Fire in the Stars (Steel Souls MC Book 2) Read online

  He straightens up, recoiling slightly, taken aback at my outburst. “Your ribs, you—”

  “Fuck my ribs,” I yell in his face. “Ribs heal, Vaughn.” He remains his usual calm, impassive self. “A couple of swift kicks to the ribs by a law enforcement officer doesn’t even come within a million miles to the pain I feel.”

  “An officer did that to you?” he asks.

  “Yes.” I laugh manically. “And you know what?” I ask, but don’t give him the chance to answer. “It has taken me this long to learn a very simple lesson. You can’t trust anyone, Vaughn. Not even those whose job is to protect you. You come into this world alone, and along the way, you’re fooled into thinking that changes. That somehow, the more people you meet, the more people you have in your life that you think you trust, that you think you know… you don’t got shit, Vaughn. Do you hear me? You’re on your own.” I prod the neck of my vodka bottle into his chest, and he stands there, taking it, letting me rant. I shoulder him out of the way, swigging from the bottle as I walk through the rows of graves. Resting places. Leavers behind of broken families and memories that will never be made.

  You come into this world on your own, and if possible, after all life throws at you, you go out of it, more broken and alone than you started out.

  “Sadie,” he calls out behind me. I ignore him and keep walking. “You’re wrong,” he calls out, running to catch up to me. I stop, placing the Vodka bottle on top of a headstone and turn to face him. “You’re wrong. You’re not alone. I’m here. I’ve always been here, and I always will be.”

  “You might have heard me, Vaughn. But, you’re not listening to me, are you?” I place my hand on my hip but sway a little, only just managing to right myself. “I don’t want you, or anyone else in my life. I don’t want to be responsible for hurting your feelings, for causing you worry, for making you feel you have to give up any more of your life for me. Because I didn’t ask for it. I don’t want it.”

  “Let’s go home, Sadie. You’re drunk. You’ve had a long couple of days.” He frowns, holding out his hand, and I want to laugh in his face at the absurdity of it all. He always does this. He glosses over the situation, but offers a kind smile and tries to change the subject. “You shouldn’t be here in this kind of state…”

  “In this kind of state?” I screech, snatching up the bottle and glugging down as much as I can manage before it starts to make me cough. “You’re not listening to me, Vaughn,” I yell again, staggering toward him. The edges of my vision have blurred, but it doesn’t deter me. “Go back to Reno. Work on your mergers and acquisitions or whatever the fuck it is that you do. I. Don’t. Care. I don’t want you, or anyone else in my life. Read my lips. Leave. Me. Alone,” I yell viciously in his face.

  “You don’t mean that, Sadie.”

  “I mean every word, Vaughn.” I throw the half empty bottle on the ground at his feet. “I don’t want this.” I gesture around us. “I don’t want you. I don’t want to be here, or anywhere for that matter. Just leave me the fuck alone.”

  This time when I walk off, he doesn’t follow. I know my words must have hurt him, but I don’t care. I’m far too hurt, too sad, too heartbroken about everything in my life to care what he or anyone else thinks. I never asked him to father me. I never wanted to go to Reno, and now, I don’t want to be here. And as I stagger along, passing grave after grave, I realize it’s not just San Francisco where I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be anywhere on this earth.

  Chapter 7

  “Where the fuck have you been?” JJ comes steaming toward me as Tex and I enter the club.

  “JJ.” I hold my hand up to halt him, but he pushes forward, bumping my chest with his and forcing me to step back to keep my balance.

  “Ruck and Sadie are missing, and you and Tex take off without telling anyone where you’re going?” His face is a fiery red and the veins in his neck bulge. Stress and worry visibly starting to show on his features.

  “JJ, if you’ll just—”

  He steps back and scrapes his fingers through his hair. “There’s been a sighting…” he says, a deep sigh heaving from his chest.

  “What? Where?”

  “A warehouse outside of town.”

  “Who? And why the fuck didn’t you call me?” I push forward, angry at him now.

  “The call only just came in. If I didn’t have to spend the last ten minutes trying to find you and Tex around this place, I would have been on it faster.” He pins me with a hard glare and both Tex and I glance at each other. “Where the fuck were you, anyway?” he asks as Lia comes to his side, giving me a small smile as she links her arm in his.

  “Sadie isn’t with Ruck,” I say, smiling at the small mercy we’ve been afforded. Lord knows with all the awful shit we’ve done, we don’t deserve it. But I’m fucking grateful.

  “What do you mean, she isn’t with Ruck? How do you know this? Where is she?” he asks desperately.

  “The Wolves don’t have her. She’s with her…” I watch him carefully, taking a breath before continuing. “Her stepfather. He’s taken her somewhere, away from Reno.”

  “Her stepfather?” he says quietly, swallowing hard. Lia’s grip tightens on his arm providing him gentle reassurance. “How do you know this?”

  “Me and Tex went to her house. I figured The Wolves might have had contact with her stepfather. He’s fucking loaded, so blackmail was a possibility. But they’re gone. His right-hand-man kindly told us she’s safe, but he wouldn’t tell us where she is. I’ve sent a prospect to watch the house and follow the guy if he leaves. Right now, JJ, knowing she’s safe, Ruck’s my priority. So…the warehouse—we have a plan?”

  Relief is evident throughout the room. Lia smiles and nods over at me, and I smile weakly back. We might have a small reprieve for now, but we still have to get Ruck back. This could be the fight of our lives.

  It feels fucking weird and totally wrong to be doing this kind of thing without Ruck and Dev. You don’t realize how much you rely on your crew until you’re working without them. But we have Dingo and Razor to make up the team. All of them baying for blood. All of them wanting to skin some Wolves right now for what they’re putting our club through.

  We cut the engines of the bikes, and park around the corner from where one of The Wolves’ members was sighted. Tex pulls in just after us and parks the truck in front of all the bikes, blocking them from immediate view.

  When you run somewhere like downtown Reno, most of the city will work in your favor. There will always be some that will try and work against it—some that will challenge your authority, but years and years of keeping the local businesses safe, the drugs contained, and the women employed and well looked after, earns you a certain reputation, despite all your dealings being illegal. It also earns you ears to the ground and eyes everywhere. Turns out The Wolves had to break rank at some point, and when they did, they were spotted and followed.

  “You sure your source is legit, Prez?” I ask as we scout out the area.

  “As straight as they come. If he’s right, they’re in that unit at the end of the warehouse with the black shutters. They’ve been in and out all day. The same two Wolves.” I glance around. It’s boxed in, an old chain link fencing around the perimeter and units surrounding the warehouse on either side of the road. They’re all disused and run down, and the gates are hanging off their hinges.

  “That place there…” I point in the direction of a double-stacked unit opposite the shutters in question. “How do we get to it, back entrance?”

  “Yep.” Dingo nods. “Used to work on these units when I was younger. I can get right up in that building, and if I’m correct, I’ll have a direct view of the unit in question.” He focuses, his eyes narrowed and keen to get up there.

  “Get up in that building as high as you can, and watch. When you see something, anything, you message me, got it?”

  “Yes, Prez.”

  “Razor, go with him, and for fuck’s sake, stay out of
sight,” JJ tells them.

  “Yes, boss,” they mumble before hot-footing it off in the opposite direction.

  “You sure that’s wise?” Tex asks me quietly.

  “Dingo knows this part of town like the back of his hand. If there’s a way in without being seen, he knows it.”

  “Can’t afford to have our cover blown now, Ram. They’re our key to Ruck.”

  I pat him on the shoulder. “I know, man, I know.” We’re all feeling the loss of his presence. And although Ruck and Dev are the quieter ones in the club, we’re missing them like we would arms and fucking legs.

  We sit and watch for a while. Me, Tex, and JJ, all in silence, all looking at the same black shutters and waiting for some kind of divine intervention. The silence nearly drives me insane, and I’d do anything to be at a club party right now, with the music splitting the night and Ruck partying like a fucking animal.

  “What’s her stepdad like?” JJ asks quietly, keeping his eyes forward. He wouldn’t ask if it hadn’t been playing on his mind. Shit like that is enough to send you crazy.

  “He’s an asshole,” I grumble. There are a hundred words I can think of to describe the feelings I have for that man. He’s the kind of guy that you instantly dislike. The kind I’d like to dispose of.

  “But she’s safe with him?” he questions.

  “Yeah. I think so,” I answer, mulling it over in my head. I don’t like the fucker. There’s something totally off with him. But he’s been in Sadie’s life for a long time, and she trusts him, I think. So I’m hoping that means he will lay down his life for her should he need to.

  We settle back to a contemplative silence. I don’t know how much of Sadie’s life I should be explaining to JJ. Their situation has changed everything. I don’t feel I know enough about her to tell him. It’s got to come from her. If she wants to, that is. But first, we have to get her back. And if I have to kidnap her, kicking and fucking screaming, and force her to hear me out, I will.

  My cell buzzes in my pocket, and I whip it out, catching Ruck’s name come up on the screen and feeling ice cold spread through my body. It’s not a message this time—it’s a live video call.

  “Fuck,” I hiss. “What the fuck do I do now, Prez? They’re gonna see where we’re at.”

  “Against the wall,” JJ snaps urgently, shuffling back. “We could be anywhere for all they know. Just keep your voice down. The last thing I want is for them to hear us at the end of the street.”

  I hit the button as dread sweeps through me like a tornado and kicks up a fucking storm in the pit of my stomach.

  “Ah, Mr. Dalton,” Hobo’s scratchy voice comes through as the picture comes into focus. It has the same effect on me as nails running down a chalkboard, making the hairs stand up on end and my teeth feel on edge. The smile on his face makes me want to carve him up, to strip his skin from his body piece by piece and have him beg me to stop. But I remain as impassive as I possibly can. A reaction from me could provoke him into hurting Ruck—if they haven’t already hurt him. Nausea rushes through me at the thought. “How are you on this fine, spring day?” he asks with a loaded smile.

  “Cut to the chase,” I bark, annoyed at his small talk. “Where’s my brother?”

  “He’s a little… tied up at the moment.” He laughs, leaving the thought hanging heavily in the air between us.

  “What do you want, Hobo?” I ask anxiously, pressing him.

  “Ramsey, I always thought you and I were on the same wavelength. So many similarities, I’d say,” he muses to himself, taunting me, pushing every fucking button, and dancing around the answer. Then he comes closer to the camera, and the smile drops. It’s replaced with a hardness in his eyes and a sneer on his lips. “Revenge, Ramsey. I want revenge…and Reno. You can either give them to me right now and spare your brother any more pain, or you can hold out and cause him more suffering than even you could dream up…What’s it to be?”

  Tex and JJ are still and quiet beside me, and I have no words even to answer Hobo right now. “How do I know you haven’t killed him already?” I ask, trying to get a feel for the whole picture. They could be stringing us along, playing us for fucking idiots and all the while, he could be stone cold. And, fuck me, will I unleash a world of pain on this fucker if that’s the case.

  “Why would I do that? I’d have no leverage then, would I? Come on, Dalton, are you not thinking clearly? Got things playing on your mind?” He laughs, and I feel my patience slipping away.

  “I want to see him.”

  “Do you?” Hobo asks, tilting his head and coming even closer to the camera and narrowing his eyes. “Do you really want to see him?”

  “Show me my brother, and I’ll negotiate whatever it is you want,” I speak through gritted teeth, pushing away the rage and trying to think and act calmly, for Ruck’s sake.

  “Negotiate?” He laughs once again. “Oh, you’ll do more than negotiate. You’ll agree to whatever the fuck I tell you to.”

  With that, I hear shutters screech, both on the video call and at the unit at the end of the street. Hobo swings the screen around where the light is shining into the lock up.

  Oh. FUCK.

  My head spins, and a groan leaves my chest as I exhale deeply, almost sobbing. I see my brother, and they’ve not only tied him to a fucking cross, but they’ve nailed his hands to it, too. His head is hung low on his shoulders, and I can’t even see his face.

  “Ruck,” I call out, desperation pounding my chest. JJ grabs my arm, reminding me where we are. But it’s fucking killing me. I can actually feel my insides shriveling up to die. Hobo laughs as he moves the camera closer, and I struggle to see if he’s even breathing.

  JJ receives a message from Dingo and Razor, and the next couple of minutes play out in a blur. Tex grabs me by my cut, dragging me sideways and we start running back to the bikes.

  As we run, shots are fired. There’s yelling, so much yelling, both at the end of the street and on the video call.

  “Hobo,” I yell as I run, trying to see what’s going on in the video call. “RUCK!” But it goes black, and I hurl it across the concrete. “What the fuck is going on?” I yell, skidding to a halt and jumping onto my bike.

  “Dingo and Razor saw the shutters come up,” JJ answers as he jumps on too, and Tex splits to fire up the truck. “There were two Wolves in view, so they took a chance and fired.”

  “And…”

  “They’re still shooting so I guess there’s more than two.” His engine starts with a roar, and he pulls off in a wide circle, heading down the straight run to the locker.

  “FUCK,” I holler, following him, full throttle.

  This is it.

  This is the standoff we wanted to avoid, but deep down, we knew was inevitable. If we found that Ruck was here, I knew I wouldn’t be leaving without him.

  Now it’s all gone to shit, and I am praying to the whole fucking universe that we manage to get him out of there alive.

  Me and JJ scream to the unit on our bikes with Tex kicking up the gravel behind us in the truck. I slide to a halt in the doorway, already knowing from the live stream what I’m going to be faced with, and fooling myself into thinking I’m ready for it. But seeing the scene for real is crippling, and I’m momentarily stunned, fixed into place, and needing a second to gain clarity on this whole fuck-up as my chest tightens so hard I can barely breathe. My feet feel like they’re encased in lead and struggling through quicksand as I make my way toward him. The world around me slows and quietens as I take in Ruck’s lifeless form, hanging from the cross, dried blood on his hands where he’s been nailed fast, welts on his wrists from where he’s been bound so tightly.

  Then everything comes back to full color, full volume, and the chaos around me ensues. Dingo and Razor are already there with three dead Wolves as far as I can see, and Hobo, who’s currently under the weight of Dingo and not looking too good. Tex and JJ start untying Ruck as I manage to get my shit together and rush to their side.
r />   “Is he alive?” I ask frantically, searching his face for signs.

  “Yeah, but he’s not in good shape,” Tex replies as panic starts to creep into his voice. “Shit, he’s nailed in tight, if we untie him, it’s gonna rip through his goddamn hands.”

  I hold his head in my palms, and he groans. “Ruck…” I implore him to hear me, to answer me. I need to hear his voice. “Ruck. Brother. We’re here. We’re gonna get you down.” I scan the room, taking in everything that’s happening around us. It stinks of motor oil and blood—Ruck’s blood. “Dingo…” I call, and he snaps his head up, while still pressing his hands onto Hobo’s chest, trying to stem the heavy bleeding from the shot wound.

  “Don’t think we’re gonna save him, fucking sorry, man.”

  “Keep trying,” I order. I want him alive. There’s no way on this earth I’m letting this man die an easy death from a gunshot wound. He’s done too much to my brother, to my club.

  “Tex, hold Ruck up,” JJ orders, picking up a hammer from a workbench that lines the wall. “Ram, keep talking to him. I’m gonna punch these out from behind so you can try and work them loose.”

  Ruck groans as JJ starts to hammer the nails back through the wood.

  “Nearly there, man. I’m taking you home, okay? We’ll get you a beer, and a bitch, and you’ll be back on your bike in no time, you hear me?” I talk incessantly, about nothing in particular, just talking to him, blocking out everything around us and needing to fill the silence with something other than his groans. As the nails come loose, his weight suddenly drops forward onto me. A weight I’d carry every day for the rest of my life.

  “Shit,” Tex hisses, rushing forward to my side.

  “We need to get him out of here, NOW!” I yell, transferring his weight and heaving him up in my arms to carry him away from the warehouse. Tex flings open the door of the truck, and I slide him in, climbing in next to him and resting his head in my lap. He hasn’t opened his eyes yet, and his breaths are shallow in his chest. I take a second to look him over. There are track marks in his arms, streaks of dried blood everywhere, bruising across his cheek, and his forearms, too. There’s a bloom of red under his dark gray t-shirt, and as I touch my fingers to it, I realize it’s fresh blood. Pulling it up from the hem to expose his chest, I see the wound from which he’s bleeding, and my heart feels like it breaks into pieces and bleeds alongside him.