Luca’s voice drops lower. “He always wanted my sister. Now he has her.”
“We need to find her—” Hank shouts angrily, hitting his fist into the wall.
Luke is on him like a striking snake. “You should’ve been with her! If you weren’t busy doing fuck knows what with that cunt downstairs,” he snarls at him angrily, “she never would’ve left. She would’ve been safe.”
Hank lunges forward, fists clenched, raised, ready to punch Luke with all the force he has in him. “You don’t know that!” he snaps. “She still could’ve been taken!”
Mack takes hold of Hank, holding him back as I do the same with Luke. This fighting between ourselves isn’t going to saveVeronica. It will only make matters worse when we do. It’ll only delay us making plans to rescue her.
“You should’ve—” Luke spits out, his voice raising until he cuts off.
“Enough!” Earl’s voice steamrolls over Luke’s words with a booming shout, catching everyone’s attention. He gives both Hank and Luke a glare. “You’re bickering like a bunch of damn bitches,” he snaps. “Vee is missing. Finding her is our priority. Whatever else can be solved later.”
“Yes, sir,” Luke says under his breath.
“Fucking accusing me of shit that ain’t my—” Hank mumbles.
“SHUT. THE. HELL. UP!” Earl roars before turning his gaze to Luca who has his jaw clenched so tightly I can hear his teeth grinding. “Where do you think he took her?”
Luca doesn’t hesitate to speak up. “I haven’t heard anything of him in a long time. There’s his old home. It’s probably a long shot, but I know it’s still in the family. Then there are a couple of places that he used to do some of his shady business out of.”
“Do you think he may be using one of these places?” I speak up, wanting to know if he thinks it’s more likely he’ll be holding her at one place over another. Because that's the one I want to go to. I need to be there when she’s found. To make sure she’s okay. To hold her in my arms. I won’t breathe a sigh of relief until I do.
“Where do you think he’ll be?” Sam asks, stepping up beside Earl.
Luca shrugs. “Most likely? His old house.”
“Why there?” Sam questions him again.
Luca’s mouth twists.
“Not sure. Just a gut feeling.” His eyes darken. “Honestly… I hadn’t thought about him in years, or the fact that my father had threatened to sell Vee to him.”
My stomach churns. Years. This sick bastard has been thinking about her for years. He’s waited patiently, planning to take her.
Earl nods once.
“Alright. Bash? I know you’ve been busy typing away on the keyboard over there. Got any information to help us?”
“So, I found four places in his name or his son’s name. One is an abandoned warehouse. From the surveillance cameras of the surrounding businesses it looks dead, and I haven’t seen any traffic in or out of it.” Bash clears his throat, then turns his laptop back around to us so we can see. “While I don’t think he’s holding Vee here, I wouldn’t rule it out. I’d send a small crew to check it out. Now, the two places that Luca mentioned where he’s done business out of in the past, those are viable possibilities. While Hiram doesn’t seem to be using them himself, his associates are still using them. His son as well.”
“And his house?” Luca asks.
“That does look like the most likely place. His son is living there now. If I were to bet, that would be the most likely spot. I think he’d assume we’d see it as too obvious a place to hide. But I don’t expect he’s going to stay there long. He has to know that Luca would tear the town apart to find her. And as of right now, these are all the leads we have.”
“We split up,” Earl states boldly.
He starts pointing around the room.
“Luca, Nic, Luke, Josh, Ryker, and Javier—you go to the house. Take a few more men with you.”
He turns to the rest of us.
“Hank, Mack, Sam, you’re a group. Colin, Jace, Bash, you’re another. Split up, take some other brothers with you. Send Carlos and Tank with a few other prospects to check out the abandoned building. Anybody see anything, or find her, let us know ASAP.”
Hank steps forward. “I’m going with Luca.”
Earl doesn’t even cast him a glance. “No,” comes firmly from his lips. “You’ve got your orders,” he adds flatly.
