Chapter 7
Slate
Our plan works like a charm. This asshole shows up driving the same dark sedan that he used when he abducted Rivera, only to find the parking lot empty. But we’re right there waiting for him, fanned out in strategic locations.
The echo of the first bullet fired rings in my ears. It isn’t mine, though. I peer out from the corner of the building to see that Onyx thought he had a clean shot and took it. The sound ricochets off the metal walls, followed by a return bullet trained on his last position.
Onyx drops low, shouting something I don’t hear because a barrage of gunfire breaks out. I see a shadow moving near the tree line and lunge towards it with my weapon raised. My eyes scan the shadows, alert for any trace of him. Although it seems absolutely impossible, he’s gone.
“Left side,” Onyx calls out, taking aim with his rifle.
My steps are fast and silent as my eyes sweep the flat lawn and parking lot.
Jinx comes in from the other side of me, breathing hard. “You see him?”
“No,” I say, gesturing to the dark sedan. “The asshole’s vehicle is still here, but he’s nowhere to be found.” Jinx and Onyx cover me as I move quickly to the vehicle and yank the door open. The keys are in the ignition and music is still coming out of the speakers. It smells like a trap.
I back away even as Onyx approaches, crouching to inspect tire tracks that vanish into the alley beyond the loading dock. “He ditched it.”
“Where the hell did he go?”
“He’s here because he sure as fuck didn’t disappear,” I tell him. “Look, we need to spread out and do a grid search.”
Jinx and Onyx take off, like I asked. We don’t see any movement and there are no sounds to give away his location.
Maddox checks one direction, Onyx the other.
I look down at the narrow strip between the buildings.
There is nothing but dumpsters and a shallow drainage ditch that runs parallel to the street.
Maddox curses under his breath. “You think he went that way?”
“Maybe.” I jump down into the ditch, boots sinking into the mud. It’s narrow, barely chest deep. And dark, murky water creeps along the bottom. I scan the length of it, but I don’t see any footprints or ripples. Just still water.
Onyx joins me, shining a small flashlight across the surface. The beam catches something metallic half-buried near the bend. Reaching down, I grasp the tiny object and discover that it’s a cufflink. It’s simple silver, and rather expensive.
I lift it with two fingers. “Do you think this might be his?”
“Looks like it.” I take it, pocket it, still scanning the ditch. “He went down here, crawled out somewhere farther up.”
“He’s fucking fast,” Onyx mutters. “Too fast.”
Jinx kneels above us on the grass. “You want to track him?”
“Not after trading gunshot fire with him. My best guess is that the cops will be sniffing around pretty soon, trying to figure out what happened. He gave us the slip. This dude knows how to disappear.”
Jinx swears again in a gravelly voice. “Guy’s a fuckin’ ghost.”
“No,” I say, climbing back onto the grass. “He’s human. And he’ll eventually make a mistake. And when he does, his ass is mine.”
We quickly clear the community center one more time, just to be sure he isn’t taking refuge there and then hightail it outta there. I hate coming up empty-handed. Christina’s ex is turning out to be a clever pain in our collective asses.
As we prepare to leave, Onyx walks with me to my bike. “I’ve been turning this situation over in my mind. Do you think Rivera was bait?”
That idea has already entered my head. I nod grimily. “I can’t figure out why the stalker just dumped him after a few days and was courteous enough to let him keep his cell phone. Does that make any sense to you?”
Onyx is rubbing his beard as he thinks it over. It wouldn’t be the first time someone secretly placed a tracking app on a phone.”
“Then he might know we’re from Sons of Rage.”
“We have too many affiliate clubs for him to find us without putting in some time and effort.”
I meet his eyes. “He won’t find Christina or Katie because no one in any of our affiliate clubs would give out information on an old lady, especially not on a club officer.”
Onyx insists, “He’s already proven he’s resourceful. So, I’m going to take extra precautions to make sure everyone knows to alert us if anyone starts sniffing around, asking questions.”
***
We arrive back to the motel feeling some kind of way about not capturing our man. Rivera’s sitting outside when we pull in, bruised and pale but stubborn. “Did you find him?”
“He slipped the net.”
“That figures,” Rivera mutters. “That guy creeps around like a fuckin’ ghost. I didn’t even hear him coming when he grabbed me.”
“You’re coming back with us,” I tell him.
He frowns. “Are you sure? I’ll probably be a burden at first.”
“You know our mantra. We leave no man behind. You’re part of my crew now, whether you realize it or not.”
He looks up at me, half-smiling through the pain. “You mean that prospect thing?”
“Yeah. You got the stomach for it?”
“I’ve had worse jobs.”
We load up the truck, and Rivera stretches in the passenger seat, holding his ribs. Onyx drives, and the rest of us ride shotgun. I take the lead position and navigate our little convoy back to the clubhouse.
I’m pissed that the asshole gave us the slip and can’t stop turning the situation over in my mind all the way home.
Not even riding the open road soothes my soul tonight, because the danger is still out there.
After seeing what he did to Rivera, I don’t even want to think about what he could do if he ever caught up with Christina.
The more I think about it, the more something nags at the back of my mind. That bastard let Rivera go, even though my friend could identify him. That seems pretty damn strange to me. Normally, bad guys tie up loose ends. They don’t dump them off along the side of the road and let them live.
We stop once for gas just outside of town. Onyx fills the truck while the rest of us take turns filling up our bikes. When I’m finished, I keep a lookout for trouble. Nothing arouses my suspicions.
Rivera cracks the window and calls out, “You worry too much.”
Walking over to his side of the vehicle, I give him a swift jerk of my chin. “We’ve been through enough danger to know that shit can pop off at any minute. I don’t want to be standin’ around starin’ at my belly button when shit goes sideways.”
He grins weakly. “Yeah, I get that. The price of peace is eternal vigilance, right?”
“You fuckin’ better believe it, brother.”
His eyes dart around the parking lot before he asks, “Do you think he’ll try again?”
“I know he will. He’d have given up by now if he had a mind to. I don’t think the stupid fucker is gonna stop until we make him stop.”
He gives me a knowing smile. “That ain’t gonna be any kind of hardship for me.”
We head out, and by the time we hit the outskirts of Cedar Falls, dawn’s creeping up over the horizon. The prospects open the clubhouse gates when I flash my lights twice.