Page 18 of Hurricane's House

“Chasity,” he shouted through the closed door. The only rule that her niece had asked Hurricane for was to give her privacy. He agreed to let her shut her door, but not lock it unless she was in the bathroom or changing. It seemed to work between the two of them, and Tina wondered why she hadn’t thought about doing that with Chasity in her own home. It might have saved her a lot of headaches with the teen.

Her niece didn’t answer, and panic welled up in her gut. Tina knew that something had to be wrong. The last time she saw Chasity was in her room, just before she took the pregnancy test. “Chasity,” Hurricane shouted again, banging on the door harder this time, for good measure. “Open the door, kid,” he yelled.

“I don’t think that she’s in there,” Chasity breathed. “What if she overheard us talking about the baby?”

“Let’s not get too excited yet. I’ll grab the key and unlock her door. You check the downstairs for any sign that she left earlier,” Hurricane ordered. Tina was grateful to have him in a crisis. Her life had felt like one giant mishap after another since Chasity had come to live with her. Every time she went to Hurricane with a problem, he quickly solved it, and a part of Tina wondered if she’d ever be as capable as he seemed to be when it came to taking care of her niece.

“Okay,” she whispered. “We’ll meet back up in the kitchen in a few,” she said. He nodded and ran down the hall to the master bedroom to get the key to Chasity’s room and Tina hurried down the stairs to the main floor. She was shouting her niece’s name as she ran through the house, room by room, and when she found the entire floor empty, she allowed herself to panic.

“She’s not here,” she whispered to herself, letting the small sob that bubbled up from her chest escape her lips.

Hurricane came running down the stairs and into the kitchen to her, waving a piece of paper in the air. “She left a note,” he breathed.

She snatched the piece of paper from her hands and read it aloud, “I know now that you never wanted me, Tina.” She choked out her name, noting that her niece had stopped calling her Aunt Tina again. “I heard you tell Hurricane that you didn’t want me, but you had no choice but to take me once my parents died. I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted. Please don’t look for me—you won’t find me again. I’m going to be smarter about things this time.” She didn’t even sign her name and there was no way to tell where she had headed when she left.

“I’m going to call a few of my guys in to come help us look for her,” Hurricane insisted. “Then, I’m going to take a look around the house to see if I can track which direction she went. It’s going to rain, and I don’t want to lose any tracks that she might have left.”

Tina nodded and crossed her arms across her chest. “All right,” she stuttered. Hurricane took two steps toward her and pulled her into his arms. “It’s going to be all right, honey, you’ll see. I’ll find her and talk some sense into her. She’ll be back here before you know it and you can tell her the rest of the story that you told me—the part about wanting Chasity now.”

“I hope that you’re right,” she whispered, “I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“You’ll never have to find out, honey,” he said, “I promise.”

Hurricane

Hurricane moved quickly, getting Reacher, Yonkers, and his wife, Wren to sit with Tina while the guys tried to track Chasity before the rain hit. He was thankful for the guy’s help, and he knew that they cared for the kid too. If anyone could find her, it would be the three of them.

“We’re going to fan out,” Hurricane said, going over the plan before they set out. “You leave through the back door, Yonkers, and head to Main Street. Check the bus stations and diners along the way. She could be anywhere.”

“Got it,” Yonkers agreed.

“Great, and you head out the front door, Reacher, and head to the club. See if she doubled back there. If not, I need you to check train stations and airports. I don’t know how much money the kid has, but she’s smart, and I wouldn’t put it past her to take some from Tina and me.”

“Hurricane,” Tina spat.

“Well, honey, it’s true. She’s run away and she’ll need a plan if she wants to get far enough away that we won’t find her,” he said. He hated upsetting her—especially now that he knew thatshe was pregnant with his baby, but he owed her the truth. He promised Tina that he’d never shut her out when it came to Chasity, and he didn’t plan on starting now.

“I know that it’s just a hard pill to swallow,” she breathed. Wren wrapped an arm around Tina’s waist and told her that everything would work out, but Hurricane was starting to worry that he might not be able to keep the same promise that he made to Tina earlier.

“I’m going to head to the police station and report Chasity as a runaway. I’m not sure how much help they will give, but it’s worth a try. Then, I’ll search all the places that she liked to hang out at and some of her high school friend’s houses. She has to be laying low somewhere.”

“What do Wren and I do?” Tina asked. He turned to look at her and she shook her head as though she was reading his mind. “Don’t say it,” she ordered, pointing her finger into his chest.

“Honey, I need you both to stay here in case the cops call with any news or if Chasity changes her mind and comes home,” he said. “You need to try not to get too stressed and you have to eat something. You need your strength.” They hadn’t told any of the guys that she was pregnant. It didn’t feel right to share the news with his club brothers before sharing it with Chasity first. Tina nodded her agreement, and he winked at her and pulled her in for a quick kiss. “I’ll be in touch,” he promised, releasing her. He didn’t look back at her as he and the guys headed out to look for Chasity. He knew that he’d find her watching him, and probably crying, and right now, he couldn’t take that. It wouldn’t help Chasity if he stopped to hold Tina, and that was all he wanted to do right now.

Hurricane got on his bike and headed into town. He hated that he was going to have to call in his last favor with his buddy on the force, but he had no choice. He found Detective Williamsin his office, sitting behind his big desk, looking over some paperwork.

“I didn’t have you figured for a paper pusher,” Hurricane taunted. He didn’t have time for small talk, but Williams seemed to enjoy the banter.

“Ah, if it isn’t my favorite badass biker,” Williams teased. “What can I do for you today, Hurricane?”

He shot him his best smile and he could tell from the smirk on the guy’s face that he wasn’t buying his act. “I need help with a runaway kid,” he admitted.

“How do you know the kid?” Williams asked. He nodded to the chair that sat in front of his desk and Hurricane took the hint to have a seat.

“She’s my girlfriend’s niece. Tina got custody of Chasity when her parents died. She’s been giving Tina a lot of trouble and I offered to help out. The kid ran away from her months ago and was sneaking into my clubhouse. I let her stay there for a while, but that’s no place for a teenager.”

“That’s the truth,” Williams grumbled. “So, what happened to the kid after you kicked her out of your clubhouse?”

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