CHAPTER THIRTEEN
– THORSTEN –
Adrenaline is pumping through my veins. I’ve done some fucked-up shit in my life, seen even worse, but what just happened knocks me off my game on a personal level. Fuckin’ feelings. Another reminder I should have never gotten involved. Havoc, betrayal, uncertainty, doubt. Shit I don’t need right now when I see the car with Livi inside disappear around the corner.
I run back to my bike and straddle it when Archer arrives at the scene. He hits the kickstand and jumps off his bike, blocking my path.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” I snarl.
“Not until you tell me what just happened.” He points at Livi’s bike which lies in the middle of the road.
I hit the kickstand and swing my leg off the bike to get in his face. “A car came out of nowhere and crashed into her. They threw her in the back before I could get to her, okay? She’s gone and you’re fucking preventing me from chasing the damn car.”
Archer reaches for his phone. “Okay. So, one vehicle was chasing her and another ran into her. Did both work together?”
“There was a vehicle chasing her?” I ask.
Fuck. How did I miss that? I did notice her following me, riding recklessly, or so it seemed. My music was blasting through my helmet to blow off some of the pumped-up steam due to our confrontation at the diner.
“I only saw her get hit in my rearview mirror. Before I could turn around and get to her, they had her in the car and drove off.”
Glancing around me, I only see Livi’s bike, no trace of any other car who was following her. All while Archer is fully focused on his phone.
“Did you even hear me, asshole?” I snarl. “Fuck it. I’m not going to stand around here doing nothing.”
“We’re not doing nothing,” Archer grunts. “Every single member of Broken Deeds, along with their old lady, and those connected by blood have a tracking chip. Livi has one too, and I’m trying to locate her.”
Fuck.
My heart skips a damn beat. “She has a what now?”
Archer glances up from the screen and shoots me a grin. “A tracking chip. Super high technology which not only allows us to get the exact coordinates in case of an emergency, but we can also read the person’s vitals.”
His eyes go down to the screen again and he releases a curse while I mentally release a few curses as well.
“No vitals,” he mutters.
The fuck? Fear hits me and I stumble back. I rub a hand over my neck and wonder what the hell happened between seeing her get hit by the car, someone throwing her into the vehicle, and then driving off. The car didn’t hit her that hard. She lessened speed and was taking a damn turn. Did she hit her head? Did she do something that caused this? Dammit.
“It doesn’t make sense.” Archer whips his head around.
Does he know where she’s going?
“What’s going on?” I step closer and catch a glance at the screen.
Archer shoots me a glare and shoves his phone away. My nerves are all over the damn place when he suddenly rushes past me and heads for Livi’s bike. I follow and see how he squats down to touch the blood on the pavement.
He’s rubbing it between his fingers as he glances up at me. “She must have fucked her arm up when she crashed. The chip is toast or was ripped from her arm when she injured herself. The way the bike is lying on the pavement? It’s definitely the arm with the tracker she landed on. Fucking hell, we don’t have any way to track her now.”
Relief is overwhelming, but it’s short-lived when anger hits. “You fucking asshole. You made me believe she was dead for a second there. Not to mention, I was about to follow the car that took her before you blocked me.”
Archer jumps up and gets in my face. “I’ll bring her home to us, where she belongs. There’s no fucking reason for you to worry about anything, okay? We’ll track the car through different cameras in no time. This isn’t your business, Thorsten. I heard what went down in the diner before this shit happened. So, go home, asshole.”
I want nothing more than to punch his fucking face, but I have issues at hand to deal with. Stepping around him, I take out my phone and shoot a message to Lenz to fix stuff, and then one to Macsen. Straddling my bike, I make a turn and head for the clubhouse.
Completely on edge, I park my bike in front of the clubhouse and jump off to rush inside.
“Any news?” I ask as soon as I spot Macsen sitting next to Lenz.
Lenz glances up from the screen of his laptop. “The lawyer who got Rainer out? She’s on the cartel’s payroll.”
“No shit?” I grunt. “It’s probably the reason why Nilo knew about Livi being my old lady, and where she lived.”
“What went down in the diner?” Macsen asks.
I release a sigh and take a seat. “Livi said she quit her job. Broken Deeds is offering us full immunity if we help them to bring down the cartel.”
Macsen snorts. “Yeah, right. Did she really think you’d fall for her charade again?”
“Who knows what she’s thinking,” I grit.
“Bet she has a headache now,” Lenz mutters while he’s working on his laptop. “You know, with the car smashing into her and all. I also checked and did what you asked. Oh, and there was a second car following her, or you, or both. They were shooting too.”
The fuck? Dammit, I shouldn’t have blasted the music through my helmet. The woman puts me on edge and throws me off fucking focus.
“She’s definitely not having a good day,” I agree. “Must have been the cartel following us and firing off rounds. Any location on Rainer or the other fuckers?”
“None,” Midas states as he takes a sip of his beer. “I had Kayden check up on Nell again. She was pissed off and said Bodie left her after they got together again. We all know they are on-off-on again, but this time they’re done because Bodie had a pile of rolls on him. He showed her to make her jealous and then he left.”
I sit on the edge of my seat. “A pile of rolls. That kind of cash could only come from the cartel.”
“I fucking knew it,” Macsen snarls. “How the hell did they pull that shit off? He was alone at the clubhouse, no alibi, and Ruben was killed with his signature written all over it. He should be dead instead of them having rolls of cash.”
“Unless,” I murmur, rubbing a finger against my scruffy jaw as I think things over.
“Unless what?” Lenz asks.
I release a curse and lean back in my chair. “I bet they managed to somehow save the deal and keep it between the four of them.”
Macsen whistles low. “Which means they have all the money to divide it between the four of them.”
“Shows how much they care about the damn club,” Midas growls. “They walked out on the club just so they could take a bigger cut. No warning, no heads-up, nothing.”
“Good thing we didn’t care about them or the consequences when we picked the club over those money-hungry old farts,” I grit.
“Now what?” Lenz wonders. “Goodbye, so long, farewell and shit? Can’t be as easy as it seems, right?”
Midas shrugs. “Don’t know why not. As long as both parties stick to it. We get our club, they get each other.”
“Rainer will return,” I state. “He’s never walked away from anything in his life. Mark my words, when the money runs out? He’ll come knocking.”
Macsen crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Then we’ll deal with it.”
“Damn straight,” I grunt.
“The package is almost here.” Lenz keeps typing on his laptop. “They are five minutes out and asking where they should make the delivery.”
“Have them park around back,” I order and get to my feet. “Leave the package until I tell them to bring it in. I have to make a few arrangements first.”
Stalking down the hallway, I enter my room to grab my backpack and shove a few things in there and then head out back. I shove my hand into my pocket to grab the keys to the small warehouse we have behind the clubhouse. We’ve renovated the building and it now holds a few spare rooms for members to crash in, along with a few holding cells.
I open the door to the last room. With the lack of windows and it being the smallest one, it’s never been used. I place my backpack on the mattress and pull out the handcuffs to place them on the bed. Throwing my backpack in the corner, I leave the room and wait outside for my guys to show up with my package.
Things weren’t supposed to go down like this. A plan rarely goes smoothly. Hell, even the murder of Ruben, blaming it on Rainer, took a spin. Though, the spur of the moment idea I had really could have fucked things up for all of us with the cartel following and shooting off rounds.
I rub a hand over my face and release a deep breath. Fuck knows what I want to accomplish by doing this, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. I hear the car approach and feel a rush of excitement and anticipation fill my veins.
A grin slides on my face when Jocko and Elric get out of the car.
“Pop the trunk,” I tell Jocko as I walk to the back of the car.
Elric comes to a stop next to me. “We changed vehicles two times, both under a bridge to make sure we lost anyone chasing us, torched both cars.”
“Good,” I grunt and reach for the package. “Go get rid of this one as well. I don’t want to take any chances.”
I walk into the warehouse when I hear Jocko start the car and drive off. Kicking the door shut, I head for the room to unwrap my package.