There were so many questions that needed to be answered, but the main one was I wanted visual confirmation myself that she was alive. I wouldn’t let myself believe otherwise. Oh, I know Reaper and the others think they saw her, but I needed to see her for myself. I refused to hope for anything, knowing all too well that hope could vanish in a second.
Speeding down the interstate, it was a familiar drive, one that I’d made many times before. Yet, for some reason, the road seemed longer this time as I raced to catch up to the other men. I knew they were ahead of me. When I saw them off in the distance, I gunned my engine, racing past Reaper. As I approached, the bikes parted. As I slid between them, taking the lead, Reaper right behind me.
Yeah, this was my woman I was trying to get to, and if she was alive, I would ride through the fires of hell to get to her.
She was mine.
Mine to protect.
It took eight hours to reach our destination, and though I was anxious to see if it indeed was her, I knew I needed to be sensible. The large warehouse on the small town's outskirts wasn’t big but large enough to hide our bikes. Looking at my surroundings, I waited for someone to open the large bay door as I scanned the area that looked familiar to me.
“Ghost?” Shadow whispered, looking at the area.
“I know.”
“I feel as if we’ve been here before.”
The bay door slowly opened as I spotted Massacre, who looked carefully at me. “Let’s get inside,” I said, moving my bike inside. “This place gives me the creeps.”
When Massacre closed the door behind us, we all got off our bikes to see Chains standing by a massive table counting ammo and checking the weapons. I didn’t see Savage or Bullseye and wondered where they were.
“Where’s Bullseye?” Reaper asked, walking deeper into the warehouse scanning the place too.
“He took off after they swapped the girls,” Chains replied, looking at Reaper.
“What?” I asked, moving closer. While Reaper cursed. I didn’t know what was going on. Someone needed to speak and fast.
“Where is Ari?”
“They had them separated. One at a cabin two miles to the east. The other at an abandoned house a mile south of town. Both were heavily guarded, so we couldn’t get to them. We’ve been watching.”
“Okay, so what happened?” I asked, knowing Chains left something out. The man had been part of my team since I took over as V.P. after Pop’s died. There wasn’t nothing I didn’t know about the crazy fucker, and I knew when he was hiding something. Like he was now.
“About an hour ago, the girls were swapped. Ari is now at the abandoned house,” Chains said, then added, looking directly at Reaper. “Savage tried to stop him, Boss, but he wouldn’t listen. He went after her. They took her.”
Reaper charged Chains, grabbing him by his cut. “Who?”
“The Black Vultures have her, Layla.”
“FUCK!” Reaper roared, pushing Chains away from him. There was something I was missing. I’d only seen the boss act this way once before, which had to do with Remi. Why was he so invested in Layla? She belonged to Bullseye. I expected that reaction from him, not Reaper.
“What am I missing here?”
When Chains and Massacre both looked at me, I knew whatever it was I wasn’t going to like. I’d been out of the loop for months now, and it was time to play catch up and fast.
“Tell him,” Shadow said from behind me.
“Tell me what?” I asked, looking around the place at the men I’d known my whole life. I couldn’t understand all the secrecy. This was a brotherhood. We would die for each other.
There was no secret that big.
Sighing, Reaper said. “There is no easy way to say this Ghost, but it was Malachi. He took Ari. He is working with the Black Vultures. He has Ari with him, while Jekyll now has Layla.”
“You’re lying. My brother would never dishonor me, my family, or the club. He wouldn’t.”
“He’s telling the truth, Baltazar. I saw the evidence myself.” Shadow said solemnly as Reaper reached into his bag and produced a file. He laid it down on the table. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so I brought everything. You’re not going to like it. None of us did. We’ll give you some time to read and absorb it all. When you're finished, we can talk about getting the girls back.”
Reaper left me, along with everyone else, including Shadow.