Chapter 32
Ace
“What’s happening?” I demanded, pacing back and forth along the road’s edge.
“You’re breaking my concentration, that’s what’s happening,” Kierston shot back, trying to focus on the paper map she was currently gazing into like a crystal ball.
I knew I needed to get my shit under control, but my inner alarms were sounded like klaxons inside my head at the moment.
My cell rang then, and I anxiously answered it. “Domino, what’s up?”
“Got some good news, Brother. Ruger just called. Someone in Los Lobos contacted him and is offering up information about Anna’s whereabouts. Says he wants immunity against club retribution if he gives us her exact location. It sounds legit,” he said, relief and hope etched into his gravelly tone.
Ruger was a brother of ours and worked as a mechanic at the club’s auto repair shop. Because of his line of work, and all the favors he’d done for bikers over the years, his network of informants was legendary. “Did he make the deal?”
I could hear the smile in Domino’s voice when he answered.
“Sure did. We’re on our way over there now.
We’re only five minutes away from some piece of shit chop shop Los Lobos recently bought.
The caller claims Anna’s being kept in the basement of that shithole.
Doc is going to meet us there. If we find Anna, he’s going to take her back to the compound to provide any medical care she might need. ”
“Do what you need to do, Brother,” I advised, pleased that something was going right tonight.
“Will do, Prez. I’ll drive over to wherever you need me as soon as I get Anna to safety,” Domino vowed.
“Thanks, Dom,” I returned, appreciating our pack now more than ever. “Good luck. Keep me updated.”
Domino agreed and hung up. I filled Mad Dog and Kierston in on what had just happened, and the witch pumped her tiny fist into the air with jubilation.
“That’s awesome news! Once we get the text that they rescued Anna, we can follow the talisman to Cat’s location and trap Kane.
Let’s see how he likes being held as a prisoner in some dark room for God knows how long. ”
Mad Dog grinned at Kierston’s ruthless reply. “He won’t be there for long, sweetness. Once we have Anna’s whereabouts, that worthless fuck will be good for nothing but worm food.”
I was about to agree with my brother’s bloodthirsty statement, when my breath suddenly began to rip in and out of my lungs rapidly. “Fuck! Something’s wrong with Cat. He’s done something to her!”
“What? How do you know that?” Kierston demanded, her eyes darting back and forth over the map. “They’re still at the first location. They haven’t even moved yet. I think they’re just talking.”
“He can feel it through their mate bond,” Mad Dog explained, his heavy brow furrowed with concern.
“Ohhh,” Kierston replied, looking directly at Mad Dog then slowly pulling her gaze back toward the map. “Hey, they’re moving now,” she declared, excitedly. “I think they might be going to his car, because it’s in the opposite direction of where she parked.”
Coming to stand beside the diminutive witch, I tried to see what she was seeing, but I was at a loss. I couldn’t make heads or tails out of the foreign symbols and signs splayed out in front of us.
When Kierston went quiet for too long, I prompted her once more. “Well, what’s happening? Where are they going? Is Kane taking the main road like we assumed he would?”
“No,” she slowly answered. “I don’t think they’re in a car at all. It looks like they’re on foot.” Her finger traced the map into what looked like a thick copse of trees. “They’re headed for a woodland area. It looks like some kind of park.”
Mad Dog followed her finger and swore. “He’s not taking Cat back to his clubhouse, Ace. He’s taking her to Peaked Hollow. It’s about ten miles from the gas station and would provide him the perfect cover if he wanted to be alone with her undisturbed.”
Kierston looked back and forth between us. “What’s Peaked Hollow?”
Mad Dog and I both held each other’s gaze when we realized what this meant. My stomach tied itself in knots and it suddenly became hard to breathe. I wasn’t sure if that was because of my own fear or Cat’s. Either way, it was sheer agony.
Mad Dog sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s a series of interconnected caves that people get lost in all the time. Those who go missing there are rarely ever heard from again. Most of that cave system is uncharted and incredibly dangerous unless you know your way around them.”
“Caves?” Kierston repeated, looking horrified. “You mean, somewhere underground?”
Mad Dog stared back at her. “That’s generally where caves are, yes.”
“That might be a problem,” Kierston frantically replied, her gaze flicking nervously in my direction.
“Why?” I posed, my chest getting that tight feeling once more.
“Well, I’ve never tested this spell underground before. I’m afraid, well, it might not work if they go too deep into the earth,” she nervously explained.
Mad Dog remained calm, but his cheek glitched the slightest bit, revealing how frustrated he was at the moment. “You’re just telling us this now, Kierston!”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize we’d be chasing human beings into the center of the Earth, Nathaniel. And I didn’t say it wouldn’t work. I said I didn’t know if it would,” she hotly defended. “Even magic has its limits, I’m afraid.”
“Does anyone in the pack know those caves well enough to navigate them?” I asked my brother then, not interested in fighting, only solving the problem.
“Not that I know of, Ace,” Mad Dog reluctantly returned.
My inner wolf began to howl for my soul mate. How could I have been so foolish as to let the woman out of my sight? My terrible lapse in judgement might have gotten my own mate abducted or killed.
“I’m guessing Kane knows those cave systems well. I’ve heard talk that he might be responsible for many of those missing hikers,” Mad Dog added darkly.
“That will put him at an advantage. He can hide Cat somewhere we can’t find her,” I admitted with a sinking feeling in my gut, “Spell or no spell.”