Page 57 of Warrant
Shaking my head and wondering how I let myself be put into this situation, I tried to figure out what to do. “Are you hungry?”
“No. Daddy made pancakes.”
Okay. Daddy wasn’t far.But daddy was a biker, and if he can’t watch you…what is he doing? What are the odds that the teddy bear that was found in that abandoned car was hers? The club was clearly connected to that car, and to this girl, and all of a sudden she just pops up? I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was going to look into it.
“Hey, Ainsley, I’m ready- Oh.” Laurel’s eyebrows shot up as she took in my new crew. “You have a few more joining you.”
“I guess,” I said with a guilty smile. “I can reschedule…”
“No, this is great. Your kiddo can help Cadet here wrangle some sheep.” She eyed Beau. “Something tells me he won’t be any help.”
We both laughed as we followed Laurel into the corrals where she had the sheep contained. Aella listened intently as Laurel went over the basics and how none of what we were going to do today hurt, or stressed out, the sheep. They were used tobeing herded by her farm dogs and it was the way she moved her flock from one area to another.
It didn’t take long before Cadet and Aella caught on to the basics and began to run after the sheep. If nothing else, this should end up wearing them both out and making it easier on me and Beau. I glanced down at the sleeping dog and shook my head. I wasn’t sure he was going to be much of a partner in crime when wrangling the young later on in the afternoon. His main priority seemed to be catching up on his beauty sleep.
Looking back down the drive, where Warrant had disappeared, I wondered what was going on that they’d leave one of their kids with a woman they barely knew. Whatever it was, and I really hoped my suspicions were wrong, I just wanted everyone to be okay. And swore that I was going to get answers out of Warrant when he showed back up later.
CHAPTER 23
Warrant
“How’d it go?” Cypher asked when I pulled up and parked next to the motorcycles in the back.
“Good,” I said as I got out and hid the keys in one of the tire wells. Everyone was parked out behind Miller’s barn. It was far enough off the road that no one would see our rides, but not so far we’d have to hoof it for long before we got to the buildings where Glitch suspected this crew might have Jared. “She took it pretty well.” I nodded at Riggs. “Thanks for letting me take her on my own. Ainsley would’ve asked too many damn questions if you’d shown up with me.”
“Wasn’t easy,” Riggs muttered. “She better take good care of my kid.”
“She will. Don’t worry.” I could see the anguish in his eyes. He just got his daughter back, only to hand her over to a stranger, without even being there to do it? That had to hurt. A hurt he was about to repay a hundredfold. But having himshow up to drop his daughter off would’ve made Ains even more suspicious.
Riggs sighed, but we all turned and focused on Cypher.
“Alright. We have about a mile walk to get to these outbuildings.” Cypher pointed north. “Once we’re there, we’ll spread out. First goal is to secure Jared. Whoever finds him first gets him out of there. Let us know over the radio that you’ve got him and bring him back to the vehicles. Take Warrant’s SUV back to the clubhouse and wait there with Glitch. Got it?”
Everyone nodded.
“Good. Second goal-”
“Fuck up everyone you find,” Scythe said with a grim smile.
Cypher shrugged. “Yeah, basically. Leave at least one alive. I’d like to find out why they took these kids so that we know we don’t have to worry about it happening again in the future.”
“Lower down grunts might not know what the plan is,” I said.
“Good point,” Cypher rubbed his beard. He pulled his cell out and hit a number. “Glitch. You have a picture of the fucker who was leaving Christina’s house?” He nodded. “Send it to each of us.”
My phone pinged a minute or so after Cypher hung up and I stared at the photo. It was a bit grainy, but clear enough I could make out the guy in it.
“If you see this guy, keep him alive. He knows the mother, so he’s probably one of the higher ups in this crew if not the leader.”
We kept a lookout as we walked up the road toward a cluster of outbuildings. Miller’s ranch was one of the bigger places in the area and there were outbuildings everywhere. Some hadn’t been used in decades.
The fact that this crew knew to use these buildings as a place they wouldn’t get caught meant someone in this crew knew the area, and the people who lived here. It wasn’t that surprising, but it was a shock that we hadn’t run into them before. Eitherthey hadn’t been operating here in Sentinel long, or they’d managed to keep a low profile until now.
As soon as we reached the group of six buildings we split up into smaller groups to go search them. Me, Scythe, and Riggs ended up together circling around the building the farthest to the west.
There was only one way in. Scythe grabbed the door handle, met both my and Riggs’s gaze. When we both nodded he tossed the door open and we both went in with our rifles up and ready. I went left, Riggs went right, and Scythe came in behind us.
As soon as we stepped inside we were met by a hail of gunfire. Cursing, I dove and rolled behind a stack of square bales of hay. Not the best cover, but better than nothing. Riggs and Scythe weren’t so lucky. They were stuck out in the open with no cover.
