“You make a good VP.”
My brows shot up at the compliment. “Thanks.”
“Seriously, that was a Ruck level move figuring out what Relay needed and letting him do all this.”
“Some would say I was a sadistic asshole for helping him find a new way to torture a man,” I pointed out.
“Aren’t we all sadistic assholes?” Strike asked with a grin.
“Sociopathic tendencies,” Flir muttered. When we all stared at him he sighed. “We’d be diagnosed with sociopathictendencies.” He cocked his head. “Except Relay. He’d be diagnosed with full blown ASPD.”
“What’s ASPD?” Drifter asked.
“Antisocial personality disorder,” Flir answered. “A real sociopath. Probably a bit more going on with him, but that would be the brunt of it.”
“Hmmm,” I hummed noncommittally. “Whatever the fuck we are, I’d take it over being those assholes.” I didn’t need to clarify that I was talking about Rhino and Boscoe. We killed people, sure. But we didn’t hurt women and children. We didn’t hurt innocent people. Especially not for something as fucking stupid as money. And that was likely what was happening with Carrick. Shit like this always boiled down to power and money.
We were on the trail now though, and Carrick was going to soon figure out that he’d fucked with the wrong people. That taking the wrong kid had put him in our crosshairs. I was going to get him back for Rue. And put a stop to anyone else getting sucked into Carrick’s world.
CHAPTER 12
Rue
Frowning as Mercenary pushed open the door to the abandoned building, I checked my phone again.
“You sure he’s here?” Hype asked, doubt heavy in his words.
“Yeah. According to the tracking app he is,” I told them as we disappeared into the dark shadows of the building. A shiver washed over me despite the warm Arizona day.
“How old is this kid?” Code asked.
“Sixteen,” I said, sadness creeping over me. “He was Ryan’s best friend. Lived with us for a while until my brother took off. Then he disappeared for a while, too.”
“Guilty conscious?” Mercenary asked, his head moving as he scanned the rooms we were walking through for threats.
Sighing, I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t know how he or Ryan got involved in… Well, I don’t even knowwhatthey were involved in.”
“Must’ve been hard,” Code said, giving me a sympathetic look. “Not being able to help either of them.”
I nodded, grateful for the dim lighting because tears filled my eyes. Hard didn’t even begin to cover it. Ryan was my whole life. Everything I did was for that kid. I hadn’t been his mother, but I sort of had at the same time. I’d done my best by him and I’d lain awake too many nights wondering. If I’d paid closer attention, given him less freedom, would he still be at home with me? Would he have chosen to leave with me when I found him the first time?
The tortured look on his face flashed through my mind when I thought back to that day. I’d been searching the area for him. I’d had no other choice, no leads. It was stupid. Like looking for a needle in a proverbial haystack. Then he’d walked out of an alleyway like he hadn’t been missing for months.
I’d thought I was going crazy for a few minutes. Until I called his name and he’d turned to face me. He’d looked shocked and horrified to see me. Had kept glancing around. Now I realized it was because he didn’t want any of his gang—I wasn’t sure what else to call them because I hadn’t found anything out about them in all this time—seeing us talking.
He’d dragged me into that alleyway. I’d begged and pleaded for him to just come home for what felt like hours. Eventually he’d broken my heart by telling me to drop it. That he was never coming back. That he didn’t need me anymore. I’d watched him walk away in confusion and grief.
I shoved the memories away. Reliving that day was something I did most nights and I didn’t want to add to the torment. The guys and I fell into silence as I followed the cursor on my phone’s screen. By the time we found Teddy the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. We probably weren’t alone in this big building, but at least no one was bothering us.
I froze in the doorway as I saw Teddy sitting on the ground, back against the wall. He was staring down at a revolver in his hands. I couldn’t help the little sound of dismay that slipped out when I saw him with the weapon.
His head snapped up and shock was written all over his face as he saw me standing there. Then he saw the men behind me and he lifted the gun. Only, he didn’t point it at us. “Stay away,” he said, his voice trembling as much as his hand as he held the gun to his temple.
I didn’t move forward, but I reached out with my right hand. “No. Please, don’t.”
His eyes locked onto me for a moment and I read the guilt and grief there. A flash of him and Ryan cackling like loons as they played some video game not even a year ago came to my mind. They’d been such happy kids, devouring a pizza as they hung out together in Ryan’s room. My heart bottomed out in my sneakers seeing him like this now.
The three bikers fanned out around me, having shifted me out of the way to gain access to the room. Hype had his own gun out.
