“I’ll keep an eye on them.” Carson patted Bear on the back before following Scarlett down to their bikes without question.
Right then, Blaz’s cell rang.
“Baby?” he answered with the phone on speaker.
“Dad?” Harlow sniffled.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. I held my breath.
“That’s enough proof of life,” a gruff voice responded. “You have two hours before we start hacking away at this pretty face of hers. We want fifty thousand in cash. I’ll call back in twenty minutes with an address.”
The call ended and I screamed.
“Let me make a call. I can have Jax wire as much money as possible.” Bear walked away, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“If it wasn’t for your sorry ass, I’d have the money ready and waiting.” Blaz glared at me.
“Let me call Ryder and see if there’s anything he can do.” It was all I could say.
“He’s tapped out right now. Why do you think he had to call me to bail you out last week?”
Blaz clocked me right in the jaw and I just stood there and took it. It was only fair—his heart was breaking just as much as mine was.
Kane pulled him away as Ax offered, “We might be able to help. Let me check.”
Ax trudged into the house to pull up shit on his computer.
Bear rejoined us and said, “Fifteen is being wired over right now.”
“Thanks, man.” Blaz continued to pace.
“Got ten more on the way,” Ax called through the front door.
“Halfway there,” I muttered as the gears in my brain started to click. “That’s all we need. We can pad the bag with fake shit and make the trade without them being able to leave the drop point.”
“What’re you getting at, kid?” Reese asked.
“We need to take these guys out anyway, right? We make them think all the money is there. We put the real shit on top, and I can print the rest here. We get them to hand over Harlow then ambush them as they’re getting away. Blaz and I can go in alone at first and have you guys waiting in the wings to rush in once we give you a signal. It’s our best chance of killing two birds with one stone.”
“And what if we go in outnumbered or outgunned? This is my little girl’s life you’re playing with here,” Blaz snarled at me, getting within an inch of my face.
Bear yanked him back. “Collin’s right—this is our best shot. Get your head on straight. Stop thinking like a scared father and act like the outlaw you are. You said it had to be a small operation and wasn’t another club. There’s no way we are outgunned, and they have no idea who they’re actually messing with.”
“If any group can do it, we can. When Raine was taken, we didn’t think it all through, but this time we have a chance to actually pull this off.” I hated thinking about that day, the worst of my entire life. It had cost me my father, but I wasn’t going to let anything like that happen again on my watch.
Blaz’s phone rang again.
I pulled a notepad and pen out of my duffle bag, ready to take down the address.
“Yeah,” Blaz barked.
“378 North Holland Drive. No guns. No weapons of any kind. Two guys. You have an hour and a half.”
The line went dead.
“If this doesn’t work, it’ll be your hide I skin on Christmas morning.” Blaz was clutching the cell, staring down at the blank screen as he collapsed into a chair.
“It will work. You just have to trust me.”