is mixed with my emotions.
“Son.”
“Bring my mom home.”
With that he walks into the kitchen, followed by women who are all sniffling. Everyone is feeling what is happening, but we have to cling to the hope that we will find Lilith alive, but we all know that with each passing day, hell, every hour, it is looking bleaker.
“You bring our cousin back,” Kady states to the room but her man answers her.
“We will die trying, baby,” Calder calls to his woman.
“None of you will fucking die, do you hear me? Just bring her home.” With that, she leaves the room.
“Fucking hell, that boy got me.” Rookie shakes his head, removing his cap, running his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, before replacing it back on his head.
“Little shit got me too.” Slide coughs, clearing his throat, then pinching his eyes.
Cal walks back into the room, phone in hand. He stands next to Maverick and hands him his phone.
“There are coordinates on there that locate the ex’s last location. It was stationary for five hours before it went offline. It could be a lead.”
“Let me have a look.” Maverick’s fingers relentlessly move across the keyboard of his laptop, while we all stand around waiting for what he finds.
“My contact said that he has seemed off the last two weeks. Arriving to work late, or not even going into the station. Yet he still arrests people and gets information on big leads. They think that he is involved in some shady shit, it’s like we found out; he is using kids to do his dirty work. I have logged what we have found and what he has done. Well, the shit that I can prove. As for Lilith, I have not said anything, because I know that you will want to handle him in the club way,” he says this, looking directly at me.
“He will fucking bleed by my hands, brother. No badge will save him,” I declare.
The men thump their fists on nearby tables in agreement.
“Fuck yeah.” Edge grins.
“Nothing but a little bit of pig bleeding.” Sarge growls so low it carries a menacing tone.
The door swings open, and we all turn around to see who just made their presence known. In walks Zeb and Lee with their kids hot on their heels. They walk with such power and carry that ‘take no shit’ attitude.
“Who the fuck are we hunting?”
Smiling at them, I step closer, and they pull me in for a hug, with back slaps.
“We will get your girl back, Kid,” Zeb says.
“Fuck yeah, we will. It has been years since I got into a fist fight. It is overdue.” Lee grins.
“Old man, you will break a bone if you punch someone,” Sebastian says to his father, and Lee flips his oldest son off.
A soft hand touches my arm, and I look down to see my cousin Violet, Zeb’s baby girl, looking at me with soft eyes.
“You will bring her home.” She kisses my cheek before leaving the room, joining the women in the kitchen.
“Ranger and Julia are on their way; they stopped at the store to pick up more food,” Zeb explains.
Sebastian stands next to his younger brother Rylan, and Zeb’s son, Nobel.
They will join the club when they are ready, but right now they are focusing on their careers. Rylan and Nobel are following their fathers in the tattoo business while finishing school, while Sebastian is in the Army and currently home on leave. Violet is planning on going to a local beautician college to train to be a nail technician and some other girly things.
“His phone went offline at the location I have sent to your phones. It is in an industrial part of town. There are a few houses on the outskirts of the larger building. He could be holed up there with Lilith and the bitch wife,” Maverick explains.
“Let’s ride,” Pres calls everyone to arms. “Stay focused, stay alert. We ride as one. No one stands alone, brothers. Now let’s go and bring my daughter-in-law home.”
“Jodie is preparing the medical room, just in case,” Opal fills us in.
“Appreciate it, brother.”
“If she is hurt bad, then we head to the hospital,” Opal adds, and I nod at him in understanding.
We rush to our bikes and mount up. The sound of each of our bikes firing up fills the air. The rumble will be heard, and the rumble will be felt as we ride to the place where we think that cunt is holding my girl. I lock onto the anger and the fear and let that power me to bring my baby home, and make sure that the cop never takes another breath again.
We ride out of the compound in formation. Logan and Cam trail behind us in an SUV, just in case Lilith cannot ride with me on my bike. The prospect at the gate opens it and salutes us as we ride past him. I know that he will make sure that no one will enter the clubhouse.
The entire thirty-five minutes it takes to get to the location, my blood boils with each passing mile. My skin is on fire, and it itches to make the fucker hurt. Images of Lilith laying hurt on a floor, or tied to a chair, or like my mom, hanging from a chain in the ceiling, flash through my mind. I have heard all of the horror stories that my family have been through.
Following my club brothers, my brother in arms, my blood family, we come to a stop and cut the engines on our bikes, before dismounting and stepping together to hear what Pres has to say.
Even though Lilith is mine, we will all go on Pres, or Sarge’s orders, as he is our SAA. Sarge walks off to scope out the house, and we wait, my nerves firing on all cylinders, ready to strike this motherfucker down.
“The house is a detached house, nothing on either side of it. It has a basement, so if he has Lilith in there, I have no doubt she is kept down there,” Sarge says once he walks back to us. “We do not know if his wife is a part of this; the windows are boarded up, we also have no fucking clue if Lilith is actually in there. We need a distraction to get him out of there and know for sure.”
“Throw a stone at the windows,” Slide suggests. “Childish, I know, but effective.” He shrugs.
I move my gaze to the house, looking around to see how we can find out if the fucker is in there and if Lilith and her cousin are in there also. It is like I can feel her, I sense that she is in there.
“Oh fuck,” is called out. “MOVE.”