Page 23 of Murder & Mayhem (Bloody Desires #9)

DOMINIC

T he Wraiths had bases all throughout the city, and even beyond.

While this chapter was on the smaller side, the organization was one of the bigger crime syndicates in the nation.

A mesh between an MC, a gang, and the mafia, it had its fingers in all pots and connections all through the criminal underbelly.

It meant even their lesser chapters had the resources for multiple headquarters and safe houses, as well as business organizations, both legal and illegal.

Flame, the leader of this chapter of the Wraiths, was mostly concerned with prostitution and drugs.

He liked running under the radar and for the most part kept his crew out of weapons and human trafficking.

Not to say he didn’t straddle the line. What we believed he wanted with Bailey was to groom him to be one of his loyal men.

That was right up his alley. But international human trafficking?

It was something he stayed the fuck away from.

We met Gideon right outside the property lines.

The place was a dump, literally. It was an actual garbage dump.

There was a large fence surrounding the property, but there was a gate that allowed outside traffic in.

It wasn’t open to the public per se, but regular civilians could come to drop stuff off, and towing companies and other autobody shops came to dump cars all the time.

We planned to just drive in. I was sure the Wraiths had cameras on us, but sneaking into a property like this wasn’t feasible.

Gideon was leaning against his Harley, playing on his phone when we pulled up. He gave me an upnod, and then his eyes locked in on Jamie as he climbed out of the SUV, his bright blue eyes already gleaming with mischief.

I didn’t even get a chance to warn the fucker off before he was running his mouth. “So, this is the pretty boy who has my brother’s dick in a chokehold.”

I growled at Gid, shooting him a warning glare, as Jamie turned bright red and shrunk in on himself.

“For fuck’s sake, Gid, just shut the hell up.” Then, turning to Jamie, I said, “Ignore everything that comes out of that asshole’s mouth. I usually do.”

Gideon pressed his hand to his chest in an overdramatic fashion. “I’m wounded, Nicky. And here I thought you loved me.”

Jamie snorted, and I relaxed a little. Gideon walked up to Jamie, a light smile on his face.

He was wearing his weekend clothes, a pair of faded jeans with a hole in the knee, heavy black combat boots, and a leather jacket over a black T-shirt.

He had recently gotten a haircut, so his bright red hair was short on the sides and longer on the top.

It was windblown now, and he had a bad case of helmet hair, but Gid never seemed to care.

His neatly trimmed beard was a couple shades darker than his hair and covered the bottom of his face .

Despite his easy manner, Jamie still stiffened as he got closer, not that I blamed him.

Gid was fucking huge, almost 6’5”, with wide shoulders that were barely contained in his leather jacket.

He was surprisingly light on his feet, which probably made him more terrifying.

You couldn’t hear him coming if he didn’t want you to.

Now, though, he was trying to be friendly, and I hoped Jamie realized he would never hurt him.

“Hi, I’m Gideon. I promise I won’t bite. Well, unless you want me to.” He held out his hand, while I mimicked choking him.

“Gid . . . ,” I warned. But somehow, that made Jamie a touch calmer. He smiled sheepishly at my brother.

“Good to know.”

I sighed and looked at Gideon. “Okay, so how’re we doing this?”

“Put in your ears, I think Ari has an idea.”

Climbing back into the car, I grabbed my earbuds and then an extra pair. I handed them to Jamie. If he was insisting on coming, he would have constant communication between the four of us. I was not letting them grab him with me caught unaware.

Gideon raised his eyebrow in surprise. “I’m surprised you’re letting him come.”

Jamie glared at Gideon, getting on his tiptoes so he could look him in the eyes. He still had to look up. “He’s not letting me do anything. I can make my own fucking decisions, and Bailey is my brother! I’m sick of everyone trying to put me on the sidelines.”

Gideon raised his hands in front of him in a “peace” gesture. “Easy there, firebird. I didn’t mean anything by it. If you want to come with us, I sure as fuck won’t stop you.”

Jamie didn’t back down for another few seconds before heaving in a deep breath and backing off. “Good.” But I could see his hands shaking. We needed to fucking move.

Once we were all set, and Ari was talking in our ears, we all got back in my SUV, with Gid leaving his bike off to the side and partially hidden.

Hopefully, none of these fuckers would decide to take it because that would be the one time Gideon deviated from the code Ari had set for us, and he would take the heads of anyone who even looked at his bike without permission.

We had barely made it through the gate when four men armed with rifles and balaclavas covering their faces formed a semicircle blocking the path. Gideon clicked the safety off his gun as I slowed down and put the SUV in park.

I glanced at Jamie in the rearview. He was watching the Wraith crew with wide, terrified eyes. “Jamie, stay here and stay down.”

I half-expected him to argue, but he only nodded and slumped down in the seat, his hoodie pulled down low over his face.

“Let me handle this,” I said to Gideon, and then I stepped out with my hands up where they could see them.

“Wow, this is some welcome. Do you do this every time someone comes to drop off some junk? Must really scare the customers.”

The one in the middle stepped forward. “Cut the crap. We saw you were with the Sullivan kid. State your business here.”

Well, that had been quicker than I’d expected.

I stayed calm and easy. They seemed like professionals.

None of them had pointed their guns at me or the SUV yet, and I at least hoped that they were smart enough not to be trigger happy.

But the downside to that was that if they did choose to shoot, it would probably hit .

There was no point in me bullshitting. That would be a good way to get shot.

“We’re looking for Bailey Sullivan.”

A fourth guy appeared from the small security shed.

His face wasn’t covered, and I recognized him immediately as Flame, the leader of the Wraiths.

He was in his early forties with an odd shade of blond hair that was nearly gray.

It was well maintained, and he assessed us with cold, icy-blue eyes.

The car door opened and Gideon walked out to stand next to me.

We were still outnumbered, but I did appreciate having him at my back, even if I would rather he stayed with Jamie.

I didn’t dare turn around to make sure he was okay though.

Flame walked through the middle of his men and stood facing us. “He’s not here.”

I’d predicted Flame would bullshit us or try to make a deal.

“There are two more people hidden in the woods, but they’re far back. So far no one is going to the car,” Ari informed us. “I can only get into the security cameras on the outside. I see no Bailey, O’Malley, or even any indication that they’re holding them .”

I had a feeling Flame was telling the truth, but still, I had to push a little. “We traced Sloan O’Malley’s car here. We know he picked up the kid yesterday and he was supposed to bring him to you.”

Flame’s eyes narrowed and two of the guards raised their rifles. They still weren’t pointed at us, but it was less casual.

“How do you know this? Who are you?”

I smiled. “It doesn’t matter who we are. Or how we know, just that we do. We’re only here for the Sullivan kid. I don’t give a fuck what else you have going on. Let me grab the kid and we’ll leave.”

“Listen, I don’t know who the fuck you are or what your business is with the Sullivan kids.

I really don’t give a fuck. But if that one said he could pay you for this”—he upnodded to the vehicle—“he’s lying.

If he had money, we wouldn’t have resorted to trying to take the kid to pay his stepfather’s debts. ”

I ignored the paying part. I would never accept money from Jamie. Besides, we weren’t mercenaries.

“So you admit you took Bailey?”

“Are you a fucking cop or something?”

The guns went up, and instantly, Gid and I responded with our own weapons drawn and pointed at Flame. “Do we look like fucking cops? I already told you, all I want is the Sullivan kid. You admitted to taking him, so tell me where he is and we’ll be on our way.”

Flame watched both of us, and neither Gid nor I backed down despite his men having fucking rifles.

Finally, he held a hand up. “Stand down.” The guys lowered their weapons.

“Look, I’m not denying that I sent O’Malley to grab the kid. We were looking for that one though.” He waved to the SUV again, and he was fucking lucky I didn’t blow his ass up right here.

“Why?”

“‘Cause we knew he’d trade himself for his brother. We were gonna have him do runs for us. Not anything crazy. But his stepdad ran up quite a debt and the fucker was useless. He was never gonna be able to get it for us. We would’ve killed him eventually, but that wouldn’t get us our money.

” There was a fucked-up kind of logic that I believed.

“But fucking O’Malley two-timed us. He made a deal with his whore of a cousin and took off with the kid.

I got no idea where either of them are. Believe me when I say, if I did, that fucker would be dead. ”

“And Bailey?”

Flame shrugged. “I’d probably have continued with the plan, but he ain’t worth all this trouble.

If I found him now, I’d just hand him over to you.

I don’t know who you two are, and that scares me more than if I did.

You’re clearly professionals, yet I don’t recognize you.

One fucking kid and a junkie’s debt ain’t worth it. ”

“I think he’s telling the truth.” Ari added , “I was able to get into his phone. He’s fucking pissed about O’Malley, and what he said about his plans with Bailey seem to line up.”

“I believe him too.” That was Jamie. “Flame never fucked with us, and he would get pissed anytime there was someone too young at the clubhouse or hanging around one of his crew. Joey used to talk about how a few of his buddies just disappeared. ”

I lowered my weapon, and so did Gid. With a nod from Flame, so did his guys. “Then you won’t mind if we take a look around? You can put a guy on us if you want.”

He seemed to consider that but finally nodded. “Go ahead. You’re only wasting your time, not mine. Phones stay in the car, so do weapons.”

I nodded my agreement.

“Nickel.” He pointed to one of the guys. “Stay with them. If they do anything besides look for the kid, shoot them.”

“Got it, boss.” The guy on the right stepped up to me, and Flame and the other two turned away.