There had to be a way out of there. Even if she couldn’t hear what her escorts were talking about, she could tell they were worried. Sewer Breath talked with his hands and he was gesturing like an air traffic controller who’d taken a bit too much speed. BO Boy chewed his thumbnail and if Fiona would’ve cared enough to look, she would have bet he was bleeding.
She’d had about enough of both of them. She watched them, pretending she wasn’t, keeping her head down, nuzzling the baby with her chin. But she didn’t miss anything. Not Sewer Breath shaking the phone at BO Boy, not the hiss of his words, not the way he slammed out of the room, flinging the door shut behind him. BO Boy pursed his lips and blew out his breath then turned to face her.
“He’s going to get food.”
Fiona nodded but didn’t speak. She needed to know more about him before she decided whether to play him tough or to play him sweet. Not that she had time to spend figuring it out. She didn’t even have a coin to flip to decide. “He’s not very nice to you, huh?”
“He’s the boss right now. He doesn’t have to be nice.” But he cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. Those words hurt.
“Why’s he the boss? You don’t seem like you need someone telling you what to do.”
He scoffed. “I don’t.” He pushed his chest out and lifted his chin. Oh, yeah. She had him now.
“I’m just saying. I think you deserve some respect. And I’d…” Oh, Lord. She needed strength. “…be happy to tell Ty I think you deserve better than being that asshole’s whipping boy.”
“I ain’t nobody’s whipping boy.” There was some defiance. Just what she needed.
“Don’t tell me. Tell him. He’s the one talking down to you, right?” She shifted her head to the other side. “My guys know who I trust. No doubt. And when I’m with Ty, I’ll make sure his guys do, too.” He rolled his eyes. “You think I don’t have pull with him? I didn’t spend all those hours in that cabin with him sucking his dick.” Thank God. “We were planning. Plotting. Figuring out how to make you boys as rich as my boys.” This kid was buying every word. “You want me to tell him you should be one of the guys in the inner circle, I will.”
“And what do I have to do for you?”
“Again, it’s what I can do for you.” She leaned forward and moved the baby to her other breast, telling herself she would do what she had to do to protect London and if that meant a couple of peep shows to a kid who’d probably never even seen a woman’s boob before, then it would be worth it.
“What can you do for me?”
God help her.
“Goddammit!” Grier tossed the table, the only piece of furniture in the room, on its side and yanked the baby’s stuffed bunny, the one Jez had bought and had London’s name stitched into the ear, off the wall where Sedotal had nailed it with a note. Too late!
His stomach rolled and fury vibrated through his guts. If that son of a bitch hurt Fiona or his baby, Grier was going to kill him so slowly. Kye had called in a few of his old Florida friends and a couple of guys walked in behind Sage. “She’s not here.”
The guy beside Sage nodded. “We’ve been watching the place since Kye called. They moved her last night before we got here. Or she wasn’t here.”
Grier growled and flung the bunny toward him. “She was here.” They’d probably passed her on the fucking road and didn’t know it. And now they’d lost her. He stared at Grier. “Call your woman and find out if Sedotal has anywhere else he uses.” Sage pulled his phone from his pocket and walked out. At least Grier knew she hadn’t led them on a wild goose chase.
One of Kye’s friends, a different one, walked out behind Sage and the first one stepped closer to Grier. “I’ll ask around. See if anybody knows these guys or where we can find them.”
Grier nodded because the words were caught in his throat. He couldn’t imagine the horrors Tyler would inflict on Fiona. And he couldn’t let himself think of them. Not now. Not if he wanted to survive.
“They took your old lady and your kid?” He handed the bunny back to Grier. “South Beach has your back.” Grier nodded and the guy, Tony Sonoma, gave his shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll help you find her.”
Sage walked back in and came to stand by Grier. “Mia doesn’t know of anywhere else they would take her, but…” Grier’s heart ached, felt as if it didn’t have the strength to keep beating. “Maybe we should fly back and be there for the meet with Ham.”
Grier shook his head. He needed to think. Think like Sedotal, a man he didn’t know well enough to figure out. Only one thing he knew for certain. “He won’t bring Fiona there. It would be too risky. If she managed to get away or hurt, he loses his leverage. He wouldn’t take that chance.” At least, not if he was smart, and this son of a bitch always seemed to manage to stay a step ahead.
Grier looked around the cabin. Sedotal had kept her here. In this shithole of a place. And no way she wasn’t ready to kill him for keeping her there, and Grier for letting Sedotal get to her and probably Sage and a handful of other people connected with this fiasco.
One of Sonoma’s guys walked in. “I got a line on your girl. Guy down the beach said a black Escalade pulled out of here in a hurry middle of the night last night escorted by a few bikes.”
Fuck. That meant they had a hell of a head start. They could’ve been anywhere by now. Grier’s world narrowed. His stomach clenched and his chest heaved. They’d never find her. If anything happened to Fiona and London.…
He looked at Sage. “We need one of their guys.”
Sage nodded. “And in about an hour we know where a bunch of them will be.” He filled Tony in then looked back at Grier. “I’ll call Hamilton.”
Hamilton would be busy. “Call Jim and tell him to have Carl wait back with his bow. I need one of those fuckers, preferably someone close to Sedotal. Somebody who rides in with him, not with the group.” As Sage walked out to make the call, Grier yelled after him. “And everybody makes sure Ham gets out alive.” If not, not only would Fiona kill him, but Sedotal would think he had won this battle.
Kye watched from the corner of the room, leaning with his shoulder in the corner. There was no one Grier trusted more than Kye, no one else he could count on, except maybe Fiona. “You know, Grier, I was thinking. Why would they keep a place like this, you think?”
The last thing Grier wanted to do was play a round of Jeopardy with Kye, but he also knew Kye was a man who didn’t waste words. He had a point to make. But Grier had too much going on in his head to make sense of someone else’s thoughts. “I don’t know. Storage? Kidnapping?”
“Probably both, but a place like this… on the water…” He shrugged. “I would bet he uses this place for deliveries. Drugs. Women. Guns. That’s why there isn’t furniture.” He stared. “And if history has taught us anything, these bastards like their tunnels. I’m not saying there are any, but… might be worth doing a little digging.” He chuckled. “See what I did there?”