Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Smoke

I’m halfway through the meeting I rescheduled with Rex Corp when my phone buzzes. I’ve got the ringer turned off, and all notifications switched to silent, save for Serena’s phone and the MC number we use for emergencies. I can’t afford to not answer it, Serena knows I’m in a meeting and wouldn’t call unless it was urgent. The buzzing stops and I surreptitiously check the screen—it was the emergency code for the entire club, but the video call had been from Evan, of all people. He’s been prospecting for only a few weeks, and he’s already managed to get himself in over his head.

I say, “Sorry gentlemen, but I need to take a minute to make a call.”

One of the Rex Corp executives comes to his feet and stretches his arms over his head. “I expected us to make better progress than we have. What do you say we call a break for lunch and get back to it this afternoon?”

“That actually sounds good,” I reply.

We break for lunch, and I walk outside with my briefcase in one hand and my phone in the other, it starts buzzing again, and I answer immediately expecting to see Evan’s face, instead it’s a video of someone pulling Serena into a van and speeding away.

I curse under my breath and begin running for my office as I continue watching the video. My bike is parked there. I toss my briefcase into the reception area.

Marge’s indignant voice cries out, “What’s happened?”

“Serena’s been kidnapped. I’m going after her. Cancel all my appointment for today.”

I don’t wait for a reply, I head for my bike. When I glance down at the phone in my hand, I realize Evan is still streaming.

Hope surges in my chest when I realize he and Gordon are following them. He might be relegated to having to ride pillion, but today that’s working in our favor as he can hold on and stream live. As I run to the basement garage, the video call disconnects and I curse, but then I calm myself the fuck down. We have Evan’s location so we can track him.

Another call comes through, and I connect as I put my helmet on. Siege’s voice rings out. “Are you getting this feed, Smoke?”

“Yeah. I’m getting on my bike now.” I take a minute to open the storage compartment on my Harley and gear up. Since I’m still wearing my suit, my jacket will cover the holster at my waist and the backup holster at the small of my back.

“We all are. Evan has his location turned on. We’re going to follow him to wherever they’re taking my sister, and then I’m gonna beat your ass for allowing my sister to get abducted by these sick, twisted fucks.”

I end the call, because I’m done playing around with Siege. The only thing that matters to me right now is finding Serena. I pull up Evan’s location using the club app Zen created for us. Within seconds I’m on the interstate, slowly closing in on their location. My club brothers eventually catch up with me, but we have a hard time catching up with Gordon and Evan. I realize they’re not stopping in our town, they seem to be heading toward San Francisco.

I hit the contacts list on my phone and call Zen, and then switch on the earpiece inside my helmet.

Zen answers, “Smoke, I’m all over this situation.”

“They’re not stopping. It looks like they may be making a run for San Francisco.”

“I know,” he responds anxiously. “Look, they’re going to have to stop for gas at some point. I’m trying figure out how far they can travel before needing gas by extrapolating information using the size of their tank for the make and model of van they’re driving and their current speed. I’ll push the information to the group text when I have it.”

“Thanks, brother. I appreciate it.”

“Sorry, I gotta go. Siege is on my ass, wanting answers too.”

“Figures. Prioritize getting the information. Otherwise, you’re just going to waste a bunch of time with him screaming in your ear.”

“Roger that, Smoke.”

I end the call and speed up as much as possible. With the van and all of us going far in excess of the speed limit today, I worry the cops are going to pull us over. That would seriously slow down our attempts to catch up with the assholes who took Serena. I can’t imagine how scared she must be right now. I’m one hundred percent certain that Stan is involved in her abduction. When I catch up with them, he’s a dead man.

The level of anxiety churning in my stomach is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced before. I feel like there is something more I should be doing, but all I can do is keep pushing forward.

Another serious problem for us is that a van can typically go around four hundred miles on a full tank of gas, while a motorcycle can only do between one and two hundred miles between fuel ups. That means we were going to be forced to stop more often to get gas, increasing the possibility of losing sight of them. One of our other prospects found Serena’s purse and phone in the alleyway near where she was abducted. Since we can’t track her with her phone, that means Evan and Gordon are our only links at this point. That’s a fucking lot of responsibility for a fifteen-year-old boy, and a prospect.

After what seems like hours of riding, but is probably only thirty or forty minutes, I get a call from Evan.

“They’ve stopped at a gas station to change out vehicles. I’m sending the coordinates and a photo of the plates. It’s a black minivan, the type you’d go camping in, with a roof rack for a canoe or whatever, and a ladder up the back. I’m going to turn off the volume and try to tape my phone to the ladder. I don’t have a full charge, but it might be enough for us to track them to wherever they’re going.”

That was smart thinking. As long as his phone was on their vehicle and active, we could use his location app to track them, “Good thinking,” I say.

“Me and Gordon could try and get her?” he suggests helpfully.

“No, your old man would kill me if anything happened to you. These are professionals, they’ll have guns. The phone is a really good idea, do that if you think you can do it safely.”

“Okay,” he says sounding somewhat disappointed. I can’t help wondering why Evan is so preoccupied with my Serena. I’m glad he is, but with the huge age gap, I hope he doesn’t have a teenage crush on her, though I wouldn’t blame the kid if he did. But knowing Evan, he probably saw her as a big sister.

Siege then joins the call, “Good work kid. I want you and Gordon to stay put at the service station. We’ll be able to track them now, but I don’t want you both following.”

“But what if the phone dies? What if we lose them? What if—”

My president cuts him off, “No playing heroes. You want to be a brother? Then you learn to take orders. You did good, real good, don’t think I’m not proud of you. But we don’t know what these men are capable of, and running into danger headfirst without a clear plan can get a man killed. We should be with you in twenty minutes.”

“Okay, sir.” Evan answers