“The statement is pretty good, right?” she whispers to me on the way to the door.
“Yeah. It’s solid and everything I would’ve asked him for. I just can’t resist giving him hell as often as possible,” I admit to her with a grin.
“So now what?” she asks when we come to a stop next to my bike, sobering me up about how much work there’s still left to do to find her friend.
“You and I should head back to the clubhouse and be ready for any updates from the rest of the guys out searching.”
“Don’t you think we should ride around and look for the van too?” she asks, like I guessed she would.
“We could, but it’s not easy or legal for me to check my texts and emails while steering a Harley. I figured you would rather we stay some place stationary to get news as fast as it comes in.”
“Yeah, that works I guess,” she reluctantly agrees.
Chapter Eight
Charlotte
* * *
There’s not much to do at the clubhouse with Roman while we wait, other than pace around the floor and occasionally throw some darts at the wall while picturing the four unknown men’s faces.
Each time the door opens or Roman’s phone pings with a new message, my heart stops, only to resume its regular rhythm when there’s nothing new. As the hours pass, my body begins to ache with exhaustion. My legs even begin to tremble as I lean against the bar to watch the afternoon news on the overhead television.
“You didn’t sleep at all last night, did you?” Roman asks me as he emerges from his office.
“How could I?” I reply. “I don’t feel like I will ever sleep again until I know Tessa is all right.”
“You have to try,” he tells me in a soft voice as he comes over and lays a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got a cot in my office I sleep on sometimes if I’ve had too much to drink here. It’s military surplus, but more comfortable than you would expect. Come lie down for a little while. I promise I will wake you with any news, anything at all, okay?”
“I don’t want…” I start to protest, just as Roman puts an arm around my shoulders and my body almost collapses against his chest. “I don’t want to lie down,” I finish lamely, “but you’re right. I would fall off your bike if we had to go somewhere right now. Let me see how bad this cot of yours really is.”
Roman leads me into his office and takes me directly to the far corner where a cot with a thick single mattress on top of it has been neatly made. The sheets are tucked in so tightly and the pillow laid out so perfectly it could only have been made by someone who had served in the military. It looks like a little cloud of heaven in my current state. Roman pulls back the blanket and sheet and motions for me to sit down.
When I sit down on the edge and kick off my shoes, he places a gentle kiss on top of my hair. “I’ll close the door for you and try to keep it quiet. Get some sleep, and I’ll watch over things for you,” he says as he backs towards the door.
“Roman…thank you,” I reply as he reaches the door. With a nod, he leaves, and I sink down into the surprisingly soft mattress. I’ve heard of people falling asleep before their head hits the pillow, but this is the first time in my life I’ve actually experienced it myself.
Roman
* * *
“Check your phones, we’ve got something!” Winston exclaims around eleven p.m. All of the Kings had returned from their patrols, and we each scramble to grab our devices to see what news might be coming.
As soon as I find the most recent text from Danny, I start reading it aloud for Charlotte, who had only woken up a short time ago. “They were able to find the van pulling up at a storage facility in Shallotte, North Carolina and…unloading before leaving again around six last night.”
“You think…could she be there?” Charlotte asks as she gulps down the rest of the coffee I had made for her.
“Danny didn’t see anything to suggest they left with her.”
“How far away is it?” she asks as all the guys grab their cuts and start toward the door, knowing what this means.
“Half an hour or less depending on how fast we ride,” I answer. “You coming?”
“Hell yes,” she replies, just as I expected. I know it’s safer for her to stay here in the clubhouse, but for one, there’s no way Charlotte is going to sit around and wait for us to get back. And two, I feel better when she’s with me where I can see her, touch her, and know she’s okay.
“Just to warn you,” I say as we hurry out the door. “We don’t know what we’ll find, if anything. You know that, right?” I ask her. What I really mean is, can she handle it if it’s bad news and we’re too late. Fuck, I hope we’re not too late.
“I understand, Roman. I have to know, though. I just, I need to be there for her.”
“Okay,” I agree as I slap the helmet on her head and leave her to fasten the chinstrap while everyone else mounts their bikes. “I’m going to have Danny send the local fire department and EMS to the facility, and then we’re going to open up every single unit in the entire fucking place, understood?”
There’s no traffic this time of night, so the ride is even quicker than I expected. In fact, the emergency responders are just getting out of their vehicles when our crew rolls up.
“What’s this?” one of the firefighters ask, gesturing to our row of motorcycles.
As soon as all the noise of the engines die down, I help Charlotte off and then walk up to the men in uniform. “We’re the ones who called you here,” I tell the firemen. “You got bolt cutters?”
“Yes. Why?” he answers.
“We have reason to suspect that some men are using these facilities to hold women.”
“Women?” he repeats.
“Yes. So, grab the tools and we’ll take any extra you have to cover more ground.”
“The owners aren’t going to let us cut off the locks on all these units,” he tells me.
“Good thing I’m not asking for their fucking permission,” I reply. “And you aren’t either. Do you want to help us find these women, or do you want to sit around and wait for some asshat to give us the green light?”
“Let’s do it,” he says with a nod.
“There are so many…” Charlotte says from beside me as we look at the illuminated rows of storage units before us that stretch back a hundred feet or more.
“Let’s head to the back first,” Verek suggests. “If you want to hide something, you wouldn’t choose the first few rows.”
“That works for me,” I agree.
The firefighters hand out the tools they have on them, and then we split up into small groups, each taking a row.
“I don’t hear anything,” Charlotte says as we head for the back with Verek.
“They may be sick fucks, but I doubt they would be stupid enough to leave women who are able to yell for help,” Verek says, to which I clear my throat loudly in warning. “What? It’s true,” he replies.