Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Corvette had his phone out and I said to him, “Call Crow. Tell him we’re out of time. I need the list of those guys now, and then we need a group to be dispatched to round them up.”
Corvette nodded, pulling his phone out and walking away a little distance.
I said to Roadie, “Call our computer guys. Tell them the make and model of the van who took Justin and Harper, and let them know we need to find the guys who also took Tracey, Granddad’s niece.”
He gave a quick nod before stepping away, his phone to his ear already.
Granddad was taking it all in before hobbling over to me. He wiped his face off with the back of his shirt, squinting around. One hand went to his hip and he let loose a long sigh. “Can’t say I fully know what’s going on, but can see that it’s a big deal those guys coming for you–”
“They might’ve been looking for me.”
Kali had gotten out of the truck and was standing not far, hugging herself.
“Kali.” I started for her.
She shook her head, stepping back. “No. Don’t do that. Don’t coddle me–”
“Boss! Hey, Boss! Ghost.” Corvette came running back over, his eyes panicked. “Just hung up with Crow and got a call from Machete. He was jumped. Him and his woman were on the highway and he said a van pulled up. They shot at him, and took his woman.”
GODDAMN!
“He okay?”
Corvette nodded quickly, his eyes skimming over Kali, who wasn’t reacting. “Boss. Shot one of the guys, but he said there was a guy in the van that looked burned. Machete was hit, but they don’t think it’s serious. Bullet went right through him. They’re taking him to the hospital now.”
“Okay. Tell Stripes. I want six of our guys with him at the hospital. Once he’s cleared, he’s going to be hightailing it after Claudia. We need to figure out the situation before he gets there.”
Corvette nodded, relaying my orders to Crow.
Kali spoke up. “It’s the guys who took me and Aly. We got away, but they can’t go back without hostages. So they’re rounding up who they can. I mean, I don’t know, but it’s a hunch. Makes sense. How many times are people kidnapped? Can’t be a coincidence.”
Tracey. Now Claudia. Two females for two females.
I shared a hard look with Boise, who was coming back. “You hear all that?”
“Most of it. Team still has eyes on Estrada. He is sitting tight in Texas, in the Valley.”
I nodded, but dammit I did not like that. “He’s protected more down there than anywhere else.”
“What’s your call, Acting President?”
At the term, Roadie, who’d come over, and Corvette looked at me a little different. They grew more serious, more alert, less panicked. I looked at Kali and she was watching me back, still steady, the same look she had at the hospital and in the truck. She was waiting.
She wanted vengeance.
First things first, though. “We need to alert all the clubs between here and Texas. Estrada’s guys got those hostages for a reason, to take back to Estrada. I want them stopped. Hostages rounded up, safely, and I want all of his men still alive. Send the word out.”
Boise, Corvette, and Roadie all got to work, sending out the texts.
“Boss,” Roadie was texting as he spoke up. “Computer guys hacked into the transportation system. They’re checking street cams, but picked up a speeding van ten miles from Frisco. Makes sense if those are the guys who hit Machete.”
Relief flooded me, but something else too. Something darker. Something harder. Something that I didn’t like was inside of me. “I want the exact coordinates. We’re going to converge on that van and we’re going to do it the same damn style we’ve done in the past. Organized and smart.” Which meant, we just found our first battle.
I turned for Kali, and it’s like she knew. She started backing up, shaking her head. “Don’t cut me out. Not now. They have my family. And my sister.”
I shared a look with Granddad, sending him an unspoken question.
He got it, raising his hand, and he gave me a nod.
“Kali.”
“No, Shane!”
“Kali.” I lowered my head, drawing closer to her. “You got a concussion. I don’t care if it’s a slight one or not, it’s still a concussion. I made myself a promise when I discovered you missing. I told myself that I’d never put you in harm’s way again, not intentional or unintentional. Now, some of that I can’t hold to, but I gotta try for my own heart. You hearing me?”
“No,” she cried out, a single tear slipping and falling down her cheek. “I can handle it. I’m a nurse. I know my own head.”
My girl. She never once brushed the tear aside. Didn’t think she even knew it was there.