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“Tell me you already packed the trunk,” I gritted out.
Matt snorted. “Raven keeps all her vehicles loaded, brother. You should have seen the arsenal she pulled out when Fontana ambushed the memorial service for you and Warden.”
“Momma bear was pissed, huh?” I muttered.
“You think she was mad then… She has to be about a million times worse now,” Colt said with ice in his tone. “Rave will blow up the world to protect her kids, man.”
I was beginning to understand that feeling.
My phone ringing pulled me from my inner musings. Seeing Jos’s name on the screen, I muttered a curse but lifted it to my ear. “Baby, something came up. Rory has Reid.”
“I was just in the fucking main room working!” she exploded, but even though she sounded upset, just hearing her voice calmed something in me. “You didn’t think to tell me where you were going? Or even that you left, period?”
“Lexa was taken,” I told her. “I had to go.”
She was quiet for a long moment before blowing out a harsh breath. “You better be careful, do you hear me, Tanner Reid?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I hear you.”
A shuddering sigh left her. “I love you, dummy. Be safe, okay?”
“Love you, Jos. I’ll be back before you even miss me,” I promised.
“Too late,” she muttered. “I mean it. Be careful.” She hung up before I could comment.
It took over an hour to meet up with Bash and Raven. No sooner had Matt turned off the Charger than Trigger pulled up behind him in his truck, Jet in the passenger seat. Hawk and Raider followed suit moments later on their motorcycles.
I glanced around, not seeing buildings or so much as a shack. This place was off the beaten path, but it didn’t look like there were any signs of life other than us.
Bash jerked Bates out of the back seat of Quinn’s car by his shirt collar then slammed him up against the side of the car. “You better not be fucking with me, Bates, you little bitch. Anything happens to my daughter, and I’ll make you eat your own cock.”
“The house is a mile up the road over there,” he rushed to assure the vibrating beast who had his hands at his throat. “I told you this place was in the boonies. The road is overgrown, but it’s there, regardless.”
“What’s the layout of the place?” Trigger, who rarely spoke unless spoken to, demanded, already pulling one of his rifles from its case. “One-story house? Two? How many windows? Where is he most likely to be?”
Bates stuttered out the answers while Jet sketched out a crude draft of the details and Hawk and Colt unloaded the artillery from the trunk of Raven’s Charger. I caught the Glock they tossed my way, then the three magazines that followed.
“That’s all I can offer you in order for the rest of us to have some too,” Colt said with a grimace. “Make every bullet count.”
“Only need one,” I growled and lifted my gun to Bates’s forehead.
He made a pitiful sound in the back of his throat, his fat, squashed-in face shaking in terror.
“You tried to kill Jos last night, didn’t you?” I snarled, getting up in his face. I flipped the safety off and put my finger on the trigger. “You ran her off the road. Didn’t you?”
“N-No,” he said, shaking his head adamantly. “It wasn’t me, man. I swear to you.”
“Then who?”
“I-I don’t know. But…but I read the report the deputy wrote up. It sounded a lot like Fontana’s truck.” He was trembling now, and the memory of him standing over me back at Fontana’s place in Eureka flooded through my head.
Raven’s hand wrapped around my arm. “Tanner, please, don’t kill him yet. If Lexa isn’t there, we need him to help us find her.” Her voice was imploring, trembling ever so slightly, telling me just how close to the edge she really was. “Please, you can do whatever you want with him when I have my baby back.”
I hesitated, wanting just to be done with it and have this bastard out of my life for good. But then I looked into her eyes, saw her desperation, and slowly lowered my hand. I started to turn away, but I changed my mind at the last second and punched him dead center in the stomach.
He bowed over, vomiting all over his feet.
“We ready?” Bash asked everyone as they finished discussing the plan.
