Chapter 17
I rushed to the address Astrid had sent me.
My heart was pounding. I wanted to scream because she’d gone alone to face someone who had to be mentally unstable.
However, I knew my woman would never risk a friend, and I wouldn’t either.
Plus, I’d put her up against Cherisse any day.
I knew Astrid would stall and, if able, remove the crazy dancer as a threat.
I prayed she hadn’t harmed Aubrielle. She didn’t deserve this shit.
I’d been returning from a trip to Knoxville to see the Ruthless Marauders.
Jinx and his guys had a business deal they wanted to discuss with us.
Reaper, Ink, Tinker, and I had gone. We were four officers and would either be able to make the deal outright or return to discuss it with the club as a whole.
I knew that we could call on my other brothers to go, which I did, but they were scattered today. Most weren’t working in town. We’d had several things we were tying up before taking an extra-long weekend off. I revved my motor to make my bike go faster. My three club brothers kept pace with me.
I knew better than to rush into the parking lot and spook Cherisse. To keep that from happening, we parked our bikes three streets over from the one where Aubrielle’s apartment was. Leaving them there, we hastily meandered our way through the buildings and streets to bring us to the one we wanted.
“Brother, I know you’re anxious about Astrid, but just hang on another minute. Let’s approach this place stealthily. Cherisse may be watching,” Reaper reminded me.
I wanted to say fuck it, but he was right.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. We each crept slowly up to the door of the apartment.
Pausing to listen, we heard Cherisse yelling.
Not waiting for things to get worse, but wishing I knew what was happening inside, I rose in front of the door, raised my steel-toed boot, and kicked with all my might.
The door flew inward, and the molding around it broke.
Charging in with our guns drawn, with me in the front, we scanned the room hastily.
Cherisse whipped around in shock. She was standing over a gagged and bound Aubrielle, who was on the couch.
Aubrielle’s face was red and swollen. Her lip was busted, and her nose was bleeding.
Clearly, Cherisse had been hitting her. There was no sign of Astrid.
I charged the bitch and grabbed her by the hair.
“Please, please, don’t hurt me,” she pleaded.
While I got a hold of Cherisse, Tinker went to help Aubrielle. The others went to search the rest of the apartment.
“You have to find her. You have to help, Astrid,” Aubrielle’s hoarse voice cried as soon as her mouth was freed. I turned to her.
“What do you mean, help Astrid? Where is she?” I barked.
Reaper and Ink returned, shaking their heads, indicating no one else was there.
“Cherisse busted in here and called Astrid on the phone and demanded she come. She said she wanted money. Only she let in a man right after that call, and he hid in the bedroom. I couldn’t warn Astrid because I was gagged.
He shot her in the neck with a dart, and she went weak.
He took her with him and left me with her,” Aubrielle sobbed.
Ice entered my veins hearing this. “How long ago was this?” I asked. I didn’t expect her to know.
“It was eight minutes ago. I checked the time on the clock,” Aubrielle answered.
Twisting my hand further into Cherisse’s hair, causing her to cry out in pain, I shook her. “Who took her? Where did they go?” I roared in her face, splattering her with my spit. Cherisse flinched but then babbled a bunch of nonsense.
“Mayhem, you don’t need her. I can make you feel better than she ever did. Make me your old lady. Forget about that bitch. I’ve always wanted you.”
Growling, I let my hand fly, backhanding her in the face.
Cherisse cried out in shock and pain. I usually never harmed women, unless they were deserving.
Cherisse, in this case, deserved it. She gave my woman to an unknown man.
God only knew what he’d do to her. I tried not to think of the things Astrid had already survived.
I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to survive being hurt and raped again if that was his intention.
The result would be the same if he sold her.
We’d seen personally what was done to the women who experienced that horror.
“I’ll never fucking make you my old lady. Never. And if you don’t tell me who took Astrid and where they went, I’ll end you right here,” I snarled as I put the muzzle of my gun to the middle of her forehead.
I let Cherisse see that I meant every word I said. I had no problem painting the walls with her blood and brains. I knew she read and believed it when she turned white and whimpered.
“Please, don’t, Mayhem! I’m sorry. I just want my spot back at work. This little bitch stole it, and Astrid helped her do it. Please, don’t kill me,” she whined.
I shook her hard, but never removed the gun. “You have until the count of five to start talking, or so help my God, I’m pulling the trigger. One…two…three…four,” I counted off. I never made it to five.
“Please, wait! I-I-I don’t know where he took her.
I swear. But I can tell you what he told me and his name.
We met at the club. He overheard me telling someone how Aubrielle and Astrid stole my rightful spot.
He asked me if I was talking about Astrid Tuttle.
I told him I thought that was her name. The guy said that he could help me get my spot back and make some money at the same time.
He told me he had a score to settle with Astrid.
He came up with the idea to get her here.
While we assumed we wouldn’t get much money from her, he paid me five grand to help him. ”
As she paused, I pushed the muzzle harder into her skull. I knew it would leave a bruise. I didn’t give a fuck.
“Tell me his name,” I hissed. I was a second away from killing the bitch.
“All he told me was his first name, Radley,” she said in a rush.
My entire body stiffened. There was no way two Radleys would have a connection to Astrid. This guy had to be Radley Baker. Son of a bitch, when had he returned to the country? Spawn was supposedly having him watched. Before I could do it myself, Reaper had his phone out. Ink came over to me.
“Let me hold on to her. You try to relax. She’s not going anywhere. Mayhem, we’ll find her,” he assured me.
“Yeah, but what will he have done to her by the time we do?” I whispered.
I moved away from Cherisse. It was too tempting to kill her. We might need to ask her more questions. As I did, Aubrielle came over to me. Her face was filled with regret. Tears and mascara ran down her face.
“I’m so sorry, Mayhem. This is all my fault. I should’ve never befriended Astrid. Hell, I should’ve never taken the job at the club. I know you can’t forgive me, but I truly mean it. I never meant for this to happen. Astrid should’ve told her to kill me.” Her voice was ragged.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t say that. Nothing about this is your fault. It’s Cherisse’s and that fucker, Radley. What we need is for you to stay calm. Alright?”
She nodded. Then, after giving her an encouraging squeeze, I let her go.
Ink had taken the rope and gag used to restrain and silence Aubrielle and used it on Cherisse.
She was even sitting in the same spot on the couch.
She kept wiggling and trying to talk around the piece of cloth in her mouth, but to no avail. Ignoring her, I tuned into Reaper.
“Spawn, Radley Baker took Astrid. I thought he was under surveillance,” Pres snapped.
“What the hell? He did what? I can’t believe this! I do have him under watch. As soon as his passport hit the Customs system, I should’ve gotten an alert. Let me check. How did he get here?” Our hacker asked. Reaper had put him on speaker. Frantic tapping was in the background.
“How we’ll explain later. Right now, we’re at Aubrielle’s apartment. Tinker will send you the addy. She was taken about fifteen minutes ago. He drugged her with a dart,” Reaper explained.
“Pres, I don’t know how he did it, but he didn’t fly back through normal channels. He either had a fake passport or entered the country illegally. My flags are up and in working order. I’m tapping into any CCTV in the area of Aubrielle’s apartment. As soon as I find something, I’ll let you know.”
“We’ll be headed to the compound, and we’ll be bringing company. Make sure the bunker is ready for one, and the other will be in the clubhouse. Send out a notice to the club. All members and old ladies are to get home. And—” he was cut off by Ink.
“Sorry, Pres, but I already texted and told one of the prospects to bring a set of wheels for a pickup. I figured we’d be taking one or both with us. He should be here in ten.”
“Thanks, VP. You heard him, Spawn,” Reaper added.
“I did. I’ll get on it. And Mayhem, I know you can hear me. I swear I’ll find her. He won’t get away with this,” Spawn growled.
“Thanks, brother, I know you will. Hurry. I can’t leave her in his hands long.”
“I’m already on it as we speak. See you when you guys get here.”
“Later,” Reaper said before he disconnected.
As my brothers talked to Aubrielle, telling her to pack a bag, they kept watch on Cherisse.
I stood at the front window, staring outside.
I didn’t see anything out there. What I saw was Astrid this morning after we’d made love.
I’d hated to leave her, but we were headed to Knoxville.
I promised her I’d be home as soon as I could.
Though I tried not to think about it, I wondered what if that had been my last moment with her? What would I do without her? As I drowned in my rage and despair, I plotted what I’d do to those who caused it. Mayhem was rising fast. God help them. My hands would soon be coated in red.
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