Page 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: CHROME

“You need to see the trauma doctor,” Lisa says, wrapping her arm around her husband’s waist. “We’ll find Margo. You’ll help us find her, won’t you?” She directs this question at me, so I nod.

“We’ll find all three of them,” I assure her, as my phone buzzes.

“Thank you,” Dr. Kemper says before his wife leads him to the waiting nurse.

“I found this,” Marco says, holding up a purse. I don’t recognize it, but his brother does.

“That’s Lily’s. I bought it for her as a birthday present,” Bishop says.

Marco opens and pulls out a phone. “Shit, no way to track her. Plus, she doesn’t have these.” He pulls out a keychain I recognize.

“That looks like Cicely’s,” I say.

Marco shakes his head. “They’re similar, but this one belongs to Lily. Hopefully, Cicely has hers with her. At least they won’t be defenseless.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“See these?” Marco asks, pointing to a heavy piece of metal shaped like a hexagon, a long cylinder tube, a ring shaped like a cat with pointed ears, and what looks to be a small can of hairspray. “These are weapons.”

At my look of confusion, he explains. “This is an eye-gouger. More effective than slipping keys between fingers. Although this opens up and can become a set of brass knuckles,” he explains as he fiddles with the metal hexagon to demonstrate. I whistle in appreciation for the pointed arcs that could cause some damage. “This opens up into a baton that can deliver a painful blow, and finally, this little aerosol can contains mace.”

“Cicely has the same items?” I ask.

“She should. We gave the same items to Cicely.”

I’m impressed with their forethought and wish I’d thought of providing Cicely with ways of protecting herself. Spotting Lily’s phone, I realize we might have a way to locate Cicely. She should have her phone with her. Pulling out my phone to call Byte, I see his text telling us he’s found something on the security feed.

“Byte has something for us,” I tell the men.

When we reach the security office, we find the space too small for all of us to fit. Frodo and Marco stay outside while Bishop and I join Byte inside.

“What did you find?”

“Look for yourself,” Byte says, tapping the space key. We watch the silent playback. The camera covers the parking lot, sectioned off for medical staff. A newer Mercedes SUV pulls in and parks. I can see two people inside, the doctor and his daughter. Further back, I see Cicely and her friend walking towards the hospital from the street. Dr. Kemper and his daughter exit their car. Dr. Kemper turns his gaze toward Cicely as the women approach. A white van skids to a stop near Dr. Kemper. Three men jump out. One hits Kemper over the head before grabbing the young girl. The other two go for Cicely and Lily. They grab the women and toss them into the van before the driver takes off. The angle of the shot makes it impossible to get a clear view of the driver or the men.

“Four of them,” Bishop says.

“No way to tell which of them was the target,” I muse.

“We’re trying to track them via the usual means,” Byte says. He means he’s using the program their intern, Maestro, developed—the program that hacks into traffic cams and businesses with camera security.

“You said you could track Lily if she had her phone. What about Cicely?” I ask Bishop.

“Yeah, we can, good call. Let me make a call and get the search started,” Bishop says, stepping into the hall.

“There has to be something more we can do to find them.” My phone buzzes in my hand. Sammy’s name shows on the display. I consider ignoring it, but I figure he can get the word out to the club as easily as I can. “Sammy, we have a problem…” I start.

“They have Margo,” Sammy interrupts me. His comment has me straightening.

“What?”

“Somebody has Margo. I think they work for Preacher Theo. They want me to meet them or they’ll hurt her.”

“Fuck, okay. Where?”

Sammy gives me the address.

“Sammy, stay at the clubhouse. Don’t leave. We’ll rescue Margo.”

“I’m already on my way,” Sammy says. “You didn’t hear her crying. The fucker who has her said he’s going rape her if I don’t show up.”

“Fuck. We’re on our way.”

“What’s going on?” Byte asks.

“Call Eagle and Stone. Tell them to meet us outside. Let’s go.” Byte and I hop on our bikes while the mafia men slide into a sleek sports car. When Eagle and Stone bust through the hospital doors, we take off with me leading the way.

Before we reach the parking lot, I signal those behind me to pull over.

“Why are we stopping?” Bishop asks, slamming out of the car.

“If they hear the bikes, they may run. We have to go the rest of the way on foot.”

“We can keep going, they might think we’re the one they’re waiting for,” Bishop argues.

“They know Sammy doesn’t drive a car like that. Be reasonable. We’ll circle around on foot. Catch them unaware. They’ll be looking for Sammy to come from the east. So we’ll slide in from the north, south, and west.”

“We don’t have time to argue. Let’s go,” Marco says. His brother gives a reluctant nod before we hustle on foot. We race to the back wall of the old sporting goods store. Breaking into groups, we move around the building toward the front.

“Byte and I will come in from behind. Eagle and Stone, you come at them from the right,” I direct once we spot the van idling in the parking lot, facing the street.

As we move forward, the van's rear door swings open. The three girls jump out and take off running. The men pile out of the van and chase them down. We’re too far away to get a clear shot, so we take off running—the plan forgotten.

I watch in shock and pride as Cicely and her friend fight back against their kidnappers.

Lily’s brutal attack on one has me wincing in sympathy. She holds a baton in one hand, whipping it around like a martial arts expert, landing blow after blow. She slashes at him with her other hand. He grabs his face as he stumbles away from her.

The attacker who went after Cicely slides down to the ground as he clutches his throat. Cicely ignores him as she runs toward the driver, who has grabbed Margo. Cicely screams something, and the young girl goes limp just as Cicely sprays something into his face. He screams and slams against the van. She shifts her attention to the remaining fight with him out of commission. Leaping onto the man’s back as Lily slams the baton against his extremities. A throat punch from Cicely, combined with a swipe from the baton, has the man screaming before he crashes to the ground.

I rush forward and grab Cicely. She swings her fist toward my face, but stops her momentum. I’m grateful when I see the bloody brass knuckles coming toward me.

“Chrome!” she cries out, wrapping her arms around me. I hug her tight, then put her down and verify that the scene is secure. The van’s gone. I’m guessing the driver abandoned his mates. Good. The other three men sport some pretty impressive wounds. The girls did well.

I don’t know when Sammy arrived, but he has Margo wrapped around him. She’s crying as he calmly rubs her back.

“What are we going to do with them?” Frodo asks, gesturing toward the men nursing their wounds. We’ve zip-tied their arms behind their back as well as their ankles.

I spot the club SUV that Sammy drove. “We can load them up and take them to the clubhouse. I want to have a chat.”

“We’d like to join you. So would our father,” Bishop says.

“We need to get Margo back to her dad,” Cicely interrupts. She turns to me and whispers, “They attacked him.”

“We know. He’s getting treatment,” I assure her, stepping away.

“Frodo can take the girls, so they don’t have to ride in the SUV with those assholes,” Bishop says, tossing the keys to the man. “He can drop Margo at the hospital before taking the girls home.”

“Wait, did you see the woman in the ICU?” Cicely asks Frodo.

“No, we’d only just arrived when he learned you were missing.”

“Let’s go see her,” Cicely says.

“Are you sure you’re up to it? You three have been through an ordeal,” Marco says.

“I want to do it. If it is your aunt, the sooner we know, the better,” Cicely assures him. “Unless you don’t want me to go?” she asks me.

I don’t want to let her go, but she'll remain at risk until we identify the traitor. “No, you should go.” I see the disappointment in her eyes. I will have much to make up for if I want Cicely in my life. I hope she gives me the chance once this is all over.