Page 55 of Crow's Haven
The silence slams back into place.
I stand there, frozen, staring at the empty space she left behind. My heart aches, not from fear this time, but from the hollow sting of betrayal. Crow didn’t believe me, Cassie doesn’t believe me. My cousin is the only person who trusts my words. But what if that trust ends? What do I do then?
I sink back down on the cot and bury my head in my hands and cry.
Chapter 17
Crow
Isit in Siege’s office after a good night’s sleep, running through every idea I can think of to find Ladybug. Today, Tank and Dutch are present, too. Tank’s always direct, and today’s no different.
“Venom and Rage tracked down the truck driver who picked Ladybug up outside your house. He says your old lady reached out to a cousin who was gonna wire her some cash.”
“He wasn’t gonna talk, but turns out he knew Siege’s old man from back in the day. Knew we were solid, and Rage promised him we were tryin’ to help her,” Dutch says.
I snarl, “I fucking knew it. Now that we know the cousin’s involved, we put the heat on her full-time. She don’t get to play dumb anymore. That cousin knows where my old lady is, and she better start talking before this whole thing blows sideways.”
“I agree. We should pay a little visit to the cousin,” Siege says decisively. “If we squeeze her, she’ll tell us what we want to know.”
Rigs cuts in harshly, “We don’t want to spook her, having a bunch of bikers turn up on her doorstep might backfire. She could call the cops.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I growl, glaring at him. “I say we go. I’ll talk to her. If she gets me hauled in, the rest of you keep eyes on her and follow if she makes a move towards Sharon.”
Rigs points a finger at me. “You’re playing with fire, and you know it. If you get arrested, who is gonna raise your boys?”
I throw my hands up. “Someone needs to take a chance, or we’re gonna be chasing our tails for fucking ever. This risk is mine to take because she’s my old lady. Besides that, she’s not gonna involve the cops, she’s already trying to hide her cousin from them.”
A long silence hangs until Siege finally speaks. “Crow is right. We just need to get the fucking job done.”
And just like that, everyone’s on board. Once our Prez speaks, that’s the end of the discussion.
“Then we gear up and hit the road early,” I say, already thinking ahead.
Siege agrees. “Let’s take a small group of four brothers. It’ll be me, Crow, Rigs, and Smoke. I’m taking Smoke because something tells me having our club attorney along for the ride helps.” He glances at Tank, “I want you and Dutch to gather a backup team of six brothers and leave a few hours after we do. Stop on the outskirts of town and bed down for the night. Don’t do anything unless I call in backup.”
“You got it, Siege,” Dutch replies.
“I want you all geared up but make sure you’re legal. Chances are we’ll have interaction with law enforcement at some point. I don’t want to create more problems for ourselves than we solve in a day.”
We get ready fast. We linger by our bikes for a moment, waiting on Siege. He comes out a few minutes later, arm in arm with Cleo. They share a lingering kiss, his hand fisted in her short hair, before he steps off the porch to join us.
I’m itching to hit the road, my fists tight on the grips. Just before Siege mounts his bike, all our cell phones buzz with a message from Zen. He’s mapped our route to the cousin’s house, made hotel reservations for Tank’s team, and sent the latest update on Sharon’s warrant. The police just posted on their website that the reward has jumped up to twelve thousand dollars for information leading to her whereabouts.
Rigs grumbles, “That means every asshole and two-bit hustler in the state will be looking for her. We need to get to her first.”
“Fucking hell,” I mutter. “Who put up that reward money?”
Rigs tucks his phone into his vest pocket before replying, “Likely the boy’s family. This is getting more complicated by the minute.”
Siege cuts in, “This is the only solid, tangible lead we’ve got. We’d best get going before it dries up too.”
Tank nods in agreement. “We need to track the cousin’s communications as quietly as possible, find a pattern. Wait until the cousin feels safe enough to meet up with Sharon.” Turning to me, he adds, “She’ll lead us to your old lady, eventually.”
I rev my engine, as irritation sparks in my chest. “Like Rigs said, we need to get to her right goddamn now, not eventually.”
***
We ride for hours and pull into Hartford in the early afternoon. When we’re within line of sight of the cousin’s house, Rigs asks, “You ready?”
