“I’m not the one who fucking took her, calm the fuck down before you do something you regret,” Shadow tells me calmly, my face pressed against the glass, I blow out a breath; fogging it.
“They released Big Chief, he’s on his way here. Why don’t you go get a glass of water from Dani so when he gets here, we can go find the truck and Piper.” He lets me go, patting me on the back.
I’m confused. I just hit my president and all I get in return is a pep talk and a pat on the back.
“You should be pissed, I just hit you, man.” My brows furrow with confusion.
He runs a hand through his hair, his eyes taking on a smoldering look I hear the girls always talking about.
“I’ve been where you are, brother. I know how it feels.”
That’s right. Stories around the club say Shadow’s mom took Dani years back. I bet he killed his mom over that. Nobody fucks with Dani. Even I know that.
Inside, I sit at the bar and before I can even ask, Dani slides a cold glass of water across the bar. Clutching it with my shaking hand, I take a small sip, a cool liquid feeling forming in my stomach.
“We will find her. Believe in my man, Saint,” Dani tells me, leaning over the counter onto her elbows, she stares at me. “Piper is strong, whoever has her is probably cussing themselves for taking her instead of someone else, trust me.” She tapes humor over the situation, trying to ease me up.
“I just hate not doing anything,” I tell her, wiping the condensation slipping down the glass with my thumb. I feel like God gave me another chance at love and is testing my commitment to Piper. I’m just sitting here and I feel like it’s deja vu all over again.
I’m terrified I’m going to lose her and the baby. I was a boy when I lost my girlfriend and baby, being a man now, knowing what the fuck I’m feeling and what I want. It hurts that much more.
A motorcycle roars as it pulls into the courtyard. My eyes widen, it has to be Big Chief. Leaving the water behind, I jog out of the club and to Big Chief. He’s already talking to Shadow, both of them looking over the phone in Chief’s hand.
Making my way to them, I look at the marker lit up on a map, he does have a GPS. My heart beats a little faster.
Shadow looks to me.
“Round the boys up, we’re heading out.”
Three cups of coffee in attempt to sober up, a bulletproof vest on, and a club armed to the teeth, we ride onto the freeway, heading away from the city; east. Shadow leads the way, Zane right behind him. My hands strangle the handlebars, adrenaline pumping through me to the point of toxicity… or maybe it’s just the booze still talking. When I come face to face with Rad again, I’m going to kill him. His betrayal stained my conscience like an expensive red wine, it’s a regret I’ll never wash my hands from.
Driving for over an hour, we come to an area with dead brush and a half-buried car in the desert. There’s no sign of Chief’s truck or Piper. What the fuck is this? Where are we?
Putting my motorcycle on its kickstand, my knees ache from riding with locked legs, my anger making my limbs stiff. I look around, taking in the area, there’re no buildings or any socialization within eyesight. Zane walks toward the broke down car, its paint replaced with brown and yellow rust. The windows and seats gone. Big Chief looks at the phone in his hand, a puzzled expression filling at his face.
“It says it’s right here, I don’t understand.” He scowls, looking around us like his truck will magically pop up.
“Is this it?” Bobby asks, his head down, looking at something on the other side of the car. We all head to him, finding a dusty black box half buried in dirt.
Big Chief kneels, opening the box.
It’s the Lojack.
Rad found it and deserted it, sending us on a wild goose chase. He’s fucking with us and it only makes me that more hostile about everything. He has my woman, and he’s dangling her right in front of us.
“Goddamn it!” I holler. Fists rolled, biceps strained, I scream into the wind. What the fuck does Rad want? Why is he doing this?
“Go check on him,” I hear Shadow tell one of the brothers. Lowering my face, I run my hands over the back of my head.
How the fuck are we going to find her now? My chest begins to hurt, my ribs feeling like they’re breaking through skin and building a wall around my wounded heart. An attempt to succumb to the unfamiliar feeling, I rub my chest, my jaw clenched. My heart may be sore from not being able to be there for Piper, but one thing’s for sure. I’ll never be naive again. I’ll never be so trusting. When I get Piper back, I will be on her ass to be the best version of herself she can be.
I’ll never let her out of my sight again.
My girl has daddy issues, it’s clear to see. So, I’ll be her fucking daddy.
She’ll hate it. But I didn’t say it wouldn’t come with its perks.
Zane steps up behind me, stopping feet from me. His hands hang on his hips, his face looking anywhere but at me. He’s thinking of what to say, something to help soothe what I’m going through, but he and I both know nothing he has to say is going to do any good.
How can anything be alright when the woman who walked in my life and taught me how to be a man, to finally be able to feel something other than guilt, be taken right in front of me.
“You alright, man?” he finally asks.
Shaking my head, I think about how stupid his question is, but he’s trying. He’s a good brother.
“How the fuck am I supposed to save her now, man?” I mumble, shaking my head. This Lojack was supposed to lead us to her.
The sun shines down on my dark skin making me sweat. I can’t tell if it’s the heat or the shit we’re going through wrapping around my throat and making it unbearable to breathe.
He sighs, shaking his head. Licking his lips, determined eyes narrow in on me.
“We won’t give up, brother. We will keep digging and paying off anyone we know that’ll snitch until we find her.”
Turning on my heel, my eyes watering, I swallow the emotion building in my throat.
“And how do you know she ain’t already dead?” My whisper a note from my conscience.
He doesn’t reply, the grim look on his face doing enough talking for the both of us.
Piper
Despite the heat radiating through the window, my hands are cold. A hurricane of anger building inside of me as I lay on the bed and think about how I ended up here. What would I be doing today if I wasn’t cuffed to this bed? I would be looking at a bottle of whiskey with self-pity? Maybe if I wasn’t pregnant.
Sliding my hand from the bed to my stomach, I cup it, conscious of the life growing inside of me. Delilah and I would be arguing over baby names, her picking something gender-neutral for sure, and telling me all my ideas are crap. A laughing sob wracks my body. I miss her so much. I have to get out of here. The winds of chaos sway back and forth inside of me, I want to ugly cry and hide, but I also want to shed blood. I’m going to get out of here.
“We are going to get out of here.” I rub my stomach. I’ll rain fucking hell on this place and anyone who gets in my way. The question is how do I do this and keep the baby inside of me safe.
The door to my room opens and Candy stands in the doorway wearing a forest green robe with gold trimming, the hem barely coming to the middle of her thighs. Her hair is piled high on top of her head, and she has no makeup on. With cigarette lit in one hand, she rattles pills in a container onto her palm.