Robin nods. “Right.”
“Y’all are gonna follow that Charger,” I say, pointing to Moose and Fuzz. “And we’ll be behind you in the truck. Once you get about thirty miles out, find a place to pull over.”
“Okay,” she replies before turning to the car. Smith and I walk back to the truck and I nod to Fuzz. As we jump in the truck, he starts up his car and pulls to the edge of the parking lot, waiting until Robin and Tia are behind him before he pulls out onto the road. The sedan pulls out next, followed up by us and Fuzz turns to take us over the bridge.
Smith is quiet during the drive and I can’t stop thinking about getting back to the clubhouse, so I can finally finish what I started this morning. I pull out my phone and send her a text.
Me:
I’ll be back in an hour.
Are you naked yet?
Smirking, I wait for her response but when she doesn’t reply, I shove my phone back into my pocket. She’s probably still talking to Ivy. They had a lot to share with each other today and I’m really hoping her sister will be able to shed some light on all these random pieces of information we have. Streak still can’t figure out how it all fits together and he’s getting damn near hysterical. The guy doesn’t handle being out of the loop very well. I suppose that’s the side effect of being able to find out anything you want in a matter of minutes.
I’m still worried about Julian, too. Hopefully, Carly can convince Ivy to go to the police, so Rodriguez can finally do something about this. Other than that, I’m not sure what we can do to stop him. Ivy can’t live at the clubhouse forever and eventually, she’ll have to go back to living her life. With the lengths he went to for her the first time, I don’t see him giving up no matter how long it takes. He doesn’t seem like a guy that doesn’t get his way very often so I’m sure this is pissing him off.
Smith’s phone rings as the two cars in front of us pull off the road and he pulls it out, shaking his head. “Goddamn it.”
“Problem?” I ask and he shakes his head.
“No, just my fucking brother again.”
I nod. Smith’s brother is always getting into some kind of trouble and Smith is always bailing him out.
“Might be time to let him sink or swim.”
He sighs. “I’m not just going to abandon my little brother, Chance.”
I get where he’s coming from, but Smith is killing himself to help his brother. I’m pretty sure all he’s doing is enabling him. Maybe cutting him off would force him to grow up. Or maybe not. All I know is Smith is a good guy and his brother is using that to his advantage.
When he puts the truck in park, I climb out and walk over to the car, knocking on the window. Tia rolls it down and smiles at me.
“Thank you.”
I nod. “Of course. Y’all should be good to go now. Are you driving straight through?”
Robin shakes her head. “No, actually. My friend has a cabin and we’re going to stay there for a week while she stays at the house. That way if Dirk comes looking, he won’t find us.”
“That sounds like a good idea. We’ll have Streak keep an eye on his location and if he starts moving your way, we’ll give you a heads up.”
They thank me again and I send them on their way before turning back to the truck.
“Back to the clubhouse?” Moose calls and I nod, pulling my phone out, frowning. I still don’t have a message from Carly.
“Yeah, let’s get back.”
They nod and head out as I climb in the truck and dial Blaze’s number as Smith follows behind them.
“Hello?” he answers.
“Hey, Boss. Robin and Tia just took off.”
“Everything go okay?”
I nod. “Yep. I’ll fill you in on the rest when we get back.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you soon.”
I hang up and stare at the message I sent Carly, something is bothering me, but I can’t pinpoint what it is. Maybe she just left her phone up in the room when she went to find Ivy. Or maybe she’s taking a nap… she was pretty tired when I left earlier. Sighing, I slip my phone in my pocket and try not to worry as I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes.
* * * *
“We’re back,” Smith says, nudging me, and I open my eyes as I yawn. Damn, I guess I was tired. As I climb out of the truck, I grab my phone and check for a message from Carly. Still nothing. Slipping it back in my pocket, I head toward the door. When I step inside, Moose, Fuzz, and Kodiak look up at me from one of the tables.
“Nice photo, sleeping beauty,” Kodiak says, holding up his phone to show me a photo of me sleeping in the truck. “I think you’ve got a little drool there.”
“Ha ha,” I sneer, scanning the room. “You seen Carly?”
Kodiak shakes his head. “Naw, man. Not since earlier.”
Nodding, I jog up the stairs and check the room before bounding back down and heading toward the TV room. Just before I reach it, Ivy steps out and I stop.
“Hey, is Carly in there?”
She shakes her head. “No, I was just coming to check if she was out here. She went to get food and movies but that was a while ago.”
“How long?” I ask, panic slicing through me and she shrugs.
“I’m not really sure. Over an hour, at least, though.”
I start backing away from her as I pull my phone out. “Do you know what store she was going to?”
“No.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. Something isn’t right here. Carly wouldn’t just disappear on me… not anymore. Right? I dial her number again and press the phone to my ear, growing more and more agitated with each ring. When her voicemail picks up, I almost throw my phone across the room.
“What’s going on?” Smith asks.
“Carly’s gone and she’s not answering her phone.”
Sinking into one of the chairs, I rub my hand over my face and go over our exchange this morning. Things were good, we were good, so I can’t believe she would just leave but look at her track record. How many times since we got together has she ghosted on me? Ivy steps out of the hallway, looking nervous, and I shake my head. No, she would never leave her behind.
“Streak!” I yell, jumping up from the chair and marching toward the stairs. He pokes his head over the railing.
“What?”
“Track Carly’s phone. Now.”
His eyes widen and he looks like he’s going to say something before turning and running back to his office.
“Dude, calm down for a minute and tell us what’s going on,” Kodiak says, patting my shoulder and I shrug him off.
“Ivy said she left here over an hour ago to get food and now she’s not answering her phone.”
Kodiak turns to Ivy. “You sure it was an hour?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “It could be closer to two, I’m not sure. I was near the beginning of Titanic when she left and it just ended.”
“Shit, yeah, that’s closer to two hours,” Smith says and everyone turns to look at him. How the fuck does he know how long that movie is?
“Her phone’s off,” Streak calls over the railing. “But her last location was the gas station a couple of blocks over.”