Chapter 25
CASH
“He went off the grid,” I growled in frustration as Thorn and I left Grant Palmer’s offices. He’d been expected in for appointments that morning, but his secretary had shared that he hadn’t showed. There had been no sign of him at his home in Reno either.
Thorn and I were leaning against our bikes strategizing our next move when my phone rang. I’d missed a call from Layla when I’d been talking to Palmer’s secretary and hoped she was trying again. Instead, I saw Gunner’s name flashing on the screen.
“Gun,” I greeted.
“Fuck, brother.” The torture in his voice had me pushing off from the bike, my body rigid with tension. “I just got to your place. Someone got in here. Both Emmie and Layla…. They’re gone, man.”
“What?” I roared, the blood hammering in my ears. “How long?”
“Must have been minutes before I got here. Layla called me. Told me something was wrong. I hightailed it over here, but I wasn’t fast enough.”
The same tortured guilt I heard in Gunner’s voice lanced through me. That’s why she’d tried to call me. She’d needed me, and I hadn’t answered the goddamn phone.
“I need to get to Riley,” I growled, fear for my daughter so strong I could barely get the words past my lips. “Be there as soon as I have her.” I looked to Thorn, who was watching me intently. “Thorn will ride to you. Need you to find out everything you can about where that bastard is. If he’s the one who took Layla, I want his goddamn head on a pike!” I roared.
“I’ll help.” Gunner’s tone was full of murderous intent. Despite both of them being evasive about their relationship, I knew Gunner cared about Em something fierce.
“We’ll find them,” I swore, needing to say the words as much as he needed to hear them.
“Not another option,” he gritted out before hanging up.
I looked to my pop, realizing for the first time that I thought of him as such. “Need you at the house. Someone took Layla and Emmie. I’ve gotta get to Riley.”
He didn’t hesitate and instead moved into action, which was exactly what I needed. “Drive safe” was all he said before he fired up his motor as I did the same.
The ride to the elementary school, though only a few miles, felt like it took an eternity as I broke every speed limit in my rush to set eyes on Riley.
I strode into the front office, praying she was safe. “I need to take Riley home early,” I told the receptionist, knowing my tone was abrasive and unable to soften it.
Her gaze dropped over my frame, meeting my eyes with what I was sure was her attempt at a flirtatious wink. “Right. You’re her....” The fact I was still pressed on a regular basis as to what Layla and Riley were to me was about to kill the last iota of patience I was clinging to.
I leaned forward. “I’m her father. Now, get my daughter out here.”
“Sure. Let me just call her classroom,” she replied, finally catching on.
I fought the urge to pace the floor like a wild animal as I waited for Riley. When she walked in, wearing her Moana backpack that was half the size of her small frame and eyes looking at me expectantly, I had to choke back emotion. I dropped to my knees and wrapped her in a hug.
“Daddy? Why are you here?”
“Need to take you home early today, baby,” I rumbled, standing up with her in my arms. She was getting too big to be carried, but right now I didn’t care, I needed her close. Thankfully she didn’t protest, as though sensing I needed it.
“Are we going to see Mommy?” she asked, her large eyes serious as she looked at me curiously.
“I’m getting your mama soon,” I vowed as I strode out to my bike. “You’re gonna ride in front of me, it’s just a short drive,” I told her, gesturing to the bike. “I’ll hold on to you the whole time.”
I didn’t want her to be scared, but I needn’t have worried. Riley let me put her on that bike as though we’d done it a hundred times. Her trust in me, especially in that moment, nearly slayed me.
I pulled up to our house after driving as slowly as I could, despite every part of me wanting to tear up the roads in my haste to get more information about what had happened to Layla. “Are we having a party?” she asked warily, looking at the cars and bikes lining our driveway and street as I lifted her to the ground. Riley was shockingly perceptive, and I had no doubt I’d need to tell her at least some version of the truth soon. Knowing my brothers were inside ready to do whatever was needed to bring Layla home gave me some measure of comfort.
“No, baby. We’re having a meeting,” I replied, taking her hand as we walked up the drive and into the house.
When we walked in, Grace and Wren immediately moved toward us, twin looks of concern on their faces. Grace gave what I knew to be a forced smile as she looked down at Riley. “Hey, honey, what do you say we go upstairs, and I’ll do your nails?”
Riley looked around the room, no doubt picking up on the solemn atmosphere, and then her eyes found mine. “Where’s Mommy?” Her lip quivered as she looked at me with a mixture of hope and fear that cracked my chest wide open.
I knelt down to meet her worried expression. “Your mama’s not here right now, baby. But I’m doing everything I can to get her home really soon. I need you to go with your aunties, and I’ll be up to check on you soon, okay?”
She bit her lip but nodded as Grace reached over and took her hand. “Come on, honey,” she coaxed gently.
Riley looked at me one last time, seeking answers I didn’t fucking have, and reluctantly followed Grace and Wren out of the room.
I dropped my head, still crouched on the ground, and for a split second the weight of the nightmare I’d found myself in threatened to keep me there. Until I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. “Come on, son. Let’s find your girl,” Thorn commanded.
I stood up, eyeing the men surrounding me, ready to take my back, ready to stop at nothing, and I vowed that would be my only moment of weakness. Layla needed me. And I’d never let her down.
“What do we know?” I demanded, eyes on Gunner.
He ripped his hand through his closely shorn hair in agitation. “Nothing. Already checked in with the neighbors. No one saw a goddamn thing.”
“I wasn’t fucking here,” I muttered through numb lips. “I could have stopped it.”
Cole grasped my shoulder, squeezing briefly. “You don’t know what would have happened had you been here. It’s not your fault. We’re gonna get them back.”
I swallowed hard, meeting his blue-eyed gaze, and nodded once. “Where are we starting?”
“I’m starting with the ADA. Palmer’s the most likely culprit,” Gunner put in.
“He hasn’t been seen in days.” I grunted in frustration.
“What about Marty?” Cole demanded. “Do we have eyes on him?”
“I’ll get on it.” Max spoke up, already pulling out his phone.
“Let’s double check the brother too,” I growled. “If he had anything to do with this, family or not, I’ll kill him.”
“Do we have men canvassing? It’s a long shot, but this happened recently,” Cole added. “It’s possible they haven’t gotten far.”
“My men can cover the area further south,” Thorn replied. “I’d send some of your guys north and to all the exits in town.”
“Done,” Cole agreed, looking to Axel, who was pulling out his phone.
“I’ll ride out with Mad,” Max said, referring to Maddox. “We’ll canvas a few more houses, see if anyone saw anything, and then split the roads with Tatum and whoever else can get on their bike. We’ll cover as much ground as we can.”
I paced the room. “I can’t just fucking stand here doing nothing while she’s out there somewhere,” I lamented. “But I don’t want to leave the house in case somehow she makes it back here.” That she’d suddenly walk back through the door as though nothing had happened was a distant hope I wasn’t going to let go of.
“You can help me by digging into anything you can
find on Marty. Last known addresses, relationships, anything you can find that might pinpoint where Layla would be taken,” Gunner supplied. “I’ll focus on Palmer,” he added, already moving into action.
“We need to get the rest of the women on lockdown,” I heard Cole say as I turned my focus to doing whatever I could to bring my girl home.
****
“There’s a reason Palmer’s off the grid.” Gunner spoke up from his position across from me at the desk in the office where we’d posted up a makeshift war room. It had already been hours since Layla had been taken; my eyes burned from staring at the laptop screen in search of answers. “Fucker’s dead.”
“What?” I demanded in disbelief.
“Police report just came in. His body was found in the river. Bullet to the brain,” Gunner replied, staring at his screen, scanning for additional details.
“Motherfucker,” I cursed. I didn’t care that he was dead, but his murder brought about more questions than answers. “We need to double down on Marty.”
“Yep,” Gunner agreed darkly. “Always hated that slimy bastard. Good thing I might have an excuse to take him out.”
“Gotta find him first,” I muttered.
He looked at me, his gaze full of confident fury. “We will.”
Chapter 26
LAYLA
I awoke to road noise and the feel of cool glass against my cheek. My mouth was like sandpaper, my stomach churning.
“What the hell happened?” A distantly familiar male voice filtered through my throbbing head. “We only needed the one.”
“I didn’t expect there to be two of them,” defended another male voice as I realized I was in the back of a car that, by the sounds of it, was on some sort of freeway. “They were both fighting like hell. Had to drug the one and coldcock the other.”
My heart sped up to triple time as I risked a glance sideways, finding Emmie with her hands tied behind her back slumped next to me in the back seat of the car. Her face was a mass of black and blue, and I had to fight not to whimper at the sight of her. Her eyes were closed, and I couldn’t tell if she was unconscious.
“You mean to tell me you couldn’t even handle two tiny women?” the first voice demanded in disgust. “Though I guess there are worse things,” he mused after a moment. “It’s time to show those assholes they don’t run this town. They always underestimated me.” He scoffed.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Marty,” the other man warned.
Marty? The lawyer? What the hell is going on?
They continued to bicker as I turned my attention to Emmie. Instinct told me I didn’t want Marty and the other man to know I was awake, but I was desperate to check on her. I nudged her with my knee, watching her through slitted eyelids.
I wasn’t tied up the way she was, and I assumed they hadn’t planned on my waking up as soon as I had.
After a second, she nudged my knee back, and her swollen eyes met mine. I sighed inwardly in relief. At least she was conscious. Now we had to figure out how to get the hell out of this situation.
The car made a turn; the sound of gravel kicking up under the tires soon followed. Neither of us were in the position to fight or run, not yet. Fear like I’d never known took root as I wondered where the hell they were taking us.
As the car slowed to a stop, I forced myself to remain limp against the side of the door, determined to deliver the performance of my life. I hoped Emmie would catch on to the same way of thinking. We needed to buy some time to get stronger before we made our move.
Marty hauled me roughly up into his arms while I heard the other man do the same with Emmie. I lay prone as gravel crunched under his shoes.
“Put ’em in the shed,” Marty instructed the other man. A few seconds later I was placed none too gently on a wood floor. It took everything in me not to register pain.
The door slammed a second later, the sound of a lock sliding into place one of the most terrifying sounds I’d ever heard.
I opened my eyes, adjusting to the dark space we were in. “Em?” I whispered.
“Yeah,” she whispered back.
I crawled slowly toward the sound of her voice. I could barely make out the shape of her on the far side of the space. “You okay?” I asked, taking her hand as I slid in alongside her.
“Well, I got knocked out and I’m now trapped in a shed that smells to holy hell, but other than that, I’m great,” she muttered dryly.
Leave it to Em to keep her dry sense of humor even in this situation.
“We’re gonna get out of here,” I vowed. There wasn’t another option. “Do you have any idea where we are?” I could have been unconscious longer than she was.
“We didn’t drive all that long,” she replied. “I think we’re somewhere south of Hawthorne.”
“What do you think he wants?”
“No idea. The guy used to idolize the club. I think somewhere along the way that shifted to jealousy. Clearly, he’s off his fucking rocker. Anything in here we can use to escape?”
“I’ll look.” I rose on stiff legs. My head was swimming and my lungs burned but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. As my eyes adjusted, I scanned the small space.
At first glance it was relatively empty save for the kiddie pool in the corner and garden hose. Finally, I spied what looked like extra plywood in the opposite corner.
I went toward it, picking up one of the planks in my hand. It was small, no longer than two feet long, but long enough to be a good weapon if used right.
I looked over at Emmie. “I have a plan.”
****
The passage of time was difficult to register, but what felt like hours later, footsteps sounded outside the shed.
I stood up, heart hammering, and positioned myself where Emmie and I had talked about, behind the door, as she lay in plain sight on the ground.
When the door opened and Marty’s accomplice stepped fully into the shed, I waited a beat and then swung with all my might, cracking him across the back of his head. He grunted, collapsing on the ground.
“We have to run,” I commanded urgently as Emmie scrambled to stand up.
We emerged into the dwindling daylight, a quick sweep of the area revealing us to be in some sort of remote wooded area.
We didn’t spare longer than a second before we were off running.
“Stop!” Marty’s irate bellow sounded as gunfire cracked through the air, a bullet whizzing past my head.
Emmie was a few paces ahead of me. “Go!” I cried, knowing the next bullet might hit me if I tried to run.
We’d talked about this. If there was a chance for only one of us to escape, we’d take it in hopes of saving the other later.
She raced off, disappearing into the woods as I turned, hands up. He stalked toward me, his dark eyes bright with fury as he captured a handful of my hair and tugged me back to the shed.
The man I’d struck was still lying face down on the ground. The fact that I may have killed him didn’t sit well despite the circumstances.
“Oh, don’t worry.” Marty grinned as though reading my mind. “I finished him off for you. Glenn had served his purpose.”
He dropped to his haunches in front of me, toying with the gun, a maniacal grin on his face as I stared at him in horror.
“What do you want?”
“Respect. Power. I’ve been dealing with these biker assholes for years. Think they’re tough shit. Taking their money was too easy.” He snorted. “Too bad I had to share so much of it with Palmer. Time for one final payout before I leave town.”
“Marty!” A female voice sounded from off in the distance.
My head whipped in that direction. “Help!” I screamed.
Marty’s boom of laughter chilled me to the bone. “Teresa Palmer is the last person who’s gonna help you,” he sneered, just as a brunette not much older than I was stepped into the shed.
Dressed in a black pencil skirt and white blouse, she looked more like someone runn
ing for office rather than a kidnapper. “Have you made the call yet? I want to get the hell out of here. I’ve always hated this property.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste.
“Yes, I called Walker already,” Marty answered impatiently. “The funds will be transferred in the next hour.”
At the mention of Cash’s name my heart soared with hope. I knew he’d find me.
Somehow.
Chapter 27
CASH
“We should be about half a mile out from the turn,” Gunner shared as he studied the map of Norfolk, a tiny town south east of Hawthorne.
It had been Gunner who had discovered the connection between Teresa Palmer, Grant Palmer’s wife, now widow, and Marty. After that, we’d discovered an old cabin her family owned here in Norfolk. It was our best guess as to where they’d been keeping Layla and Emmie. I prayed we were right—and that we weren’t too late.
Riley was at the house, where the rest of the club and her grandmother had rallied around us. She was in good hands and well protected, but I’d feel a hell of a lot better when my family was back together again.
“Stop.” Gunner’s command was fierce, and I immediately slammed on the brakes just in time to see Emmie make her way through the tree line. “Fuck.” His voice was a mixture of fear and relief as he tore from the truck and raced for her stumbling form. I pulled the truck to the side of the road as Thorn, Cole, Cal, and Max, who were in the vehicle behind us, did the same.
Gunner had her up in his arms by the time I reached them, her face a mask of black and blue.
“Was Layla with you? Is she okay?” I demanded.
Her face crumpled, sending my heart plummeting. “We escaped together. I was a bit ahead of her when Marty fired his gun. She told me to keep going.” Her voice shook. “I can’t believe I left her. But I was trying to find help.”
“You did the right thing,” Gunner assured her as he stalked toward Cole’s truck with her wrapped in his arms. He deposited her carefully in the passenger seat, stooping down to get a look at her. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
She shook her head, her chin wobbling. “Layla was okay when I left her, but he had a gun, and I don’t know if something happened to her.” Tears rolled down her bruised cheeks.
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