Michael
The door to Lauren’s apartment was open. Not unlocked, but pushed open. I yanked my gun out from my waistband and held onto it as I slowly entered. Nothing looked touched.
A news broadcast played on the television set. A plate with an uneaten sandwich and glass of iced tea sat on the coffee table.
Tony stood at the doorway, his own weapon in hand. I motioned for him to sit tight and made my way to the kitchen. Empty. The bathroom door was open, as well as Lauren’s bedroom. Both rooms empty and no sign of Asya.
The only room left to check was Asya’s bedroom. I put my ear to the door, listening for movement. Soft, muffled moans. Turning the handle, I threw the door open with my weapon lifted and ready.
On the bed, hog tied and gagged, lay Asya. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her body battered and bruised. Before I went to her, I checked her closet and the bathroom attached to her room. Once I felt comfortable that she was alone, I went to the bed and pulled the dirty rag down from her mouth.
She spat on the ground, then took several gulping breaths. “Where’s Lauren?” She wiggled against her restraints.
“Not here. Who did this?”
“Fucking Dean!” she yelled, then coughed. “Fuck. Get me out of these ropes.” She wiggled more.
“The more you squirm the tighter they get. Just stay still.” I called out for Tony and then began using my pocket knife to cut her loose. Tony took in the scene and cursed.
“Where’s this Dean guy?”
“I don’t know. He made me send those messages to Lauren. I had to. He had a gun to my head.” She started sobbing as I finished removing the last bit of rope form her legs. By the indents and bruises along her legs and arms, I guessed he’d had her tied up for several hours.
“Okay, okay.” I tucked my own gun away and told Tony to do the same. “Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know. He left about an hour ago. Said he had to finish up at the warehouse. What does he want with Lauren? Where is she?”
“She’s safe,” I assured her. “Did he say anything else?”
“No. Everything was fine, normal. He woke me up, we fucked, but then he went all crazy on me. He asked if I would invite Lauren over for lunch, but I said no. I knew you guys were in the middle of all this shit and I didn’t want to bug her. He kept insisting, and when I questioned why he wanted her to get here so bad, he went batty. He hit me. Dean has never hit me. Then he pulled out his fucking gun and told me to text her.”
“Did he know she was with me?”
“Yeah. I told him you were watching over her until the driver of the car was found. He knew that.” She swiped her hand across her lips as more tears fell. “But you didn’t bring her.”
“No. He knew I wouldn’t.” My phone starting vibrating and I pulled it out. “What?” I barked into the phone.
“Mike, she’s gone. That little girl is slippery. She took off about thirty minutes ago. Isn’t answering her phone.”
I cursed into the phone, then looked back at Asya. “You said he mentioned a warehouse. Has he mentioned it before?”
“No, not really. I mean…wait. He was late once picking me up from work about a week ago. I wasn’t mad but he started spilling all sorts of excuses, saying some tan guy held him up at the warehouse. I didn’t know what he meant, and I didn’t ask.”
“Tan…Tanner?”
“That might have been it, yeah.”
“Tanner Hunt?” Tony asked from the doorway.
“Yeah, that’s him. You know him?”
“Yeah, I know him. He’s got an office at a warehouse over on Ogden. Runs shit out of there. Knew a few guys who ran for him, dropped them there for their pickups.”
“Fuck. If Tanner called Lauren to meet him, she’d probably go. Damn her ass. I’m gonna head over there. Tony, you stay here with Asya. Get her back to the clubhouse.”
“You can’t take that place on by yourself.” He pushed my chest when I tried to get past him.
“It’s not me you should be worried about.” I glared at him until he moved out of my way, then ran my ass out of the apartment and down to my bike. Before peeling out, I sent a message to Johnny where Lauren was. I wouldn’t be taking on the warehouse alone. My brothers would back me up.