Page 44 of Ride or Dies

“Evie took off,” he said bluntly.

“What the fuck, Judge!”

My brothers looked over at me and I put the call on speaker as Judge continued.

“After you left, I went to help Junkyard with something, and when I got back, I figured I’d go see if she wanted something to eat, but she wasn’t in Tucker’s room. Before you ask, I checked you and Mason’s rooms, and your office. Then I got the rest of the MC to scour the whole place, and nothing. Lara and Chief talked to the couple across the street, and they said they saw someone matching Evie’s description getting into a dark blue Equinox with a strawberry blonde woman.”

“Jenna,” I muttered.

“I’ll call Jenna,” Mason said.

“How the hell did she get out without anyone seeing her?” I asked, not sure who I was more pissed at—Evie, Jenna, or my guys.

“We’re trying to figure that out,” Judge said. “Because if she got out, someone else could get in.”

“Yeah, well, I’m gonna want answers when I get back, so you better find them.” I ended the call and looked at Mason.

He shook his head. “No answer.”

“Dammit, Jenna,” I growled. “I’m calling Mom.”

“I’ll call Isabel,” Tucker said.

While we waited to see which would pick up first, Mason tried Evie again.

“Hello, Levi.” Mom sounded cheerful, which I hoped meant that everything was okay rather than that she just didn’t know the shit had hit the fan. “I was wondering which of you boys I was going to hear from.”

“Hey, Mom.” I forced the anger from my voice as best I could. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where Jenna and Evie are, would you? They’re not answering their phones.”

Mom chuckled. “Jenna said one of you would call when you realized that she and Evie went out for the evening.”

My eyes closed and I reminded myself that it would be wrong to take my frustration out on the woman who had birthed and raised me. “So you do know.”

“I’m very happy that you boys are taking this protection thing for Evie so seriously. Especially since you boys weren’t always nice to her.”

I rubbed my forehead. “Mom, we were kids, and we’re working all that out with Evie.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “And I’m hoping that this time together will make at least one of you three see what a special, beautiful—”

“We really need to talk to Evie,” I interrupted.

No good would come out of her finishing that thought. I didn’t think any of us had thought about how we were going to tell our mom and sister about our…arrangement. But this wasn’t the time or place. We needed to make sure Evie was safe. The rest could wait.

“Oh, all right.” Mom laughed. “The girls went to Rocky’s. Well, just Jenna and Evie. Isabel’s down with a cold and—”

“Thanks, Mom.” I ended the call, grimacing as I thought about the hell I’d catch for it. Again, a problem for another day. “They’re at Rocky’s.”

“Let’s go.” Tucker was already on his bike, but he waited for Mason and me, the three of us falling into our usual riding formation without a second thought.

Rocky’s was right on the main road that connected the two towns, and was actually between us and the clubhouse, which meant we’d at least get to her fairly fast, and hopefully before the place started to fill up. I didn’t think anyone in Bedford was a danger to her, and I trusted Jenna to recognize anyone who didn’t belong if she was able to spot them, but if Rocky’s was crowded, the chances of someone from the outside being able to get close to Evie went up.

And it wouldn’t just be Evie in danger then. Jenna had always been able to handle herself against creeps, but if someone was willing to break into Evie’s mom’s house, they could also be willing to go to extremes to get what they wanted from Evie.

There was still a shot that Trudy had been the target, but until we could prove that, I was gonna go with my gut. And my gut said that Evie was still in danger.

We rounded the corner that would let us see Rocky’s in the distance, but what we saw first was a half dozen or so bikes ahead of us. For a moment, I thought the Riders had figured out where Evie and Jenna had gone and were coming to get her, but then I realized they’d be coming from the other direction if that were the case.

We watched as they slowed in front of the bar, but didn’t pull in. I saw the flash of metal a split second before the first shot went off.

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