“Yes,” I muttered, my eyes on my son’s bruised face.
Hillcrest motioned me closer with the gun, but I held my arms out for Luke. Hillcrest pushed him into my arms, and I held him tightly, bending down to whisper into his ear. “My phone is inmy back pocket. Grab it and run as fast as you can. Call your dad.”
“Mom,” Luke cried.
“You do this, Lucas.” I whispered fiercely into his ear. “Now.” I snapped a little louder and shoved him to the side. I felt my phone get lifted out of my pocket and then heard the pounding of Luke’s feet as he ran as fast as could.
Hillcrest aimed the gun at me and smiled wickedly. “You stupid bitch. You’ll pay for that.”
The gun fired.
And everything went black.
Marcos
TheDevil’sPsychosmotorcycleclub raced through Mourningside and over the Evermore bridge into Creekton, or the area right before Creekton city limits better known as The Edges. The address that Maya had texted us was barely a ten-minute ride away, and weflewthe distance on our bikes.
A little over five minutes later, we pulled up into the neighborhood of the address. I commanded my guys via the Bluetooth intercoms in all our helmets to break off and surround the block.
I slowed as I approached the block the house was situated on. The Edges were run down and mostly vacant. Most houses around here were condemned or foreclosed on. There weren’t many families still hanging on.
Someone yelled behind me, and I jerked my head around. “Dad!” I heard it again and whipped my head around.
I found Luke. He was bruised and bloody, but he was running toward me, still in his lower football pads from the game.
Pulling the bike to the side of the road, I dropped my kickstand and jumped off the bike. I ran toward Luke, yelling his name. “Luke!”
I fell to my knees as Luke crashed into me, wrapping his arms around me tightly. “Dad! Mom came! I think he shot her!” Luke said between gasps of breath. He was crying hard.
I pulled away, cradling Luke’s face in my hands. “What do you mean?”
“She came for me. He told her he would trade me for her. She gave me her phone and told me to run. To call you.” Luke was still panting hard, tears pouring down his face.
My heart dropped into my chest.
Nico ran over; his eyes wide.
“Find her,” I ordered.
Nico took off toward the rest of the club and started forming a plan.
Jason pulled up in the truck, and I immediately picked up Luke and walked toward the Silverado. I opened the front passenger door before Jason could climb out. “Take him home,” I ordered while buckling Luke’s seatbelt. “Now.”
I watched Jason’s jaw clench as he ground his teeth, but I stepped back and slammed the door before he could say anything.
Jason sped off up the block to the intersection, where he flipped a wide U-turn and then barreled past us again.
With Luke now safe, I joined my brothers headed for the house. Nico already had our guys surrounding the run-down shack of a house. I drew my Glock from the back of my pants, not giving a damn who might see it in broad daylight. The Edges was the kind of place where people kept their mouths shut, because they already knew the horror of loss.
When I reached Nico, I patted his shoulder and nodded. Nico kicked in the front door, and I followed behind him.
The ramshackle house had a massive hole in the roof, and there was no furniture inside. It was clear that this was just a meeting point. There was no one there. We took the time to search every square inch thoroughly, but there was nothing.
“Fuck!” I roared. I turned and punched the wall, breaking through the drywall in my fury.
Nico kicked in the closet door, yelling in anguish.
Maya was gone.
