Chapter 8
Drop off at daycare went much better the second day, but only because he’d promised Lainey a trip to the park. They’d played games together the night before, which had been way more fun than he’d anticipated. Lainey was funny, and he really enjoyed spending time with her.
After dropping her off, he headed to the club, surprised to find the door open. He stepped in, and a guy at the bar told him they were closed.
“That’s better.”
The man glanced up, his eyes narrowing. “What do you want?”
“Amelia, I need information on who took her.”
“I already talked to the cops. I don’t got nothing more to say.”
“Good thing I’m not a cop.”
The guy narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “I don't know anything.”
Thario had done some research and called Apple last night. This guy was lying. He knew something. He knew who had come to the bar and taken Amelia. That much he was certain of.
Apple stepped closer, his senses on high as he took in the space, noting they seemed to be alone. “I don’t buy that.”
The dude behind the bar reached down. Apple knew he was grabbing for a gun so he moved fast, vaulting over the bar, coming down next to the man. For a half second he enjoyed the shock, then he grabbed the gun the guy had been reaching for.
The man threw up his hands. “Hold up.”
“I’m not going to shoot you, but you’re not going to shoot me, either. You’re going to tell me where Amelia is.”
“I don’t know.”
“You know who has her and why.”
Apple could tell the guy was going through all the problems he would face if he said anything, but he also could tell the dude knew he was in deep shit.
“Tell me.”
“I-I don’t know for sure, but it’s Bennet’s gang. The Night Wolves.”
“Why?”
“I owe them some money. If I don’t pay, it’s my kids next.”
“Did you know that was part of the deal?”
The dude shrugged. “I thought I could get the money.”
“You didn’t, and now Amelia is missing. I’m going to need you to tell me where they operate.”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. They aren’t local. They wanted to move into the market. I took some product and was supposed to pay them. I didn’t think they would come back so fast.”
“What happened to the money?”
The guy's cheeks turned red, and his gaze slid away from Apple. “It's gone.”
“Did you fucking gamble it away?”
The man shrugged. Apple couldn’t believe this piece of shit gambled away drug money that he knew he had to pay back.
“What kind of idiot are you? You knew they would come after you, didn’t you?”
“I thought I had time. They wanted the money the day after I lost it.”
“How much?”
“A few hundred thousand.”
Apple slammed his fist down on the table.
“What the hell? How are you going to get them the money?” The guy said nothing.
Apple had a strong suspicion that this guy wasn’t going to get the money.
The dude was here in the middle of the day because he planned on running.
“You’re just going to abandon your family, right? ”
“I don’t have the money, and I can’t get it. I lost too much.”
“Fuck.” Apple had to get the information from this piece of shit. He wanted to tell the man to go to hell and bug out, but he needed information from this jerk. “Exactly who has her?”
A shiver raced through the man, and for a moment, Apple thought the guy wasn't going to talk.
When he opened up, Apple learned that the gang operated out of Las Cruces with connections in Mexico.
They weren't the type of people he could take Lainey to meet.
He needed to keep her safe, and going to attack a gang wasn't going to benefit anyone.
It was time to get his friends involved.
Apple sent a text, giving the basics of what was going on. He knew most of the guys were on vacation and couldn’t help, but they wouldn’t ignore him.
The first to call was Griz. He answered, grateful he had such good friends.
“Hey, so what’s up?” Griz asked.
He explained everything to Griz and waited while his buddy checked out the information he’d given him. Apple only had to wait a moment before Griz spoke.
“Okay, that’s bad.”
“It is. The gang who has her is about three hours away from me. There’s no way I can go down and get her and be back in time to pick Lainey up from daycare.”
“Shit. I’m still in Japan. Let me see if anyone I know is available.”
“Thanks.”
The call ended, and he stared at his phone, wondering if he would ever be able to find Amelia. Thario passed on the new information to his FBI contact, who was working with the police. Maybe they would take care of the problem.
He groaned, wishing he had time to go down and get Amelia back, but he had to take care of Lainey. He knew Amelia would be angry if anything happened to her daughter.
He’d heard from everyone on his team by three that afternoon. He told them not to come home because Wild had contacted him, telling him there were six guys willing to come help. He breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he could bring Amelia home.
Before he left to pick up Lainey from daycare, he got a call from Dena. He rolled his eyes before he answered. “Hello, Dena.”
“Hello, sir, this is Doctor Bellamy at Los Angeles General Hospital. Your number was given to me to call.”
“Wait, what happened?”
“There was a crash. She was a pedestrian, and both cars hit her, pinning her between them. She was insistent with the paramedics that you be called. She’s in surgery right now.”
“When will she be able to leave?”
“I’m not sure. It was bad. She lost a leg. If she survives, she will be in ICU for a while, then physical therapy.”
Apple rubbed his hand over his face. Dena wouldn’t come back, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to take care of a child. It was up to him to care for Lainey until Amelia returned. Even then, he couldn’t walk away. He couldn’t leave Amelia here alone.
“Thank you for calling.”
“Let me give you a number and contact information so when you call in you can get updates.”
“Thank you.”
Apple wrote the information down, sadness for Lainey filling him. Her mother was gone, and Dena wouldn’t return anytime soon. Where did that leave them?
He did his best to not let his worry show when he picked up Lainey.
She was full of questions and laughter. He decided to let her have fun and not worry about Dena until he knew more.
Same for her mother. This poor kid was stuck in a terrible place, and she didn’t even know it.
He had to make sure she stayed safe, which meant he had to stay with her.