Chapter Nineteen
Sledge
Sledge was thankful for Reaper’s disruption. He hated that it was because Beth’s father was here, but he needed an excuse to escape, so he’d take it. Sledge knew from the look on Beth’s face before they had sex, that he was losing her. The ache in his chest blossomed. He finally had her back, and now he would lose her again if he didn’t find a way to eliminate the threat of her father.
Sledge had to play this carefully. Her father was a high profile politician, not some scumbag drug dealer. He couldn’t just send a team to his house.
“First the phone call, now a surprise visit? I don’t like this, Devin,” Reaper commented as they walked to the bar.
“I don’t either. But until we hear back from Banjo, we have to play this close. For now, we deny - everything.”
Entering the bar, the first thing Sledge noticed were the suits. Bikers didn’t wear business suits. Jonathan Andrews came with backup. Not that it would help him if anything happened. There were more Henchmen than senator’s men.
“Mr. Andrews,” Sledge acknowledged.
“Commander Parks. Good to see you again.” The Senator extended his hand in a shake. Sledge held it in a firm grip, holding it a little longer than polite. A sense of pride flowed through him when he noticed the senator winch.
“What can I do for you?” There was no point in beating around the bush. The faster Sledge got this man out of his club, the sooner he could get back to Beth.
“Straight to the point. I like it. Here’s the deal Parks, I know my daughter is here. I want her returned. Her mother is extremely worried about her. I don’t know what you did to get her to come here, but you will not hold her prisoner.”
This guy had to be fuckin’ joking. Sledge knew the game he was playing though. Given enough rope, he was hoping Sledge would hang himself. Slip up and confirm that Beth was here. Sledge knew the game, but he refused to play.
“Senator, I told you on the phone, Beth is not here. I haven’t seen her in eight years. What makes you think she would come here after all that time?”
“Don’t toy with me Parks!” Beth’s father would make a horrible poker player, Sledge thought. Too emotional. Sledge could read him like a book.
Barely controlling his own temper, Sledge stepped into the senator’s personal space, causing his bodyguards to move closer; which, in turn, caused the Henchmen to react.
“Understand something Andrews, this is my house. Slow your roll or you will find yourself in need of assistance to leave. Don’t come into my home and throw me attitude. I already told you, your daughter is not here. Now, you barge in, demanding my time like you’re somebody important.”
Sledge was beyond caring about being professional. Fuck this shit! He didn’t have time for this. Every second he was away from Beth, he could literally feel her slipping away. This bastard was going to cause him to lose her, all over again.
“Who do you think you are?” the Senator barked.
“I am Devin “Sledge” Parks, Founder and President of the Devil’s Henchmen,” Sledge announced.
“Hell yeah!” the Henchmen hollered in unison.
“This is my fuckin’ house. And it would benefit your health to remember that,” Sledge warned.
“I will get Elizabeth back, Parks; and when I do, you will pay!” the Senator threatened as he moved to leave.
Blocking his path, Sledge leaned into the Senator again. “The only person in the room who will pay for their crimes is you,” he whispered. Sledge enjoyed seeing the color drain from the fucktard’s face.
“Diesel, show the Senator to the gate, please,” Sledge called.
“With pleasure,” he sneered. Diesel and several Henchmen surrounded Andrews and his cronies, walking them out of the door.
“What a piece of shit,” said Reaper.
“That’s an understatement,” Sledge replied. He needed to get back to Beth. “Make sure they leave,” he ordered as he headed back to his room.
Entering the bedroom, Sledge froze. Derek was sitting cross legged in the center of the bed, crying. Beth was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s your mom?” he asked, still looking around the room; praying she was in the bathroom, but Derek’s next words sent Sledge’s world crashing down around him.
“She left and told me to give you this.”
With a shaking hand, Sledge took the folded piece of paper from his son. He recognized Beth’s beautiful penmanship. Reading her words, he couldn’t help the tears that fell. His heart felt as if it was being ripped from his chest, again.
Sledge felt Derek’s small hand brush his cheek, “It’ll be okay Dad. She’ll be back. She promised.”
“You’re right, Son.” Sledge wrapped his boy in a hug. It would be okay. Beth would be back, because Sledge was going to drag her ass back here. Just as soon as he found her; and to do that, he needed her location.
“Okay buddy, come on. We have work to do.” Sledge grabbed Derek’s hand and together they walked back to the office.
Finding Beth would be easy. GPS and the internet were great inventions. Shit, Sledge thought. Could that be how her father had found her? If it was, he could do it again. He needed to hurry. Pulling his cellphone from his pocket, Sledge called Amber. Quickly explaining the situation and he asked his sister to watch Derek.
“I can’t believe she left,” Amber was stunned.
“That makes two of us,” he told her. But honestly, he knew she would run. He’d hoped he was wrong, but he knew. He saw the determined look on her face when he entered Derek’s room after Amber told of her plan.
After Amber left with Derek, Sledge started making phone calls. Within ten minutes, he had his answer.
“I was just about to call you,” Banjo answered on the first ring. “Listen, I did some digging and found a connect, but it’s not between Andrews and the club.”
“B, that is great but not the reason I called. We can talk about that later. Right now, I need you to trace Beth’s phone.” Sledge needed answers to protect his club, but his woman was more important. He had to find her before her father did.
“Beth? Is she missing?” Sledge could hear Banjo clicking on the keyboard as he spoke.
“If by missing you mean, took off on her own when her father showed up, then yes,” Sledge replied sarcastically.
“What the hell! Took off? Why would she do that? The clubhouse is the safest place for her to be.”
“I have no idea. But I plan to find out as soon as you tell me where she is.”
“Okay, just another minute.”
Sledge was running out of patience. Lately, it seemed one thing after another had happened around the club. He missed the boring days, but if the chaos meant he got Beth and Derek, he’d live in it every day for the rest of his life.
“Okay. GPS location shows her at a...” Banjo trailed off.
“Come on man! If her father found her using GPS, then he already has a head start on me. I have to get to her, fast.” Sledge pleaded.
“The Royal Motel. Northwest Highway. I also hacked into their system. She’s in room 143, under the name Beth Parks.” Banjo confirmed, paying no attention to the urgency in Sledge’s voice. “And just so you know, I don’t believe that’s how he found her, but we’ll discuss that after you get her home. Call me back.” Banjo disconnected the line.
Running out of the clubhouse, he jumped on his bike and headed after his woman. The drive to Northwest Dallas seemed to take forever. Sledge weaved his bike in and out of traffic, praying no cops were around. He didn’t have time to get pulled over and he doubted he could pull strings to get out of a ticket. Even though Banjo said he didn’t think her father was tracking her, until he got back to the office and could hear him out, Sledge wasn’t taking any chances.
An hour and a half later, he pulled up to the seedy motel. This place was a true dump. There was nothing ‘Royal’ about it, unless you thought hookers and drug dealers were royalty. Driving around the lot, Sledge located room 143 and parked his bike where it could be seen from the window and dismounted. It was game time. One way or another, Beth would be returning to the clubhouse.