It’s a freaking madhouse and I’m sure we’re at or have exceeded our capacity. I’m not sure that we should let anyone else in. Once the game wraps up, it’s only going to get crazier.
After I finish delivering my order, I wave at Camila and mouth to her that I’m going to call Hawk.
She nods and gives me a thumbs up. I can see in her face that she’s as worried as I am.
I have to push my way through the crowd to get to the bar. The only phone in the place is right behind the counter, but as soon as I pick it up, I know it will be impossible to hear. My cell is locked up in Hawk’s office along with my bag, but Jonus has his own cell on him, so he hands it over.
“Go ahead. Make a booty call from my phone. Someone should get too.”
I laugh and tap him on the shoulder. “Thanks. I’ll have it right back.” I lean into his ear. “And I won’t tell Hawk you called him a booty call.”
Jonus rolls his eyes at me between handing off drinks to the new girl.
To get out the back door, I’d have to traverse the entire sitting area and the pile of people stacked up in line at the bar. But the front door is almost a clear shot, so I take it.
The street isn’t much quieter, but I can at least hear myself think enough to dial Hawk’s number. It rings three times before he picks up.
“What the hell is wrong, Jonus?”
I hold the phone away from my ear, then smile. He’s going to be so surprised when he hears my voice.
“We hello to you too, Hawk.”
“Lo?” His tone changes. “Where’s Jonus?”
“He’s swamped at the bar. I’m calling from his cell because to get to your office I’d have to walk over people.”
“That's crazy?” he says. There’s chatter in the background. Lots of men talking, and once or twice I pick up a voice that rises over the others.
“I’m sorry to bother you. I know you have a meeting.”
“It’s fine, Lo. Do you need me to come over?”
I shrug my shoulders, even if he can’t see me do it. “If you could, that would be great. Things are already getting crazy and the game hasn’t ended yet.”
“Fuck,” he utters under his breath.
“If it’s an issue—” I start, but he stops me.
“No. No issue. Tell Jonus to stop serving anything but beer and three per customer until I get there. Anyone gets rowdy, kick them out and don’t worry about the bill. Get Curtis in the back to deal with the heavy hitters, even if he has to leave the oven unmanned.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“Lo.” His voice dips and I have to hold the phone closer to my ear. “Don’t get hurt. If it comes down to it, you leave. Go upstairs to the apartment if you have to. The keys are on my desk. Take Camila with you.”
I shake my head. It’s sweet the way he worries, but I’ve taken care of myself for long enough to know when to push people and when to get out of their way. “I’ll be fine. Just come when you can.”
He’s off the phone and I’m missing him already. It’s been like that all week. We’re together in the morning and again after we close the restaurant, but the daytime between kills me.
I clutch the cell to my chest and begin to pull the front door open when someone calls my name. The voice came from outside instead of in, and I’m sure it’s a customer hoping to score a table.
“We’re full,” I say over my shoulder before I turn enough to make out the man approaching me from across the street.
“That’s fine. I wasn’t interested in the food. I just want to talk to you.”
I narrow my eyes to see him clearer through the foggy night air. I know his voice but until I see his face, my brain won’t let me admit it’s him. He steps up on the sidewalk and there is no way I can be wrong about who I’m seeing.
“Darren? How did you find me?”
Hawk
Bear is pissed as hell. With the Devils running an initiation night, we are on full alert. They like to make their unpatched members perform loyalty tasks before patching them, and some of those tasks involve crossing our territorial lines.
Most of our members are out on patrol. Bear, Gunner, and Smokey are still in the clubhouse running interference as members call in with information.
“Who was that?” Bear asks, nodding to my phone.
“The restaurant,” I answer. “The winning football season is causing some issues.”
Bear growls under his breath. Most of the members have businesses that help support the club. When one of us is in need, the others help. But club business always comes first, and I know what Bear is thinking tonight. After the run-in Scout had with the Devils, and the killing of two of their members, we have to focus on keeping the clubhouse and our members safe.
“Do you still have that Devil’s ol’lady on your payroll?” Its Gunner who’s asking the questions now.
I nod. “She’s pissed I wouldn’t give her the night off.”
“She’ll be glad you did once she hears about what her ol’man did tonight to earn a patch.” Smokey slaps my back as he passes behind me.
“I don’t think she sees it that way.”
Bear looks at me. “You and her.” He stalls. “You know better than to mess with one of theirs, right?”
“Christ, Bear,” I yell. “No. I just don’t want to see her get hurt. That’s it.”
Bear gives me a sideways glance. “That’s not what I mean, Brother. You’re different. We’ve all seen it recently. If it’s not you and that girl hooking up, what is it?”
I almost laugh. Bear is right. Over the last week, my attention has been split between the restaurant and Lo. I haven’t been hanging out at the club bar after meetings and I haven’t taken a single meal with my brothers. “It’s not what you think, man. Just leave it at that.”
Bear slams his fist down on the table in front of him. “Damn it, Hawk. I can’t leave anything alone right now. You’re a tactical expert, and your heads been out of the game while we need your focus here.”
I shake my head, but I don’t say a word. It’s none of Bear’s business what I have going in my personal life. As for head in the game, I’m on point more than ever right now with my girl working back at the restaurant with Camila. There’s no telling what the Devils will do, but they’ve been known to involve their initiates’ ladies into the initiation tasks.
“If we’re done here,” I say and stand, “my employees need me.”
Bear glares at me, but he doesn't say anything else. As soon as I turn my back on the table, Gunner chimes in with his plans to keep the clubhouse under surveillance. He’s good at redirecting a conversation and he knows how to handle Bear.
My bike’s parked outside and I waste no time getting to the restaurant. It wasn’t Lo’s voice on the phone that has me worried, but the noise from the background. I know she can hold her own, as well as Camila and Jonus. But it only takes a spark to ignite a flame in that large of a crowd and, before long, someone is going to get hurt.
I pull up out front and the people waiting to get in have spilled out onto the street. There’s no place to park, so I slide in between two parallel parked cars and hope they don’t hit my bike when they leave.
I have to shoulder my way through the crowd all the way from the front of the house to the bar where Jonus is sweating. He’s done what I asked and is only serving beers, but the line is five people thick.
“Jonus,” I call over the crowd. Some of them recognize my voice and move out of my way. Others get the hard end of my shoulder jammed into their head for not moving. “Where’s Lo?”
He looks out over the crowd. I spotted Camila when I walked in. She’s struggling to make her way to me.
“Where’s the new girl?” I yell at her.
She looks up from pushing her way through the crowd and shrugs her shoulders.
“And Lo?”
Camila takes an elbow to the face. She gives it back as good as she gets, throwing her shoulder into the guy and
knocking his beer from his hands. If the guy had any intention of going after her, he stops when I push my way through and take her by the arm.
“I haven’t seen her since she went out front to call you.”
“That was half an hour ago. She hasn’t been back in?”
Camila throws her hands up in the air. She’s so angry, she’s near tears. “I don’t know, Hawk. I haven’t even been able to reach the door to check on her.”
Fuck. This place is a disaster and I’m missing not one but two servers. I need it shut down, but I don’t have the time to do it. I need to get eyes on Lo. I turn back over my shoulder and say the one thing I’d knock heads off of bodies for if anyone else did in my bar said it.
“Jonus, call in the police.”
Jonus gives me a blank stare before I tell him to do it now. He drops the half full mug in his hands and reaches for the bar phone.
I don’t wait around for the officers to arrive and issue a citation for overcrowding. I don’t fucking care what they do. Until I find Lo, nothing else matters.
Chapter 8
Lotus
I could have run, but the front door is too clogged with people and the sidewalk is about the same.
My heart slams into my chest, making it hard to catch my breath, and my knees lock.
Darren is wearing all black. With his dark hair, he blends right into the night and I’m worried his plan may have been to abduct me from the dark.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, holding onto the door handle like a safety raft. As long as I don’t let go, he can’t hurt me.
“I just want to talk,” he says, stepping closer with one hand held out, palm up. “I miss you, Lotus.”
“I don’t miss you,” I say.
He’s irritated by my response. He shakes his head and runs his fingers over his hair before he grabs at the ends and pulls, making his face tight. “Don’t say that. I loved you. I was good to you.”
I take a deep breath in and out, measuring my words so I don’t set him off. “You may have loved me, but that was a long time ago and I don’t feel the same for you.”
“Yes, you do.” He’s getting louder and more agitated. “If you didn’t, you won’t have had to run away from me. You wouldn’t have cared.”
A group of high school students step up to the door, and I pull it open to let them in. I position myself to follow them, but Darren steps in my way, blocking the opening. I try to crane my neck enough to see Jonus or Camila. If I can make eye contact, they will know I’m in trouble, but the wall of people is too thick and I’m blocked.
Darren traps me between the closing door and his chest. “When you left, you broke your mother’s heart.”
Stabbing pain jabs at my chest. This is the only truth he’s spoken tonight and it’s a heavy one. “I know,” I answer. There is no hiding it.
He pushes up against me harder, his swollen erection pressed into my lower back, and I shiver.
“She couldn’t make it without you, Lo. She was drowning.” He reaches a hand into my hair and his fingers wrap around my ponytail. I know what is coming next, but he’s too fast for me to stop. He jerks my head back so that his lips graze my ear. “She wouldn’t have lasted without my help.”
“What did you do?”
He’s still breathing in my ear. He's standing so close. “I didn’t want you to come home to any empty apartment, so I loaned her the money to keep up the rent.”
“You loaned her money. What does that have to do with me?”
The back of his hand glides across my neck and my whole body freezes in place. “She can’t pay me back, Lo. She doesn't have the cash, and I’m not going to keep paying without something in return.”
I’ve wondered how she kept up the bills without me. She couldn’t remember to cash her paycheck, much less get the rent and utilities in on time. She’s in debt to Darren because of me, though I’m sure he planned it all out this way.
“I’ve got money saved up. Tell me how much and I’ll send you a check.”
“I don’t want the money anymore, Lo.” His mouth presses into my neck and he runs his tongue over my skin.
My body revolts. Acid fills my throat and my stomach sinks. I turn, smacking his face with one hand and pushing him away with the other. I’m reaching up to his shoulder for leverage while I bend one knee, ready to kick my other leg out and jam my foot into his junk, when Darren reaches into the front pocket of his black jacket and points the barrel of a gun at me.
I freeze. My hands go to my sides out of instinct. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” I start. I hope I can talk him down or get him to move away from the line of customers enough that someone sees the gun in his hands.
Darren is too careful. He keeps everything concealed from view. One hand is on my shoulder and he uses it to turn me to face the sidewalk towards my apartment. Then he takes Jonus’ cell from my hand and puts it in his pocket.
“I’m done playing games, Lotus. I want you back. I took care of your mother when you left her. I kept your home for you. I’ve searched everywhere to find you. If that doesn't show how much I love you, then…” He trails off and seizes up. “Don’t make me prove it to you, Lo.”
Darren shoves me in the back, and I trip over my feet but catch myself. We’re moving away from the restaurant and away from the lights. My heart is in my throat, but I can’t think of a way to get anyone’s attention without upsetting Darren more. So I do as he says and walk.
“What do you want, Darren? Why are you here?”
He laughs, then pokes my back with what I assume to be the barrel of his handgun. “You’re coming home to me, Lotus. You and your mother and me. We’d make a great family, don’t you think?”
I don’t answer. He’s more delusional than he was when I first broke things off with him. I’m afraid if I keep asking questions, I’m going to set him off, so I go with one more before I stop. “Where are we going?”
He steps up beside me and takes me by the elbow. “Your place. So you can get your things and leave a note. We don’t want anyone to come looking for you and causing trouble.”
I nod in agreement. Playing along may be the only way of getting out of this. I can’t trust that Darren will keep his word. I can’t believe he won’t hurt my mother if I don’t follow through. She doesn't know how sick he is. She’ll fall for whatever he tells her.
I have to put myself aside to save her. It’s the only way out of this mess.
Hawk
Lo isn’t in my apartment. I’ve been back to the restaurant and her stuff is still locked in my office, but no one has seen her in almost an hour.
I want to wring Jonus’ neck. He should have been keeping an eye on her. Hell, I should have been keeping an eye in her. I should have blown off tonight with the club and stayed at the restaurant.
But I didn’t. And I can’t change it now.
There is only one place Lo could be, other than my place and Hawk’s. I go for my bike, but it’s been blocked in by a sloppy parking job. I kick the SUV’s bumper and curse the owners before I pull out my cell and dial Gunner.
“Yeah,” he answers.
“Lo’s missing.” I’m out of breath already and I contemplate running instead of walking down the sidewalk to her apartment. “I may need back up.”
“Are the Devils involved?”
“I don’t know,” I answer. Christ. “What if they are? I’m on my way to her place now.”
Gunner mumbles something off the phone, then he’s back. “I’m sending Smokey and Scout over to your place.”
“Don’t,” I breathe out in a rush. My legs won’t stand to walk any longer. I’m in a full-out sprint. “The cops will take care of Hawk’s. I need someone at her place.”
“Done,” Gunner answers. He takes down the address and hangs up. I’m still blocks away from reaching her and my mind is racing. If she’s part of an initiation ritual, I’ll fucking kill them all. World War III can breakout between our clubs and I won’
t give a shit as long as Lo is safe.
My cell rings and I barely have enough breath to answer, but I do. It’s Camila on the line and she’s screaming over voices. “Tell me you found her,” she yells.
“No,” I answer, too winded to say anything more.
“Fuck. Hawk. This isn’t the Devils. I called my boyfriend and told him we were through if they harm her. He had no idea what I was talking about.”
“And you believe him?”
She pauses, then answers. Her voice sure. “I do this time. He said they want no trouble with you guys tonight.”
I don’t believe that, but from what Lo has told me, there is possibly another explanation for her disappearance. One that puts her in even more danger. He could have called and upset her. He could have texted her a threat.
My feet move faster, and my thighs burn through the last quarter mile until I’m standing outside her apartment door.
He could be inside with her right now.
I dial Gunner again. “Where’s that backup?”
“Three minutes away,” he answers.
Too far. She doesn’t have that kind of time to wait. The club is my family, but Lo is my everything. If I lose her...after all the others I’ve lost in my life...I’m done.
I don’t even knock. I ground myself to the concrete sidewalk and kick out with every ounce of anger within me. The door buckles instantly and the wood splinters around the lock. It swings back to the wall and I step inside.
“Lo,” I yell. I charge through the place, checking the front area, the kitchen, the hall bathroom, each door in order as I reach them until the last one. “Lo,” I call again before I turn the knob.
She’s sitting on the floor on her knees. She’s been crying, judging by the tear stains on her cheeks, and the shadow of a bruise is blooming along her jawline. She sees me right away and her eyes go wide with fear before she begins to say my name.
Out of the corner, I spot the guy. He’s standing over her bed throwing clothes into a bag and talking to her, until the open door registers. He reaches for the bed and pulls back a 9mm Glock.
Hawk: Tempest Elite MC: Tempest Elite MC Book # 5 Page 6