It’s a 9mm black polymer handgun, which is enough for me to figure out how to unload it and turn the safety on. It’s probably a Glock, but it doesn’t lookexactlylike the weapons Zeb made me handle. Still, I’m lucky that this isn’t the first time I’ve seen one of these. Once I unload the ammunition, I stick it in my pocket and text Rana again.
No response. I don’t like what that means, but I’m beginning to accept the truth – Rana’s gone. I don’t know if she’s dead or if the bikers who ran up on us just kidnapped her, but either way, I’m terrified, despondent, and have no money except for what’s in my wallet from Rana for the road.
I don’t know where to go without her and Rana came all the way West for me. I can’t abandon her. I open up my messaging app to text Zeb – one last effort to reach out. But before the message is sent, my phone dies in my hands. I watch that little bar get halfway there before the screen goes black. The tightness in my chest nearly yields to a loud, aggressive scream.
I’m so fucked.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zeb
Oske: You owe my $750
Zebulon: I paid for the last ounce I bought. Wrong Blackwood.
Oske: Information related
Zebulon: Whatever
Oske: Janelle Norris
How the fuck does she know that name?
Zebulon: Quit the games.
Oske: Zelle, PayPal, CashApp, Venmo
She pisses me off. Oske heard me using a word she didn’t like for women from her racial background and ever since she gotit into her head that I’m some kind of racist, she treats me in the most despicable way. I know she would have charged Cody Hollingsworth half of what she’s charging me.
Zeb: I don’t have $750
Oske: Cool. See you at the next meeting.
She sends me a CashApp request. The next time I see one of Oske’s brothers, I’ll beat the brakes off him to send her a message. This time, I’m too desperate for information to withhold. I send her the money she wants and pray that this raggedy little bitch is honest with me.
Oske: Brinley saw her with a Muslim woman of some kind.
Who the fuck is Brinley again? I run through the list of white girls I know affiliated with the club and I’m pretty sure that Brinley is a Sinclair, which might be useful for not just finding Janelle, but for the whole situation between Isaac and Tylee that might rip the club apart if it gets too far out of hand.
Zeb: Where did you see her?
Oske: Might be a problem. They’re on the same route controlled by Iron Frontier MC
Those are the guys who came after us before. Best guess we have from Tamiya is that they’re somehow related to border patrol or homeland security. Might be a group of current or disgraced officers. For all we know, they could be operating well within the mandate of the federal government – even if they’re just kidnapping, assaulting, and beating the shit out of people.I wish Oske hadn’t kept this potentially valuable information to herself.
Zeb: How long have you known?
Oske: I have money problems these days, Zeb. I can’t help you for free
Zeb: You are so fucked up. I’m going after Janelle now. Tell me where to go.
She tells me the last place that Brinley saw Rana and Janelle. She also tells me about a situation that happened about three hours east from that spot which Brinley heard about through the grape vine. Our people don’t control that highway, but we know a few of the folks who own gas stations and motels around those parts. Deacon and Magnum would know better than I would.
I find Ruger feeding Eden in the kitchen when I bring this information to him. Zayna went out to the library in town with Talitha to pick up a few thrillers to read over the weekend, so he’s on his own with the kid. I can’t remember any of the men in our family spending as much time with their kids as I’ve seen Ruger spend with Eden. He seems comfortable in the role too.
“Oske told me that Brinley Sinclair saw Janelle.”
“Where?” Ruger asks. “Is she safe? Does she want to be found?”
