Page 33 of Cowboy

“This is Cowboy,” It took everything in him to keep his voice calm and tone even.

“Are you missing something?” Rooster’s voice came across the line.

“Yes, and she better be unharmed when you give her back. What do you want?”

“Drop the charges against Tank. Give him, and us, back our positions.”

Deke rolled his eyes. Miles scowled and Caden just looked confused.

Cowboy fought not to laugh. His demands were never going to happen. The charges against Tank were county charges, there was nothing Cowboy or any of the Kings could do about them. The police had found enough evidence in Tank’s house to put him away for years. It was likely that Rooster and Jonesy would do some time too. His mind flashed on the face of the biker they’d captured and beaten which had ended in these charges and his stomach flipped. Would they try to do the same to Ava?

If they did, he would have a lot more to do with charges than he did now. And maybe a little personal revenge too.

“That’s going to take some time. I have to reach out to a lot of people and get some gears moving. All the offices are closed for the weekend.”

“You have twenty-four hours.”

“How do I know you haven’t already killed her and are just stringing me along?” Cowboy clenched his teeth again at the idea.

“Come on, sweetheart, talk to your boyfriend. Tell him you’re okay,” Rooster’s voice was replaced by another.

“Cowboy?” Ava’s voice shook, but it was strong, not like she was hurt.

“Yeah, Angel, it’s me. Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt. What’s going on?”

“Nothing that you’ve done and I’m going to—” Before he had a chance to continue, Rooster came back on the line.

“You know she’s good, now get Tank free, and our positions back, or your girlfriend isn’t going to be so pretty.” The call disconnected.

Cowboy’s gaze flicked from man to man before going back to the warehouse.

“They’ve lost their minds,” Miles said after a moment.

“We can’t get the charges dropped,” Deke said. “And they were voted out of the club. This won’t get them back in.”

“I know.” Cowboy took a deep breath. “We have to figure out how to get in there and get her out. Sooner rather than later. They’re expecting things to take time, they’re not expecting us to go in and get her back. The longer things take, the more risks they’ll take, and the more likely they are to get bored and hurt Ava. I’m not willing to risk that.”

They stood, the other men watching him for several moments before anyone spoke.

“We need something to draw them out,” Miles was the first one to speak. “Something to make them leave her alone in there. Then one of us could slip in and grab her.”

“I have to be the one to go in,” Cowboy said. “She doesn’t know any of you. It would be just like these cocksuckers taking her.” He took a deep breath and forced himself to let it out slowly, hoping it would help his brain function in something less than panic mode.

He was better under pressure than this. He hadn’t even panicked like this when Tank had been arrested and he had to hold the Kings together. He was better than this. He just had to pull himself together and get past the fact that it was Ava they had.

“All right. Give me some thoughts on ways to get them out of the building?” He looked from face to face of the men surrounding him.

They threw out several ideas, but nothing Cowboy thought would work.

“We could get the police involved,” Caden said. “We have an eyewitness that they took her against her will and that they are in that building with her. It might be enough to get them to go in. Once they’re in they’ll ask her if she’s there willingly. Would she say yes?”

“I can’t imagine that she would, but who knows what they’ve told her. What if they tell her if she says no, they’ll kill her?” Cowboy shook his head. “I can’t risk it.”

“What do we know about that building?” Deke spoke up.

“Not a lot. I’ve never been here before,” Caden said.

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