Brick

by S. Nelson

  “Ford and Owen.” He looked to them again. “You okay with that?” They both nodded. “Again, no one is gonna think you’re with us.”

  “What about their clubhouses?” The question came from Hawke that time.

  “You, Ace, and Tag are gonna check out the one in Santa Clara. And Rez, Miles, and Nash will check out the one close by. No cuts. No unnecessary attention. Dress in black, baseballs caps, whatever. Be as undetected as possible. We’ll regroup later tonight as you guys won’t be back until well after dark.” Marek chewed on his bottom lip, looking a bit nervous, which wasn’t like him. “Be. Careful,” he emphasized. A few seconds later, the gavel came down, the sound startling me even though I expected it.

  I’d retaken my seat when Linc asked who was going with him to the fight, and I remained there for a while after everyone was dismissed, torturing myself with wondering what they’d done to Zoe. If I found out they… No, I couldn’t let my mind wander to that dark place because I’d never come back, and instead of being tactical in how we handled the situation, I’d feed off emotions, putting not only myself at risk, but my brothers, as well as the two women.

  Swallowing breath after stuttered breath, I turned toward the door when I heard Riley talking to Kaden a few feet from where I sat.

  “Should we bring Natalie here?”

  “Why?” Kaden tilted his head slightly to the side.

  “Because she works at the salon, and even though the place is closed for now, she might be in danger too.”

  “I don’t think we can take on one more person. Besides, she knows nothing of what is goin’ on, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to alert her to anything.”

  “I don’t completely understand what’s goin’ on,” Riley shot back, her features twisting in her anger.

  “Calm down.” He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “How about this? Ace and I will go talk to her. Try and convince her to stay with someone while we handle this.”

  “She won’t go for it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Call it a feeling.”

  “Okay, then if she doesn’t, we’ll bring her back here.”

  “What if she doesn’t want to come here either?” Riley pulled back to look at him.

  “Fuck, Ry. I don’t know. You’re the one who suggested we bring her here. What do you want me to do?”

  She sighed, the entire conversation only seeming to add to her stress. “Let me call her.” Riley walked away shortly afterward, and I happened to find out later that because they closed Transform, Natalie and her friends decided to take a trip to Florida for a few days.

  One problem solved.

  A thousand more to go.

  37

  Regrouping later that same evening, Ford and Owen told us all about their trip to the place we believed Zoe and Braylen might be kept. And even though they didn’t see the women, they were fairly sure the two of them were nearby. Several Reapers came and went, loading crates into the back of two black vans. Their guess was it was drugs or weapons, but they didn’t want to run the risk of getting caught, so they stayed hidden. When the two Reapers who stood guard on the porch disappeared inside, the brothers walked the perimeter of the house, noting six guys inside, none of whom any of us recognized from the pictures they took. There was a barn on the property, which was empty, save for another van stored inside.

  Ace, Tag, and Hawke arrived back at the clubhouse shortly before Ford and Owen had, not having much information themselves, other than there were eight Reapers at the Santa Clara location, partying it up, half of them drunk and falling over. No signs of Braylen or Zoe there.

  Nash, Rez, and Miles scoped out the Reaper charter near here, snapping pictures of the men who came and went, none of them Griller or Dutch. Most of us didn’t know what Dutch looked like, the private investigator Marek hired not being able to come up with a photo either, or his real name, but Prez had seen the man once, verifying none of the images were of him. And other than the unloading of a black van, no doubt having come from the farm, there wasn’t much else to report, no signs of the women there either. I’d bet my life they were being held at the farmhouse.

  “We’re ready,” Linc announced, pacing next to Jagger, both men’s postures coiled, looking like they were set to strike any moment. With the new day, apprehension ran high among the entire club and the only thing that would elevate the uncertainty was the return of Zoe and Braylen, and of course the complete annihilation of the Savage Reapers. There wasn’t any reason for Prez to remind the guys to carry because there was an arsenal of weapons to choose from. Plus, none of us were that stupid to go anywhere unprepared, especially now.

  “Linc and I will ride together.” Jagger grabbed Linc’s duffle bag and flung it at him. “You two,” he said, pointing at Ford and Owen, “take the van in case we need the room.”

  “For what?” Owen glanced at his older brother quickly, like he had the answer.

  “You never know” was the only response Jagger would give, walking off ahead of the rest of the guys.

  “Record everything.” Tripp moved next to his cousins. “We may get a clue or confirmation of something we need.” We agreed that since only the four of them were going to the fight, the entire scene needed to be filmed, from the time they arrived, to Linc’s bout, to afterward when we assumed one of those bastards would pick up the winnings. I highly doubted Griller or Dutch would show up—assuming we’d be waiting even though they warned us against trying something. The destination was texted to my phone from Zoe’s with the warning for Linc to make the defeat appear as real as possible.

  “Of course,” Ford answered. “Whatever you need.”

  “Watch your back.” My advice wasn’t necessary. They knew the danger they faced, but saying those words made me feel like I contributed in some small way to what they were up against.

  Mindlessly drifting toward the bar, I plopped my ass down on one of the stools. Trigger wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but even if he were standing in front of me, he wouldn’t be serving me any alcohol. Everyone needed a clear head. The only problem was, I wanted to forget, if only for a little while, lose myself to the numbness the hard stuff would provide.

  “I thought you might like a drink,” a small voice said, pushing what looked to be an iced tea in front of me. I turned to see who made the offer.

  “Hey, Maddie.” I looked from her to the drink, wrapping my hands around the glass and raising the edge to rest against my lips. “I don’t suppose you snuck any vodka in this did you?”

  “No, sorry.”

  The cool beverage slid down my throat. If I couldn’t have the good stuff, I supposed I could make do with some good ol’ caffeine.

  “Thanks.” I took two more gulps, then set the glass back on top of the bar. “How you holdin’ up?”

  “I’m scared.” I turned in my seat to face her, her confession giving me something else to focus on other than my despair. “Everything is happening because of me, and I’m afraid something bad is going to happen to Linc tonight.”

  “Nothin’ is gonna happen to him.” I tried to sound convincing, but her frown line told me I hadn’t fully succeeded. “And this is not your fault, sweetheart.” I rubbed her arm in comfort, the lines around her mouth flattening soon after she attempted a smile. Needing to change the subject, I looked around the room to locate Morgan. She and Maddie had been in conversation for a bit of time before my cousin ended up gravitating back toward Tag.

  Linc’s woman followed my line of sight. “I think they’re cute together.”

  “I don’t like it,” I said, my response curt and deep.

  “Why? Tag seems like a nice guy.”

  “He’s a guy. Enough said.” I was grateful for the topic change but quickly regretted discussing my cousin and the prospect. Like I didn’t have enough weighing on my mind as it was.

  “They really seem to like each other.” She shrugged, the left corner of her mouth lifting slightly.

&nb
sp; “Regardless, she’s only here for a couple weeks, max, then she’s going back home to Jersey.”

  “Really? Because she made it seem like she’d be here a lot longer.” Maddie tossed her chocolate strands behind her shoulders, her eyes focused intently on me. “Yeah, that’s not the impression I got, that she was leaving anytime soon.” She continued talking like I’d asked her a question. “Maybe she decided to delay her trip home because of him.”

  I’d taken another sip of my drink, coughing when Maddie hit me with that gem of information. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? They literally just met today.”

  Her shoulders bounced. “When you know, you know.”

  “How long were you talkin’ to her that you have all this info?” Peering over and seeing Morgan and Tag huddled close again only served to piss me off, but I supposed I welcomed the anger over fear, even if that anger might prompt me to do or say something I shouldn’t.

  “A little bit. She told me how much she likes T—”

  “Any other topics?” I blurted, not wanting to hear about Tag anymore. It was bad enough I had to witness their display; I didn’t want to hear any more about it.

  “I showed her a few of the pictures I framed, and she said she was impressed, that she really liked them.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and unlocked the screen, flipping the device toward me. “Linc bought me a camera because I told him I was interested in photography.” She scrolled through a few snapshots. “These are mostly of nature.” Images of a sunrise, a sunset, and some flower shots stared back at me. I didn’t know much about art and photography, and even I had to agree with Morgan’s take that they were impressive. She flipped through a few more, accidentally scrolling too far when I saw a glimpse of my buddy… naked. “Oops, sorry about that. Although, I could classify that one as nature, too.” A short laugh tumbled from her lips as her cheeks pinkened, and for the first time in days, I smiled.

  “Did you just make a joke?”

  “I guess I did.” She laughed some more, and I had to admit that while she was typically shy, less so when she had a few drinks in her, it was nice to see her slowly coming out of her shell. After everything that happened to her, I was happy she found Linc. Or should I say… that Linc found her. He did save her from those bastards, after all.

  And just like that, my mind reverted to them and what they were possibly doing to Zoe and her pregnant stepmom. If I gripped my glass any tighter, it was gonna shatter, like my heart had been doing since I found out they’d been kidnapped.

  In the midst of me talking to Maddie, there was a rush of commotion toward the entrance to the clubhouse. Cutter had gone outside and was followed by Hawke, the nomad coming back inside a minute or so later.

  “I better go see what’s goin’ on.” I touched Maddie’s shoulder before quickly walking across the room, clocking Morgan on the way and pointing in her direction. She frowned, most likely not understanding that I was instructing her to stay put.

  “What’s goin’ on out there?” I asked as soon as I closed in on Hawke.

  “Some chick who said her van broke down. Cutter’s handlin’ it, tellin’ her we’re closed.” He tugged his hair from its holder and ran his fingers through it, pulling the strands back off his face. “I wasn’t too keen on lettin’ her in anyway. She looks like she might be tweakin’. But she did have a pretty cool snake tat on her forearm.

  Chelsea turned her head toward us, taking a couple tentative steps forward. “Did you say you saw a snake tattoo on her arm?” Hawke raised his head in an arrogant move, but then narrowed his eyes, the skepticism in his eyes shining through. I didn’t understand his expression or why she asked the question. I didn’t believe these two had ever met, let alone exchanged words before.

  “Yeah,” he finally answered.

  “Was she about my height? With light brown hair?”

  “I guess, but she has a hat on, so I can’t see her hair.” Hawke tilted his head to the side. “Why?”

  Ace had walked down the hall seconds before his woman started asking questions, his steps toward her charged, a glimmer of worry creasing his features. When he was next to her, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back a step, almost like he was shielding her from the nomad.

  “Because that sounds like Lisa. What is she doing here?”

  “Who’s Lisa?” Ace asked, as curious as the rest of us.

  “She came into the shop to get her hair done the same day we found out about…” Her eyes bounced from me to her man. “…you guys getting shot.” Chelsea swallowed and looked apprehensive. “She came back later asking if she left her wallet behind, acting shifty, glancing out the window several times while I looked for it, but I didn’t find anything. Braylen got a bad feeling about her, so she blurted out that Marek, Stone, and you,” she said, jerking her chin toward me, “would be there any second. And that’s when she took off.”

  “Who the fuck is she?” Hawke took a step back toward the door without waiting for an answer. Although to be fair, none of us knew exactly who this Lisa chick was. But I didn’t believe it was a coincidence she was now standing outside our clubhouse gates.

  The nomad held open the door and gestured for Chelsea to come closer, but when her right foot moved forward, Ace didn’t release his hold on her.

  “No way. You’re not goin’ out there.”

  “But what if it’s the same woman?” she asked, making another attempt to free herself from him.

  “You’re still not goin’ out there,” he repeated, his voice dipping in simmering annoyance.

  “Let her look to see if it’s the same chick. If it is, we might have a bigger issue on our hands and should do somethin’ about it now.” I lessened the space between us and Hawke. “Is she still out there?”

  “Yeah. She’s still standing there, talking to Cutter, but I can’t hear what they’re sayin’.”

  I looked back to Ace. “This is important. Nothin’ is gonna happen to her. She’s not goin’ out there. She’s only lookin’.” Ace continued to hold on to her even though she struggled to free herself. “Fuck, man! We don’t have time for this. Just let her look.” Unintentionally, my hands bunched into fists, accompanying my raised voice.

  “Fine,” he gritted. “She’s just takin’ a peek.”

  Several strides later, Chelsea popped her head out, Hawke moving back while still holding the door open.

  “He’s in the way,” she said. “I can’t see her face.”

  “Cutter!” Hawke shouted and Chelsea flinched. “Cutter!” The ol’ man finally turned around, moved slightly to the side and took a step toward us.

  The woman outside the gate wore a black baseball hat, white short-sleeved tee with some kind of emblem on it, and jeans. She stood next to an older model white minivan. And even though we were quite a distance away, I saw her look in our direction. Chelsea brushed past Hawke and walked out the door, Ace making a grab for her but missing.

  “Lisa?”

  “Get the fuck back in here, woman.” Ace bumped into the back of Chelsea, then seized her wrist, pulling her back inside.

  Before he dragged her further away, I asked, “Was that her?”

  She nodded and replied, “Yes,” at the same time.

  “Hey! You can’t leave that here. Lady! Hey!” Cutter’s shouts drifted through the lot. He walked to the other end of the gate, most likely trying to see if he could still spot her. “Hey!” he shouted one last time. His fingers curled around the bars as he stood there, motionless.

  “Somethin’s not right.” My legs propelled me forward before I realized I was walking. “Cutter, get away from the gate.” I had no idea why I gave that instruction, but the words barreled out of my mouth. I seemed to be on auto pilot, pumping urgency into each step. I heard several voices behind me but didn’t look back. “Cutter!” He finally let go of the metal bars and turned around. “Get away from the gate,” I yelled once more.

  He swiveled his head to look back toward the
van, taking a tentative step to the side. What the hell was he doing? Why wasn’t he moving back?

  My mouth fell open and I sucked in a lungful of air, breaching the space between us, my steps slowing as my brain shouted at me to stop. Call it intuition, or paranoia, but I began to walk backward, waving at Cutter to follow me.

  Finally, he moved, and I released the breath that was frozen in my throat, but he’d only managed to take three steps before a sudden blinding flash followed by a deafening boom sliced through the air. The large metal gates had been blown apart, the minivan coming off the ground before crashing back down, engulfed in flames.

  Even though I was far enough away, the blast of the explosion knocked me off my feet, the pressure in my ears erupting. Then all I heard was a weird ringing noise.

  Peeling my eyes open, I saw Cutter lying on the ground, at least ten feet from where he’d been standing. Several men rushed past me and toward our fallen brother, and all I could do was pray that he was okay, but he’d been so close to the explosion, I didn’t have high hopes he survived the blast. I was further from him and was knocked on my fuckin’ ass.

  “Holy fuck!” Hands grabbed at me. “Are you okay?” Every sound around me was muffled, and although I could see, I couldn’t clearly hear what anyone said. Kaden and Ace patted me down before hooking their hands under my arms, struggling to help me stand. I was dead weight, still doing a shit job at computing what just happened, let alone telling my brain to make my legs work.

  When they finally managed to get me to my feet, I took two steps before my vision tunneled and my head fell back, the darkness rushing in so fast all I could do was succumb.

  38

  “Where do you think we are?” Braylen’s question startled me even though her tone was soft, barely above a whisper. I’d been lost inside my head, which happened more and more as these hours ticked by, doing everything I could not to think about… not to remember… not to dive so far under the black waters of my mind that I never resurfaced.