The baby sister I’d been protecting our entire lives was going through God knew what, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. She’d always counted on me to have her back, and I couldn’t even find her. I felt like I was going to come out of my skin.
My mom was barely functioning, her lips and the skin around her fingernails so picked over, they constantly bled. Dad was raging, and Tommy was practically silent. We were barely holding it together.
Nothing had prepared us for something like this. It didn’t make a damn bit of sense. We hadn’t gotten a ransom call, and no one was claiming responsibility for their disappearance. They were just gone.
“Church,” Dragon bellowed, striding to the door near the bar.
I kissed Molly and followed him in, my dad and Tommy on my heels.
As soon as the door closed, Dragon started speaking.
“Casper’s been in touch,” he said, not even bothering to sit down. “Thinks he’s figured out where the missin’ shipments have been goin’.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Honestly, who the fuck cared about the missing guns when my sister was nowhere to be found?
“Bunch of skinheads,” Dragon said in disgust. “Not worried about sellin’, seein’ as how they’re busy buildin’ their own arsenal.”
“Fuck,” my dad muttered.
“He wanted to give me a heads-up,” Dragon said, meeting my eyes. “Cause he’s sure as he can be that they don’t give a shit about us. No reason to fuck with a member and his woman when they got what they needed from us already.”
“Jesus Christ,” Tommy snapped, his hands pressed to the sides of his head. “Where the fuck are they?”
“No luck at the hospitals?” my dad asked me.
“Nothing.”
“We’re missin’ somethin’,” Dragon said, shaking his head. He looked at my dad. “But we’ll find your girl, Grease.”
“Just keep thinkin’,” my dad said, his voice hoarse, “that it’s a good thing she’s with Mack.” He covered his mouth with his hand and I had to look away from the helplessness in his eyes. “’Cause he’s the only man that’d protect her the way I would.”
“Fuck this,” Tommy muttered. He stormed toward the door, and just as he swung it open, the rest of the clubhouse went nuts.
“The fuck’s happenin’?” Dragon asked as we hurried out of the room.
I caught Molly’s wide eyes and shook my head at her as I jogged toward the front door, pulling my pistol out of the holster at my back. Men surrounded me as we poured into the forecourt, and I cursed as a blue car flew up the long, gravel drive, spitting gravel. I raised my arms as it got closer, aiming at the driver as I stared into the front windshield.
Holy fuck.
“Don’t shoot,” I screamed, dropping my arms as I ran forward. “Don’t fucking shoot!”
The second my dad saw Rose, he flew into motion. By the time she’d put the car in park and climbed out of the car, he was there to catch her.
“We have to go back. We have to go now,” Rose said as I reached them.
“Fuck,” my dad choked out, his hands frantically smoothing her hair as he kissed her head over and over.
“Dad,” she said, pulling away. “We have to go get Mack.”
“Where is he, Rose?” I asked.
“She’s bleedin’,” Tommy snapped.
“I’m fine,” Rose bit out, shaking her head as she took a step back. “Just a scratch.”
Tommy made a noise in his throat that I ignored as I watched Rose.
“Where, Rose?” I asked.
“By the old swimming hole,” she said urgently. “I’ll show you, come on.”
“No fuckin’ way,” my dad said instantly. “You’re not goin’ anywhere.”
“Draw me a map,” I said as Rose opened her mouth to argue.
As the boys fired up their bikes around us, Rose knelt in the gravel.
“Through both of these stop signs,” she said, using her shaking fingers to draw a map in the rocks. “Keep going, there’s a—a turn, no, no, it’s just a curve here…”
As soon as she finished describing the house they’d been held in, I helped her to her feet.
“Hurry, brother,” she said, her face pale with fear. She let out a quiet sob. “He’s in the basement. Someone needs to take a truck.”
“A truck?” Tommy said in confusion.
“He’s in bad shape,” I said, reading between the lines. I held Rose’s eyes for a moment more. “I’ll get him for you.”
As soon as my mom, Molly and Hawk came running out of the clubhouse, I hustled to my bike and Tommy ran to my mom’s rig. I didn’t even bother with a helmet and the minute after I’d fired up my bike, I led the brothers off the compound.
We hauled ass. I was pretty sure I knew exactly where I was supposed to be going, but I still went over the surprisingly detailed map Rose had drawn in my mind. I had no idea how she’d managed to pay such close attention to where she’d come from, but it made shit a whole lot easier for us.
The shitty old farmhouse was exactly where she’d said it would be, and the place was quiet as a tomb.
“Fuck,” my dad said as we jumped off our bikes.
Yeah, that was my thought.
“You and you,” Dragon said, pointing, “You take the front door. We’ll take the back.”
We cautiously moved on the house, even though every single one of us wanted to hurry. Mack was in there somewhere, and from the look on Rose’s face, we didn’t have time to dick around.
“Rose?” Leo asked as we came up on a body, a pair of gardening scissors imbedded in the man’s eye.
“No fuckin’ way,” Tommy said in disbelief.
“It was her,” my dad said, barely glancing at the man on the ground. “I’d bet my bike on it.”
We continued forward, ignoring Tommy kicking the body on his way past it.
“Motherfucker,” he muttered.
It didn’t take much time to clear the house, and it was less than five minutes before we hit the basement stairs.
Bile rose in my mouth and I nearly tripped as I caught sight of the man on the pool table. His face was unrecognizable, and there was so much blood, I was pretty sure his body was completely drained. Jesus, was that Mack?
I jerked my head up as someone groaned from the floor on the far side of the table.
If I’d thought that the man on the pool table was bad, I was wrong.
Mack was worse. His face looked like hamburger.
“You’re alright,” my dad said, dropping to his knees. “You’re gonna be just fine, son.”
“Rose,” Mack said, his hand barely lifting from the cement floor as he tried to grab my dad’s arm.
“We got her,” Dad said.
“Rose,” Mack said again.
“We got her, son,” my dad said again, leaning close to Mack’s face. “She’s just fine.”
“Rose.”
“We gotta get him outta here,” Dragon said. He knelt beside my dad and ripped the bandana off his head. “Ain’t the cleanest, but it’ll work,” he said as he wrapped it around Mack’s thigh.
Fuck. He was bleeding bad.
I glanced around the room, looking for anything we could use as a bandage, and everything in me went still when I spotted a familiar-looking bag sitting at the far end of a couch.
“What’re you doin’?” Tommy snapped as I strode toward the couch.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” I muttered as I gripped the strap and lifted Rose’s backpack.
“Need some help over here,” Leo called to me.
Loosening the straps, I put the backpack on and strode back to Mack and the boys.
“Nothin’ for it,” my dad said, using his forearm to wipe at the sweat on his face. His hands were covered in blood to the elbow. “We gotta carry him out.”
“Rose,” Mack mumbled.
He screamed as we lifted him, then mercifully passed out.
As we carried him care
fully up the steps, Dragon spoke.
“This is too much for Molly, we gotta take him to the hospital,” he said, looking at each of us. “Someone dropped him at the gates. Didn’t see who it was.”
“Not a clue who it was,” Tommy grunted.
“I’ll call a cleaner,” Leo said. “Get this place taken care of.”
“Me and Tommy’ll take Mack,” Dad said.
“I’ll get Rose,” I said as we reached the kitchen.
“You boys head out,” Dragon said as we carried Mack to my mom’s SUV. “Get the hell out of Eugene.”
“You sure?” Old Chase asked.
“Yeah, man,” Dragon said. “No need to get all wrapped up in this shit.”
“Let us know if you need anythin’.”
“Owe ya one,” my dad said.
“Hell,” Old Chase replied, looking down at Mack as we passed him. “Don’t worry about it. We’re square.”
“Drive like hell,” Dragon told my dad as he climbed behind the wheel, Mack laid out in the back seat. “He ain’t got much time.”
“Yep,” my dad replied. Then he was gone, Tommy following on his bike.
“You takin’ souvenirs?” Dragon asked, eying the bag on my back.
“It’s Rose’s,” I replied. It didn’t take long for him to connect the dots.
“I shoulda let Mack kill him,” Dragon replied, his eyes cold. “Fuck.”
“He doesn’t, I will,” I said as I strode toward my bike.
I needed to get back to my sister before she completely lost her mind with worry.
Chapter 17
Rose
“You have to stay still,” Molly ordered, her voice stern. She’d fallen into her nurse role the moment she caught sight of the ugly cut on my arm. “I need to clean this before I stitch it.”
“Just bandage it,” I said, watching the front room of the club.
My heart stopped as the front door swung open, and I locked eyes with Kara.
“Rose,” she whispered. I jumped to my feet as she barreled toward me.
Something inside me settled the minute her arms wrapped around my waist.
“Where’s Dad?” she asked, her face pressed against my shoulder.
“The boys went to get him,” I said against her hair. I didn’t even try to hold back my tears as I held her tight with my good arm.
“I called Nana,” she confessed. “I got scared when you didn’t come home.”
“Good,” I said, sniffling. “Are they on their way?”
I made eye contact with Brenna over Kara’s shoulder as she mouthed, “I called them, too.”
“They’ll be here soon,” Kara said tearfully.
“I’m so happy to see you,” I whispered, kissing her again. Then again. Jesus, I hadn’t realized how terrified I’d been of never seeing her again. I’d had to compartmentalize, there’d been no room to worry about anyone but Mack.
“Is Dad okay?” Kara asked, her fingers digging into my back.
Just as I opened my mouth to answer her, the front door opened again, and my brother Will strode in. As our eyes met, my legs lost all feeling. It took everything in me to stay standing as he strode toward me.
“We need to go,” he said softly, reaching out to run his hand gently down the back of Kara’s head.
“No,” Kara said, her arms tightening. “Don’t leave me.”
“She comes, too,” I said, lifting my chin.
“I still need to stitch her arm,” Molly interrupted. “She’s bleeding all over.”
Will glanced at Molly and then down at my arm. “Bandage it,” he ordered. “And get her a fresh set of clothes.”
“I’ll get the clothes,” my mom said.
I sat down again, holding Kara’s hand as Molly pulled gauze out of her bag.
“Oh, my God,” Kara said as she looked at my arm. “What happened?”
“It’s just a scratch, princess,” I said, squeezing her hand. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
“You win the scar contest,” she said, her voice wobbling as she tried to joke.
“Nailed it,” I shot back, giving her a small smile.
Less than five minutes later, I followed Will and Kara to Molly’s car, wearing a pair of my mom’s yoga pants and flip flops. Molly’s sweatshirt hid the bandage on my arm. I climbed into the backseat with Kara as Will got in the driver’s seat.
“We’ll be right behind you, baby,” my mom said as she closed me into the car.
“Where are we going?” Kara asked as Will threw the car into reverse.
“The hospital,” Will said, confirming what I already knew. He met my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Mack got dropped off at the gates.”
I nodded in understanding.
“He did?” Kara asked, turning to look through the window at the broken gate.
“Kara,” I called, waiting for her to look at me before I spoke again. “I’ve been home.”
“What?” she asked in confusion.
“You stayed at Trix’s with the kids,” I said, tightening my fingers around her hand. “While your dad went out of town.”
“I don’t—” she shook her head.
“You know you don’t talk about the club,” I said. I waited for her to understand my meaning.
“Of course not,” she said softly, her eyes searching mine. “It’s none of my business and it’s really not anyone else’s business.”
I almost laughed, because I knew those words had come directly from Mack.
“This falls under that umbrella,” I said. “Can you handle it?”
Kara sniffled.
“No one’s going to ask you questions,” I murmured, leaning my head against the seat as I watched her. “But you keep your mouth shut if they do.”
“I will,” she said, her voice trembling as her chin lifted just a fraction.
“It’ll be okay,” I said as her face fell and she started to cry again.
“You got a black eye wrestling with one of the kids,” Will said as he parked at the hospital.
“I have a black eye?” I said as I climbed out of the car.
“Oh, yeah,” Kara said as she followed me.
The emergency waiting room was busy, but I saw my dad and Tommy immediately. Trying not to call attention to myself, I hurried toward them, my heart in my throat.
“Took him back to surgery,” my dad said as I reached him. He wrapped his arms around me and Kara. “Haven’t heard anything yet.”
“We should be upstairs, then,” Will said.
“Just waitin’ on you,” Tommy said.
We headed toward the elevator, and Kara let go of me to walk beside my dad. A wave of pain hit me so hard that I nearly stumbled as she put her small hand in his and he looked down at her in surprise.
“He’ll be alright,” Tommy said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Man’s built like a bull.”
“Like a Mack truck,” Will said as we stepped into the elevator.
“That’s why he’s called Mack?” I said in surprise. “I thought it was because his last name is MacKenzie.”
“Both,” my dad said, smiling down at Kara.
“His real name’s Jacob,” she said. “My Nana and Grandpa call him Cubby.”
Tommy snorted. “Oh, hell, yes,” he muttered.
“Cubby, huh?” Will said with a chuckle.
“Your dad’s gonna kill you,” my dad said to Kara.
“My dad’s name is Asa,” I said, bumping Kara with my shoulder as we got off the elevator. “But you should hear the names my mom calls him.”
“Hey, now,” my dad said. “Don’t be tellin’ tales.”
I was so thankful that my dad and brothers were keeping things as light as possible for Kara, but as I checked in with the woman working at the desk, my chest felt like it was going to cave in at any second.
Mack had been in really bad shape when I’d left him, and I had no idea how much worse he’d been by the time they found him. Questions were on the tip o
f my tongue, but it was a while before I had the chance to ask them.
“I’m gonna head downstairs and get Ma,” Tommy said, looking up from his phone. “They just pulled in.”
“I’ll go with you,” I said quickly. Everyone looked at me in surprise. “I need to move.”
“I’ll go, too,” Kara said instantly, getting to her feet.
“Nah, baby,” my dad said. “You hang with us. They’ll be right back.”
Kara glanced at him and then back at me. I could see the indecision in her eyes, but her respect for authority had her dropping back in her seat.
“Right back,” I said. “Promise.”
I kept my mouth shut until the elevator doors closed, blocking the view of my family.
“How bad?” I asked immediately, turning to Tommy.
“Pretty fuckin’ bad,” he replied, running his hand through his hair as he met my eyes. “Don’t know how we got him here in time.”
I covered my mouth with my hand, muffling the moan that I couldn’t seem to silence.
“He was still breathin’,” Tommy said, pulling me against his side. “He was askin’ about you when we got there.”
“Of course he was,” I whispered tearfully. “Did you get the guys who took us?”
Tommy looked at me oddly. “Nah,” he said slowly, making my heart stop. “One of ’em was dead in the yard, pair of gardening shears in his face. The other one was mangled on the pool table.”
I closed my eyes in relief.
“Gardening shears?” Tommy said as the doors opened. “Seriously?”
“It was the only thing I had,” I muttered as we stepped off the elevator.
“Jesus,” he said. “I’m never pissin’ you off again.”
“Give it a couple days,” I said dryly as my mom and the rest of the women headed toward us.
“Boys are on the way,” my mom said as she hugged me. “They needed to finish some stuff up.”
“How’s Mack?” Trix asked as we stepped back on the elevator.
“He’s in surgery,” I told her. “We haven’t heard anything.”
“How bad is it?” Molly asked nervously.
“It was bad when I left,” I choked out, staring at the doors as we moved upward.
“Some stab wounds,” Tommy said quietly. “His face was pretty fucked up. Fingers were mangled.”
Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons) Page 22
