Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

Havoc

I pull up to the building where the meeting is taking place and see cops and an ambulance in the parking lot.

I’m off the bike and running before it’s even a conscious thought. “Nevaeh!” I yell, catching the attention of the nearest police officer , whose hand moves to his holstered gun.

“He took her,” a voice shouts. I turn toward it and see Nevaeh’s dad sitting on the curb with a paramedic fussing over him. He waves them away and struggles to get to his feet.

“Sir, sit down. I need to speak to you further,” a cop tells him.

“Why? You’re not listening to a word I’m saying.” He hurries over to me. I can see a nasty cut above his eye, which explains the blood running down his face.

“Where’s Nevaeh?” I snarl at him, feeling G step up beside me.

“I’ve been following her to try to get her to listen to me, but when I saw her today, there was a man on top of her, hurting her.” He grips his hair, his eyes going to the ground near a row of cars where paramedics are working on someone else.

It takes me a second to realize the bloody mess is Driller. “What happened?”

“I couldn’t let him hurt her, so I hit him with the rock. I told her to get in her car, and she did. I thought she was safe, but he was in the back seat waiting for her. He had a gun to her head–– made her drive away. I tried to catch them.” He grabs my cut. “You have to find her. Please, God, find my daughter. I can’t do this again.”

I gently pry his hands away. “Who was in the car? Who took her?

“Jasper.”

“Who the fuck is Jasper?” G questions.

“He’s flatlining. We’ve gotta go now!”

I look toward ambulances at the shout and already know who they’re working on. There is no way Probe would let anyone take Nevaeh unless he was unconscious.

“I’ll call the clubhouse.” G steps back as I focus on Nevaeh’s dad.

“Who is Jasper?”

“Jasper Markham. My old neighbor. He lived on our street for a couple of years. He moved away just before…” his voice drifts off as something dawns on his face.

“Oh god. He made Nevaeh uncomfortable. She told us that. She told the police when they asked her questions, so many fucking questions. But he’d left six months before, so they put him to the bottom of the pile. They had a suspect to focus on, but then Alan was shot and–– Oh god, how did we get it so wrong?”

“Mr. Dillion—” a cop starts, but he shuts up when the man in question glares at him.

“My daughter is in the hands of a monster, and all you want to do is talk.”

He pulls out his cell phone, taps on something, and hands it to me. “They wouldn’t listen, but you must.”

I take the phone and look down at it as G steps closer. “You put a tracker on the car?”.

He nods as the cop barks something, but I ignore him and stare at Nevaeh’s father.

“I’ll find her, I promise.”

I turn and run with G right beside me. Cops are shouting at us to stop, but I don’t think they’d shoot us in the back. Ignoring my bike, I run for Ambros, who is sitting in his Corvette on the phone.

I yank the door open and climb in. G slips into the back. “Go before they stop us.”

Ambros drops his phone and does as I ask without hesitation. “Where are we going?”

I pass the cell phone to G, who starts giving directions.

Pulling out my own phone, I call Midas.

“Prez? G called. I’ve got Circus and Capone on the way to the hospital right now. Any news on Nevaeh?”

“Her dad put a tracker on her car. We’re following it right now.”

“Jesus, I can’t even be pissed. Tell me what you need?”

“Keep Amity contained. Get the club lawyer down to the precinct in Flemington for Nevaeh’s dad. He saved her from Driller. We owe him.”

“On it. I’ll call now. Want me to send some guys your way?”

“No, we’re heading closer to Hannibal’s chapter. I’m calling him next.”

“Keep me posted.”

He hangs up, so I dial Hannibal. It rings and rings for what feels like forever, until finally, a female voice answers.

“Hello?”

“Lola, put Hannibal on the phone now.”

“He’s in the shower.”

“I don’t give fuck. Your ex-fuck piece just attacked my old lady. You get Hannibal on the phone right now, or I’ll hold you accountable for whatever happens to her,” I growl.

A few minutes later, Hannibal answers. “What the fuck did you say to my old lady?”

“Nevaeh’s been kidnapped. We’re tracking her, but I could use some help, and you’re closer.”

“Fuck. I’m leaving now. Just tell me where to go.”

“G will text you directions.” I hang up and rub my hand over my face. “Do we know who the fuck this guy is and what he wants with Nevaeh?” Ambros asks.

“He was her neighbor when she was a kid. It’s possible he was the one who kidnapped her sister.”

“Fucking hell, you’re serious? Wait, could this be the guy trolling her? It can’t be a coincidence.”

I look back at G furiously typing away on his cell phone.

“Motherfucker. In 1989, Alan Ellwick and Jasper Markham were cellmates. Ellwick did three years for aggravated sexual assault and spent the end of his sentence in the infirmary after he was attacked. Guess who saved him?”

“Markham. And what’s the betting Markham felt like Ellwick owed him for it?”

“Who’s Ellwick?” Ambros asks.

“The guy they thought kidnapped Nevaeh’s sister. Cops killed him when he resisted arrest.”

Ambros taps his fingers on the wheel. “You think this Markham guy was the one who fingered Ellwick for the abduction?”

“Without a doubt, he had priors that included raping a twelve-year-old girl. The only reason he walked free was thanks to a technicality. Ellwick was the perfect suspect to keep the police busy, and in doing so, Markham slipped right under their radar,” G answers.

“What was Markham in prison for?”

He taps away on his cell before he replies. “He served twenty-two months of a three-year sentence for fraud. He had no priors involving violence or any kind of sexual abuse. He hid his provocations well.”

“The best kind of predators do.” I growl.

“I don’t get it. This Markham guy sounds like a pedophile, but Nevaeh isn’t a little girl anymore. Why would he want her?” Ambros frowns, looking over at me briefly before returning his focus to the road.

“Maybe it’s because she looks like her sister. Maybe he has a thing for twins,” G says.

Ambros hisses. “Her twin?”

I run my fingers through my hair. “It’s been fifteen years, why now?”

“It’s because of me.” Ambros hits the steering wheel. “The photo of me and her outed her real identity. Before that, she used a pen name and lived a quiet and sheltered life.”

“This Jasper guy knew who she was all along and where to find her.” I point out.

G sits forward. “Until she moved here. Maybe that’s it. If he’s always known where she was, it would have tripped his trigger to find her gone. And when he does find her, she’s not the pure preacher’s daughter anymore––she’s tangled up with an MC.”

I close my eyes, remembering Nevaeh in our bed with that just fucked look on her face. I picture her smile from the day of the book signing, how happy she was and––

My eyes snap open. “He was at the signing. He walked right up to her and introduced himself as Jasper. I thought he was odd, but…” I let my words drift off.

“Nobody could have predicted this Havoc,” Ambros says quietly.

But I should have. It’s my job to protect her, and right now, she’s on her fucking own. Fight for me, baby. I’m coming for you , but you gotta fight for me, fight for us.

I listen to G give Ambros directions, but I keep my mind on Nevaeh. I refuse to believe that she won’t come home. I know her, even terrified she’ll fight to get back to me.

I fist my hands, trying to keep my own fear at bay. If I give into it, I’ll tear this car apart with my bare hands. If I lose her, I’m done. I won’t live in a world where Nevaeh doesn’t exist. If she dies, I’ll follow her. Some might think that’s the coward’s way out, but they have no idea the hell I’ll rain down if I stay. I won’t stop until the streets run with blood and there is nobody left alive to remember her. All the memories left will be mine and mine alone.

I think of G and Amity, the club, and all the people who love Nevaeh––it wouldn’t be enough to stop me. Is a monster born or made? I’ve never weighed in on that, but I know now that losing Nevaeh will make me into a monster. I’ve always been fair. I might skirt the laws of morality to suit my needs, but I’ve never crossed any lines I couldn’t live with–– Until Nevaeh.

There isn’t anything I won’t do for her, any line I won’t cross, or law I won’t break. I’d sacrifice everyone, friend and foe alike, as long as I got to keep her.

“Turn left here.”

I tune back into what’s going on around me and find us on a long dirt road. I sit up and look around, seeing nothing but trees on either side of us.

“We might need to bail out and do the rest on foot,” G says, but I shake my head.

I think about the house I took Nevaeh to and how far off the beaten track it is. “Not sure how long this road is. Stay on it for now. I don’t want to leave the car and find we have ten miles to run. Time is not our friend right now.”

After fifteen minutes, I knew I had made the right call. When the trees start to thin, I see the outline of a house in the distance. “Now we bail. How far out is Hannibal?”

“Seven minutes. He’s on the path behind us. Should hear him soon,” G answers.

“I’m not waiting. Seven minutes might not seem like much to us, but it’s plenty of time to kill someone. Hands around her throat would take no longer than five minutes, a gunshot, seconds.”

“We don’t know what we’re walking into, Havoc. We should wait for backup, in case?—”

I turn and look at G. Whatever he sees on my face shuts him up.

“You went over a cliff for your woman. This is my cliff. Don’t expect me to stand back because I’m the president. I’ll take off my cut right now and shove it down your throat.”

I get out of the car, pull out my gun, and ready myself. “G, go around the back. I’ll take the front. Ambros, you armed?”

“No, but I know how to fight.”

“I won’t order you to stay in the car, but don’t get killed. My old lady likes you, and she’ll get pissed.”

I move toward the house, focusing on keeping low until I reach the front door. I wait until G rounds the back before I grab the handle. A shout from inside has me abandoning caution. I burst through the door and follow the sounds of a scuffle down a long hallway.

“Go. I’ll watch your back,” Ambros says from behind me.

I dimly note that I can hear bikes approaching but don’t slow down until I reach the kitchen.

It takes a second for me to process the scene. Nevaeh is pressed against the kitchen counter with a bat of some kind in her hand. She’s soaking wet and oblivious to me; her focus is all on the man, who is a few feet in front of her. He doesn’t look good. He’s standing in a pool of blood and clinging to the island to keep himself upright. As I move into the room, I realize it’s the Zippo in his hand that has Nevaeh held in place.

That’s when I smell it–-gasoline. And Nevaeh’s soaked in it.

I run, barreling toward the man. He turns to look at me at the last second, but he’s too late to stop a 220-pound pissed-off man. I close my fist over the lighter and take him to the ground. The flame goes out the second I close my hand over it. I throw the Zippo aside as his head bounces off the tile, but that’s not enough for me. I pull back and hit him in the face.

“Mine. Mine. Mine,” he yells as blood coats his teeth.

“Wrong, asshole. She’s mine.” I rain down punch after punch, reveling in his pain until his screams fade and his face resembles hamburger meat. And even then, I don’t stop, not until I feel hands on my arms, pulling me away. I fight them, ripping at the body in front of me, needing to be sure he’s dead.

Hannibal’s voice penetrates the fog. “Havoc, Tinkerbell needs you.”

I whip my head around and find her still in the same spot, her hands over her mouth, tears dripping down her face.

Shit, fuck. And now she knows the truth about what kind of man I am without her around to leash the madness. There is a reason I earned the name Havoc, after all.

I climb to my feet, ignoring Hannibal and Ferris beside him, and take a step toward Nevaeh. “Nevaeh baby, come here.”

She doesn’t react, her eyes on the body on the floor.

“Cupcake.”

Her head snaps up, her eyes widening a fraction before she runs and collides with me, sobbing against my chest.

I pick her up and wrap my arms around her. “I’ve got you now, cupcake, no one is going to hurt you.”

A cry sounds out, and Nevaeh freezes, then yanks herself from me. She runs out into the hallway before taking the stairs two at a time. I’m hot on her heels as she spills into a bedroom where G is crouched near the door, trying to make himself look smaller.

Nevaeh rushes past him. “Citi, it’s okay. This is my family.”

My eyes jump to the woman when Nevaeh says her name. I see the frail-looking version of Nevaeh staring back at me and feel bile in the back of my throat.

“Holy fuck,” Ambros says behind me. He squeezes past me, and since he doesn’t have a cut and looks a fraction less intimidating than the rest of us, I let him pass.

G moves close to me as he stands. “He had her sister the whole time. I don’t even know what to say. Nobody was looking for her, Havoc. Everyone thought she was dead.”

And I bet there were times when she wished she were.

“I promise you; they won’t hurt you or Star, Citi. But we need to get out of here now,” Nevaeh tells her. As I move closer, I realize she has a kid strapped to her chest and a wooden rod in her hands like Nevaeh had downstairs.

“He’ll come for me, Nevaeh. He always comes when I run. That’s why he chains me up.”

My eyes slip closed as I picture a kid escaping into the woods only to be dragged back time and time again.

“He’s dead, darling.” I lift my bloody hands for her to see. “I killed him myself.”

She stares at me for a minute. “Do you promise?” There is something so childlike about her question that it hurts my fucking chest to answer.

“I swear it.”

She drops the rod with a sob. Nevaeh runs over to her, Ambros hot on her heels. When Citi’s legs give out, he catches her.

The loud clank of chains brings my attention to her ankle and the shackle on it. I turn and walk out of the room before I lose my shit again. I jog down to the kitchen and round the counter. I stalk over to the body and lift my leg before stomping on his face.

“Havoc?”

I pause, my breath wheezing in and out of my chest as I look at Hannibal and Ferris. “Nevaeh’s sister is upstairs with a shackle around her ankle and a child, I suspect is hers, strapped to her chest.”

“He kidnapped Nevaeh’s sister too?” Ferris questions confused, but Hannibal just looks shocked because he knows the full story.

“Yeah, Ferris. Fifteen years ago.”

His mouth snaps shut as a look of horror passes over his face.

“I need to find the key,” I say, bending down to rummage in the dead man’s pockets. I come up empty.

“Let me go look. I can pick most locks,” Hannibal says.

“Just go careful. She’s terrified.”

He nods and heads up.

“We need to burn this place to the ground,” Ferris snarls.

“Yeah, but we need to check on the sister first to see if there is anything she needs from here.”

“I’ll go see what kind of accelerants I can find and rig the place.” He leaves, so I take a second to get myself together before I head back up.

Nevaeh is standing near her sister, who is still in Ambros’ lap. She has her arms wrapped around herself as she watches Hannibal use his lock pick on the shackle. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her tightly, lending her my strength.

“Probe?” she whispers to me.

“No news yet, but Circus and Capone are with him.”

“My dad? He fought off Driller, who was trying to?—”

“Shh…your dad is fine. A couple of scrapes and bruises, but he’ll live. I don’t know about Driller, and right now, I don’t care. I’ve got the club lawyer on his way to your dad to make sure he doesn’t get railroaded. He was the one who recognized who had you.”

“He creeped me out when I was little, but nobody ever listens to a kid. I feel sick, Havoc. He had her all this time, and we gave up on her.”

“You didn’t. You didn’t know.”

“But I should have. I’m her twin, for god’s sake.”

I turn her into my arms and hold her while she cries. “We have her now. We’re going to help her heal.”

“Got it,” Hannibal says triumphantly.

Ambros scoops Citi up into his arms, kid and all. “Let’s get you out of here,” he tells her softly.

I take Nevaeh’s hand and move closer. “We’re going to burn this place down. Is there anything you need or want before it blows?”

Citi looks down at the little girl who hasn’t spoken a word since we entered. “I have everything I need,” she tells me, stroking the little girl’s hair.

“Okay then. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

G takes the lead, followed by Ambros, me, and Nevaeh, and then, Hannibal brings up the rear. When we get outside, Hannibal breaks off to talk to Ferris. Ambros lowers Citi gently to her feet.

“Let me help,” Nevaeh tells her softly as she helps untie the material wrapped around her. Once it’s free, the little girl looks at Nevaeh over Citi’s shoulder.

“Hey, Star. I’m your auntie.”

Star looks from Nevaeh to her mom, who nods with a soft, tired smile. When Star reaches for Nevaeh, a tear runs down her face as she gently takes her from her mom. Star lays her head on Nevaeh’s shoulder and slips her thumb into her mouth.

“I need to do something before we go,” Citi says, looking at her daughter and sister.

“I’ve got her. Do whatever you need to do.”

She nods before walking away. I nod to Ambros, who follows behind her.

I press a kiss to Nevaeh’s temple. “You okay?”

“No, but I will be.” Nevaeh adjusts Star, who’s eyes flutter. “She’s heavier than she looks.”

“I can take her.” I dip down so the kid can see me.

“Star, this is Uncle Havoc. Do you think he could carry you?” Nevaeh asks her gently.

She thinks about it for a moment before she reaches for me. I tuck her against my chest, her head under my chin. Her curls tickle my jaw, but I don’t care. When she settles, I relax along with her.

Nevaeh turns to walk around the back of the house. “I’m going to check on my sister.”

Not ready to have her out of my sight yet, I follow her. When we round the corner, Ambros stops Neveah from going any farther. I’m ready to snap at him for touching her when I catch a look at the ravaged expression on his face. I glance from him to Citi, who is sitting in the middle of the grass, a dozen or so feet away, surrounded by wildflowers.

“What’s she doing?” Nevaeh asks as Hannibal and Ferris join us. Ferris nods to let me know the house is ready to burn.

Ambros casts a look my way, warning me that what he’s about to say will hurt Nevaeh. I move closer until she can feel the heat of me behind her.

“Ambros?” she whispers, bracing herself. “What’s my sister doing?”

“She’s saying goodbye to the rest of her children.”