She was screaming, crying.
How she was reacting, how she looked, the panic in her eyes, made his heart seize.
Everyone in the garage rushed outside to her and she talked so quickly no one knew what the fuck she was saying.
They pieced it together and figured it out.
His blood had turned to ice. Invisible hands crushed his heart and squeezed his throat.
His thoughts spun with the horrors that could be happening to his baby girl at the hands of those motherfucking inbred hillbilly goat fuckers.
Sig had wanted to burn down that mountain. They didn’t.
They should have.
A mistake they would regret.
Dutch got on the phone, Rook on his cell. Everybody but him began to make calls and close up the garage.
Cage had packed Jemma back into the Volvo with Reilly in the driver’s seat. He ordered Reese’s sister to take her to the nearest urgent care center to get her examined, to stitch up the gash. To check for a concussion.
Before they left, Dutch ordered Reilly to take her to the farmhouse as soon as they were done. All the women, including Daisy, needed to gather in one spot, to be protected. Cage’s father repeated the order which came directly from the sergeant at arms.
Crazy Pete’s was shut down. The prospects took up posts at the farmhouse with the women.
His brothers gathered in The Barn.
All of them.
Every single one.
They were making a plan and Cage had no idea what it was.
His focus was on one thing.
Get his daughter back.
That was it.
What else happened he didn’t give a fuck.
Sig could burn that fucking mountain to the ground.
Shade could make a blood river by slicing all their throats.
He didn’t give a fuck.
Men. Women. Their spawn. All of them.
Every last goddamn Shirley needed to be wiped from the Earth.
And once the clan on that mountain was gone, he’d go with Sig to Ohio and wipe out the rest.
The Shirleys and their kind needed to become extinct.
A distant memory.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
Fuck no.
They’d make a plan.
That was what Trip said.
That was what he was doing.
Standing on top of the bar so everyone could see and hear him. Judge stood on the floor in front of their president, his thick, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. Formidable. His face an angry mask.
The bearded giant watched Cage closely, carefully.
Probably making sure Cage didn’t slip out undetected. Making sure Cage didn’t head up that mountain on his own.
“Those motherfuckers kicked us right in the fuckin’ nuts again,” Ozzy yelled out and a chorus of agreement rose from everyone surrounding Cage.
Trip raised a palm and his voice to catch everyone’s attention. “We need to decide, not if, but how we handle this. ‘Cause we gonna fuckin’ handle this. Not just get our property back, but—”
“Dyna,” Cage muttered, cutting the prez off.
Trip’s eyes fell to him. “What?”
“Dyna. My fuckin’ daughter. Not property.” Cage jammed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets and snarled.
She was a living, breathing part of him. Not an inanimate object.
His baby could feel pain and discomfort, unlike the fucking wood bar Trip stood on.
Judge’s gruff voice rolled over their brotherhood. “Brother, yeah, she’s your daughter, but she belongs to all of us. She’s Fury property and under our protection. Those hillbilly ass wipes need to learn to stay away from what’s ours.”
Trip took over from there. “Yeah, so... This ain’t just about gettin’ Dyna back but finishin’ this once and for all.”
“We warned them last time,” Sig growled, the cords on his neck tight and his own hands formed into fists. “Fuckin’ warned them. Should’ve burned that goddamn mountain to the ground. Took them all out.”
“We gotta do this smart,” Trip reminded his half-brother.
“We gotta do this now,” Cage screamed.
“Brother, Trip’s right,” Rook said quietly next to him. “Gotta do this smart. What’s the point of us cleanin’ house up there if we all end up back behind bars? What will be left of this club? Who will be here to protect our women and children then? Who will raise Dyna? Think.”
“They’re not gonna hurt her. They wouldn’t fuckin’ dare.” Dutch growled. “They took her to replace Levi.”
“You don’t know that!” Cage yelled, his head feeling like it was about to spin off his neck like a top. “You can’t say that, ‘cause you don’t fuckin’ know. None of us do. They’re out for revenge. We killed some of their brother-cousins. Took out their leader. You don’t think they’re pissed enough to hurt Dyna? Maybe even fuckin’ kill her? To make a fuckin’ statement?”
He sucked in a breath and continued before anyone could interrupt him.
“Why didn’t they take Jemma? Why only Dyna? During daylight, in the open, in the middle of town where anyone coulda spotted them?”
A quiet voice rose out of the crowd as the man moved forward. “Easier to snatch a baby than both a baby and her mother. Only takes one person to do it. Coulda been one of their women who did it. Someone unassumin’.”