Page 59 of Embracing the Consequences

“A full confession,” Johnny replied just as quickly. “Confess that you organized my father’s death and had him framed for all those crimes, take the fall for all of it.”

Laraway screamed again, and Johnny looked over to see Devil using his blade to pull out a loop of intestine. “Oh, that looks gruesome,” Kevin commented offhandedly.

Vince sobbed violently and swayed in his chains. “OK!” he shouted.

“OK, what?” Johnny prompted.

“OK, I’ll confess to having your father killed! I take sole blame.” He complied. His eyes snapped open to meet Johnny’s. “I’ll tell them it was only me! I’ll tell them how I framed your father and paid the serpents to kill him in jail, that I was behind all of it,” Vince agreed.

Johnny smirked. “Good boy.”

“Where’s Laraway,” Winters demanded as Johnny pulled up to the back of the police station, their designated meeting place.

Johnny put his truck in park and raised an eyebrow at the DA. “I brought you Carmichael. Who gives a shit about Laraway?” he asked.

“The case will be stronger with all of the accused standing trial,” she replied, looking thoroughly annoyed.

Johnny threw open the van door and climbed out. “Well, I brought you fucking Carmichael on a silver fucking platter. See to it that he goes down for the murder of my father.”

Several police officers swarmed the vehicle, and Johnny stepped out of the way. He watched as Carmichael was pulled from the back seat and an officer started reading him his rights.

Vince Carmichael didn’t say a word the whole way into the precinct.

Winters followed after him, and Johnny shook his head. “You’re welcome,” he called after the surly DA.

“Thanks,” she called over her shoulder absentmindedly.

The cool night airpressed in around him. Autumn had officially arrived in northern Illinois as October settled in. It was just after eight, but it was as dark as midnight. Marcos rode through Creekton on his Harley, wondering where the fuck things had gone wrong.

His sister was missing.

Axel, Phoenix, and Blaze had been stationed outside her office building while Mayhem, Devil, and Rockstar were out of town searching for Carmichael.

Somehow the assailants had gotten the drop on Axel, taking him down while he stood guard outside the loading dock. They’d incapacitated him with a tranquillizer dart fired from a distance. He hadn’t seen or heard anything.

When he didn’t call in for the hourly check-in with Blaze and Phoenix, they had gone to investigate. They found him passedthe fuck out on the ground. Immediately they had gone looking for Kara only to find the building empty.

They called Marcos immediately. He in turn called Johnny. As pissed as Johnny was, he said they had a guy that could pull up the camera footage and try and track Kara that way.

That had been almost twenty-four hours ago.

His skin itched every time he thought about how he’d failed his sister. She was his responsibility, hadalwaysbeen his responsibility, and he had failed her.

He couldn’t afford to fail her again. Hehadto find her.

When Johnny called an hour ago with a location and told him to meet them there, Marcos didn’t ask any questions and Johnny didn’t elaborate.

Marcos turned the corner just past old Sheppard’s Mill and saw his destination ahead. Stone and Dagger rode behind him, ready to go.

He slowed down as they neared what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Boarded up buildings sat empty in the middle of nowhere. What used to be a bustling meatpacking plant was now a decrepit bunch of buildings that not even one of those big-box-store distributors would want to buy.

This was the supposed hiding place of Las Serpientes, a fucking street gang that was notorious for its unyielding level of violence. The Devil’s Psychos had been at war with the gang off and on for years.

Buckley had garnered a tentative truce with the snakes in the last several years, but if they were responsible for Mac’s death in County and his sister’s kidnapping? War would be inevitable. He only hoped he could keep it out of Mourningside and away from his sister.

They killed their engines next to one of the furthest outbuildings and waited.

They had barely dismounted when headlights appeared in the distance. “You don’t think it’s a setup, do you?” Dagger asked.

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