Page 29 of A Wrench in the Plan
We all took off down the trail, me leading the pack. He said he found stuff, not them. This had my gut filling with dread.
There on the beach, a blanket and a pair of white tennis shoes with socks tucked into each one. Cat’s shoes.
“Phones,” Mouse said, picking up two cell phones out of the sand some twenty feet away and dusting them off. I knew instantly by the yellow and pink cover on one of them that it was Cat’s.
Cable had tracked them to the beach, and that was the last location he could find for them. Hearing that, we’d been hopeful that they were still there. But the relief I’d had held onto that they’d just fallen asleep out here was gone, vanished like smoke in the wind. Now we knew why they weren’t answering. We were fucking out of luck and running out of time.
“Where the fuck is my daughter?” B-ry growled. His eyes were darker than I’d ever seen them before. I knew B-ry could fuck someone up, but right now, he looked ready to murder everyone on the planet to save Cat.
I couldn’t blame him.
I felt the same.
“Why were they out here?” B-ry questioned. There was a sense of blame in his tone, and I didn’t like it. The last thing we needed was everyone turning on everyone in a war of pointing fingers. Sure, maybe they shouldn’t have been out here with all the shit going on with the club. Maybe they should have thought better.Chryshould have thought better. But if anyone needed to take the blame it was…
“This is my fault,” I said boldly.
Mouse and B-ry whipped around to face me, both their eyes narrowing in a way that was unsettling.
“I asked Cat to check on Wrench. If I hadn’t, then they wouldn’t have ended up here. This is on me. So if you want to hurt someone for this, hurt me.”
I knelt down on the edge of the blanket. Defeat washed over me, making me feel as if I was drowning. I stared at the fraying corner, trying hard to picture them here last night, alive and happy.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up and met Mouse’s eyes.
“There’s no time to waste. So get up and let’s find them,” he said, holding my eyes for a long moment before sliding them over to B-ry.
“He’s right,” B-ry said. “Now fucking pull it together and let’s go.”
Right.
Clearing my throat, I jumped to my feet. Then I looked to Prez, waiting for his orders.
“We have to assume it was The Bloody Jokers that took them,” LT said. “Let’s head to the container yard. Maybe Baby will talk if he sees a way out of this.”
“A way out?!” B-ry raged. “You’re going to let him live?! After what he did to this club? The bar?!”
“If we can work out a trade, yeah, I’m willing to let him go,” LT said calmly.
B-ry glared at LT for a moment before he bent over and gathered up his daughter’s shoes and the blanket. Then we walked back to the road, looking like a tiny army ready to go to war.
Blade stayed behind, waiting for Tinker to show up to tow the bike away. Not that anyone was gonna fuck with it further, but I respected it all the same.
It took us way too long to get back across town. When LT opened the door to the container that held Baby, the smell of rot and death hit me right away, nearly causing me to gag. Yeah, this was a first for me. I honestly couldn’t say how I’d handled it.
I laid eyes on the lump of pounded flesh slumped over in the chair, body wrapped in bloodied chains, which was probably the only reason he was still able to stay in that chair now.
“Ah, fuck,” Sketch said in a very Sketch-style way. He rushed forward, checking Baby over for signs of life. “Yeah, gonna need another plan there, Prez. This one’s toast. Ain’t gettin’ nothing else outta him.”
If I ever in my life was going to throw a rage fit, this would have been the time. I was feeling so lost and angry that I feared I might explode. This was our one link, our one chance to find out where they might be, and the fucker couldn’t stay alive long enough to give it up.
I couldn’t believe he was fucking dead. That they’d left him there and didn’t have a clue. Then again, I guessed we had been kind of preoccupied this morning.
I wanted to hate each and every one of the members that had turned him into one giant bruised-up beaten lump of flesh. Looking at him, it was no surprise he was dead. But I knew that wasn’t the answer. I knew it did fuck-all being mad at the club when they had every right to do what they did to him. Hell, I was surprised they’d let him live this long.
“Well, fuck,” LT said, then released a long breath. He crossed his arms over his chest, legs spread wide, as he tipped his chin and stared at the now-dead guy.
It wasn’t a good thing when your leader seemed at a loss for what to do next.
