AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Please.”
Chapter Forty-One
Knuckles
ONE DAY PRIOR
The plane was delayed more than six hours. They wouldn’t tell us why, and I honestly think they don’t even know either. Either way, we finally made it to Vancouver, and I’m about ready to fucking explode.
“Where the fuck are they?” I groan, waiting for the damn cars to show up. “What’s the point of a schedule if people can’t stick to it?”
“Relax,” Tornado sighs, pulling my body into his. He doesn’t wait for me to give in, instead forcing me to relax against him. If I were in a better mood I might, but this situation isn’t exactly the one I want to be twiddling my thumbs in.
Inhaling and exhaling a few times, I finally start to give myself a break. Just as I’m about to fall asleep on his shoulder, headlights flash right in my eyes. That forces me to wake up again.
“Welcome!” Daryn shouts from the passenger side of the vehicle while the driver’s window is rolled down. No one reciprocates his joyous tone, instead grumbling and dragging themselves to the cars. I latch onto Tornado and yank him along with me to one of the cars. In club life, it’s uncommon for there to be same-sex partners and generally frowned upon. Do I care? Nope, I sure don’t. Does Tornado care? Honestly, I don’t care if he does or doesn’t. He initiated contact, that’s enough for me.
“Wow, tough crowd,” he grumbles as Prez takes the furthest seat in the back. Tornado and I climb into the middle seats of the van, his body leaning against the window while I lay against him.
“Any news?” Prez asks from the back, sounding far more awake than Tornado and I. The other four guys got in the other van to go to the clubhouse while we take this one to Daryn’s private house.
“I got information that they are keeping her in a private sector in an offgrid home. No other information about who owns it, but I was able to pull a blueprint for it. From what the informant said, they are keeping her in one of their isolation chambers. They said Heckles keeps her occupied most of the time, not giving her time to rest and giving her melatonin supplements in her food. It’s not enough to make her sick, but enough to deplete her energy if he wants to get her where he wants her.”
“Where in the house is she?”
“So, the isolation chamber is in the basement. Once we get back to the house, we can look at the prints. I was thinking that I go in through one of the tunnels-”
“Woah,” I call, sitting up off Tornado. Both men pause and raise their brow in speculation. “Why can’t one of us go? Why does it have to be you?”
“Because I have a lot less to lose.”
“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Tornado asks with caution. Even I caught the odd tone in his voice.
“It’s not hard to see that you two are all loved up, and this idiot,” he scolds, thumbing to Prez, “hasn’t realized that my sister means more to him than he realizes.”
“This isn’t like a suicide mission for you, right?” Prez asks sarcastically, and everyone laughs out at the implication. I mean, it may be exactly that.
“Leather would definitely think you have more to live for,” I pipe up and reiterate to him. His smile falters and fades just a bit before he picks it back up. I don’t think I have ever seen a president act so…happy? Maybe it’s the mission we’re on, but even still, Prez is so nonchalant. I guess it could just be the personality type.
The rest of the drive is silent besides Daryn taking call after call about intel and movement trackers. I send a quick text to Phisher to make sure everything is rolling smoothly on their end.
Rolling into the clubhouse, there’s a heaviness in my chest that refuses to leave. It nestled itself in there earlier, and now that we’ve finally gotten here, it’s crushing itself within me. Tornado’s large hands run over my shoulders, helping me further relax. It doesn’t take long for us to unload our stuff and make our way inside.
“Tornado and Knuckles are through there, Prez is right there,” Daryn points at two doors right next to one another, “they have a connecting door also. The other four are split between these two rooms here.” He points to two doors right across the hallway.
“I will follow you to the office so we can get a lay of the land,” Prez offers, but Daryn shakes his head.
“There’s nothing we can do until tomorrow night. The informant said they are doing some sort of celebration, so they will be lacking security around her.”
“What if the celebration is about her murder or some shit?” Prez crosses his arms, his chest puffing out like the dominant male he is.
“They aren’t, it’s something for one of the guys. I want to say they said it was an initiation for their own club, but fuck all if I know. I will send you the blueprints, and we’ll go over them in the morning.” We all nod, lingering awkwardly in the hallway and waiting for our next move. With a loud, startling clap from Daryn, he turns on his heel and walks away.
“You all get some rest,” Prez orders, going to his own room and shutting the door. The four don’t hesitate to leave, exhaustion evident within all of us. Tornado grabs my hand and yanks me along with him to the room.
“It’s been a fucking day,” he groans and flops backward on the bed. I crawl next to him, curling into his side and just following the steady beat of his heart. It starts with a soft rhythm, then slowly speeds up.
“Your heart is racing,” I mutter, my ear laying directly over it.
