I don’t waste another second as I grab Jovie’s hand, and we scurry down the stairs, outside to my bike. I should take the truck, but honestly, I need speed right now.
Fuck what the cops think.
I grab the helmet quickly, placing it over Jovie’s head, then I slide over my ride. I make sure she’s secure, then take off as quickly as I fucking can. The normally twelve-minute ride to Ethan’s takes me all of seven. If I’m honest, I can’t even remember how I got here. My mind is such a fucking swirling chaos of what-ifs and catastrophes right now, I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking.
As I pull up like a bat out of hell into Ethan’s drive, there’s fucking cops everywhere.
If I weren’t tense already, I’m even more anxious now.
These are the men I worked with.
The men I led for years before I left them for the club.
The men who look down on me now.
Who would take any chance they got to bring me in and to take the club and me down, but I don’t care about them right now. All I care about is getting inside and finding out what the fuck is happening with my kids.
I kick out the stand, the heated gaze of the men who used to fight alongside me all glowering at me.
Jovie slides off, and she slowly pulls her helmet from her head. “They’re all staring,” she whispers.
“Because they all used to work for me. C’mon.” I grab Jovie’s hand, leading her through the hardened eyes of the men I originally called ‘my men,’ and we rush inside the house. We step into the living room, where Tom Hammond is standing with Ethan, obviously taking his statement. If he is here, it means they’re taking this seriously.
Hammond is the man who trained me.
He was my mentor.
The man I looked up to.
My fucking hero in the force.
Then, he was the first man to shun me when I left.
I peruse the living room. Lucas’ Legos are on the floor.
The sight causes my breathing to hitch.
This is real.
This is fucking real.
Jovie tightens her hand in mine as I drop to the sofa, panting for a breath I just can’t seem to catch. Jovie kneels in front of me on the floor, her palms on my face as she tries to get me to look at her, but I can’t.
I can’t focus on anything right now.
“Kevlar, I get this is hard, but you gotta be strong. We need to find out what’s happening, then we can put a plan in place, okay?”
My head bobs up and down as she leans in pressing her lips to my forehead. Somehow, it’s all I needed. I stand from the sofa, finding my strength, then storm over to Ethan and Hammond.
I don’t give two shits what they think.
Official police business or not, they’re my damn kids!
“You wanna fill me in on what the ever-loving-fuck is going on?”
Hammond doesn’t snarl at me. He doesn’t turn his anger toward me like he’s done countless times since I joined Defiance. He simply dips his chin and grips my shoulder. “Liam, I’m so fucking sorry this has happened. The force is doing everything possible to find your children. I promise you… we might have bad blood, but when it comes to those kids, every officer here, no matter the gripe they have with you, will lay their life down to protect them. Because even though you chose a different path, you’re still one of our men. And those kids, though they were born at the club, we’ve all watched them grow. They’re a part of the force whether you wanted them to be or not.”
I glance around the room to all the nodding heads of the guys I used to call my men. To all the uniformed policemen who taunt me day in and day out. To the man that I wanted to be like as an officer. Now, they’re standing here as my biggest supporters.
“I don’t understand… you all fucking hate me.”
Ethan weakly smiles. “They’re angry at you for leaving, Liam… not for joining the club.”
“Though, we’re not overly excited about the club either, if I’m being honest,” Hammond relays.
“I’d take the kids into work sometimes when it was desk day. So, when the guys say they have watched them grow up, they mean it, Liam. They’ve had the best of both worlds, cop life and club life."
“And now they’re gone?” I ask.
Ethan rolls his shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Liam, I’ve let you down. I’m meant to be the one who protects them. The good cop, who always looks out for them. I failed you… I’ve failed them.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“I went to get a glass of water, and the back door was wide open. I ran to the kids’ room, but… they were already gone.”
“We’re fingerprinting their rooms now. Doing everything we can, Liam,” Hammond offers.
Jovie rubs my back as I turn to pace the room. My hands run over my head as I begin panicking.
“This is the Baron. It has to be. He’s still trying to get at us.” Anxiety cripples me. I have no clue what the Baron is capable of when it comes to children. My skin tingles and not in a good way.
“We’ll get them back, I promise,” Ethan insists.
My head is a blur. My kids are the only thing of Em’s I have left. I fall back onto the sofa with my head in my hands. The emotion of it all overwhelming me.
“I can’t fucking lose them. If they get hurt, or… worse—”
“Stop! Don’t think like that.” Jovie halts my line of thoughts as she cuddles into my side.
My entire body begins to shudder. My eyes flood, but I won’t let it overflow. I can’t show any weakness. Not around the cops, and certainly not around Jovie. I am trying to keep my shit together, but all I can think is, Where the hell are they? And how fucking scared they must be.
I swear if whoever has my kids lays a single finger on them, I will tear them limb from limb. Anger begins to sweep through me as the sudden roar of Harleys vibrates through the distance. I glance up.
Ethan’s eyes meet mine. “You expecting anyone?”
“I wasn’t, but I’m not surprised. Zero saw me on the way out. I’d say it’s him and a couple of the others checking in.”
Then, as if on cue, Zero, Wraith, and Neon waltz through the front door with a lot of heat on their tails. But for the first time, the cops aren’t following them with distrust in their eyes, it’s with a common goal in mind. My three brothers spot me, and the cops all pass, letting them in without a single hassle or one cross word spoken.
This is a far cry from the tone we’re used to when the Houston PD and the Defiance MC cross paths.
For the first time—things are amicable.
Maybe this will mend the broken fence between us, as my brothers move in around me.
Ethan steps off, he’s on the phone again, as Lou takes Hammond to the kids’ bedrooms to do another sweep.
Neon dips his head at me. “I have feelers out everywhere searching for them, on the net, on security cams, on coms, any chatter… we’ll pick it up instantly.”
I look at Zero. “You know this is the Baron, right? I don’t know what fucking strings he’s pulling here, but he’s getting on my last damn nerve. You don’t mess with innocent kids.”
“Damn straight. The Baron has fucked with this club one too many times. Once we find Sadie and Lucas, you have my word, Kevlar, we’re going to take him out.” The tone Zero sneers in is so authentic, I know, I just know, the Baron thought he played his hand, but damn if his bluff might have just cost him the game.