Chapter 32
Luke
Engines cut one by one, the early morning air swallowing the sound.
Dawn’s just starting to bleed into the sky, the pale gray washing over the trees.
We parked our bikes and van at an abandoned house Bash found just around the corner.
All we need is some fucking Karen calling the cops on us.
Not that we wouldn’t be able to handle them.
We have people in our back pockets who wouldn’t want some of their more suspicious activities to be known.
That was the plan.
Hit every location right as the sun comes up. Catch them sleeping. Catch them with their pants down. When they wouldn’t be able to react as quickly.
But something’s off. Maybe we were wrong when we thought she’d be here. It just seems too easy that he would hold her captive here. Fuck, I should’ve spoken up earlier when the plan was being made. But we only had these locations to go off of.
The house is quiet when we arrive, watching just out of sight from the woods across the street. But quiet wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s too quiet.
The windows are boarded up and exterior paint is chipping. Hell, non-existent is more like it. At first glance it looks abandoned, like someone packed their bags one day and left. But we know that’s not the case. There’s electricity on, services registered to Jack Davis, Hiram’s son.
So someone is inside. And that person may be the one to tell us where my woman is.
I step up beside Luca, leaves crunching beneath my boots. The rest of the guys spread out behind us, eyes on the house, weapons ready but low.
“You sure this is the place?” Nic mutters. “There’s no one around. Who’s guarding the place?”
“Maybe he’s just fuckin’ dumb,” Ryker says nonchalantly, smiling at something on his phone.
“It would be, if he spent all this time watching her, then planned on taking her in the parkin’ lot to not leave a trace,” Doc adds.
A quick glance at his face tells me he feels the same as me.
Not having control of the situation. That our woman was being stalked right under our noses and neither of us knew.
We failed Vee, and we’ll spend the rest of our lives making it up to her.
Another beat of silence stretches between us. Still no movement from the house. No voices from men keeping watch. Just the sound of tree limbs swaying in the wind and brushing against the house.
“Looks empty,” Javier says.
“Or they’re good at hiding,” Nic says.
Luca checks his watch, jaw tight. He stares at the house another few seconds like he’s trying to see through the walls to see who’s inside and where they are.
What I’d give to be fucking Superman right now.
I’d use my X-ray vision and then switch to being Flash and run into the house, rescuing Vee without anyone noticing.
Luca exhales sharply. “Fuck it. Let’s go in.” He turns, pointing at each of us as he talks.
“Javier and Ryker, take a few of the guys to the back of the house. I’ll take Nic, Luke and Josh with the rest to the front.”
His gaze cuts to the four members of the Satan’s Rejects standing near the tree smoking. “You four stay out here. Make sure no one gets out, and no one comes in.”
They nod immediately. No arguments. Just doing as their Pres orders them.
Luca jerks his chin toward the house. “Let’s move. My sister is the priority. She doesn’t get hurt,” he reminds us as if he has to.
We split fast. Us heading to the front door while the others head to the back. We move quietly, not wanting to alert anyone to our presence.
The air feels heavier as we approach the house, boots quiet against the cracked walkway. The boards across the window look old but solid.
We step onto the porch and wait, giving the others time to get to the back. Then Luca raises three fingers and counts down.
Three.
Two.
One.
The front door explodes inward with the force of our bodies at the same time our team at the back door hits their entrance.
We rush in hard, weapons up, clearing corners fast. Dust and stale air fill the place. The inside smells like old wood and something sour. But I notice it’s been lived in. The television is on, there are bottles of beer on the coffee table and bags of takeout food.
Someone is living here. God, let her be here.
“Kitchen’s clear,” Javier shouts from the kitchen.
“Living room’s empty,” I call back.
“Where the fuck is everyone?” I ask, leading me to believe Vee is definitely not here. If she was to be sure the fucker would have an army guarding them.
Then we hear something upstairs just as the guys join us. A shuffle, then feet on the floor. Our heads all shift toward the sound.
“Upstairs,” Luca mutters, placing his hand over his lips. We all lift our guns ready for anything.
We start toward the staircase when movement appears at the top.
A guy possibly late twenties, early thirties comes barreling down them. For a split second my brain catches on something familiar. He looks like a younger version of the man from the video. Same face. Same eyes. Only this one’s holding a gun.
And he’s already pulling the trigger.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Shots explode through the house.
“DOWN!” Luca shouts.
We dive behind whatever we can—couch, wall, overturned table. Plaster bursts from the wall near my head.
The guy’s firing wildly, panic in every shot.
Then Luca moves.
He steps out from his cover behind a bookcase, like he’s done it a thousand times. He fires off three quick shots.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
The guy screams, dropping the gun in his hand as he takes three hits—shoulder, thigh, arm. Non-vital, but enough to put him down, and for us to get the upper hand. He crashes onto the floor, writhing.
“You shot me,” he whines like a damn pussy.
“Where’s Vee?” Luca kicks him in the stomach with his boot.
“Fuck you.” The lump on the floor manages to get out between coughing up blood.
“Stay with him,” Luca snaps to Javier and the rest of us move toward the stairs. It’s clear this sack of shit is worthless.
If she’s here, she’s upstairs. I can feel it in my gut.
Halfway up the staircase we hear it. A loud slamming door.
My pulse spikes. We move faster, and when we hit the landing, we split up. Each of us heading toward a door.
There’s four.
One of them has her. I know it.
Luca goes to the first door. He takes hold of the handle and opens it easily.
The bed looks slept in, like someone just got up and threw the blankets off them. But no one’s here. He steps into the room, checking everywhere, while Ryker opens the door across from it. It’s empty. But you can tell someone was sleeping in it too.
The next door down the hallway is already open, light shining out from it.
A bathroom. And it's also empty.
Just leaves one more room for us to check. The last door at the end of the hall.
We have our guns up and ready for anything, and move toward it slowly.
I’m in the lead, so I take hold of the handle and try to open it. It’s locked.
Then a voice shouts from inside. “Come in and she’s dead!”
My jaw clenches so hard it hurts. The fuck if anyone’s hurting her.
Luca leans close, voice low but deadly.
“When we open the door, Vee is the priority. Doc, I want you and Luke going for her. Get her the fuck out of here. ”
“Like she ever wasn’t the priority,” Doc mutters. I know Luca didn’t mean it the way it came across. He’s just as worried about his sister as we are.
From inside the room, we hear something scraping across the floor. Heavy. Furniture, maybe? I already know what he’s doing. He’s trying to barricade the door. The fucker is trying to keep us out. We don’t have time for this.
“Do it,” Doc says.
Luca steps back and raises his gun and shoots.
The lock explodes.
Then he and I both kick the door hard, busting it in. The bastard is mid-step, dragging a dresser across the room to block the door. Fucker’s too slow though, and as he is moving to grab his gun, Luca fires.
One shot to the stomach. Another to the leg. Another to the foot.
The man screams and staggers across the room, reaching out to the wall, but missing it. He falls to the floor and Luca’s already on top of him, beating the ever loving shit out of him.
Doc’s already moving. He reaches the bed in two strides, grabbing the blanket and covering Vee.
They fucking tied her to a bed. Her face is bruised and bleeding and she’s shaking. Doc takes something out of her mouth and when I get closer, I see it’s a sock.
My vision goes red.
I rush forward, my hands already working to undo the ropes restraining her hands. “It’s okay,” I mutter, cutting through the bindings. “We got you. You’re safe.”
The ropes fall away. Then I move to her feet. Cutting through those as well.
Doc slides his hands under her, lifting her gingerly from the bed. She clings to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, as she buries her face into his chest. Then I hear it. Her crying. Muffled against his body.
The sound of it twists something deep in my gut. But she’s alive. That’s all that matters.
Doc is already moving back toward the door with her.
“Take them back to the clubhouse,” I tell Luca. “Our clubhouse. They’re going to fucking pay for what they did.”
Luca stops his assault on the man to come check on his sister. He leans in to Vee, kissing her softly on the head.
“They’re going to bleed for making you bleed,” he whispers to her.
“Javier, let everyone know we have her and we’ll meet them at your clubhouse. It’s time to take care of this trash,” Luca orders, but I’m already falling in step behind Doc, who’s leaving the room with our woman in his arms. We need to make sure she’s okay.