Viper had everyone organized in a matter of minutes, sending Cash and Rider for the equipment they needed from the factory while Lucky called for an ambulance and Knox.
They were in the living room when Shade stepped back outside where they had been digging first. “Everyone quiet!” he yelled.
The members stopped digging, listening. The faint sound of Fat Louise could be heard, and they rushed to the side where the kitchen was located, digging hastily as her voice became clearer. Finally, they pulled back a board and found her lying with debris covering her.
She rolled back, and Shade saw his son, still sucking his paci. He quickly and carefully bent down to pick him up, holding his son close to his chest as he moved away, his heart aching as his son’s arms waved in the air. His trembling hands ran gently over John’s body, checking him for any cuts or bruises.
“Little man, you scared the fuck out of me,” Shade croaked. “You’re not allowed to take that particular trait after your mother.”
“I was fixing us both something to eat when the house crashed around us,” Fat Louise said shakily.
“The ambulance is here,” Lucky told him.
They went down to the parking lot to have the baby and Fat Louise checked out. Other than a scratch on Fat Louise’s arm, both of them were fine. The EMTs cleaned and bandaged Shade’s hands when he refused to go into town to the hospital. He wasn’t willing to let go of his son just yet, holding him close and switching hands as they worked on him.
Shade took his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to call Lily. I don’t want them pulling in and seeing the ambulance, or she’ll freak out.” He frowned when her phone went directly to voicemail.
He was calling Razer when Lucky’s phone rang next to him. He stepped away as he talked.
Razer didn’t answer his phone, either, and his heart began to pound in the same fear he had experienced when he had seen the tree limb fall onto his house.
He called Beth. When she didn’t answer, he knew something was wrong. One of them should have picked up.
The EMT found him as he was hanging up the phone. “They’re fine,” he said, nodding his head toward John in Shade’s arms, “but we can take them in for a doctor to check out if you want.”
Shade shook his head, looking down at John. “I’d rather he stay here if you’re sure he’s okay.”
“Doesn’t have a mark on him.” The EMT grinned. “I wish all my calls ended this way.”
Fat Louise climbed out of the ambulance. “I’m fine, too. There’s no need for me to go to the hospital, either.”
Shade swallowed the lump in his throat as he handed his child to her. “I need a big favor from you, Jane. Could you stay at the clubhouse with him until I get back? Lily isn’t answering her phone, so I want to go into town.”
“I can do that.”
“Stay in the basement. Jewell, take the rest of the women.”
The sounds of a tornado siren were going off in town, and the sky had turned ominously dark.
“Now! All of you, go!” Shade yelled.
The women ran up the pathway to the house while Viper yelled for the men to get inside as Shade went to his bike.
“Where in the fuck are you going?” Viper yelled at him.
“I have to go into town. Lily, Beth, and Razer are there, and they aren’t answering their phones.”
“The winds probably took down a cell tower.”
“No, it wouldn’t have rung if it had. Something’s not right. They should have been back by now. Call Rachel and tell her to text me Cal’s address. I’m going to call Evie and see if they’ve picked the twins up.”
Shade was about to call Evie when he looked up, seeing Lucky’s face as he approached.
“They haven’t. I just called.” Lucky’s fierce expression told him the person on the phone hadn’t been the bearer of good news.
“Who called you?” Shade asked, placing his key in the ignition.
“My contact with the FBI. He sent me the satellite pictures of who trashed yours and Razer’s motorcycles.” Lucky stared down at the picture on his phone before turning it so Shade and the brothers standing near him could see.
“Who the fuck is…? I’ve seen him before…” Suddenly, it clicked where he had seen that harsh, egotistical face before; however, Cash got his name out before Shade could.
“That’s Saul Cornett, Beth’s father.”
Chapter 93
Knox led the way in the squad car with the blue lights flashing. It was crazy as fuck to be headed into the storm with tornado sirens blaring. Shade had told Viper and the others to go to the clubhouse, and he would call when he was at Cal’s. The brothers didn’t listen, though, climbing on their bikes and following him to town.
The house was on the outskirts of town, up at the end of a rutted driveway they had to ride up carefully. It was easier to park the bikes and run the rest of the way. Hail pelted them the last few inches.
The door was standing wide open when the men went inside. The smell of the place was horrendous. Dirty clothes were everywhere, unwashed dishes were in the kitchen with rotting food sitting on the counter, the coffee table was broken as if there had been a fight, and the Crockpot with its contents were spilled onto the floor. It sickened Shade that Cal was forced to live in this environment.
A search of the house found it empty. No one was there.
“Take cover!” Viper yelled from the doorway as he slammed the door.
Shade saw the tornado touchdown in the yard a few feet away.
“Get in the hall.” Shade pushed and shoved the men toward the hallway just as the tornado struck the house.
The home shook, and the sound of breaking glass filled the air as the men covered their heads with their arms. The furniture in the room was tossed around by the wind screaming through the house.
He was crouched down next to Train when a lamp flew toward them. Shade jerked him out of the way a bare second before it crashed against the wall where his head had been.
“Hold the fuck on to each other!” Viper yelled over the roaring noise.
All the brothers linked arms and scooted farther down the hallway, bracing themselves against the shaking walls. A picture fell down, hitting Shade on the shoulder. He grimaced yet brushed Viper’s concern away, more worried about the time they were losing.
It only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed like minutes as the brothers huddled together. When it passed, more than one man stood in disarray as they came out of the hallway to see that, fortunately, only part of the brick walls and front porch were gone.
The men filed out with the wind still blowing, but the sky was gradually clearing.
“Where could he have taken them?” Shade asked harshly, not shaken by the ordeal and near death experience they had just gone through, only concerned with finding his wife.
“I’ve called the FBI in, but they’re over an hour away and the storm is slowing them down. We can’t use a plane like we did last time for the same reason. Saul Cornett was a pastor in Treepoint for years, so he could be holed up anywhere with another of his followers,” Lucky said with frustration lacing every word.
“I think I know where he is. This time every year, he would always go to a sister church. It closed years ago, but I believe the building is still there.” Cash quickly called his grandmother who confirmed the church was still standing.
The men ran back down the driveway toward their bikes, gaping as they drew closer to the destruction the tornado had caused. They had to climb over one tree which had fallen across the driveway, and as they did, the carnage of their motorcycles hit them like a slap in the face.
“Can I please catch a fucking break?” Shade yelled up at the sky before he looked at the mangled motorcycle he’d had delivered only two days before. He didn’t care about the bike, only the delay its destruction would cause.
“Look and see if any of them are still able to ride,” Viper ordered the men.
Out of forty bik
es, three were working.
“Shade, you, Lucky, Rider, and Train ride with Knox. Knox, call and have your deputies give the rest of the brothers a ride back to the clubhouse. I’ll stay here with them then follow.”
Shade saw the conflict in Viper’s eyes as he directed the men. He wanted to go with them, but he had a responsibility to the brothers left behind.
“Cash, you take one of the working bikes. If the roads are blocked, you might get through easier on it. I’ll call the FBI and give them the address. Maybe, with the weather clearing, they can get there to back you up.”
The brothers climbed into the sheriff’s car as the others threw the pieces of their bikes out of the way for Knox to back out of the driveway. Once on the main road, Knox turned on his lights and siren, speeding through town.
Shade looked out the window at the passing town. Most of it had been spared. It seemed the destruction had only happened toward their side of the valley.