Page 84 of Savage Heart

“Tessa, Fuega, where the fuck are you? Is Fae with you?” he asked, throwing a thunderous looking Hawk a speaking glance. “Shit! Let me put you on speaker, baby.” Flipping his phone, Fang held it up as the six of them—Fang, Hawk, Odin, Dragon, Wolf, and Trouble—gathered around the device. Grimm and Hound were going to be pissed as fuck that they were missing out, but they had club business elsewhere.

“Tell me again, baby, what the fuck is going on?”

Tessa’s voice came through the device, “Don’t take that tone with me,Javier, I’ll break my foot off in your ass, and it won’t feel good this time, either.”

Trouble coughed to cover his chuckle, not that the others bothered.

“Tessa, baby, focus,” Fang softly chastised, knowing the importance of them hearing whatever it was that Tessa had to report.

“Fine—we know that Liz is with the Russians. Danil Oblek has her at the clinic.”

Trouble stepped up to the phone. “We know. We’re two blocks away. How didyouknow?”

“She texted me and Fae, telling us that she was going to group call within the hour, but it wasn’t going to be a normal call, we’d just need to listen.”

“She called and put the phone in her pocket so you could listen in,” Hawk remarked, nodding thoughtfully. “That’s smart, but that doesn’t explain how you know it’s Danil Oblek.”

“We know because Liz is a crafty bitch; she’s calling out clues as she’s talking. She said his name, then she mentioned she was in her office, therefore she’s at the clinic,” Fae’s voice carried over the line. Hawk stiffened, then his shoulders drooped, relief in his entire being. He was glad that his own woman wasn’t neck deep, in the middle of danger…or was she?

“We’re still listening, but the sounds are too faint for you to hear it through your phone—I dropped my call to call you, but Fae’s phone is still connected. He…he wants her to call you, to lure you and Odin into a trap at The Den. I don’t think Oblek plans to be there, he seems…I don’t know…focused on Liz. Shit! He just threatened Erika!”

Fuck! Desperate terror suffocating him, Trouble spun to look at Wolf, who nodded once, slapped Dragon on the back, and the two off them took off. Without even speaking a word, the brothers knew Trouble wanted them at the school, protecting his little girl.

“Where are you two?” Trouble asked, terrified of the answer; those two would be right in the thick of things, given the chance.

“We’re in Fae’s gnome mobile, heading toward the clinic,” Tessa said, and Fae grumbled in the background, “It’s a Mini Cooper!”

“Turn around right now and head to my place,” Odin ordered. “We don’t need to be worrying about you on top of everything else. Besides, I need you to keep Skathi from arming herself to the teeth, and storming here with my son strapped to her back.”

Chuckles rounded, and Tessa and Fae giggled.

“You’re right,” Tessa concurred, “but if any of you get hurt, I’m beating your ass.”

Fang turned off the speaker feature, put the phone to his ear, and spoke in a flurry of Spanish. He grunted, then ended the call.

“They’ll keep Skathi company…and distracted,” Fang reported. “Tell us the plan.” His gaze slammed into Trouble’s, then slid to Odin’s.

It took several minutes to conclude that sneaking up to the clinic in broad daylight was impossible, but if they went in, guns blazing, they’d risk Liz’s life and being caught up in a gun battle on a public street. The Savage Raiders MC were badass motherfuckers who believed in serving their own justice through violence, but they never put innocent people in danger.

“I’m going in,” Trouble said, his tone brooking no argument. “He wants to talk to me, so I’m going in.”

“Fuck,” Fang cursed. “What are you going to tell him when he asks how the hell you knew he was there, or that he wanted to talk with you?”

Trouble shrugged. “I’ll tell him about the security system SPI installed in the clinic—all the tiny cameras with mics.”

“But there aren’t any cameras in there, not ours, anyway,” Hawk intoned.

“But he doesn’t know that, does he?” Trouble scoffed, making Odin narrow his eyes at him.

“So, you just walk up to the front door, tell the goons you want to speak with their boss, and hope they don’t just blow your head off right there?” Fang inquired, frustration in his voice.

“You’ve got to remember; they’re at the mercy of the public, too. Just like we can’t go in, guns blazing, they can’t risk shooting anyone out in the open like that. Canyon Street is a busy road, and it’s gonna be lunch soon, which means there’ll be more cars moving past. More eyes. More witnesses. The goons, at least, will take me inside. I’ll deal with whatever happens after that.” He made it sound so easy, so simple, but he was fucking terrified—not for himself, but for Liz. If he was wrong, if his plan put her in even more danger, he’d put a bullet in his own head.

“Right, well, I guess you have a plan,” Odin remarked, slapping Trouble on the back. “I can’t say I like it, but I trust you, brother. I know you’ll do what needs to be done. But…if you need us, we’ll be there.”

Trouble nodded. “Liz had a good idea, using the group call.”

“Right. Initiated a call to me, Fang, and Odin. We’ll listen in. If we feel like you need us….”

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