Page 80 of Angel

Bulldog came running into the kitchen, followed seconds behind by Lucky.

“Working on it,” Keys told the room as Ghost and Ranger came bursting in too.

“Is Pirate there?” Cage asked hurriedly. “Where are Ollie and Aaron? Was this the Pythons?”

Keys shook his head. “Not the Pythons unless they hired out and had the cash on hand to pay for that sort of talent. No money transfers have been made from AC.”

It was Steel who said, “Pirate found Aaron and Ollie’s backpacks and phones too. Whoever took Bree has them as well.”

“Was Ollie the target?” Angel asked Steel. “What if King changed his mind? Aaron would never allow Ollie to be taken without a fight.”

“It’s possible,” Steel said with a darkness that belied his frustration and fear. “I humiliated King when I took Ollie from him. Pirate found a discarded syringe, but only one. Bear’s on his way to the school to get it, but Pirate thinks only one of them was the target and the other two got in the way.”

Sirens echoed. Angel glanced out of the window before she realized the sound was coming from Keys’ computer screen. It looked like he’d connected a video call with Pirate. She saw a cruiser pull up behind Pirate.

“Pirate, what happened?” Angel demanded loudly over the noise.

“Still working on that, but we have a bigger problem than who took your kids.” Pirate held up a small earring. “I found Ollie’s tracking device. There’s no blood, so I think it just fell out in the struggle. With Bree’s chair here, we don’t have a way to track them.”

“Why?” Cage demanded. “Where’s Aaron’s? I gave him dog tags like ours.”

Keys looked pained as he said, “Aaron’s tracker is pinging here, Cage. He must not have put them on this morning before school.”

Angel closed her eyes as despair and fear tried to take hold of her. Ollie, Bree, and Aaron had been taken—and they had no way of tracking them.

“I need to call Veronica.”

Angel stood up slowly at Cage’s voice. She turned around. “What?”

“I need to call Veronica,” he repeated, looking her in the eyes. “She has a right to know her son has been kidnapped.”

Angel’s first instinct was to tell Cage not to call her. It was fuel for her to use in the custody battle that Aaron was not safe with Cage. But, regardless of how much she disliked that woman and her religious views, she was Aaron’s mom and she did have a right to know what had happened.

After Angel nodded stiffly, Cage kissed her on the forehead and then stepped out of the room.

Angel turned to Keys. “Find my kids,” she demanded through her teeth.

“I found a Jeep Wagoneer that sped through the town’s red-light minutes after the estimated time of kidnapping,” Keys said, staring at his laptop screen.

“AMBER alert is out,” they heard Carlos say over the other laptop just before all of their phones started alerting.

The collective noise was so loud, it wasn’t until they had all silenced their phones again that Angel picked up on the shouting from the living room. She went chasing after Cage.

“…don’t give a fuck what your fucking Bible says, Veronica!” he roared at the top of his lungs. “Instead of fearing for your son’s soul when he’s dead, why don’t you try loving his soul while he’s alive!”

Angel wasn’t the only one who had come into the living room. Cage whirled on them. “It was Veronica! She took them!”

“Why?” Steel demanded before Angel could voice the same question.

Cage shouted back into his phone. “You tell me where my son is, woman!” Whatever Veronica said next had Cage in such an uproar that he yelled out and threw his phone against the wall so hard it shattered. He was shaking with rage.

Angel ran to him. They both encircled the other, leaning on them for support.

To the others, Cage sneered, “She thinks she’s saving his soul! It was Aaron that was the target. The other two must have gotten in the way.”

“Get me everything on Pastor Robins!” Steel shouted towards Keys in the kitchen. To Bulldog, he said, “Call the others. We ride out as soon as we have a direction.”

“Can you get Bree’s harness from her room?” Angel asked Cage. He nodded and left the room. Quickly, Angel turned to Steel. “Veronica’s actions harmed my daughter. If you won’t go after her because she’s a woman, I’ll do it myself.”

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