Chapter 15
Billy
The brothers wanted answers, so I gave them answers.
I told them every detail of what happened the night I found Everleigh and how she’d survived the brutal shooting.
I even shared how Doc and Viper had come out to my place to give me a hand with her—something Viper clearly hadn’t shared with everyone.
I told them all about her experience with DeLuca, including how he’d threatened to kill her father if she didn’t work to cover his gambling debt.
The brothers seemed slightly empathetic when I told them how she’d gone along with Antonio’s demands and worked for years before learning that he’d killed her father the very night she was kidnapped.
I thought it might help them understand why she’d gone into his accounts and moved his assets, but I was wrong.
They were pissed that she was so close to being free of him, only to throw it all away with a hasty act of vengeance.
I was in the midst of trying to defend her when my cell phone started to ring.
I looked down at the screen, and when I saw that it was DeLuca calling, I stood and shouted, “It’s him. ”
The room immediately fell silent, and everyone listened as I answered, “You’ve got Billy.”
I put the call on speaker, so everyone could hear as he asked, “You want to play?”
“No, I’m afraid I’m not up for games today. I’m looking for my daughter.” I did my best to keep my voice calm and steady as I asked, “Would you happen to know anything about her whereabouts?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He sounded quite pleased with himself as he added, “She’s sitting right here next to me.”
“If you lay one hand on her...”
“What? What are you going to do, Billy?” he scoffed. “You’re a cleaner. Not a killer.”
“That was before you decided to kidnap my daughter.”
“Oh, the big, bad butcher seems upset. What shall we do about that?”
“Let me talk to Kiersten.”
“I don’t think so. You’ll just have to trust me.” Evil dripped from his words as he sneered, “You have something of mine as well.”
“Just tell me what you want, Antonio.”
He sounded so vile, so fucking arrogant, and sick in the fucking head as he snarled, “It’s simple, Billy. I want a trade…your girl for mine.”
It was at that moment I realized that this was real.
DeLuca had my daughter, and he wanted me to make an unimaginable choice.
Just the thought of it made me want to reach through that phone and rip the guy’s throat out.
I couldn’t let him know that he was getting to me, so I tried to play it cool and asked, “What girl?”
“Oh, come on, Billy. Don’t play me for a fool,” Antonio grumbled. “You have twenty-four hours to bring Everleigh to me, or your daughter is as good as dead.”
The line went dead, and it was all I could do to keep myself from throwing my phone across the room. I was absolutely distraught, and I was struggling to know which end was up. I ran my hand down my face, trying to get a grip on myself, but it did little to improve my state of mind.
Thankfully, Viper was there to keep me from completely losing it. “Damn, this guy is a real fucking prick. I’ll enjoy putting a bullet in his head.”
“Damn straight,” Country agreed.
“We need to talk to Everleigh. It’s time to see what she knows.”
When Viper announced that he wanted to talk to her, I was apprehensive, but I couldn’t refuse. There were questions that only she could answer, so I remained silent when Lynch got up and went to retrieve her from the family room.
Seconds later, she walked in and looked positively terrified when she saw all the big, angry bikers staring back at her. They watched her like a pack of angry wolves as she made her way over to one of the empty chairs next to me.
As soon as she sat down, she turned to me, hoping for some reassurance, but the second she saw my face, she knew something was wrong. Worried, she leaned toward me and whispered, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“DeLuca called,” I answered. “Seems he’s looking to make a trade.”
“What kind of trade?”
I didn’t see any reason to worry Everleigh with all the details of our conversation, so I simply told her, “You for Kiersten.”
“Oh...”
The thought of her being back in DeLuca’s hold had bile rising to the back of my throat. That was the last fucking thing I wanted to happen, and I had no doubt that she felt the same way. Hoping to ease her mind, I reached over and placed my hand on hers. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this thing out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out, Billy.” She inhaled a deep breath, then muttered, “I have to go back.”
“No, we’re not giving in to him.”
“But...”
“Billy’s right,” Viper interrupted. “We’re not playing games with this asshole.”
I gave Everleigh’s hand a quick squeeze, then said, “They have some questions for you, and I’m going to need you to answer them the best you can.”
“Questions about what?”
“DeLuca.” Viper leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “We need you to tell us everything you know about him.”
“But I don’t know anything.”
“I’m betting you know more than you think.” He studied her for a moment, then asked, “How many guards does he have at his place?”
“I don’t know. I was always confined to my room or his office.”
“You didn’t see any guards? It was just you and DeLuca?” Viper pushed.
“I didn’t say that.” Country grumbled something incoherent under his breath which only seemed to make Everleigh more nervous.
She wrung her fingers in her lap as she tried to remember something that might help them get the answers they needed.
“He always had two guards posted at his door and two more downstairs. But I think there are at least fifteen in all. At least, that’s what he had on the payroll. ”
“See? You did know something.” Viper seemed pleased—at least, momentarily. “What about properties? We haven’t been able to find anything except the house in Belle Meade.”
“I um...” She thought for a second, then told him, “I don’t know anything about them, but I do remember there being two separate properties. One was on Riverdale and the other on Malcolm.”
“We’re gonna need more than that.” There was no missing the urgency in Viper’s voice when he said, “We need the exact address, Everleigh, and we need it now.”
We all watched as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. I had to give it to her. Even under Viper’s intense pressure, she was holding her own. It took her a moment, but the second she opened her eyes, I knew she had it.
“229 Riverdale and 879 Malcolm.”
“That’s good. That’s real good.” He turned to the man sitting next to him, then asked, “Are we good to go?”
He nodded, then started typing away at his laptop as he replied, “Yeah, I got what I need.”
“Good.” Viper turned his attention over to Lynch, then said, “Take her back to the family room.”
Lynch nodded, then stood and motioned for Everleigh to follow.
I could tell she didn’t want to go. I’m sure she had a million questions racing through her head.
Hell, I had the same damn questions, and like her, I was itching to ask every one of them.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the time. Viper wanted her to go, so she had no choice but to stand up and follow Lynch out of the room.
She was just about to walk through the door when she suddenly stopped and turned to face the group.
Tears filled her eyes as she announced, “I’m really sorry about all this.
I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I just wanted to make Antonio pay for the horrible things he’s done.
I never would’ve dreamed that he would come after Billy’s daughter. ”
“But he did,” Country snapped angrily. “And if anything happens to her...”
“Country,” I warned.
“I’m really sorry.”
My heart ached to see her so upset, but Everleigh’s apology stirred a notable change in the brothers.
The room felt a little less hostile as they started whispering amongst themselves, and I had no doubt that they were sharing their thoughts on what had just taken place.
It seemed that Everleigh had made them see that she wasn’t that bad after all—which wasn’t an easy feat.
Kiersten wasn’t just Country’s ol’ lady.
She was one of their business partners. She ran the Manor—all-natural marijuana farm with some of the best weed around.
She not only sold her stuff to the brothers, but she also helped a lot of people who were in pain and had no other means of help.
While working with her, the brothers had all grown to care a great deal about her.
In their minds, she was one of their own, and they’d do
whatever was necessary to bring her home safely—even if it meant putting their lives on the line to do so.
The second the guys started to quiet down, Country turned to Viper and asked, “So, what’s the plan? How are we going to get Kiersten back?”
“There is no plan, at least not yet” Viper answered. “We gotta give Menace a chance to look into the addresses Everleigh gave us.”
“We don’t have time for that all shit,” Country argued. “We got no idea what that motherfucker is doing to her. We gotta get over there and...”
“I know you’re worried, brother. We all are, but that way of thinking isn’t going to bring your girl home,” Viper warned.
Country looked utterly defeated as he muttered, “You’re right, but fuck. It ain’t right that he took her.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but this is the hand we have been dealt. It’s time for us to figure out our next move.”
Menace had been quietly hammering away at his laptop throughout our entire conversation. I hadn’t thought he was even paying attention until he finally piped up and said, “I’ve got eyes on both warehouses and DeLuca’s house.”
“And?”
“Not seeing any sign of Kiersten.”
“Damn,” Country huffed.
“Doesn’t mean she isn’t there, brother,” Menace answered. “I’ve got a limited view of the house.”
Viper leaned over to get a better look of the screen as he asked, “Can you tell anything about the guards?”