Chapter Thirteen

Hadley is smiling at me and beckoning me closer. As I move toward her, my cell phone starts ringing and I try to ignore it.

The dream fades as the incessant ringing finally wakes me. My cell phone is ringing next to my bed. Caller ID confirms that it's a club call and can't be ignored.

"Sparrow," I answer while trying to get my bearings.

"You need to get here. Now."

He doesn't say anything else before hanging up and I know that something is seriously fucked. Instantly, I am fully awake and moving around. Jumping into the shower, I make sure to hurry.

Dressed in a black t-shirt, shitkickers, and blue jeans, I grab my jacket and colors and lock the house on the way out. I jump on my Harley and make my way to the clubhouse. Proceeding through town, I weave between the morning traffic. As I pull in through the gates at the clubhouse, I see that nearly every members' bike is already parked in the lot. The clubhouse sits on the outskirts of town in what used to be an abandoned furniture factory. Double stories with a large set of double doors in the front and single side door. Easily defendable.

After striding inside to the bar, I grab a beer and head to church. Entering the conference room, I see that except for the ranking members and oldest patched members, it's standing room only. There's a somber mood in the room. Taking my seat two chairs down from our president on the right side of the table, I look up to judge his mood, but my gaze falls to Storm sitting in the corner. First, shock flows through me and then apprehension. A weight settles in the center of my chest when her eyes meet mine and I know this has something to do with Hadley.

She's crying. This is what shocks me the most. She's sitting on an old, worn-out brown recliner, her legs pulled up underneath her, and tears stream down her face. In all the years I've known Storm, I have never, and I mean never, seen her at less than one hundred percent. She's always ready to go, full makeup, sexy clothes, and those damn heels she always wears. But not today, no, today she's wearing gray leggings with flip-flops and a shirt that seems to be a hundred times too big with the Gypsy Bastards logo on the front. I know from experience that the back either reads support or crew, depending whose shirt it is.

I have a feeling her shirt is marked crew.

She isn't wearing any makeup and her eyes are puffy and red-rimmed. Seeing her like this freaks me the fuck out. Pushing my chair back, I move to go to her, but a stern look from Pope halts me and I take my seat again. He bangs his fist on the table to silence all those gathered. One by one, all eyes turn to him.

"All right." He draws in a deep breath. "We have a problem. You all know Hadley from either down at Dusk, here at the clubhouse, seeing her with Wolf, or even as a babysitter."

His gaze drifts over to me and then to Sparrow. The guys all murmur in agreement. It feels like a vise is on my chest, and it and squeezes tighter with every word he speaks.

"Hadley was taken this morning."

A roar erupts from the men around me, but I watch Pope. If I dare to move or speak, I will be on him. How long has she been missing? It's six in the goddamned evening. How long have they known about this, and why am I only finding out now?

Pope looks me straight in the eye as he fills us in.

"There was confusion at Dusk as to when she should be working, but Maurice called and asked her to come in. She never made it. No one notified us because … I don't fucking know why, but Storm was worried when she got to work. She went over to Hadley's and the place was locked up tight. No signs of a struggle or anything so there are still some blanks for us to fill in."

Gripping the wooden edge of the table tightly, I hear it crack as I try to keep my cool. I spoke to her less than twelve hours ago. Scenarios run through my mind and the longer I sit and wonder where she could be, the more worked up I get.

Someone speaks and then silence falls. Looking up, I see everyone looking at me.

"What?" My voice doesn't sound like my own. It sounds far away and strained. Is that really my voice?

"What do you want to do?" Viking looks at me. As their enforcer, it's my job to make the decisions on things like this

"We all know you were getting close." His voice is softer now and there's worry written all across his face.

"I want to know where the fuck she is. Is she missing or did she just leave?" My gaze zeroes in on Storm.

She shakes her head vehemently as she continues to cry. "She wouldn't just leave, Wolf. Something happened to her. All her stuff is still at the apartment and her dad's car is still in the shop. If I know one thing about her, it's that she would never leave that car. Something happened."

Nodding, I take a deep breath before continuing. My emotions are all over the place. She's supposed to be my second chance at life. What if something happens to her? But I can't let those thoughts or my emotions control me, I need to be in charge.

"Okay. Then we do this like we always would. Beast, take Justice with you and check any security footage you can find between her building and Dusk. If she was headed to work, one of them would have caught her."

Beast and Justice nod at me and move to get going.

"Sparrow, check her phone log. See if there's anything weird. Maybe we'll get lucky and it's still on and we can track her through that."

Sparrow nods and moves to get his laptop before sitting down again. Looking at Pope, I wait for his input.

"The rest of you need to be ready to move. If something did happen to her, I want to be able to sort this out immediately." His gaze travels from member to member as each nods in acceptance. "Hadley is a good woman and we need to find out what the fuck is going on."

Storm rises from her spot to stand behind Pope and leans down to whisper something in his ear. For a moment, we all watch and wait. A red flush steals over Pope and his eyes narrow to slits before he rounds on her.

"Jesus Christ, Storm. How can you only be telling me about this now? It's a bit fucking late, yeah?" he snaps at her.

Storm's eyes widen before her hands go to her hips. The fire in her eyes is clear for anyone to see.

"Fuck," Viking says below his breath.

"It's a little hard to tell you anything with you keeping me at arm's length." Storm squares her shoulders and faces the president of my club head-on with no fear. At that moment, I respect her more than most other women I have ever met.

"You decided to keep me separate from you and your club and your life so don't you dare yell at me because you don't know the most basic shit about me anymore." Storm turns to look at us and catches us all staring.

"Hadley and I had an altercation with Viper and the Mongrels a couple weeks back at Mary's Rib Shack. He threatened to get back at us both." Her eyes zero in on me. "Could this be them?"

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod at her. "Yeah. We've been having some problems with their dumbasses too."

Pope sighs loudly. "At least if it's them, we have all the intel we need to get her back. Let's wait and see what Beast and Justice get and then we can proceed."

The guys file out of the room after that, each moving in their own direction. Many of them are unhappy with having to wait to find out if it was even the Mongrels that took her. Some of the men are so fed up with this shit that they simply want it done. Pope eyes me carefully before approaching me.

"Wolf?"

"Don't, brother. How long have you known? How long haven't I been told?" My gaze shifts from him to Sparrow. "That's someone I care for and none of you had the courtesy to notify me the moment you knew?"

My roar rings through the clubhouse and I watch Storm flinch back. Without listening to a word any of them say, I leave and head to my room.

Two hours later, a knock comes on my bedroom door. Flinging the door back, I expect to see Pope or Sparrow but find Justice there.

"We found her on a camera." He doesn't wait for me or explain further. He turns around and moves down the stairs. When I reach the bottom, Pope is already in his alpha mode, planning our next steps. His eyes find mine.

"Viper took her. We have all the info and we are going to hit them and get her back. How do you want to handle this?"

Looking from man to man, I see that they're ready for this. For months, this has been brewing and them taking someone we all care about is just the straw that broke the camel's back. Nodding, I lean in and start explaining my plan.