“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Of fuckin’ course I’m sure,” my old man grumbles.
It doesn’t take a damn genius to work out and make the very obvious connection. Bran was shaking hands with Darkness’s inside man. Afterwards, Bran and the cop all disappear.
“Bran’s been working for Darkness this whole fuckin’ time. And they just used this dirty cop to take my wife.”
The minute the words come out of my mouth, everyone tries to talk at once. Jasper wants to load up, attack Darkness’sclubhouse and burn it to the ground. Cray’s crew start talking about setting up roadblocks. Mac is cursing and pacing. Onyx is pulling something up on his phone. Rock is yelling at Slate about reaching out to their police contact, while Slate thinks a cop ain’t gonna turn on another cop.
Amidst all the chaos, my phone rings. Cray’s name on the screen. I hold up one hand and the alley goes quiet.
“Mica,” Cray says. “We got a problem. I was on my way to meet Nova at the fire scene when she told me a cop was taking her to the station for a statement. So, I went to the station instead to wait for her there.”
“She’s not there,” I guess.
“You’re a goddamn certified genius, boy. And you’re damn right she wasn’t there. Nobody at that station knew a damn thing about her being picked up. The desk sergeant looked at me like I was fuckin’ crazy when I asked about it.” His voice drops and almost sounds gleeful. “My story gets better though. As I was leaving the precinct, I met a young cop in the back parking lot. When he said hello, I recognized his squeaky little voice. It was the same asshole I heard in the background when I talked to Nova on the phone.”
“Oh shit,” I say. “He might know where Nova is. We need to track that asshole down and have a little chat with him.”
“I grabbed his ass right there in the parking lot.”
“You snatched a cop off their own fuckin’ property?” Jasper’s voice is something between awe and shock.
My old man mutters, “They don’t call him Cray for nothin’.”
“I take it that’s you, Rock. Bring your boys along and we’ll have us a little party beating fucking information out of him about my niece. That fucker is gonna tell me what I want to know one way or another.”
“Don’t let him out of your sight, we’ll be on our way.”
“He ain’t going nowhere,” Cray growls. “I have him tied up at the Red Barn. You know the place, Rock?”
“Yes, I know it. It should take us about ten minutes to get there from here.”
“You got eight minutes or I’ll start the party without you,” Cray says before ending the call.
The minute the call ends, everyone erupts into chaos again.
“Listen up,” I say. My voice comes out in a tone I haven’t used since my last deployment. “My wife is in grave danger. So, we do this my way. Every man here falls in line or walks away. I don’t have time for opinions or egos. If the next words out of your mouth aren’t helping me find Nova, keep your fucking mouth shut.”
My old man says, “We’re with you, son. This is your call.”
“Here’s where I am with this, that fuckin’ dirty cop knows where they took my wife. He’s gonna tell me or I’m gonna keep beating on him until he does.”
Turning to my brother, I say, “Jasper, I need you to hightail it back to the clubhouse and raise as many men as you can. Once we get that information, I’ll need every man I can getto break into whichever shithole Darkness is keeping her, ‘cause he sure as shit won’t be holding her at his clubhouse.”
“Got it,” Jasper responds tightly. “I’ll head out now. Keep me in the loop.”
Onyx and Slate, “I want you to be eyes on with Darkness’ clubhouse. We might get lucky and one of his men will take us right to him, that’ll save us a lot of time searching. Text me what you find when you get there.”
“Roger that,” Slate murmurs before they make a flat out run for their bikes.
Everyone else, you’re with me. We interrogate the cop, beat down Darkness’ door and recover my wife. Now, let’s ride.”
***
The Red Barn is literally an old barn painted red. It was a place the old timers used for meetups and interrogations. It looks like it’s about a hundred damn years old, but somehow, it’s not only still standing but structurally sound. It also has the advantage of being completely invisible from the road.
When we arrive, Cray is already inside. Weaver is sitting on a hay bale with his hands zip-tied together. His nose is bleeding and his uniform shirt is torn at the collar.
