Page 19 of Babe

I leaned in close to him, narrowing my eyes at him. “One thing to know about my boy, Shaw, is that he will always answer my calls. He may be a brat and an asshole to you five, but he’s not to me.” I shoved away from him, backing up into Jax. I hadn’t even heard him come up behind me. My muscles locked, ready to swing on him if he touched me.

“What’s going on?” Jax demanded, looking between me and Shaw, his brows furrowed.

“He’s losing his shit because Ace isn’t answering his phone,” Arlo said like I was just being overdramatic.

Jax frowned and pulled his burner out, flipping it open. I watched as he punched in Ace’s number before he raised the phone to his ear. After a minute, he clenched his jaw and ended the call, his fingers tightening around the phone.

“He wouldn’t ignore my call either, Shaw, and you know it,” Jax growled. He looked at me. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll come?—”

“No,” I barked at Arlo. He sneered at me, but I didn’t give two fucks how he felt. He’d had a problem with me since second fucking zero, and I didn’t have time for his shit. “You can sit your ass right here,” I snarled. Turning, I stormed out of the clubhouse, the door banging against the wall with the force I slung it open with. Jax quickly followed me out, his phone to his ear. Judging by his conversation, he was more than likely telling Blakely, his old lady, what was going on.

“I need to make another phone call,” he told me as we jumped into my truck, both of us slamming the doors at the same time. “I’m calling in a favor.” He looked at me. “It might cost us something, but Rico knows what he’s doing.”

I shook my head as I peeled off the lot, hitting the highway in the direction Jax pointed, gunning my engine. “Do whatever. No cost is too high to find Ace.”

Jax nodded and dialed a number, putting it on speaker. “Jax,” a man drawled. “Don’t hear from you much anymore, brother. What’s up?”

“I have you on speaker,” Jax told him, clearly a warning to watch what he said if he didn’t want me hearing in. “We’re on a secure line.”

“Who’s with you?” the man, who I assumed was Rico, demanded. He had a slight accent—maybe Mexican? But it was very faint.

“Gunner, Ace’s… Papa,” he said after a moment. Rico hummed in acknowledgement. “Ace is missing, Rico. He’s not answering his burner, and he hasn’t called back yet. Something is wrong. Can you track him?”

“Yeah.” There was some movement on the other end, and then, there was the sound of keys being pressed in rapid-fire succession. Jax pointed to a road up ahead, and I slowed down just enough to make the turn safely before I pressed my foot down on the accelerator again.

What if we didn’t make it to Ace in time? My heart threatened to shred itself apart at the mere thought. Not finding him in time was not an option. I refused to even consider it.

“Got it,” Rico announced a couple of minutes later. “They’re headed into Canada. I can send men to intercept. I’m thinking Ace got kidnapped.”

My heart dropped to my stomach, and sheer training kept me from freaking the fuck out and vomiting. I tightened my hands around the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white as I tried to quell the shaking in them.

Kidnapped.

I’d failed him. I’d promised to always protect him, and now, he was kidnapped. He was probably scared—though I knew he’d never show it to his captors—and fearful he’d never see me again.

I’m coming, baby boy. Just hang on for me. Hang in there, sweet boy. Papa’s coming.

“Can you send me the tracking info?” Jax asked, his jaw pulsing with anger.

“Yeah, sending it now,” Rico told him. “Be safe. By the time you reach Ace, my men should already be there, ready for your command. Don’t die, Jax.”

Jax snorted. “Noted. Thanks, brother. We owe you one.”

“Nah,” Rico said. Jax blinked, but other than that, there was no surprise in his face. “I like Ace. And I don’t want to see him lost in this trafficking shit. Bring him home, Jax.”

With that, he ended the call. Jax called Shaw, filling him in, keeping the conversation short and abrupt. “Ace has been kidnapped. Headed into Canada. Rico is sending men. We’re on our way.”

“I’ll call Konrad and?—”

“No,” Jax snapped. “We don’t have time to wait for everyone to get to the clubhouse and for you to hit the road. Gunner and I will handle this. We’ll be fine.”

Shaw sighed. “Jax, we don’t know Gunner like that?—”

“I trust him,” Jax told him, his tone revealing his annoyance. “And Ace trusts him. I need to go. Keep your phone close.”

With that, Jax hung up. Then, he grabbed his personal phone and tapped on his screen a couple of times before he handed it to me. “Ace is the red dot,” he informed me. “Directions are set up to get to him.”

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