His finger settled on the trigger.
No. Not Ben.
Without thinking, I threw all my weight toward my baby brother. Three things happened at once: My chair tipped over; gunfire deafened my ears; and pain exploded in my shoulder.
20
Landon
I WASN’T PATCHED into the club, so nobody would tell me how they were searching for Mercy. But I had ears. Based on the information I’d gleaned, they’d hacked into public and private security cameras. The one outside Mercy’s building had caught two guys carrying a person-sized blanket out into a box van shortly after she’d left the club last night. From there, the tech team piggybacked on doorbell and traffic cameras to follow the van through the city until it reached its destination and unloaded the cargo.
While I’d been trying to drink her out of my system, she’d been kidnapped. The guilt hit hard, stealing my breath. Messing with Peach had been a shitty move, but I’d been so twisted up over Mercy I couldn’t tell up from down. I had to know if I mattered to her at all.
If I’d found her—if I’d just fucking talked to her instead of playing stupid games—maybe this whole situation could have been avoided.
She could have woken up cradled in my arms this morning.
Instead, who the fuck knew what was happening to her?
My chest felt too tight, too constricted. Every fiber of my being wanted to be out there searching for her. Only the sheer number of bikers who had answered Link’s call for volunteers kept me from losing my goddamn mind. I didn’t know the details of what they were doing—I was lucky they even let me be in the club’s situation room—but they’d been working their asses off all morning. It was almost noon, and now that we knew where she was, we were all getting antsy. Link had asked for ideas a few minutes ago and had been roaming the room, brainstorming ever since.
I watched his progress like a junkie banking on his dealer, loitering by the coffee and staying the hell out of everyone’s way, so nobody kicked me out.
“Prez,” Wasp shouted, waving Link over.
I was busy wishing I could read lips when someone shoved a wrapped sandwich in my face.
“Eat this,” Julia, Havoc’s ol’ lady, said.
“Thank you, but I’m not hungry.”
“Did I ask? Look, I’m still pissed at you for the shit you pulled last night with Peach.”
“I didn’t?—”
She threw up her free hand, the one not still offering me a sandwich. “I know. But I saw Mercy’s face. You didn’t. She’s not exactly an open book, but she’s a good person. And seeing her hurt makes me want to inflict pain.”
I’d wanted to make Mercy jealous, but I never wanted to hurt her. I dropped my head. “Understood. I was a dick.”
She huffed out a breath. She’d been ready to really lay into me, but my response must have thrown her, because she sized me up. “But without you, we wouldn’t even know she’s missing. The club will go after her soon. You’ll need to be at your best if you have any hope of joining them. Eat the damn sandwich.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I accepted it. “Thank you.”
“Don’t be a dick to her ever again.”
I shook my head. “I don’t intend to.”
“Just so you know, this is what we do,” Havoc said. I hadn’t even realized he was standing there. “Not shaking down women or preschools. We take care of our own.”
His gaze dropped meaningfully to my sandwich, and I got the hint. When the club moved, I needed to be with them. My stomach was nothing but knots, but I opened that sandwich and gobbled it up.
“I’m sorry,” I said between bites. “I misjudged the club.”
He grunted, but respect flashed in his eyes before he walked away.
“Everyone, listen up.” Link flicked off the lights, and the room went silent. The giant flat screen I hadn’t even noticed came to life. With the click of a button, a warehouse appeared on the screen. The camera zoomed out, revealing the location deep in Seattle’s industrial district. “Wasp has an idea that might just be crazy enough to work.”
The way Link laid out the plans—efficient, controlled, sharp—screamed former Special Forces, proving the club rumors about him were dead-on. I’d been afraid the club would want to wait for the cover of night, but once we had our marching orders, everyone exploded into action. Within fifteen minutes, we were geared up and ready to move out. We had one sexy but infuriating preschool administrator to rescue.
