He didn’t sit.He didn’t lean.He stood like he was bracing for impact, shoulders squared, hands loose at his sides in a way that looked calm to anyone who didn’t know him.
I knew him.
Freak looked calm when he was one second away from violence.
Carnie wasn’t in the room.She wouldn’t be.
Basil stood near his father, jaw clenched so tight it looked like it hurt.He kept his eyes forward, but I caught him glancing at the door more than once, like he expected Clove to walk in and end this by existing.
She didn’t.
Wrecker continued.“We’ve got guys covering roads in and out.We’ve checked local spots.Empty properties.Campsites.Anything within an hour radius.”
My jaw tightened.
An hour radius wasn’t enough.
Whoever had her didn’t take her to hide ten minutes away like an amateur.They moved her.They planned.They knew what they were doing, or at least they thought they did.
I didn’t interrupt.
Not yet.
Wrecker’s eyes flicked to me anyway, like he could feel the heat behind my ribs.
“We’ve also got calls out,” he said.“Including to the Northbound Reapers.”
That name shifted the air in the room.
A few men straightened.A few muttered curses under their breath.
We didn’t do business with every club.We didn’t need to.Fallen Lords territory was ours, and most people were smart enough not to test it.
The Reapers were a possibility.It didn’t make sense though.
Wrecker raised his chin.“I reached out to the Devil’s Knights.”
That got more of a reaction.Not fear, but respect.
The Devil’s Knights weren’t just another club.They were established.Connected.The kind of name that carried weight in rooms you didn’t walk into unless you had a reason.
Our clubs had become close over the past years.Hell, the ol’ ladies had started doing vacations and trips together.We knew that we could trust the Devil’s Knights without lives, just like they could with us.
“King hadn’t heard of the Northbound Reapers, but he asked around.Got the name Yogi for the Prez,” he said.“Also got me a number for them.I called, and they didn’t answer, but I left a message.I’m gonna give him a second to call back before I blow up his phone.”
“It has to be them, or I’m a fucking unicorn,” Fox muttered.“We don’t have any enemies, and Clove sure as shit doesn’t.”
Wrecker didn’t deny it.“Maybe, but we need to know for sure.We wait.”
My hands flexed at my sides.
Waiting on calls.
Waiting on permissions.
Waiting on some polite club-to-club handshake while Clove was somewhere out there, tied up.
Every second mattered.