Page 70 of Property of Quake

I sag against Quake. “No.”

The hours drag by. The sun disappears, darkness settles over Sacred Haven, and still there's no sign of Melissa. Eventually, the police advise us to go home to the clubhouse since that’s the last place Carrie is aware of Melissa residing and that’s where she’d likely reach out to if she does at all.

The ride is quiet, somber. Stella buries herself into my side, only lifting her head when we part next to the main entrance. When we step out of the truck, she bounds toward the door as if she expects Melissa to greet her.

Inside, I go through the motions. I change clothes, wash my face, brush my teeth. Every single thing I do is exactly what I do when I’m getting ready for bed. But tonight, it’s more that I’m getting ready for war.

Quake leaves me in the suite to go to church. I want to argue for several reasons, not the least of which is that this isn’t just ‘club business’, but I’m too empty to even try. Instead, I settle on the couch and cry the moment he steps out of the room

By the time he returns, it’s after midnight. One look at his face tells me the news isn't good.

"We found Carrie's SUV," he says.

Hope surges through me. "Where?"

"Abandoned twenty miles away."

The hope dies almost instantly. Carrie wasn't there.

Exhaustion and guilt cling to Quake as he sits beside me.

“You blame yourself,” I say.

"I was supposed to protect her," he says quietly, not bothering to deny it. "I promised."

My heart aches for him so I reach for his hand. “This isn’t your fault. No more than it is mine. This is on Carrie. Carrie and Tom and Keith, God fuck their dead souls,” I snarl.

For a long moment, neither of us speaks. Then his fingers tighten around mine, and the gesture feels less like comfort and more like survival. We're both holding on to the same fragile hope.

Suddenly, the door to the suite slides open, and Romeo bursts across the threshold.

"I found something." Quake and I jump to our feet, and Romeo grins. "I found one of Carrie's burner phones."

Hope crashes through me so hard it hurts. For the first time since Melissa disappeared, we're no longer chasing shadows. We finally have a lead, and somewhere out there, whether she knows it or not, Melissa isn't facing this alone anymore.

21

QUAKE

I've always hated waiting.

Give me a fight, a problem, or a challenge, and I'll handle it. Give me a direction, and I'll move. Give me a target, and I'll find a way to hit it.

Waiting is different. Waiting means somebody else controls the outcome. It means Melissa is out there with Carrie while we're stuck chasing scraps of information and praying we're not already too late.

Romeo's discovery of the burner phone injected new life into the search almost immediately. By one in the morning, the clubhouse looks less like the headquarters of a motorcycle club and more like a command center. Laptops cover every available surface, mapping software glows across multiple monitors, and club whores move in and out, carrying coffee, food, and whatever else is needed.

Nobody is sleeping. Not that they could even if they tried.

Even Mellie, pregnant and exhausted, is sitting up with Whitney so she isn’t alone while I focus on finding Carrie and Melissa.

I stand behind Romeo's chair, watching lines of data scroll across his screen.

"What've you got?"

My brother rubs both hands over his face before leaning closer to the monitor. "Carrie's smarter than Keith."

That doesn't surprise me. Keith is a predator. Carrie is organized. There's a difference.