Page 65 of Chief's Addiction

I dialed Viper’s number, putting it on speaker as it rang. The sounds of splashing and kids laughing filled the room when he answered.

“Chief,” Viper greeted, sounding relaxed. “What’s up, brother?”

“I’ve got bad news,” I admitted, my tone revealing how serious the situation was.

The background noise continued for a beat, then Viper’s voice changed, hardening into the tone that had earned him his reputation as one of the most dangerous men on the east coast.

“Hang on a sec.” There was the sound of a sharp whistle, then movement, a door closing, the pool noise fading. “Alright, what’s happened?”

“You alone?”

“No. Got you on speaker. Sparrow, Knox, and Wrath are here.”

I took a steadying breath. “Spike and his crew have Cora.” I didn’t start in with explanations about who Spike was or why he’d target Sparrow’s sister. That could come later.

“What the fuck?” Sparrow’s voice exploded through the speaker. “What do you mean they ‘have’ my sister?”

“They took her and a kid named Beckett from the mall about an hour ago,” I explained, keeping my voice steady despite the churning in my gut. “We’ve confirmed it was the president of the Silver Talons. He’s connected.”

“How fucking connected?” Someone who sounded an awful lot like Knox growled through the line.

I blew out the breath I was holding. “He’s got ties to the Russian Bratva.”

“Why the fuck were you watching my sister?” Sparrow demanded. “And who the fuck is Beckett?”

I felt the weight of my brothers’ stares, all of them knowing exactly why Cora had been under my protection. But this wasn’t the time for that conversation.

“I helped your sister get one of her students out of a bad situation,” I explained, the half-truth coming easily. “Foster dad was abusing the kid. I helped get him out and might have tuned up the motherfucker who was putting hands on the kid. I put some protection on them both just in case the asshole got any bright ideas.”

Rage’s eyes widened at how smoothly the lie had fallen from my lips. I ignored it.

“And now Spike has them both,” Sparrow said, his voice hard. “We’re on our way. Three hours, tops.”

Killer’s brows shot up. It was a five hour drive from Jacksonville to Miami.

“Sidorov is in town too,” I added, needing them to understand just how fucked the situation was.

There was a low curse from someone on the Miami end, probably Knox. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind Miami’s Enforcer knew exactly who I was talking about.

“We’ll be there,” Viper confirmed. “Call us with any updates.”

The call ended, and I turned to face my brothers.

“Why didn’t you tell him about you and Cora?” Rage asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

“Because right now, all that matters is getting her back,” I snapped. “Sparrow finding out I’m fucking his baby sister isn’t going to help with that. It’ll just distract him.”

“He’s going to find out eventually,” Dread pointed out.

“Let him. After she’s safe.” I turned to Zero. “Can you track their phones?”

Zero nodded, his fingers already flying across the keyboard. “Working on it. Beckett’s is still on, but it’s not moving. Probably dumped it. Cora’s is... shit.”

“What?” I demanded.

“Her phone just pinged, but only for a second. It’s like someone turned it on, then right back off.” He looked up at me. “They were on Arlington Expressway, heading east. Signal’s gone now.”

“East...” I muttered, my mind racing. “That’s industrial district territory. Warehouses, shipping yards.”

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