53. HOLDEN

HOLDEN

“ I want eyes on Stokes,” Cole barks, gaining the attention of every member standing in the room. “I don’t give a shit if we have to turn over every goddamn boulder in this town. I want his location within the hour.”

The room hums with everyone’s agreement as members begin to file out of Church. I glance over at Cole. That furious glare stuck behind his blue eyes matches my own. Blake took Wyatt to his room once Lang arrived with a reminder that he better get his shit together.

“We’re wasting time not looking for Watson,” I say as I make my way to the door. Even if we did get Stokes there was no guarantee that he would give up Watson. Hell at this point I wouldn’t blame Stokes for it. That doesn’t mean I won’t do whatever it takes to get Kadence back.

“Let them do their job. We’ve got large enough targets on our backs without us running around town on a wild goose chase, Nash,” Cole counters, and the rage that begins to bubble in my chest has me spinning on my heels and my fists twisting in Cole’s shirt.

“This isn’t some wild good chase,” I hiss between my teeth. My eyes flash with anger as I glare at my best friend or whatever the fuck he is at this point. “This is Kadence we’re talking about.”

“I know that.” Cole shoves me off.

“Do you?”

“What the fuck does that mean?” He says and I can hear the offense in his voice.

I shake my head. “It means that, just this once, I need you to be on my side. I need you to realize that this–” I pause almost close to telling him about the baby, “that she is worth whatever risk we have to take. Every bullet, every punch. Whatever the fuck it is, Kadence is worth that and more.”

Cole’s hands find his hips as he stares at me. The unresolved tension between the two of us bleeds out into the space. “I know that.” He repeats. “I’m on your side, Nash.”

“She’s pregnant, Cole.” I finally say after a moment and the weight I thought would be lifted by that only feels heavier. My eyes meet Cole’s. There’s an unreadable look on his face, something between sadness and anger.

“You didn’t think to tell us that ‘til now? How long have you two known?” He asks with disdain in his voice.

“A week or so. She found out before Stokes wrecked the clubhouse.”

Cole lets out a long drawn out sigh, like somehow this has turned into an inconvenience for him. It takes everything I have not to toss him through the Church window. “Say what you’re gonna say, Cole.” My voice rumbles low as I get ready to leave the room.

“You happy about it?” Cole asks after a moment. “You ready for it?”

I glance over to my friend and shake my head. “Ready, fuck no.” I pause. “Happy? More than I have been in a long time.” It’s the most honest we’ve been with each other in a minute. The tension between us has still been heavy but now is the time to put that shit aside. We could figure out what was left of our relationship after Kadence was back and after both her and the baby were safe.

“Good,” Cole says.

I nod, unsure of how to move forward now. In other circumstances Cole may have been happy for me. We’d share a couple of beers and laugh about how I would be getting the kid I deserved. A troublemaker just like me. But this…dancing around the cracks in our friendship, it tarnished what should have been a good thing.

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and grab it. I glance down to see Scottie’s name on the screen. Answering it, “Tell me you found him.”

“Fucker’s at home.” Scottie’s voice comes over the line. “Curled up in bed with one of Marlowe’s girls.”

That anger wraps around my core once more. “Send her back to Moon so Ma can deal with her. Give her the heads up.”

“Alright,” he responds. “What should we do with Stokes?”

I glance over at Cole. “Bring him here, string him up in the garage.”

“You sure about that? Watson gets any hint that–”

“Just fucking do it, Scottie.” I bark before hanging up. Without another word I leave the room, Cole hot on my heels as we make our way out to the lot.

I take a long drag off of my cigarette. A taste I’ve missed and a vice I didn’t rely on once I pulled Kadence from that water. A lot of my vices haven’t seen the light of day since Kadence has been around and it doesn’t take an idiot to realize that she’s at the core of it all.

The sound of Stokes’s grunts echo against the garage door. Dex has been working him over for the past twenty minutes, trying to get whatever information out of him that he could. But my hands itch to get Stokes’ blood on them. I’m tired of waiting. A full day of not knowing where Kadence is or even if she is still in the state.

Cole pushes the side door open and nods. “Better get in here before Wolfe gets the best of him.”

With a nod I toss my cigarette to the ground, stomping out the ember before following Cole back inside.

Just as I had asked, Stokes is hanging by his wrists from the middle bay car lift. Wolfe’s already done his work. Stokes looks almost unrecognizable with two swollen eyes, blood dripping from the smirk painted on his face. “Can he still talk?” I ask glancing over at where Dex is wiping his hands on a shop rag.

“Let’s hope,” Dex grumbles.

“You are all a bunch of idiots,” Stokes mutters, spitting blood onto the ground.

I raise a brow. There’s no chance in hell that Stokes doesn’t have an idea of what’s going on. “Where’s your lap dog, Stokes?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Nash?”

“Watson, the tall blonde who has a knack for kidnapping women,” I snap, kicking the back of Stokes’s knee and forcing his feet out from under him. “Where is he?”

He starts to laugh, shaking his head. “You think I know what the hell he’s up to?”

I glance up at Cole and Dex. “You came into our club, you put my woman on the ground and threatened to sick him on her. So yeah, I do think you know what he’s up to.” I lean down to meet Stokes eye to eye. “Where the fuck is Kadence?”

“ I don’t know ,” Stokes hisses.

“And I don’t believe you.” I stand and take a step back from Stokes. “Higher,” I bark. In seconds Stokes is hoisted further into the air. His toes barely scrape the ground. “Where is she Stokes?”

He grunts as he tries to gain traction with his feet. My patience is wearing thin now. My fists clench at my side before I toss one into Stokes’s gut. “Where is she!”

A rush of air leaves Stokes followed by a series of ragged coughs. I stare at him waiting for an answer. I can feel both Cole and Dex watching me. It’s been a long time since we’ve had to do anything like this and the air is thick with a tension that makes it hard to control my breathing. All of the pent-up anger, the rage that I’ve shoved down, starts to rise in my chest. “I’m tired of waiting.”

“Your fathers would be disgusted with you both,” Stokes finally hisses through a rasp. “Turning to gun running and whore trading.” A sinister laugh leaves him. “Do you know how many girls I pulled off the street for you? For Moon?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cole barks.

“All those broken girls I found.” He grins with a bloody smile. “They had families, parents who loved them, and you turned them into dancers. Promising a better life.”

“And you threatened them,” I snap filling in the blanks. “For what?”

“For the money.” He rolls his head towards me. “For the pussy.”

Cole tosses a toolbox over before grabbing Stokes by the chin. “You stole girls to feed the club?”

“You stupid boy,” Stokes mumbles. Cole roars as he drops Stokes and paces the shop. “You’ve been playing with the cards I give you. The guns, the women, all of it is because of me and you stuck your hand in the cookie jar without any question.”

“You threatened my club!” Cole yells.

Stokes laughs again. “You let me.”

“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Cole hisses, shaking his head.

“Hey!” I bark, grabbing Cole by the back of his collar. “Get your shit together,” I rumble, looking O’Neil in the eye.

“Watson’s been obsessed with your girl for a while now,” Stokes continues on. “I really couldn’t stop him from calling Miami. That boy’s head hasn’t been screwed on right since well…” He trails off and even before he finishes I know. My eyes flick to Cole to see the realization on his face. “Watson was first on the scene of your sister’s horrible accident,” He taunts. “Why do you think that is?”

“You son of a bitch,” I growl, hitting him again. “You blamed me, convinced half this town that I killed Becca!”

“No,” he rasps. “You did that on your own, Nash. All they had to do was see the destructive mess you’d become after prison.”

“You know where Kade is don’t you?” Dex says, circling around Stokes like a shark sniffing for blood. “You’re dead anyway, Stokes, you ain’t got nothing to lose.”

“If you kill me,” he taunts, “you’ll never get her back. That Miami prick and Watson will disappear so fast you’ll be chasing your tails.”

“Will.” I say after a moment, “You said will disappear which means they haven’t left town yet.” My eyes narrow in on the old man. “Where the fuck is she?”

“I’m shocked you haven’t found her. She’s hidden in plain fucking sight.” He trips over his feet again, causing his arms to strain against the chains. “The warehouse you idiots,” Stokes hisses, “it’s where Watson goes to hide.”

“Fuck!” Cole yells. I know it’s the first place we should have looked. Or one of them but we had been so hellbent on locating Stokes, no one thought to look there.

“Thanks,” I say bitterly as I step back into line next to Dex. I hold out my hand and Wolfe drops a pistol into it. “You know, Stokes, you deserve a hell of a lot worse than what you’re going to get from us. You corrupt piece of shit.”

Cole moves to stand next to me. All three of us stare at Stokes with hatred in our eyes. Dex moves to hand Cole a pistol behind my back.

“And you three aren’t anything other than a couple of orphaned assholes. The three of you destroy everything you fucking touch–”

Cole, Wolfe, and I all simultaneously raise our weapons, firing off three shots each before Stokes can finish his thought. His body slumps against the chains as blood pools around his feet.

“One evil down,” Dex mutters, “two more assholes to go.”

I hand him back the pistol. “Get the prospects to clean this shit up.” I turn to Cole as Scottie comes into the shop. His eyes wide as he surveys the mangled body in the middle of the room. I spare him a glance. “Get Falcone over to the Sheriff’s office. Any deputy who isn’t on board with him becoming head, is out. I don’t give a fuck how it happens.”

Scottie glances at Cole. Looking for confirmation from his President. I don't have to turn to Cole before he gives the go ahead and Scottie nods.

“What are you going to do?” He asks.

“I’m going to go get my girl back and kill the motherfuckers who put their hands on her.”