by Wilder, L.
CHAPTER 17
Murphy
The club always comes first. Always have your brother’s back. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Don’t buy into other people’s bullshit. Never let your emotions rule you. Those were the rules I’d lived by for years. They’d gotten me through some tough spots, in and out of the club, so it didn’t make sense why I’d ignored them when it came to Riley. But I had. To make matters worse, I knew I was doing it, and now, Murphy’s Law had come back to bite me in the ass, and I had no one to blame but myself. I’m the one who’d let my guard down. I’d let her draw me in, making me want again—need again, and I couldn’t deny that I liked the feeling. I liked it so much that I never thought about the possibility of something going wrong. I knew what was at stake. I knew I’d let my emotions rule me. I hadn’t pushed harder. I hadn’t stayed on Nichols until I’d convinced him to do something about his lack of security, because I let my focus get blurred. Now, the time had come for me to pay the consequences for my actions. Only it wouldn’t just be me who had to pay the consequences—my brothers would be there right by my side, putting their lives on the line to help me get Riley back. My chest tightened at the thought, and I eased my foot down on the accelerator, increasing my speed as we turned out of the Nichols’ driveway.
Knowing time wasn’t on my side, I called Riggs and quickly explained the situation with Riley and the motherfuckers who’d taken her. Just as I had hoped, he had an idea for tracking them down. “I need you to call Nichols. See if he’ll give you the number he used to get in contact with Devon.”
“You gonna try to track him with his cell?”
“Yeah, maybe, but there’s no guarantees it’ll work. If the guy is using a burner, I won’t be able to pick up his location … at least not with any real accuracy. But if the number we have is from a regular cell, then I can track him in a matter of minutes.”
This wasn’t exactly news to me. Hell, all the brothers used burners so no one could trace our calls or monitor our location. We weren’t the only ones who took such precautions. Anyone who wanted to keep their identity a secret used burners—at least, anyone with half a brain would use one. If my gut was right, Devon wasn’t thinking anyone would be checking up on him. “I’d guess a guy like him would think he was fucking invincible.”
“Only one way to find out,” Riggs replied. “Call me as soon as you get the number.”
“Give me two minutes.”
As soon as I got off the phone with Nichols, I called Riggs back and gave him the number he’d given me for Devon. We were just leaving the city limits of Somerville when he finally returned my call. “You were right. The dumbass was using a regular cell.”
“Does that mean you have his location?”
“Right now, he’s on Park Street … just a block or so down from the Little General. Looks like they’re sitting in an empty lot.”
“Damn. Right in the middle of Orange Mound,” I grumbled.
“Yep. That’d be the place,” Riggs confirmed.
“I’m headed that way now. See if you can find out anything about Devon and these fucking Hurricanes before we get there.”
“I’m on it.” Before he hung up, he said, “I’ll let you know if his location changes.”
“Thanks, brother.”
As I soon as I hung up the phone, I shared Devon’s location with the others, then glanced up at my rearview mirror to check on Shadow and Gauge. Just as I’d expected, they were right behind me and following my lead as I drove towards Park Avenue. The further we got into town, the more traffic I had to contend with. It seemed like everyone had forgotten how to fucking drive, and it was making me lose what was left of my patience. I whipped around several slow-moving vehicles, and by the time I got in front of them, my knuckles were completely white. The uneasiness building inside me was growing with such fervor and intensity that I was afraid I’d explode right there on the spot. It was almost too much to bear. I looked over to Blaze and wondered if he or Shadow would feel the same anxiety if it were their ol’ ladies who’d been taken. Knowing them the way I did, I had no doubt that they’d be just as wound up as I was.
We were ten miles away from the location Riggs had given me when my burner started to ring. I put it on speaker so the others could hear as Riggs announced, “They’re on the move … They’ve left the empty lot and are headed east on Park. They’re moving slow, like really slow. You’d think they were pushing the car instead of driving it, so you shouldn’t have a problem catching up to them.”
“Got it.” As I gassed it, I told him, “We’re getting close. Just now passing the Little General.”
“By the way, I did some digging. The Hurricanes only have fifteen to twenty members, but they’ve made a name for themselves around the Mound. They have a habit of causing all kinds of mayhem over there.” He paused for a moment, then said, “Hey … they’re just a few blocks ahead of you now. They’ve stopped at a red light on the corner of Park and Second. I still have no idea why they’re moving so fucking slow.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.” As I continued forward, I asked, “What else did you find out?”
“They’ve been in a turf war with Arañas, one of the local Hispanic gangs, for months. A guy named Malek Harrison seems to be running the show. He’s a local. Folks were killed in a drive-by. He’s got a rap-sheet, but nothing out of the norm there.”
“We’re coming up on First.”
“Keep straight ahead. Looks like they’re only a quarter of a mile or so ahead of you.”
I was chomping at the bit as we grew closer. There was a nagging voice in the back of my mind that told me something wasn’t right, and all I could think about was getting to Riley. The motherfuckers who had her better pray that she’s okay, because if she wasn’t—if they’d touched one hair on her head—I’d kill every last one of them. Just as we were coming up on the next stop sign, Riggs announced, “They’re right in front of you.”
“I see ’em.”
The black BMW was in the middle of the fucking road with the back doors wide open. I stayed behind and watched as two guys came running out from the back alley. Paying us no mind, they hopped into the backseat and closed the doors. Blaze leaned forward and asked, “What the fuck are they doing?”
“Hell if I know.”
When they started to move, I told Riggs, “I’ll call you back.”
I hung up the phone and slipped it in my pocket as I drove up on the BMW, just inches from their rear bumper. I put on my high beams and eased up even closer. It was difficult to see through their dark-tinted windows, but I was almost certain that Riley wasn’t in the backseat. I turned to Blaze and asked, “Do you see Riley in there?”
“I don’t know, brother. It’s hard to tell for sure.”
The BMW continued to creep forward ever so slowly, but they quickly caught on that we were tailing them when they started to pick up the pace. It wasn’t long before we were in a high-speed chase. Hoping to lose us, they took several quick turns, but I hung tight. There was no way in hell I was letting them get away, not without knowing if Riley was in the car with them. When we came up on a side road, Blaze turned to me said, “We aren’t getting anywhere with this bullshit.”
“We gotta try something different.” Gunner eased up from the backseat and said, “Hell, nobody uses this road anymore. Let’s see if we can shoot out their back tires.”
He was right. The road was practically abandoned with no one around for miles, but I wasn’t sure that shooting the tires out was a good idea. “I don’t know, brother. Riley might be in there, and if they wreck, she might get hurt.”
“A few bumps and bruises are better than a bullet,” Blaze replied flatly. “We need to end this thing, brother.”
“Do it.”
Blaze rolled down his window and a rush of cold air filled the truck. I took in a deep breath, hoping to slow the adrenaline that was surging through me as he leaned out the window and took his shot. The back end sta
rted to swerve back and forth as the driver appeared to lose control of the vehicle. They hit a loose patch of gravel, causing it to jar to the side, and seconds later the car took a nose dive into a ditch. As we pulled up next to them, I could see that the front end had crumpled like a fucking can when it hit the embankment, and smoke was billowing out from under the hood, making it clear that the car was done. I parked on the side of the road and killed the engine. As Gunner started to open his door, he warned, “Take it slow. You know these guys are packing.”
I didn’t want to take it slow. I wanted to run straight for that damn car and open every fucking door to see if Riley was inside, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen. None of us knew what was waiting for us in that car, so we had to play it safe. I took a deep breath and let my instincts kick in. “I’ll take the front with Blaze. You and Shadow cover the back with Gauge and Rider.”
“You got it.”
My heart was beating a mile a minute as we eased out of the truck with our weapons drawn. We all quickly realized that those dark-tinted fucking windows weren’t going to work in our favor as we proceeded towards the car, but that didn’t stop us from advancing forward. With every step we took, they were watching us. I could feel it. Their eyes were making the hairs prickle across my skin. Blaze slowly came around me. He was just a few steps away from the front passenger side door when it flew open. My breath caught when one of the men shot several rounds in his directions, but as I expected, Blaze was sitting on go. As soon as the asshole pulled the trigger, Blaze returned fire, killing him instantly. He kept his weapon trained on the vehicle as he growled, “Fuck!”
Tension crackled around us as the driver’s door slowly started to open. With my gun aimed at the driver, I shouted, “Don’t even think about it, asshole.”
“Hold up!” He held his hands in the air like he was being arrested and pleaded, “Don’t shoot!”
“Get out of the car!”
“All right, man. Just go easy on that fucking trigger!”
I kept my gun aimed at his head as he stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him. “Who’s in there with you?”
“My boys … Leon and Zeek.” The rear doors eased opened, giving us a clear view of the two men in the backseat. “Your fella done killed Marcus.”
“Marcus should’ve known better. No one shoots at a brother from Satan’s Fury and lives to tell about it.”
“What the hell is all this about? We ain’t got no riff with the Fury,” he grumbled as he wiped the blood from his brow.
“You do now.” I looked him dead in the eyes as I asked, “Where the fuck is she?”
“Who?”
I was done wasting time. I stepped towards him and placed the barrel of my gun under his chin. “The Nichols girl. Where the hell is she?”
“What the fuck is it to you?” he snapped.
And with that, the dam broke. I moved my gun from his chin to his thigh and pulled the trigger. Curses were streaming from his mouth as I growled, “I’m not going to ask you again!”
His eyes widened and his breath was ragged as he answered, “I got no idea, man.”
“You seriously want to go down that road?”
His hands clung to his wound as he said, “I ain’t lying, man. She took off running when we stopped to get some smokes.”
“Running? There’s one of her and four of you. How the hell did she get away from you?” Blaze asked.
“We had a run-in with a few of the Arañas.”
“What kind of run-in?” Gunner pushed.
“The kind where we kicked their ass in front of the fucking Little General where ever’body could see. We showed those assholes who’s running shit around here,” he boasted.
“Um-hmm. I’m sure you did,” I scoffed. “And the girl ran off when you were fighting with this Arañas gang?”
“Yeah. That’s how it played out,” he admitted. “We’ve been looking for her, but the bitch ain’t nowhere to be found.”
“How long have you been looking for her?” Blaze asked.
“A couple of hours … maybe more.” His voice was strained as he said, “You ain’t gotta worry though. White girl out running in these streets is as good as dead.”
I knew how bad things could be, and my mind was suddenly bombarded with all the possible dangers Riley might have to face while running through the dark streets of the ’hood. It would be a fucking miracle if she managed to survive. I looked at the man before me, and rage rushed over me when I thought about everything he’d put her through—killing her horse, kidnapping her, and exposing her to this kind of danger. Thinking about it infuriated me. Riley should’ve been home. She should’ve been sleeping soundly in her bed, but instead, she was out there in the streets alone, fighting to survive. And it was all because of him. He was the reason that she was in harm’s way. He was the reason I might never see her again, and he’d pay the ultimate price for doing so. I looked him in the eyes as I brought my gun up to his head, and his dark eyes widened in horror when he heard the familiar click of my finger engaging the trigger. When his lifeless body dropped to the ground with a hallowed thud, one of the men in the backseat started cursing and shouting like a wild man. “What the fuck? He fucking killed him. Goddamn it! He really killed him.”
I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I just stood there staring at Devon’s body sprawled out on the ground, wishing I could kill him all over again. Seemingly concerned, Shadow stepped up beside me and asked, “You okay, brother?”
“I’m better now,” I grumbled. The truth was, I’d been hanging by a thread, and the thread just broke. I had no idea where Riley was and it was fucking with my head. “We’ve gotta find her.”
“What do you want us to do?”
Before I could answer, my burner started ringing. When I answered, I heard Nichols’ voice say, “She just called me.”
“What?”
“Riley just called me,” Nichols repeated.
Relief washed over me. “Is she okay? Where is she?”
“Not sure. Somewhere in Memphis.” He was talking fast, making it difficult to understand. “She gave me the address, but I got no idea where it is.”
“Give me the address.”
He paused a moment, then replied, “It’s … uh … 1329 South Park Street.”
“Got it. I’m headed that way now.”
“Good. And Murphy. You need to hurry.” I could hear the urgency in his voice as he went on, “Riley said she was okay, but the lady that was with her mentioned something about her being shot.”
“Shot?”
“Yeah. Apparently, one of Devon’s guys shot her when she was running away from them. I have no idea how bad it is, so you …”
I didn’t wait for him to continue. “I’m leaving now.”
When I hung up the phone, Shadow looked over to me and said, “We’ve got this. You and Blaze go find Riley.”
I glanced back over at Devon and his mangled car. “But we’ve gotta figure out something to do with …”
“Don’t worry about that.” Shadow cocked his eyebrow and gave me one of his looks as he assured me, “I’ve got a plan.”
I didn’t argue. I knew I could trust Shadow to handle it, so I gave him a quick nod and headed for the truck. Despite knowing she was alive, I couldn’t get to her fast enough. I needed to see for myself that she was truly okay, and even that wouldn’t be enough to extinguish the rage that was still burning deep inside of me.
CHAPTER 18
Riley
I’d always heard that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and it was only after running for my life and finding refuge in the most unlikely of places when I fully understood the truth of that statement. I’d always assumed that the people who settled in areas like Orange Mound were shady at best. From the rumors I’d heard and the things I’d seen on TV, I thought they were all criminals who had no pride in the way they lived. All those assumptions were proven wrong when I was trying to find
a place to hide and found myself in Ms. Claudine’s backyard. I’d been on the run for hours—first, from Devon, and then from various derelicts I’d encountered on the streets—and I was beyond exhausted. I had no phone, no money, and no one to turn to for help. I was screwed.
Thankfully, I was wearing my hoodie and used its hood to cover my head and my face. I’d hoped that it would help me blend in and not attract any unwanted attention as I wandered from one bad area to the next. My side was aching, my feet were throbbing, and my head was pounding. I was in desperate need of a place to just sit and rest for a few minutes when I came up on a row of small shotgun-style homes. Like most in the area, the paint was peeling off the exterior, the roofs were completely worn-out, and the small front porches were caving in. It didn’t look like the safest place, but it was quiet, really quiet. I hoped that was a good sign and started towards the house on the end. With its pale blue color and the ivy on the metal columns, it seemed to be the most inviting. When I reached the driveway, I slipped through the fence and inched my way to the back of the house.
I was about to step into the backyard when I heard someone say, “Hey, you!” I quickly turned and looked up onto the porch only to find a woman standing there in the dark. She was clutching her little pink bathrobe as she tried to protect herself from the cold night air. “What you doing back there?”
“Umm … I’m sorry for trespassing, ma’am.” My voice trembled as I removed my hood and said, “I wouldn’t have come through your yard like this, but I’m lost. I don’t have my phone or any money …”