Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Shadow
The call from Maddox came in, my gut told me to brace, but I didn’t.
Finding out my woman was taken and my cousin was hurt had me seeing red.
I left my woman at the ranch thinking she was safe there, and I was wrong.
I failed her. She and my nephew both. He was good at least. Maddox had him. He and Amelia both.
But not Della.
She was missing.
Nowhere to be found.
Not knowing where the fuck she is has me losing my mind. The only thing keeping my brothers from locking me down is the fact that I’m trying to keep it together.
If I hadn’t been distracted by the fact that the bar had been hit and trying to find who was behind it. One thing I know for certain, it’s not a coincidence two days after Rodeo Roundup was hit, they’d go after my woman.
I’d already been to the hospital to check on Dylan and to hear from the kid what he witnessed.
Swear I want to kiss my woman at the same time as put her over my knee for what she’d done.
First, for protecting Dylan from being taken.
He could be the one missing if not for her.
Second, for allowing them to take her away from me.
She’s got to be scared out of her mind right now with worry, not knowing if someone will find her.
I was gonna find her if it was the last thing I ever did.
My brothers all know what Della means to me. She’s my everything. The woman meant to be mine. I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back. I just hope when I find her that she’s still alive.
The only thing stopping me from already finding her is that we’re out of leads.
Our first thoughts were that it could be another club.
We’ve made enemies over the years, but when looking down that route, nothing came of it.
Lucifer reached out to Esparza for a second time to see if her being taken was connected to him in any way, only that was also a dead end.
The women he’d had us transport to the safe house were deep in hiding, and no one knows where they are except for the men protecting them.
I slam my fist into the wall across from the bar in our clubhouse, not even feeling the pain as my knuckles split open. Blood drips down my hand, but I don’t give a damn.
“Shadow,” Lucifer says, his voice steady and full of fury. “Breaking your hand won’t bring her back. You need to lock it down before we end up locking you down. She needs you on your game right now.”
I know he’s right. Della needs me on my game to find her and bring her home, but what the hell am I supposed to do?
We don’t have any leads to who the fuck has my woman.
We even sent Shade with Heavy and Creeper, two members of the club, up to Blackcreek to check into Norton and Marcy to see if they were behind it.
They reported in ten minutes ago that was also a dead end.
“I’m going out of my fuckin’ mind, Lucifer,” I growl, pacing around like a caged animal. “We gotta find her.”
I don’t miss the way my brothers exchange glances but say nothing. They know better than to tell me to calm down right now. The only one who can get away with it is Lucifer. That’s simply because he’s the Prez and my best friend. He knows me better than anyone.
“We’re gonna find her, brother,” Lucifer states, and I want to believe him. I do. Only with the way my gut tightens, I’m not sure if we will be in time.
“We’re missing something,” I growl, continuing my pace around the room, trying to work out in my head who would take Della. “Nobody just vanishes. Who the fuck has it out for the club enough to take a woman or hurt a kid?”
“We’ve covered everything we could, but what if we’ve been going about this the wrong way? What if the enemy isn’t one of ours? But one against the ranch?” Dread asks, looking up from his laptop. He’s been glued to the damn thing since I got back from the hospital checking in on Dylan.
Dread’s line of thinking causes me to stop pacing. My mind races, and my heart right along with it. “Landry Oil.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Look into Landry Oil, Dread. Identify properties linked to them. I don’t care if it’s an employee or someone related to them. Dig deep, brother,” Lucifer orders.
Why the fuck didn’t I think to check them sooner? We knew Landry Oil was a problem. They’re the whole fucking reason Maddox came to us in the first place. We could protect them from getting the land.
Yet I didn’t protect Della. Here I was thinking she’d be safe at the ranch, but she wasn’t. She’d been fuckin’ taken.
Taken from me.
Motherfucker.
My phone buzzes, and I snatch it up to find Maddox calling. It’s getting late, and I knew he was still at the hospital. The clock on the wall feels like it’s mocking me with every tick. Della’s been missing for hours now. Each minute that stretches by is another hit to my sanity.
“Maddox,” I tell the room at the same time, answering it, putting it on speaker. “You’re on speaker. Dylan good? Amelia?”
“He’s still shaken up, but we’re waiting on the discharge papers. It was a clean enough break that they didn’t need to reset his arm before they cast him. Any word on my sister?” Maddox’s question hits like a cattle prod to the gut.
“We’re working on it. Got a couple leads,” I tell him, knowing he needs the truth.
“Well, I got one more for you.
“What’s that?” I ask, tersely.
“Tyler swung by the hospital to check on Dylan. When he got out of his truck, he spotted the CEO of Landry Oil in the parking lot, and he was not alone. Russell was with him, and he wasn’t fucking happy.
From what Tyler overheard, Russell knew something was going down at the ranch today, and whatever was planned was not supposed to touch Dylan. ”
Fuck.
“Where’s Russell now?” I demand, gritting my teeth.
“No fucking idea. The man had enough sense not to show his face in the hospital.”
“You think he might know where Della is?”
“Not sure, but the motherfucker knows something. I’d pay him a visit myself, but I can’t leave Amelia. She’s not handling any of this well, which is understandable. First, the fucking bar goes up in smoke, now this. Shadow, you need to find my sister. If they fucking hurt her . . .”
Again, I couldn’t agree more.
“You hang tight, I’ll call you later,” I tell him, disconnecting before he can say anything further. I didn’t need to tell him we just started looking into Landry Oil. I shove the phone in my pocket and look to Lucifer. “I’m heading to find Russell.”
“His phone pings, he’s heading for his house,” Dread tosses out without looking up. “I’ll keep digging into Landry Oil.”
I nod and head for the door, knowing I don’t have to look back to know my brothers are following. It is time to find out where the fuck my woman is.
* * *
“Where the fuck would they take her?” I growl, slamming my fist once again into Russell’s face while Tormentor holds him from falling over.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know where she is.
I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Russell says, spewing blood that pours from his nose, running down into his mouth.
His face was still fucked up from the last time he and I had a talk.
Now, not all the bruises were behind the fresh blood from the beating I’ve been giving him for the past ten minutes.
“You’re a lying piece of shit,” I snarl, pulling my knife from its sheath and bringing it up to his throat, piercing the skin, gritting my teeth, “Where. The. Fuck. Is. My. Woman?”
“I’m telling you I don’t know,” he croaks, the first hint of fear filtering through.
“You gotta believe me. I don’t know anything more than they were just supposed to fuck with the ranch.
That’s what they said. They were gonna hurt some horses.
I didn’t think they’d hurt my kid. They hurt my boy, man, I didn’t . . . I fucked up.”
“Shadow,” Lucifer calls, getting my attention. Keeping the knife at Russell’s throat, I cock my head in his direction. “We’ve got a location. Let’s roll.”
I nod and look back to Russell with a sneer as I pull the knife from his throat.
“You more than fucked up. This is the last time I’m gonna tell you this, Russell.
You come near my cousin or Dylan, I’ll put you in the ground.
You best get the fuck out of town and stay gone.
The next time I see you, will be the last time you take a breath. ”
The only reason I won’t kill him now is Dylan. I can’t look the kid in the eye with his father’s blood on my hands. He might hate his dad now, but he still cares for him. I refuse to be the one to take his life. But if he doesn’t get out of Saddle Ridge, I’ll damn well do it if I see him again.
Stepping away from Russell, I watch as he falls to the floor when Tormentor lets him go. He’s not worth dealing with anymore. Not when we have a location on my woman. It’s time to get her back.
“Where?” I ask, looking to Lucifer as we make our way out of Russell’s place.
“Some hunting shack over the Chester County line. Dread sent me the pin for it,” Lucifer explains, climbing in the driver’s seat of the SUV we decided to take out instead of our bikes.
We didn’t know what shape we’d find my woman in, but I knew in my gut she wouldn’t be able to ride on the back of my bike.
“He’s sure that’s where they are?” I shouldn’t have to ask, but I’m not looking to go on more of a wild goose chase.
“Affirmative. Shade, Heavy, and Creeper are there now. They’re sitting on it watching, awaiting orders.”
“We know how many are in there?” Tormentor asks from the seat behind me.
“Don’t know, but they reported three cars and a cargo van were in front of the shack. Could be three people. Could be more. They could probably take them out, but I’m not risking it. Heavy and Creeper have earned their patches, but they’ve not dealt with anything like this before.”