“So, what’s so important you needed to see me?”
“Justin’s disappeared. He’s been staying with my aunt at an old family residence. When she woke up this morning, he was gone. She thinks he took off last night. She said he went to bed early.”
“And you’re just now telling us?” Ice snapped.
“Ice”—Jackal drew Ice’s attention—“Church got out two days ago.”
“Yo-Yo’s probably taken off to meet him somewhere,” Ice said, thinking out loud. “Call Raft and ask where Church is. If we’re fucking lucky, we can grab Yo-Yo when he tries to meet up with Church. If they’re already together, we’ll have to wait and keep an eye on them until Yo-Yo is alone.”
“You have a man on Church?” Desmond asked as Jackal made the call.
“Hell, yes. He hates me, and I don’t trust that fucker.”
Jackal held the phone away from his ear. “He’s not answering.”
“Damn. When’s the last time anyone heard from him?”
“Last night. He called to check in with me. I’ll call the clubhouse and see if anyone else has talked to him.”
Ice paced Desmond’s office while Jackal made the call. When Jackal shook his head as he talked on the phone, a sick feeling came to Ice’s stomach. He stopped pacing, looking at Desmond.
“Did you tell Yo-Yo anything about me?”
“Of course not. What’s to tell…?” Desmond’s face whitened before he could finish the sentence. “He asked if you ever saw the woman you took hostage. I didn’t tell him yes or no, but I thought it was strange he asked.”
Ice took his phone from his pocket, pushing Grace’s number. It went straight to voicemail.
Ice took off running, slinging Desmond’s door open and pushing the elevator button.
Jackal caught up with him. “As soon as we get off the elevator, call the brothers and tell them to haul ass to Grace’s. Then call Alec Gamble and tell him we think Church’s going for Grace. Maybe he has some men who can get there quicker than we can.”
The elevator opened and they rushed in, pushing the button.
Ice’s mind ran through the worst scenarios possible. He had let Grace come to the clubhouse; as a result, anyone watching the place could have seen them together and told Church. Ice hoped he was wrong, although he had a terrible feeling he was right, that Church had taken Grace and her mother.
It took Ice and Jackal less than three hours to reach Stephenville. The brothers were still trying to catch up to them at breakneck speeds. Ice didn’t even know if Alec had men in Stephenville, and they didn’t want to stop to call him back.
They parked their bikes a block away from Grace’s house, going through several backyards to reach it. Ice had taken the back and Jackal the front, setting their phones on vibrate so they wouldn’t lose touch with each other.
He had already checked his voicemail and received a message from Alec that he didn’t have any men in town, but they were on their way.
Ice cautiously approached Grace’s house, seeing it was dark inside. His throat tightened at how scared she had to be. Ice went to the side of the house, trying to look in the windows, but he couldn’t see anything with the curtain blocking his view.
He moved up closer to the front of the house, looking through another window, which was the spare room Grace’s mother was sleeping in. The curtains were open, and Ice could see the room was empty.
He moved to the front side of the house where the garage was, motioning for Jackal to stay where he was. Ice took his knife from his boot and worked it into the garage door lock, carefully snapping it and releasing the mechanism.
Ice quietly raised the door, sliding underneath on his stomach. Inside was a car he had never seen before. His fear was only heightened by the lack of her alarm system blaring from his entry.
He went back to the garage door, motioning for Jackal. Then he went around the car and pulled his gun out from behind his back as he walked toward the door that led into the house. Grace always kept it carefully locked, but Ice was hoping Church and Yo-Yo weren’t as careful.
Jackal had his gun out as he took the other side of the door, both men looking at each other silently. Ice reached out slowly, opening the door a small amount, worried Grace’s two pets would alert Church and Yo-Yo. It opened into the laundry room, which led to a small hallway that had the entrance to the kitchen on one side and the living room on the other.
Ice slid his body in the small space of the opened door, and then Jackal came in behind him. As both men paused to listen, hearing voices from the living room, Daisy came walking into the room, wagging her tail. He would be shit out of luck if Bear came in; the dog always barked when it saw him. Ice petted the dog as he edged toward the doorway.