Page 24 of A Wrench in the Plan
“Grass,” LT said as he rose. He headed our way, abandoning his coffee and half-eaten breakfast without a care, Grass right behind him. We backed up, giving the two of them room to slip out of the kitchen. It wasn’t a minute later that we were up in his office, the door closed and Prez standing behind his desk like he was scared to sit.
“Wrench and Cat are missing,” I blurted out.
“What?” LT said slowly.
“We can’t find them. Can’t get a hold of them,” I said.
“Someone call B-ry?” Prez asked.
“I called him,” Sidekick said, taking over. “He’s on his way in. Said the last time they saw Cat was last night.”
“And last time anyone saw Wrench?”
Sidekick and I exchanged looked.
“Right after you came and talked to him yesterday,” Sidekick replied.
Prez nodded, then said, “I sent him out to the container yard. I saw him when he was done and he seemed fine. I assumed he was headed back here.”
So that was why he’d left early. That certainly explained the wild energy I felt buzzing around him when he’d dropped off the keys to the red Honda, saying it was good to go and that he was taking off. I hadn’t pushed. Hadn’t asked him what he was going to do. Maybe I’d been a little scared to know, honestly.
“Did he, um, take care of Baby?” I asked as delicately as I could.
“Not all the way,” Prez answered, looking me dead in the eyes. This was probably shit I wasn’t supposed to be in on, but he was trusting me. “He left him with a promise that today would be the day.”
“You think he’d skip out on that?” I tentatively asked.
“Do you?” LT shot back.
See, I’d asked the question because I hadn’t wanted to be the one to answer it.
As far as I knew, Chry had never killed anyone.
Was he ready to do that?
The man did hurt Chry’s sister and the club, so my gut was saying ‘yeah, he would be ready and willing to do it.’
And I didn’t think there would be a ‘but…’ with that statement.
It wouldn’t hit him until after. He wouldn’t let himself think of it until after it was over. So, no, he wouldn’t skip out on it.
“No,” I said confidently, even if my eyes went to the floor.
I was questioning how I felt about it. Would the way I saw him change if I knew he killed someone, even if the reasons were somewhat justified?
Then I had to put myself in his shoes. If anyone came after him or Cat, I’d want blood.
Which was what I was now focusing on… because what if someone did hurt them or take them?
Suddenly, I was hot. The blood pumping through my veins felt like lava and my vision was turning red.
“So then we gotta assume something’s wrong. Which means we gotta get on this and find them,” LT said, snapping me out of my thoughts. He turned to Grass. “Get Cable here. We’ll track their phones and I can check the tracker on his bike. Start there.” He turned back to Sidekick and me. “If they left the compound on their own, where would they go? What might they do?”
I didn’t have a clue. We stuck to the compound most of the time. Dinner with Chry’s family every other week. He’d head to the beach to see them between then sometimes, but mostly they came here.
“I-I,” I sputtered out in panic.
Sidekick placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look over at him. There was fear and sympathy in his eyes, mirroring mine, no doubt.
