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Waylon chuckles. “Guilty.”
He steps back and pulls a cell phone out of his pocket. “There are a few ground rules. One, you only speak when I point at you. Two, if you even utter our names or give Rogue any indication that it’s us behind all this, I will drive to the nursing home and end your precious grandma myself… right after I plant a bullet in your head.” He rocks back on his heels and aims the phone’s camera at me. “That’s it. Now smile,” he instructs. “We wouldn’t want Rogue to think we’re not being gracious hosts.”
I roll my good eye. “Yeah, because my swollen eye and cheek wouldn’t make him think otherwise. Besides, he knows your voice, genius.”
“Collateral damage.” Waylon shrugs. “I’m sure he’ll understand. As for my voice, I got that covered.” He picks a device up off the table and holds it close to his mouth. “Now, let’s make a video.”
Waylon’s voice sounds distorted, and any hope I had of Rogue finding me deteriorates. My brow furrows, and I straighten my spine in determination as Waylon speaks into the voice disguiser.
One way or another, I won’t allow Rogue to pay a ransom for me. I’ll get out of this and make it right.
I’m not his cross to bear.
CHAPTER 32
ROGUE
After I hung up with Soul and on a hunch, I decided to take a different route back to the clubhouse. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find Skye’s car broken down on the side of the road. This’ll all turn out to be a huge misunderstanding or some shit.
About fifteen minutes outside of Mountain Springs, things start to work in my favor. I spot Skye’s vehicle just like I thought I would. Pulling over to the berm, I hop off my Harley and rush to look inside. Her bag is sitting on the passenger seat, and the keys are still in the ignition.
My heart skips a beat.
This isn’t right.
I yank out my cell and dial Soul again.
“Find her?” he asks when he answers after the second ring.
“Found her car. Prez, this isn’t good. All of her stuff is still in it, and the keys are still in the ignition. But she’s nowhere in sight.”
“Have you searched the area?” he asks. “Maybe she wasn’t feeling good and pulled over to throw up or something.”
“You don’t really believe that do you?”
Soul heaves a sigh. “No. But it wouldn’t hurt to check.”
I walk around the car and into the woods along the side of the road. “While I’m wasting my time doing this, get Jez and Fort on it. Maybe they can pull satellite footage from somewhere and see something.”
“Already on it. Send Fort your coordinates so he knows where to focus.”
I put the call on speakerphone so I can do that without hanging up. Once that’s done, I focus on searching the area. In my gut I know I won’t find her or anything helpful, but I need to keep my mind occupied so I don’t lose it.
“We’re gonna find her, Rogue,” he assures me. “I promise you that.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I snap as I take the call off speaker. For some inexplicable reason, it feels like keeping the call more private makes all of this less scary.
Soul huffs out a laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Rogue, try to remember that several of us have been in your shoes. Our women have been in danger, and we always managed to get them back. Skye is no different.”
“I…” I thrust a shaky hand through my hair. “How can you be so calm, so sure?”
“Because it’s my job. Now, tell me wh?—”
My phone pings with a notification, and I shift it from my ear so I can look at the screen.
“Hold up,” I say, tapping the notification to open the email that came through. “I might have something.”
I wouldn’t typically give a damn about emails at a time like this, but something about the sender’s name is familiar.
