Page 49 of No Turning Back
Aries’s phone starts ringing. He smirks as he puts it on speaker.
“Hello, Hawkeye. He got a little angry and broke his phone.”
“Well, I wasn’t done. Did you know she was acquitted of murder? That she was the only survivor of an attack in Zimbabwe? She humped it for a day to get to Botswana, where she was then transported over the border into South Africa.” He pauses. “She killed a man named Bahati Abara. The South African government reported everyone died in the attack and the sole survivor died in surgery months later.”
“She told me about an attack. She said Mari’s dad died in the attack.” I know some of what he’s saying. But I didn’t know she was in hiding. It explains why she didn’t want to tell me much. And I still don’t understand all of it.
Carter continues, “The man she met with in the hotel, Miles Kant, is the owner of Kant Holding International, a huge multibillion-dollar corporation.”
“She told me he was going to donate money to the zoo.”
“She lied,” he says. I knew she did as soon as the words came out of her mouth, but I didn’t question it. “My hacker Bekah found some information that he is associated with a group called the Brigade. He paid off the Abara family after Bahati’s death. He and an employee of his, Colton Rorke, had traveled to Africa around the same time as the attack on Sydney. According to Bekah, Rorke has traveled back to South Africa a couple of times in the last year.”
“Fuck, not Rorke.” I scrub my hands through my hair. He really has been behind the attacks on Sydney.
“Yeah, what about him?”
“Someone give me a damn phone right now.” I turn to the others, leaving Carter on Aries’s phone. “Find her, Carter. She couldn’t have gotten that far. Dax, can you try Sharon again? I know what’s going on.”
Hades hands me his phone, and I dial the Tennessee State Police branch since I don’t have his number memorized.
“I need to speak to Sergeant Whitlock.” I wait while the operator connects me.
“Whitlock,” he answers.
“Colton was a part of the attacks on Sydney. Find Lydia and the kids, make sure they are safe. He and his boss are after Sydney, and they could be going after Lydia next,” I tell him.
“Fuck,” he yells into the phone, and the line goes dead.
“What did we miss?” Aries asks.
“Did you meet Lydia and her two kids at the party?” I ask him and the others. “Colton Rorke is Lydia’s soon-to-be ex-husband. He was with the men who attacked Sydney, which means he’s known she was alive this whole time. He’s got to be the one who vandalized her car and sent the bloody rhino to her.”
“What does that have to do with your girl?” Aries asks, and it all clicks into place.
“She must have witnessed them kill a rhino.” And she killed Bahati to save herself and Mari. The look in her eyes makes sense now. She was protecting me. They must have threatened me. “Aries, call Cronus and get the guys ready. I’m going after my girl. She thinks she can run to protect me, but she’s sorely mistaken. Come on, brothers.”
I move out of the jobsite as Aries hangs up with Carter and dials the leader of our clandestine unit. Cronus will pave the way for us with local law enforcement to take care of these assholes going after my woman.
“Where are you going?” someone asks from behind me.
“To find my girl.”
Aries runs up, and I climb into the passenger side of his SUV. My father is in my truck and follows us. I know Dax will get to Sharon. I also know Whitlock will get to Lydia and her kids. I need to find my girl. I’m not sure she knows about Colton, but she is in more danger than she can imagine.
Aries’s phone rings before we reach the clubhouse.
“My guy Timothy ran his facial rec gear. He found her checking into a motel in Nashville under an alias. She paid with cash. I’m on my way there. See you soon.” Carter hangs up before I can get a word in.
Again, the phone rings, and this time it’s Cronus. “The team is ready. Get back here so we can gear up. Kant is behind everything. He’s also got judges and politicians in his pocket he’ll attempt to use to get out of this mess. He’ll set fire and watch it burn while he heads to an extradition-free country.”
This is what we do. We take care of those who think they are above the law. Drago Defiance MC was created with one purpose to hide its true agenda. Settling the score that ties other hands.
We get to the clubhouse, where I leave everyone behind to go to her by myself on my bike. If we all rolled out, that would give away where she’s hiding. But when I get to my girl, I’m going to spank her ass red for pulling this shit.
Chapter Fifteen
Sydney
