Chapter Thirty
Reckless
IZONED OUT more thananything during church when I should have been paying close attention to every single word spoken.My mind couldn’t get off all of the possibilities that were being done to Cali by whoever took her.Rationally I know it was Darren who took her.The feeling deep in my gut tells me it was my former best friend who has her.There is no way in hell I’ll be able to see Darren as anything more than an enemy moving forward.He used us all as part of his sick and twisted plan and we still have no clue what his end game is.Usually, we have some idea as to why our enemy is doing what they are.In Darren’s case, I can’t even begin to guess why he’s been stalking Cali, why he’s taken her, or anything else he’s been doing over the last year.It’s taken a year for him to put his plan in full effect which means he’s had ample time to plan every detail perfectly before doing anything about it.Darren’s played the long game instead of putting some quick and diabolical plan in motion.
“Reckless!”Kreed yells, his voice cutting through my thoughts as they spiral out of control.
“Sorry.Not in a good place right now,” I say even though everyone knows I’m a fucking mess.
“Pay attention, Son,” my dad says, gripping my shoulder harder as Tank rests a hand on my back.“You won’t be any good to get Cali back if you can’t keep your head in the game.She’s gonna need you to be strong.We’ve all taught her over the years ways to get away from a kidnapper various ways.Darren knows that.It gives him an edge no one else would have.Cali’s smart though and will use her head to get away from him.She’ll use everythin’ we taught her to her advantage.If Darren hurts her, we’ll hurt him even worse.Be the man she needs you to be until she’s back with us.”
“Reckless, I found evidence Darren is in fact alive.I’ve captured him on security footage around Glendale and here at the compound.Abigail has been the one helpin’ him.When she was comin’ here, she’d hide him in the trunk of her car until she was parked.She unlatched it and went into the clubhouse for him to get out when he felt safe enough to do so.That skank is still helpin’ him.
“He’s been hidin’ out for the last year in an abandoned house on the outskirts of town.No runnin’ water, electric, or anythin’ else.He goes to some gym in the next town over to use the shower the best I can tell from the surveillance.He eats while he’s out and takes nonperishable food back to the house with him.I have no clue what his plan is though.There’s very little information out there on him after the article of his death in the papers.I can’t figure out how he faked his death or anythin’ else.That’s somethin’ Darren will have to tell ya when we get our hands on him,” Master informs me, his voice hard and cold because he was there the day we all listened to him take his last breath.“The fucker got us good and I’m fuckin’ curious about how he pulled everythin’ off.”
“So, we think he’s got Cali in the abandoned house?”I question the men surrounding me at the table as I look at each of them.“Does he have anyone helpin’ him or is this a solo mission?”
“That’s the best guess I have,” Master answers me while typing away on his laptop.“If anyone’s helpin’ him, it would have to be his father.He’s got more than enough trainin’ from so many years in the military.Darren wouldn’t trust anyone else to help in any aspect.He’d want to pull off his plan on his own and we all know this.How many times when we were in the military did Darren want to go off on his own to complete a mission?It was all the time.The man is a fuckin’ rogue and will more than likely veer off the plan he originally set in motion.”
“Okay.I want every fuckin’ detail on the house.Give me the blueprints, do a weapons check, and get yourselves ready to head out.Make sure the Prospects know exactly what they need to do.Luca, you’re with me every step of the way.I don’t want you to lose sight of me for any reason.Don’t go off on your own no matter what you see or hear.Cali is a smart woman as you know and has been trained by the Phantom Bastards as my dad said.She’ll know how to handle Darren even though she doesn’t have an edge since he knows the trainin’ she’s had,” I order as everyone prepares to leave the room.I’m not going anywhere.I know my weapons are good and I have more than enough ammunition to get Cali back.Right now, I need a minute to myself because I have so many warring emotions flying through me.
I watch as everyone leaves me alone in church.Tank and my dad are the last two to leave.Both men pause in the doorway and simply look at me for a minute.They know I’m about to lose my shit and are giving me the room to do so.I already lost it once in my office and that was before I had the truth of the situation.Now, on top of the rage and pain I feel a deep sense of betrayal.While I’ve been mourning the loss of Darren and carrying guilt over his death, he’s been alive this entire fucking time.I’ve lost time with Cali and the kids because of that guilt and the knowledge that I loved my best friend’ wife.I’ve never been so brutally betrayed in my life and never thought Darren would be the one to do so now.The fucker will feel every ounce of pain, misplaced guilt, and rage I now have flowing through me because he destroyed everything we created over the years.Darren is a stupid fuck who never once deserved the loyalty we gave him.He’ll know exactly how we feel about him by the time I’m done.
Standing from my seat, I grab my chair and toss it toward the wall behind me.It crashes against the wall so hard there’s now a hole in the painting Rose did.Master took his laptop, but he can’t remove the screen that comes down when he needs it to show us something.With every chair I throw and each new hole I put in the walls, I imagine it being Darren’s body I’m inflicting damage and pain on.That sick fuck has done so much to hurt Bryce and Cali over the years and there’s no way I’ll ever be able to erase those memories for them.They suffered needlessly because I needed to remain loyal to our friendship and the bond we formed growing up and in the military.
Darren has taken every ounce of anything I ever felt in him and shattered it into specks of dust.He’s abused my trust, loyalty, and friendship.I can’t even say friendship really.I’ve always considered Darren more like a brother than a fucking friend.We might not have had the strong bond the way Kreed and I do, but it was still there and I fought so hard to not only create it with him but to maintain it over the years.Darren put in the bare minimum effort and I should have seen that over the years with every move against us he made.Especially once we were assigned a team in the military and he showed the signs of going rogue more often than not.I should have witnessed the signs of him bragging and leaving when we were on down time.
We were all sitting around base camp after finishing a brutal workout.Our workouts have only gotten harder over the years as we continue to train and evolve in the ways we make ourselves better.Darren always tries to outdo Kreed and I because we’ve been working out with the guys in the Phantom Bastards for years.The second we showed an interest in going to the gym with them, my dad allowed us to enter and start warming up and doing easy routines while they went through their own workout.Once my uncle Tank got involved, everything was amped up for Kreed and myself.
“Mail call!”Master calls out, causing everyone to jump up and head straight for him.We don’t get excited for a lot while we’re deployed, but this is one of the rare times you can see true life in all of us.
Master hands out the mail to each of us and I take in the three large boxes sitting on the table.Those are for Darren, Kreed, and myself from Cali.She sends us a care package once a week.Most of the items are from her and Bryce with several more things from our family members.Laura always sends us things too.Most often it’s something homemade to make our stay here as good as possible since most of her money goes toward the bills and her medical treatment.Thankfully, Laura’s been doing better according to Cali so she’s had a little extra money.
“You all know these boxes are for you.Lucky fuckers,” Master says, a large smile on his face as usual.“I’m gonna meet Cali one day and none of you fuckers will stand a chance against me.She’ll be mine in the blink of an eye.”
“Yeah, right.My wife is the best out there and you’ll never stand a chance with her,” Darren says as he stares right at Master.“Cali is too sweet and pure for an asshole like you.Hell, she’s too good for a man like me.But, I’m the one who got her and put a ring on her finger before even leavin’ for bootcamp.No one else had the balls to stake their claim.”
That shit is a dig at me and I know it.Still, I say nothing as I grab the box from Cali and head back to my bunk.Kreed follows me with his box and I know he’s about to talk me down from beating the hell out of Darren.Holding up a hand, I let him know I’m good and don’t need his shit right now.Instead, I busy myself by opening up the box and going through everything Cali lovingly packed for me.None of us ever have the same thing unless it’s food someone prepares for us.They’ve perfected the art of sending over our favorite snacks so they don’t get damaged during the trip to whatever pit we’ve been dropped in.
Cali has sent us care packages since we left for bootcamp.She always includes a note with our box.Kreed and I typically get pretty generic letters from her because she doesn’t want Darren to get upset.We learn all about what’s going on at home and how her classes are doing.Darren’s letters are always longer and filled with love.Kreed and I don’t mind because that’s how it should be.I would never want Darren to feel as if she’s giving us more attention than him for any reason.I gave up my chance to be with her and he took it from me.It’s something that’s taken me a long time to come to terms with and I’m finally okay with it.As long as Cali’s happy, I’m happy for her.But, I’ll also be the first one to step up and beat the shit out of Darren if he ever treats her like shit.
“What did you get today?”Darren asks, walking over to us and slumping down on his bunk without even opening his box up.Darren never waits to open a package from his wife.
“Stuff we needed.Socks, wipes, lotion, snacks, and, of course, our notes from home.I’ve got three this time,” Kreed answers as I look at our best friend and try to figure out why the hell he’s not opening his package yet.
“You’re not openin’ yours up?”I finally ask him when no one says anything else.
“Don’t want to.Cali sends the same shit every week and it gets old,” he replies, yawning and allowing his eyes to slide closed as he brings his arms down over his eyes.
