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“I’m going to have so much fun punishing you later.” He shoves me away and I fall onto Tripp. Like some creepy villain from a cheesy Lifetime movie, he laughs, and then disappears upstairs.
Tripp’s up, crying hysterically right now. I right myself and then pull him into my arms. “It’s okay, baby. Your daddy is going to find us, I promise.” I rock him while humming a nonsensical tune, even though I’m fighting the desire to either throw up or pass out.
The baby hasn’t moved in a while and I’m terrified something has happened, but right now I need to keep the little boy in my arms safe and that’s what I focus on.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hank
One hour earlier
“D. Help me get this bike on the lift, would ya?” I shout to my best friend who is, of course, flirting with the woman whose car he just fixed the brakes on. The guy is the biggest dog, but the girls know what they’re getting into when he takes them out.
He’s a one-and-done kind of guy. Although he wasn’t always that way. The summer after Brooke and I split up, he went to be with his grandpa after his grandma died, just outside of Dallas. He’d met himself a genuine cowgirl and things got intense, but then he came home and never talked about her, and still doesn’t. That’s when he really stepped up his game.
Once he reaches me, Derrick punches my arm. “I was trying to make plans, fuck nut.”
“Dude, you’re always making plans. Just help me with this and then you can go.” I give him a shove and then he helps me get the bike on the lift. We strap it down and then he goes back to the woman who is obviously fine waiting for him.
Shaking my head, I get busy giving the bike a tune-up, and do it smiling. I do it because, during my lunch break, I stopped by the jewelry store at the mall. The moment Brooke and I got back together, I went and ordered her a custom engagement ring. They called this morning that it was finished.
It’s perfect with its rose gold band with a princess-cut diamond, surrounded by little ones. My girl loves girly jewelry, and this ring is so much better than the first one I gave her. I haven’t decided when I’m going to propose to her, but I want to wait, doing it after all the drama in our lives finally dies down.
I don’t want it to be a moment marred by two assholes. Focusing back on the bike in front of me, I start draining the oil out of it.
I’m halfway done with the bike when I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my coveralls. My hands are filthy, but it stops ringing and then starts up again, so I grab it out of my pocket. I see that it’s Dad.
“Hey O—” is all I get out.
“Son, fuck. They’re gone,” he grits out.
I pull my phone away, looking for what I don’t know. “Dad, what the fuck are you talking about? Who’s gone?” Gritting out, causing the other guys to all begin to walk toward me. “You’re freaking me out.”
“Boy, I need you to have someone drive you to your house.” He’s quiet for a moment. “Brooke and Tripp are gone. Someone took them.”
An inhumane sound rips from my mouth as I kick over my tool chest.
Arms band around me as I go after again. “Bro, let’s go. Come on.” I realize it’s Derrick and I walk woodenly toward his truck.
The drive to my place is silent, and my rage is barely contained. I know who has them, and they’ll pay when I get my hands on them. Knowing Brooke is with him gives me a tiny slither of peace of mind.
We pull down my street, and I see all the bikes in front of my house. Derrick skids to a stop and we both hop up. Dad meets me in the doorway. “Let me in,” I demand.
“Son, be prepared there are signs of a struggle.”
I push my way in and look around the room. The end table is knocked over and there’s a tiny splatter of blood on the wall. Nausea pools in my stomach. “What are we going to do?”
“Son, we’re going to wait for their call. They’ll call and then we will work on a plan to get them back,” Dad says with a lot of conviction.
“What happened to Landon? He was supposed to be watching the house.” The prospect was standing guard when I left.
“Shorty took him to the doc to get stitched up. He doesn’t remember anything.” He scratches his beard. “My guess is one of them got the jump on him. We should’ve banned the bitch from the clubhouse from the beginning. I knew she was fucking trouble, but I gave her a chance because she was good to the old timers.”
I clap Dad on the shoulder. “Don’t fucking go there. This is all on me. I’m the one who touched her—that’s what started it.”
Before I can duck, Derrick slaps me on the back of the head. “Shut the fuck up. No one is to blame—she drugged you because you never would’ve touched her, we all know that. Tracey hated Brooke because she had you. That bitch tried to trap you and knew she’d never have you, so she bounced. Austin is behind all this now and we’re going to find them and he will pay.”
I’m wearing a hole in the floor when Snoop comes into the house, carrying a box full of equipment. “I’m gonna get set up in your kitchen. We’ll find them.”
