17. Stella
Chapter 17
Stella
I looked at myself in the mirror. I’d been in this hotel room since leaving the house. I was in a mood; a very bad mood. So much so that I’d taken Ethan to the center and asked Mama Jay to keep him for a bit.
I had to take a breather for my own sanity. The longer I was away, trying to get my shit together, the more I started to unwind and calm down. I understood Trace’s point last night. He was helpless, his leg holding him back from doing what he saw as his job. He wasn’t able to stop me from running off head first into danger.
It had taken a phone call with my daddy earlier to sort out my emotions. He chewed me out for not telling anyone where I was or what I was doing. He had a point, I agreed with him, but that still did nothing to bank the hurt and anger in his voice. The man hardly ever raised his voice; he didn’t need to. The tone told you all you needed to know. If you were smart enough to catch it. Though, let’s be real, no one could listen to Wayne Malone and not understand that tone.
For him to do so, now, toward me, told me just how worried they’d been. I’d promised to get my shit together and come to the station.
They were setting up a plan to track down Kurt. There had been a few new sightings of him. Time to break him in half and get this out of the way. We had better things to do.
My head hurt. My heart ached. I just needed to tuck my tail and go apologize to Trace. Daddy said AJ was bringing him to the station; no time like the present, I guessed.
My phone chimed, and I turned to the bed, flopping down and picking it up. An unknown number. I sighed and ignored it. A minute later it rang again. Ugh, why couldn’t they dial numbers right? I wasn’t in the mood to buy anything, either. I rubbed my face, scrubbing at the annoyance. The phone pinged, and I looked down. It was a picture of Carter, tied to a pole, his face bloody.
“NO!” A wash of pure, fire hot rage rolled up through me. My blood was boiling when the phone rang again. “I’m going to find you, tear you?—”
“If you want to see him alive, you’ll do what I say.”
“I will kill you—” A grunt had me gritting my teeth.
“Come to the old barn on—where are we again?” I heard a muffled noise, then Carter cursed.
“Fuck. You!” The pop of flesh against flesh had me on my feet. He was hurting my brother. This bastard was going to die. Slowly.
“Carter, where are you?” I snarled into the phone as I grabbed my backpack. I needed to get out of here and find him.
“County...road...15. Nelson farm...barn…the old one…” His voice was so low now. Tears burned in my eyes. Please God, keep my baby boy safe until I get there.
“I’m on my way. You touch him again?—”
“You’ll do nothing.” The line went dead.
I shoved my phone in my pocket. “I’ll do something, all right. You sorry sack of shit.” I wrenched open the door and stopped short.
Jack Davenport stood there, his hand up, poised to knock. I squinted, pushed past him, and ran toward my truck. I didn’t have time for his shit right now. I threw the backpack inside, dropped the tailgate, and was climbing up before Davenport got to the side of my truck.
I used my thumb to open my locked toolbox. The front folded out to reveal my gear. I stripped out of my sweatpants, pulled on a pair of leather pants. Those pants cost me more than I ever thought imaginable, but they were worth every penny. A Kevlar-lined tank went over the one I had tucked into my pants. My vest, each pocket stocked with a number of things I might need, went on next. The plates inside it would keep bullets out of me, and that was the best I could hope for right now. I said a silent prayer as I got ready. I needed the grace of the spirits, God, anyone else who could help to keep me and my baby safe—because come hell or high water, I was going in that barn and getting my brother back.
“Where are you going?”
“How did you just happen upon me?” I jerked my new bat up from its spot in the box. My duffel bag came next.
“I’m across the drive. Saw you come in last night.”
Fucking stalker.
“So, where are you off to? Is Tracey meeting you?” And it was his business why ? I hated nosey fuckers.
“Jesus, do you have an off button? If not, I can give you one.” He pressed a hand to the side of the toolbox. I glared. “Move it or lose it. I ain’t got time for your questions.” Was he deaf? Or just stupid?
I closed the box, hoping he hadn’t moved his hand. It would serve him right. I grabbed my bat and bag and hopped down. I pushed the tailgate up until it locked, then went around to the driver’s door. Davenport followed me, obviously not taking the hint. I bit the inside of my cheek as I tossed my things in and started to climb up.
“Where are you going?” he asked again, his meaty hand holding the door open.
I glared. “To kill a mother fucker. Now, move.”
“Ah, I can’t let you do that.” He grabbed at my arm. A look of madness clouded his eyes. “If you get him now, I’ll lose too much.”
What? It took a second for things to snap in place.
“He has my brother. Fuck off!” I debated pulling my Glock, but instead decided to just go old school. I snarled in rage and kicked out, clipping him in the shin. He jostled back. It wasn’t enough. A roundhouse punch knocked him to the ground with a loud grunt. The door slammed, the truck roared to life, and I was throwing up gravel by the time he got up. Stupid mother fucker! I let out a scream and slammed my hands down on the steering wheel.
“You’ll be next!” I screamed in the empty cab. He knew that sick bastard had my brother.
My mind went back to the directions. My concentration wavered with dread. Nelson farm, the old barn off country road 15. I knew it well. We’d all been out there a time or ten as teens. They used to have summer bonfires and cookouts. That all stopped after old man Nelson died about ten years ago. Now it was just his widow, Mrs. Lorna, out there.
If I cut up the back road between their farm and the Jenkins farm, the fucker wouldn’t see me coming. I just hoped that the old road was in traveling shape. If I needed to get out and run, we were fucked on a fast and easy getaway. There was two miles of thick brush between the farms. Fucking hell.
Twenty minutes later, I stopped on the side of the old dirt road. The overgrown weeds and brambles concealed me from prying eyes. Thankfully it wasn’t this overgrown close to the barn. It gave me a vantage point to spy from. The potholes and mud holes hadn’t been as bad as I had expected, but it did take a little longer to get down here than I wanted.
My gut tightened as I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed before I thought better of it. What I hadn’t expected was seeing another car pull up in front of the barn. Davenport got out and stormed toward the doors. My stomach dropped. Was he really in on this? He had been there when Trace and Chip were hurt. Not to mention the other men that had been hurt that night. And now… “Oh yeah, fucker. You’re mine now.”
A new anger rolled through me as I slid from the truck, leaving the door open slightly. My bat and duffel came with me. I had a new toy I wanted to try out. Why not now? The small rifle was encased in a black carbon box. The darts that went with it lay ready, waiting for me. I loaded it, put three capped-darts in a pocket, and shoved the bag out of the way. I pulled on fingerless leather gloves, flexed my fingers, and grabbed my bat. Louis the Second fit perfectly in my gloved hand.
There was no one waiting to keep me from jumping the ragged fence, but I was careful to not make any noise. A surprise attack was my best bet.
“I’m coming for you, fuckers. Ready or not.”
Tracey
I hadn’t made it more than a few steps when a body blocked my way. Chip’s brows were twisted as he looked at me. “What is it?” I shook my head and tried to move around him.
“I have to go.”
“Talk to me, man.”
I showed him the message I’d gotten. Carter’s beaten and bloody face. Someone ripped my phone from my hand and cursed loud enough that everyone went silent. Derek slapped my phone back into my hand, moved to his desk, and started typing. “Son of a bitch!”
“Derek, what is it?”
“Trace just had me tag a call. He also got a text from it. That same number called Stella’s phone. I have a location—Fuck! Gramps, we gotta move now. Carter is in trouble. If she got what they sent Trace?—”
My gaze went to Wayne. His big body was rigid as he turned and spoke, “What?” I handed over my phone. They all got to see what I had. Cursing and moving bodies filled the room.
“Where is he?” Wayne growled.
“Old Nelson farm…” Derek sounded off. I turned to see him sliding into a vest. He grabbed his laptop and phone and made his way toward his gramps.
“No!” Gabe glared at Wayne. “Unless you wear a badge, you are not going. I don’t care who you are. Derek, get me a location and a site map. Anna, call Charlie and give him a heads up as to what’s happening. They’re a helluva lot closer than we are. Tell him to go in silent,” Gabe instructed, his hands making quick work of fastening his duty belt. Everyone else hurried to grab what was needed.
“I’m going.” Wayne moved to me.
I said nothing, just walked out the door and made my way down the steps as best as I could without wincing. Chip had keys in his hand, and we climbed into AJ’s truck. She could get mad later; right now, I didn’t care.
“Wayne, if you grab that bag on the floorboard, there’s an extra vest in there. Put it on. If you go in, you listen to what I say. I can’t have you and this asshole both going in half-cocked. This is not a man to play around with,” Chip ordered.
He was in commander-mode. That was fine. I was in no way able to handle that mantle right now. I’d never seen Wayne so quiet. The rage burning in his eyes said it all. Someone had royally fucked up. I just hoped we got to them before Stella did. She was going to need someone to hold her back. There was being a fuck up, then there was fucking with her family. I’d seen how she was when her dad had been taken. I had no doubts that her rage was three-fold right now. Carter was her heart. Someone would die today if we didn’t get there in time to stop it. Of that I was one-hundred percent certain.
My cell vibrated. I put the call on speaker so everyone could hear. “Daniels.”
“It’s Davenport. We have a location.” I heard something rustling in the background of the call. Chip glanced at me. I held up a finger, giving Wayne a look. He said nothing.
“Where? I’m on the way to town. I can meet you.”
“Some old farm land out on road 15?” He sounded like he was asking a question instead of telling us that was where they were. A bad feeling started to bubble up in my stomach.
“I don’t know the place. I’ll make a call and get directions.”
“No, there’s no time. Plus, we don’t want the local LEO’s on our ass. This is my bounty.”
I ignored his words. “Are you sure he’s there?”
A scuffle in the background caught my attention again. A grunt sound came through the speaker, muffled.
“What are you doing? Are you already there?” I asked, already knowing he was. Chip’s lip curled as he looked down at the phone. I guess he and I were on the same page. Sometime while working this bond case, Davenport had gone to the other side. My gut told me I was right.
One thing I’d learned in my life was to listen to my gut.
“Nothing. I’m outside. There’s something going on in there, but I can’t see what.”
I really hated liars.