Chapter 47
DEAN
I ’ve faced death. Stared it in the eye and smiled with blood in my teeth. But this… Ace… this is hell.
I had Jason Caldwell on the phone before Legion even made it around the bend in the road. I didn’t hesitate. I don’t care what stories the town will start whispering about us again…about my past…about my MC. My son is missing. That’s all that fucking matters now.
I didn’t wait for the cops to arrive before making my next call to my Sergeant at Arms. Viking rallied every brother in all charters.
Word spread to the surrounding clubs and citizens.
They came without question, without hesitation.
Some brought their old ladies, their prospects, others brought drones and dogs.
They spread out with the cops in a grid pattern, sweeping every inch of forest, ditch, and fence line.
Those not involved with the search here are on the streets checking gas stations, truck stops, motels, anywhere within a hundred-mile radius that some sick fuck might duck into with a stolen kid…
My faith is in them. Ace isn’t lost somewhere in the woods, and I can’t help but feel this protocol the authorities insist upon is a waste of precious time.
No, we didn’t see someone take him. No, we didn’t notice a car.
No, we don’t know what the letters left behind mean.
No, we don’t know why the former neighbor— who apparently isn’t a redhead —would take our kid. We don’t know anything!
But fuckin’ Legion does…
My third call was worth the long shot, but as I feared, Axel regretfully informed me that Legion removed the tracking device on his bike weeks ago.
Now, I wait for the demon’s call, clutching my cell in my fist so tightly I have to keep reminding myself to ease up, so I don’t crack it.
My lungs feel like they’re collapsing, but not because of exertion from the search.
It’s from fear. A fear I can’t let my wife see…
Vanna’s barely holding it together. She hasn’t let herself fall apart, not yet.
But every hour that ticks by, every time I check on her, I can see the crack in her composure widening.
I feel it too, deep in my bones. We’re both a breath away from breaking.
I circle back to the house to check on her again. The cops have insisted one of us remain at home in case Ace wanders back … We both feel fucking useless…powerless. It’s beyond torment.
My frustration skyrockets the moment I spot the silver Lexus SUV in my driveway. Lucinda steps out of her cage, wearing hiking boots and a reflective vest.
“Dean!” she calls, rushing over to me. I’m surprised she isn’t wearing makeup to cover the bruises from her fight with Vanna. Then again, she probably wants me to see them. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! We came as soon as we heard!”
She slams into me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I’m about to pry her off me and cast her aside when I spot Maddie exiting the vehicle, dressed similarly to her mother.
“ Uncle Dean!” She rushes to me as well.
“Please don’t be here to make this about yourself.” I defeatedly sigh. Lucinda releases me and has the nerve to look wounded. I crouch to catch Maddie in my arms. “Hey, Monkey.” I hug her back tightly.
“We’re here to help find Ace!” Maddie says.
“Thank you, but you stay by your mother, you hear me?” I say more firmly than I mean to. “ No more missing kids…”
When the cell clutched in my hand rings, I stand and answer without looking at the caller ID. “Yes, hello? Tell me something!”
“Cops found a little sneaker and tire tracks in the back trail,” Axel informs me. “Texting you a pic now, but I recognize Ace’s kicks.”
The text vibrates my phone just as another call beeps in.
“That’s Jason, I’ll call you back,” I say before swiping to call-waiting. “Jason?”
“We’ve got tire tracks,” he says. “Detectives are on it. Switching up protocol.”
“ About fucking time.” I barely hear my own voice as I stare at the little picture of Ace’s sneaker on the dirt trail.
“The good news is we’ve already been looking into the details Vanna gave us earlier about the neighbor’s car.
We’ve got the composite sketch of the suspect on the news already airing with the pictures y’all gave us of Ace.
Things are happening, Dean. I know it feels like we’re all standing still.
But I promise, we’re gonna find your son. ”
I got the fuck out of Dodge before Keegan could lock down the county.
That’s the thing about small towns and friendships with local police.
Everyone knows each other, or at least of each other.
When something tragic happens, especially involving a kid, they all band together.
Unless, of course, the mother is a junkie whore, and the local judge is in on the pedo network…
I pull the last drag from my cigarette while staring through the broken blinds of this no-tell motel outside of Jocsan.
This shithole is starting to feel like a holding cell.
I smash the butt out in the overflowing ashtray on the table beside me and light up another.
The local news playing softly behind me has picked up Ace’s story.
They’ve been plastering his picture alongside the police sketch of Puppet for the last few hours.
The emerald-green eyes are wrong, though…
Time is of the essence, and I need to decide how to proceed.
I haven’t been named as a person of interest yet.
At least, it hasn’t been broadcast. I can’t help them if the man I’ve envied to the point of madness myself decides to hedge his bets and put my name on a statement.
I doubt he will. Keegan might hate me, but he’s a father first. And if there’s a chance I can get Ace back, he’ll buy me the time I need to take the shot.
He knows I’m desperate enough…dangerous enough… motivated.
I fight the urge to call her. It’s what she wants, and I’m already fairly certain where she is. It’s all part of the game.
Another torturous twenty minutes pass before my cellphone rings…
“Hello, Puppet.”
“It’s Reaper.”
“Ah, I see she’s roped you into this little game as well, Legion ,” I sneer. “You’ve always been a sucker for our little whore. Am I meant to assume we are to meet where I bested you last?”
“None of the cards, all of the arrogance,” Reaper mutters. “You haven’t changed much. But if you want to see this kid alive again, you’ll do what she says.”
“She went rogue on you, didn’t she?”
His silence speaks volumes.
“Reaper… give me the kid , and you’ll get to walk away from this mistake of epic proportions with your life.”
“I’m choosing to take advantage of the leverage this unexpected turn of events has dropped in my lap.”
“There are opportunities, Reaper, and then there are massive fucking mistakes. I’m afraid your choices thus far have landed you in the latter category. Allow me to help you out of this predicament. There’s still time to diffuse the situation.”
“ It’s nothing a little C-4 can’t fix.”
Fuck.
He chuckles, then there’s a brief, muffled shuffling, before she picks up the line. “I thought you would have been here by now.” I can hear the pout in her words.
“Come now, Puppet…you know there’s only one woman I’d chase, and she isn’t you.”
“Keep pissing me off, Damien.”
“I’d much rather come to some sort of agreement, Gemma.” It’s impossible to keep the growl from my tone.
She squeals excitedly, and I remove the cell from my ear until she’s through. “You figured out my clues? They were a nod to you, of course.”
“ Meg Kaleb . An anagram for Gem Blake,” I mutter. “How long has this been going on?”
“Feels like for-fucking-ever… It’s been so long since you’ve called me by my real name. Say it again?”
“Where’s the boy, Gemma?”
She laughs, an unhinged sound that might have made my hair stand on end if she hadn’t sufficiently pissed me off already.
“You told me to turn my unrequited love into hate,” she says, ignoring my request for the only bit of information I give a damn about.
“Well, I have, Legion. I hate you… I think a part of me has always hated you… And hate has a way of erasing whatever fear I had of you!”
“We can hash this out between us without the boy, Gem.”
“He’s the key to her heart… If I destroy him… I destroy you all…”
“Gemma… I need a definitive location.”
“You hurt me…”
“Puppet.”
“You hurt me… and you killed them … You turned me into something I don’t even recognize. I told you this would happen… One day, I wouldn’t want you anymore. You’ve destroyed me. It’s my turn…to destroy you …”
“Give me the boy, and I’ll agree to whatever terms you set forth. You have my word.”
“I should have let you die… I wish I had just let you die… You’re a monster… You made me a monster…”
“Give me the kid and I’ll grant you your wish!”
“You will?”
“Show me proof of life and I’ll come to you. This is what you want, isn’t it? I know you… I know you’ll be waiting for me at the old cement factory. Am I right? Did I crack the code?”
Another sinister little chuckle slithers through the line.
A moment later, a photo text comes through.
It’s Ace, bound to a chair. Blindfolded, wearing a set of large headphones.
I can practically see the trembling of his pouted lower lip.
My chest tightens, old memories clawing up from places I keep locked down.
He doesn’t appear to have suffered any discernible injuries, but I note the chalk-like substance on his shirt and the knees of his pants, confirming my suspicions of their location.
Ace will never know what it’s like to live every day praying someone will come, and no one ever does. I’ll do whatever it takes to bring him back. He will never carry the scars I do. Not while I’m still breathing.
“Legion?”
“Yes, Puppet?”
“Come play with me…”