Page 88 of Texting the Wrong Bikers

“I’ll call the police.”

“I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am, really I am.” The words do nothing to calm her. Even my charming smile doesn’t work. I opt for blunt honesty. “Sadie’s missing.”

That stops her short. “What?”

The transformation is immediate. The fear doesn’t disappear completely, but something else pushes past it—shock, confusion, and concern. Whatever Brielle thinks of me, whatever she thinks of the club, she clearly understands enough about Sadie to know that something bad has happened.

I quickly explain everything, telling her about the stalker, the notes, and how Sadie has now failed to pick Owen up from school.

“She would never miss a school pickup. She’s never even late. I was late once, and she took me off the approved list of people who can collect him from school.” Brielle says this without resentment. If anything, she sounds respectful.

The comment catches me off guard. Not because of what she says, but because of how she says it. I suddenly find myself wondering how many stories Ethan has told her over the years. How many conversations has she sat through listening to him talk about Sadie without realizing what he was doing? How many times has she compared herself to Sadie and felt like she’ll never live up to her?

“I know, which is why I need to speak to Ethan.”

“Ethan’s been working from home all day. We keep telling you, he isn’t behind this.”

I nod. “I know.” The admission tastes unpleasant. Five days ago, I would have argued. Three days ago, I would have argued. Hell, this morning I would have argued. Now all I can think about is how much time we’ve wasted watching the wrong man while somebody else has been watching Sadie.

Her eyes narrow a little, her judgment clear.

“We were wrong to suspect him. I’m sorry. But he might be able to offer some insight into who is.”

She bites her lip. “He’ll be real mad if I disturb him, he’s on an important work call.”

I bite back my frustration. The mother of his child is missing. Not late, not running errands, missing, and Brielle apparently thinks that Ethan would be more worried about a work call. Maybe that’s unfair. Maybe he’s genuinely busy. Right now, I don’t particularly care. Surely the mother of his child going missing is more important than a work call.

“Maybe I can help?” Brielle offers, her blue eyes wide. “Sadie and I weren’t close or anything, but I know a lot about her from Ethan.”

At this point, I’m willing to try anything. “Okay, thanks. Can I come in?”

Brielle looks nervous and tries to hide it. I guess I do look a bit threatening. “It’s a nice day, why don’t we sit on the porch? I’ll fetch us some iced tea,” she says.

I can’t blame her for being afraid to let me in, especially not after Shadow and Trigger’s actions the other night. I want to shake her and tell her that we don’t have time for fucking iced tea, but I don’t. Whatever’s happened I can’t take it out on this woman. I just hope she might have some ideas about who this could be.

“That sounds good, thank you.”

The words feel absurd given the circumstances. Somewhere out there, Sadie is missing, and I’m sitting on a porch discussing iced tea. Every instinct I possess is screaming at me to get back on my bike and start searching myself. The only thing stopping me is the knowledge that charging blindly around the city won’t help anyone. Information might—a lead might. Right now, Brielle is the closest thing I have to either. She heads inside, leaving me on the porch.

The porch swing creaks gently in the afternoon breeze. Somewhere nearby, a sprinkler ticks rhythmically across a lawn. A dog barks in the distance. The neighborhood’s so aggressively normal that it feels surreal.

While Brielle is in the house, I quickly call and update the others. My mask slips the second Chief answers. I don’t bother pretending I’m calm. I don’t bother pretending this isn’t terrifying. I can feel genuine panic threatening to take hold because every minute that passes without hearing from her makes the possibilities harder to ignore.

Chief agrees with my plan and orders Trigger to go to Sadie’s house, Shadow to her gym, and he’ll check anywhere else Sadie might have gone. It’s a necessary but frustrating box to tick. Owen is her world, she’s made that perfectly clear. She would crawl through broken glass before she willingly let him down. If she didn’t show up for him, that means something bad has happened.

We agree there’s no use calling the cops yet. They won’t help this early, especially with no evidence that she’s been taken. Chief confirms that he’s got the other members searching for Sadie and checking all of the hospitals in case she got into an accident.

“We’ll find her.”

The words feel like a mantra. If we say them enough, perhaps they’ll come true, because the alternative is unthinkable. The alternative is to accept that somebody got close enough to take her without any of us noticing, and that Sadie is gone forever. The alternative is to accept that we failed. Right now, that is a possibility I refuse to entertain.

I only hope that we’re not too late.

Chapter 28

Sadie

I should have known that when my car had a flat tire, something was wrong. I shouldn’t have ignored the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that told me to call the guys. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn, so proud, that I decided to walk the few blocks to collect Owen from school. I was in a rush, more concerned about being late than about being on my guard. The route is familiar, and I convinced myself that I’d be perfectly safe; my stalker was hardly going to try anything in broad daylight.