Travis pulls his phone out really quick and looks at it, then puts it away again. "Okay. It’s fine. Don't make me do something we'll regret." I’m pretty sure he’s just talking to himself.
"Travis, you don't need to do this. We could all leave and get to safety. You don't want this, not really."
"Just shut up!" His voice is tenser than a stretched elastic. Like he might just snap back any moment. He's so on edge that I'm afraid someone else is going to get shot.
Spike. Oh, God.
Travis slams the door to the kennel behind us. I hear a padlock click.
"You can't keep us here forever. You know who my boyfriends are. Theywillfind me." I curl my fingers around the cage wires, but it's made to keep big dogs in. I'm not strong enough to just pull it apart.
"If you didn't have those boyfriends of yours, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. Give me your phones. Put them down and push them out of the cage.”
I don’t want to, but I can’t argue with a gun. Reluctantly, I pull my phone out. A little shove, and then it’s out of reach. Carl’s follows mine, and then Travis picks them up and stuffs themin his pockets. He drags Spike into a second cage. The pain on Spike’s face as he’s being moved breaks my heart. That’s my fault. He’s alive at least, but for how long I don’t know.
“Now all of you shut up." He pulls out his phone again and taps a contact. After a couple of beeps, someone answers. "This is Travis. I did it."
31
PISTON
When Beast hangsup the phone, he looks like someone just punched him in the face. "Sandra’s missing."
Fuck. We all saw the missed calls from when we were dealing with the ambush.
"How? Where? When?" I'll save why for later.
"She was in the bookshop with her friend Jerry, got a call from the rescue about Travis not coming in and maybe a break-in. Jerry gave her and Spike a ride to the rescue because for some fucking idiotic reason she still cares."
And I know why she cares, but if one or both of them are dead because she thinks she’s the only fucking person on the planet who can handle anything, I’m going to strangle her myself. Maybe Zero’s threats about spanking aren’t a half bad idea.
Zero looks pissed as hell. "What the fuck? Why? He fired her. What would make her go back there? And who the fuck is this Jerry guy? We need to have some fucking words."
"Chill." I put my hand on Zero's shoulder. It's a sign of how much he's come to care about her that he's getting worked up like this. He's usually the calm one. "Jerry’s her friend and he’s the one that called Natalie to tell her something was wrong. Of all the people who might wanna hurt her, he's so far down the fucking list we might as well check her sister at the same time."
Zero nods. "I still wanna ask him some questions." He holds up a hand before I even get to say anything. "Just questions."
Beast is not the type to keep cool. His expression is hard and lethal. I've seen that face before. God save anyone who gets in his way now, because he's not gonna bother with questions. His voice is a furious growl. "Jerry dropped her and Spike off and was supposed to pick her up later, but when she didn’t call, he went back to look. The place was all closed up, lots of barking but no sign of anyone. Then he called Natalie, and when she couldn't find Sandra either, Natalie called me. That's all I've got. He’s still outside the rescue."
"Motherfucker. Alright, get Jerry on the line and tell him we’re on our way. We're gonna figure this shit out."
I feel my fists itching for someone to punch already. Spike is so fucking new he’s practically still in training wheels but he’s a solid kid. This should’ve been an easy duty and now they’re both missing.
Eagle-eye notices something’s wrong and yells our way. “What’s up?”
“Sandra and Spike are missing. They went over to that fucking dog rescue and that was the last anyone’s heard from them.”
“Fuck. You heading over there?”
“Yeah, as soon as we’re done here. It could be nothing.”
“But it’s probably something. Do it, and send me an update. Don’t hesitate to call for back up? You got me?”
I nod.
Eagle-eye does a quick head count, making sure everyone's accounted for, then heads for his own bike. "People! Let's roll. We got Kozlov to find and shit to fuck up. Mount up!" Only takes a moment before we're all back on the road.
Our tires eat the miles way too fucking slow. The longer this takes, the more time there is for them to be hurt, and if something happens to Sandra, I'm never gonna fucking forgive myself. Or her. If she could just stay in one fucking place for a change. Jesus Christ. As we pass the clubhouse, our brothers pull in to take care of the wounded and ready themselves for whatever's coming next.
