“Excuse me. I’ll be right back,” I said and met Byte in the middle of the room.
He moved so I could see his laptop screen. “That’s Tripp Reynolds, Ricky’s youngest son. And the girl is Chloe Nelson, Elsie Nelson’s sister.”
“Knew about Chloe’s sibling. Did not know about Tripp’s. What the fuck?” I grumbled, thanking him and returning to the booth. “Sorry about that. Now, what did you figure out?”
“He figured out that my sister is the cunt behind everything,” Chloe said angrily.
“Explain,” I demanded. I was tired of the generalized statements. “In detail. Quickly.”
“Elsie used my phone to text Chloe’s phone to arrange the attack. I found the deleted messages a couple of hours later. Since nothing wild had happened, I drove to my brother’s house to see what they were up to. On the way, I saw Chloe walking on the side of the road. I picked her up, and she told me what happened. I brought her here and went back to get Elsie.”
“Who’s your brother?” I asked, though I already knew.
“Calvin Reynolds. Some people call him Vinnie,” Tripp said dejectedly. “I’m not like him.”
“You wouldn’t be sitting here helping us if you were,” I told him.
“My dad is going to kill me,” he admitted and looked down at his hands.
“I can handle your dad. Keep talking.”
“What else do you want to know?” he asked sincerely.
“Elsie Nelson has been missing for weeks. How did you know where to find her?”
Tripp shifted in his seat. “They lied to me. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t know.”
“Relax, kid. I’ll know if you’re lying,” I said. I wouldn’t, but he didn’t know that.
“I heard my dad talking to one of his cop friends about them finding Elsie’s fingerprint at Ariel’s house after a reported break-in,” he said.
“Ha!” Ranger clapped his hands loudly. “Bet it was Coleman.”
Tripp nodded. “Coleman has worked for my dad for a long time. Dad was pissed when he got fired for trying to talk to Ariel again.”
“Elsie?” I reminded him.
“Right. When I heard them say that camping gear, clothes, and food had been stolen, I thought she might be camping somewhere near where Chloe and I used to hang out with friends. I knew she was hiding from my dad and brother. When Dad demanded to know what happened that night, Calvin and his friends blamed Elsie for everything since she’s the one who invited Ariel. At the time, I thought that was bullshit. Elsie didn’t know a group of bikers would come to Ariel’s rescue. It seemed wrong. So, I found Elsie and brought her back to my house. She’s been staying with me.”
“My men weren’t there because of Ariel,” I told him. “They were there to get my daughter and granddaughter. Ariel just happened to be in the same room as Blaze and Raven, so my guys took her too.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “Elsie told me they blamed her so my dad wouldn’t find out it was actually Leon’s fault that Blaze and Raven were at the party.”
“How was it his fault?” I asked. Blaze and Raven had seen pictures of Leon Rhodes and insisted they didn’t know him.
“Their friend was dating one of Leon’s guys. She thought he was cheating, and they were there to catch him, or something like that.”
“Do you know any names?”
“The guy’s name is Jason, and their friend’s name is Payton Marshall.”
Ranger slapped his palm on the table. “Fuck it! Bring the pen and paper.”
“They should have that girl inside by now. Somebody get Blaze and Raven in here,” I ordered to the room. “I need a fucking drink. You kids want something?”
“I’ll take anything,” Chloe said desperately. “Thank you.”
“Fucking hell, you’re probably starving,” I said and got to my feet. “Food! We need food over here. And where is my wife? I need fucking help.” Too many things were happening at the same time, and the few brothers I had at the clubhouse were busy.
