Chapter 26
Isaac
Serena thinks she won by slamming the door and walking away.
She has no idea how wrong she is. The urge to walk in there, drag her stubborn ass back, and show her what her little outburst will get her claws at my chest.
It’s cute how she thinks she can just walk away. And I’ll let her believe that. This time.
If I didn’t need to see Cole right now, we’d be on our way back to our house and Serena would be naked and tied up in our bed. Begging me to let her finish. And I wouldn’t let her.
After Theo sent me the email the night of the chase, I’ve been doing some digging around on my own. Turns out, there’s more going on here than I initially thought. So, I dug deeper, into trails that were clearly meant to be buried.
Many of them resulting in dead ends.
But one thing stood out that I couldn’t ignore. Everything always circled back to the clinic. Every name that I pulled, giving me some hope, and then disappearing into nothing.
At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but the fact that every single time, the clinic's name was flashing across my screen, proved otherwise. Women silently disappearing. Spread out just enough to keep anyone from connecting the dots.
But I did. And I’m left with more questions than answers at this point.
I need to talk to Cole. Missing women falls under his specialty, and he’s the only one that can answer my questions.
Pulling into the back parking lot, I check my phone and don’t see any missed calls or texts. Not that I really expected much right now. She was pretty pissed when I left her
She’s angry because she thinks I’m trying to control her. But I’m just protecting what is mine. Whether she realizes it or not, she is mine. She has been since the moment I saw those captivating ocean blue eyes.
Is that crazy? Yeah, probably.
But this is the first time in my life that I have something worth fighting for. I could tell the moment I met her that my life as I knew it was changed.
My Little Firecracker has no idea just how dark and twisted this world can be. She has no idea what real monsters look like. And I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible
Unfortunately, the longer she is with me, the harder that’s going to be. Monsters don’t get to love something without eventually staining it.
I get to the door at the end of the hallway, and it unlocks before I have a chance to use the call box. He must be watching the cameras knowing I was on my way. It’s quiet in the club, minus the few employees getting ready to open in a few hours.
Opening the door to his office, I see a familiar blonde sitting on his couch. The tension in the room is immediate. Her arms are crossed across her chest, perfectly manicured nails digging into her biceps while she yells at Cole.
“She started it!” Savannah snaps. “You can’t seriously expect me not to defend myself.”
Cole’s jaw ticks and he runs his hand down is face with a frustrated exhale. “Lower your voice. Don’t forget who you’re talking to right now.”
“No, I’m tired of you dismissing–”
The door clicks behind me. Both of their heads whip in my direction and Savannah freezes mid sentence. Her posture goes rigid, before she smooths the expression on her face and rises from the couch.
“This is all you and your bitch whore’s fault!” She screams before running past me, making sure to hit my shoulder on the way out with hers. I barely budge. If anything, it harmed her more than it hurt me.
The door slams shut behind me, and I claim her spot on the couch. My arms spread out across the back and my right ankle across my knee. “About time you fired that cunt.” Now, I don't typically call a woman a cunt, but when that woman is Savannah, it feels right.
Cole leans back in his chair. “Who pissed you off?”
Leaning forward, I put my elbows on my knees and let out a frustrated sigh. “I need to talk to you about Serena.”
“Trouble in paradise?” I bring him up to speed on what happened that night after the zoo. Well, almost everything. Leaving out the part where I fucked her on my bike in the middle of the woods. By the time I finish, I end with Theo’s email and the information that I’ve found.
“The same Tyler that Serena left for dead?” A call comes through on his intercom and Cole puts up his finger to signal me to pause.
“No, Savannah will no longer be serving tonight.” The voice on the other side is hard to make out, but they sound pissed. “Isaac is here, but he’s not scheduled to work tonight. I’m sorry, but you guys will have to figure it out.”
The voice, probably Derryl the other bartender, starts shouting and Cole turns off the intercom cutting him off.
“I hope you know that firing Savannah is really going to fuck things up around here.” Cole mutters, rubbing the back of neck. “She was a pain in the ass, but she kept up with the chaos.”
“It was either you fire her, or I take care of her myself. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to bring that kind of attention to the club right now.” Rising from the couch, I cross my arms in front of my chest and stand in front of the desk.
“What did she do?”
“You mean besides be an insufferable bitch that only caused problems around here?” My chest tightens and heat rises remembering what she did in the hallway. “She put her hands on Serena and threatened her. She’s lucky she still has hands at all.”
Cole lifts his hands in a silent surrender. “Say no more.”
If anyone understands why I am the way that I am, it is Cole. We have known each other since our days in the foster care system. Fighting every day for our lives at our last group home. It was a place where bloody knuckles and split lips were just another Tuesday.
And don’t get me started on the deadbeat who ran the home.
Most kids at our age were worried about finishing their homework, or why their significant other wasn’t texting them back. We were worried about surviving the night.
Cole and I learned real quickly that weakness got you hurt, and trusting the wrong person got you killed. We would sleep in shifts, because it wasn’t safe to let our guard down at the same time.
The staff turned the other cheek at the violence, and some of the monsters in that place didn’t even live there. They would come and visit, push their drugs and claim their women, and leave.
Cole and I learned how to fight together, how to have each other's back. When one of us got knocked down, the other made sure we got back up. Until surviving became second nature. And violence became a new way of life.
We aged out and put those skills into good use, fighting against the darkness of the world. The part that nobody sees. The shit we have seen would scare even the hardest of men.
Not to mention what happened to his sister.
I’ve never seen him have any type of relationship before. Hell, he’s never seemed genuinely interested in having one. Always so deep in his work with the club and finding his sister. The moment feelings started feeling too real, he would bury himself deeper, pushing the person away.
It’s almost as if he doesn’t believe that he is capable of having anything normal.
And I don’t blame him.
Until I met Serena, I wasn’t really interested in a relationship either. Sure, I fucked around. But there was never anyone that I saw myself settling down with.
But Serena?
I’m going to make that beautiful woman my wife. And if she wanted to, I would give her children. She is the only woman that could ever make me even consider settling down.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about that was so urgent?” Cole redirects our conversation, referring to the text I sent him last night. When I found out that Serena was planning her coffee date with the girls, I figured I would use that opportunity to come here and speak with him in person.
“Right.” I sit back down on the couch and spread out like before. “So, after he sent me the information on the bike that led me to Tyler, I did some more digging on my end.”
His eyebrows raise slightly. “And what did you find?”
My posture shifts and I tap my thumb against the armrest.
“Nothing that I like.” I run my hand down my face. “He used a fake address and a fake name. The only reason I know he was the one who bought the bike was because I recognized his face from the CCTV footage from inside the dealership.”
“So, what do you need from me?”
“When I found out it was Tyler who bought the bike, I had Theo put a tracker in his phone so I could keep an eye on him.”
“And?” He shifts in his chair.
“He’s been spending a lot of time around the clinic.” Cole’s jaw tightens. “I followed him one day while Serena was sleeping, and I saw him talking to the manager.”
Cole frowns. “Coincidence?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Hesitating, I meet his concerned gaze with mine. “There’s also a pattern of missing women from the clinic and it’s not sitting right with me.”
He picks up his phone and sends a quick text. “I’ll see what I can do about the clinic.” Setting down his phone, Cole turns to me, his expression serious. “In the meantime, I’ve been meaning to talk to you as well.”
My pulse quickens. That does not sound good.
“I was reviewing the recording from the night that Serena was drugged and I found something.” He begins typing on his laptop. “Look familiar?”
He turns the laptop around so I can see the screen. Red clouds my vision when I see what’s in front of me. It’s the guy from the first night Serena came to the club. The one that thought it was okay to put his hands on my girl.
“This was taken the same night she was drugged?” I grit through my teeth. My hands are shaking and I can’t see straight. He was there. Sitting in a corner booth watching the whole thing.
“That’s not all.” Cole presses the play button. The moment Serena hits the floor, he stands from the booth and walks towards her. When he sees me pushing through the crowd, he turns around and leaves.
I stand to my feet, my hands in fists by my side. “Why the FUCK are you just now showing me this Cole?” He should have told me the moment he found out.
“Because I needed to make sure it was the same guy first.” He shuts the laptop and stands. “There was no point in sending you on a witch hunt if it wasn’t even the same witch.”
“How did he even make it back in here?” He had to have known I’d be looking for him when his buddy David showed up missing. And I was working that night. I should have seen him.
I should have stopped him.
Taken him into the back and slit his throat right then and there.
But instead, I let him slip in like the snake he is and Serena was almost taken because of me. And she wonders why I am so protective of her. There’s nothing I can do with just the footage at this point. Unless Cole has anything useful, I need to leave.
Serena still hasn’t called me and I’m starting to get nervous. She should be done with brunch soon, and I want to be there when she is.
Cole walks over to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway. I follow him down the stairs and we walk to my car. Leaning against the car, he releases a sigh and shoves his hands in his pockets.
“Before you leave, I did have Theo run facial recognition on the guy already. He is sending you his address now.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Cole’s eyes meet mine. Steady and knowing.
“Do with it what you will.”
A slow smile spreads across my face.
Oh. I fucking will.
He steps forward and pulls me into a quick one-armed hug and slaps my back before leaving.
Opening the app on my phone, I look for the red circle that shows me Serena’s location.
While Theo was placing a tracker on Tyler’s phone, I had him do the same to Serena’s, so that I could keep eyes on her when I was away.
Damnit!
She’s already home.
I start the car and peel out of the parking lot, the tires biting the pavement as I take the turn too fast. If I have to tie her up and lock her in the basement to keep her safe, I will.
And at this rate, I might have to.