While she waited for Deacon to return, Alexandra had slipped into the shower while Wyatt slept peacefully. I had offered to watch him to put her at ease. Although it had initially been hard being around Wyatt, I had grown to enjoy being with him, feeling his soft skin, smelling his sweet smell.
Digging in my pocket for my phone, I checked to see if there was a call from Rev that I had somehow missed. When there wasn’t, I decided to be the overbearing fiancée and call him.
After the voicemail came on, I said, “Rev, I hate to be a nag, but could you please give me a call? I love you.”
Loud, panicked voices and heavy boot falls in the hallway caused a chill to run down my spine. I hurried over to the door and threw it open. I gasped at the sight of Deacon and Mac carrying Bishop into his room. Momentarily forgetting about watching Wyatt, I ran into the hallway.
Boone stopped me before I could go into Bishop’s room. “What’s happened? What’s wrong with Bishop?”
With a grimace, Boone replied, “He’s been shot. Breakneck’s on the way.”
Craning my neck, I surveyed the group of men in the hallway. Rev was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Rev?”
When no one answered me, it felt like I was free-falling off the edge of a cliff, my arms and legs pinwheeling madly. “Where is Rev!” I demanded again, my voice growing shrill.
Deacon appeared in the doorway. His face and arms were torn with ragged cuts and dried blood crusted over the deep scratches. With legs that shook so hard they could barely support me, I lunged over to him.
“Where is Rev?”
“We were ambushed on the way home from our meeting. He took Rev.”
I didn’t have to ask who had taken Rev. I knew without a shadow of a doubt. “Oh my God,” I murmured.
Deacon’s arms reached out for me, pulling me against him. “We’re going to get Rev back, Annabel. Mendoza took him for a reason. If he didn’t plan on making demands of us, he would have killed Rev then.”
“You don’t know Mendoza,” I whispered.
Flashes of his vicious eyes, his volatile temper, and his never ending cruelty plagued my mind.
Tilting my head to where I had to look at him, Deacon said, “Mendoza is pretty much fucked. He has both us and now the Rodriguez cartel on his ass. He’s not going to win this one. We’re already working on tracing his phone to find him.”
I wanted to believe Deacon. I couldn’t bear the thought of living in a world without Rev. After all, he was my world—the sun, the moon, and the stars. With that consideration, I knew I needed more security than just what the Raiders could do.
“We need help.”
Deacon’s brows rose in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t want to take one chance when it comes to Rev’s life.”
“I said we would?—”
“I’m calling my father. I want the FBI or ATF or whoever the hell takes out men like Mendoza to make sure Rev gets out of this alive.”
A collective intake of breath came from the other members of the Raiders. Deacon’s expression darkened. “We don’t work with the Feds.”
With adrenaline pumping obscene amounts of courage into me, I stood toe to toe with Deacon. “You might not work with the Feds, but I do.”
When Deacon growled with frustration, I countered, “Think about it for a minute. Mendoza would never imagine you coming at him with the Feds, would he?”
“Probably not.”
“I think it’s pretty clear what Mendoza is going to demand when he does reach out to you.”
Deacon winced. “I imagined as much.”
“Then I think if I’m the target it’s only fair I get a say in this.”
“She’s right,” Alexandra said behind us. Outfitted in a robe, she stood at the entrance to hers and Deacon’s bedroom. “It’s just like with me and Sigel. You have to come at them where they least expect it.”
