AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There were a few beats of silence before he replied. “The feds wouldn’t do shit to find her. And that’s just asking for her to die.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“You know half of the money won’t get her released.” I leaned back in my chair, cracking my neck. It was stiff from a shitty night’s worth of sleep.
Gunner was texting like crazy on his phone, his fingers moving a hundred miles an hour, and I knew he was reaching out to Viper. It wouldn’t be long and we’d be having another meeting… And hopefully planning a drop for that cash.
Chaz let out a sharp, irritated breath. “I know it won’t get her released, but can it at least make sure she’s kept alive? Unharmed?”
“I suppose that’s fair,” I said with a shrug. “We could probably make that work.”
Not that I was gonna let anything happen to her anyway.
“Great, now let me talk to her. You’re not getting shit unless she’s alive and well,” he growled.
I chuckled again. “What’s with the change of heart there, bud? You didn’t seem to give a shit one way or another about her—now you’re worried?” I was mostly toying with him, but I was also trying to figure out what the fuck was going on… And I was hoping that it didn’t involve Victor Sanchez.
“Just let me talk to her.”
“No,” I quipped. “I have to make sure that half the amount is a satisfactory payment for her survival first.”
“Keep asking to speak with her, damnit!”
I froze, hearing the voice in the background for the first time—someone was negotiating this phone call… And I didn’t recognize the voice.
“Call back tomorrow at noon. I’ll let you know the decision.” With that, I hung up the phone, tossing it onto the table.
“Why’d you cut it short like that? I think Viper was going to go for it. We could’ve set it all up with him. We have no idea if he’ll call back tomorrow or not.” Gunner sounded irritated as he thudded his phone down on the wooden surface.
I shook my head. “Someone is there with him, pushing him to make the deal. I don’t know if it’s the feds or someone else. I heard them in the background pushing him to keep trying to put Rachel on the phone.”
Gunner’s expression shifted. “Aw, shit. Surely, it’s not the feds. I don’t think that would benefit him in any way, and he damn sure doesn’t care enough about her to get himself in trouble to rescue her.”
“Yeah, so who else could it be?” I questioned, already thinking I knew the answer. I couldn’t be sure, but I wasalmostpositive.
“Lucas Gray,” Gunner said with a defeated sigh. “I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like this.”
“Rachel has no idea how powerful her partner is,” I grunted, shaking my head.
“Unless she’s just not letting on? She may know who he’s got connections with, and she might know to play dumb until he finds her.”
I nodded, not voicing my disagreement. I think Lucas didn’t tell her about his connections in order to keep her safe in the event it came back to bite him. “No matter what the situation, I don’t think Lucas is going to waste a bunch of time trying to come up with some sort of rescue mission. He knows the answer is to get the money and make the exchange. He grew up in the underworld—he knows the fucking rules of this shit.”
“True. No harm comes to anyone if you just follow the damn rules.” Gunner shifted in the chair, pushing it back from the table and rising to his feet. “Viper wants to talk about this drop—and the stipulations. Half isn’t going to be enough to make Charlie happy. He wants him throw in drugs.”
Frustration boiled in my chest. “And what the hell are we gonna do with drugs? Wearen’tdrug dealers. That’s not our game—that’s the shit that Charlie’s guys do.”
“He’s thinking it’ll make it even. If Chaz gives us enough drugs to make up for the other half—”
“We’re gonna need a semi-truck to pull that off, and you know it.”
“I didn’t say it was a good idea,” he snapped at me. “But I’m not the president of the club either—and neither are you. We don’t call the shots. We just fucking see them out.”
“He’s losing his mind over this debt,” I seethed, anger boiling. “He’ll get us all locked up in fucking prison.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure the club will vote it down, but there’s no point in voicing the concerns until it’s put before the table.”
“Which I won’t be present for since I have to be here.”
