Black Dogs Motorcycle Club: Full Series Box Set (20 page)

~ SIXTEEN ~

Reports
of a naked biker going on a chase through half of LeBeau understandably
traveled fast, so Jase wasn’t surprised to see half the sheriff
’
s
department, along with the entire club, waiting for him when his bike rumbled
down the long drive. But they weren’t there to arrest Jase so much as assist
with what they knew was really behind the chase.

Jase had returned home long enough to
throw on clothes, grab his weapons and phone, and see if the van had dropped
any other clues he could use. He made a quick emergency call to Henry before he
rushed to the clubhouse.

Jase hadn’t
even killed his
bike when the group was descending on him.
“
Where
is she? What happened?
”
Henry
yelled as he stalked over.

“
They fucking took her
right out of my driveway!
”
said
Jase, barely able to contain his growing rage. He met them halfway.
“
They
didn’t kill her, Henry, they snatched her. This was a kidnapping.
”

“
How the fuck did that
happen?
”
asked Beck.

 “
You tell me. They had to
have been waiting out there for us all fucking morning. She hadn’t stepped ten
feet from the house and they were on her.
”

“
I thought I told you to
keep her armed!
”
said
Henry.

“
She shot one of them in
the arm, took out a rear window. It wasn’t enough
…
I
wasn’t fast enough,
”
said
Jase. He put his hands on his waist and let his head hang, overwhelmed by the
intensity of his pain and anger at that moment.
“
Henry,
something is very wrong. These motherfuckers were staking out my house, and I
didn’t even know we were going to end up there last night. How did they know?
”

Everyone fell silent and watched Henry,
waiting for his reaction. Jase could see and well understand the storm of
emotions brewing behind Henry
’
s
eyes. A kidnapping meant his daughter was likely still alive, and they all knew
that meant there was a chance to get her back safely. But there were all sorts
of things to go wrong between here and there.

“
Where are we with the
Afghanis?
”
said Henry.

Beck spoke,
“Will
’
s
on the line with them now. They said they had some tracks from that burner
Maggie found.
”

“
Good, then we
—“
Henry stopped. Drake was coming up the drive in a
rush, yelling over his engines. He stopped just short of the group and hopped
off his bike. He had a padded brown envelope stuffed under his arm that had
already been ripped open.

“Boss!”
said Drake.
“
Boss,
this was at the front fence, I didn’t think before I opened it.
”
He reached out and handed the envelope to Henry with a
wide-eyed look on his face. Henry shoved his hand inside and came out with a
note. He read it without speaking, then pulled his phone out of his pocket and
began to send a text, reading the phone number off the note. Within seconds,
someone on the other end replied.

It was a photo of Maggie, tied to a chair
in some indiscriminate and beat-up concrete room. Her reddened face glistened,
wet with tears; someone was holding her head up by the hair. Below the picture,
a number:
“$500,000”.

Another text arrived a few seconds later:
“
One
hour. Dirt road east of exit 9. No cops.
”

Before he could stop himself, Jase
snatched the phone from Henry
’
s
hand and stared at the photo in shock. The fear in her eyes shattered his
heart. He had utterly failed her.
“Oh my god…”
he
muttered to himself. Someone took the phone from him and got it back to Henry.
Jase stumbled to the edge of the group to catch a breath of fresh air. He
thought he might be sick.

“
We need to open the
safes. Get the money collected.
” Henry
’
s
voice came strong from behind him. Drake led several men into the clubhouse to
fulfill his order.

“You’re
gonna
pay it
?
”
asked
Beck, though it was without a lick of judgment.

“Not just,” s
aid Henry. He
called for someone to bring Will to him. Jase took a few deep breaths and
returned to the group to take part in the updates. Will trotted up from the
clubhouse still on a call, which he ended just before he approached.

“
Aamir had his men in
Eagleton do some sniffing around with the numbers we found in Maggie
’
s
burner,
”
said Will.
“
Two
of them were still active. One led to a junkie who was a regular client of
Maggie
’
s ex. They couldn’t track
down the owner of the other, but only because they weren’t in Eagleton
—
the
signal is active in an area about ten miles north of here, west of Howlett.
”

“
Evan
’
s
men,”
said Jase.
“
One
of them hasn’t ditched their phone in a while.
”

“
That
’
s
what I think,
”
said Will.
“
Aamir
couldn’t get anyone to pick up when called, but it seems pretty unlikely that
it
’
s just a coincidence the
signal is so close to LeBeau. It has to be them.
”

“
It might be where they
’
re
keeping Maggie,
”
said
Henry.

A rush of hope filled Jase
’
s
chest and he almost let himself believe in it.
“
We
have to try for it.
”

“I
’
m
with him,
”
said Will.
“Let
’
s
send a small team to these coordinates to check out the site while you answer
the ransom call. Having two teams out means the chance is better one of us will
succeed.
”

“
It could get Maggie
killed,
”
said Beck.

“
I
don’t
want to make a single move that would give these assholes reasons to take it
out on her,
”
said Henry.

“
Let me take Ghost and go
in small,
”
said Will. He put a hand
on Henry
’
s shoulder.
“
We
can handle it.
”

The sheriff stepped up.
“
We
can coordinate patrolmen waiting on the highway to stop the kidnappers once
they leave the drop point.
”

“
Only if they
’
re
far enough away that you won’t get spotted, and you don’t move in until I say,
”
said Henry. The sheriff nodded and moved to give out
orders to his own men lingering on the edges of the crowd.

“
Head out,
”
said Henry to Will.
“
Take
Ghost. See what you can find.
”
Immediately
Will ran for his bike and hollered for Ghost to follow him. From the house,
Drake and the rookies returned with a black zippered duffel bag stuffed with
cash. Henry took a cursory look and then zipped it back up.
“
The
full half-mil?
”

“
Right, boss, but that
emptied every safe in the house,
”
said
Drake.

“
Fine. Tommy, I want you
to hold down the fort here with whatever men the sheriff leaves. I want two men
along with the sheriff
’
s
checkpoints on either side of the highway as backup in case the sheriff can’t
stop them. Beck, Drake, and Jase, you
’
re
with me on the drop.
”
Henry
looked at him with steel in his eyes and Jase nodded sternly. No one was
keeping him at the clubhouse waiting this out, regardless of what Henry
’
s
orders were.

No one argued, but scattered to their
respective duties. Henry had one quick last word with the sheriff before he
climbed on his bike, parked next to Jase
’
s,
and strapped his helmet on. Beck had already pulled out one of the panel vans
from the side of the clubhouse; he would be transporting the money bag, and
presumably Maggie upon her return.

The sound of bikes roaring to life filled
the air. As a few began to buzz down the driveway, Jase looked over at Henry as
he adjusted his helmet. A million thoughts exchanged between them without a
single word being said.

“I
’
m
going to fix this,
”
said
Jase.
“I
’
m
going to get her back.
”

“
We will get her back
together,
”
said Henry. He clapped a
hand on Jase
’
s shoulder. Jase
waited and followed a few meters behind, praying to himself that they weren’t
too late already.

~ SEVENTEEN ~

Every
mile of the ride to the drop off seemed to take a thousand years for Jase. He
knew it was worse for Henry, though that was difficult to even fathom. He
followed the president as he wheeled in and out of slow highway traffic,
keeping his speed only low enough to prevent a slide-off. Drake kept pace
beside him. Beck lagged behind in the van, but he had the location
—
none
of the bikers needed to wait.

Jase felt a growing dread in his gut.
Maggie
’
s screams burned in his
ears. He tried to let the soothing rumble of the bike beneath him spread and
calm him, like it would calm Maggie if she were on the back, arms wrapped
around him tight.  Christ, he couldn’t lose her again, not now. He felt like
the hero in some Greek tragedy.

The drop-off point was northeast of LeBeau
’
s
limits, and at least five miles from the hideout coordinates they had received
from the Afghanis. After a small detour down a gravel road, the bikers came to
a flattened clearing that had likely once been the location of some pioneer
homestead or ranch, though no buildings remained now. Two ugly black vans were
already waiting for them, turned facing towards the gravel road to the highway.
The bikers slid carefully onto the opposite side of the clearing and cut the
engines.

“
We go in cold,
”
said Henry without looking at any of them. He
stabilized and got off his bike.
“
No
weapons out until it
’
s
necessary.
”
They waited without
moving until Beck came ambling down the gravel road in the van. Jase fetched
the bag of ransom cash from the van and returned it to Henry, who led the march
to the middle of the clearing.

The doors of one of the black vans slid
open loudly, and four men hopped out with M4 carbine rifles slung across their
chests. They were wearing denim jackets and jeans and black ski masks, like the
men from his driveway. They had no cuts or patches claiming for a club, but the
way they moved together betrayed that these were likely members of the Rebel
Cross. Henry
’
s contact had told
them that Crosses were no different from other clubs and members often took
side jobs for money. Whoever these Crosses were, they didn’t want the Black
Dogs recognizing them. At least a few of them probably lived in LeBeau. The
thought made Jase
’
s anger bubble hotter.

“You her old man?”
one
of the men asked, pointing at Henry. His voice didn’t sound familiar,
especially as he shouted across the clearing from behind the cotton mask.

“
Where is she?
”
Henry demanded.

The men ignored him. They conversed among
themselves for a moment and then moved to approach the center of the clearing.
Only one walked all the way to face Henry, with the others falling back to
defend on either side, much as Jase and Drake had done themselves. Everyone had
casual hands on their weapons.

“
Do you have the money?
”
asked the leader as he walked up to Henry.

“
Do you have my goddamn
child?
”
said Henry.

“She
’
s
safe, old man, don’t
worry. We just hear you’ve got a
reputation for not paying your dues so we need to make sure you actually
brought that money with you. Else she might not be safe very long,
”
said the masked leader.

Jase
’
s
rage exploded inside and it took all his strength to keep his feet planted and
his gun holstered. He wanted nothing more than to tear over and end this
negotiation by ripping some heads off. He tried to keep calm by reminding
himself that Maggie would probably die if he didn’t keep it together.

Henry flared in anger as well, at the
threat, and at the insult. They were working very hard to keep him emotionally
compromised. Henry lifted up the bag in silence and opened the zipper far
enough to show the piles of cash waiting inside.
“It
’
s
all here, you fucking coward. I want to see my daughter.
”

“
Throw that goddamn bag
down so we can count it first!
”

The bad feeling in Jase
’
s
gut transformed into a roaring air-raid siren. Something was very wrong. He
suddenly doubted that anything was in that second black van at all except more
men with automatic weapons. Before he could figure out how to talk to Henry
without interrupting the deteriorating negotiation, he felt the shocking buzz
of his cell phone from the pocket in his cut. Common sense told him to ignore
it, but something else inside him knew he had to pick it up.

Everyone
’
s
eyes seemed to be watching Henry and the leader as they fought. Jase carefully
slipped the phone out of his pocket. It was Will.

He accepted the call. Immediately the
sounds of loud popping and screeching metal poured through the earpiece. Jase
put the uncomfortable noise to his ear and whispered Will
’
s
name as loudly as he dared.
“
What
’
s
happening?
”

“Drake!” Will
’
s
voice screamed into the phone, and then came angry roaring followed by the
unmistakable sound of 9mm gunfire from very close range
—
Will
firing his weapon.

Jase listened to the sound of a gunfight
as his eyes widened. He turned away from the group.
“
Will,
this is Jase, what the fuck is going on?!
”

Jase waited a few tense seconds, listening
to the chaos, before Will
’
s
voice returned. Jase had never heard Will so loud, so angry.
“It
’
s
Drake! It
’
s fucking Drake!
He
’
s working with the Rebel
Cr
—“
Pop, poppopopop.

Jase turned and looked across the clearing
where Drake stood, bored, watching Henry argue with the masked men. As if he
felt Jase
’
s gaze, he
suddenly looked over and met it. Even behind the sunglasses, Jase could see
Drake
’
s expression drop when he
saw the look on Jase
’
s
face, phone pressed against his ear. He knew what was on the other end of that
line.

“
Stop Drake! Jase!
”
screamed Will.

Suddenly from the call, automatic gunfire
erupted like a volcanic explosion, drowning out all other sounds. Jase could
make out the faint faraway attempts of Will yelling but couldn’t understand
another word.  He stared at Drake, his breath quickening with every shot. Will
and Ghost were stranded in a war zone.

Then as fast as it had come in, the call
cut out.