by Sophia Gray
“Friend? What friend.” My stomach twisted into a knot.
“One of the twins. Brittany. No, Chrissy.” Her face scrunched up in thought. “I’m not sure, the one with the purple in her hair.”
“Brittany.” I let out a heavy breath. “Okay, if she has her, she’s okay.” I pulled out my phone. Why the hell would Brittany come for her? She never babysat for her and she’d never really been alone with Madison before.
“Was anyone else with her?” Rafe asked the question while I started dialing the phone.
“No, I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “But I couldn’t see so well, her car was parked on the street, the lights were off.”
The phone was ringing but she wasn’t answering.
“How long ago did she pick Maddie up?” Rafe continued his questions.
“Oh, two hours ago or so.” She looked to me with concern in her eyes. “Is everything okay? I’ve met Brittany lots of times, and Maddie seemed excited to go with her. I should have called you.”
“No, it’s okay, Mrs. Olsen. I’m sure she’s fine,” I tried to convince her, but really I needed the convincing. The call went to voicemail, and I left a message.
“Thanks, Mrs. Olsen.” Rafe let go of the screen door. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” He sounded confident and I tried to steal some of that from him, but the ache in my stomach wasn’t going away.
I sent three texts.
“Is Brittany seeing anyone?” Rafe asked me as we walked back into my house.
“Off and on. I know she was seeing some guy in your club a little while back.”
“Who?”
“I don’t’ know.” I typed out another message, but one came in before I could get it out.
I got her. Don’t worry. Just do what he says and it will be fine.
Rafe yanked the phone from me, probably because my mouth dropped open. Nothing worse than your child going missing could happen to a mother. Well, there was worse, but my brain wouldn’t let me go there. Not yet. Not ever.
Reading the text, he cursed and pulled out his own phone. He started to dial but I slapped the phone from his hand. “Get out!” I yelled.
“Beth—” His eyes went wide, his hands splayed out in front of me.
“Fuck, she was right! Not twenty minutes after she warns me about you, my world collapses!” I fisted my hands flying at him. He grabbed my wrists before I could do any real damage. Not that my little fists would do anything to the broad muscular chest of his.
“Beth, wait. Calm down.”
I twisted in his grasp, trying to get free. When I kicked my foot out and managed to land a good hit to his shin he dropped my wrists. Pointed heals will have that effect on people.
“Get the fuck out!” I shoved him. “Get out of here! This is your fault. This is because of you! I know it!”
“Beth, Brittany has her, but I doubt she took her for herself. We have to find out who Brittany is with.” His face contorted somewhere between anger and worry.
“Get out! Whoever is behind this wants you! So get out!” I shoved him gain, trying to push him to the door.
He wrestled my hands off of him and looked down at me with wide eyes. “Fine! I’ll go look for her, you stay here. Keep your phone on. Don’t go out, do you get me, Beth, do not leave this house until I get back.”
“Fuck you,” I whispered, and his face fell; he let go of me. “Just go.”
He opened the door, letting the sounds of crickets calling for their mates into the room. “Stay inside this house.” His voice was flat, his eyes blank. I didn’t answer him. There was no need, because he shut the door.
Moments later I heard his bike roar to life and the sounds of him riding it down the street fade. Tears fell down my cheeks, and my chest felt heavy, as though a sumo wrestler sat on me. I sunk into the chair in my kitchen, holding my phone with Brittany’s text glaring up at me.
Where was my little girl?
Chapter Eighteen
RAFE
The dim lighting of the overhead street lamps barely lit my way toward the highway. The summer night air was cool against my skin as I pushed my bike over the speed limit, almost daring the cops to pull me over. Nothing mattered at that moment more than finding Madison. To do that, I needed to get back to the club house. I needed to find out who Brittany had been seeing in the club. They might know where she was or why the fuck she took Maddie.
Beth wasn’t wrong. Maddie was missing because of me. Someone wanted me, but I still didn’t know why. I hadn’t fought Gray’s win on the presidency, and I hadn’t even been at the club over the past few weeks to get in his way. I kept an ear out for some the crazy shit he wanted to push through the club, but I stayed low. My only focus being on finding Jason’s killer.
Maddie had to be okay. If Brittany had her, the odds were good that she was at least safe. No matter what member had been stupid enough to touch one of my girls, at least I knew Brittany loved that little girl. It wouldn’t stop me from ripping her throat out when I found them, but at the moment it helped calm me enough to keep my head focused and on straight.
Beth would understand once this was all finished. Once I had Maddie back in her arms, and Jason’s killer was found. Once the club was whole again, she’d see that it wasn’t as bad as her worried mind was painting it out to be.
The clubhouse was lit up when I pulled into the lot. The wake had wrapped up and the members were celebrating Tristan the only way they knew how—drinking themselves stupid. Guys with their girls stood in clusters on the front porch and sprinkled throughout the lot leaning against their bikes. No one seemed to pay much attention to my entrance. I was only their fucking VP.
To that end, I wasn’t much of one anymore. I’d spent more time consumed by finding Jason’s killer and keeping Beth safe. I hadn’t been at the club house at all in the past few weeks. Who the fuck knew what Gray was up to, and I wasn’t there to oversee it, to put a stop to shit I knew would kill the club. Too many members were newer, didn’t know what Jason had been trying to build with the club. True, the gun runs weren’t legal shit, and none of us enjoyed all the heat from the cops, but it was putting more than a little bread on our tables at night. Jason wanted to keep it that way.
Gray put up the front about wanting to get us legit, but after talking to Javier, I knew better. He wanted us back in the drug gang, and he’d hide it all behind the scenes of his strip clubs and porn business. I doubted anyone really knew what he was up to.
I walked through the newly remodeled clubhouse looking for Gray and not finding him anywhere. I asked a few guys but no one had seen him since the funeral home. “He was talking with Sarah after you cut her down in the parking lot, maybe he took her home to soothe her wounds,” Darrel joked, pushing a beer at me.
I shook my head and shoved it away. “He’s gonna stick his dick in that?” I scoffed. Sarah had been relatively new to the club when I had my time with her, but since then she’d made the rounds a few times. One too many trips to the free clinic for me, my dick wouldn’t ever go near her again.
“Maybe you taught her well enough when you were riding her.” Darrell laughed, the several beers he’d already down tainting his breath. “Besides, a little plastic wrap and he’ll be fine.”
“Yeah. Hey, you seen a girl in here lately, blonde hair with purple streaks?” Luckily Brittany had that telling feature, it would make finding her a bit easier than if her sister had been hanging around. Chrissy was pretty, just like Brittany, but pretty blondes were sort of like wallpaper around the clubhouse.
“Nah, I would have noticed. Girls with those highlights are freaks in the sack, and my dick hasn’t been wet in days.”
I looked around the newly remodeled bar area and saw plenty of newbie biker girls who would probably drop to their knees if asked to. Why those local girls thought it was so cool to be used up by us never made sense to me, and I never really questioned it. But after having spent time with Beth, and getting to know Maddie, I’d kill anyo
ne who treated my girls that way. No fucking way Maddie was going to grow up to be a MC whore.
I gave Darrell a shove on his shoulder with an approving nod, but focused my thoughts elsewhere. Gray wasn’t anywhere to be seen and no one seemed to know where he was.
I shot him a text, but heard nothing.
I text Beth to see if she’d heard back from Brittany, but she wasn’t answering me either. I’d have to head back to her house soon. She couldn’t be alone right now. She would be beside herself with worry and do something stupid. I needed to get back there as soon as possible.
Thick, heavy smoke hung in the air around the bar area. I’d forgotten how hard it was to breathe in there sometimes. Music blared in the background and every few minutes another toast went up for Tristan. I looked around at my brothers, wondering who the fuck they really were. Half of them didn’t even question how Tristan died, just took whatever bullshit Gray handed them. The other half had questions, but didn’t have the balls to raise their fucking hand.
The only strong connection I had was with JC. He was my eyes and ears while I was off playing vigilante. He informed me most of the members thought the vote getting Gray into the chair was a bunch of bullshit, and they trusted Gray as far as they could throw his beer bellied ass, but no one said a word to anyone who countered. When the gavel was raised, they all bowed their fucking heads.
I didn’t blame them. Not really. To stand up to the president was like suggesting someone kick your ass—unless you had a position to back it up. If you had voting rights, you had clout. But even those members around the table turned their heads. Maybe Gray bought them, made them think they’d be getting a kick ass pay increase with the new drug crew.
Only trouble was, Javier was in a bad way. If he died, did that deal he was trying to make with Gray go flat?
Keeping myself focused on one asshole at a time, I pushed my way through the crowded club. A few girls tried to claw their way into my arms, but I managed to pry them off me. Even without Beth waiting at home, I had more important things to get to.
Gray’s office sat empty. The computer screen was dark, the windows all shut, which was odd for Gray. He was paranoid about closed in spaces. He refused to admit he was claustrophobic, but had to have windows open in every room he was in, and never did I see him get into an elevator.
“Hey!’ JC stopped me as I made my way back through the crowd. “I’ve been looking for you. Heard you were here.”
His normally composed expression was all twisted up with stress. His eyes were wide, and he sounded like he’d been running around. “That girl from the bar, she was over at the funeral home tonight. Talking with Gray, he got pissed at her and she left. But she’s friends with your girl, man, right?”
“What girl? Purple streaks?”
“Yeah, that one. She walked in and Gray all but shoved her out the fucking door. I heard them arguing in the lot and then she took off.”
“Did you hear what they were saying? It’s important. Think.” I grabbed him by his jacket, gripping it hard.
He shook his head. “That’s why I’m looking for you. I heard them saying something about your girl and her kid. Beth’s got a little girl, right?”
“Fuck!” I released his coat and dragged my hand through my hair. “Madison is her daughter. When I dropped Beth off tonight she wasn’t there. Fucking Brittany texted her and told her to do whatever he says. Gray is the fucking he. And he has my girl.”
Chapter Nineteen
BETH
I couldn’t think straight. Rafe was gone. Madison was gone. The house was empty, and aside from the fridge dropping an ice cube now and then there was no sound.
I thought about calling the cops, but then got too scared. If Brittany had Maddie and was with someone else, the cops couldn’t help.
It all led back to Rafe. I never should have talked to him in that bar, and I sure as hell never should have talked to him after.
My phone danced on the kitchen table and I nearly tripped over my feet running for it. Another text from Rafe. I screamed at the phone and slammed it down on the table, immediately regretting my actions. Checking to make sure I hadn’t broken it, I sunk down into the chair and let the tears come again.
Frustration at just sitting and waiting around for what was going to happen next was driving me crazy. I need to get out there and look for her. I needed to find my baby.
Chrissy was on the late shift. I jumped into the car, my first time actually getting to drive it, and stabbed the ignition with the key. The car handled a hell of a lot better than my old one. Nothing rattled when I turned, and I wasn’t afraid the engine would combust if I hit the gas to hard. Which worked out great, because I was flooring it down the side streets.
It was late, after midnight already. Maddie would be so tired. Was she asleep? Was she scared? The wheels squealed when I turned into the parking lot of the diner Chrissy worked at. I found her at the counter. Not many people were looking for a burger or coffee at that time of night.
“Beth?” Her eyes widened when she saw me run through the door “What’s wrong?” Her face paled and she ran around the counter to meet up with me. “What’s wrong?” she asked again when I didn’t answer her.
“Where’s Brittany!” I demanded, a bit louder than I intended.
“Brit? I don’t know, why?” Her fingers dug into my arms. “What’s going on? Where’s Maddie?” she asked, as though it just occurred to her what time it was and I was alone.
“I don’t know! Brittany has her!” I pulled away from her. “Who’s the guy she’s been seeing from Anarchy’s Reign? Do you know?”
“Anarchy’s Reign?” My eyes nearly crossed. If she kept repeating my questions I wouldn’t get anywhere with her. “Oh! That guy. Yeah. Short blond hair? Kinda gross teeth?”
“Gray?” I stepped back from her. “She’s been dating Gray?”
“That sounds right.” Chrissy pulled out her phone and started tapping away. “I’ll just call her.” She watched me as the phone began to ring, and ring. And ring. “Fuck.” The voicemail picked up. “Hey, Brit, can you give me call right away? I need you. Thanks.”
“She’s never going to call you back.” I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest and air was quickly becoming a luxury I didn’t have.
“Hey, hey. Don’t worry. She’ll call back.”
“No, she won’t. She took Maddie, Chrissy. She stole my baby!” I ran fingers through my hair and grabbled for my phone as it began to vibrate in my back pocket.
Leave my sister out of this. Get gone.
Chrissy tore the phone from my hand and looked at the message. Her smile dropping and her head started to shake. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Did she tell you about the bruises? The ribs?” I asked with the panic growing bigger and bigger in my chest.
“Ribs?”
I was going to lose my shit. “Yes, she had a few bruised ribs. Fucking Gray’s been beating on her and she helped him kidnap Maddie.” I dragged my hands through my hair, vividly aware of the small crowd in the diner staring at me. I must have looked quite the crazy person.
“Why would she do that? She didn’t mention anything about her boyfriend hitting her. Are you sure? Why wouldn’t she tell me?” The panic rose a little in her voice, too.
“I don’t know. I gotta go.” I snatched the phone from her hand and ran out the door. “Please call me if you get a hold of her,” I yelled as I blew through the door and back out into the cool breeze of the night.
Brittany and I had been friends since forever. I couldn’t remember a time in my life that she wasn’t in it, and now she kidnapped my daughter. For what? A guy? A fucking biker?
Who was I really to judge? I’d brought Rafe into my life, into Maddie’s life. If I hadn’t done that, Gray wouldn’t be using my baby girl to get at him. Gray obviously had something to do with Jason’s death and he wanted to keep Rafe from either finding out or doing something about it, and he was using my daugh
ter as leverage.
Once back in my car, I pulled out onto the main road, completely unsure of where to go next. For the last five years Maddie had been completely my responsibility. It was just the two of us together against the whole world. What would I do without her?
Just as I started to turn down the road that would lead me to the highway my phone went off.
“Hello?” I answered, not giving a shit about the hands-free law.
“Beth.” A deep voice that sounded too damn cheerful responded. “How’s it goin’?”
“Gray?” I gripped the phone hard, my fingers were tingling from the pressure. “Where’s my daughter?”
