Page 25

CHAPTER 25

L aw had been all over the city of Darling chasing ghosts. At least, that’s what it felt like. Best he could tell, Raleigh, Gabi, and Lovelyn were on some kind of scavenger hunt. He’d lost his patience after the third stop. Sawyer had tracked his Little girl's phone, along with Raleigh and Gabi’s phones, to Lowell’s Garage on the outskirts of town.

But just like ‘That’s Italian’, and the old Farmers Market, none of them were there. If this was his fairy cat’s idea of a joke, he’d be explaining her mistake with the palm of his hand on her ass. Pulling out his phone, he called Sawyer again.

“They aren’t here. Do you have a bead on where they’re headed this time?”

Sawyer signed. “Yeah, brother. But it makes no sense. I have all three signals, still strong, still together, at The Getaway Motel.”

“The Getaway?”

“Yeah.” Sawyer sounded half as angry and just as confused as Law felt.

What. The. Fuck.

Law was getting seriously pissed. Lovelyn had only thought she’d seen him in Viking mode up till now. She hadn’t, but she was about to meet one seriously pissed off Viking Daddy. And when he got through with her, she wouldn’t sit down for a month of Sundays.

They’d gone over her rules that morning before they left the house. He’d reminded her of how risky it was not to be aware of everything going on around her with the Warriors and the Society both wanting her silenced.

An eerie feeling crawled up his spine. One he hadn’t felt since his days in special ops. His superiors laughed at him when he told them he had a bad feeling. At first. By the time he got out, he was the superior officer, and no one questioned his instincts.

He wasn’t going to go off halfcocked. Yet.

But he’d lived too long and survived too much to completely ignore it.

“Have they passed through any streets in town where we can catch them on CCTV and make sure it’s actually them?”

He could hear Sawyer clicking away on his computer in the background. The things his brother could do to people with a few clicks on his computer were truly frightening. “I’ll try, man. But I don’t think they’ve gone anywhere close since they all rode to That’s Italian. And we saw them all leave there, and none of our people were with them.”

“All right. Well, let me know if you see anything. I guess I’m headed to The Getaway. But if she’s there, I’m spanking her ass on the spot. I’m tired of crisscrossing the county to places they’ve already left.” Everything pointed to it happening again.

He should have trusted his gut.

Twenty minutes later, he was headed to town after checking out another dead end. Lovelyn and her posse weren’t at The Getaway when Bones called him with the news that Raleigh had just been brought to the ER by ambulance. That was all he knew.

At the emergency room, Bones allowed him to go back to talk with Raleigh. He was awake, but someone had beaten the shit out of him and left him in an alley out of sight. A homeless man collecting cans had found him and ran to the nearest police station to report it.

Bones had not lied. Someone had done a real number on Raleigh. His left eye was swollen shut, he had a possible concussion, and he had four bruised ribs. Whoever attacked him had dislocated his shoulder, and he had more scrapes and bruises than Law had seen in a long time.

Law pulled up a chair and sat down by Raleigh’s hospital bed. “Jesus, man. You got any idea who attacked you?”

Raleigh shook his head and winced. “Not specifically. I was on my phone in front of That’s Italian so I could watch the girls through the window. Someone jumped me from behind. I have no idea who, but I think whoever it was wore a Warriors MC cut.”

Fuck. Fuck!

Did Raleigh know the girls were missing? His friend tried to act like he wasn’t interested in anything romantic with Gabi, but Law wasn’t buying it. “Is there anything you need, man? Anyone I can call?”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d let Gabi know what happened. Only because I need her to cancel my appointments for the next few days.”

Right. “I’m on it. I’ll make sure she knows.”

Law left the ER a hell of a lot more worried than when he’d arrived.

He made the call to Reid. “You got me. What do you need?”

“A homeless man found Raleigh beaten and left for dead in an alley close to That’s Italian. He didn’t see who it was, but he was pretty sure they were wearing a Warrior’s cut.”

“Fuck. Is Sawyer still getting info from their phones?”

“You were my first call, so I don’t know. But I got a bad feeling. I need to find my girl immediately. I’ll do whatever to get her back safe, and you know what I mean by that.”

“I know what you mean, but I’m giving you a direct order to stow that shit until later. You aren’t going to help your girl by doing something stupid. I’m calling everyone in. I’ll leave it to you whether you come to the warehouse or keep looking, but don’t do anything that will divert our resources and attention away from finding Lovie. You get me?”

Damn it. He didn’t need anyone holding him back right now. He needed to do what he had to do to get his Little girl back.

Finally, he got his shit tight enough to answer. “I get you. Send Deke to check Raleigh’s office and Gage to check out Gabi's house. If this was the Warriors, it’s the General, and he’s not after Gabi.”

“You got it. Let me know if things change.”

“Roger that,” he said and ended the call.

Before he could toss his phone on the seat beside him, he got a notification of an incoming text. He didn’t recognize the number but checked it anyway.

When he read the text, everything in his world stopped cold.

They got Lovelyn. I got there too late to stop them. They dosed her with valium. Don’t know how much they gave her. Don’t know where they left her. Do know she doesn’t have much time ~Ravage.

Fuck.

Fuck!

They took his babygirl. They drugged her and left her somewhere alone.

He put in a call to Bones. “This is Bones, what do you need?”

“They took Lovelyn. They dosed her with valium. I have no idea how much. They put her somewhere; I've got to find her. Best guess, how much time do I have to work with here?

“Fuck, Law. Hold on. Let me do the math. She’s tall. She’s active. She’s smart. They’d need it to take time. I can’t make any guarantees, but I’d say you’ve got three hours. ”

Shit!

Fuck!

He managed a quick, “Thanks,” before disconnecting the call.

Next, he called Reid. “What do you got?”

Law brought Reid up to speed.

“I got you on speaker. All right. Same dance, different tune. Let’s work the problem.”

Gage was the first to speak. “I went by Gabi’s house. Broke in through the back door. She wasn’t there.”

Deke broke in. It sounded like he was on the phone as well. “I got her. Don’t know what they gave her, but she’s groggy as shit. I found her tied up in Raleigh’s office. I’m headed to the ER.”

Law said, “Tell them to test for valium first. And let Raleigh know she’s there. They were planning on moving him to a room to keep overnight.”

“Roger that,” Deke said and disconnected the call.

Reid took charge. “Sawyer, you still getting info from the phones?”

“Yep. Now I have them at… shit, Law, I got them out at Graceview Estates. It appears they’re heading toward the main house. But I had a feeling and pulled up Zane. He’s on his way to Graceview, too.”

“Fuck!” Law had enough to deal with without Zane going rogue. “I’m closest. I’ll get him and keep him with me. Sawyer, call me every time the location changes.”

“Roger that.”

Law cut the wheel and headed to Graceview Estates, and for the first time, he hoped he didn’t find Lovelyn there. It would be hard enough dealing with Zane.