Page 63 of Emmy's Ride

He let out a sharp breath, eyes frantically searching for help like a man drowning.

“By now, she’s gone.” He coughed, wheezing, spitting blood.

Panic threatening to devour me whole.

“What did you do?” I growled, my hand wrapping around Riot’s throat.

“I… “

I slammed him against the wall again. “TELL ME.”

“I delivered her… to The Ghost.” Riot’s voice was flat, almost resigned.

A foreboding silence settled over the room.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he choked out. “The Ghost—he told me he just wanted Emmy as collateral. That’s all. Just leverage to get Luke back in line.”

My grip tightened. “Luke?” My mind raced. “Luke’s alive?”

Riot hesitated before nodding. “Yeah. But not for long.”

I released him with a shove. “Start talking. Now.”

He rubbed his throat, sucking in a shaky breath. “I—” His voice cracked, and for the first time since I’d known him, I saw real grief in his eyes. “I owe money. Big money. To help my sister.”

The Ghost owned Riot.

He swiped a hand down his face, shaking his head. “The Ghost gave me an out. Odd jobs here and there—nothing big at first. But then he wanted me to kill someone. I wouldn’t.”

Silence.

I felt the shift before Riot even said the words.

“So he took my sister.”

His sister. Raven. I had never met her, but I knew she was the one thing Riot gave a damn about.

“Luke…” Riot paused, his head hanging. “He went after her. We fought over it—he wanted to help, but I wouldn’t let him. He wouldn’t back down, though. He went undercover with The Ghost to find her.” His voice cracked. “He was gonna bring her home.”

My breath stalled. Luke went in alone?

“He found her. In Mexico,” Riot rasped, his head hanging. “But before he could get her out, The Ghost realized what he was doing.” He looked up at me then, something lost and broken in his gaze. “Luke’s missing with Raven. The Ghost thinks he’ll resurface if he has Emmy. I swear, Prez, I just thought he was going to keep her until Luke showed.”

My heart was a hammer against my ribs. Jax cursed. Tank ran a hand down his face, looking sick.

But Riot wasn’t finished.

“When I figured out what The Ghost had planned for Emmy, I tried to get her back, and they beat the shit out of me and left me for dead.”

I felt my vision tunnel, rage boiling over into something primal. “Where is she?”

He hesitated, and I cocked my gun, the click echoing in the war room.

“I—I don’t know. I delivered her to a warehouse on State Street. The one that used to be a cola processing plant. She’s not there now. He’s putting her up for auction. But I didn’t know. I swear.”

I could have heard a pin drop… until I pulled the trigger.

The bullet tore through Riot’s leg, his scream echoing off the walls as he collapsed onto the floor.

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