Page 51

51

Phoenix

R inging. That's all I hear. Ringing from the gunshots whirring around outside as Lace and I huddle close in the closet. Raven is out there somewhere . . . Rae and Mason, Stitch and the others. They're out in harm's way as we're tucked safely away in this closet.

My eyes sting, thinking of what might happen to them, what may already have happened. Inside this tiny room, we have no clue if anyone is hurt or dead. We don't know how long this fight will last or how much damage has been done. " Wait here, " Raven begged before she closed us in. Wait until she or the others come to get us.

But how long will it be? How long has it already been?

The wait is killing me, and my fear is taking hold of me alongside something else—anger. I'm so angry at the Bastards for doing this to my family. For trying to tear us apart piece by piece. It isn't fair. I've only just found them. We haven't had enough time together, not even close. We need more time.

My fist clenches around the bat in my hand—my weapon since Lace and I couldn't get into the gun safe. I've never been angrier in my life nor so afraid. It's a strange combination in light of what's happening outside our door. Is this how Rae feels all the time? Angry and afraid of some scumbags coming in and hurting us. I don't know how she does it all the time, staying so strong with the world weighing so heavy on her shoulders.

She's always been the tough one, the one who stays strong and stands up for our family against anyone looking to tear us apart. If you asked her, she'd tell you it was always her burden. She's always been protective, shielding me from the bad and ugly in this world. It's why she locked me in this room with Lace—to protect us while putting herself in harm's way. It's how she's always been . . . brave, strong, resilient.

If only she knew how much I loved that about her—how I wish I could be more like her sometimes.

The sound of sirens closing in cuts through the ringing and halts my spinning mind. Outside, the gunshots stop.

I hear several motorcycles rev up and fade into the distance. It must be Scar's crew retreating. The fight has to be over now, right?

The sirens grow closer as heavy footsteps rush into the house. Frantic yelling echoes through the destroyed living room. "Phoenix! Phoenix, where are you?"

"Lace!"

"Raven!"

Mason, Stitch, and Jesse's voices ring through the space, and I release a shaky breath. They're okay. Pulling Lace with me, I open the door, listening as their voices grow more and more distressed. "Phoenix!"

"Here," I croak, fighting the knot in my throat. "We're here."

Seconds later, Mason's arms wrap around me. "Thank fuck. We saw a few of them disappear and thought they made it inside, but they took off as soon as they heard the sirens."

Stitch holds Lace tightly as red and blue lights filter into the room. "Yeah, Rae told us to stay in the closet until someone came to get us. She was hiding out here because all three of us couldn't fit."

Looking around, I notice she isn't with us. Panic starts to set in as I see Jesse and Bones crouching over Archie's unconscious body.

No. No, no, no. Is he okay? Did the Bastards get to him? Did they get to Rae?

"Rae." My voice cracks as I spin around Mason, searching the space for my sister. "Rae. Where are you?"

Approaching footsteps sound as Reaper races into the room from upstairs. "I can't find Raven." His eyes are wild with fury as he bleeds from a wound on his arm. "Where the fuck is she?"

A cough sounds from the kitchen, and Archie's voice comes through weak and weary. "They took her. I tried—" He coughs again as his eyes roll back. " . . . too much blood. Couldn't stop . . . them." Archie loses consciousness, and his words leave me feeling hollow.

No.

No. It can't be true. They can't have her. What they'll do to her . . .

I stop listening, stop hearing anything as the news hits me like a freight train. Raven is gone. Taken. It can't be true.

"Their old safehouse on Maven?" someone asks.

"No, they cleared that out weeks ago. The shop off Main?"

"Empty."

Vomit inches up my throat as the reality sets in. The Bastards have my sister. They've taken her, and we have no idea where they've gone. I feel woozy and weak. This can't be real. It can't be happening. If that monster took her for revenge, he'd—

I can't finish the thought. Knowing what Scar and his boys have done to people before is bad enough. Imagining it happening to my sister is too much, too horrible to consider. If I let myself think about it, I'll lose myself in a spiral, and what good will that do her?

"Fuck this," Reaper shouts. "I'm getting her back!" He starts for the door as two cops sneak inside.

"No one's going anywhere," one of them says, glaring at Reaper. "We have a shot-up house, reports of multiple explosions, and a whole lotta questions."

The club's enforcer growls as he takes a step toward the officer. Mason and Stitch hold him back as the other cop says, "We sent a cruiser after them when we saw them hightailing it out of here. So, stand down and let us do our jobs. If anyone interferes, we'll lock you up."

Reaper sneers at them, looking as if he'll deck one or both of them in the face. Instead, he violently shrugs off Stitch and Mason, cursing under his breath. Guilt, fear, and anger radiates from him. For so long, he's been tasked with keeping watch on her. And now, she's gone. It must be eating him up. I know it is me.

The officers watch him closely but don't say more until they turn their attention to Mason. "So, what happened here tonight?"

Hours have passed since the shootout. Hours since my sister was taken by those monsters. It's been the longest, most brutal time of my life.

Shortly after the cops showed up, Dad and the others arrived, sans Devils, who'd split off to a motel for the night. They'd only been an hour or so behind the Bastard's attack. Had they been there earlier, who knows what the outcome may have been. I try not to think about it. It isn't his fault Scar's crew attacked us. He had no way of controlling what they did. But dwelling on it makes me angry. So, I try not to.

Once the cops clear out, we regroup at Bear's house close by. He and Dad spoke with their friends on the police force and let them know Scar's guys took Raven. They said they'd let us know if they found any tips on where the Bastards held her. Dad wanted to handle this himself, but having access to the police database could be our only way of finding her. The officers on Dad's payroll said they could give us a small head start if they found a location, but nothing substantial.

Having a few extra eyes looking out for her will be helpful, and I'm grateful for it, but we all know time isn't on our side. Dom and his boys managed to lose the cruiser that was tailing them. We have no idea where they ended up, just the general direction they were headed when the cops lost them.

We wasted so much time talking to the cops, and every second felt like another minute of Rae's life fading away. Tears slip down my face as the guys discuss the best course of action to get Raven back. Every second we wait to act is another second Scar and his boys could be torturing her. It kills me, but I feel helpless. There's nothing I can do until we have a plan in place. If we go after them without one, things could go wrong. She could get hurt or killed.

We don't even know where she is yet. How are we supposed to find her when she could be anywhere by now? The Bastards have had hours to steal her away to some remote location. Unless we find good intel, we have no clue where to start looking. The places we've already checked were long empty, and the cops are sniffing out what leads they have. Until we get new information, we have nothing to move on.

The voices start flooding in, crashing into my consciousness as I let my heartache consume me. I'm so distracted by it that I can hardly tell who's speaking. It doesn't matter though, not now. Not until we have a plan. Until we have something to go on.

"We should go after them right now. Kill every last one of them."

"We need to be strategic about this."

"Those fuckers will pay."

"They will. Once we have a plan. "

"What about the—"

A shrill ringing silences everyone. I turn wide-eyed to find my dad staring at his phone. He picks it up a moment later with a quick greeting to whoever is on the other line. His face gives nothing away as we all sit, holding our breath as he speaks to the caller. It feels like forever has passed before he hangs up. When he does, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Officer Normandy says they have a lead on Scar's new base," he finally tells us.

My heart skips a beat. "Gave me an address in Manzanita. He'll keep it quiet for a couple days before telling his supervisor. Let us handle this how we see fit."

He prattles off the address while Jesse pulls it up on his computer. "Old warehouse it looks like. Big. Lots of buildings. Plenty of places to hide someone." Jesse looks up from the screen, his face somber.

Dad and Bear take the computer from him, frowning at the monitor. "We'll need everyone on deck. And we'll need to scope it out before we go in guns blazing."

More time to waste . The angry thought runs through my head before I can stop it. I know we have to do this right, but we've spent too much time already not taking action. Every second is precious, and we can't throw away any more of it.

"I say we go in now. Kill 'em all and torch the place." Reaper's low voice is murderous as he speaks. I'm inclined to agree with him, but I know we have to do this right. We'll only get one shot at rescuing Rae. Our plan has to be solid, which means having everything worked out before we charge in guns blazing.

Dad holds up a hand. "We scope the place out. Come up with a game plan, then we act. If we go in halfcocked, things will go south and Raven—" His voice catches as he curls his hand into a fist. "Raven will get hurt or worse if we don't play this right."

Reaper's jaw clenches, but he stays silent. Everyone does. We're all thinking the same thing—we have one shot to get her out safely. Mistakes are not an option.

The tense silence passes as the club starts making their plan. Everyone has a job. Everyone knows the score. They'll send out a team to scope out the warehouse and find out where the weak spots are in Scar's defenses. Then, they'll go in, work in small groups to search the place for Raven, and end this for good.