Page 1 of What Lies Within

1

RAE

"What the fuck you mean her tracking isn't on?" Tyke hollers at a tense Turnip. "Where the fuck was she last?"

The scruffy guy raises his hands to appease the beast. "Downtown." Turnip turns his phone to show Tyke. "Somewhere on Emerald Street."

"Somewhere?" The tendons stand proud on Maddie's father's neck, eyes wild as he demands answers from his Road Captain. Answers I don't think he's going to get.

I feel sick to the stomach, guilty as all hell knowing I've been out enjoying myself, reveling in Tyke doting on me while his daughter—my best friend—was in danger.

Isstillin danger.

Fuck.

"I've sent Murmur and Hammer to sweep the business district," Minion offers. "But it's after hours. And unless they break into every shop down the row, we can't rule out if they hold her there."

"Why the fuck would they hold her in a shop?" Tyke's fearsome face distorts with his pain and confusion. "Are you fuckin' stupid? They'd take her somewhere else."

"We don't even know who 'they' are," Kane states from his bar stool. "We don't even know where they're based. What fronts they have." His leg taps a frantic beat, foot hooked on the stool. "Shecouldbe in a fuckin' shop storeroom for all we know." His first reaction was to head out and smash heads until someone said something useful.

It took Minion disarming him and confiscating his keys, then another member's, to stop Maddie's brother from going after her. A devotion I didn't expect to see after the way they left things the other day.

I turn my phone face up, tucked in my lap, to check the screen for the millionth time. My stupid vision board wallpaper stares back at me, taunting me with idealized images of my perfect life.Fucking bullshit that it is.I tap into the message folder despite no new notifications. Her last text—the day she saved me from the diner—sits taunting like a reminder of my reminiscence.

Kane was right. I arrived at this damn clubhouse a total stranger to the world encapsulated inside, and within a short time, I've positioned myself at the side of the two most influential members. At least, at the side of one, for now.

I glance toward the door from where I sit, leaning against one of the Chesterfields, as though I can will Digger to walk through with Maddie hot on his heels. The men continue to rage around me, arguing tactics and conspiracy theories, while I steady my breaths and fucking visualize the perfect end to all of this: Maddie with her uncle. The whole thing a massive misunderstanding.

"Get Terry on the phone," Tyke thunders, dropping to the seat behind me.

The cushion balloons under his weight, jolting me out of a fool's dream.

"You know, as good as I do, he'd be the first one on the blower if he had your girl," Rigs states, perched on the back of the sofa to my right, legs at Minion's shoulder. "No point givin' the fucker a heads up if he ain't connected to this."

"Fuck." Tyke groans, the seat rolling behind me as he moves. "Fuck! If not that cunt, then who? You think Volkov could have her?"

"It's possible, but let me get ears on the ground first," Turnip offers. "See what's bein' squawked on the wire before you go off half-cocked."

"There's nothin'," Kane bites, staring down into his glass of liquor. "I already pinged the network today. They're shut up tight. Nobody's talkin'."

"When today?" Tyke asks. "What about?" His fingers find my hair, startling me a little as they begin to twirl and play with the loose lengths.

I wind my arm around the back of his calf and rest my palm against his shin.

"Digger asked me to do a loop," Kane explains. "He had an inklin' it was too quiet out there. Reckoned something was about to go down."

Tyke stiffens beneath my touch. The implication sears a hole in my heart. He suspects his flesh and blood.

As though confirming my fear, Turnip grinds his jaw before saying quietly, "He wouldn't be involved with this shit."

"I can't believe you'd even think that." My voice cracks like a whip; all eyes turn toward me as though I'd been previously invisible.

"Live this life long enough, girly, and not much comes as a surprise anymore." Turnip gives a sharp nod, indicating that he means no disrespect.

"Nobody thinks he's involved," Tyke says softly. "But I'd sure like to know what the fuck's takin' him so long."

Turnip ducks his head, weathered thumb working over his phone screen. "He's not far off."

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