Eight
Grayson
When we pulled in behind the mall and picked up Bolt, the guy’s apologies spewed from his mouth like a broken spigot.
He was under the impression Sage had okayed this trip with Ryder, which she probably did allude to that assumption.
But our anger wasn’t directed at him, but at the rival club who dared to mess with our girls again.
The poor guy had a nice sized goose egg on the back of his head, but he had managed to get pictures of the license plates from the two cars that had driven off with Sage and Brooke.
And for that, I could have kissed him. Hack, our club computer genius, had names and locations for us within five minutes.
We were on our way to one of the locations now to find out where the fuckers had taken our girls, and prepared to inflict plenty of violence to get our answers.
Parking our trucks down the road from the site, the ten of us stalked down the street.
The one floor structure sat at the end of a row of abandoned houses which weren’t much bigger.
Since the girls weren’t being held captive here, we didn’t bother with stealth.
When we reached the weather beaten front door, Ryder kicked it in and we barged inside.
The three goons sprawled out on a worn brown couch, attention riveted to some baseball game on the television across the room, leapt from their seats and attempted to pull their weapons on us.
However, Ryder shot the lamp off of the scuffed side table situated on the opposite end of the couch.
“Drop them now.
And I want accurate information.
Or the next shots fired find their targets, embedded in your bodies somewhere valuable.”
They at least had some sort of functioning brain power, considering they dropped their weapons and raised their hands in compliance.
“Where did they take the girls they grabbed from the mall?”
The one with blond dirty hair jerked a nervous look to the red head with bad acne.
“There won’t be anything left of them to dish out any retaliation on you.
But I’ll dish out plenty if I don’t get answers right now.”
Blond boy sputtered out an address.
“If we learn this information is false, there won’t be anything left of you for them to use to identify the bodies.
Understood?”
Ryder strode over to them.
Each gave a shaky nod.
“Good.”
Then he clocked each guy square in the jaw, dropping them one by one.
Giving a shrug, his lips curled into a devilish grin.
“I had only said I wouldn’t shoot them.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
We were just ramping up.
“Skip and Hedge, stay with these guys and make sure no others show up or in case our information is incorrect.
But I’m pretty sure the address is legit.
However, we don’t need others tipping them off that we’re on our way.”
Ryder slapped our guys on their shoulders on his way to the front door.
Then we rushed down to our vehicles and slid inside.
During the drive, I glanced over to Ryder.
“I hope they don’t get jittery and move before we get there.
I’m not worried about anyone tipping them off; we have those bases covered.
But they have to know we’ll be hot on their trail.”
“We’ll get there in time.”
His foot shoved down on the accelerator.
Ten minutes later, we were sliding out of the trucks at the bottom of a slight incline along the side of a well-worn dirt path.
“I can’t wait on the police.
There’s no telling if they are already planning to move.
They can jump in and assist when they get here.”
Ryder hopped out of the vehicle.
I jumped out of my side.
“I agree.
We can use them as back up if needed.”
Commotion up ahead had the entire crew drawing out their weapons and jogging up the path.
“Fan out.
We don’t know how many there are or their positions.”
Ryder barked out orders as he gestured who needed to head in which direction.
Ryder and I shifted to a full out run, straight up the incline.
Just outside the house, two guys were manhandling our girls across the lawn.
At quick glance, no other men accompanied them, but the windows inside the awaiting vehicles were dark so we had to assume there was at least a driver in each.
“Hands off! Let me go!”
Sage bucked against her kidnapper as he tried to drag her to one of the black sedans.
“Fuck off! I’m not going anywhere else with you!”
Brooke elbowed hers in the gut and stomped on his foot.
“Enough!”
The one restraining Brooke pulled a gun from his waistband and jabbed it into the side of her head.
When his gaze caught on Ryder and me stalking up to them, his lips curled into a malicious sneer.
“Not one more step and drop those weapons or I blow her pretty brains everywhere.
The other girl is the prize; this one is just a bonus.
Easily disposed of.”
Although a healthy dose of fear crept into Brooke’s eyes, fierce determination was the overpowering emotion lighting up her pretty blues.
Alarm shot down my spine, but I schooled my features.
I had to act fast.
But at the moment I wasn’t exactly sure of my options.
Even though Brooke was a good six inches shorter than him; he was using her as a shield and I wasn’t positive I had a clear shot at his head.
But we couldn’t allow them to leave with the girls.
In the next instant, three cop cars rolled in behind us, bright blues and reds flashing.
Apparently, they didn’t believe in stealth, although at least their sirens hadn’t announced their arrival.
But this new development only made Brooke’s kidnapper twitchier.
Brooke’s eyes locked on mine and she briefly shot her gaze to the ground.
I honestly didn’t believe she wanted me to drop my weapon.
She knew that only decreased her chances of survival.
But then my thoughts grasped her objective.
She was a cop’s daughter after all and was most likely taught many survival tricks. I hoped my instincts were right. I shot her a steely look in hopes it conveyed I understood her intention.
A split second later, Brooke went limp in his arms and dropped like a ton of bricks and I fired off two shots.
One aimed at his head, the other in his chest.
He slumped a moment later and all hell broke loose.
Men emerged from nowhere; shots were fired; shouts erupted; and flesh pounded flesh.
But in all that chaos, I could only focus on one important detail.
Brooke was loose.
She sprang from her sprawl on the ground and sprinted into my arms.
I wrapped her up tightly and turned so that my body was between hers and the action taking place behind us.
“Fuck, Princess.
You are so smart.”
I peppered her face and hair with kisses.
“I had to find you.
You were so brave and smart.
I’m so glad you are a cop’s daughter.”
“We knew we couldn’t allow them to take us to another location.
We knew you guys were on your way.
We just knew it.”
She snuggled into my chest and burrowed her face there.
Ryder walked over to us with Sage in his embrace.
“With Brooke’s stunt, the other guy was so astonished I was able to sneak up on him and flatten him.”
He smiled like a feral cat.
“Our guys are rounding up the others and the police are making their way through the mess.
They’ve asked the other guys a few questions and are waiting to talk to us and the girls.”
Chief Wolfe stormed over to us; his expression filled with fury.
“You taught your daughter well, Chief.
I’m very proud of her.”
I was about to reach out my hand to his.
“This is why I don’t want you hanging around club members.
You almost got yourself killed today because of him.”
He seethed.
Brooke twisted in my embrace.
“I’m not running with a club.
I was out shopping with a friend.
I wasn’t with him.”
“A friend you met through the club.”
Accusation laced his words.
“I could’ve met her anywhere.
And then we still would have been out shopping.”
She took a step toward him.
Her body was shaking, but I didn’t know if it was leftover adrenaline from the incident, a sudden drop in her adrenaline, or her growing frustration with her father.
“Bullshit.”
“No bullshit.
I can meet all types of people anytime I’m out or at my job.”
“And from what I gathered, she was targeted because of her involvement with a club and you got dragged into the mess through association.
I won’t have you endangering your life.”
“And what happens one day when someone targets me because of you?”
She challenged, throwing her hands onto her hips.
“Will you tell me not to associate with you?”
“That won’t ever happen.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do know that.
Your relationship with him puts your life at risk and I won’t have it anymore."
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“No, I can’t.
But I will tell you this and you can make your own decision.”
My heart caught in my throat.
I was just about to eat my earlier words.
“You either cut off all ties with him or the police will no longer back or support his club.”
His ultimatum hit like a bomb and the resulting explosion decimated Brooke’s defiance.
“We’ve dealt with not having police backing before, Princess.
We can handle it again.
It’s no big deal.”
Reaching my arms out to her, I tried to pull her back to my chest.
She stared at me for a beat as her expression grew even more morose and her boldness crumbled.
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Grayson.”
I had never wanted to throat punch her dad more than in that moment.
“I love you so fucking much, Grayson.”
Her voice wobbled, her hands shook, and her eyes pooled with tears.
Stepping into my arms, she wrapped hers around my neck and tugged my lips down to hers for a hungry kiss.
Her words warmed my heart, but something in her kiss filled my chest with dread.
It was filled with her usual love, but the passion was replaced with desperation.
When she pulled back, her eyes were void of emotion and her face crestfallen.
“Don’t.”
I could only force out one word as my throat constricted.
Shaking her head as tears slipped down her cheeks, she ran her hand along my scruff.
“I won’t do that to you. I can’t.”
Then she turned to her dad.
“Done.
I’ll send Dani over to his place to retrieve my things.
But I.
HATE. YOU.”
As a sob tore from her, she raced toward her dad’s cruiser and dove into the passenger side, her face buried in her hands.
His irritated but satisfied stare focused on me.
“Just so I make myself clear, you stay away from her too.
Don’t drive by her home or her work.
You see her out in public, you turn the other way.
All ties are severed as of today.”
Fury festering inside, I gave him a curt nod.
“Good.
I’ll need to speak with you and your guys separately about this incident so we can wrap things up.”
With that, Brooke’s dad walked off.
“Not even a thank you to us for finding his daughter.”
My entire body grew numb.
Brooke was safe, but she was no longer mine.
That crushing reality almost brought me to my knees.
I glanced over my shoulder to the cruiser.
Brooke’s hands still covered her face and her body shook with her sobs. “I need to go give my statement first and then get the fuck out of here. I can’t stand here any longer.”
“She’ll figure things out, Grayson.”
Ryder put his hand on my shoulder.
“She’ll find her way back.
She loves you.
Nothing can compete with that.”
I wasn’t so sure.
Thankfully I only had to wait around for about thirty minutes before I could split.
The drive back was torture, made even longer since we had to drop off a few of our guys at the club.
When I had headed out to this location earlier, it was with the intention of bringing Brooke back with me.
We had managed to rescue her so that was a light to my darkness, but Brooke wouldn’t be staying with me anymore.
She was no longer mine. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. She would always be mine . . . in my heart.
Once at home, I moped around the kitchen – yes, I moped – searching for something to eat when I really didn’t have an appetite.
But I figured it was something to do, to keep myself occupied and focused on something, since I was running on autopilot.
Then I decided, fuck it, and stormed down the hallway to pack up Brooke’s things.
As I shuffled through my room and bathroom collecting her items, I rubbed at the stabbing pain in my chest.
I had never expected to fall in love and I definitely never expected to have my heart ripped out of my chest.
Tossing her toiletries into her bag, I released a low groan.
I’d never get to wash her silky skin or run soapy hands through the soft strands of her hair while indulging in a hot shower filled with erotic foreplay.
Next, I grabbed the clothing she had haphazardly strewn along my bedroom floor because it had been so easy to convince her to get naked with me.
Another pleasure I’d have to learn to live without.
My bed was going to be so fucking cold and empty without her.
I scrubbed my hand down my face.
Even though the action had the potential to revoke my man card, I kept one of her shirts since it smelled like her.
I also didn’t plan to wash the gray shirt and black boxers she had worn of mine.
Instead, I tossed them onto the side of the bed where she had slept.
And thankfully I had just washed my bed sheets because I had no intention of cleaning them anytime soon.
Yeah, I was royally fucked.
My dick was going to shrivel up from lack of use because I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to be with anyone else.
I shoved the rest of her items into her bag and zipped it shut.
“She’ll be back, Grayson.
She loves you.”
I twisted at Sage’s soft words to spot her standing in my doorway, Jade snuggled in her arms.
“That’s why she won’t be back.”
I rubbed at the place where my heart ached again.
She stepped into my room, walked over to me, and gave me a side hug.
“Hang in there, Grayson.
I know how much she loves you.
She believes she’s doing the right thing.
But it will all work out in the end.”
I grunted out a weak thank you.
After patting my arm with her free hand, she walked back over to the door and out into the hall.
When I finished loading Brooke’s bag, I carried it out to set it on the floor by the front door.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Dani when she came by for it.
I didn’t want to end up begging for information on Brooke.
The fact that I was positive she was hurting as much as me didn’t bring me any comfort.
Then I headed out the side door to my bike for a long ride.
A ride Brooke had expressed wanting to experience with me.
Something else we’d never get to enjoy together again.
Afterward, I grabbed a quick shower and then lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to pull myself out of this funk.
The next morning, I went in to work as usual, but my mood was worse than that of a bear who had been woken early from his hibernation so everyone gave me a wide berth.
Sometime after lunch, Ryder stepped up beside me while I was working under the hood of a red Audi Coupe.
“Prez called and asked if a few of us would head out to an old warehouse on Billings Drive to see if Brutal Demons have anything stored there or are using it as a temporary meeting place.
He’s pretty confident after this last fiasco they’ve turned tail and headed out, but he wants to be certain.”
I wiped my hands on the rag hanging from my belt loop.
“Cool.
I could use some violence and blood.”
“He said not to use unnecessary aggression.
If there are only some punk ass kids hanging out, we’re just to make them scatter.”
“Why the hell not? We still have police support.
Brooke made sure of that.”
I couldn’t help the venom in my words.
Her absence was wreaking havoc on my heart and emotions and I didn’t like the sullen corpse I had transformed into, so instead wanted to concentrate on my rage and vent my frustrations in brutality.
“Don’t make me over step the lines and have Prez remove you from the mission.”
I stared him down.
He huffed out a chuckle.
“You know me better than that.
I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.
But I know how much you love her.
And I also know she loves you too. Give her a few days. It may not blow over with her dad, but it will blow over with her.”
Once we searched the warehouse, we learned that it was in fact abandoned.
For the time being, we didn’t believe we had to worry about another strike from them, but wouldn’t completely let down our guard.
They probably headed out of town to regroup, but hopefully decided they were no match for us and would go bother some other town.
Or even better, disband and give it up entirely.
The next day was even rougher to get through.
I went through the motions of going to work and was somewhat productive, but my mood was only souring.
I itched for the day to end, but it wasn’t like I had anything better waiting at home.
But at least there, I didn’t have to deal with anyone.
Ryder and Sage gave me ample space. So I was partially relieved at the end of the work day.
When I stepped inside our place, my eyes darted over to the front door.
Dani still hadn’t stopped by for Brooke’s things.
I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
A huge part of me wanted to text Brooke to see when Dani was coming for her stuff – but really it was just an excuse to connect with her – so I tugged my phone out of my pocket.
However, the sound of someone’s fist pounding on our front door shifted my attention to our visitor.
Really not in the mood for company, I stormed over to the entrance and practically ripped the door from its hinges.
The view of the person standing on the other side did not improve my temperament.
“What the fuck do you want Chief Nolan? Oh, that’s right; I can’t call you that.
If you’ve come to gloat some more I think you’ve done enough.”
I was a split second from connecting my fist with his face – damn the consequences – but my instincts screamed something wasn’t right.
”And why the fuck do you look like shit.
I’m the only one who should look like shit.
You got what you wanted.”
Hell, I was so stuck in my fury and grief I didn’t pick up on his haunted expression at first, his eyes bloodshot and puffy.
Only one thing would make him look like that.
My breath stalled at the back of my throat, congealed, and turned into a boulder before plummeting into my gut.
My chest clenched in suffocating fear.
“What the fuck happened to Brooke?”
A wave of panic surged through me.
“Someone has her.
I don’t know who or where she is.”
He shoved his phone at me.
“They sent me this video.
I can’t look at it anymore.
I don’t even want it on my phone, but I know I need to keep it so we can look for clues.
I know you have every right to slam the door in my face. And I know I have no right to ask for your help, but I need you to help me find her. I know you love her so please do this for her.”
Taking the phone from him, I almost crushed it in my palm.
I shouldn’t have dropped my gaze to the scene unfolding before me.
It was like a cruel twisted nightmare I wanted to wake from.
The fucking son of a bitch had one hand down the front of Brooke’s pants and the other clutched around her throat choking her.
Her face was bruised and bloody and her clothes were torn and blood splattered as well. Fury lit through my veins like hot lava spewing from a volcano. “Did you inform the police?”
“No.
I need someone who I know will get her back, by any means necessary.
I never should have threatened I would come down on your club.
Things go back to the way they were and should always be.”
“Step inside while I call Prez and then we’ll head out to the club to get Hack to take a look at this video.
He’ll be able to figure out where she is.”
Taking a step back, I twisted to yell toward the back of the house.
“Ryder! Get Sage and Jade ready! We’re heading to the club!”
A moment later, Ryder rushed down the hall.
“What the hell is going on? Why are you carrying on like a maniac? We just got Jade down for a nap.”
He took in our unexpected and usually unwelcomed guest and his expression grew even more agitated.
“And why the hell is the chief in our living room?”
“Someone has Brooke.
We need to find out where.”
I turned back to Nolan.
“How long ago did you get this?”
“About an hour.”
“What the fuck took you so long to come here? Did you really think I would slam the door in your face?”
Time was of the essence here.
And he should have known that.
“I was rearranging my living room furniture.”
He hissed through clenched teeth.
Well in that case.
I couldn’t really fault the guy for that.
I wanted to explode in a fit of rage as well.
“We’ll get her back.
I’m going to kill that mother fucker, have someone revive him, and kill him again. Multiple times. No even better; before I kill him, I’m going to shred his dick which he better not have had anywhere near her.”
That thought almost had my fine thread of control unraveling.
“Then I’m going to break off each of his fingers and shove them down his throat for daring to put his hands on her.”
“Stop with the deranged monologue.
Let’s get the fuck to the club so we can get to the action.”
Ryder clapped me on the back.
Sage padded down the hall with Jade in her arms and a bag slung over her shoulder.
“What’s going on?”
Picking up on the tension in the room as she eyed the three of us – one of us being someone she would have never expected to be in our living room, especially after what had transpired only a couple of days ago.
Unless . . .
She jerked to a stop.
“Oh my God.
What happened to Brooke?”
She slapped her free hand to her mouth, her eyes wide, pooling with tears.
“It’s going to be okay, Babe.”
Rushing to her side, Ryder tugged her into his arms.
“You and Jade can go hang out with Angel and Misti.
The guys are going on a hunt.”
His face screwed up into a savage grin.
I was sure my expression mirrored his lethal one.
We would be bringing the fires of hell to their doorstep and not one of them was going to escape the wrath of my revenge for hurting my girl.
The blood and body count were going to rival any horror movie imaginable.