I heard Tiny swallow thickly. “She had on a bra and panties. Nothing else. Coal gave her his shirt to wear.
“Motherfucker!” I bellowed. I heaved in a few lungfuls of air in a vain attempt to get myself under control. “I gotta go, Tiny. I need to talk to her.”
“Quick side note, Coal found out who she is. He didn’t say as much, but the boy is pissed.”
“He can be pissed all he wants, but his shit will have to take a number and get in line. Get her back here safe, brother. See you soon.”
I ended the call and immediately dialed Coal. “Copper?” Layla’s sweet voice filled my ear.
“Locks, baby, are you okay?”
She sniffled and cleared her throat. “Yeah, I am now. They said they were taking me to you. Please don’t send me somewhere else.” The desperation in her plea broke my heart.
“I won’t, Locks. They’re bringing you to me. Layla, baby, did they hurt you?”
“No, not like that. Just a few bumps and bruises,” she murmured.
Relief like I have never felt before washed over me. I wanted to speak, to say something comforting to her, but my throat was clogged with emotion. Only a strangled sound came out when I opened my mouth.
Layla gasped, “Copper, I’m okay. I promise. Once again, you saved me. My knight in guns and leather.”
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if—” I whispered.
She cut me off, “Don’t. We’re not going there. I can’t handle it, and neither can you.”
“Okay, baby.” I was about to end the call when I realized I had something to ask her. “Hey, Locks, do you know who took you?”
She sighed, “Not exactly. I know it was one of the Disciples of Death. I don’t know which one took me, but there was one guy who came into the room a few times, and he’s the one who blacked my eye.”
The growl I emitted was nothing short of feral. “Who. The. Fuck. Put. Their. Hands. On. You?”
“His cut said he was Asp, the VP.”
“Okay, okay,” I said and blew out a breath as I tried to rein in my temper. “You and Coal stay safe, and I will see you soon.”
“Oh, one more thing. I overheard something I think you should know about.”
“I’m listening.”
“When I was starting to wake up, that Asp guy was in the room talking to someone on the phone. I was still kind of out of it, but he said something about making them pay the way Gnaw made his brother and sister pay. Why would he be talking about my, um, you know, the man who impregnated my mother?”
“I don’t know, Locks. Let’s talk about it in person. You know, unsecured phone lines and all,” I lied. I needed to get off the phone with her and figure out what in the ever-loving fuck was going on.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” she said and ended the call.
I spun on my heel and stomped back to the storage shed heading straight to Aim. Getting right in his face, I asked, “Can you prove you weren’t at your clubhouse last night?”
He met my stare with fear-filled eyes, “Yes, I can. My daughter is sick. I’ve been at the hospital with her for the last two days.”
I got the name of the hospital and called Spazz to have him tap into their surveillance cameras. Unfortunately, he was on his bike riding back from the Disciples’ clubhouse, and this couldn’t wait for him to get back. Well, it could, but I didn’t want to wait. Instead, I called Phoenix’s tech guy, Byte, and asked him to do it. It took him less than ten minutes to confirm Aim had been at the hospital for the last two days until he left for the meeting.
Back in the storage shed, I studied Aim. He seemed frustrated, not scared or angry as one would expect. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something wasn’t adding up. And why would he put up with so much disrespect and disobedience from his Vice President? Aim had every right to strip Asp of his title and his patch for his recent activities.
Aim sighed in exasperation. “Sounds like you found your girl at my clubhouse. Is she okay?”
“Claims it’s just bumps and bruises. I won’t know for sure until I see her myself.”
“Asp is fucked in the head, but I can assure you, he wouldn’t force himself on her. That’s the one line he won’t cross.”