“Camp for what?” Jigsaw asks. “Hunting? Roasting marshmallows? Singing songs by the fire?”
“Cooking meth,” Merlin answers.
“Why the fuck were you involved with these jokers, again?” Rock snaps.
Merlin bristles. “It’s irrelevant at this point, Rock. I stepped down. Left my club, my home—”
“I don’t got a violin tiny enough for this shit,” Rooster says.
“I lost everything,” Merlin protests.
“Spare us the fucking sob story.” Rock leans in. “Those are all consequences of your actions.”
Wrath taps his finger against his jaw, a sure sign he’s about to say something obnoxious. “If I recall, your options were go nomad or go to ground.”
Merlin likes to act like he’d given up the gavel willingly because it was the right thing to do after his fuckups. Guess Wrath just blew that illusion to shit.
“I wouldn’t put it that way.” Merlin lifts his chin. “We ain’t sittin’ here to discuss ancient history, though, are we?” He nods at Ravage. “We’re here to get my nephew back.”
Murphy clenches his fists on the table but keeps his thoughts to himself. The tension rolling off him says he’s having a hard time not jumping over the table and punching Merlin’s jaw just like I want to do.
“Can we focus, please?” I ask with as much calm as I can muster under the circumstances. “How do we find this place?”
“It’s way out in the woods. They’ll hear us coming from a mile away,” he warns.
“Do you know how to find it or not?” Wrath asks.
“I can locate it.” He shrugs. “But they want to make the trade at a park outside Ironworks.”
Wrath catches my eye. “I don’t like it. That’s leaving Carter with these psychos for way too long.” Wrath turns to Merlin, seeking some sort of response, but Merlin’s a statue.
“These guys are dumb and unpredictable,” Rooster says. “They already cut off the kid’s toe.”
“They fucked with the wrong MC,” Dex adds. “They need to be taught a lesson.”
“Look, I know trust isn’t at its zenith right now,” Merlin says.
“That’s putting it mildly,” I grumble.
“But I’m here to see this through and get him back.”
“Good.” Probably be the first decent act he’s done all year.
Wrath sits forward, glances at Rock, then Z, then sits back. Something’s bothering him that he doesn’t seem to want to share.
Rock appears to pick up on his enforcer’s unease. He nods at Bricks. “Can you take Merlin down to the dining room and map out the location?”
“You got it, boss.” Bricks stands and pushes in his chair.
Rock nods to Stash, Hoot, and Birch. “Help him out.”
“Yup.” Stash is the first to jump out of his chair.
Merlin narrows his eyes at Rock but isn’t in a position to complain. It’s a perfectly reasonable request. And if he balks, four of my brothers will be happy to motivate him.
As soon as they’ve left, Rock focuses on Wrath. “What’s bothering you?”
“I overheard some of the conversation.” He jerks his thumb toward the chair Merlin just vacated. “They only asked for fifty thousand.”
“Motherfuckin’ piece of shit!” I shout.
“Simmer down,” Rock warns.
“He fuckin’ lied to our faces.”
“Let Wrath finish.”
“And,” Wrath continues, ignoring my outburst, “they expect him to marry that girl. Tomorrow.”
“Doesn’t sound like he has any intention of doing that,” Rooster comments.
Wrath taps two fingers on the table in front of him. “They want both things before they release Carter. The money and the wedding.”
“So, what was he planning to do?” I ask. “Take off with the extra money and leave Carter to be chopped into pieces?”
“Maybe,” Wrath says slowly. “Or he figures the extra money will bail him out of the wedding.”
“Uh, sounds like the wedding is more important than the cash to these clowns,” Dex points out.
“Exactly.”
“But if they don’t bring Carter to the exchange, we’re going to notice,” Jiggy says. “What was his plan for that?”
“Invite us to the wedding?” Z shrugs. “Merlin isn’t the brightest bulb.”
“He’s scared,” Grinder says slowly. “He didn’t expect all of us to be this concerned.” He lifts his gaze to me. “Probably thought you two would work it out with them alone.”
“Yeah, and so what if it gets Carter killed?” Murphy snaps. “This is bullshit. Let’s get directions to the camp, gut Merlin and drop him in a ditch on the way to rescue Carter.”
“Easy.” Rock holds his hand up in front of Murphy’s face. “Let’s call that plan C.”
Wrath’s our enforcer for a reason. “What do you think we should do?” I ask him.
“I think we should take two teams. One can go to the meet with Merlin and the cash. The other goes to the camp. Once we see them leave for the meeting, we go in and find Carter.”
“They’ll leave someone there to guard him,” I point out.
“You got a problem taking them out?”
Would I hesitate to pull the trigger to save Carter?
“Nope.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Charlotte
The loud buzzing in my ears doesn’t allow many other sounds to penetrate. Around me, Hope, Heidi, Lilly, and Trinity try to engage me in conversation. Alexa and Chance play on the floor but become more and more agitated the later it gets. Grace wails. The kids can sense something’s wrong, even if no one’s told them what’s going on. Normally, I’d do anything to try and ease their fears, but I’m frozen with my own.
After a while, I realize it’s just Lilly and me in the living room of the clubhouse. Her voice seems to come through a pool of water. Slow and muffled. “I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
I’m numb. All I can do is nod.
“Carter’s such a sweetheart.” She holds out her arm to show me a piece of the tattoo sleeve he’s designed. It gives me something to focus on and some of the fuzziness in my head clears. “He’s so funny and smart. We have the best conversations when he’s working on me.”
I sniffle and stare at the ink. I’d recognize my brother’s style anywhere.
“He told me you’re the one who always encouraged him to continue with his artwork.” Lilly squeezes my hand and scowls at the closed war room door. “That your uncle always made fun of him for drawing. And you were the only one who supported his passion until Teller came along and talked him into trying out tattooing.”
I laugh and wipe at my damp eyes. “Marcel’s persistent.”
But would my brother even be in this mess if it wasn’t for my relationship with the MC?
Trinity rests her hand on my leg and squats down in front of me. Her grim expression sends splinters of fear spiraling through my stomach.