She glanced over at me. “You don’t have the resources I do,” she commented. “Rob spent two Christmases at her house. 2002 and 2003. She’s still alive and if he hasn’t already been there, I’m betting he will go there.”
“You can’t know that,” I argued and she shrugged. “It’s a risk.”
“My car, my decision,” she retorted, keeping her gaze on the road.
“You have to understand. Finding Kara is my number one mission.” I scrubbed my hands over my beard. “I can’t afford any distractions.”
“Are you calling me a distraction?”
“Yes,” I yelled in exasperation. “You are the absolute definition of a distraction.”
She glanced at me, ignoring my outburst. “I understand how important it is for you to find Kara. My intent isn’t to distract you but to help you.” She swallowed, turning her gaze back to the road. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to help people, save them. This little girl is no different.” She reached over, her hand coming to a stop next to mine. “Can you trust that I will do everything in my power to make sure that little girl goes home safely?”
I flipped my hand, raising it until our palms hovered a millimeter apart. “How sure are you that he’s going to be there?”
“Uncle Tom and I went over every single piece of information we could get our hands on. My gut tells me this is where he’s going to take her.”
“Rob doesn’t want Kara. He just wants to hurt me,” I said lowly. “If he thinks,” I paused, biting down on my lip. “If he thinks I’ve found Kara, he could hurt her. Just to spite me.”
“Then we make sure he doesn’t know. There’s a good chance he’s going to dump Kara on his grandmother and leave. That’s my impression of this guy. Zero responsibility,” Doc explained, her fingers twitching against mine, but she didn’t press them together.
“You’ve already figured him out faster than Ronnie ever did,” I admitted.
She slowed the car as the speed limit changed, the road turning bumpy. “I’m going here because this is where I think Kara will be. Not Rob. If you want revenge on Rob, I don’t think this will be the place,” she warned.
“Don’t get me wrong, I want him to pay for killing Ronnie, but Kara is number one. Her safety is my goal. Nothing matters more than her.”
Doc was quiet for a long moment. “Then we get her back,” she said simply.
***
“I think this is it,” Doc murmured, jostling me out of a doze. “6245, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered, rubbing my eyes as I tried to hide a yawn. “6245 Pritchard Lane.”
She reached over, the back of her hand brushing against my forehead. “You feel warm.”
“Your hands are cold,” I countered, already guessing where she was going with her statement. “I’m fine.”
“You say that a lot for a man who keeps getting puncture wounds and bleeding out all over the place,” she commented idly. “Let’s let the person with the medical degree decide, okay?”
“Not if it involves anything that will knock me unconscious,” I grumbled, shifting around in the seat, not wanting to admit how badly my shoulder throbbed. “How are we going to approach this?” I nodded at the front of the small wooden house that had seen better days, but it was obvious someone cared about it. The yard was neat even if the place could use a new coat of paint. “I doubt she’ll react well if I go knocking on her front door.”
“That’s why you are going to stay here,” Doc replied, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching in the back seat for something. She pulled a black suit jacket on and slipped on a pair of black frame glasses. “I will go talk to Mrs. Bethel Coats.”
“What are you going to tell her?” I asked, impressed by the sudden transformation of Doc. The addition of the jacket and glasses made her look professional and when she smoothed her hair back, I almost didn’t recognize her.
“That I’m with Child Protective Services and we were alerted to the fact that an escaped convict might show up with a child.” Doc whipped out a plain, white business card, her name and phone number neatly printed on it.
“Dr. Diane Richard,” I read, giving her a slow smile. “Doesn’t say what kind of doctor.”
“Comes in handy on occasion,” she replied modestly. “This really being the first occasion, but I have a feeling it might become routine if I continue to hang around you.”
“It’ll be interesting to find out,” I mentioned, ignoring the implications of my comment. She ducked her head and opened the car door.
“Stay here,” she ordered firmly. “We don’t want to spook her, not if she has Kara.”
“I know. I’ll stay right here,” I promised, folding my fingers into a Scout’s salute. She gave me a suspicious glance but didn’t question me on whether I’d ever actually been a Scout.
“I’ll be back soon.” She walked away from the car, only glancing back once to give me a hard stare. I took the opportunity to make a call, the phone ringing once before an excited voice answered the line.
“Clutch!”
“Hey, Jailbait,” I replied, recognizing her husky tones. “You doing alright?”
“Yes, but I’m worried about you. Creed said you’re with a woman? Did you find Kara?” The questions tumbled over one another and I waited patiently for her to finish. “Are you okay?”
“Everything is okay. I’m alive and well,” I said, stretching the truth a bit. “I don’t have Kara yet, but we’ve got a lead. Rob has a grandmother.”
“Wait, what? A grandmother? And who is we?” Creed interjected, telling me Sloan must have put me on speaker phone. “Explain, brother.”
“I have some….help,” I said evasively. “The woman you heard earlier. She has connections we don’t have. She helped me find out about this grandmother of Rob’s.”
“And you think this will lead you to Kara?”
“It’s the best chance I’ve had since I lost Rob two nights ago.”
“How’d you lose him? Can you trust this woman?”
I stared at the house, Doc speaking with a blonde haired woman in the doorway, who had a cigarette dangling from her lips. “I can trust her,” I finally said with a sigh. “She saved my life.”
“What?” Sloan screeched. “Saved your life? What is really going on, Chance Michael Hayes?”
“Whoa, she pulled out the full name, brother, what have you done?”
“Cord,” I replied, a smile twitching my lips, as I recognized his relaxed voice.
“Crew standing by as well,” my youngest brother announced, the loud scrape of wood against the floor telling me he’d just straddled a chair at the kitchen table.
“Rob managed to get off a shot when I caught up to him the other night. Winged me in the shoulder,” I explained, downplaying the severity.
“You said saved your life,” Sloan enunciated. “Sounds like it was a little more than a graze.”
“I lost some blood,” I admitted. “She stitched me up and now I am fine,” I stressed. “Right as rain. Good as new.”
“I want to talk to this woman,” Sloan stated, her dogged tone a familiar one.
“She’s not here at this exact moment,” I replied, watching Doc slip inside the house, anxiety hitting me when she disappeared from my sight. “But I will be sure to tell her you want to talk to her.”
“Liar,” someone coughed under their breath.
“Look, there’s a chance we’ll get Kara tonight. If we do, I’ll be back on my way home,” I said, trying to redirect the conversation to safer ground. “This whole thing will be over.”
“And you’ll bring this woman, the one who doesn’t have a name?” Sloan persisted, causing me to groan as muffled laughs filtered over the line.
“Diane,” I answered, enjoying the way her name felt on my tongue. “Her name is Diane.”
“You like her,” Sloan stated, silencing the guys.
“I don’t dislike her,” I stated carefully. “She saved my life.”
“How exactly
did that happen again? She was there when Rob shot you?” Sloan sounded suspicious, always a dangerous sign. “You just met her?”
“I gotta go,” I said, choosing to avoid the entire topic. “I’ll call you when I have Kara,” I spoke over their raised voices. “Bye.” I ended the call, silencing my phone when it immediately started to ring.
I tapped the side of the phone, debating my next move.
The phone rang long enough I thought he wasn’t going to answer. “Clutch?” He sounded like I’d just woke him up.
“Noah. I need a favor.”
“Always a pleasure to hear from you.” I heard some shuffling in the background. “What do you need?”
“The police and coroner’s report for Cash Hayes’s death.”
Silence met my request, but I knew he was still there.
“What’s this about, Clutch?” He asked quietly.
I bowed my head. “I just need to lay to rest some questions I have.”
“After all this time?”
“Can you get them?” I asked instead of answering.
I heard him take a breath. “I can try.”
“Without anyone finding out?”
His breath gusted out. “Now, you’re really worrying me.”
“I mean it, Noah. I don’t want anyone to know.”
“Don’t make it hard or anything.”
I cleared my throat. “It’s important.”
“I never doubted that.” Scratching came across the line. “Let me see what I can do. I’m not making any promises.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Noah muttered. “Stay safe out there.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call, dropping my head back against the seat. I wouldn’t admit it to Doc, but I felt like shit. Heat scorched my skin, draining my energy. I glanced out the window, wondering if Doc had found anything out. Tire tracks caught my eye and I opened the car door to get a better look. They went around the back of the house, the tread distinctive of a crotch rocket, Rob’s preferred ride.
I eased out of the car, shutting the door gently as I eyed the front door. If Rob was here and Doc was in there with him….. I took a deep breath, calming the dread that hammered through me. I had to know so I followed the dirt tracks around the outside of the house.
A bright green Kawasaki was parked under an awning, an empty parking space next to it. I approached the bike, needing to be sure it was Rob’s before I went busting in the house. The tag on the license plate had the right county, but I needed more. A familiar emblem was etched on the back fender, sending me racing back around the house.
“Thank you for your time,” Doc was standing at the door and I jerked to a halt before the woman inside the door saw me. “If you hear from him, please give me a call.”
“I will. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,” the woman’s voice was gravelly, the kind of rough that indicated two packs a day. “I hope you find them.” I heard the door close and edged out from around the corner of the house. Doc glared at me as I crossed the lawn, meeting her at the car.
“What were you doing?” She whisper shouted, opening the car door. “I told you to stay in the car.”
“Rob was here.”
“I know that.”
I was about to demand we go back inside when her words registered. “Wait…you knew?”
She jerked her head. “Get in the car.”
I shook my head in irritation but followed her into the car. “Why are we not in there?” I demanded, pointing at the house. “His bike is around back.”
“Yes, but he’s not here and neither is Kara.”
“Then where are they?”
Doc shook her head. “She didn’t know, but she told me he took her car.” She handed me a piece of paper with the make and model of a car written on it. “License plate is on the back. I’m going to call Uncle Tom and see if he can get me anymore information.”
“How long?”
“A few hours.”
“He had Kara.”
Doc nodded. “He did. She confirmed Kara was with him.” She started the car. “My thought was right. He intended to leave Kara with her.”
“Why didn’t he?” I growled in frustration. “We were so fucking close.”
“She has lung cancer. She’s dying.” I exhaled, my jaw tight with Doc’s revelation. “She knew he had escaped from prison. She agreed to keep Kara, but she said he got spooked. Someone called him and then he demanded her car keys, taking off with Kara before she could stop him.” She glanced at me. “What next?”
“I,” my head throbbed as I shook my head. “I don’t know.” Something rattled, drawing my attention, and I watched as Doc shook four pills out of a bottle. “I’m not taking it,” I warned, frustration making me irritable. “We have to,” I lost my train of thought as heat flashed through me. “I wasted enough time.”
A bottle of water appeared in front of my face and she pressed the pills in my hand. “They’re just over the counter acetaminophen. You need to get the fever down and it’ll help your head.”
“I don’t need it,” I complained, knowing I was being a difficult ass.
“If you don’t take it, I’ll put a needle in your ass,” she retorted, waving the bottle in my face.
“You said you wouldn’t drug me,” I reminded her and she smiled grimly.
“I lied. Take the damn pills.”
A frown creased my face but I tossed the pills in my mouth and took the water bottle. I might be an ass but I wasn’t an idiot. I drained the bottle, feeling a tiny bit better. “I had a couple of places to check. We can head there.” I handed her a piece of paper with a list of known Viper hangouts.
“Alright, try to get some sleep while I drive,” she urged, making a U-turn in the yard before bumping back onto the road. “I’ll call Uncle Tom.”
Her voice faded into the background as I leaned the seat back and closed my eyes. Sleep took me instantly, but there was nothing restful about it.
***
I hunched my shoulders as I heard a car go by, keeping my head down, relieved when it kept going. If Mom had figured out I was gone, she’d have people searching for me, not just the cops. Running into the dirty cop had convinced me I’d made a mistake leaving home, but now I had to get back before someone caught me.
I had decided I needed to tell Cash what I’d heard the cop say. He was always telling us to do the right thing and while I didn’t know exactly what the cop was planning, I knew Cash would know. If there were dirty cops in Friendly then the Rebels would do something about it.
Tires on the road had me moving further over, my feet squishing in the mud of the ditch. The distinctive whoop whoop of a police siren had me lunging over the shallow ditch, trying to escape to the trees before they caught me.
“Freeze.” The voice echoed from the police car and I debated running. “Chance Hutchinson.” I stopped when he said my name. “Turn around slowly. Hands above your head.”
I did as he ordered, blinking against the harsh spotlight he shined on me. I could barely make out the shadow of a man standing against the car. “Walk over here,” he ordered. “Keep your hands over your head.”
I slid down the side of the ditch, my tennis shoe landing in the water, soaking my foot, and I slogged up the other side, my arms aching as I held them over my head. I ducked my head, trying to avoid the blinding light, and he barked at me. “Eyes up. Don’t think you’re getting away from me, boy.”
I shook my head, not planning to run, as I came to a stop in front of the police car. He came around the car, and for the first time I saw the gun he aimed at me. My heart threatened to jump out of my chest as he came closer and I wondered if he was going to shoot me. “Hands behind your back.”
I moved slowly, but my backpack was in the way, and I heard him make an angry noise as he grabbed the top of my backpack and dragged it off. “Lean on the hood. Hands behind your back.” He threw my bag on the ground and I watched it tu
mble into the ditch, a splash telling me it had hit the water.
“Stupid kid,” the cop growled, cold handcuffs snapping against my wrist. “Wasting my time picking you up when I’ve got better things to do.” He yanked me up, my back still to him, his mouth right next to my ear. “If I was your momma, I’d be glad to see the back of you.” I turned my head to the side, trying to escape his hot breath. “You’re one of those troublemakers, aren’t you? Hang around those Hayes boys.” He shook me when I didn’t say anything. “Think you’re special, don’t cha?”
“No, sir,” I said flatly, remembering Mom’s warnings.
Be polite.
Don’t react.
He laughed. “Ain’t none of them Rebels coming to save you,” he sneered. “They don’t want you either. Some bastard kid that tags along after Cash Hayes. You don’t belong,” he whispered and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “Your own daddy didn’t want you. You’re nothing.”
He shoved me forward and I twisted around with a snarl, facing him. I didn’t have any muscle but I was damn near eye to eye with him. “I’m a REBEL. Which is a hell of a lot better than some asshole with a badge who pushes around a kid.”
He pulled his baton, raising it to take a swing at me when the roar of a motorcycle caused him to pause. The bike didn’t go past instead coming to a deliberate halt right in front of us. “Is that you, Clutch?”
I nodded, lifting my head as I answered him, “Yeah, Hank. It’s me.”
“Thought so,” Hank rumbled, swinging his leg over the bike. “It’s the road home.”
“Stay on the bike,” the cop ordered, pointing the baton at Hank. “You don’t have any business here.”
“Calvin,” Hank sighed, rubbing his beard. “Put the stick up.” My gaze switched back and forth between the two men and I watched in awe as the cop slid his baton back in the strap. “Clutch, get on the bike.”
I stepped forward, then remembered the handcuffs. Hank saw them at the same time and any hint of affability disappeared. “You cuffed him?” His upper lip curled. “You cuffed the boy?” Fury radiated from Hank, shocking me, since I’d never seen him lose his temper. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
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