Tiny is the first to get up and leave Church. There’s a haunting look in his eyes and I know that expression well. This is hard on him. I’ll have to check on him before we leave. Trigger, Torch and Red walk out together next, talking about where they’ll set up and how they’ll keep Bloody Scorpions in the clubhouse. That leaves us with Bear and Derange.
Derange leans forward and sets his hands on the table, running his fingers over the scarred wood. He looks up, “What’s this mean for us? Bloody Scorpions are huge. There’s no way we can take them on our own.”
“I’ll call in reinforcements. Get some allies on our side. Be prepared for a blood bath, brother.” There’s a hint of revenge in his voice. He wants blood, just like the rest of us.
Dagger stands up from his seat and exits Church without another word. “I’ll go check on him. Make sure he’s in the right frame of mind for this. Something has been going on with Jezebelle.” Bear stands up and follows Dagger out. That leaves Capone and me.
Capone pulls his phone out of his jeans and sets it on the table. “Better make that phone call now. Get them ready.” He punches a button and puts it on speaker phone.
It rings several times before a sultry voice answers. “This better be good.”
“It is. I have some information that we need your help on.” Capone responds.
“I’m listening.”
“We have a location on some missing girls and a few of them are from Central Michigan. I know you have connections out there.” This is hard admitting we need help. I can see it in the way Capone swallows hard.
“I do. But what does that have to do with me? You’ve made it clear you never wanted nor needed our help.” She’s not giving Capone an inch.
“I was wrong, Krimson. We need your help. I need your crew to help us get Blayze’s sister back.” Capone pleads with her. Krimson is the leader of the street racers in Los Angeles. She took down the biggest motherfucker of them all a couple of years ago after she found out he killed her parents and kidnapped her little brother.
“You’ve found Danyella? Why in the fuck didn’t you lead with that?” I hear her inhale a deep breath through the phone. “What’s the plan?”
“Bloody Scorpions are having an auction tonight. Tiny is set up to bid on her and is searching for where they might be holding the girls. It looks like they have about five up for auction. A total of twenty or more girls waiting. That’s a lot of bodies to be moving at one time. Once we have the location, three of my men will be set up outside their clubhouse. Then me, Bear, Derange and Blayze will be at the girls’ location, ready to get them out. We will end them tonight. I need a safe passage through the city for our van to get back here.” Capone exhales and rubs his temples.
“Anything else?” Krimson asks.
“We need help taking these motherfuckers out. They’re a big MC and we don’t have the manpower. My other Chapters are too far away to make it here.” Krimson doesn’t answer. She’s waiting to hear the words flow through my Prez’s lips. He knows it too because he clenches his fists on the table. “Krimson, will your crew help us destroy these trafficking motherfuckers?”
Silence from the other end of the phone is making my blood boil. I open my mouth to tell her never mind and to fuck off when Capone raises his hand silencing me.
“Yes, you’ll have my help. I’ll arrange a safe passage through the city. Once you figure out the route back to your clubhouse, let me know and I’ll have the streets shut down. Rush, Hotflash, Redlight, Quickshift, Nolan and his men, along with myself will assist you in ending these motherfuckers. They messed with the wrong woman. Bringing that shit into my city is unacceptable. Be ready to shed some blood, boys.” Krimson hangs up before Capone or I can say anything.
“That went better than I expected,” Capone leans back in his seat. He stares off into space before turning in my direction. “Is it me or does that woman cause a shiver down your spine?”
“Oh, she scares the shit out of me. If there’s one woman besides mine that I don’t want to cross,” I point to the phone like she can see me, “It’s her.”
Capone laughs and slaps the table. “Alright, brother. Let’s go check on the rest of the guys and see what they’ve come up with.”
We exit Church and head for the communications room. Tiny is in there along with Red. They’re both at different computers, searching for shit. Tiny has photos up of different missing girls. He has them labeled and marked by state. Red is searching for traffic cameras in different parts of the city. They have shit under control and I turn to leave.
“Hey, Prez. VP.” Red calls out, halting my steps. “I found something and you’re not going to like it.”
I turn back around and step behind Red, looking at the screen he has up. Capone stands next to me. “What’d you find?”
Red hits play and the screen comes to life. It’s grainy but I can make out a man walking with two girls. One can’t be older than four. She’s clutching onto the other woman like her life depends on the woman’s survival. I can’t make out who the woman is. Her head is down and her snarly hair is covering her face. The man yanks on the woman’s hair hard. She lets out a squeal of protest but remains upright. He has on a leather cut but I can’t make out the patches from this angle. The man shouts in the woman’s face, getting right in her personal space. The woman turns to face the camera and my heart stops beating.
Danyella.
She stares directly at me and mouths something into the camera before he yanks on her hair again, pulling her and the little girl down an alley and out of sight.
“Rewind that. Where are they?” I order Red. I stare at the screen again, trying to make out what she’s saying. “What the fuck is she telling me?” Red hits play again and I watch Danyella’s mouth move.
“They’re at the corner of West 5th and South Hill Street, in downtown L.A. There’s construction going on in that area. Perfect place to move a bunch of women and citizens wouldn’t even know. With all the trucks going in and out, it’d be a breeze to add one more to the mix. I’ll bet my patch that’s where they are. I’ll keep looking to see if anyone else goes in and out of that area. Then, I’ll try to figure out what Danyella is trying to say.” Red answers.
“Good work brother.” Capone slaps his back.
“Yeah, good work.” I echo Capone. I need to get out of here. I need air. My shirt is strangling my neck. Sweat beading on my brow. I head for the door and get out of that room as fast as I can. Worry and dread fill my stomach thinking about everything Danyella has gone through the past six months. I walk down the hallway to Monica’s room as quickly as my boots will take me. If one person can ground me when I need it, it’s her.
Chapter 8
Monica
My bedroom door slams open with a hard thud. Daisy jumps from her seated position on my bed and scurries to the attached bathroom. Her blue eyes turn wide and her body starts shaking in fear. Blayze is on the other side of the door. His chest is heaving and sweat beading on his brow. My room grows smaller with the tension radiating from his body. His green eyes are haunted, portraying the pain he’s in. He searches the room and that deadly gaze lands on me. I’ve seen him like this only once before and that was when Steam and Chains tried to kill me.