Chapter 15 #3
“I hung out with Grover and when he left for his thing on the Army post, I…” Spencer’s head lowered again. “I took some money and tried to earn enough back to appease Rocky for now.”
“You took some money?” Grover asked. “Shit, this is getting worse and worse. You stole from me, Spence?”
“It wasn’t a lot! Just some bills from your change jar. And I took some older DVDs that were in the back of your case and pawned them. I’m sure you don’t even watch them anymore.”
A muscle in Grover’s jaw ticked as he stared down at his brother in disbelief.
“I had to get Rocky off my back! I asked around and found out where I could hopefully make some quick cash,” Spencer hurried, trying to defend his actions.
“Where?” the detective asked.
“Um…”
“Do not hold back now,” Doc bit out. He’d been quiet up until that moment. “This is your sister we’re talking about. You need to tell the cops where this illegal gambling house is, the names of anyone you met there, and what games you played. This is serious shit, Spencer. Very serious shit.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Spencer yelled. “I do! Look at me! This is the least of what could happen to me if they don’t get their money!”
“Look at you?” Trigger sneered. “Look at Devyn. Oh, that’s right, we can’t.
Because we don’t know where she is and you still haven’t told us!
Quit fucking around and tell us what happened at Lucky’s place.
We get it. You’re a gambling addict, in it up to your eyeballs.
That ship has sailed. Now fucking talk before Grover or Lucky lose their shit! ”
Spencer’s gaze met Lucky’s for a split second before he looked back down at his lap.
When he began to talk again, his words were monotone.
“You’re right. I fucked up. I am a fuck-up and I got Devyn into this.
I tried to make some money, but lost it.
So I went over to see Devyn. I apologized for what happened in Missouri and tried to make her see how serious the situation was, that Rocky would kill me if I didn’t give him the money I owed him.
We fought—nothing physical,” Spencer said quickly, sensing the animosity in the room.
“Someone knocked on the door and she answered it. One of the guys hit her and knocked her out before she could really do or say anything. Then they came after me. They did this,” he said, gesturing to his face, “then left, taking Devyn with them.”
“Did they say anything?” Lucky asked desperately. “Where they were going or why they took Dev?”
Spencer nodded. “They said that Rocky sent them, and that when he got his money, he’d tell me where I could find Devyn. I think they thought she was my girlfriend or something.”
“Fucking hell!” Grover yelled, spinning around and running a hand through his hair.
“What did they look like?” one of the detectives asked.
“They were both big. At least three hundred pounds, and tall too. One guy picked Devyn up and swung her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. He had brown hair, the other had black.”
“And you’ve never seen them before?” the same detective asked. “They weren’t at the illegal gambling hall you went to?”
“No,” Spencer said dejectedly.
Lucky could only stand stock still, vibrating with anger. His worst nightmare was coming true—and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. The thought of Devyn being kidnapped was enough to make him lose his mind.
He couldn’t think. Couldn’t decide what the hell he was supposed to do now.
Luckily, his teammates and the detectives didn’t have that problem.
“Do you know the names of the men who beat you up and took your sister?” a detective asked.
“Darrell and Bruce, I think. At least, that’s what they called each other. I hadn’t ever seen them before,” Spencer repeated almost desperately.
“What kind of car were they driving?”
“I don’t know. I never saw a car. I couldn’t get off the floor for a while after they beat on me,” Spencer explained.
“So where have you been for the last day or so?” Lefty asked. “Why didn’t you immediately call Grover to tell him what happened? Or the cops? Devyn’s been gone two days and you haven’t done shit to help her?”
Lucky wanted to know the answer to that too.
He glared at Spencer, even though the other man didn’t see it.
He kept his eyes on his hands in his lap.
“I was wigged out. And hurting. I had to think. Try to figure out what to do. I stayed in my car overnight.” Then he looked up at his brother again.
“I know I fucked up. That’s why I came here.
I need help, Fred. Not just to get Devyn back, but to stop this incessant voice in my head that keeps telling me I’m one bet away from making it big.
I never wanted to be this guy! The fuck-up in the family…
but here I am. I need to make it right. I’ll do anything, anything, to get Devyn back. ”
“Then tell us exactly what the guys who beat on you said. How much do you owe and how do we get it to this Rocky guy?” Grover asked.
Lucky wasn’t sure he believed Spencer. It was one thing to want to change when you were faced with the condemnation of your family, but it was another once the heat died down.
The urge to gamble would always be there for him.
He’d have to work damn hard to overcome it…
and Lucky wasn’t sure the guy had the strength.
“I thought it was fifty G’s that I owed Rocky, but Darrell told me with interest, and because they had to track me down, it was now sixty,” Spencer said quietly.
“Sixty thousand bucks?” Grover shouted, his eyebrows shooting up. “Fuck, Spencer. I don’t have that kind of money!”
“Where are you supposed to make the drop?” one of the detectives asked.
“I’m supposed to call Rocky and make the arrangements,” Spencer explained.
“We can track it,” the detective said to his partner. “And tail him when he makes the drop.”
“If you pay the money, this Rocky guy will tell you where he stashed Devyn?” Lucky asked, not giving a shit about the logistics of the drop. All he cared about was Devyn.
“Yeah, I guess,” Spencer said.
“Will he honor his side of the bargain?” Lefty asked.
Spencer shrugged.
“Maybe he can call Rocky and say he has the money, and we can trace the call, get him to admit where they’ve taken Devyn,” Oz suggested.
“Or we can beat the shit out of him and make him tell us,” Doc muttered.
“Um, how about we leave the tracing and coercing to the police,” a detective said.
The Deltas ignored him.
“We could see if anyone around your townhouse has security cameras, to find out what kind of car they were driving,” Brain said.
“Then we can find these Darrell and Bruce guys and make them tell us what they did with Dev,” Trigger suggested.
Lucky had been searching on his phone while his team brainstormed.
He appreciated them doing what they did best, trying to figure out a way to manage the op, but he had only one objective in mind.
Not finding the loan shark. Not even finding the men who took Devyn, although he’d love to have five minutes alone with them.
His one objective was Devyn herself. She was the only thing that mattered.
When he finished on his phone, he looked up and caught Grover’s gaze. “I’ve got seven thousand in my savings.”
He saw an immediate look of understanding in his friend’s eyes. Grover immediately said, “I think I’ve got four. I would’ve had more, but I used it on the house and to buy materials for the barn.”
And then the other men began to chime in.
“I’ve got seven-five,” Trigger said.
“I think I have three. I’m sorry it’s not more. We just bought all the stuff for the nursery,” Brain added.
One by one, Lucky and Grover’s teammates offered up their own hard-earned money to try to come up with the sixty thousand they needed to save Devyn’s life.
Lucky’s eyes watered at the deep devotion of his friends. They all knew they’d probably never see the money again. And yet they still offered it with no strings.
“I’ve got some too,” Gillian added.
“Me too,” Kinley and Riley said at the same time.
“I’m not sure paying this Rocky guy is the best option here,” one of the detectives said.
“Right, paying a kidnapper means you’re giving in. There’s no guarantee he knows where your sister is or that she’s even still alive,” the other officer said.
Lucky turned to the two men. He was beyond furious, but he did his best to hold his temper…for Devyn.
“This asshole isn’t asking for a billion dollars.
Or even a million. He wants what he’s owed.
And that’s it. He could’ve told Spencer he wanted two hundred thousand, or even more.
I don’t trust him, not for a second, but we literally have no other choice.
The guy’s in another state. There’s no telling where his goons stashed my girlfriend.
They could be hurting her right this second, and I’m not willing to sit around and wait while people are interrogated and the search commences, especially when we have no idea where to even start looking and Devyn’s been missing two days.
I’d give any amount of money to Rocky if there’s even a one percent chance he’s telling the truth. Right now, it’s all we’ve got.”
“But—” the senior detective started, and Grover interrupted him.
“Lucky’s right. I don’t like this any more than you do, but right now, this Rocky guy holds all the cards.
And I want my sister back. If paying off my brother’s debt is the only way to make that happen, so be it.
” Then he turned to Spencer, dismissing the detectives.
“When we raise the money, you’ll call Rocky and tell him you’ve got it and demand to know where Dev is,” Grover told Spencer.
The other man immediately nodded. “Of course. I’ll do anything.”
“You’ll also go into rehab,” Grover said sternly.
The hope in Spencer’s eyes dimmed, but he nodded weakly.
“I mean it, Spence.”
“I know. Me too. I know I fucked up. But I truly never thought they’d do anything to anyone else.
I borrowed the money, so I thought Rocky would come after me.
I wouldn’t have come here if I thought he’d do something to you or Dev,” Spencer said quietly.
“I can’t get the image of Devyn lying unconscious on the floor out of my head. ”
The shit thing was, Lucky believed him. He wanted to hate the other man, but he looked absolutely devastated about what happened.
This wasn’t how he’d wanted Grover to find out about his brother, but he wasn’t upset it was finally out in the open. Now he just needed to get Devyn back. Her family would have to deal with Spencer’s addiction, but at least it was no longer Devyn’s dirty little secret.
“I’m assuming Rocky isn’t going to take a traveler’s check,” Trigger drawled.
“He deals in cash only,” Spencer confirmed.
“Right,” Grover said on a sigh. “If we’re going to do this, we need to get to our banks before they close. We can meet back here as soon as possible afterward.”
“Wait, we need to talk about this some more,” one of the detectives protested.
“Here are the keys to my place,” Lucky said, tossing his keychain to the officer closest to him.
“There’s blood on the floor in the living room, where I’m assuming Spencer was beaten.
There’s also splatter in the foyer, which I’m assuming is my woman’s blood.
My pets were cooped up in the house, so there’s shit and piss everywhere.
Try not to track it around, would you? I didn’t take the time to clean it up before I came over here. ”
He was done playing nice. He appreciated the detectives’ presence and their wanting to help, but he knew they would take too long. They needed to find Devyn before it was too late.
“I’ll fill out whatever form I need to in order to give you access to my townhouse,” he said. “But we can’t wait. I feel it in my bones. Maybe they’ve already killed Devyn, maybe they haven’t, but I won’t take the chance.”
“Right, so if we can stop standing around talking about where my sister might be and get to the banks before they close, maybe we can find her before something does happen to her,” Grover said impatiently.
Lucky tuned out the rest of the conversation between the detectives and glared at Spencer. The man must’ve felt his gaze, because he looked up.
“If one hair on her head’s been harmed, you’re gonna be sorry,” Lucky growled.
“I’m already sorry,” Spencer said. “For what it’s worth—and I know it’s not much—I love my sister. She’s a pain in the ass, as all little sisters are, but I’d do anything for her. I never meant for this to happen.”
“But it did,” Lucky said.
“I know,” Spencer said, slumping over.
Lucky was done with him. Berating Spencer wouldn’t bring back Devyn. The only thing that might possibly get her back was money. Lots of it. The sooner they could collect the sixty thousand, the sooner Spencer could call this Rocky guy to get Devyn’s location. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too late.