by Evelyn Glass
“What problem?”
“Stella has gone missing.”
There was a pause. “That’s your ex, right?”
“Not ex anymore, but yeah. She left the store on time but never came home. Her car is where she left it. I think it’s Tony.”
“Tony! Why?”
“Leverage.”
There was a pause. “Maybe. What do you need?”
“Hang on,” Royal said into the phone the turned to Connie. “You have a gun?”
“No!”
“I need a brother on my daughter and her grandmother in case he tries to take Katrina. I need that now.”
“I’ll get someone over there. Anything else?”
“No, not at the moment. I need to think.”
“Okay,” Doc said. “Hang in there. I’ll get a brother rolling. I need an address.”
He knew where Connie lived, but didn’t know her house number, and wasn’t sure of the street name. “What’s your address?” he asked, and then repeated it into the phone.
“Give us an hour.”
“I’ll be here.” He ended the call and turned to face Connie. “Somebody is coming to watch you and Katrina. They won’t let anything happen to you.” He pulled a roll of cash out of his pocket and peeled off three bills. “Here’s three hundred to cover food and whatever else you may need while the brother—”
“I don’t want your money.”
He forced it into her hand. “Take it,” he insisted. “It may be a few days before I can get Stella back.” She took the money, but he could tell she wasn’t happy.
“I don’t want some thug in my house.”
“Let me tell you something about this thug,” he growled. “He’ll take a bullet for you. He’ll give his life to protect you and Katrina, so a little respect would be in order here.”
Connie’s eyes widened as Gabriel spoke, the tone and hardness of his voice making her realize Gabriel was probably someone you didn’t want to trifle with.
“What’s going on, Gabriel?”
“What has Stella told you?”
“Nothing. Only you two were seeing each other again.”
“Tony Daniels stole a lot of money from us. We’re going to get it back. I think he took Stella to try to get us to back off.”
“Tony?”
“You know him?”
“I never met him, but she mentioned him a few times.” Her eyes hardened. “None of his would have happened if she hadn’t gotten involved with you again.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I didn’t steal anyone’s money, Tony did. I didn’t kidnap anyone, Tony did…probably. So if you are going to get pissy about it, make sure you’re blaming the right person.”
“And if she hadn’t gotten involved with you, Tony wouldn’t have kidnapped her,” she snapped.
“If she hadn’t become involved with me, she wouldn’t have me turning the entire fucking country inside out until I find her either. Make no mistake, Connie, I’ll find her and I’ll get her back, and I’ll make whoever took her pay.”
Connie glared at him a moment the softened slightly. He was right. It wasn’t his fault, not directly anyway, and she hadn’t seen Stella this happy in years. “Get her back, Gabriel. Get her back.”
He gave his head a firm nod. “You have my word. Take care of my daughter.”
She nodded in return. “I will.”
***
Forty minutes later, Gabriel heard the rumble of a Harley as it pulled to a stop and fell silent in the drive. He peered between the sheers. “Hot Rod is here,” he said then stepped out into the carport.
“Good to see you, brother,” Royal said, taking Hot Rod into a back slapping hug.
“That Daniels asshole doesn’t know when to stop digging, does he?”
Royal gave him a ghost of a smile. “No, and I’m going to bury him in the hole.” He opened the door and led Hot Rod inside. “Connie Hayes, Rodney Guerrero, but he goes by Hot Rod.”
Hot Rod extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Connie.”
“Nice to meet you, uh, Hot Rod,” she said, extending her hand.
Hot Rod was huge, less than an inch shorter than Royal but much more heavily built. While his shirt strained to contain him, his handshake was surprisingly gentle. “You can call me Rod if you prefer,” Hot Rod grinned as her hand disappeared into his paw.
“We call him Hot Rod because he likes fast bikes,” Royal said, giving Connie the clean version of his club name. Hot Rod really got his name because in his younger years he was a walking erection and would fuck anything that moved.
Katrina appeared, stopping at the door to stare at Hot Rod. “That’s Katrina,” Royal said. “She’s shy. You want to come say hello to Mr. Rod?”
Katrina shook her head, her eyes big.
“That’s your daughter?” Hot Rod asked.
“That’s her.”
Hot Rod knelt but made no move toward her. “Royal, she’s beautiful.” He smiled at her. “I won’t hurt you, Katrina, I promise,” he said, giving her a smile, then stood.
“These people are important to me,” Royal said softly.
Hot Rod nodded. “I’ve got this. You worry about what you need to do and let me worry about what I need to do.”
Royal nodded and gave him a slap on the back. “Connie, do what he says, okay? He’ll keep you and Katrina safe.” He turned his attention back to Hot Rod. “If Tony shows up here, don’t kill him. We still need to find the safe.”
Hot Rod grinned. “Well, shit! There goes all my fun!” He glanced at Katrina then grimaced. “Sorry.”
Royal saw the stricken look on Connie’s face. “He’s kidding. I have to go. Keep them safe.”
“Like they were my own.”
Gabriel knelt in front of Katrina. “Katrina, I’m sorry, but I can’t take you to zoo tomorrow. Mommy can’t go and I need to help her with something. We’ll go as soon as Mommy and I get back, okay? I promise.”
“Where’s Mommy?”
“She’s not here right now. She had to go on a trip and she doesn’t have a way to get home. I’m going to go get her, okay?”
“Where’d she go?”
“She went to see a friend.”
Katrina watched him a moment. “Okay. When Mommy and you get back we can go to the zoo?”
“You bet. Give me a hug.”
Katrina stepped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stayed low, holding her a moment, then let her go. He stood and nodded to Hot Rod. When he stepped out Hot Rod followed.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Bullshit. I wouldn’t be okay. Stay frosty, brother. We’ll get her back.”
***
Royal returned Stella’s apartment and opened his laptop. April, he typed. I need that information as soon as possible. If you can get it to me before Monday morning there’s another $500 in it for you. This is super urgent. Gabriel. He read the email a couple of times then pressed send. Tony had just upped the stakes of the game. Now it was personal.
While he waited for April to respond, he looked up Antonio Daniels and Daniels Construction, getting their addresses from one of several databases he was a member of. There were three Antonio Daniels’s in and around Greenfield. He didn’t think Tony was stupid enough to go home, but he was going to check them out just the same.
He started with Daniels Construction, but as expected, the office located on the end of a small strip mall was dark. The second Antonio Daniels residence was probably Tony’s. Unlike the first place he cruised slowly by, this house was dark. He checked out the third residence. Like the first house, the home was brightly lit, and this family even had a truck in the drive, though it was the wrong make and color to be Tony’s.
When he stopped at the stop sign, he pulled his phone. April had finally responded. He opened the email and read. Sorry for the delay in answering. I would like to help, but I can’t. If I show up on my day off and access the system, there will be questions I can’t an
swer. I wish I could help you, but it’s too much risk. I’ll do it first thing Monday morning. Sorry. April.
He deleted the email. It was the answer he expected, but he had to try.
***
“You’re back?” Hot Rod asked as Royal walked up the drive.
“Yeah. I’m stuck until Monday. No point in you giving up your Saturday night and Sunday. But if you could be back here by eight Monday morning, that would be great. I should have information on his location by nine, and I want to be ready to roll the minute I get it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Hot Rod stared into Royal’s eyes a moment. “Okay. Call me if you need anything. Anything.”
Royal nodded. “Thanks, brother, but I’ll be fine.”
Hot Rod nodded then started toward his bike, stopping half-way there and turning back. “Your daughter is a sweetheart.”
Royal smiled. “I know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Royal paced back and forth in the clubhouse. April arrived at work at eight, and it was now 8:15, and he still hadn’t received the email from her. This was by far the worst part of a stalk, the waiting.
He’d spent Saturday night at Connie’s house, sleeping on the couch, then taken Katrina to the zoo on Sunday after all, just to take his mind off Stella. He’d tried to remain upbeat and act like he didn’t have a care in the world, but Katrina was a perceptive little girl and had asked him why he was sad as they walked back to Connie’s car. He’d thought about his answer a moment then decided to tell her the truth.
“I miss your Mommy.”
“You said you were going to go get her.”
“That’s right, I did. And I will. Tomorrow.”
“Will I see her tomorrow, too?”
“I hope so, squirt. I hope so.”
He’d expected to hear a ransom demand the entire day, but no call ever came, and that worried him most of all. He’d spent another night on Connie’s couch. With no ransom demand, he was probably being overly cautious, but he was taking no chances.
When Hot Rod arrived he’d belted out of there to meet with his brothers. The recovery team was locked and loaded. All they needed now was a location.
“You don’t suppose she went with him on her own, do you?” Goon asked.
“No way in hell,” Royal said firmly. “She might dump me, but she wouldn’t leave Katrina.”
Hammer nodded. “When do you expect the email from the phone company?”
“I expected to have it already.”
“Do you suppose something went wrong?” Goon asked.
“How the fuck should I know?” Royal snarled, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Sorry, brother. It’s not your fault.”
Hammer rose and put a hand on Royal’s shoulder. “You need to hold it together, for Stella. You need to be frosty, okay? I know you’re upset. Hell, I’m pissed off and it’s not even my old lady. But you need to bury that shit deep for now. You’re the best tracker in the business. We’ll get her back, but only if think with,” he said, tapping Royal on the temple, “and not with,” he continued, tapping him on the chest.
“I know,” Royal sighed, trying to let go of his fear, anger and frustrations. “But if he hurts her—”
“Then I’ll hold him while you gut him,” Hammer said, finishing his sentence.
Royal’s phone chirred out the arrival of the email. He pulled his phone and opened the email from April. He quickly scrolled through the addresses. “High Point, North Carolina. I’ll figure out exactly where once we get there.”
The brothers mounted up, the four Harley’s rumbling to life before roaring out of the clubhouse parking lot on a wave of thunder.
***
They stopped in Thomasville for gas, the bikes running on fumes. As Royal fueled his thirsty hog, he checked his phone. “Tony called,” he said, looking at his brothers. “We need to find a quiet place.”
“How about that Denny’s on the other side of the interstate?” Blade suggested. “They shouldn’t be busy now.”
“Let’s do it.”
They motored to the Denny’s, parking in the far back of the lot, well away from prying ears. Royal touched his phone to dial the missed call, placing it on speaker so Blade, Goon and Hammer could hear.
“Stella for the combination,” Tony said.
“Let me speak to her.”
“Gabriel!” Stella’s voice came over the connection.
“Are you okay? Has he hurt you?”
“I’m okay. All he wants is the combination to the safe and for you to let him leave.”
“Where are you?”
“That’s enough,” Tony’s voice said. “So you heard the deal. Give me the combination to the safe and I’ll tell you where you can find her.”
“Okay,” Royal said. “Tell me where you are. I’ll meet you, give you the combination, and I’ll take Stella.”
Tony chuckled. “You must be insane! You could give me any set of numbers. How would I know until I tried them?”
“Fine. We’ll meet at the safe. Once it’s open, I’ll take Stella.”
“Right. Once you know where the money is, you’ll just let me leave? This is the way it’s going to go down. You’re going to tell me right now what the combination is. If the door opens, I’ll call you back and tell you where I left her. Simple as that.”
“How do I know you can trust you?”
“I don’t see that you have any choice.”
Royal thought a moment. He was boxed in. “I’ll give you the combination, but it has to be in person or not at all.”
“No. Give me the—”
Royal ended the call with a stab of the button. He was risking Stella’s life on the bet Tony wouldn’t throw away his only bargain chip. “We need to use the Denny’s Wi-Fi. I want you three to get on the phones and call every rental place in central North Carolina and reserve every engine hoist you can find. All of them, for the next week. Let’s tie him to this place. Since he came back here, I’m guessing the safe is here, somewhere. While you do that, I’ll narrow down the area.”
“I don’t understand why he hasn’t cut the damn thing open,” Goon said as they walked toward the restaurant.
“Because it’s not that easy,” Hammer explained. “When we bought the new safe I remember they told us it takes days to cut into a modern safe. It has material inside the shell to destroy a saw blade in seconds, and a layer of stuff that fills a room with smoke if you use a torch. I bet the old safe does, too. If it were easy to break into, they wouldn’t call it a safe.”
***
“I told you he wouldn’t just give you the combination!” Stella snapped. “He’s not as stupid as you think.”
“Shut up and let me think!”
She glared at him. She’d gotten over her initial fright when he hadn’t hurt, or threatened to hurt, her. “Let me go, Tony. Tell me where the safe is and let me go. I’ll convince them to not hunt you down. It’s your only option.”
“I’m not giving up the money! I’ve come too far for that.”
“I keep telling you, there isn’t that much money in there. Gabriel told me. I don’t care what you thought you saw, there’s only a hundred thousand in the safe, not a million!”
“Maybe it isn’t a million, but it was a lot of cash. More than a hundred thousand, for sure.”
She glared at him again. They had been around and around this topic. Tony couldn’t give up the idea there was close to a million dollars available for the taking.
“You’re being stupid!”
“And you’re being a bitch!” He glared at her a moment then held out his phone to her. “You better convince him to give me the combination or I’m going to start taking it out of your ass.”
“So you’re a rapist in addition to being a thief and a kidnapper?”
Tony smiled at her but it didn’t touch his eyes, and her blood ran cold. “I’m not talking about rape, Stella. If he won’t give
me the combination to the safe, you’re no good to me. I’d be better off on my own, and I won’t have to share the money with anyone.”
She swallowed hard. “You said you loved me.”
“I did, until you knifed me in the back over that fucking Gabriel. Now you’re nothing to me except a bargaining chip.” She took his phone and dialed Gabriel’s number. “Put it on speaker,” Tony ordered.