I was sitting in my office, palms pressed into my eyes.
Everything could go to shit fast now. The Mayhem Bringers would be rolling up anytime. When they did, it wouldn’t be long before we rode.
The time there would be blood.
We’d made other choices before. We’d sacrificed that thirst in order to take someone down in a way that wouldn’t have kickback for us. That wasn’t an option now. Not one we could accept, anyway.
Still, I had to get on the line with Andrews, and there was no point in putting it off anymore.
At this point, I was just wasting time, but I couldn’t help it. Evie would be getting off work soon. I told myself I’d just wait for her to text like I’d asked, then get down to it.
What was really happening was me taking a breath now, in the calm before the storm. Getting my head together to consider every outcome, every angle. Trying my best to make sure we were all breathing free when this was done.
I kept my head down, attempting to settle my mind until my phone vibrated.
Evie: Leaving work. XO
The XO in her message made everything quiet. That was the power she had, the power any good woman had for her man. Nothing soothed me the way she did.
I didn’t reply. Not then. I’d give her something when she got out to the farmhouse. But hearing from her forced me to get my ass in gear. Closing out of my messages, I pulled up Andrews’ number and put through the call.
“Tell me you’re calling to get me to buy fucking cookies or some shit,” he answered.
“Not waitin’ around anymore,” I answered.
“Just give me—”
“You don’t need time,” I cut him off. “We both fuckin’ know they got the officers up there in their pocket. You aren’t getting the chance to go after them anytime soon, and we aren’t waiting anymore.”
Andrews sighed. “You want to fill me in on what happened?”
Any other man with a badge, I wouldn’t. Andrews had earned that honesty from us, though.
“They got that shit inside Candy Shop. Put it in a bouncer’s hand, knowing full well who signs his paycheck.”
He got it. I knew he would, but it was clear when he muttered, “Shit. Fucking morons.” He let out another sigh before asking, “How big a mess is this going to be?”
That was the question, wasn’t it?
“We called in Mayhem.”
Silence greeted that, then a harsh, “Fuck.”
“You want to walk away, I’ll respect that. You’re willing to do what you can to keep my boys clear, you’ll have my gratitude in all the ways you can. That includes whatever you need to make it happen.”
It wouldn’t be the first time he passed along incentives from us to folks that could make things messy for us. I meant what I said, though. If he wanted to remain far away from the shitstorm that was brewing, I wouldn’t hold it against him.
Only a couple of men in the club knew how Andrews had come to be our ally. Only Doc, Tank, and Roadrunner were with me when I hunted down the scumbag that raped his little sister and gave him an opportunity at revenge that didn’t involve her having to take the stand and relive that shit.
We might have spent a lot of time on different sides of the law, but Andrews knew what we stood for.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he finally answered. Before I could give my thanks, the line was dead.
Phone in hand, I let myself look at the picture Evie had taken of us with it. She’d even gone so far as to make it my background and lock screen. In the week or so since, she was surprised any time she saw it was still there. I wasn’t changing it, not unless she jacked my phone again to take more.
Her smile. That was what I’d carry with me. We might be riding for our club, for Hoffman, for pride, and abstract bullshit. But I knew that wasn’t enough.
“Every man that goes to war has to keep a picture in his mind.”
I’d have Evie. A constant reminder that I had to get my ass home safe and without a warrant.
Pocketing the phone, I stood and made my way out into the clubhouse lounge. The brothers were all there waiting for instructions. So I gave them.
“I want everyone loaded up with whatever we got. Heard rumors about the fuckers stockpiling, so we aren’t going in light. Women and kids go to the farmhouse. Full lockdown and I want volunteers to hang back and make sure they’re good.”
No one jumped up to raise a hand. I looked between the brothers with women and kids, the battle in their eyes between wanting to assure their safety and wanting to ride with their brothers.
My eyes moved to Jager, and he knew he was about to be benched since he had the youngest at home. Asshole wasn’t having it. He spoke before I could, “Ace.”
I looked between them. “Why?”
Ace answered that himself. “Quinn’s pregnant.”
Jesus. Too many families caught up in this shit. I looked to the other fathers with young ones. Gauge’s expression was a challenge to sit his ass. Slick had much the same. More than once he’d been the one to be sidelined since he’d be the first with a woman at home. For the look he was offering me now, it wasn’t happening again.
That left, “Sketch,” I announced.
His face didn’t show it, but I knew he was relieved. He had two girls and a wife who’d already broken down once after losing her father when he wore our patch. He didn’t need to be taking those risks.
“Get on the lines with your women now. I want them all at the farmhouse as quick as possible. You two,” I said, looking between Sketch and Ace, “Arm up and ride up there now.”
“Are Evie, Kate, and Owen there already?” Ace asked.
“Kate and Owen are,” Daz put in. “Texted her a while ago. They’re in for the night, told them to keep it that way.”
I nodded. “Evie’s on her way. She’ll be there before you get up there.”
Both men acknowledged that, then got moving. The rest of the club looked at me.
“I’m splitting you up. Teams for each property we haven’t hit, and the one outside of town that we checked out already. My gut tells me the others don’t matter. You go in soft with some of the Mayhem brothers at your back. Once we get eyes everywhere, we’ll make moves. Got it?” With no protests, I moved forward, teaming them off and assigning properties.
Doc and Daz would be riding with me, Gauge with Ham, Roadrunner with Jager and Hook, and Tank with Slick. It was calculated, and they knew it. Doc was like a father to Daz. Gauge and Ham were closer than any of the brothers. Roadrunner and Jager were bonded by Ember, and Jager had brought Hook in. Tank had been the one to recruit Slick. Everyone was tied to the men at their backs by more than just by brotherhood.
Should things go to hell, it could backfire on me. But I was hoping it meant everyone stayed safe.
The tension in the air was thick, like the charge before the bolt of lightning. The storm was on the horizon, whether we were ready for it or not.
The roar of engines heralded the Mayhem brothers arriving, and then shit was full speed ahead. Teams were made, assignments reiterated. Everything was ready.
I was walking out of the clubhouse beside Vic, the brothers of our mutual clubs all ready to ride out, when my phone rang. I might have ignored it, but there was too much going on to take the risk.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“Pres…”
There was worry in Sketch’s voice that sent ice through my veins.
“Talk,” I ordered.
“Your girl. She’s not here.”
No.
My heart pounding, I ripped the phone from my ear, checking for anything I’d missed, but there was nothing. She hadn’t texted to say she was home. She should have been back nearly half an hour ago.
I didn’t bother with niceties. I hung up the call on Sketch and dialed Evie. I felt the eyes on me, the confusion, but none of it mattered.
The phone rang, and rang, and rang.
“Hi, this is Genevi—”
“Fuck,” I bit out, slamming my finger down to disconnect and call again. The panic was rising. She was just driving. She stopped for gas. For dinner. She’d pick up if I kept calling.
“Stone,” Vic called.
More ringing. That incessant fucking ringing.
“Hi, thi—”
“Brother, what’s going on?” Doc asked, approaching the steps.
Nausea and pure fucking rage warred in me.
“Evie’s gone.”
Jager was sprinting past me in an instant, running inside the clubhouse. He’d track her phone, however far that got us. We’d find her. We had to.
I called again.
One ring, two.
Then a connection.
“Evie?” I demanded.
“Sorry, chief,” a male voice said through the line. That chipper fucking tone making me grip the phone until the thing groaned its protest. “Your girl can’t get on the line right now.”
“Where the fuck is she?” I roared.
He chuckled. Fucking chuckled like I wasn’t going to tear him apart.
“Now, now, so fuckin’ pissy. She’s fine.” There was the noise of the phone moving around, then his voice more distant saying, “Take a look.”
A minute later, my phone buzzed in my hand. With every muscle shaking, I lowered it. There, blocking the picture of her smiling face, was a small image of my Evie, bound and gagged in a chair. Her head was slumped forward.
“I’m going to find you,” I said, not bothering to bring the phone to my ear. “I’m going to find you and rip you limb from limb. I’m going to make death feel like a mercy. And then I’m going to destroy your whole fucking club. Do you understand me?”
Everyone around me had gone dead silent, so I heard his response, even at a distance. “Good fucking luck. She’s a sweet piece, your girl. Might have some fun with her before—”
My phone was gone then, slamming into the concrete exterior of the clubhouse.
I stormed into the clubhouse, heading right for Jager’s room. He was there, staring at the screen.
“Tell me you fucking have her,” I ordered.
“Signal just broke off,” he said, still clicking away. “Probably busted the phone when you got off the line. I have a general location. Only two properties we know of are close.” He turned the screen toward me, showing the map with a circle of Evie’s location on it.
Marking the spot in my mind and comparing it to the maps I’d studied again and again of where they owned land, I went back out.
“Plan’s changed,” I announced when I cleared the door, shouting so all the guys would hear. “Those fucking cunts took my woman.” There was a roar of fury, but I didn’t stop. “We got a location, but it’s not spot on. The two spots on the northeast side of town, about half an hour out. They’ve got her at one of those,” I explained. “We ride now. We don’t go in light. We get my woman out of there, and we do whatever the fuck we have to to do it.”
That was it. I wasn’t wasting more time on bullshit words. I heard Vic shouting orders for how to divide the men, but I was already getting on my bike. I tore out of the forecourt, opening my baby up full power.
“I have faith in this. I have faith in you.”
Her voice was in my head.
“I want you to make love to me.”
My sweet bunny, in danger.
“Morning, honey.”
I was going to find her.
“My Stone.”
And I was going to kill them for touching her.