Page 8

Chapter Eight

Griffin’s Beach Lex

“ L ex, what’s going on?” Lucas asks as he walks behind with a sleepy Noah into the clubhouse.

Carrying a sleeping Calla in her arms, Lex hands her gingerly to Lucas as she tries to determine what exactly to do here. Does she tell Lucas what happened to Hailey? She doesn’t want to lie to him, but she also knows she has no answers to the questions he’ll ask.

“You know which apartment is Colt’s, right?” she asks.

“I-I think so.”

“I know which one it is, Mama,” Noah says as he rubs his eye with his fist.

She cups Lucas’s face. “Go get them settled in the apartment, okay? Once they’re asleep, come back out here, and I’ll tell you everything I know. Which isn’t much.”

The nervous energy almost vibrates from him, but he nods and follows Noah with Calla in his arms. The moment he’s out of sight, she sprints to Venom’s apartment on the other side of the clubhouse.

Pounding on the door, she feels like she’s about to vomit, faint, and burst into tears all at the same time.

“What the hell?” Venom asks as he swings open the door. His sleepy demeanor immediately changes to alert when he sees what Lex can only assume is a terrified and frantic woman. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Colt needs you to round up everyone and get them here ASAP. He’s at Brocks’ house to track down a location. He said to tell you that he needs the crazed motherfucker who took out the Kingsmen when you saved Dani.”

His hands plant onto her shoulders, and the weight calms her just a fraction. He bends at the knees to stare as close to eye level as he can. “Babe, what’s going on?”

“It’s Hailey,” she says, her voice barely a whisper. “She’s in trouble.”

“Trouble? What kind of trouble?”

“She and her roommate were taken last night.”

Standing up straight, he walks back into his apartment, and she realizes for the first time he answered the door wearing only a T-shirt and boxers.

What the fuck did I expect? He’d be dressed and ready, just waiting for a hysterical woman to come knocking at the door?

He pulls on his jeans and slides on his leather. “What do you mean taken?”

“To be sold.”

The words break her, and she lets out the sob she’s held back since Colt relayed what little Hailey was able to tell him. Her hands shake as she covers her mouth, and Venom’s back in front of her in a flash, his strong arms pulling her against his body in a tight hug.

“We’re going to get her, okay? And whoever did this will pay. My way. I fucking promise.”

Nodding, Lex wipes her eyes. “I know. I’m just… I should’ve gone to campus when she wasn’t answering my calls. I waited too damn long.”

“You cannot blame yourself,” he says and grabs his phone. “We’re getting her back.”

But how much damage will be done by then?

She composes herself and walks back into the main room. Falling apart in front of Lucas will do nothing good, and he stands from one of the chairs when she walks up to him.

“Lex, what’s wrong? You look sick.”

Letting out a deep breath, she leads him to the couch right outside the Chapel and sits with him. “It’s Hailey, baby.”

“What? What about her? Is she hurt?”

And he started with a question she can’t answer. “I don’t know.”

“Is she in jail?”

“I wish she was,” she admits and lets out a shaky breath as she composes herself. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but she was kidnapped with her roommate.”

“Lindsey?” The words sink in, and Lucas jumps up. “What? Where’s Colt? Is he on his way to get her? I need to go with him.”

Lex takes his hand and gently tugs his arm to pull him back down to the couch. “Colt is working with Brock to find out where she is. He will find her. The guys are going to get her back, but you have to wait here with me.”

“I have to go, too.”

“You can’t, baby.”

Shaking out of her grasp, he pulls away. “I’m the only family she has! And the last time I talked to her… She thought I… What she thought isn’t what I meant. Those can’t be the last words I say to her.”

“They won’t be.”

“You don’t know that! Bad things always happen to us!”

Lucas has never yelled at her before. Hasn’t even raised his voice. In fact, the only time she’s ever heard him raise his voice was at Zane when he attacked her.

He looks so scared, and she wishes there was something she could do to console him. To tell him she knows for certain Hailey would return to them unharmed.

“I know Colt, and I know this club. You are not the only family she has. We’re all her family, and we’re going to get her back. If anyone can save her, it’s this club.”

Putting his head in his hands, he leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “What if she doesn’t make it?”

“Hailey’s smart. Street smart, and that will keep her as safe as possible until Colt and the guys can get to her. You know your sister better than I do, and you know I’m right.”

Tears roll down his cheeks as he turns and looks at her. “Are you sure?”

“She kept both of you alive while you lived in empty houses. It’s one of the few benefits of living a hard life. She can assess a situation quicker and better than most. She found a way to call Colt for help.”

His eyes widen as he gasps for breath. “She asked for help? She actually said… She said she needed him to help her?”

“Yes.”

“Lex, she’s in a lot of trouble. Hailey will never admit she needs anything from anyone. She’s… She’s like you.”

Okay, just hit me where it hurts, kid.

Wiping his eyes as she cups his cheeks, she kisses his forehead. “Then she is definitely going to find a way to stay safe until Colt can get to her. She’s going to do exactly what I would do.”

“You survived torture, right?”

“I did. And Colt saved me. I kept myself alive until the club could get me. Hailey will do the exact same thing, baby.”

He nods and takes her hands from his face but doesn’t release them. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. Dad always said a man doesn’t yell at a woman. Not unless it’s unavoidable.”

Lex smiles. “In a situation like this, it’s understandable. You don’t need to apologize because you’re scared. I am, too.”

The men start filtering into the clubhouse, and Lex is surprised when Psycho and the Black Valley men show up.

“I called him,” Venom says. “Between me, him, and Undertaker, no one who may have even thought about hurting her will make it out alive.”

“Thank you,” she whispers and wraps an arm around Lucas’s shoulders, pulling him against her side.

VP walks up to them, and Lex tenses involuntarily. She hasn’t spoken to her father since the wedding disaster, and he stops in front of them. “How are you two holding up?”

“Go away,” Lucas spits at him, using his body to shield Lex as best he can in their sitting position.

VP looks surprised, and Lex squeezes Lucas’s shoulder. My fierce protector. “Excuse me?”

“You hurt my mom, and your son tried to kill her.”

Hearing him call her mom makes her as happy as she can be considering the current situation.

“Who did I make hurt?”

His thumb points over his shoulder to Lex. “Her. The daughter you never fail to disappoint.”

Clearly, he’s been talking to Colt. “We just need to focus on finding Hailey,” Lex says, cutting off whatever excuse VP was about to say. She’s heard enough of them, and she doesn’t need another one.

“We will,” he assures.

“Then go do it,” Lucas snaps at him.

She kisses his temple as VP storms away, and she chuckles. “It’s not his fault this happened to Hailey, you know.”

“It’s his fault you hate your birthday and almost died at the hands of Zane.”

“My protector,” she whispers. “We’re going to get through this. All of us.”

“She thinks I abandoned her when I let you adopt me. I didn’t, Lex. I didn’t abandon her.”

Pulling him tightly into her arms, she sighs. “I know you didn’t. And she knows, too. She’s a tough nut to crack, but she knows she has us. If she didn’t, she never would have called Colt.”

He squeezes her, and the tears soak the shoulder of her T-shirt. She wishes she could take all of his fear and pain away, but she’s as helpless as he is right now.

“Was that okay?”

“Was what okay?”

“Calling you my mom?”

Lex leans back and locks eyes with him. “I may not have given birth to you or been there for the past fifteen years, but you are my son, Lucas. I don’t see you any differently than Calla or Noah.”

“Can I call you Mom?”

“If you want to. I love you and your sister, no matter what. And I’m not trying to replace your mom. Just like Colt can’t replace your dad. We just want to give you both the best life we can.”

“You protected us more than my mom ever has,” he says. “I can’t lose Hailey. I can’t… She has to be okay.”

Nodding, she gives him a small smile. “She’ll be okay. I feel it.”

She has to be okay. I don’t know if she can survive if Colt doesn’t find her. And it’ll completely break Lucas.

“Lex!” Felicity Short calls out and runs over to them with Gavin in tow.

Hailey and Gavin had a final breakup about a month ago, and that prompted the freeze out from Hailey with everyone in Griffin’s Beach, Lucas included. Lex has no idea what exactly happened, but she knows the relationship they had meant more to Hailey than she’ll ever admit.

“What happened?” Gavin asks, his hands shaking as he stands beside his mother.

No matter where the two of them stand, Lex knows Gavin loves Hailey. And she’s pretty sure Hailey loves Gavin, too.

“I don’t know much. She and her roommate were kidnapped last night, and she somehow called Colt to ask him to save her.”

Lucas whips his head and gapes at her. “I thought you said she asked Colt to help her.”

“Um, I think she actually said she needed him to save her. Is there a difference?”

He pales and leans back on the couch. His chest rises as he tries to take in deep breaths, but he can’t seem to fill his lungs. “No, God. No. No.”

“Lucas, breathe. Deep breath in and deep breath out,” Lex says, pulling him forward to rest his head between his knees. “Breathe, baby.”

“It’s life or death,” he gasps. “She always says we can’t count on anyone to save us other than ourselves. Lex, she knows she’s in a lot of trouble. She could possibly die. She’d only ask someone to save her if she’s desperate.”

The words hit home, and she wants to scream and cry, but she holds it together. She continues to rub his back as she looks up at Gavin as he runs into the office, returning with a gun in his hand.

“Gavin, you can’t go,” Felicity says. “I told you to come here so you’d get updates. You’re not patched in yet.”

“I’m going. I’m going, and no one is going to stop me.”

“Gavin—”

“I love her even if she refuses to let me. If she’s in danger, I have to be there.”

Colt runs inside with Brock behind. “We have her location!” he shouts. “We’re heading out. Lex, baby, stay here. I’ll call you when I know something.”

“I’m going,” Gavin says, standing tall. “You won’t stop me.”

His father’s mouth opens to protest, but Colt cuts him off. “You follow orders, got it?”

“Got it.”

“Let’s go.”

Every single man runs outside to their bikes, and relief alleviates some of her earlier fears. Their family is going to get her. They know where she is, and they’re going to save her.

Felicity sits on the arm of the couch and rests a reassuring hand on Lex’s shoulder.

“You heard that, right?” Lex asks Lucas. “The boots on the ground?”

He nods. “Yeah, it was kind of hard not to.”

“That’s our family on their way to get her. Her family. You hear me? We’re getting her back because our family isn’t complete without her.”

His lip trembles, but he nods. “I hear you.”