“Shut the hell up, Carson.” I nudge him with the tip of the gun, and when his laughter dies down, I turn to the girl, setting the gun back on the counter.
Her face is green, like she’s going to throw up at any second.
“Continue.”
She swallows before continuing. “I haven’t heard from Brielle or Susie since that night,” she says, voice shaking. “So, I’ve kept the bar closed, only coming back at night in the hopes Susie will show up.”
Carson looks at me. We already know where Brielle is, but it’s a problem that Susie is missing.
“Brielle’s fine. She’s been with me and is safe. Susie, on the other hand, I have no idea, but we need to find her as soon as possible. So…” I down the rest of the whiskey and set the cup down before finishing. “If you hear or see anything, here is Carson’s number. Don’t hesitate to call.”
Blondie hesitates, eyes flicking between us. “Are you sure she’s safe? Brielle?” Her voice is almost a whisper. I can see the concern swimming in her eyes, but I don’t need her to get any ideas.
“She’s fine. Being with me is the safest place she can be.”
She swallows hard, nodding slowly, but her eyes don’t meet mine, as if she’s going over her options.
“Oh. Since she’s with you, here…” she pauses, glancing toward the back of the bar like she’s weighing whether to trust me or not, but then she reaches for a black bag hanging from a hook.
“Brielle’s bag.”
“I’ll make sure she gets it,” I say, taking the bag from her outstretched hand, and remind her to call us if she even hears so much as a peep about Susie.
We finally leave the bar, needing some fresh air. Anger burns through me from not having any answers yet again. We need to know where the fuck Susie is and hope someone didn’t get to her first. She could be the key to taking this whole operation down, and we aren’t any closer than we were two days ago.
14
EMRIS
Before I can even turnthe car on, my phone begins ringing in my pocket. I toss Brielle’s bag in the back seat before I grab my phone and glance down to see Archer’s name flash across the screen.
“Goddamn it,” I mutter, the door slamming shut as Carson gets in the car.
“Hey,” I answer, hoping I don’t get my ass chewed out right now.
“Killian filled me in on the Susie situation. I know you’ll get it figured out on your own, but I came across some info that might make it easier,” he says, no emotion in his voice.
“I’m listening.”
“The Red Riders—local MC chapter. Their Prez has been seen with Susie recently.”
Hope sparks for the first time in a while.
“I’m not sure how new the photos are, but it’s worth a shot. If he’s sleeping with her, he might be hiding her or at least know where she’s at.”
He’s right. I would’ve figured it out on my own. I’m good at my job, but this whole situation has been a clusterfuck. I don’t think it would be this complicated if Brielle wasn’t involved. Ifshe wasn’t in the mix, I would’ve had Susie in my possession and the answers we need. I’d be moving on and helping Killian and Archer take down this fucking ring. We would be one step closer, but here we are—fucking stuck.
“But…”There it is. I sigh and wait for him to continue. “We hacked his computer. Shit no one should be watching. Children, women, and everything in between.” He pauses and then drops the hammer. “We found a bid for a teenage girl.”
Red fills my vision. It blurs at the edges, rage roaring loud enough to drown out everything else. The only thing I need is to feel the life drain from him.
“Do you understand what I need you to do?”
“Send me the address,” I reply, ending the call without saying bye as I peel out of the driveway. Tossing my phone in the cup holder, it lights up only seconds later with a message.
Gesturing to the phone, I say, “Grab that and get directions to the address Archer sent.” Carson nods and gets to work.
He tells me which turns to take until we pull up to a small trailer park. Small, single-wide trailers line up in rows, only a handful of them, but enough to know that most of them are probably bikers as well.
