Page 223 of Malice and Surrender
Kaivan
Jace stood in the doorway when Roach, Wilder, and I pulled up. His body language seemed calm, but as his silver eyes found mine, I could tell he was on the same edge as me. I turned to Roach as we parked in front of the house, and before I could say a word, Wilder hopped out and jogged up to meet Jace. I’d never admit this out loud, but I felt better having Wilder along. My nerves were shot, and the tremors that started when I learned she was taken had only gotten worse over the last twenty-one minutes.
“Roach, go see if any of the neighbors saw anything,” I said. It was probably a long shot. In this neighborhood, people kept their drapes drawn tight and never talked. Not wanting to get involved was a standard MO.
“What am I supposed to say? I’m your friendly neighborhood biker. Just checking in to see if you saw a girl being kidnapped?” I glared at him.
“Just say you’re her cousin or something and that you were coming to help her move. I don’t care what you say. Just see if they saw anything. If they have a door camera, I’ll pay for the footage.”
“Fine, whatever,” he said, and I grabbed his arm before he could move.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I growled.
“Honestly?” I nodded. “Since the moment you found Raine, it’s been nothing but stress and drama. You’ve been out of your mind, agitated in your skin, anger rolling off you in waves to the point that we’re all terrified to go near you. This love or obsession, whatever it is the two of you have with those guys, is toxic as fuck for you. I’m worried you don’t see it. I’m worried that without meaning to, Raine will drag you so far down the rabbit hole away from your sanity that there will be no coming back.” He turned his eyes away from me and gripped the steering wheel hard.
“I will do whatever you want. I will help however you want ‘cause, at the end of the day, you are my ride-or-die. I have some serious reservations that I haven’t voiced to be supportive, but the way Mannix and I found you earlier….” Roach turned his head to stare at me again. “It scared the fuck out of me, and you know I don’t scare easily.”
“Earlier wasn’t just Raine. It’s been building for a while.” I rubbed at the back of my neck. “All the shit, the old memories, the pain that I buried…that crap decided it was coming up faster than projectile vomit. The dream was…fucked. Point is, I get your concern, and coming from you, I respect it, but it’s also not your call. So if you want to continue to be my ride-or-die, get the fuck out of the truck and stop wasting time. I love Raine, and if Dave and Frank have her…you saw what they will do to her. You good if that happens?”
“No. No, I’m not. You’re right. Let’s go,” Roach said, hopping out. Getting out of the truck, I jogged toward the front door of Raine’s small house.
I got Roach’s concern. We’d been looking out for one another since he was arrested and tossed in the same block as the rest of the wild animals. When I saw him and Hollywood, I recognized myself—five years earlier when I was thrown to the wolves—in their terrified expressions. I immediately brought them in before anyone else could, and we’d become kill for one another tight. But he needed to get on board with what I chose to do with my life.
Raine may have laid down what she wanted, but I had the choice to be part of it or leave, and I chose to stay. If I was completely honest with myself, I didn’t mind Jace and Avro in her life. They were like those sticky vines that just kept growing on you. The engagement was a crazy shock, and maybe seeing that brought on whatever the fuck that dream shit was, or maybe it had been building for years and would have happened no matter what.
Regardless, I felt clearer, and so much of the anger and jealousy I’d been carrying around like a weighted vest had fallen away. Now it was replaced with a paralyzing fear I was trying really fucking hard to ignore so I didn’t lose every last marble left in my head.
I stepped inside the house as Wilder came down from upstairs.
“What can you tell me?”
“They’re correct. She was taken. It was quick, so there was more than one person, or they subdued her somehow.” Wilder bent over and picked up the smashed phone. “My guess is drugged. The guy left this upstairs on her pillow.”
Wilder handed me an instant photo of Raine tied up and laying in the bed of a pickup truck with tape over her mouth and her hands and feet tied together. Anger so volatile burned in my veins. If they touched one hair on her head….
Flipping the picture over, I read the short note:
Payment for taking something important to me,
so I’m taking something important to you.
Stop looking, or more people you care about will end up the same way.
FF
She looked asleep, but I knew better. I handed the picture to Jace, and he growled. I knew exactly how he felt.
“How did you find this? We searched upstairs and didn’t see anything,” Jace asked, his eyes glued to the picture.
Wilder shrugged. “I looked.”
Jace looked up at Wilder, and if I weren’t so afraid for Raine, I would’ve laughed at his confused expression. I now knew what I looked like talking to Wilder.
Roach stepped into the doorway and blocked out the sun. “If someone saw something they aren’t saying. Most didn’t answer the door.” I nodded.
The fear that started when I heard Avro’s panicked voice was swirling around in my gut, and I had to push it down and lock it up tight. I could deal with the demons in my head later. For now, they needed to take a back fucking seat.
I glanced at Avro sitting on the couch, his head in his hands as he leaned forward on his knees. His eyes were trained on the floor, and he looked like he was caught between throwing up and having a panic attack.
