Tracking Numbers: A Bad Boy Protector Romance (Lost Boys Book 1)

by Janice M. Whiteaker

  I yank open his door. “Where’s Kerri?”

  Hawk stares at me for a second. “Kerri?”

  “The woman we’re here to fucking protect.” I point back at Kerri’s apartment. “Where is she?”

  Hawk’s eyes follow my pointing finger and stay there. The color drains from his face. I turn and look, hoping I’ll see Kerri standing in the doorway even though I know by the look in his face I won’t.

  She’s not there.

  What is there steals the air from my lungs.

  Got her

  That same messy scrawl in red. My heart stops. I run to the door with Hawk’s heavy boots pounding the pavement right behind me. My bare feet skid to a stop at the stoop. I drop down and look for something, anything that might tell me what happened.

  A small spray of blood dots the cement just in front of the threshold.

  I stand up and turn in a circle, raking my fingers through my hair. “Fuck.”

  This can’t be happening. I was supposed to protect her. I promised her.

  She trusted me.

  “Get over here now.” Hawk’s on the phone. His eyes shift to me. He turns away but I still hear what he says. “She’s gone.”

  She’s gone.

  They have her and God only know what they’re doing with her.

  I push it out of my mind as I jump over the blood spattered stoop and run into the apartment. I’m dressed and grabbing Kerri’s keys off the table when Butch walks up to her front door. He drops down to a squat and looks at the stoop. He brushes a finger over one of the larger spots of blood. It doesn’t smear. He lifts his eyes to me. “Any idea when this happened?”

  I shake my head once. “The bed was cold when I woke up.”

  I don’t want to consider how long she’s been gone. How in the hell I didn’t hear whatever happened here. What she was doing. What she was wearing.

  Please God let her have put clothes on.

  “We have to find her.” I step out the door and shut and lock it behind me. I unlock her car with the fob. “Who’s in charge of what’s going on with The Horsemen?” I look at Hawk, hoping he knows something.

  Hawk shrugs. “King’s been pretty close mouthed about it.”

  That means he’s got the younger men on it. The ones he knows are behind him. That’s probably how we got here in the first place. A bunch of young kids with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove being led by an angry old man.

  With a bigger chip on his shoulder and more to prove.

  “What about Gypsy? Do we know where he stands?” Gypsy used to be in charge of keeping track of the rival gangs in the area before King moved him to the warehouse, one of the three legitimate businesses the club runs.

  Wait.

  I look at Butch. “Who else has King moved recently?”

  Hawk looks at Butch and then at me. “You think he’s trying to push the older members away from the club?”

  Butch shakes his head. “He’s moving the men he doesn’t trust while he pulls the rest close.”

  “Those are the men who are with us.” I pull out my phone and dial Gypsy’s number.

  “Tracker man. Long time no see.”

  “Hey. I wish I had time to explain more but I need your help.” I hold my breath. If Gypsy refuses I know he’s with King and my best shot at finding Kerri before anything happens to her is gone. If he agrees, he could still be with King, but it’s a risk well worth taking.

  “Sure dude.” I hear him yell at someone that he’s leaving. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need to know where The Horsemen would take someone.”

  The other end of the line goes silent.

  Fuck. I bet wrong.

  Finally his voice comes across the line, low and careful. “Anything I could give you will be six months old.”

  “I know that. I’ll take anything you can give me.”

  “Who’ve they got?”

  I look across the quiet parking lot as the question rolls around in my head. Who is Kerri? She’s King’s daughter which is what led me here, but now Kerri is more than that.

  She’s mine.

  “My girl. They took her this morning.” I glance up at Butch expecting to see at least a little surprise in his eyes. There’s none.

  “She’s King’s daughter.” I add it in because even though it makes me sick to have to tie her to him, it matters. Being his daughter will mean more to The Horsemen than what she is to me.

  “Fuck, dude. Does King know?”

  “I sure as hell hope not.” It’s a weakness he would exploit and it would work.

  “You want me to come help you find her?” Gypsy sounds sincere. Has the whole time. I want to agree without taking a breath but that would be stupid and I can’t afford to be stupid.

  I look to Butch. He nods.

  “We do.”

  For the first time Gypsy sounds leery. “Who’s we?”

  “Me, Butch, and Hawk.” I’m not breathing. I need his help and it’s so close.

  “Cool. I’ll send you an address to meet at. Get there quick though. Those Horsemen dudes are fucking crazy.” Gypsy hangs up.

  “Who else?” I look at Hawk and Butch. We need more men to cover as much space as we can. “No bikes either. We need to be under the radar.”

  Butch and Hawk nod.

  Hawk pulls his phone out. “I know of three that will help us.” He thumbs the screen and taps it before putting it up to his ear.

  Butch looks at me as Hawk makes calls. “If we’re wrong this whole thing could blow up.” He pulls his own phone from his pocket. “All of it. Not just with The Horsemen. The whole club could implode.”

  “I think there’s a good chance that will happen anyway.”

  The three of us stare at each other for a second.

  We’re fucked and we’re wasting time. We don’t have many options and the ones we have are shit.

  “If we don’t tell King then we’re going behind his back and making club decisions on our own. If we do tell him he will fuck it up.” I look at Butch and then Hawk. “Are you comfortable doing this? If you want out, tell me now.”

  I will go find her myself and God help whoever has her. Kerri’s the first woman to accept me as more than a piece-of-shit criminal with no family and an ugly past. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like I was enough.

  I’m not losing that for anything. Kerosene Danger Wallace is mine. The first real thing I’ve ever had.

  No one is taking her from me.

  I will do whatever it takes to bring her home safe. Fight. Maim.

  Murder.

  “I’m with you, brother.” Butch pats me on the shoulder and looks me straight in the eye. “We’ll find her.”

  I turn my attention to Hawk who’s looking up at the sky. He blows out a breath. “We’re going to lose everything.”

  “Does that mean you’re out?” I wouldn’t hold it against him if it did. I’m the only one who loses if they don’t go. I’m the one King will blame for Kerri’s kidnapping. I’m the one who will lose Kerri.

  Everyone else is better off to lay low and let me take the fall.

  He shakes his head. “We have to save her.” Hawk looks at me. “She’s sort of growing on me.”

  I pull him in for a slap on the back before I start walking to Kerri’s car. “She does that.”

  ****

  GYPSY’S SHAGGY BLONDE hair is longer than the last time I saw him which goes to show how careful King has been about keeping the men he suspects could take him down apart. The same goes for the rest of the ten men assembled in the parking lot of a fast food joint on the east side of Knight territory. But there’s no time for catching up, not now.

  Not until we find Kerri.

  Gypsy lays down an old-school map on the hood of Kerri’s car. “This area here is what I think The Horsemen lost to King most recently.” His finger traces a narrow band just beyond where we stand now.

  “That’s what they’re pissed abo
ut?” It can’t be more than a quarter mile total of loss. Is it simply insult added to injury? The straw that broke the camel’s back?

  King pushed them too many times and now they’re pushing him back.

  “Nah. They don’t care about that.” Gypsy looks up at the man to my left. “Tell em what you know.”

  Wind looks around the group with a skeptical eye.

  Gypsy looks at me.

  I turn to the man who kept his ear to the ground for the club, listening to the words running between clubs, among dealers, and on the streets. I look Wind in the eye. “I want King out.”

  I haven’t said it until now. Not even to Butch. But I’ll lay every fucking card I have on the table to save Kerri. I’d like to think she’d consider doing it for me. Even if she wouldn’t, I’d do it for her a million times to get to sleep in her bed again. To smell the spring that surrounds her and feel like I was finally good enough for the fresh start it promises.

  Wind doesn’t even flinch at my admission. “So you want his spot?”

  “No. I just don’t want him doing to anyone else what he did to us.” I look around the group. “Anyone else think what he does is fucked up?”

  Every eye around me shifts because this is what we’ve become under King’s rule. Suspicious. Untrusting of the men we used to think of as brothers.

  Hopefully still can.

  Gypsy’s hand shoots up.

  Then Butch and Hawk.

  Crow and Preacher follow suit.

  Drifter and Cook glance at each other and then turn to me and nod.

  Moon raises his pointer finger in the air.

  All eyes move to Wind.

  He stands tall, arms crossed over his chest as he stares at me, his gaze hard. “The other clubs know King’s slipping. They know we’re weak.”

  I shake my head. “We’re not weak.”

  Gypsy nods his head. “They’re about to find that out the hard way.” He scans the group then drops his finger to the map. “This is their main house. I don’t think she’s there.”

  The circle tightens around Gypsy as he lists off the places he thinks The Horsemen might take Kerri and assigns them to two-man groups. When they’re all doled out I look around the group of men ready to help me in spite of the risk it poses.

  “I owe all of you.” I make eye contact with each of my brothers. “Whatever you need, I’ll be there.”

  Gypsy grins at me, bobbing his head in agreement. “Let’s go get your girl then.”

  We split up and fan out to our cars. I jump in the driver’s side of Kerri’s car as Butch gets in the passenger and we pull out of the lot. It’s been almost two hours since I woke up without her.

  A fucking long two hours.

  But now time is speeding up as I race through town, watching my back to make sure we’re not being tailed. The Horsemen know we’ll come after her and will most certainly be anticipating our arrival. I glance at Butch. “Have you seen anything?”

  He’s frowning. “Nothing. Not a damn thing.” He glances in his side mirror. “Something’s wrong.”

  I don’t have the chance to ask what before my phone rings. My heart picks up. Someone must have found her.

  I look at the screen to see who I owe my hind teeth to.

  “It’s King.” I say it out loud because I can’t believe it. “Of all the fucking times.”

  Actually it makes sense in a way that means I’m fucked. We’re all fucked.

  “Someone’s a rat.” Butch looks at the ringing phone. “You gotta answer him.”

  He’s right. I connect the call. “Yeah.”

  “I need you to come to the clubhouse.” King doesn’t correct my yeah. He definitely knows something’s up.

  I make the last turn before our assigned location and concentrate on keeping my voice calm and even. “I’d be happy to. How’s three?”

  “Now.” The answer’s short and abrupt.

  Oh yeah. He knows.

  “I’m on my way.” I look at Butch before I add the next part. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Fine.” He hangs up without asking why I’m so close when I’m supposed to be protecting his daughter an hour away.

  “He knows they have her.” I set the phone in the console as I pull up in front of a boarded up shell of a building with a condemned sign taped to what’s left of the smoke singed front door.

  “At least we know she’s not in there.” Butch pulls his phone out of his pocket and sends a message to the rest of the group as I turn around and race down the street.

  “Who do you think the mole is?” I think back on the faces of the men who dropped everything to help me. It burns to think that one of them would betray me like this. And not just me.

  Nine of us. He betrayed nine of his brothers for a piece of shit man who lures boys into a club with promises of camaraderie and belonging. Hot food and a place to sleep. King delivers on what he offers.

  But asks so much in return.

  I speed along the road to the clubhouse, the rage building inside me, riding on the back of the adrenaline pumping through my veins. It’s time for King to face the piper. It’s his fault The Horsemen have Kerri.

  It’s his fault she’s scared and alone.

  And I’m going to remedy that.

  I meant it when I said no one was going to stand in my way. I will find Kerri and she will be coming home with me today. Everyone who put her where she is will pay for their part.

  Including her daddy.

  14

  NO GOOD FUCKING deed goes unpunished that’s for sure.

  I stretch my legs out in front of me again and shift on my butt, trying to get the circulation going in the lower half of my body. I wiggle my toes in the slippers I shoved on my feet before going out to check on Hawk.

  I kinda thought he was dead this morning. How fucked up is it that my first thought after that was I’m really glad I didn’t give that stuff to Evan? It just goes to show no matter how hard I ran from my past I can’t escape what I am. What parentage determined I would be.

  Half ruthless.

  Maybe I deserve to be here just for that.

  It’s only half though. I didn’t want Hawk to be dead. Not at all. He’s funny as hell once he loosens up.

  I’d just rather him be dead than Evan.

  Unfortunately based on my current situation I’m the one most likely to end up dead by the end of the day.

  And doesn’t that fucking suck balls.

  I twist at the zip ties around my feet. They cut a little more into the bare skin of my ankles as I try to pull my legs apart and break the lock. It’s fucking plastic. How is fucking plastic so damn strong?

  I lean back against the wall and scan the room again, starting in the corner by the door. There has to be something here I can use. I need to get these ties off and be ready to do some damage. That means I have to find anything I can use to defend myself when those motherfuckers come back.

  And I don’t doubt for a minute they’ll be back.

  The room they locked me in looks like it could be a bedroom, but not a normal kind of bedroom. The walls aren’t all drywall. The one containing the only window is cement which makes me think I’m not in a regular sort of house. Not a good thing. Even if I get out of here my chances for finding help go down exponentially if I’m not in a neighborhood with nosy neighbors to run to.

  I sink lower as I come up empty for the millionth time. I’m the only thing in the room besides the sheet covering the single cement-wall window. Maybe I could hurl myself out if it came down to it. I’d rather take my chances with a second story window than the pricks who grabbed me the minute I stepped out the door this morning.

  At least I got a good swing in on the skinny one before the giant fucker grabbed me and pulled a cover over my head. I tip my head back against the wall and smile at the memory of his nose crunching under the heel of my hand. Score one for self-defense class. The smile is short lived though. Because no matter how many hits I got in
the end result is still the same.

  I’m here and Evan’s going to blame himself.

  That’s why I have to figure out how to get out of here alive. Because I know what will happen if my father finds out I’m gone.

  He’ll blame Evan too.

  And he’ll hurt him worse than these guys plan on hurting me.

  A fresh round of tears burns my eyes. I blink them back so hard it hurts. I don’t have any more time to waste being scared. For me or for Evan. I have to dig down and be the one thing I never wanted to admit I could be.

  Like my father.

  I have to find that well of crazy I know lives deep inside me. That shred of his DNA I’m only willing to admit I have because it is what will save me from this predicament. I close my eyes and breathe deep, letting that tiny bit of vicious anger I know I possess grow and unfurl. It burns my belly and heats my skin.

  I can do this.

  I open my eyes and start over, looking at the room with a fresh perspective. The only part of the space I can’t see is the inside of the closet across from me. I stare at it. I have to get in there.

  If only they hadn’t tied my hands behind my back. I could break the ties if they were in front of me. All I’d have to do is pull them tight and bring my wrists down hard against my body. I’ve practiced it before. It’s not hard. But can I do it the same way from behind?

  I’m going to find out. I slide the tie around my wrists until I can reach the free end with my fingers. I pull it as tight as I can and work the lock until it’s lined up with the spot where my wrists press together. Now I’ve just got to get on my feet.

  I sit up straight against the wall and tuck my heels as close to my butt as I can get them, pushing up and into the wall at my back, shimmying my way up until I’m on my feet. Barely.

  I have to keep my balance because I can’t catch myself if I fall and I’ll hit the ground hard enough to let whoever is around know that I’m up to something. I take a deep breath as I pull my arms as far back as I can and then bring them down hard against my body.