Chapter 16
I was actually kind of surprised the Riders followed through with their plan. Their sole purpose of coming to the block party was to start shit and get some sort of revenge or payback. However, since we were prepared for their arrival, their disruption was minimal. The mayor made sure we had enough officers on hand to handle anything that might go down, on top of the security company who volunteered their time.
As soon as the rumble of the bikes could be heard, Mayhem members were front and center, ready for whatever. After we sent the Riders on their way, the block party continued as if nothing had happened. On my way to find Rue, I made sure RJ was safe and noticed Briar was missing.
“Hey, where’s Briar?” I asked my nephew.
“He went inside to use the bathroom. He’s been gone a long time, though, so maybe he went to play another game.”
RJ went back to playing basketball, and I headed toward the water station where I’d left Rue. One of the other ladies was there and told me Rue had gone inside. I jogged toward the entrance of the building, and before I made it to the door, Briar barged through them and ran into me.
“They took Mommy!” he cried.
He was hysterical, and I hoped I’d misheard him. I got down to his level and held his shoulders to keep him still.
“What did you say?”
“Daddy and two men took Mommy. They hit her on the head, and she fell on the floor.”
“Wait a minute! Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Daddy was holding me, and Mommy tried to get me. They took her away.”
I took my phone from my pocket and went to the app for the tracking device I’d put in Rue’s necklace. She wasn’t far away, but they were moving in the opposite direction.
“Fuck! C’mon!”
Briar ran as fast as he could, trying to keep up with me. I found Russell with Rosemary and must have looked distraught because they immediately asked what was wrong.
“Deacon took Rue. Briar saw the whole thing. We have to find her.”
“What!” Rosemary shouted.
Russell wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Calm down. You have to keep your cool in front of Briar. Take him and find your sisters. I’ll make sure y’all get home safe.”
“I’m not—” She began to protest.
“Rose, now is not the time for you to argue. The longer we wait, the longer it will take to find her.”
Rosemary nodded as she wiped her tears.
“Okay. C’mon Briar.”
She extended her hand to her nephew, and he took it. When she tried to walk away from Russell, he held onto her.
“When you get your sisters, grab RJ, and meet me at the entrance of the center.”
She nodded before he kissed her forehead and released her.
“They can’t be that far. There are barricades up everywhere,” he said as we headed in the opposite direction as Rosemary and Briar.
“It’s been about twenty minutes. The necklace I gave her has a tracking device.”
Russell looked at me with a frown.
“Fuck you. I had a feeling it was necessary, and I’m glad I trusted my gut. She’s eight miles away and still moving.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Do you have to ask?”
“Are we involving the police?”
“Those who need to know are already expecting him to come up missing.”
“I’ll round up the crew.”
We had enough staff members and volunteers for the block party to continue while we took care of business. Those who needed to know were told we had an emergency.
Rue’s sisters met us at the center’s entrance with RJ. They were understandably upset, but I assured them I’d get Rue back. One of the officers would get them where they needed to be safely, and I focused on the task in front of me.
It had been over an hour since Rue had been taken, but the app said we were two miles away from her. Russell, Semiyon, Joe, and Noel were with me, and because we didn’t know what we were walking into, we were ready for war.
We’d just veered off the highway and onto a trail in a wooded area. With the lights off, I drove slowly until we were about a mile away from the location. I went off the trail, parked the truck, and cut the engine.
“We’re about a mile away, but I don’t know if he has a crew with him,” I told them. “Briar said it was him and two men.”
“True. Let’s separate,” Joe suggested, taking the words out of my mouth.
“Good idea. Semiyon and Noel, take this route. Russ, you and Joe take this route. I’ll go around straight on.” I pointed to the map of our location as I spoke.
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Russell said.
“I’ll be good. I’ll send y’all a screenshot of the map. Let’s share our locations, and if you run into problems, let somebody know.”
We quietly exited the truck, and before we parted ways, Russell stopped me.
“Don’t do no stupid shit. I can’t lose another brother.”
I embraced my brother and assured him again that I’d be fine. We headed in our respective directions. The gravel underneath my feet was all I could hear.
Twelve minutes later, I spotted an extremely run-down shotgun cabin with two men sitting outside. I hid behind a tree and checked the crew’s location.
Joe and Russell were approaching the left side of the cabin, and Noel and Semiyon were on the right. I texted my brother and Joe, telling them to go around to the back of the house.
When I gave my attention back to the men covering the front door, one of them had gone to the side of the house to take a piss.
“Perfect.”
Staying as low to the ground as possible, I snuck up on him, hitting him on the back of the head with the butt of my rifle. He fell to the ground in his piss, and I hid on the side of the house.
Just like I thought, his partner heard him fall and headed toward us. When he bent over to check on his friend, he met the same fate, falling on top of him.
“I hope getting to Rue is this easy.”
I checked the crew’s location, and they were nearby. I crept to the back to find Joe and Russell already there, and Noel and Semiyon were approaching.
“I need one of y’all to watch those two in the front in case they wake up,” I said.
Noel volunteered and headed that way.
“There’s a bedroom on the other side. It’s dark inside, but I think I heard someone crying,” Semiyon told me.
“I looked at the windows. They’re old and rusty, but we should be able to pry them open with little effort. We can get to her that way,” Russell suggested.
“I was thinking we kick the front and back doors in at the same time and bum rush his ass.”
“Or we could do that,” he agreed. “The room I heard the crying in is toward the back of the house on the right. Once inside, we’ll find him while you get her.”
“Sounds like a plan. Joe and Semiyon, take the front. We got the back. Let’s set our timers for one minute and kick the door down when it goes off.”
Joe and I set and started our timers before him and Semiyon headed to the front. Russell watched the clock, and we got in our stance with ten seconds left.
“Three, two, one!”
The bottom of our feet hit the back door, and it fell flat at the same time as the front door. Russell charged toward the front of the house while I went straight to the door on the right. It was locked, but it only took a few shoves from my shoulder to open it.
I hit the lights and saw Rue curled up on the bed. She was tied up at the ankles and wrists, with a piece of cloth around her mouth.
“Baby!” I dropped my rifle, removed the cloth from her mouth, and untied her as quickly as I could.
“Rock!” she screamed, climbing into my arms and burying her face in my chest.
A lot of noise came from the other room, but I remained in the small room with Rue, letting her release her tears.
“I need to tell you something, Rue.”
She looked up at me, her bottom lip trembling and tears in her eyes.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Her lip stopped quivering, and she stared me directly in my eyes as she responded.
“Okay.”