Things had to change, that was for sure.
Being at the back of the pack, he was subjected to watching his brothers riding with their women. Everyone seemed content and happy for the most part. Even Grizz and Mama Bear.
Hell, even Diamond and she was just fender fluff for the day. But D swore she was the one wearing the biggest smile out of everyone.
And the one time they stopped by the river, she and Slade had disappeared for a little while. The brother had probably gotten a quick head job in the woods.
Not that he blamed the man. Especially, if Di sucked cock half as good as her sister...
Diesel flipped up the flap on his saddle bag and pulled out his phone. He’d text Jewelee and let her know they were back since her Jeep wasn’t in the lot yet.
When he turned on his phone, multiple messages dinged at him.
Jesus fuckin’ Christ.
Someone was trying to get a hold of him. Hopefully, shit wasn’t going down with his crew or that NFL douchebag that they babysat. He hit the message app and pulled up a long string of texts from Jewel.
Call me.
Call me soon. Important.
Call me right away.
Where r u?
Why arent u callin?
U need 2 fuckn call me.
Fuck! What the fuck was that about? He jabbed the Call button with his finger and put the phone to his ear.
The phone was answered on the first ring. But the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t hers and the deep voice made him go solid and ice rush through his veins.
“Got your ol’ lady.”
Every vertebra snapped straight in his spine as his fingers tightened on his phone.
Jesus fuck. He sure hoped Jewelee was messing with him. But if she was, she was getting her ass beat because this was not fucking funny at all.
“Jewel ain’t my ol’ lady.” At least, not yet.
“Sure she is. Heard a rumor, then Demons confirmed it.”
Fucking Demons. Fucking Warriors.
D’s mind spun. What the fuck was going on?
“Don’t believe everythin’ you hear,” he growled.
“Right. So here’s the deal. Got your ol’ lady. Thinkin’ ‘bout fuckin’ her up or fuckin’ her... Or both.” The man on the other end of the line laughed. “But I’d rather deal.”
“Who the fuck is this?” D snarled into the phone. When he felt a presence next to him, he glanced up to see Hawk watching him carefully, his face a blank mask.
His brother cocked an eyebrow at him. D shook his head and lifted a hold-on finger.
“Tired of you lookin’ for me, cocksucker. Tired of havin’ to hide out. Tired of your bitch ass all together. Shit’s gonna stop. Willin’ to deal. An’ now I got the wildcard to win this game.”
“This fuckin’ Black Jack?” he barked into the phone. D noticed the expression change on his brother’s face and Hawk’s head twisted quickly toward Kiki.
Kiki’s eyes were wide and pinned on them, her face pale.
“Get inside church,” Hawk ordered her. When she didn’t move, he yelled, “Now!”
D turned his back on them; he needed to concentrate on what this fuckstick who had Jewel’s phone was saying.
“See? That’s the fuckin’ problem. You know my name. You an’ those spooks of yours have been tryin’ to snag my ass like you did Squirrel’s. Ain’t likin’ any of it. An’ now you got the Knights on my ass, too.”
“You’re fuckin’ dead,” D muttered before he could stop himself.
“Yeah. Ain’t gonna happen. Got your bitch. She’s a sweet number, too. She as tight as that young one?”
D’s jaw locked and he saw nothing but red. And it was Shadow Warrior blood that tinted his vision red, not to mention his fury.
If that fucker touched one hair on her head...
If he violated her in any way...
D tried to swallow but his Adam’s apple jammed in his throat. His vision narrowed and he was back in that fucking house all over again.
Kiki. Jazz.
And now Jewel. Spread out naked over the floor, blood, bruises... broken. Both mind and body.
History couldn’t be repeating itself.
It just couldn’t.
If he found Jewel the way he found those women, he’d be destroyed. Shattered into a million fucking pieces, never to be put back together again.
He couldn’t lose her. Not when he’d just decided to claim her not even an hour ago.
She was his. And only his.
And that sadistic fucker had her.
He needed to keep his shit together and not completely lose his mind or he wouldn’t be able to function and find Jewel. He needed to find his woman and he needed to do it fast.
“So you wanna win this game. What game are we playin’, asshole? What do you want?” It killed him to have to try to negotiate with this fuckwit.
Suddenly, he was surrounded by a bunch of brothers, all listening, all watching him carefully. No one saying a word. Dex, Jag, Zak, Hawk, Linc, Slade, Crow, Rig, Crash, Ace, Dawg, Nash, and even Pierce.
He glanced around and couldn’t find any of the women. Not even Diamond. Thank fuck. Someone must have had sense enough to send them all inside to keep the drama at a minimum.
Last thing he needed was a bunch of women freaking the fuck out.
It was bad enough that he was freaking the fuck out. And he had to keep a lid on that.
“What do you want, asshole?” D shouted into the phone.
“Want the slate wiped clean. Want you to forget I ever existed. Want your spooks or shadows or whatever the fuck they are, off my fuckin’ tail.”
Diesel pushed through the crowd and walked away from them, hoping no one would follow. He headed to the other side of the lot.
“You gimme my woman an’ you just want me to forget everythin’ you did to the other two?”
“Bingo.”
“Gotta get ‘er back untouched.” The hesitation on the other end of the phone made him suck in a breath. “You touch ‘er, the deal ain’t even on the table. Got me?”
No answer.
He repeated himself much louder and slower this time, “Touch ‘er, you’re dead. No deal. You fuckin’ got me?”
Still no response. The ice that ran through his blood had turned to molten lava. “One hair. One bruise. Anythin’. You’re done.”
“She fuckin’ didn’t come with me willin’, you asshole,” Black Jack yelled into the phone. “Gotta little banged up in the process.”
Gotta little banged up in the process.
His heart was thumping so hard, he thought the veins in his neck were going to bust out of his skin.
“Ain’t bad, though.”
Ain’t bad, though.
Jesus fuckin’ Christ.
He was going to kill the fucker. He was going to jam his hand into the man’s chest and rip out his fucking heart. Then he was going shove it up the Warrior’s ass.
“I agree to this, when do I get ‘er back?” he growled into the phone.
“Once I get my guarantee, you get her back... soon as you can find ‘er. Need a head start, motherfucker. Don’t trust your ass not to take me out. Know all ‘bout your so-called crew. I give you the location before I’m outta Dodge, then I’m toast. I ain’t stupid.”
Oh, yes, he was. Not only had he touched and damaged DAMC property, he had the balls to take D’s woman. And that was fucking the stupidest move he could ever make.
The Warrior had every right not to trust D or his Shadows. Because there was no way Black Jack was going to walk the earth after today. He had already signed his fate with what he did to Kiki and Jazz. But now...
Now his fate was going to be so long and drawn out, he was going to beg for it to be over.
And D wasn’t going to leave the room when Mercy did it. He was going to help.
“This the game? I gotta find her?” D cursed silently. He had nothing to go on except Jewel’s cell phone, which he doubte
d Black Jack would leave behind. If the fucker had even a few working brain cells, he’d realized that’s how D and his crew found him last time... by pinging Kiki’s cell phone.
“Yeah. Like I said, need a head start. But didn’t hear you agree to the terms.”
D looked over his shoulder back toward the clubhouse. Night was moving in, so the day was starting to lose light. Everyone stood in a group, staring in his direction, waiting for word.
Hawk had a hand on Jag’s arm, holding him back. He seemed the most agitated and for good reason.
“She need a doctor?” D needed to know. Because he figured as soon as he agreed to Black Jack’s terms, the man would hang up and he’d have no further info.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Asshole.
Black Jack continued, “Ain’t playin’ twenty questions. Agree or not? Don’t agree, I’m takin’ ‘er with me.”
“Gonna gimme a clue where to find ‘er?”
“Yeah, only get one, though. Gonna text it to you once I’m far ‘nough away. Then I’m gonna dump her phone. Ain’t gonna find me with that. Ain’t gonna find her with that, either.”
“Gonna gimme a time when to ‘spect the text?”
“Now you’re askin’ too much. Agree or not?”
Fuck him.
The fucker had his balls in a jam. He hated being this helpless. Jewel could be anywhere. They had been on the club run for over four hours. He had time to take her at least a state away.
“Agree. But if it takes me more than an hour to find her, deal’s off.”
“That’s not the terms.”
D closed his eyes and let the evening air fill his lungs, then he pushed it all back out in a rush. “Whatever, asshole. Make sure you text a decent fuckin’ clue ASAP.”
Black Jack laughed. “Fuckin’ pussy makin’ you weak, Diesel. Little bit of snatch makin’ you agree to shit you’d never agree to before. She must be good. Now wishin’ you didn’t agree. Temptin’ me. She’d prolly fight me as hard as that other one. Made it even better. Like ‘em when they’re a challenge. Makes it even sweeter when I stick my dick in ‘em.”
The line went dead.
D’s nostrils flared. He wanted to whip his phone across the lot. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He needed it. He needed to get that text. He needed to call his crew.
He was going to lose his fucking mind.
Diesel paced the common area of church like a tiger stuck in a cage. He’d called his crew, had them standing by for more information. But now they just waited. He had Rooster and Weasel go to Jewel’s apartment to look for clues.
But Zak got a text from them saying they hadn’t found anything. No struggle, no blood, nothing. D had no idea where she was snatched from. He just knew her Jeep wasn’t at the Body Shop, her apartment, or at church.
She had completely disappeared.
Brick was getting their connection at the phone company to ping her cell phone. But they hadn’t heard back from the guy yet.
Time and his patience were running out.
He looked at the time on his cell. It had been fifty-eight minutes since Black Jack called him.
Fifty-eight fucking minutes and no text.
Jesus fuckin’ Christ! He couldn’t take much more of the waiting. And if that fucker was lying and didn’t ever send a text?
He stepped up to the nearest pool table, grabbed the cue-ball and whipped it across the room. The wall exploded where it hit, showering plaster and drywall onto everything around it. He stared at the gaping hole it left but he didn’t feel any better.
“Brother,” came the low murmur behind him and a hand landed on his shoulder.
He would’ve shrugged it off but he remembered how Hawk felt while kneeling next to Kiki on the floor in that house. D had tried to comfort him at the time, too, and Hawk hadn’t welcomed it. He’d been hurting too badly.
Now, D got it.
His gut was a hollow pit, his chest and shoulders painfully tight, his nerves shot.
This was the longest hour in his life.
His phone dinged. Hawk made a noise next to him. Then Zak and Jag were there, too. Hovering.
D turned away and hit the power button on his phone to light it up.
Fuck you, motherfucker read the text.
D’s heart dropped into his stomach and he closed his eyes, his fingers holding his phone in a death grip. Now he had no idea how to find Jewel, where to even begin looking.
Like a needle in a haystack.
When his phone sounded again, D opened his eyes and glanced at the next text.
It was a photo of Jewel bound in ropes. Wrists behind her back. Ankles tied together and then tied to the binding on her wrists. Gagged and blindfolded, she was trussed up on her side, her hair covering her face so he couldn’t tell if she was conscious. He couldn’t tell how hurt she was. But he knew that body well, so he definitely recognized her. And she was still dressed in what she had worn this morning. Thank fuck for that. That gave him hope that the asshole hadn’t raped her before leaving her wherever she was.
Which he still had no clue. He needed more than a photo of her to start looking. Black Jack hadn’t held up his end of the deal. But then D wasn’t planning on holding up his end, either.
“Info?” Hawk asked.
“Photo,” D grunted, then scrolled through his contacts and found Hunter’s number. He hit send.
“Boss,” his man answered.
D stared at his boots, a hand on his hip, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. “Only got a photo. Ain’t gonna do us any good.”
“That’s all we need,” Hunter said softly. “Even better than some random clue.”
D glanced up and his gaze hit Hawk’s. “What the fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?”
“Unless your woman disabled the GPS on her phone, or that motherfucker did, the coordinates should be embedded in the photo’s metadata.”
“That fuckwit is too fuckin’ stupid to do that.”
“Hope so,” Hunter muttered.
“Done this before?”
“Fuck yeah,” Hunter said on a breath.
Relief flooded through Diesel. “An’ that’s why your nickname’s Hunter.”
The man chuckled, but it wasn’t done warmly, it was fucking frigid. “Not the only reason, but yeah.”
“Got you, brother. Meet you at the warehouse ASAP. Gotta get the location an’ head out.”
“Ten-four, boss. ETA fifteen.”
“Make it ten,” D muttered into the phone.
“Hear ya.” The call dropped.
“Got a location?” Hawk asked.
Ace rushed up to them. “Want 5-0 searchin’, too? Can call Mitch.”
“No. We’re handlin’ it. Gonna find Jewel. Gonna find Black Jack.”
Ace frowned. “Son, don’t do shit that’s gonna land you in a concrete box.”
He looked at his father. He couldn’t miss the concern on his pop’s face. “Gonna do what I gotta, Pop.”
“Right,” his father murmured.
“Gonna call the Knights’ president,” Pierce yelled across the room. “Need all boots on the ground searchin’.”
“Just tell ‘em to stand by,” D yelled back. “If what I got don’t pan out, we’ll get ‘em on it. Already owe ‘em a marker. Don’t need two.”
“They’ll do it without a marker,” Z murmured. “Want ‘im as bad as us.”
“Not as bad,” Hawk answered.
His brother was right. No one wanted Black Jack more than Hawk or D.
“Gotta head to the warehouse an’ meet Hunter. Knows how to get Jewel’s location from the photo.” He looked at Hawk. “You, Z, an’ Jag with me.” His gaze landed on Ace. “Everybody else needs to hang here an’ wait for word. We need ‘em we’ll call. Gotta watch the women. Keep ‘em here. Got me, Pop?”
“Hear ya, boy. Got it covered.”
“Slade, too,” Z suggested.
D still didn’t know if he could trust Slade, so he was
n’t thrilled with that idea.
“Former Marine, brother,” Z reminded him. “Might be good to have ‘im with.”
“Yeah,” D grunted. “Wastin’ time here.”
“Let’s roll,” Z said, jerking his chin to the small group of brothers.
Almost as one, they moved out the back door and into the lot, heading toward their bikes.
Before they could mount up, the back door flung open and Diamond ran out. “I’m coming, too.”
“No,” Hawk barked.
“Yes, Hawk. It’s my sister,” she screeched. “Jag! Tell them I’m coming.”
Jag just shook his head. “Ain’t gonna have to worry ‘bout you gettin’ snatched up or in the way. Stay here.”
“No!” Her eyes wild, she turned to Slade. “Going with you.”
Slade scowled at her. “No you ain’t. Stayin’ here like you’re told.”
Surprise hit her face at his answer. She probably thought she had the newest member wrapped around her finger already. D was glad to see he wasn’t.
“The fuck I am! She’s my sister.”
“Diamond, you’re wastin’ time,” Hawk growled.
“Then stop arguing with me!” she insisted.
“Woman, you’re stayin’ here,” Slade stated firmly. “Get inside an’ don’t leave church ‘til I get back. Got me?”
“You can’t tell me shit,” she screamed at Slade.
“No, but I can,” Diesel bellowed at her. “Get inside an’ shut the fuck up.”
“D...”
“Get the fuck inside. Don’t need your shit on top of everythin’ else.”
“Di, do it!” Jag yelled at his sister.
She opened her mouth then snapped it shut. With a huff, she turned and went inside.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” D muttered and looked toward Slade who was getting on his sled. “More power to ya, brother.”
“Ain’t a thing,” Slade grumbled, avoiding his gaze.
There wasn’t time to debate that. And, honestly, D could give a fuck who Diamond was sinking her claws into, as long as it wasn’t him.
One by one, bikes came to life and they rolled out.
Chapter Sixteen
Heading into the warehouse with his brothers on his heels, D’s phone rang.
Down & Dirty: Diesel (Dirty Angels MC Book 4) Page 18