Page 16

Chief

“It’s time we had a talk about the intel your sister brought back from St. Louis.”

“Not now, Shade,” I growled into the phone, pacing the length of my office as I glanced at the time again. Cora and Beckett had been gone for over an hour. She should’ve texted by now.

“This isn’t a social call, mijo,” my grandfather’s voice sharpened. “I’ve been asking around about Sidorov. He’s not just here for Spike. He’s looking for a woman.”

My phone beeped with another incoming call. Cueball’s name flashed on the screen.

Finally.

“Gotta call you back,” I told Shade, cutting him off. I switched to the other line, my chest tightening. “About fucking time. Where are you?”

“Chief!” Cueball’s frantic voice crackled through the line, setting off alarm bells in my head. “Chief, fuck, we… there was?—”

“Slow the fuck down,” I barked, my grip tightening on the phone. “I can’t understand a goddamn word you’re saying.”

There was a shuddering breath on the other end, then: “Cora and Beckett are gone!”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. “What do you mean ‘gone’? They’re not with you?”

“No.” Cueball’s voice cracked. “Her purse is still in the spot we left her at, but they’re?—”

There was no fucking way he said what I thought he just said.

The spot we left her at?

Every hair on my body stood on end as ice flooded my veins. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU LEFT HER?” I roared, my ears ringing. “You weren’t supposed to take your fucking eyes off them!”

“We fucked up, Chief,” Cueball started again, his voice trembling. “Lid and I, we just went to grab the shoes. They were right there. When we turned around, they were gone.”

My hand shook as I ended the call.

“No. No, no, no.” I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots. This couldn’t be fucking happening.

They were just going to the mall for clothes.

My mind raced through the possibilities, each scenario worse than the last.

I pulled up Zero’s number and hit dial, already moving toward the door.

“Yeah, boss?” he answered on the first ring.

“Get into the mall’s security system,” I ordered, my voice surprisingly calm considering the hurricane raging inside me. “Find Cora and Beckett. Now.”

“On it,” he replied, no questions asked. I could hear the rapid-fire clicking of his fingers flying across the keys on his keyboard.

Ending that call, I slammed through my front door and hit Killer’s number as I took the porch steps two at a time.

“Yeah?” he answered, the sound of a woman talking in the background.

“Get everyone to the clubhouse,” I ordered, swinging my leg over my bike. “Now. Cora and the kid are missing.”

“Fuck,” Killer breathed, then barked something to someone nearby before the line went dead.

I fired up my bike, the throaty roar doing nothing to drown out the voice screaming in my head that this was all my fault. I should have listened to my gut. Instead I’d caved when Cora demanded I let her and Beckett go to the mall.

Fuck. Why had I trusted their safety to the prospects?

The ride to the clubhouse was a blur as I blew through red lights, wove between cars, and took corners so fast it was a miracle I hadn’t become a permanent spot on the pavement. I was desperate to outrun the questions racing through my mind. Who had my woman and kid? What would they do to them? Would they hurt them just to send a message? Or would they keep them alive as leverage?

I twisted the throttle harder. If one hair on Cora’s head were out of place, I’d burn this whole fucking city to the ground.

When I pulled into the clubhouse lot, several bikes were already parked outside. Killing the engine, I hopped off and strode inside, finding most of my brothers already gathered.

I didn’t bother taking my seat at the head of the table. Instead, I remained standing, my hands braced on the smooth wood as I surveyed the faces looking back at me.

“Cora and Beckett have been taken,” I announced, my voice rough like I’d swallowed gravel. “I sent Cueball and Lid with them to the mall.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “And the prospects fucked up. They left them alone and that’s all it took.”

I opened my eyes as the door burst open, and Zero rushed in, laptop under his arm. “Got it,” he panted, setting up his computer. “Mall security footage. You’re gonna want to see this.”

His fingers flew across the keyboard and then the television hung on the wall came to life. On the screen we could all see a department store fitting room area. There was Cora, sitting in a chair, her phone in her hand. Beckett was nowhere to be seen. He was probably in one of the fitting rooms.

Then three men entered the frame, moving with purpose. I recognized the man in the middle instantly. That skinny crackhead fucker with his hollow cheeks.

My fists clenched as I watched him step right up to my woman like he had every right to be in her space.

“Spike,” Rage growled, leaning forward.

On the screen, we couldn’t see what Spike was saying, but we could see the moment fear crossed Cora’s face. The bastard had a gun pressed to her side, hidden from the general public’s view. Then Beckett emerged from a fitting room, and both of them were marched through a service door.

“Time stamp?” I demanded, choking on my own rage.

Zero ducked his head, reading something on his screen, then looked back at me as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Forty-seven minutes ago.”

My knuckles turned white on the edge of the table. That motherfuck had my woman and kid for nearly an hour already.

“We need to call Miami,” Dread said, his voice tight. “Let them know what’s happening with Sparrow’s sister.”

I nodded, pulling out my phone. It was the call I’d been dreading, but there was no avoiding it now. Sparrow needed to know his sister was in danger.

I dialed Viper’s number, putting it on speaker as it rang. The sounds of splashing and kids laughing filled the room when he answered.

“Chief,” Viper greeted, sounding relaxed. “What’s up, brother?”

“I’ve got bad news,” I admitted, my tone revealing how serious the situation was.

The background noise continued for a beat, then Viper’s voice changed, hardening into the tone that had earned him his reputation as one of the most dangerous men on the east coast.

“Hang on a sec.” There was the sound of a sharp whistle, then movement, a door closing, the pool noise fading. “Alright, what’s happened?”

“You alone?”

“No. Got you on speaker. Sparrow, Knox, and Wrath are here.”

I took a steadying breath. “Spike and his crew have Cora.” I didn’t start in with explanations about who Spike was or why he’d target Sparrow’s sister. That could come later.

“What the fuck?” Sparrow’s voice exploded through the speaker. “What do you mean they ‘have’ my sister?”

“They took her and a kid named Beckett from the mall about an hour ago,” I explained, keeping my voice steady despite the churning in my gut. “We’ve confirmed it was the president of the Silver Talons. He’s connected.”

“How fucking connected?” Someone who sounded an awful lot like Knox growled through the line.

I blew out the breath I was holding. “He’s got ties to the Russian Bratva.”

“Why the fuck were you watching my sister?” Sparrow demanded. “And who the fuck is Beckett?”

I felt the weight of my brothers’ stares, all of them knowing exactly why Cora had been under my protection. But this wasn’t the time for that conversation.

“I helped your sister get one of her students out of a bad situation,” I explained, the half-truth coming easily. “Foster dad was abusing the kid. I helped get him out and might have tuned up the motherfucker who was putting hands on the kid. I put some protection on them both just in case the asshole got any bright ideas.”

Rage’s eyes widened at how smoothly the lie had fallen from my lips. I ignored it.

“And now Spike has them both,” Sparrow said, his voice hard. “We’re on our way. Three hours, tops.”

Killer’s brows shot up. It was a five hour drive from Jacksonville to Miami.

“Sidorov is in town too,” I added, needing them to understand just how fucked the situation was.

There was a low curse from someone on the Miami end, probably Knox. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind Miami’s Enforcer knew exactly who I was talking about.

“We’ll be there,” Viper confirmed. “Call us with any updates.”

The call ended, and I turned to face my brothers.

“Why didn’t you tell him about you and Cora?” Rage asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

“Because right now, all that matters is getting her back,” I snapped. “Sparrow finding out I’m fucking his baby sister isn’t going to help with that. It’ll just distract him.”

“He’s going to find out eventually,” Dread pointed out.

“Let him. After she’s safe.” I turned to Zero. “Can you track their phones?”

Zero nodded, his fingers already flying across the keyboard. “Working on it. Beckett’s is still on, but it’s not moving. Probably dumped it. Cora’s is... shit.”

“What?” I demanded.

“Her phone just pinged, but only for a second. It’s like someone turned it on, then right back off.” He looked up at me. “They were on Arlington Expressway, heading east. Signal’s gone now.”

“East...” I muttered, my mind racing. “That’s industrial district territory. Warehouses, shipping yards.”

“Perfect place to hide someone,” Killer added grimly.

I pulled out my phone again, hitting Morpheus’s number. “Where are you?” I demanded the moment he answered.

“Closing in on a lead,” he replied, his voice low and steady. “Got a location on one of Spike’s guys. Following him now.”

“How far east are you?”

There was a pause. “About ten minutes from Arlington Expressway. Why?”

I filled him in on Cora and Beckett being taken from the mall, that the Miami chapter was headed our way, and that Zero had picked up a signal from Cora’s phone that was close to where he was. “Keep your eyes open. If you see anything, call it in.”

“Will do,” he promised. “And Chief? We’re gonna find them.”

After hanging up, I braced my hands on the table again, feeling the wood dig into my palms. Every second that passed was another second Cora and Beckett were in danger.

“What’s our play?”

I looked over at Killer. “We split up so we can cover more ground. Zero, I need you to get into the traffic cams, ATM cameras, and anything with eyes along that route. Find out where they are. Killer, Dread—head east, drive the industrial parks. Rage, you’re with me. We’ll take 46th Street and check out those warehouses.”

“What about Sidorov?” Dread asked. “If this is his play...”

“Then we’ll deal with him when we find him,” I said coldly. “But make no mistake, this is Spike’s operation. That tweaked-out motherfucker is up to something, and he’s using Cora and Beckett to do it.”

My phone buzzed again and it was a text from Zero’s remote system.

Cora’s phone had pinged again. An image popped up on the screen of a map with a red dot near the docks.

My heart rate spiked. “They’re at the waterfront,” I announced, already heading for the door. “Let’s move.”

The men scattered, rushing to their bikes. I swung my leg over my bike and fired her up. Killer pulled up alongside, his massive frame dwarfing his own bike.

“We’ll find them,” he said, echoing Morpheus’s earlier assurance.

I gave him a curt nod, though the words did nothing to ease the knot in my chest. We would find them. There was no other option. But what condition would they be in when we did?

The image of Cora’s face as Spike pressed that gun to her side flashed through my mind again. The way her eyes had widened, the fear that had replaced her usual sassy expression. And Beckett. Still so goddamn skinny despite a week of regular meals.

A memory surfaced—Cora looking up at me this morning, her blue eyes stubborn as she insisted on going to the mall. I should have held firm. Should have kept her and Beckett safe at home.

If anything happened to them...

No. I wouldn’t let my mind go there. I had to stay focused.

When we found them, and we would find them, I was going to make Spike pay.

I twisted the throttle.

Hold on, baby. I’m on my way.