Edge Of Fear (Arrow's Edge MC Book 4)

by Freya Barker

  I slam my fist down on the table so hard the dishes rattle and my coffee spills.

  “Easy, brother.”

  Honon, who’s been quietly sitting at the table with me, puts a firm hand on my forearm. Probably a good thing, because I was about to hurl my plate at the wall.

  “They’ve been waiting.”

  “Would seem so,” Ouray confirms. “Probably saw the security cameras on the house and simply waited for a time she’d be coming down that mountain by herself. When they saw you leave—”

  “They set a trap,” I finish for him. “They’re organized.”

  Ouray nods. “Yup. Luna says they’re gonna try and access the feed. See if they can pin down an exact time she left.”

  “How the fuck is that gonna help?” I snap, my patience run out. “She’s already gone. Why the fuck aren’t they out there looking for her, instead of wasting their time on a goddamn camera?”

  I forcefully shove my chair back from the table and get up.

  “Time line,” Ouray states calmly, blocking my exit. “They’ve got access to traffic cameras and such. If they know the time she was taken, it’ll be easier to find and track the vehicle that took her. It could give us a fucking roadmap to where she is.”

  I nod at him. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  He claps me on the shoulder.

  “Take Honon with you.”

  By the time I walk with Van out of the clubhouse to my truck, I don’t only have Honon but Paco, Wapi, and Yuma following me.

  In my hand I have a Ziploc baggie with a pillowcase from Ravi’s bed.

  Not sure if it’s gonna do any fucking good, but I have to try.

  CHAPTER 26

  Tse

  HER JEEP IS gone.

  A Durango PD SUV is parked in its spot.

  I cross over the median and pull up in front of it. Yuma’s vehicle does the same behind me.

  As I’m getting out, two figures come walking out of the woods: Tony Ramirez and Jay VanDyken.

  “Anything?”

  “We just got here too,” Ramirez says, looking behind me. “We’ve got how many? Seven and a dog? We make a decent search party.”

  Means a fuckofalot these guys are back out here at the crack of dawn.

  “Thanks.”

  Nowhere near sufficient to describe my gratitude, but I have a feeling they get the message.

  VanDyken claps a hand on my shoulder.

  “Hang in there,” he mumbles under his breath.

  “Here’s my thinking,” Ramirez continues. “The kid’s how old? Fourteen?”

  “Will be next week,” Wapi answers.

  I turn to him, surprised he knows and at the same time embarrassed I forgot. Not like the kid ever mentioned it. Not since the camping trip anyway.

  Goddammit. If we get them back…No, fuck that…When we get them back, I’m gonna personally see to it Ravi gets the best damn birthday celebration he’s ever had. I know all too well what it’s like to go without. To have every year pass without anyone even noticing. If it’s up to me that kid will remember every fucking birthday from here on out.

  “And he’s smart,” Ramirez continues.

  “As a whip,” I respond this time.

  “Then I don’t think he’s gonna have wandered too far from familiar territory. So here’s what I suggest. We go in on this side and spread out parallel to the road about twenty-five yards apart. Head up toward the house, then cross the road, circle the house and make our way back here on the other side.”

  With everyone in agreement, we head into the woods. I bend down and let Van sniff the pillowcase.

  “Find the boy, buddy. Find the boy.”

  I start walking, trying to stay level with Paco and VanDyken on either side of me as we make our way through the trees. Here and there the underbrush is heavy, snagging at my jeans, but I trudge ahead, only stopping to check the occasional fallen or hollow trees for hiding spots.

  Every so often I let Van have a sniff of the bag I’m holding, but so far he hasn’t given any signs of picking up a scent. It was a long shot, tracking dogs have trained noses and given the abuse this dog has seen in his life, I’m not even sure his nose works properly.

  I’ve all but given up on the dog when he stops, one of his front paws pulled up to his chest and his snout in the air, standing on alert and furiously sniffing. I’m guessing we’re almost level with Sophia’s house. Van takes two steps forward and then suddenly veers to the right, toward the road.

  “Dog’s locked in on something,” I call out as we cross right in front of Paco.

  Ramirez, closest to the road, must’ve heard me because he’s waiting.

  “What’s going on?” he asks, falling into step beside me.

  “I’m not sure, but whatever it is he’s eager to get at it.”

  The dog has his head down and is pulling on the leash. I’m almost running to keep up with him. He doesn’t bother slowing down when we get to the road and almost yanks the lead from my hand when I try to. No cars, thank God.

  I hear footfalls on the asphalt behind me as Van pulls me into the trees on this side. The farther he gets away from the road, the more worried I get he’s on the trail of some animal, instead of the boy, and is taking us farther away.

  But then we cross a path I’ve walked before. When Sophia and I went to look at Paco’s place.

  The leash is ripped from my hold when Van makes a sudden right and starts running down the path. Toward the new build.

  It makes sense. Ravi feels safe in the unfinished house. He knows every nook and cranny since he spends almost all of his time here. He must’ve realized, other than the brothers, it’s not likely many know about the place since it’s not visible from the road.

  “Paco!” I yell behind me. “He’s at your place!”

  By the time I see the house through the trees, I’m sucking air into my lungs and my legs are on fire. I’m out of shape and I fucking feel it.

  The front door is in, but we haven’t installed the sliding doors in the rear yet. I immediately head that way. Ramirez is first through the door and I hear a deep, fierce growl from inside.

  “Tse…in here.”

  He’s standing in the doorway to what is going to be the master bath. I look over his shoulder and see Van, the hair on his back up, his head low, and his teeth bared. In the corner behind him is Ravi, making himself as small as possible, his face turned into the wall. The smell of terror is thick in the air.

  I recognize it.

  It’s been so long since I’ve lived on the edge of fear, I’d forgotten how paralyzing it can be.

  “It’s okay, Van,” I coo at the dog, never taking my eyes off him as I ease Ramirez out of the way. “Ravi, it’s me, kid.”

  “Tse?”

  “Right here.”

  In a flurry of movement the boy is on his feet and running toward me, barreling into me so hard I stumble back and land on my ass. My arms instinctively close around him.

  “You’re okay,” I repeat, over and over again, barely cognizant of the men filing in behind me.

  “He took her.” His voice is raspy but firm as his large brown eyes search out mine. “Sophia. He hit her on the head and put her in the trunk. The other one too.”

  “Other one?”

  He nods. “The blonde girl that was lying in the road. She wasn’t moving either.”

  That’s why Sophia pulled over. The girl was a decoy.

  “Did you get a look at who took her?”

  I try to keep the urgent hope out of my voice, afraid to put too much pressure on him.

  “Not the front, but I could see his back when he was putting her in the trunk. He had a leather vest like yours. A big patch on his back.”

  “A patch?”

  Ravi looks over my shoulder at Paco who spoke.

  “Yeah, something with flames.”

  My entire body seizes and I hear Paco’s soft curse behind me before he asks, “Was there a name on the logo?”
r />   “All I can remember is that it started with an A.”

  Sophia

  Dust kicks up as the bikes round the building, heading toward the rear.

  Then I notice the car that brought us here is no longer out front. Neither are the two guys.

  I pull the tape up a little higher, hoping to see more outside, but there’s no sign of any life. I hear a groan and turn to see Mandy blinking her eyes. I rush over and drop to my knees beside her.

  “Hey…are you okay? Mandy?”

  She seems a little disoriented but eventually her eyes seem to focus on me.

  “Wha…”

  I try to make out the rest of her words but her slur is so thick I can’t distinguish anything she says.

  “It’s okay,” I say stupidly.

  Of course it’s not okay. It’s not okay at all.

  I sink down on my butt, frustration threatening to overwhelm me, and once again I try to wrench my hands apart. It’s no use; I can’t get any movement. I remember once seeing a video of a girl using her shoelace to get out of zip ties binding her wrists. Unfortunately, I’m wearing sandals and even if I had a shoelace, I can’t remember how she did it.

  I can’t believe they just drove by. Maybe I should’ve tried to break the window, gotten their attention. Hell, I’m starting to doubt that was even Tse at all.

  The room slowly turns brighter as outside the sun climbs higher in the sky. Waiting for something to happen is driving me crazy. What if I could break the window? With my hands tied behind my back I can’t hold on to anything. I’d have to jump and there’s no chance in hell I’d come out of that in one piece.

  A faint scraping sound draws my attention and I turn my head slightly to hear better.

  There it is again. Is someone here? Maybe they didn’t leave.

  The thought has barely formed when I hear distinct footsteps coming up the stairs, and in the next instant I’m on my feet.

  “In here!” I make my way to the door and kick it as hard as I can. “We’re in here!”

  Suddenly I can’t hear anything anymore and press my ear against the surface. There’s rustle of fabric, then a soft jingle and the scratch of metal on metal as someone slides a key in the door.

  It takes me only a second to clue in it’s not likely someone who is here to rescue us has a key ready. I’m already backing away when the door opens.

  “Hola, Mamacita.”

  I press myself into a corner as he saunters into the room, barely glancing at Mandy, his focus on me. The other guys scared me with their anger, but much more terrifying is the smile on Tse’s former friend’s face. I thought I had this figured out, but now I’m more confused than ever.

  “What do you want with us?”

  He looks down at Mandy.

  “Nothing with her. She was a means to an end and now she’s useless.” Then his eyes slowly track up my body and I start to shiver. “Now you’re a means to an end.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He chuckles and leans in, sniffing me. It turns my stomach.

  “You’re the prize, hermosa. Already your fear smells like victory.”

  “I d-don’t understand,” I stutter, the shaking making it hard to speak.

  Manny steps back and starts pacing the room.

  “You will. Once my brother shows up, you will.”

  He almost spits out the word, brother, like it leaves a filthy taste in his mouth.

  “Are you talking about Tse?”

  I’ve got to keep him talking, distracted from whatever he has planned. I watch him pace the room and every time he moves away from the open door, I look at the hallway beyond. But there’s no way I could get to the door before he’d catch up with me.

  “Did he tell you we grew up together?”

  He glances over and I nod.

  “In foster care.”

  He snorts derisively and closes the distance. “I’d hardly call that care. Did he tell you our so-called foster father liked boys?”

  Oh, Jesus.

  He sees the shock on my face and smiles.

  “Yeah. She liked the extra money and turned a deaf ear. But I heard; the beatings and the…”

  He shakes his head, as if to clear it, before he leans so close I can feel his heavy breath on my skin.

  “Ben promised to protect me but he didn’t. Then he told me he’d always have my back. That was a lie too.”

  I’m having trouble breathing, the monstrosities he describes sending bile up my throat. Then the horror turns to fear when it dawns on me: this is revenge. I’m bait and he…he’s going to kill him.

  “He was just a kid too. He’s a good man, please don’t hurt him.”

  He braces a hand on the wall beside my head and his body crowds mine. I feel like a caged animal.

  “Waited years for a chance to pay him back. Killing him was never enough. Death doesn’t scare him. But I knew the moment I saw him with you in that parking lot—that look on his face—you meant something to him. I could’ve taken you then, but as luck would have it, we’d just set up a new distribution line that involved the Arrow’s Edge restaurant.”

  He barks out a laugh.

  “That was a thing of beauty. Stickin’ it to those fucking bastards and they didn’t have a clue.”

  I shudder when I feel his free hand run up the side of my body, squeezing my hip before moving it higher.

  “We had a good thing going for a while, but this is even better. We’ll be killing two birds with one stone.”

  When his hand reaches the swell of my breast, I whimper as he kneads it roughly.

  “No one left to tie us to the drugs…”

  He grinds his hips into me and I’m horrified to feel his erection pressing against my stomach.

  “But best of all, I get to destroy my brother when I make him watch me kill you.”

  Suddenly he ducks his head and bites down on my breast so hard I scream.

  “Yeah. My mark on you now.”

  His head snaps up and he turns to the window.

  “They’re here,” he whispers. “And we’re ready for them.”

  I hear it then, the rumble of motorcycles.

  CHAPTER 27

  Tse

  “YOU’RE NOT GOING in alone,” Ouray says. “We’re gonna be smart about it.”

  If Ravi hadn’t been there, scared out of his mind, I would’ve already been barreling down the highway to the Amontinados compound just outside Farmington.

  And I would’ve driven straight into a trap without knowing it.

  After finding Ravi, we hauled ass back to the clubhouse where Ouray was waiting with the news that he’d just received a tip. From none other than Manny Salinas. He pointed to a location north of Farmington, not too far from the Amontinados compound. A group of abandoned buildings, used frequently for drug deals, where he said a woman was seen hauled from a car into one of the buildings.

  “You don’t get it,” I tell Ouray, feeling a sense of urgency. “This is about me.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he answers calmly. “Luna’s on her way there. FBI is already on it. They plan to send up a drone to get a lay of the land. We’re not going in blind.”

  “Fine,” I grind out. “But we’ve got a fucking hour’s drive to get there. Let’s get going.”

  He nods at Honon and Yuma to step aside. They’ve been blocking the door, ready to take me down should I try to leave.

  “All right. Let’s arm up and roll. We rendezvous with law enforcement in the Mountain Bike Trailhead parking lot at the end of Foothills Drive. Better fucking dust off your vests.”

  The next five minutes is chaos, digging up and donning bulletproof vests that haven’t seen the light of day in over a decade, and stuffing as much ammo and weaponry as possible in pockets and saddlebags. We’re ready for battle by the time we get on our bikes.

  Brick, who is staying behind with Shilah and Lisa to look after the kids, walks up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder.
>
  “Trust you to bring her home, brother, but lead with your head, not your heart.”

  I nod, even though I’m not so sure I’ll be able to deliver.

  Ouray pulls out, then Paco, and I follow with the rest of my brothers filing in behind me.

  The longest fucking ride of my life, but at least Ouray set a good pace.

  We roll onto the parking lot just north of Farmington barely forty-five minutes later. A large van and a couple of unmarked vehicles are parked at the far end. I see Gomez and Luna, as well as a guy I don’t know, breaking away from a group gathered beside the van.

  “Special Agent in Charge Wainer,” the stranger introduces himself when they reach us, and doesn’t waste time waiting for a response before he lays it out for us. “Five buildings total. Two on the right and three on the left when you pull in from the road. Seven bikes and a car parked at the back of the complex. Three guys with long rifles on the roof. Second building on the right, second and third building on the left.”

  “We figure at least eight guys there, though,” Gomez interjects. “Which means we don’t have a bead on five of them.”

  “Four, actually,” Wainer says. “We watched one of them go into the center building on the east side. He’s still in there. I have three of my agents already on the ground standing by. Only way in without alerting them was on foot. My guys can take out the three snipers on the roofs, but they’re gonna need a distraction. That’s where you guys come in.”

  Manny and his guys are expecting us, so Wainer wants us to ride in, but stop at the entrance and make a ruckus while his agents disable the first three and take over their positions on the roofs. He’s hoping we draw the others out and his guys can pick them off. At the same time Luna, Gomez, Wainer himself, and one other agent will come up behind us.

  Too many loose ends for a watertight plan but we’re running out of time. Fuck, Sophia is running out of time.

  I manage to talk Ouray—with the help of his wife—into letting me take the lead, since I’m convinced Manny has plans for me that don’t include shooting me on sight.