Chapter 39 #3
He proceeds to sum up the situation. When he gets to the details, Pippa passes him her tablet.
He chuckles loudly. “Get this, Tyrant. She’s running from one chapter of the Kings, only to land near another.
She’s in your territory, Brother, right there in Turmoil.
Yeah, here’s the address.” He reels it off.
“You will?… Thank you…Yeah, as soon as you get something from her.” He pauses, then adds, “My recommendation was to end her, but the brother involved gave her a chance. It looks like he was wrong and I was right. Now she’s fuckin’ betrayed us.
You do what you have to to get to the truth, and…
” his voice drops and becomes menacing. “If she’s …
Yeah, Tyrant, thank you. We owe you one. ”
He ends the call, shaking his head, then rubs his temples. “Tyrant is a good fuckin’ man to have on your side. Cross him? Well, your bitch, Freak, will regret she ever heard of the Kings if she’s gotten in bed with the Mafia. She’ll soon learn nobody fucks with us.”
“It won’t help,” I say wearily. Knowing where to find her, trusting our Nebraska brother to interrogate her, and end her, as I can’t think of any other way Alongi would have found Trixie, it must have been her – does nothing to help.
We might discover how their paths crossed.
I can’t see that Alongi would have divulged his plans.
The best I can hope for is retribution, and that will do fuck all to save Trixie.
I’m the fucking enforcer. I was Delta. But that doesn’t stop me from putting my head in my hands, dropping my face to the table, and not giving a damn when an agonised sob bursts out of me.
“We’ll fuckin’ find her, Freak.” It’s Saint’s voice. Vaguely, I hear the door opening and closing, and when I pull myself together enough to turn my head his way, I notice Pippa is no longer sitting on his lap. “Pippa and Genie are doing all they can.”
“It’s like looking for a needle in a fuckin’ haystack.”
Rat’s right, but I don’t appreciate him pointing it out.
Is Trixie really lost to me? Is she still breathing?
Has Alongi already killed her? Or has he reclaimed her?
One thing’s for certain, a man like him?
He’ll be punishing her for leaving him. And after five years…
I don’t even want to think of what his anger could make him do.
Now it’s an agonised wail that leaves my mouth, and I can’t summon up the energy to care what my brothers think of me.
Ignoring me, they carry on the meeting. Theories are proposed and dismissed. I’m only half listening. The truth is, we’ve less than fuck-all to go on. Trixie could already be in her grave, or halfway to New York. The thought that I might never see her again all but destroys me.
I should have claimed her five years ago, that first night together.
I should have seen more than just a club girl then.
Once the scales fell from my eyes, courtesy of course of some home truths delivered by my son, I knew she was the only woman for me.
Is this my punishment for all the time I wasted with my head up my ass? Is the universe laughing at me?
Unwanted memories swirl around my head, recollections of how she looked when she first appeared at the club, and I hadn’t even seen the worst of it. So beaten and broken, six chapters of the Kings all offered her sanctuary.
Irish had seen something worth saving, and we made her a fucking whore. Why the fuck hadn’t I seen what she was then? I’d have had five years to track down and kill Piero Alongi.
The door opens again. This time it’s Genie.
“I’ve found something.” The urgency in his voice puts a halt to my pity party.
At once, I’m all ears. “I got the sedan. It headed out of town, but stopped.” Rushing in, he quickly hooks up his laptop and presses the button that summons the drop-down screen.
Moving toward the head of the table, he picks up the pointer.
“We caught a black sedan here.” He indicates a traffic cam on the outskirts of town.
“But it didn’t appear here.” Now he taps a speed camera on the highway.
“So, if it’s the one we’re looking for, it’s stopped somewhere around here.
” He fiddles with his tablet, and a circle appears.
“The only structure in that area is this, a small holding that looks abandoned. But there’s enough of it standing that it could be used to hide someone or… ” his voice trails away.
Or a body. Hidden under the table, my fingernails curl into my palms so tightly they draw blood.
“We ride,” Bullseye states decisively. “Might not be a lot to go on, but it’s enough to check out.
Freak, Saint, Tempest, Words, Short, and Woody, you’re with me.
The rest of you stay here in case Genie and Pippa come up with alternative information.
Finding Trixie and bringing her home is our priority.
” He bangs the gavel, but brothers are already getting up to leave.
I’m first out of the door, determined to barge my way through anyone who’d stop me. But the person who steps in my path is Ace.
“What’s going on, Dad?” I notice Trip is with him.
Short comes up and leans into me, murmuring into my ear, “Bron’s working. I had to bring them.”
“Dad?” Ace asks again, watching the brothers file past me, their faces set, obviously with somewhere to go.
I can’t tell him Trixie, his adopted mom, is missing. “Club business,” I say dismissively, never having been so glad to have those two words come into my head. Ace is club, and he knows what that means.
“Is the club under threat?” He frowns. “Should Trixie be here?”
Yes, she fucking should. Here and safe. Hoping he can’t read me, I lie through my teeth. “She’s fine where she is.” Where she is, is in the hands of a maniacal abuser and rapist.
“We’ve got to get going,” Short throws at Ace. “Take care of Trip, yeah? Maybe get Heaven or someone to bake cookies.”
He shakes his head. “Mom bakes the best cookies.” Then, thank fuck, he asks no more questions as he walks away.
Leaving me with the only thought in my head that hopefully we can find her, bring her home, and she’ll get the chance to bake cookies again.
I can’t let myself think of the alternative.