Page 16 of Christy

“We didn’t see his cell phone. What do you mean by his file of threats? What do you know about that?” Before I can answer him, there’s a commotion at the door. It’s Pa and Jon, with some others behind them. I’m not gonna wait while they’re distracted. I do what Max would do. I head to his office to look for clues, his phone, and that file.

Tripp

Pres, Jonah, Rory, Asher, Jackson, Shane, Micah, and Jameson just got here, and Ben and Mike are giving them a rundown of what we walked into. Erik chimes in. “Christy mentioned something of a file of threats that have been sent to him.”

Erik no sooner finishes his sentence than the most anguished scream I think I’ve ever heard fills the air, and Erik takes off. Ben has the presence of mind to tell the brothers, “That’s fucking Christy. We were trying to keep her from going back there. There’s so much fucking blood.”

Asher pushes past everyone and moves faster than a man that size ought to be fucking able to. I follow everyone down the hall and find Asher scooping Christy up into his lap on the floor. She’s sobbing, and I can’t fucking figure it out. Unless she was the one that Max was all upset about last weekend. I can’t keep track of who’s dating who. I’m better hangin’ with my grandkids and getting to know my son better.

“Where is he? That much blood…he can’t be gone!” Her wails do crack my hardened heart a little bit. Fuck, they would do the same to yours if you knew her backstory. The girl deserves a win at some point.

Asher and Erik are both trying to calm Christy down. I see the moment Jonah sees the pool of blood, and his face goes ashen. Jon, being the president he is, takes charge in the moment, barking orders.

“Ben, you and Tripp help Asher get the fuck up while he’s still holding on to Christy. Mike, you, Jameson, and Shane look for his phone and that file she fucking talked about, but don’t stepin that shit. I’m calling Jason since he used to be a cop and have him come in. Let’s get Logan here too if he ain’t fucking working. Jackson, you and Ror go get Anna and Ma and make sure they’re fucking together. I’ll have Jason get Romona over there. Shit. Call Mick and have him bring Madison and Kierstie over.” I watch Jon’s wheels spin for a few more seconds before something must click, and he remembers something more. “Someone get Ry on the fucking phone and have him, or Nicky, go get Mary. Christy’s gonna need her.”

Pa looks away from the blood, over to Jon, and speaks in the kind of calm voice that only comes out when someone is close to going on a warpath, “We need to find my boynow. I’m not fucking stupid enough to know that the amount of blood in that room… if it came from him, then he’s… whoever did this needs to fucking pay. NOW!”

Jon grabs Jonah by his neck and leans in, touching foreheads. He says the words that I know each of us means to the depths of our souls, “Remember we’re knights in shining armor till someone hurts our family…” Jonah and all of us within earshot respond as one, “Then we release the wrath of Valhalla on those who dare to do us harm.” Time to find out what the fuck is going on.

Christy

I vaguely recognize a couple of guys helping Asher stand up as he holds on to me. All I can focus on is the floor covered in blood…so much blood. A person couldn’t survive that.

I want to believe I'd feel it if Max was really gone, but my gut’s not telling me that, and I’m not sure I can trust it. I’m not sure how much time passes before Logan’s in my face, trying to get my attention. “Christy!” It sounds like he’s said my name more than once, but this is the first time I’m hearing it.

I look at Logan, and he gives me a small grin. “I’m gonna need you to keep breathing, girl. You’re starting to freak my husband out.” That makes me realize I’m still in Asher’s arms. I go to move, but Asher squeezes his arms around me. “You’re fine here. Logan’s just trying to get you back here and present. He ain’t afraid you’re gonna steal me away or nothin’.”

Logan nods and rubs my arm. “I think you should come with me over to Ma and Pa’s while the guys figure things out. What do you say?”

I don’t want to leave because I don’t want any of this to be real. I ask the first question that comes to mind. “Did they find his phone or the file with the threats? It’s not where the rest of his files are.”

I don’t realize Jon is in the room till he questions me. “You know where the file is? Do you know where his phone would be?” I look over to Jon and nod my head.

“Yeah, he showed me one time, and I might know where his phone is. I can show you.” I start to stand up, but Logan stops me again. “Can you tell me where, and I’ll go in and look. I don’t want you going back in there.” Part of me wants to argue and show them all how strong I can be, but then I think about all that blood… I look between Asher and Logan and tell Logan where to look.Max, please be okay. The gods wouldn’t take you away from me when I just got you. Please be okay.

Jon

We’ve torn Max’s office apart and found the file Christy mentioned and his cell phone, but nothing leads to anything solid. Juan and Samson are pulling his cell phone records since the last call he received was from an unknown blocked number and lasted less than a minute.

Jeremiah and Mayson are on their way to the clubhouse, where we’re going to regroup. They’re his closest friends, and fuck, maybe they know something we're missing.

All I know is that my baby brother is smarter than almost anyone else I know, and none of us know what the fuck he could have gotten himself into. It’s not a needle in a haystack. It’s like finding a corner in a fucking circle. I’d call in some favors, but where the hell do we start looking?

Within twenty minutes, everyone is back at the clubhouse. I tried to get Ma to stay at the house with Anna, Christy, and my sisters, but she was having none of that. I may be the president, but having heard the tone of Ma’s voice on the phone, I knew there was no way she wasn’t going to be here.

I go straight to Juan and Samson’s office, needing to know if they’ve found anything.

I walk through the office door and look at the two, both typing away furiously. “Do we have anything at all? Even a fucking breadcrumb?” Samson grumbles out, “Fuck no. I can see he sent out four texts this morning, and there were five incoming. It was another fucking unknown number, but all the texts were deleted. What the fuck was he up to?”

I look over at Juan and back to Samson. “Just keep looking because we have fuck all to go on.” I leave their office. Ben walks up to me in the hallway, and I can tell he’s got something on his mind.

“When we were going through everything in that office, you realize the one file we didn’t fucking find?” I shake my head because fuck if I know where he’s going with this. “That file with the fucking papers that Erik brought off the mountain.” Oh shit! Ben drops a bomb of a reminder, and I reach for my phone to make a call. “We also have never gotten confirmation that either Taz or Brander were eliminated. If they got wind that Max was the one who held the shit that Taz thinks is his…”

He doesn’t have to finish the sentence. I start dialing my phone as I’m walking down the hallway. I yell out to the main room as I walk through on the way to my office, “Church! Five minutes!”

I walk into my office and close the door. After the third or fourth ring, a voice comes over the phone. “Jon! Brother, what’s goin’ on? Need me to come back up for another visit and take more of your money in another round of hold ‘em?”

I shake my head, even though he can’t see it. “Nah, it’s something fuckin serious, Riff. Your pres around?” His voice changes immediately. “Yeah, let me go to his office. What’s goin’ on?” I don’t mince words because time is of the essence.