Chapter 30
Josh
I’m leaning against the wall, arms crossed over my chest as I try to keep my calm. Some fucking asshole has kidnapped my girl and could be doing God only knows what to her.
Anger boils in me, and it’s taking everything in me to stay in this room and wait for everyone to arrive.
For Luca to tell us who the fuck this man is that took Veronica from us.
Then once she’s safe, I’m going to make him pay for touching her in blood and pain.
And when he’s at the brink of death, I’ll make sure to nurse him back to health so I can do it all over again.
Luke moves over beside me, his shoulder brushing against mine, as he whispers, “We’re wasting time. We need to go find her.”
I nod in agreement, and as much as I’d rather fly out of this room and track her down, we need to be smart.
We need all the information and a solid plan.
There’s no way I want Veronica to get hurt because we acted recklessly.
But every second that passes feels like another needle being stuck into my skin.
The door opens and Earl and Sam step inside the room along with a few guys from Luca’s club, the Satan's Rejects. The room’s packed now. Men from both clubs fill the room with a single goal. To save Veronica and kill the fucker who dared to take her.
No one but Bash is sitting as he does something on his laptop. Research no doubt. He pulls Luca to the side, and the two of them have a hushed conversation.
I take a deep breath, feeling as if I’m about to explode.
“Let’s just go. Get the fuck out of here and find our girl,” Luke whispers again, and I can tell he’s just as frustrated, pissed, upset…hell, I don’t even know what we are. All I do know is that the woman I love is in danger.
“If we don’t have a plan in five minutes, we’re gone,” I tell him.
Earl finally breaks the silence, his voice deep and gravelly.
“Start talking, Luca. How do you know this man, and what do you know about him?”
It’s about damn time!
All eyes swing toward the tall bastard leaning against the wall.
His arms are folded across his chest, jaw tight like he’s chewing on old memories he’d rather choke on than spit out.
He’s just as furious as me about Veronica being taken.
Of all the people in the room, she means the most to him, Luke, and me.
At one point I would’ve added Hank, but he’s made his choice.
Luca pushes off the wall and steps forward, moving over to the desk so that he’s standing beside Bash. He exhales slowly through his nose and then begins to speak.
“He knew my father.”
The room stills, and he has everyone’s attention now. Especially mine. My fists open and close, extending my fingers then piercing my palm with my fingernails with each fluctuating movement.
Luca takes another breath and continues to speak.
“When my old man was pissed…or drunk—which was most nights—he’d run his mouth. Said he had a deal lined up with him once. He bragged about how he planned to sell Vee to him. Talked about the profit he could make from selling her.”
The words hit the room like a gunshot, and a chorus of curses erupt as each and every one of us become outraged at what’s being sad.
“FUCK THIS! I’M FINDING MY WOMAN!” Luke growls, his voice rising above everyone else. I take hold of his arm, holding him back from racing from the room. As much as I agree, we need more information.
“QUIET!” Earl barks, glaring at us, waiting to see who will defy his order, not caring which MC does it. Once everyone calms down, he speaks again, quieter. “Go ahead and finish, Luca.”
“His name is Hiram Davis. My mom and dad fought all the time. It was commonplace in our home. On the night my dad took me and left, he mentioned using what was between Vee’s legs to benefit him.
” My stomach churns at Luca’s words. I knew Mark was a bastard, but using his own daughter like that makes me sick.
“My dad was cruel to Mom and Vee. They were his punching bags. My mom threatened to take the both of us and run. That she’d disappear with us.
My father told me I was coming with him.
That she could keep Vee, but she couldn’t have me. I refused. He threatened me.”
“What did he threaten you with?” I speak up, asking, knowing I’m not going to like the answer.
“That if I didn’t go, he’d sell Vee to Hiram. He said that he’d had his eye on her for a while. There’s no way I was going to let that happen. So I made a deal. I’d go if he’d leave her alone.”
“He took the deal, didn’t he, son?” Earl asks.
Luca’s eyes flick briefly toward me and Luke before nodding his head.
“Hiram disappeared a couple of years later. Figured he either died or someone finally put a bullet in him. He wasn’t exactly loved.”
A knot tightens in my chest.
“Apparently,” Luca says coldly, “he didn’t die. He’s been hiding out, waiting for a chance to take Vee. I just don’t get it. Why now if he knew where she was?”
Silence spreads across the room again.
“Maybe he didn’t know where she was until recently,” Ryker speaks up.
Bash clears his throat. “I’ve been going back through all the surveillance of the club, and it seems like he doesn’t show up in any of them until after she came back to work. Until she spent time at your clubhouse, Luca.”
“So he was watching the clubhouse?” Luca says softly. “He found her because of me.”
“Or it was a total coincidence,” Earl interjects. “Regardless of how or why, he has her, and that’s all that’s important right now.”
Luca’s voice drops lower. “He always wanted my sister. Now he has her.”
“We need to find her—” Hank shouts angrily, hitting his fist into the wall.
Luke is on him like a striking snake. “You should’ve been with her! If you weren’t busy doing fuck knows what with that cunt downstairs,” he snarls at him angrily, “she never would’ve left. She would’ve been safe.”
Hank lunges forward, fists clenched, raised, ready to punch Luke with all the force he has in him. “You don’t know that!” he snaps. “She still could’ve been taken!”
Mack takes hold of Hank, holding him back as I do the same with Luke. This fighting between ourselves isn’t going to save Veronica. It will only make matters worse when we do. It’ll only delay us making plans to rescue her.
“You should’ve—” Luke spits out, his voice raising until he cuts off.
“Enough!” Earl’s voice steamrolls over Luke’s words with a booming shout, catching everyone’s attention. He gives both Hank and Luke a glare. “You’re bickering like a bunch of damn bitches,” he snaps. “Vee is missing. Finding her is our priority. Whatever else can be solved later.”
“Yes, sir,” Luke says under his breath.
“Fucking accusing me of shit that ain’t my—” Hank mumbles.
“SHUT. THE. HELL. UP!” Earl roars before turning his gaze to Luca who has his jaw clenched so tightly I can hear his teeth grinding. “Where do you think he took her?”
Luca doesn’t hesitate to speak up. “I haven’t heard anything of him in a long time. There’s his old home. It’s probably a long shot, but I know it’s still in the family. Then there are a couple of places that he used to do some of his shady business out of.”
“Do you think he may be using one of these places?” I speak up, wanting to know if he thinks it’s more likely he’ll be holding her at one place over another.
Because that's the one I want to go to. I need to be there when she’s found.
To make sure she’s okay. To hold her in my arms. I won’t breathe a sigh of relief until I do.
“Where do you think he’ll be?” Sam asks, stepping up beside Earl.
Luca shrugs. “Most likely? His old house.”
“Why there?” Sam questions him again.
Luca’s mouth twists.
“Not sure. Just a gut feeling.” His eyes darken. “Honestly… I hadn’t thought about him in years, or the fact that my father had threatened to sell Vee to him.”
My stomach churns. Years. This sick bastard has been thinking about her for years. He’s waited patiently, planning to take her.
Earl nods once.
“Alright. Bash? I know you’ve been busy typing away on the keyboard over there. Got any information to help us?”
“So, I found four places in his name or his son’s name.
One is an abandoned warehouse. From the surveillance cameras of the surrounding businesses it looks dead, and I haven’t seen any traffic in or out of it.
” Bash clears his throat, then turns his laptop back around to us so we can see.
“While I don’t think he’s holding Vee here, I wouldn’t rule it out.
I’d send a small crew to check it out. Now, the two places that Luca mentioned where he’s done business out of in the past, those are viable possibilities.
While Hiram doesn’t seem to be using them himself, his associates are still using them. His son as well.”
“And his house?” Luca asks.
“That does look like the most likely place. His son is living there now. If I were to bet, that would be the most likely spot. I think he’d assume we’d see it as too obvious a place to hide.
But I don’t expect he’s going to stay there long.
He has to know that Luca would tear the town apart to find her.
And as of right now, these are all the leads we have. ”
“We split up,” Earl states boldly.
He starts pointing around the room.
“Luca, Nic, Luke, Josh, Ryker, and Javier—you go to the house. Take a few more men with you.”
He turns to the rest of us.
“Hank, Mack, Sam, you’re a group. Colin, Jace, Bash, you’re another. Split up, take some other brothers with you. Send Carlos and Tank with a few other prospects to check out the abandoned building. Anybody see anything, or find her, let us know ASAP.”
Hank steps forward. “I’m going with Luca.”
Earl doesn’t even cast him a glance. “No,” comes firmly from his lips. “You’ve got your orders,” he adds flatly.
Hank’s jaw tenses, but he doesn’t argue. He knows his place. In the club our Pres’s word is final.
Earl looks around the room once more, taking his time. lingering on all of us. Especially those with ol’ ladies.
“And from now on every woman that’s an ol’ lady—or important to this club—is getting a goddamn tracker. One that can’t be removed easily if they’re taken.”
We all nod. Cause fuck yeah, women in this club are prone to being taken.
“I’m on that as soon as Vee is safe.” Bash’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.
We should’ve been protecting Vee better. It doesn’t matter if we didn’t know there was a threat out there waiting in the shadows for her. My hands curl into fists as one thought repeats in my head like a war drum.
Hold on, Vee. We’re coming.
And when we find the bastard who took you, he’s going to beg for death long before we give it to him.