Chapter 23
Thorn
By the time I was running up the stairs of Ensley’s apartment building, Jamison had arrived on the scene, and now he was chasing behind me.
“Where the fuck had you gone?” I growled at him, while I took the stairs two at a time.
“I wanted a smoke, just went around the corner, man. I thought Topher had an eye on the place,” I heard him say. I clenched my fists keeping myself from knocking Jamison in the face.
“What’s going on?” he yelled out behind me.
“She’s not answering her fucking phone,” I said, as we came to a stop outside Ensley’s door. The door was ajar, and I look directly into her apartment. There was no sound or movement inside, and I stepped in quickly. I knew something was wrong. I had known something was wrong from when she had not answered the phone.
I could feel the rage coursing through my veins as I looked around the apartment.
“Ensley?” I called out her name, even though I knew I wouldn’t hear a response. Jamison had followed me inside, and I could hear him moving around behind me.
“Shit man. I didn’t think ten minutes would make much of a difference,” he said, and I saw red. I whipped around, walked over to him and my fisted hand met his face. My knuckles hit his nose, and I heard the crack.
Jamison, who I expected to punch me back, just took the hit, stumbled back a little but said nothing. I could feel my arms flinching from the hit, and I shook my hand out.
His nose could be broken, but it wasn’t bleeding, and if he was in any pain, he wasn’t showing it.
“What the fuck is going on!” Topher had made his way upstairs and was gawking at us now.
“I’m really sorry, man. I didn’t think, and I should have thought. I’m really sorry!” Jamison kept repeating himself, and the two of them followed me into Ensley’s bedroom.
There were signs of struggle all around the apartment. Lampshades were on the floor, in the living room a glass of wine was knocked over and had stained the carpet. Ensley’s bag was still in the bedroom, and so was her phone. I walked over to it on her bedside table and picked it up. I had no idea what that was going to achieve, but I felt like I would be closer to her if I touched something that was so personal to her.
All I could think about was how scared and miserable she must have been feeling right now. The one job I had! The one thing I had promised her; was that I was going to keep her safe and I had failed at that.
“What do you think happened here?” Topher broke the silence in the room. They were both standing at the door of Ensley’s bedroom, watching me rooting through her things.
“That motherfucker found a way to get to her. In all likelihood, he walked right in through the door because there was nobody there to stop him,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the two of them.
Jamison stepped towards me. His nose had turned deep red, and I clenched my jaw.
“I’m sorry man,” he said.
“This was your fucking job!” I growled at him. I could feel my shoulders heaving, and I had never seen him looking this apologetic before.
At this moment, I wasn’t just one of his brothers; I was also the President of the club. What would Enzo have done in a situation like this? A mistake this big that could fuck up our whole job-was definitely not going to go unpunished. I could see Jamison watching me, trying to predict what I was going to say next.
“Just keep your eyes open the next time and don’t go for a smoke. You hear me?” I growled.
Jamison nodded his head and stepped towards me. He was sticking his hand out to me, and I shook it. No matter what kind of leader Enzo had been, I wasn’t the kind of man to hold grudges. Neither could I put all the blame on Jamison alone. Topher hadn’t noticed Ryan coming into the building either. I should have been here too. I shouldn’t have relied on other people to take care of something that was so precious to me.
I was a fool for thinking that I needed time away from Ensley. I was the one she had entrusted all her faith in, and I should have been the one taking all the responsibility for it. I didn’t need sleep. I didn’t need any time away from her. Now, she had been abducted by the one man she was most afraid of. What was he going to do to her? Now that he had her, he was going to make sure that she didn’t slip out of his grasp as easily as last time.
“What are we going to do, brother?” it was Jamison who snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Just give us the word, and we’ll do it. Tell us what to do, Thorn,” Topher said, and I glared at them, with my jaws clenched.
“Call Church. I need everyone to get it through their thick skulls that we are already sucking at our job. The Grim Reapers never fail, and we are not going to start on my fucking watch,” I growled.
Topher turned away from us, slipping his phone out of his pocket to make the call. Jamison stepped towards me. I could see the look of apology in his eyes.
“I can see she means something to you, Thorn,” he said, letting his voice drop a little. I jerked my head to look at him, glaring at him directly so that he could see just how much he had pissed me off by saying that.
“She is our employer, and she’s paying us to get a job done. That’s what it fucking means to me. Understand?” I said it with a deep guttural growl. My fists were clenched again, and I didn’t know what exactly I was angry at.
“Yeah, I understand,” he replied.