Braylen
Astonishingly, I was lost to the deepest realms of sleep when a loud bang woke me. Then I heard shouting followed by a bright light. Kena stirred beside me.
“What the hell?” I grumbled, disoriented and annoyed that someone woke me up in such a way. Covering my face with my pillow, it took me several seconds to remember where I was, although I’d been in the same place for days. Hearing a distressed voice, I unshielded my eyes and saw Adelaide rushing toward me.
“Get up,” she yelled. “We have to go.” She was frantic as she glanced around the room, the wild look in her eyes frightening me. I had no idea what she was doing because she wasn’t looking at either of us, or Reece, who’d also shot up in her bed in a panic.
Then just as swiftly as Adelaide had arrived, she left.
“What’s going on?” I’d already hopped out of bed and run behind her out into the hallway when it dawned on me that maybe the club was under attack. Catching up to her before she entered the large common space, I grabbed her arm and spun her around. “What’s happening? Are we in danger?”
She shook her head before tears fell and painted her cheeks. “He’s dead,” she wailed, pulling her hair as she retreated, hitting the wall which finally kept her in place.
I had no idea who she was referring to, but it had to be one of our men.
Before I could get any answers, I joined in her anguish, crying right along with her. Kena hurried toward us, signing to me while terror stole her reserve.
What’s wrong?
“I don . . . don’t know,” I blubbered, wiping my face with the back of my hand. “Adelaide said ‘He’s dead,’ but I don’t know who she’s talking about.” My lungs worked feverishly, pulling in air faster than I could expel it.
Just when I thought I was going to hyperventilate, Salzar ran toward us.
“We gotta go,” he urged, moving quickly but seemingly calmer than the three of us. A flurry of bodies passed, men spouting out instructions while I stood there in the midst of the tornado. I saw Reece and Sully carrying Riley and Kaden, followed by Nash and a few others holding our suitcases.
Next thing I knew we were all loaded into two vehicles and speeding out of the clubhouse lot as if someone had been chasing us.
Apparently, time had been the culprit.
I kept hearing Adelaide saying “He’s dead,” but who was she talking about? Furthermore, who had given her the news? She never mentioned that someone had called her. Did one of the guys at the club we were staying at tell her something? If so, why had they chosen to keep the rest of us in the dark?
We’d been driving for three hours when my cell abruptly rang. I’d made sure it was charged, waiting for the moment when Ryder would call me. Praying he would call me.
Fumbling with the phone and almost dropping it, I managed to swipe the screen before the ringing ceased. “Hello,” I hurriedly answered. “Ryder?”
“No, it’s me.” Jagger’s voice sounded strained.
“Where’s Ryder?”
“He can’t. . . .” He trailed off, short spurts of air hitting my ear as I listened to him trying to control his breathing. “I don’t even know what to say. It’s so bad. So bad,” he repeated. I swore he was crying, but I couldn’t be sure. Either way, something terrible happened, and if I thought I was gonna lose my mind before, I was surely gonna go mental if Jagger didn’t start talking.
“You need to tell me what happened, Jagger. Please.” Kena whipped her head toward me, and the look on her face was priceless. Like she’d been given the best gift, and in a sense she had. At least she knew her man was alive, well enough to make a phone call.
I remained on the line, the seconds passing in silence until I heard the first syllable of his first word.
“They didn’t make it.”
I swore my heart stopped beating right before the line went dead. I immediately dialed Jagger’s number back, but it went straight to voice mail. I tried five more times, but each time I heard his automated message telling me to leave a message after the beep. Clutching my phone tightly, I willed it to ring, my internal voice screaming at the top of her lungs for the damn thing to burst out in sound.
I hadn’t even realized that I’d been crying until Kena unbuckled her seat belt and crawled next to me, pulling me into her embrace. She tried to comfort me, and I loved her dearly for her attempt, but nothing in the world would make me feel better except for Ryder’s voice.
Right before I was about to lose it, my screams bubbling inside my throat, I heard one of the men’s phones ring. Nash was driving our SUV while one of his buddies sat next to him—I believed his name was Cass.
“Yeah,” Nash answered in a hurry. “Fuck. Okay. Yeah. I know. I’m drivin’ as fast as I can.” Nothing else was said before he hung up, tossing his phone into the center console.
“Who was that?” Reece asked from behind us. I’d completely forgotten she was in the vehicle with us, she’d been so quiet. When Nash didn’t answer, she leaned forward in her seat. “Who was that?” That time her voice was louder, and there was no way our driver didn’t hear her.
“No one.”
“No one?” she screeched, followed by the click of her seat belt coming undone as she tried to crawl over the seat to where Kena and I were sitting, all the while careful of her small pregnant belly. It seemed as if Reece had finally snapped, joining the rest of us in our fear. When she’d managed to clear the seat, she lunged toward the front, hitting Nash on his arm so frantically I feared he was going to veer off the road and crash.
“What the hell? Sit down,” he demanded, the gravel in his voice leaving no doubt that he was serious. And extremely angry. But Reece ignored him, her hair flying wildly around her as she continued to slap him. He tried to dodge her hits but he was trapped, trying to keep his eyes on the road while attempting to get away from her flailing arms.
“You need to calm down, sweetheart,” Cass coaxed, grabbing her hands and holding them together in front of her, cautious not to injure her. His voice was eerily calm, especially after having witnessed her break with reality. “We’re following orders. We’re not to give you ladies any info until we know for sure what we’re dealin’ with, so no amount of yelling and hitting will make us talk.” Cass faced not only Reece but Kena and me as well, his dark green eyes flicking to each of us to drive home his point. “Now go back and sit down,” he instructed.
He released Reece’s hands and turned back around to face front, not even waiting for her to comply, which she did almost right away. Kena and I moved so she could sit between us.
“Can you at least tell us where we’re going?” I asked, waiting not so patiently for his answer.
“California,” Nash replied. He took a breath. “We’re takin’ you back home.”