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“What’s happened?” Sheriff Cross asked as I ran to my bike.
“The Shivering Cactus Diner, guy in a black SUV truck, name’s Ryan, he’s abducted Ellie.”
He clicked on his radio and started muttering into it.
“Follow me,” I shouted as I got on my bike and hauled ass to get to the diner on the outskirts of town.
Pulling into the parking lot, I jumped off and ran towards Gio who was standing beside Ellie’s car, “Gio. What the fuck?”
The prospect raked a hand through his hair and let out a rushed breath. “Ellie met that asshole Ryan for lunch. I kept my distance since it was a public place. Leo was there, and they know the guy, you know? I stayed close enough to keep an eye on everything.”
I nodded. “Then what the fuck happened?”
The fear and apology in Gio’s eyes cooled some of my anger, but not enough. “Lunch ended and she got Leo settled in the car, so I moved closer, ready to follow them home or to the clubhouse. He approached her again and they had a tense conversation before I know what’s happening, he pulled out a gun and cracked Ellie over the head with it. She went down immediately.”
“Fuck!”
“I know, Diesel. I am so fucking sorry. It happened so quickly, he tossed her over his shoulder and threw her in a black truck. I should’ve gone after them, but Leo… He was locked in the fucking car, man. I called you straight away. By the time I broke into her car, the van was long gone. They headed east towards Vegas. He nodded to the back seat of Ellie’s car where Leo was sitting, his face streaked with tears.
Leo was safe. I couldn’t be mad at Gio for putting my son’s safety above all else. “You did the right thing.” I opened the back door and freed Leo from the seat restraints, holding him close to assure myself that he was all right.
“Why did Mr. Ryan take my Momma?”
“I don’t know champ, maybe he just wanted to talk to her.” I said soothingly.
“Why was my Momma asleep?
I wiped away my son’s tears and kissed the top of his ruffled hair, “Maybe she was very tired? You know how you get after playing with Chopper all morning. Mr. Ryan was taking her somewhere so she could have a nap, we’re going to get your Momma and thank Mr. Ryan for looking after her, okay?”
His chin wobbled, I didn’t know if he was buying any of it, but at least if I sounded like it wasn’t such a big deal and it was all under control, then he’d feel safe. “Okay, Daddy.”
I knew what sort of gratitude I was gonna show that asshole when I got my hands on him. I could hear sirens approaching, so it looked like the cavalry had arrived—though how much help they’d be, remained to be seen. “I want you to go and sit in the car for a moment while I talk to the sheriff, can you do that for me, son?”
Leo nodded and scrambled back into the car.
Gio looked angry enough to fuck some shit up, and I was counting on that. “What can I do?”
“I’ll let you know.” I looked around the parking lot in search of any cameras, but this wasn’t that type of establishment, which meant we were shit out of luck. “Let Slate know what happened, give him the details of the make, model, and license plate so he can start tracking the truck.”
With a nod, Gio pulled out his phone and walked away.
“Need some help?” Sheriff Cross stopped at my side and stared at Leo. I stepped away from the car, not wanting my son to overhear our conversation.
“Now you want to do something?” I laughed bitterly. “Thanks.”
“This is actually a problem I can do something about, a crime has been committed. We’ll get her back, there’s already a BOLO out on the truck and we’ll get the roadblocks set up,” he promised.
“I don’t have time for this shit. What I want is to get Ellie back and I want her unharmed.” I knew how slow the cops worked—we could potentially be wasting hours. They’d be interviewing the customers, checking any security camera footage along the highways. Ellie had been gone for almost thirty minutes now. She could be anywhere, and I wasn’t gonna wait in some a shitty parking lot while a rookie cop filled in reports. I would find her myself. “Carter is behind this, I know it.”
“If you have evidence of that, I’m happy to hear it.”
Of course I didn’t have evidence of that, not yet. But the moment I did, he was a dead man. “You know I don’t have anything concrete, but I know that bastard is behind it.”
“Don’t do something you’ll regret later, Diesel.”
I smiled. “I won’t regret one damn thing, Sheriff. The asshole who took Ellie, will regret plenty.” At least for as long as he was alive to experience regret.
“Diesel,” he began in that warning tone that usually came right before a lecture.
