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He dropped what was left of his ice cream cone and took off running. Shannon didn’t stop until she collided with her dad, knocking him back a step. She was crying, tears streaming down her face. “They shot Martha! They shot her!” She was nearly hysterical and shaking so hard, Race could barely hold on to her.
He dropped to his knees. “Who shot Martha?” He gave her shoulders a little shake trying to get her to focus.
Chris, Jed, Darren and Tulsa came running from Ink Envy. They must have heard the sound of a gun discharging and had come to investigate. Seeing Shannon crying and nearly hysterical, they quickly surrounded Race and his kids. He vaguely heard one of the guys quietly ask Derrick what was going on and his son responding equally quietly that Martha had been shot.
“The man with a gun. He came in looking for Bellamy.” Her eyes were wide and her face so pale, he worried she might pass out before he found out what was going on.
“What did he want with Bellamy?” He tried to use the calmest voice he could muster with his girl, but he was freaking the fuck out. He needed to get to Bellamy and Liza.
“He wanted her to go with him. When she wouldn’t listen, he shot Martha.”
“Where’s Liza? Is she okay?” Please God, let his daughter and woman be okay.
“She ran over to the man holding the gun and started hitting him when he grabbed Bellamy. That’s when I ran to get you.”
“Okay.” He figured that was about as much as he was going to get out of his girl for now. “Chris, take Derrick and Shannon to Ink Envy and lock it down until I figure out what’s going on. Jed, Tulsa, Darren, you’re with me.”
Race sped the rest of the way to Bling. He stopped and peeked through the window. From what he could see, Cathy was kneeling next to Martha. He didn’t see Bellamy or Liza or the two men that had come looking for her. Keeping his hand tight around the handle of his pistol at the small of his back, he eased his way to the door, did another quick scan, saw that it was clear and stepped inside.
“Tulsa, call 9-1-1.” He dropped to his knees on the other side of Martha. He motioned for Jed to go out the back and check for signs of Bellamy or Liza. “How bad is it?”
Cathy had tears streaming down her face. “I don’t know. I’ve been putting pressure on it, trying to figure out how to call for help without letting go. Thank God you guys came in.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Martha’s voice was faint and her face pale. Fuck. The usual spunky spitfire woman was not looking or sounding very good. Her voice was weak and uncharacteristically fragile. With the amount of blood pooling around her, he worried the ambulance wouldn’t get there in time. “Two assholes came in here looking for Bellamy.”
“Did either of you recognize them?” Race looked to Cathy. Tears continued to streak down her cheeks. Her eyes were wide and bleak and looked moments away from going into shock.
“No,” she shook her head. “I’ve never seen them before.”
“Did they say what they wanted with her?”
“Just that they wanted her to go with them. Martha told them no in her usual sassy way and he shot her. Justshother. Who does something like that?” Race steered her back to where he needed her to go. “What about Liza? Where is she?”
“They took her, too. When the man with the gun shot Martha, Bellamy was going to her and he jerked her arm and pulled her to him. Liza came out of nowhere and started beating on his back telling him to let Bellamy go. Shannon slipped out and the second guy started to go after her but the man in charge told him to forget her and to grab Liza because she was the president’s daughter.”
A muscle in Race’s jaw ticked. “He said that? Take her because she’s the president’s daughter?”
“Yes. The quiet one grabbed her and shook her hard. She kicked him in the leg as hard as she could and he backhanded her across the face. Then he put her in a headlock and dragged her out the back door. The other one pulled Bellamy out behind them. On the way out, he shouted,Tell Race we’ll be in touch.”
“What the fuck?” Race ran a hand over his mouth, fighting the need to tear something up. If Bling hadn’t been Bellamy’s store, he would have ripped things off the shelves and destroyed everything in sight.
Jed came back inside, shaking his head. “Nothing. They’re gone. We need to check the security cameras from inside the store and see if we can get an image of the men. Maybe we’ll have some idea who they are.”
Race nodded. “Get on that.” Hearing that there was no sign of his woman or his daughter clenched his gut. There was nothing further to do here but wait for EMS to collect Martha. He wasn’t stupid. Until they figured out who had them and where they were taken, their hands were tied. There was no point in driving around Redemption looking for them. They could be anywhere. Fuck, he couldn’t go down that path that led to all the possible things that could happen to Bellamy and Liza or he’d be useless to them.
Jed took off in search of the videos.
There was no doubt in his mind that the two men who took Bellamy and Liza worked for Jacob Jacobson. He was counting on the fact that Jacob wanted Race and wouldn’t harm the two of them until he had him. He might not kill them outright, but there was no guaranteeing he wouldn’t hurt them while he waited.
The sound of sirens approaching had Race cursing under his breath. “Darren, go tell Jed to copy the footage then erase it. The cops will be here soon and they’re going to take over.” He glanced down to check on Bellamy’s grandmother and tensed. Her eyes had closed and her breathing looked more shallow than before. Fuck! The ambulance needed to hurry the hell up.
Darren nodded his head and took off down the hall.
“Tulsa, when they take Martha to the hospital, I want you to follow them.”
“No. I’ll go with Martha,” Cathy interrupted. “You’re going to need all the men you have to find Bellamy and Liza. I’ll call you with updates.”
