Page 82 of Angel

Ollie rushed over to the dresser with the broken TV on top. He started going through the drawers. When he turned, he had two Bibles in his hands. “I’m starting to sense a theme here.” He tossed them onto the table like they were poisonous snakes, landing next to the very worn one that the pastor had left behind.

Bree rolled her eyes. She looked to Aaron, who was making his way to his feet. “How are you?”

“Groggy, but I’ll live,” he reported. “You?”

“My leg’s bleeding, but I’ll live.” Bree hated to ask, but they had no other choice. “You’re going to have to carry me.”

He nodded. “I know.” His hands still bound, he knelt with his back to the bed. “Ollie, come help us, baby.”

Ollie came over to them. He threaded Bree’s legs through Aaron’s arms and torso. Then he crawled back onto the bed and helped push Bree flush against Aaron’s back.

“Use the rope. See if you can tie me to his back,” she told Ollie.

But before Ollie could try, the motel door opened again. It was the pastor.

Bree let out a squeak she was not proud of as Aaron suddenly climbed to his feet. She clung around his neck with all her might. Aaron bolted forward like a linebacker and mowed the pastor down. The man slammed onto the ground, his head cracking on the metal railing.

“Ollie, let’s go!” Aaron shouted behind himself.

Bree looked over her shoulder in time to see Ollie run out of the motel room after them. He had rope in one hand and the lamp in the other. As he hopped over the unconscious, possibly dead, pastor, he threw the lamp down on the man’s already bleeding head.

CHAPTER 14

Twelve motorcycles roared into the abandoned motel parking lot. Jumper, Demo, Mitch, and Sara were left behind at the clubhouse to guard the ol’ ladies and kids. Keys was following close behind in his geeked out van with Pirate driving. Pirate wasn’t happy about the assignment, but someone had to drive so Keys could keep working and he was not as useful as the others in a leg race. Will was driving a SUV in case there were any…extras that were going to be brought back to the clubhouse with them.

Unlike when they’d gone after the Pythons, they were in full colors now. No one took three of their club kids and did not face the wrath of the entire Via Daemonia.

There were three possible locations that Keys predicted the pastor took the teens. The first was an abandoned gas station. The Wagoneer had been spotted on a traffic cam aimed in its direction. When the VDMC had arrived there to find no evidence that their kids or the Wagoneer had been there, they moved onto the second location.

“Head’s up,” Keys’ voice called through their earwigs. “I’ve got movement. South side. Looks like we’ve got a runner.”

“Split up!” Steel ordered. “Search every room! Ghost, Ranger, fetch me that rabbit.”

Two bikes veered off from the others. Angel and Cage pulled up to a small building that looked to have once been attached to the main motel, but the awning between had collapsed. Angel, spotting footprints, stopped Cage from stepping onto the path. She pulled her gun, and he followed suit.

Angel wasn’t a tracker, but these scuff marks also weren’t being hidden. She saw two sets of footprints fairly close to each other. One set was distinctly larger than the other. A third set of prints was different and separate from the first two. She guessed Aaron and Ollie had entered at a run and the third set, which belonged to a man, chased after them.

“I’ve got blood,” came across Angel’s earwig. “Lots of it but no body.”

“Where are you?” Bear asked.

“South side, room six.”

“We got the rabbit,” Ghost announced. “Someone sliced his leg up good.”

“Bring him to me,” Steel ordered. “Has the building been cleared yet?”

Not seeing footprints exiting the office, Angel spoke low into her mic. “Cage and I are about to clear the office. One possible tango inside with the kids.”

“On my way!” Bulldog’s voice did not hide his rage. More than their parents were, Bulldog was taking the teens’ kidnapping personally. As SAA, it was his job to protect everyone in the club, including ol’ ladies, club kids, and employees.

Angel signaled to Cage to move and they got into position. The glass window was too crusted over with dust, soot, and cobwebs to get a clear line of sight in. The sun was nearly set, and they were about to lose their only light. Angel doubted a place in this condition still had electricity.

Cage swiftly stepped in front of the old door and kicked it open. Angel burst in, going low, while Cage kept his gun high.

The office room was empty. Angel took in the state of the room as Cage checked behind the counter and what looked to be a supply closet. The dust that once caked the floor was disturbed too much to tell whose footprints belonged to who. However, there was a phone facing them on the counter, its cord and headset dangling down towards the floor. She spotted a tangle of rope and scissors as well. An Ollie-sized handprint in crimson smeared its way across the counter.

A broken window leading out to the algae filled pool caught her attention next. The pool wasn’t very large, nor was it fenced in. Leaves and random debris floated in the green tinted water. A broken pool chair bobbed up and down, like something had recently disturbed it. It moved just to the left?—

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