Page 140 of Break Out

He sent back a smiling devil emoji.

“Goddammit!” I shoved my phone in my back pocket. “I’m going to follow him.”

“Steel, if he gets nabbed with the Special K, that’s his problem,” Torque said.

I glared at Torque. “If he gets found dragging Josie or Mug into the cemetery or whatever hair-brained scheme he has in mind, they’ll figure out Simone’s connection to him.”

Nelson stood. “You’re gonna blow the opportunity to take out Knuckles. I’ll go.”

I stared at him for a long moment. That would work better all around. “Thanks, brother.”

I sent another text to Rafferty.

Nelson is joining you.

He responded faster than before, and I suspected he was at the cemetery already.

Cool.

Shelly edged into the room, almost on tiptoes. “You need to eat something, Steel.”

I shook my head. “Not a chance I can eat while she’s out there… and being starved by that fucking sick bastard.”

Her posture slumped, she bit her lower lip, and nodded. “I’m sorry you’re going through this, Steel. You’ll get her back though. I know you will.”

“Thanks, Shell,” I said, wishing I had the same confidence she did.

My phone vibrated with a text from Nelson.

Got a status update if you got time.

I called him and he answered immediately.

“Yo, they sent Josie away a few minutes ago. Knuckles, Mug, and Sledge are inside, though Rafferty says Mug did a walk-around the outside of the house just before she left.”

If I showed up, there would be three of us against three of them. The problem was that Knuckles would hurt Simone at the first chance. A better option would be if we could get Knuckles in the house alone, but the only time he might be alone would be when he left for his meeting at ten.

Nelson kept talking. “Rafferty suggested drawing Mug outside again by throwing something at the house, but I think that’s too risky. We’d have to knock him out and drag him back here to the cemetery. At worst, Sledge or Knuckles would catch us. At best, they’d figure something’s up when he doesn’t come back.”

I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right, but I like where his head is at. We’ll hold that for later, if it’s necessary. I'm sending Russ and a prospect to Josie's place, she's a loose end.”

“Understood, Prez. I’ll text if anything changes.”

I ended the call and gave Torque the gist.

A prospect barged through the front door. “There are two Riot members out front. You want me to let them through?”

“Is one of them Volt?” I asked.

“Blood and Cal,” the prospect said.

After a deep breath, I nodded. “Let ‘em through.”

Outside, the wind had picked up and the cloud cover had increased. Part of me wanted the clouds to dump the rain and get it over with, but the other part of me wanted the rain to hit at night, when I planned to kill Knuckles. It rankled that he wouldn’t die a slow and torturous death, but I needed Simone back.

Blood and Cal trudged toward the clubhouse. Torque sauntered out and joined me.

“Why the hell are you here?” I asked when they were four feet away.

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