“Where the fuck have you been?” JJ comes steaming toward me as Tex and I enter the club.

“JJ.” I hold my hand up to halt him, but he pushes forward, bumping my chest with his and forcing me to step back to keep my balance.

“Ruck and Sadie are missing, and you and Tex take off without telling anyone where you’re going?” His face is a fiery red and the veins in his neck bulge. Stress and worry visibly starting to show on his features.

“JJ, if you’ll just—”

He steps back and scrapes his fingers through his hair. “There’s been a sighting…” he says, a deep sigh heaving from his chest.

“What? Where?”

“A warehouse outside of town.”

“Who? And why the fuck didn’t you call me?” I push forward, angry at him now.

“The call only just came in. If I didn’t have to spend the last ten minutes trying to find you and Tex around this place, I would have been on it faster.” He pins me with a hard glare and both Tex and I glance at each other. “Where the fuck were you, anyway?” he asks as Lia comes to his side, giving me a small smile as she links her arm in his.

“Sadie isn’t with Ruck,” I say, smiling at the small mercy we’ve been afforded. Lord knows with all the awful shit we’ve done, we don’t deserve it. But I’m fucking grateful.

“What do you mean, she isn’t with Ruck? How do you know this? Where is she?” he asks desperately.

“The Wolves don’t have her. She’s with her…” I watch him carefully, taking a breath before continuing. “Her stepfather. He’s taken her somewhere, away from Reno.”

“Her stepfather?” he says quietly, swallowing hard. Lia’s grip tightens on his arm providing him gentle reassurance. “How do you know this?”

“Me and Tex went to her house. I figured The Wolves might have had contact with her stepfather. He’s fucking loaded, so blackmail was a possibility. But they’re gone. His right-hand-man kindly told us she’s safe, but he wouldn’t tell us where she is. I’ve sent a prospect to watch the house and follow the guy if he leaves. Right now, JJ, knowing she’s safe, Ruck’s my priority. So…the warehouse—we have a plan?”

Relief is evident throughout the room. Lia smiles and nods over at me, and I smile weakly back. We might have a small reprieve for now, but we still have to get Ruck back. This could be the fight of our lives.

It feels fucking weird and totally wrong to be doing this kind of thing without Ruck and Dev. You don’t realize how much you rely on your crew until you’re working without them. But we have Dingo and Razor to make up the team. All of them baying for blood. All of them wanting to skin some Wolves right now for what they’re putting our club through.

We cut the engines of the bikes, and park around the corner from where one of The Wolves’ members was sighted. Tex pulls in just after us and parks the truck in front of all the bikes, blocking them from immediate view.

When you run somewhere like downtown Reno, most of the city will work in your favor. There will always be some that will try and work against it—some that will challenge your authority, but years and years of keeping the local businesses safe, the drugs contained, and the women employed and well looked after, earns you a certain reputation, despite all your dealings being illegal. It also earns you ears to the ground and eyes everywhere. Turns out The Wolves had to break rank at some point, and when they did, they were spotted and followed.

“You sure your source is legit, Prez?” I ask as we scout out the area.

“As straight as they come. If he’s right, they’re in that unit at the end of the warehouse with the black shutters. They’ve been in and out all day. The same two Wolves.” I glance around. It’s boxed in, an old chain link fencing around the perimeter and units surrounding the warehouse on either side of the road. They’re all disused and run down, and the gates are hanging off their hinges.

“That place there…” I point in the direction of a double-stacked unit opposite the shutters in question. “How do we get to it, back entrance?”

“Yep.” Dingo nods. “Used to work on these units when I was younger. I can get right up in that building, and if I’m correct, I’ll have a direct view of the unit in question.” He focuses, his eyes narrowed and keen to get up there.

“Get up in that building as high as you can, and watch. When you see something, anything, you message me, got it?”

“Yes, Prez.”

“Razor, go with him, and for fuck’s sake, stay out of sight,” JJ tells them.

“Yes, boss,” they mumble before hot-footing it off in the opposite direction.

“You sure that’s wise?” Tex asks me quietly.

“Dingo knows this part of town like the back of his hand. If there’s a way in without being seen, he knows it.”

“Can’t afford to have our cover blown now, Ram. They’re our key to Ruck.”

I pat him on the shoulder. “I know, man, I know.” We’re all feeling the loss of his presence. And although Ruck and Dev are the quieter ones in the club, we’re missing them like we would arms and fucking legs.

We sit and watch for a while. Me, Tex, and JJ, all in silence, all looking at the same black shutters and waiting for some kind of divine intervention. The silence nearly drives me insane, and I’d do anything to be at a club party right now, with the music splitting the night and Ruck partying like a fucking animal.

“What’s her stepdad like?” JJ asks quietly, keeping his eyes forward. He wouldn’t ask if it hadn’t been playing on his mind. Shit like that is enough to send you crazy.

“He’s an asshole,” I grumble. There are a hundred words I can think of to describe the feelings I have for that man. He’s the kind of guy that you instantly dislike. The kind I’d like to dispose of.

“But she’s safe with him?” he questions.

“Yeah. I think so,” I answer, mulling it over in my head. I don’t like the fucker. There’s something totally off with him. But he’s been in Sadie’s life for a long time, and she trusts him, I think. So I’m hoping that means he will lay down his life for her should he need to.

We settle back to a contemplative silence. I don’t know how much of Sadie’s life I should be explaining to JJ. Their situation has changed everything. I don’t feel I know enough about her to tell him. It’s got to come from her. If she wants to, that is. But first, we have to get her back. And if I have to kidnap her, kicking and fucking screaming, and force her to hear me out, I will.

My cell buzzes in my pocket, and I whip it out, catching Ruck’s name come up on the screen and feeling ice cold spread through my body. It’s not a message this time—it’s a live video call.

“Fuck,” I hiss. “What the fuck do I do now, Prez? They’re gonna see where we’re at.”

“Against the wall,” JJ snaps urgently, shuffling back. “We could be anywhere for all they know. Just keep your voice down. The last thing I want is for them to hear us at the end of the street.”

I hit the button as dread sweeps through me like a tornado and kicks up a fucking storm in the pit of my stomach.

“Ah, Mr. Dalton,” Hobo’s scratchy voice comes through as the picture comes into focus. It has the same effect on me as nails running down a chalkboard, making the hairs stand up on end and my teeth feel on edge. The smile on his face makes me want to carve him up, to strip his skin from his body piece by piece and have him beg me to stop. But I remain as impassive as I possibly can. A reaction from me could provoke him into hurting Ruck—if they haven’t already hurt him. Nausea rushes through me at the thought. “How are you on this fine, spring day?” he asks with a loaded smile.

“Cut to the chase,” I bark, annoyed at his small talk. “Where’s my brother?”

“He’s a little… tied up at the moment.” He laughs, leaving the thought hanging heavily in the air between us.

“What do you want, Hobo?” I ask anxiously, pressing him.

“Ramsey, I always thought you and I were on the same wavelength. So many similarities, I’d say,” he muses to himself, taunting me, pushing every fucking button, and dancing around the answer. Then he comes closer to the camera, and the smile drops. It’s replaced with a hardness in his eyes and a sneer on his lips. “Revenge, Ramsey. I want revenge…and Reno. You can either give them to me right now and spare your brother any more pain, or you can hold out and cause him more suffering than even you could dream up…What’s it to be?”

Tex and JJ are still and quiet beside me, and I have no words even to answer Hobo right now. “How do I know you haven’t killed him already?” I ask, trying to get a feel for the whole picture. They could be stringing us along, playing us for fucking idiots and all the while, he could be stone cold. And, fuck me, will I unleash a world of pain on this fucker if that’s the case.

“Why would I do that? I’d have no leverage then, would I? Come on, Dalton, are you not thinking clearly? Got things playing on your mind?” He laughs, and I feel my patience slipping away.

“I want to see him.”

“Do you?” Hobo asks, tilting his head and coming even closer to the camera and narrowing his eyes. “Do you really want to see him?”

“Show me my brother, and I’ll negotiate whatever it is you want,” I speak through gritted teeth, pushing away the rage and trying to think and act calmly, for Ruck’s sake.

“Negotiate?” He laughs once again. “Oh, you’ll do more than negotiate. You’ll agree to whatever the fuck I tell you to.”

With that, I hear shutters screech, both on the video call and at the unit at the end of the street. Hobo swings the screen around where the light is shining into the lock up.

Oh. FUCK.

My head spins, and a groan leaves my chest as I exhale deeply, almost sobbing. I see my brother, and they’ve not only tied him to a fucking cross, but they’ve nailed his hands to it, too. His head is hung low on his shoulders, and I can’t even see his face.

“Ruck,” I call out, desperation pounding my chest. JJ grabs my arm, reminding me where we are. But it’s fucking killing me. I can actually feel my insides shriveling up to die. Hobo laughs as he moves the camera closer, and I struggle to see if he’s even breathing.

JJ receives a message from Dingo and Razor, and the next couple of minutes play out in a blur. Tex grabs me by my cut, dragging me sideways and we start running back to the bikes.

As we run, shots are fired. There’s yelling, so much yelling, both at the end of the street and on the video call.

“Hobo,” I yell as I run, trying to see what’s going on in the video call. “RUCK!” But it goes black, and I hurl it across the concrete. “What the fuck is going on?” I yell, skidding to a halt and jumping onto my bike.

“Dingo and Razor saw the shutters come up,” JJ answers as he jumps on too, and Tex splits to fire up the truck. “There were two Wolves in view, so they took a chance and fired.”

“And…”

“They’re still shooting so I guess there’s more than two.” His engine starts with a roar, and he pulls off in a wide circle, heading down the straight run to the locker.

“FUCK,” I holler, following him, full throttle.

This is it.

This is the standoff we wanted to avoid, but deep down, we knew was inevitable. If we found that Ruck was here, I knew I wouldn’t be leaving without him.

Now it’s all gone to shit, and I am praying to the whole fucking universe that we manage to get him out of there alive.

Me and JJ scream to the unit on our bikes with Tex kicking up the gravel behind us in the truck. I slide to a halt in the doorway, already knowing from the live stream what I’m going to be faced with, and fooling myself into thinking I’m ready for it. But seeing the scene for real is crippling, and I’m momentarily stunned, fixed into place, and needing a second to gain clarity on this whole fuck-up as my chest tightens so hard I can barely breathe. My feet feel like they’re encased in lead and struggling through quicksand as I make my way toward him. The world around me slows and quietens as I take in Ruck’s lifeless form, hanging from the cross, dried blood on his hands where he’s been nailed fast, welts on his wrists from where he’s been bound so tightly.

Then everything comes back to full color, full volume, and the chaos around me ensues. Dingo and Razor are already there with three dead Wolves as far as I can see, and Hobo, who’s currently under the weight of Dingo and not looking too good. Tex and JJ start untying Ruck as I manage to get my shit together and rush to their side.

“Is he alive?” I ask frantically, searching his face for signs.

“Yeah, but he’s not in good shape,” Tex replies as panic starts to creep into his voice. “Shit, he’s nailed in tight, if we untie him, it’s gonna rip through his goddamn hands.”

I hold his head in my palms, and he groans. “Ruck…” I implore him to hear me, to answer me. I need to hear his voice. “Ruck. Brother. We’re here. We’re gonna get you down.” I scan the room, taking in everything that’s happening around us. It stinks of motor oil and blood—Ruck’s blood. “Dingo…” I call, and he snaps his head up, while still pressing his hands onto Hobo’s chest, trying to stem the heavy bleeding from the shot wound.

“Don’t think we’re gonna save him, fucking sorry, man.”

“Keep trying,” I order. I want him alive. There’s no way on this earth I’m letting this man die an easy death from a gunshot wound. He’s done too much to my brother, to my club.

“Tex, hold Ruck up,” JJ orders, picking up a hammer from a workbench that lines the wall. “Ram, keep talking to him. I’m gonna punch these out from behind so you can try and work them loose.”

Ruck groans as JJ starts to hammer the nails back through the wood.

“Nearly there, man. I’m taking you home, okay? We’ll get you a beer, and a bitch, and you’ll be back on your bike in no time, you hear me?” I talk incessantly, about nothing in particular, just talking to him, blocking out everything around us and needing to fill the silence with something other than his groans. As the nails come loose, his weight suddenly drops forward onto me. A weight I’d carry every day for the rest of my life.

“Shit,” Tex hisses, rushing forward to my side.

“We need to get him out of here, NOW!” I yell, transferring his weight and heaving him up in my arms to carry him away from the warehouse. Tex flings open the door of the truck, and I slide him in, climbing in next to him and resting his head in my lap. He hasn’t opened his eyes yet, and his breaths are shallow in his chest. I take a second to look him over. There are track marks in his arms, streaks of dried blood everywhere, bruising across his cheek, and his forearms, too. There’s a bloom of red under his dark gray t-shirt, and as I touch my fingers to it, I realize it’s fresh blood. Pulling it up from the hem to expose his chest, I see the wound from which he’s bleeding, and my heart feels like it breaks into pieces and bleeds alongside him.

A freshly carved ‘W’ now hollows his chest.

Retaliation for my infliction.

Revenge on not only him, but me, too.

And a warning that if we want to bring the war, they’re ready for it.

“Oh, fuck, man,” Tex says, glancing over.

“Just drive, Tex,” I whisper, tears creeping into the corners of my eyes as I stroke Ruck’s hair from his face, hoping he will survive this, but knowing deep down that the damage will be far deeper than the surface of his skin.

Ruck moans in a fitful semi-consciousness the whole way back to HQ. JJ calls ahead and has Marnie and Lia there and waiting for him, but I don’t know if it is going to be enough. We avoid hospitals like the plague. We already have Dev laid up, going stir fucking crazy in a hospital bed, and the last thing we need is for Ruck to be there too. But he looks awful, and I don’t know if he’s going to need more medical attention than Marnie can give him.

I talk to Ruck the whole way back, about nothing: simple, stupid stuff that makes me feel like a fucking moron. But my voice drowns out the God-awful sound of his moans piercing my ears. Every little noise he makes, I swear a string in my heart snaps. Tex takes every corner carefully, but floors it on the straights until we’re through the compound gates and parked at the doorway where everyone is waiting for us.

Lia flings open the door with concern etched on her face and worry weighing heavy in her eyes, holding my gaze for longer than I feel comfortable, because I know as soon as the dam breaks, I’m gonna cry me a fucking river for what I’ve put my brother through.

“Get him downstairs. Marnie is waiting with a friend of hers who’s a nurse, too.”

I don’t hesitate, practically running through the joint with Ruck in my arms until I get to his room. I lay him carefully on the bed, trying to ignore all the eyes in the room burning holes into my back. Every brother and even some of their wives are in here, waiting to see the fucking mess I’ve made of things.

“Oh, fuck,” Marnie mumbles under her breath, exchanging a look between her and her blonde friend.

“You do whatever it takes to make him right, hear me?” I pin her hard with my gaze, speaking more harshly than intended but right at this moment, I’m unable to control anything within me, let alone my tone of voice.

She nods, looking him over, prying his eyelids open to check his pupils and checking the pulse in his wrist. I wring my hands together at the side of the bed, clenching my jaw and trying not to watch every little check and movement she makes. She indicates for her friend to check his pulse too, points out the track marks in his arms, and feels his forehead for a fever.

“He’s okay, right? He’s gonna be okay…”

“Ram,” Marnie sighs, shaking her head. “He’s loaded with drugs—who knows what the fuck they are. Could be crank—could be anything. I really think we should get him to—”

“Fine,” I snap, lunging forward to scoop him up in my arms. If he needs to go to the hospital that’s where I’ll fucking take him.”

“Wait!” The blonde girl pushes her hand out between Ruck and me and shakes her head while holding my gaze. “I have everything in my car that he needs. His pulse is fine. I mean, it’s high, but that’s understandable. I’ve seen this a hundred times though, he just needs—”

“Stop fucking talking and do it then!” I yell in her face, pushing myself off Ruck’s bed and grabbing my hair in my hands. She scurries off with Marnie, and I slam my fists against the wall behind, growling under my breath.

A small hand rubs my back softly between my shoulder blades, and I let out a shaky breath. “He’s going to be okay, Ram,” Lia reassures me quietly. “He’s in good hands.”

“It’s my fault,” I whisper.

“No.” She holds me tightly, her arms wrapped around my waist. “We all know what it takes to live this life.”

She holds me until she feels my body relax. Me being angry at the world, yelling at everyone, and throwing my weight around doesn’t help the situation. I need to be strong. For Ruck, for my other brothers, for Sadie. Because they’re all that matter now.

I turn in Lia’s hold and give her a half smile. “I’m sorry.”

“No need.” She smiles back, and I kiss her on the top of her head before she lets me go.

The room has emptied, and I’m glad. Ruck needs quiet, and rest. “He’s gonna be okay, right?” I come back to Ruck’s bedside, next to the blonde girl.

“Yes,” Marnie’s friend answers without looking up at me.

“What’s your name?”

“Kat,” she answers, fixing tubes to a drip and hooking a bag up on a metal stand.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.” I offer my apology to Kat, feeling like an ungrateful asshole.

“It’s okay. You get used to it when you’re a nurse.” She gives a small shrug.

“Well, you shouldn’t have to. Especially when you’re helping someone. So, I am sorry, and…thank you.”

“No problem,” she answers flatly, busying herself. I make a note in my head to buy her some fucking flowers or something—chicks like flowers, right?

“What can I do?” I ask, looking Ruck up and down and having to clamp my jaw shut to push back the swell of emotion. He looks lifeless, but his chest rises and falls evenly, so I know he’s just knocked out by whatever shit Hobo plunged into his system.

“Nothing.” She stops, putting her hand on her hip and looking at me sternly. “I’ve given him painkillers, antibiotics, and intravenous fluids. He’s gonna be pretty much out of it for twenty-four hours.”

“But he’s gonna be okay?” I ask, needing her to repeat this over and over again until my ears bleed with her reassurances.

“Yes… this time.” She glares at me hard, and I feel like a schoolboy that’s just been told off for tripping someone up in the playground.

“Thank you,” I say quietly, glancing over to Marnie who gives me a thin smile.

He’s going to be okay. He’s in good hands.