Chapter 29
CALLIE
The lot and warehouse were exactly what Hawk said they’d be.
A disused commercial strip on the south end of the county, with two operational businesses on the far end and the rest of the storefronts dark and papered over.
Wide enough that no one could approach without being visible.
Close enough to the highway that engines wouldn’t bring any undue attention.
Two exits I’d cataloged and confirmed after Hawk pointed them out on the map this morning.
One exit on either end of the lot and both accessible.
I took a breath and held it, letting my heart pound until I thought I might puke. Better to get it over with now than show any trace of emotion once Wade appeared. I memorized the layout, making sure I hadn’t missed anything when we parked at the north end and waited.
Diesel sat beside me with his hands in his lap and his gaze locked on the entrance where we figured Wade would come through. He might try and use the same entrance as us, but it put him at a disadvantage…so Hawk said.
I tried not to pick at the package in my hands. It looked right, as real and heavy as the original I’d burned to ashes. At a quick glance, no one would know any different. And Wade barely remembered how to match socks, so I didn’t exactly worry he’d figure our ruse out too soon.
“Almost time.” Diesel’s head cocked to the side.
I caught the faint hum of an engine and released my grip on the notebook.
It curled in my lap, mimicking the old one after hours of twisting it in my hands so it held that perfect curl.
I should’ve been scared. That hit me a second after headlights turned off the highway.
My stepfather was about to show up. A man I hadn’t seen since that night.
A cold, calculated energy wrapped around me.
Wade had no hold on me. He might have Cody, but he was nothing to me.
A dark sedan rolled down the street, pulled to the center of the lot, and stopped thirty feet in front of us. The door opened and the man who used to live in my nightmares stepped out.
Seven years hadn’t done much to improve the bastard.
He was thicker through the middle and thinner in the face.
His hair had gone gray in the front and disappeared off the top of his head, but he still walked with that swagger, a loose-hipped roll that carried him forward with an ease that said he thought he was the baddest man in the room.
He smiled at me and spread his arms wide. “Callie, girl. Look at you.”
Barf. I stood, straightening my spine until I looked down at him with narrowed eyes. I held out the package. “Where’s Cody?”
He waved a hand. “Close. We’ll get to that.”
“Now.” I pulled the notebook to my chest. I’d known he wouldn’t bring Cody, but I had a part to play in all this.
I could not, under any circumstances, let Wade become suspicious.
If I gave the notebook up too easily, he’d wonder why.
I took a step back, making sure I didn’t cut off Diesel’s line of sight. “Where’s my son?”
“Now, Callie.” He shook his head slowly, like I’d disappointed him. “That’s not how negotiation works. You should know that by now.” He clicked his tongue, his gaze roving over me before it landed on the package. “That it?”
I tightened my hold and lifted my chin.
Wade looked over at Diesel, and his smile turned putrid a split second before it transformed into his greasy, look-at-what-a-badass-I-am, grin.
“The Hellhounds have been asking for their book back for a long time. Told them I knew who had it.” He shrugged.
“Told them I could get it back.” A wink in my direction. “Turns out I was right.”
Their book. Spoken like he was some kind of broker, like he’d been making deals for them and was on equal footing, here to collect his commission.
Diesel’s weight shifted, his pinky tapping his thigh once.
He’d told me on the way over that he’d do that if Wade said anything that gave him away, anything that told him for sure that Wade was in over his head.
Good. I had my own way of pushing Wade’s buttons aside from bringing a big, silent man who wouldn’t be intimidated. Wade expected me to come after him, and I didn’t dare disappoint. I’d been looking forward to this part. “You helped them find me. You told them about my shop.”
Wade spread his hands, his shoulders lifting a bit in an almost too-casual shrug. “I pointed them in the right direction. That ledger belongs to them. You took it. It was my duty to help them recover a liability.”
“You burned my building.” Genuine fury shook my body and hardened my voice.
“I moved the process along.” He tilted his head.
“You refused to listen to the smaller suggestions. Always so willful.” Another tongue click.
If I never heard that sound again it would be too soon.
“Fire gets attention, and you and the boy got out.” His gaze shifted to Diesel.
“No hard feelings, I hope. You know how business goes.”
Diesel kept silent.
Wade’s smile flickered at the edges. Men like him needed a reaction, and Diesel held his gaze without so much as a blink.
God I wanted to throw my arms around Diesel and kiss him. Later. Once we were all home safe.
Wade didn’t know how to talk to a wall like Diesel, but he still thought he could impress him.
That knowledge came to me as Wade took another step forward.
“I proved I could get to the kid when no one else could. Right there on your protected little property with all your bikes and cameras.” He paused like this was a dramatic moment in a movie and we were supposed to gasp and clap for him.
“That took doing, and you should appreciate the effort.”
He expected acknowledgment…or fear. He waited for it, his smile plastered in place and his arms open.
“And if you want the kid, you’re going to give me that ledger. Right now.” He held out his hand. All traces of patience vanished. He wiggled his fingers. “If you want your son back, give me the fuicking ledger.” Spittle flew from his mouth but he stopped before he lunged forward.
Diesel stood and tugged the ledger from my grasp. We’d talked about this too, about how I needed to be so reluctant to give it over that he had to intervene.
“Diesel.”
He gave me a look Wade would interpret as Diesel reminding me of my place. It was nothing of the sort. This was Diesel promising me we were almost done. A few more minutes and Cody would be in my arms.
Wade grabbed the ledger and ripped it open, his lips moving as he ran a finger down the columns on the first page. He flipped to a different page, his eyes narrowing. “You had the whole county looking for this. Do you have any idea what you cost me?”
Nope. And I didn’t care except that I really, really hoped it was a bug in his ass every single day after everything he put me through.
“You know what’s really funny?” I smirked at him. “That ledger’s not even real. The pictures were, but not that.”
His brows furrowed, and he tore at the pages, flipping through them at faster speeds. “No. This is real. I remember this.” He kept going, muttering over the pages. He confirmed two more entries and turned the page. “This route through the eastern corridor is the one Vex prefers.”
Vex Calder, Hellhound enforcer and all around bad motherfucker.
I’d heard his name spoken in whispers, always with shifty gazes as though whoever said his name worried they’d conjure him into existence.
“You’re out of time, Wade.” I spoke with all the calm I could muster. “I want my son.”
He didn’t even look up, too busy drooling all over the ‘information’ in the ledger. “Soon. Just need to verify the drop for Henry the day after I got arrested. Yep. There it is.”
And there we were, with the proof of a drop point, a time window, and a name. He reached the end of the ledger and snapped it shut, finally raising his head.
Diesel gripped my elbow, his eyes flicking to the roofline up and to our right.
I followed his line of sight, but I didn’t know what to look for.
Wade glanced over.
“Like I said. You’re out of time. The real ledger is gone and whoever sent you here just figured out you’re a liability. You brought law enforcement attention to their operation and you used a child as leverage.” I held his gaze. “Men like them don’t leave loose ends.”
The smile faded, and he took a step back. “You stupid cunt. You don–”
He dropped mid-breath, a bloom of red spreading across his chest.
Diesel’s hand went to my shoulder. He pushed me down behind the hood of our car. My knees hit the asphalt, and Diesel covered me with his body.
I pressed my spine to the car and tried to breathe.
Wade lay on the ground, not moving. I tried not to look, but some broken part of me needed to see, to know that he was out of my life once and for all.
Tires squealed, the sound distant but ominous.
Diesel took out his phone and sent the text he’d pretyped and had ready to go with a touch. His shoulder pressed into mine, pinning me in place as he peered over the hood.
Shadows moved at the edge of the lot. Diesel cursed and dropped closer to me. “They’re looping.”
The engines I’d heard leaving revved and screamed higher, the sound coming hard and fast. Seconds later, headlights flared toward us, careening closer.
Shit. If they hit the car, we were both dead.