Assessing him, he had an automatic assault rifle strapped on and a handgun on his side. There was something in his pocket that I’d guess was a decent sized pocket knife, maybe even a switchblade. It wasn’t a wallet for sure, and was more narrow than a clip, but he clearly had one of those in the other pocket.
I had gone to the shooting range several times over the years, but that was with a .380 since it wasn’t too large for my grip, but still carried a little weight and plenty of power. His appeared to be at least a .45, but I’d be able to fire it if given the chance. I’d seen some rifles, but didn’t shoot many, and certainly couldn’t tell what kind it was. If needed, I could probably figure out the safety if it was loaded. But if I messed up my wrists breaking the bonds, I may not be able to steady it very well. Same for the knife. I was very handy with a blade, but if my wrists were injured, it could make it difficult, but not impossible.
The man dragged Jeannie through the kitchen and out the back door. They were shouting outside when Mama Hen said, “Hey.”
I nearly fell off the sofa and yelped. Then pressure filled my face and I tried to swallow down the lump. “You’re okay,” I managed to get out as I adjusted myself.
“Shhh. Of course I am. That idiot got me good but didn’tknock me out.”
“Well, you could’ve fooled me. And Iwasknocked out.” I almost got in my feels about the way she said that, but then instead I asked, “Wait. If you’ve been aware this whole time, do you think you know where we are?”
She looked back. “Maybe an hour or so from the clubhouse. We need to keep her talking. Buy some time.”
Looking back, they were still bickering outside. I made it to my feet, leaned forward, then slammed my bound hands over my back. The first time didn’t do much but hurt. But after two more tries with as much force as I could muster, the zip ties busted. Looking back, I told her, “Stand up.” She stood and I looked around. “Do you think you can–”
Pop. “Ain’t my first rodeo, hon. But we need her to keep talking. Grab those,” she said, looking at my zip ties as she picked up her own and sat down. “We gotta act like we’re still bound and get her to fess up.”
“Shit.” I grabbed my broken zip tie, then sat back down. “I was ready to go do what I should have last night. Are you going to pretend to sleep again?”
“No, if she asks, you used the opportunity when they walked outside to try to wake me. I can act groggy.”
Grinning, I said, “If I had to be kidnapped, there’s no one I’d rather be with than you.”
“Ha. We’ll see if ya feel that way later.”
“What if they try to move us? They’ll see we aren’t bound anymore.”
Mama Hen’s lips thinned. “Then we fight like hell and hope for the best. But someone should be here soon, even if it’s not Hawk.”
Chapter 35
Hawk
My phone was blowing up on the stand, but I was on the highway and laser focused with a singular mission: go get the First Ladies.
In my mirror, I saw Red, Rooster, and the crew with me, but the others hadn’t caught up. I didn’t see Petrov or Coop yet. Once we got outside of Atlanta, traffic had cleared up.
I was peeling up the highway and on alert for the Georgia State Patrol. Those boys loved to camp on the highways up further north and would pull some crazy shit to get their targets. The further away from Atlanta you got, the faster you could go, so it was easier for them.
But even if one clocked me, they’d have to follow me straight to hell because I wasn’t stopping until I could get to my woman.
I didn’t love that it was the middle of the day, but we couldn’t wait. Who knew if they were being tortured? My chest tightened at the thought. My mind wouldn’t wander to anything worse than that, but it was enough to send me into a blind rage.
As we got closer to the address, I looked in my mirror again and everyone had caught up. The airport was close but the address Keys sent took us somewhere else.
We turned off the highway onto a side road that took us a few miles down. An old gas station that looked to be an old cabin at some point was at a three-way stop. It was the ping Keys sent. Slowing, I pulled into the lot with just one other car parked up front.
There was no traffic in either direction as I parked and looked around. The front door, plastered with flyers and ads for cigarettes and chewing tobacco, flew open and Keys rushed out.
After pulling my helmet off, I hung it on the handlebar and met him halfway. “Keys, what the fuck? Why didn’t you just have us meet at the fucking Walmart and hang a fucking sign?”
“Because I couldn’t get my drone close enough from there,” he said, like it was a dumb question for all the wrong reasons. “They’re up that road,” he said, pointing behind the gas station. “Ronnie said there’s been more weird shit than normal recently and didn’t trust all the fancy cars coming and going.”
“Who the fuck is Ronnie?” I asked, waving my hands.
“The clerk.” Again, Keys spoke like I should have knownall of this.
“What, did you advertise what’s happening? Why didn’t you just call the fucking cops then?” I shoved my fingers into my hair as I paced and the others came over.
