51. HOLDEN

HOLDEN

T he guys are becoming restless. Every meeting we have, every vote we put to pass, no one can seem to agree on a way to get rid of Stokes. Trey hates the idea of becoming Sheriff. In fact he seems to hate every idea that comes out of mine or Cole's mouth.

Cole smacks the gavel against the wooden table, pulling me back from my thoughts. Kadence should have been back by now, and even though I know she would never interrupt one of our Churches, I almost wanted her to. Just so I knew she was fine.

“That was pointless," Wolfe mutters, leaning back into his chair. The other members have filed out, leaving the three of us at the table. "We need a new fucking VP."

"No, the fuck we don't." Cole snaps, tossing the gavel onto the table. "Trey is..."

"Trey is an idiot," Wolfe counters, leaning over the table. "He's the only one out of all of us that doesn't have a fucking record, Cole. He's the only one that could take over the department and he's not willing to do it. What the hell do we do now?"

I let out a sigh, dragging a hand over my face. "You're forgetting the fact that Stokes is still in office, dipshit. And the fact that the fucker is in the wind."

"He can't hide out forever," Cole barks. "So we wait until he climbs out of his hole."

"I thought he wanted to meet you," Wolfe pipes up, shooting a look at him. "What the hell happened to that?"

"I reached out, same way I always do and he hasn't responded," Cole grits.

"Something has changed then," I say looking between the two of them. "Stokes wants power, he'd love to see you crawling back to him on hands and knees and begging him not to hurt the club. He wouldn't ignore the chance to see that."

"He's right," Wolfe grumbles, agreeing with me.

I watch as my words finally click in Cole's head. "Fuck. I'll reach out to the neighboring clubs and see if they've heard anything. Havoc would have called by now or sent a message if it had anything to do with him."

"Would he?" I fire. "Because the last time we were there you almost put one of his guys through a fucking table."

"And we did the run just fine without any issues," Cole counters, jamming his index finger against the table. "You know him. If something went wrong, we would have heard about it and no less would have gotten some fucking dark and twisty message."

"So what is it then?" Dex sighs.

The doors to the Church slam against the wall as Blake barges in, her face pale and eyes wide. Everything in the room stops when I see the look on her face.

"Wyatt," she breathes, her chest heaving and his name comes out like a sob.

Kadence.

The baby.

I'm on my feet so fast my vision tunnels. "Where is she?" I boom, scaring Porter. She shakes her head as tears fill her eyes and her brows furrow as she tries to steel her own nerves.

"She's not with him."

All three of us crowd through the doorway and out into the lot of the compound. Scottie is already on Wyatt, holding him up as he drags him towards the clubhouse. He's barely recognizable. His left eye is swollen shut, the opposite cheek is red and raised from his skin in an unnatural way and the white shirt he wore when he left is stained with dirt and blood. Every inch of him is covered in some gash or cut and the more I see, the more my heart sinks further in my chest.

"He needs a fucking doctor!" Wolfe barks shoving Cole to the side as he follows Scottie and Wyatt inside. I follow hearing that Cole is already on the phone with Lang.

"What the fuck happened?" I yell shoving between Scottie and Dex to get a look at West. Blake knelt on one side of him, doing her best to catch her breath and wipe away some of the dirt and debris stuck in his wounds.

"Watson," Wyatt groans.

I growl under my breath trying to keep calm to get whatever information I can before the doc shows up. "What happened?" I ask again.

Wyatt’s one good eye lands on me, his brows knit together as much as they can with how swollen his face is. “I’m sorry,” he whines.

“Wyatt.” My voice is lower trying a different approach. “I don’t need the apology, you can apologize when she’s safe.” I kneel down next to him. “What the fuck happened?” I ask again, my tone dangerous.

“Ambush,” he rasps. “Watson pulled us over and made me get out of the truck. I–” he shifts again, his face crumpling in pain. “I didn’t know what else to do. Kade told me to stop, I shouldn’t have stopped, Nash.”

I take a deep breath, shaky as all get out, but a breath nonetheless. “What else? Why did he take Kadence?”

“He didn’t,” Wyatt says, looking at me. “He had help.”

“Who?” Dex says from behind me.

“I don’t know, he didn’t look familiar.” Wyatt sounds pained, his voice is tight like he is doing everything he can to keep his shit together. I glance over my shoulder at Dex who swears under his breath. He pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it to me. My own worst nightmare on the screen.

“Was this him?” I ask, swallowing hard, showing Wyatt the screen.

Silence hangs in the air as Wyatt tries to sit up, leaning closer to the phone. “Who is that?” he asks.

“West,” I snap my patience running thin, “Is this who was with Watson?”

Wyatt looks up at me and nods.

“Son of a bitch,” Dex swears again, tearing the phone out of my hand. I stand, pushing between Scottie and Dex, pacing back and forth. Rage bubbles up in my chest, my heart racing with my fists clenching at my side.

“God damnit!” I finally yell snatching up a chair and tossing it to the side into another table cracking the wood. “Fuck!”

“Who is that?” I hear Wyatt ask again.

I feel someone grab the back of my cut, tugging me backward. I'm so blinded by the guilt and rage flowing through me that my fist cocks back as I spin around. Expecting to throw a blow at one of the guys but the moment I see Blake standing behind me I freeze. Her scowl firm and eyes red-rimmed.

"Get it together," she warns me. "She doesn't need your fucking anger right now. She needs you to find her and bring her back. Where she belongs."

"You don't think I fucking know that?" I roar. "This is my fucking fault, Blake! I should have never let her leave the compound!"

Blake pins back her shoulders, lifting her chin in defiance as she stares me down. "Blaming yourself is a waste of time." It wasn't . I know that. Her smile had blinded me this morning, letting me give in to her. Blake punches my arm hard. "Get out of that fucking head of yours, Nash, and get it the fuck together. For our girl."

Our girl.

I glance up looking around the room to see every member staring at the both of us, scowls are planted on Cole and Wolfe's faces.

"I'm going to kill him." I promise. "I'm done waiting. Stokes, Watson..." My voice trails off in a breathless rage. "Jeremy. They all fucking die."

I notice that Trey has filed in at some point, seeing the carnage with wide eyes and in just enough reach that I can grab him by the collar of his cut and slam him against a neighboring wall. My voice drops dangerously low. "You better get the fuck ready to be Sheriff of this god-forsaken town. You don't get a fucking choice anymore."