Rafe—
Once we’re all aboard, Billy and TJ untie the lines and push us off the dock, jumping on at the last second.
Bev puts the engine in reverse and backs away from the dock out into open water, then she guns it, making a wide, sweeping turn and heading across the bay toward the small waterway in the distance.
Wind whips over the boat, plastering our clothing to us.
We leave a large wake behind us as the boat churns through the water at full speed.
“How fast are we going?” I ask.
“Top speed is about forty miles an hour,” she shouts above the engine noise and wind. “When we get to that canal, the speed limit drops, but you probably want to sneak up on them, right?”
“Fuck that. Just get us ashore.”
“Yes, sir.”
I’ve got the map app pulled up on my phone, and soon, we’re getting close to the location.
Crash looks around at the vast farmland on the right. “Geez, there’s nothing out here, is there?”
“Nope,” Bev answers. “Not down this channel. They just started developing out this way. Not many people have bought land, though. They’re asking too much money.” Bev points at a house in the distance that becomes visible on the left. “That’s it, right there.”
It’s a modern place and must cost in the millions.
“Looks like the governor’s daughter married into money, doesn’t it?” Crash asks.
“You see any vehicles parked up by the road?” Cole asks.
“I see a damn Ninja bike,” I snap, zeroing in on a neon green one.
“If the doors are locked, we’re blasting out a window, got it?” Cole says.
I take out my 9mm and slide a round in the chamber with a click. “I’ll do it.
“Crash, Marcus, you two stay with Bev and guard the boat. You see ‘em head this way, you honk the horn to let us know. TJ and I will take the front, make sure they don’t get out to the road.”
Bev slows and comes alongside the dock, throwing the engine in reverse, and the rest of us hop off, charging toward the house. The planks bow under our pounding boots.
Cole and TJ split off and head around the side to the front.
I move straight to the glass door that leads out to the dock. It’s locked as expected. “Stand back.” I pop three blasts through the glass. It shatters and falls to the ground like sparkling diamond confetti.
I waste no time, shouldering through the opening, my gun drawn. My father, my brother, and Billy follow me in.
Easing my back to the wall, I peer around the corner into a living room. My eyes follow the open staircase to the second level, but I see no motion.
They had to have heard us coming. No one sleeps through gunshots and shattering glass.
I jerk my head, and my father and brother take up positions, weapons leveled at the stairs.
I point at Billy and myself, and he nods as I lead the way up the staircase, moving slowly and quietly. We clear the top stair and I spot a television and gaming equipment set up on a landing with leather furniture.
Billy and I ease down the hall, clearing room after room, but we find nothing. My eyes hit the bed in the guestroom, and I see zip ties looped around the bedposts at the headboard, others freshly cut and lying on the sheets.
A pit forms in my stomach.
Billy exchanges a look with me, then tugs me from the room. We backtrack to the landing and shake our heads at my father. He points to a door that must lead to the garage, and I nod, hurrying down the staircase.
I move to it and try the knob slowly. It opens, and I jump back, gun raised. It’s a large garage with high ceilings. There’s a car parked inside one of the three garage doors. I stand motionless, listening. Then hear a pounding, and I know immediately it's coming from the trunk.
My heart sinks. “She’s in the damn trunk.” I lunge to get to her, but my father jerks me back by the arm, just as Connor and his two friends dart from behind a plywood wall. Beyond it looks like a tool bench and shop area.
We fan out, the four of us aiming our guns at their heads, but they’ve got weapons, too. Connor has a shotgun, and his buddies both hold .38 revolvers in shaking hands. Their commitment to this endeavor is nowhere near Connor’s. I see it in their eyes.
“Got four more men outside, front and back,” my father says. “Don’t be fools, boys. You got your whole lives ahead of you. No need to make this worse than it already is. As long as you haven’t killed the girl, you won’t face murder charges. Anything under that, you’ll get off easy.”
I hear the words coming out of my father’s mouth and know they’re all bullshit. The club has no intention of turning these jerks over to law enforcement.
“Put down your guns, and kick them over here. Then let her out of that trunk, and we all go our separate ways. Easy peasy,” he continues.
The other two start to comply, but Connor snaps at them.
“Don’t fucking believe him.”
They both hesitate, not knowing who to listen to. I take advantage of that, and step closer on the right side. My eyes shift to Billy, and he nods almost imperceptibly and does the same on the left.
Kyle moves with me, and my father stands stock still.
“Which one of you has the keys?” he asks.
The other two look at each other, and one raises his hand.
I hold my hand palm up and jerk my two fingers toward me, motioning for him to hand them over.
The kid doesn’t lower his weapon, but he does reach into his pocket and pull out the keys.
“You stupid fuck,” Connor turns to scream at the boy, and as soon as he does, I charge him, taking Connor to the floor with a gun butt to the head. His weapon discharges, and my brother groans. Billy and my father disarm the other two, who cower with their hands up.
My brother drops to a knee, clutching his side. “Fuck, I’m hit.”
“Get on the ground, face down,” my father roars, and the other two comply, their hands shaking.
“Oh, God. Don’t kill us. Don’t shoot us in the back of the head,” one begs.
“I’ve got ‘em,” Billy says, and my father rushes to Kyle, holding him up.
“Where are you hit, son?”
“My side.” He pulls his hand back, and it’s covered in blood.
I slam the butt of my gun into Connor’s head again, knocking him out and kicking his shotgun out of reach. Then I race to the trunk and unlock it.
Tori huddles with her hands in front of her head, terror written across her face.
I lift her out and wrap my arms around her. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” I pull back, taking her in. Her face looks like she took a few hits, and her shirt is torn open down the middle, revealing her lavender bra. My blood boils at the sight, and I want to put a bullet in Connor.
“Rafe? You came.”
“Of course, I did. Are you hurt? Did they…?” I drift off, unable to finish the words.
She shakes her head. “No. I think he was going to, but then we heard the sound of the boat, and he dragged me down here and shoved me in the trunk.”
“He’s a dead man.” My voice comes out in an icy whisper.
“Rafe, your sister was here. She got away last night.”
“I know. She’s the one who called us.”
“She made it? She’s safe?”
“Yeah, babe, she’s fine.”
“Oh, thank God,” she whispers and collapses against me.
I kiss the top of her head and move to the side door, unlocking it and pushing it open. I bring her outside, her body pressed to my side, and wave the guys in. “Come on. Hurry. Kyle’s been hit.”
Crash and Marcus dash up the dock, along with Bev, who gathers Tori in her arms.
“Get her to the boat,” I snap, and she nods.
Cole and TJ come from the front, and we all reenter the garage.
Kyle is stretched out on the concrete floor. My father squats over him, while Billy holds a gun on the other three.
Wolf’s eyes lock with Cole’s. “He’s bad off, Prez.”
I google the nearest hospital. “Closest emergency room is twenty-four miles away in Antioch.”
Cole and my father exchange a look.
“Does he need to be airlifted?” Marcus asks.
“Someone’s got to verify the need before they send a chopper. Means we need to get either a cop or paramedic out here. That’ll take time.”
“Is it faster than if we drive him?”
“Fucking hell,” Cole mutters, spinning in a circle. “Either way, we’re fucked.” Then his eyes meet my father’s. “What do you want to do, Wolf?”
My father lifts his chin to TJ. “Ask Bev where the nearest clinic is.”
TJ tears out of the door and comes back a couple minutes later with a wheezing Bev who looks like she ran all the way up to the house. She rests a hand on the car and looks at Kyle’s bleeding side.
“My uncle’s a retired doctor. He lives a few blocks from the bar. His wife is a retired ER nurse. They might be able to help. I can call him.”
“You sure about him? You can trust him?” Cole asks.
“I think so. Especially considering the facts of how these assholes took these girls, and he was shot trying to rescue them.” She looks at Kyle. “We better load him onto the boat pretty fast, though. He doesn’t look too good.”
My gaze drops to my brother’s. His face is ashen, and he’s shaking.
“Let’s move. Boys, pick him up gently. Rafe, you and Crash stay here with me a minute. We’ve got to figure out what to do with these three morons.” Cole lifts his chin to the three boys on the concrete floor.
Crash and I step closer to Prez as our brothers carry Kyle out.
“We’ve only got three choices here, and I don’t like any of them.
” Cole meets our eyes. “One. We take ‘em out somewhere and make them disappear. Only problem with that is we’ve got Bev and a waitress at the bar who can tie us all to this. Two. We call in the cops, but that means a lot of explaining and charges for breaking and entering and a bunch of other shit, I’m sure. ”
“What’s our third option?” I ask.
“We leave them here alive.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hiss.
“I know you want a pound of flesh. Your father does, too. But I’ve got an entire club to think about.”
I fling a hand toward them. “So we let them off scot-free?”
“Well, we put the fear of God in them first.”
“And what? They just go back to living their lives free to do this bullshit again, or worse? The shit this kid has already done? You really think he’s gonna suddenly turn into a boy scout?”
“I get all that, Rafe. But I don’t think we really have a choice. If it doesn’t work out, we clean up the mess in the future.”
I know what he’s telling me. We take them out at a better time and place than this one.
“Accidents happen all the time to people. Maybe karma does us a solid,” Crash comments.
And by karma and accident, I know what he means.
Cole’s eyes shift to Crash. “You good with that VP?”
Crash nods.
Connor rouses, lifting his head and moaning.
Billy kicks him in the ribs. “You alive, fucker? Too bad.”
“What’s to stop him from calling the cops on us?” I hiss.
“He goes down for kidnapping two women.” Cole folds his arms. “You got a better idea?”
I drag in a breath and pace away, spearing a hand through my hair. “Fine, but I guarantee this isn’t the end of it.”
Crash slaps my back with a grin. “That’s what I’m hoping, too, kid.” Then he looks at Cole. “You want to play good cop/bad cop, Prez? You be the bad cop, you’re so good at it.”
“We’ve got to get on that boat,” Cole snaps. “I’d better make it quick.” He pulls his gun and presses the barrel to one of the boys’ temples, bending low to whisper something to him. Then moves on to the next one.
One of them starts bawling, and the other pisses himself.
Then he moves to Connor, yanking his head back with a fistful of hair. With the barrel of the gun pressed to his head, whatever Cole says to him, has Connor blanching. The kid tries to look tough, but he’s scared shitless. I can see it in his eyes, and I swear to myself this isn’t the end of this.
He looks past Prez and meets my gaze.
Payback’s comin’, motherfucker.
He reads the message loud and clear in my face. The realization that he’s in way over his head is plain in his eyes. For now, it’ll have to be enough, because it’s all I get.
“Come on,” Crash says, batting my arm with the back of his hand. “Let’s get your brother some help.”