24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Levi
“ P lease tell me I’m not the only one who’d like to see the two of them hog-tied, naked, covered with honey, on an anthill,” Mason said as we left the hotel room and headed for our rides.
“That’s an oddly specific image,” Tucker said with a laugh.
Mason shrugged. “What can I say? I get creative when people piss me off.”
I rolled my eyes as my phone rang. A glance at the screen told me Judge was calling, and I had a sudden stab of fear that something had happened to Evie.
“Hey, Judge.” I was surprised at how even I managed to keep my voice.
“Evie took off,” he said bluntly.
“What the fuck, Judge!”
My brothers looked over at me and I put the call on speaker as Judge continued.
“After you left, I went to help Junkyard with something, and when I got back, I figured I’d go see if she wanted something to eat, but she wasn’t in Tucker’s room. Before you ask, I checked you and Mason’s rooms, and your office. Then I got the rest of the MC to scour the whole place, and nothing. Lara and Chief talked to the couple across the street, and they said they saw someone matching Evie’s description getting into a dark blue Equinox with a strawberry blonde woman.”
“Jenna,” I muttered.
“I’ll call Jenna,” Mason said.
“How the hell did she get out without anyone seeing her?” I asked, not sure who I was more pissed at—Evie, Jenna, or my guys.
“We’re trying to figure that out,” Judge said. “Because if she got out, someone else could get in.”
“Yeah, well, I’m gonna want answers when I get back, so you better find them.” I ended the call and looked at Mason.
He shook his head. “No answer.”
“Dammit, Jenna,” I growled. “I’m calling Mom.”
“I’ll call Isabel,” Tucker said.
While we waited to see which would pick up first, Mason tried Evie again.
“Hello, Levi.” Mom sounded cheerful, which I hoped meant that everything was okay rather than that she just didn’t know the shit had hit the fan. “I was wondering which of you boys I was going to hear from.”
“Hey, Mom.” I forced the anger from my voice as best I could. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where Jenna and Evie are, would you? They’re not answering their phones.”
Mom chuckled. “Jenna said one of you would call when you realized that she and Evie went out for the evening.”
My eyes closed and I reminded myself that it would be wrong to take my frustration out on the woman who had birthed and raised me. “So you do know.”
“I’m very happy that you boys are taking this protection thing for Evie so seriously. Especially since you boys weren’t always nice to her.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Mom, we were kids, and we’re working all that out with Evie.”
“I’m glad,” she said. “And I’m hoping that this time together will make at least one of you three see what a special, beautiful—”
“We really need to talk to Evie,” I interrupted.
No good would come out of her finishing that thought. I didn’t think any of us had thought about how we were going to tell our mom and sister about our…arrangement. But this wasn’t the time or place. We needed to make sure Evie was safe. The rest could wait.
“Oh, all right.” Mom laughed. “The girls went to Rocky’s. Well, just Jenna and Evie. Isabel’s down with a cold and—”
“Thanks, Mom.” I ended the call, grimacing as I thought about the hell I’d catch for it. Again, a problem for another day. “They’re at Rocky’s.”
“Let’s go.” Tucker was already on his bike, but he waited for Mason and me, the three of us falling into our usual riding formation without a second thought.
Rocky’s was right on the main road that connected the two towns, and was actually between us and the clubhouse, which meant we’d at least get to her fairly fast, and hopefully before the place started to fill up. I didn’t think anyone in Bedford was a danger to her, and I trusted Jenna to recognize anyone who didn’t belong if she was able to spot them, but if Rocky’s was crowded, the chances of someone from the outside being able to get close to Evie went up.
And it wouldn’t just be Evie in danger then. Jenna had always been able to handle herself against creeps, but if someone was willing to break into Evie’s mom’s house, they could also be willing to go to extremes to get what they wanted from Evie.
There was still a shot that Trudy had been the target, but until we could prove that, I was gonna go with my gut. And my gut said that Evie was still in danger.
We rounded the corner that would let us see Rocky’s in the distance, but what we saw first was a half dozen or so bikes ahead of us. For a moment, I thought the Riders had figured out where Evie and Jenna had gone and were coming to get her, but then I realized they’d be coming from the other direction if that were the case.
We watched as they slowed in front of the bar, but didn’t pull in. I saw the flash of metal a split second before the first shot went off.
I cursed and swerved, my brothers moving with me automatically, but by the time we heard the next shot, I realized they weren’t shooting at us.
They were shooting into the bar.
Where Evie and Jenna were.
I didn’t even think about the danger or whether or not this was going to come back to bite me in the ass. I only knew that two people I cared about more than my own life were in the building that was being shot at.
I pulled my Beretta M9 from the holster I wore under my cut and started firing at the other bikers, thankful that no one else was outside. My aim was shit because I was still going way too fast, but it got their attention and that was more important. From either side of me I heard the near-deafening sound of one of the monsters Mason carried on him, and then the slightly—not by much—quieter Smith & Wesson Tucker used.
In just seconds, the men were riding away, the squeal of their tires muffled by the ringing in my ears. I gave my head a shake as I skidded to a stop in front of the bar. I thought those guys were the only ones shooting, but I had no way of knowing what had happened inside the bar. There could’ve been someone the other MC had a vendetta against, or it could’ve been some drug deal gone bad. For all I knew, there were a dozen guys inside with guns, waiting to see what happened next.
All of that flew through my head in a flash, but none of it even made me pause. Keeping my gun in hand, I ran for the door of the bar and hoped like hell I wasn’t gonna get shot the second I stepped inside. I heard Mason and Tucker shout from behind me, but I ignored them. They’d either follow me or cover me from out there. I trusted them to make that call. All that mattered to me was getting to Evie and Jenna and making sure they were okay.
And at some point, I was going to need to face the fact that I was a shitty brother, because I kept tacking my sister’s name on as an afterthought. Not because I didn’t love her, but because it wasn’t her injured or dead body I kept seeing in my head. Somehow, in the time between my impulsive kiss and hearing that first gunshot, Evie had become the first person in my mind.
And as soon as I knew she was safe, we were going to have an unpleasant talk about the stupid shit she’d done today.