“Oh God,” he cried, shakin’ his wet mess of a face back and forth so blood went flyin’. “No. Listen, okay, I know Javier Ventura is backing them and he’s been buying up property in the area. Maybe if you check one of them out, you’ll find her. But…”
“But what?” I asked, studying the blood-slicked brass knuckles on my right hand.
Warren whimpered. “But I don’t know how you’ll find her. Ace and Jack always said they’d kill your entire family and make you watch before they killed you.”
“Who the fuck is Jack?” I pressed my thumb into his broken cheekbone and thundered, “Who the fuck is Jack?”
“He’s one of you,” he cried out, breathin’ heavy through the gore in his throat. “One of your brothers. The one who killed that disabled kid.”
The energy in the room went electric.
“You fuckin’ lyin’ to me when I’ve got your damned life in my hands?” I growled low.
We had a snitch. I’d known it, kept shit tight. Only the most trusted brothers were kept in any sorta loop: Buck, Bat, Priest, Nova and on a need-to-know basis, our tech kid Curtains and my old friend, Blackjack.
Black. Jack.
Ace’s motherfuckn’ son.
I closed my eyes and scrubbed my hand down my face across blood that wasn’t mind.
No.
B.J. had been my brother since ’fore we were brothers. I’d known the guy since we were fuckin’ kids.
There was no fuckin’ way he’d turn after all these years.
’Less he didn’t turn on a dime.
’Less he’d been workin’ behind my back for fuckin’ years, just bidin’ his time to stab me in the fuckin’ back.
I opened my eyes again and Warren moaned at the look in ’em. “Not lying, not lying, promise.”
“Zeus, brother,” Buck called from behind me where he leaned against a stack of hay. “Blackjack’s MIA. Tried to call ’im into action but he wasn’t pickin’ up his phone.
“Fuck,” I boomed, slammin’ my fist into Warren’s face just to feel it crunch, just to rid myself of the fuckin’ burn in my fuckin’ chest.
“Someone find me that fuckin’ Judas so I can rip off his fuckin’ head,” I shouted into the night air.
Behind me, someone left the barn.
“Prez,” Nova appeared at my side holdin’ out my cell. “Let Priest take over, yeah? Danner’s on the line.”
I ripped the phone out of his hands and ordered, “Don’t fuckin’ kill ’im,” before I said to Danner, “Talk.”
“They took her in a black van with stolen plates. We found it, Garro, outside the fuckin’ gates to your house,” he said.
A message.
A message, as those goddamn pictures had been.
Not that they were just watchin’ me from afar but from up close to.
From B.J.
“Garro?”
If Blackjack hated me enough to sit on that hatred for years and let it burn his ass, what were the fuckin’ odds he’d let Lou live?
Fear pierced through me, radiatin’ from the bullet scar just above my heart.
“Here. Got a lead, man named Javier Ventura’s been backin’ the Nightstalkers, check his properties for any activity, will ya? I’m ridin’ out now.” I swallowed my dislike of the cops even though it felt like fuckin’ acid goin’ down. Anythin’ to save my girl. “Owe ya, you find ’er.”
“No,” Danner’s voice was firm. “No, I owe you for putting her in and getting her taken. I’m on it. But do me a favour. I heard there was a barfight off 99 at Lloyd’s Bar. Some guy got beat on really hard. Dispatch is sending out a car to check on it.” He paused. “That guy might be Mitch Warren.”
I looked over at the miserable fuck that had thought he’d had a chance with an angel like Lou just ’cause he wore a fuckin’ suit. I wanted to kill ’im but then, I was in a murderin’ mood. I figured so long as I could get my hands around motherfuckin’ Ace and motherfuckin’ Blackjack’s throats, I’d be okay to let Warren rot in jail ’fore a while ’fore he went to hell.
“Heard there were gunshots too. Might need the paramedics,” I added.
I hung up and tossed the phone to Nova.
“Priest,” I called to the redhead settin’ up his medical tray of tools. “Next time. This one’s a catch and release.”
I stalked up to Warren, grabbed my 9 mil from the waistband of my jeans and drilled a round into both of his hands. “That’s for puttin’ my boy in prison and havin’ a hand in gettin’ Cress and my fuckin’ woman tied up in this shit as well.”
With his wails in my ears, I turned around and stalked out of the buildin’ callin’ to my brothers as I went.
“First man to find that motherfucker Blackjack gets to be the one to put a bullet through his fuckin’ head.”
I woke up to the sound of my dad’s voice.
This confused me because I hadn’t seen or spoken to my dad since the night he punched me in the face and kicked me out of my house.