Page 9 of Trigger

I could at least die knowing they had each other.

Because I wasn’t making it out of here alive.

7

Trigger

Sophia was a mess, and I knew she was trying her best not to freak out or have a panic attack, but I could see right through the mask she was struggling to keep in place. She wanted to go search for him so badly, but everything in my gut told me that Chase was in serious trouble. And I wouldnotput her in the middle of that.

“Church!” Scorpion barked from the chapel as soon as Sophia and I walked into the clubhouse. Jessica came over and grabbed Sophia’s arm, pulling her away from me. Sophia’s lips trembled. I wanted to console her, but finding Chase was more important.

“I’ve got her,” Jessica assured me as she drew my woman into a tight hug. “Go.”

I stormed into the chapel, slamming the door shut behind me. I pulled Chase’s seat out and dropped into it, daring someone to tell me I had to move. Shutting down every emotion that wouldn’t help me get my man home, I looked at Scorpion. “He left the bookstore at about four,” I said, diving straight intothe facts. “Said he was going on a ride and asked me to stay with Sophia until he got back. Haven’t heard anything since. Phone is going straight to voicemail now.”

Scorpion leaned forward, pressing his hands into the table top, palms down. “We need to split up,” he ordered. “I want four teams of two out on the roads looking for any sign of him. I’ll touch base with Geek, and we’ll work on tracking his phone. If we’re lucky, he has it with him, wherever he’s at. But if something has happened to him, I’m guessing his phone was left behind so he couldn’t be tracked.”

My gut twisted painfully. I was usually pretty good at keeping my shit locked up tight. I could just shut everything off I didn’t want to feel. But with Chase’s life hanging in the balance, I couldn’t. Ineededto, but the loss of himhurttoo goddamn much.

I had to find him. I had to get him home. Sophia fucking needed him.

I needed him.

I looked at Scorpion, my fingers impatiently drumming on the table. “I think this might be Russian-related.” His expression turned grim, but he didn’t look surprised by my suggestion. More than likely, he’d already come to that conclusion. If Chase was dead when I found him, I would slit Johnston Trim’s fucking throat. I gave no fucks that he technically wasn’t at fault for this. If the Russians had Chase, then they took him because they couldn’t get their hands on Aaliyah.

“How deep are we searching?” Mark asked. Mark was the treasurer for the Texas Charter. He was mostly quiet and kept to himself, but there was an angry glint in his eyes as he spoke to Scorpion. Everyone sitting at that table had mad respect for Chase, and I knew if anything had happened to him, they’d be right behind me, feral for the blood of anyone who’d put their hands on him.

“You search until I give the order to stop,” Scorpion told him. “We will not rest until our brother is back home. Am I clear?”

When everyone gave an affirmative, Scorpion stood. “Geek and I will work on tracking Chase down.” Scorpion wasalmostas tech-savvy as Geek, but Geek was a true hacker. If Chase could be tracked down via technology, Geek would be the one who could find him. “Everyone else, form a team and get the fuck on the road.” He looked at me. “Our numbers are uneven. I’m trusting you can work solo.”

I nodded. “I work best solo,” I assured him. “If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

Scorpion nodded. Reese, the Texas Charter’s secretary, clapped my shoulder as he neared me, worry glimmering in his eyes. “Be careful, Trigger.”

I nodded once and left the chapel. Sophia was curled up on the couch when I stepped out, sandwiched between Jessica and Gabriel, Tango’s boy. I marched over and grasped Sophia’s face in my hands, bending to plant a hard, quick kiss on her sweet mouth. Her lips trembled beneath mine, but she bravely held herself together. I wasn’t sure if I could handle her falling apart in front of me while our man was missing.

“I’m going to find him,” I rasped. “And if anyone has touched him, I’ll make them fucking pay.” I kissed her one more time. “I love you.”

Turning, I marched away before she could repeat the words back to me, yanking my bike keys from my pocket.

I’m going to fucking find you, baby. Just hang on for me.

Nothing. All nine of us who went searching for him got a big fatnothing. No bike. No sign of an accident. And the tracker in his phone pinged at the bottom of a fucking river.

Everyone else was crashing for a couple of hours before resuming their searches, but I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t fucking do anything but think of where the fuck Chase might be. Was he already dead? Was he being tortured? He wouldn’t have run away. He lived and breathed this club, and he loved Sophia too goddamn much to ever leave her behind.

I pushed open the door to Scorpion’s office, not bothering to knock. He looked up at me through tired eyes, his burner phone revealing Geek’s name. Clearly, they were still working on finding him. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t rest.

“I’m going off-grid,” I told Scorpion. He clenched his jaw, looking like he was ready to fight me on it, but fuck him. I wasn’t sitting around while Chase possibly suffered. “You can fight me on it if you want, Scorpion, but I’m going whether you like it or not. Johnston sent me here for a reason; I know how to be invisible. Let me fucking find him.”

Scorpion scrubbed his hands down his face before he jerkily nodded his head. “Fine.” I turned for the door. “But Trigger,” I turned my head to look over my shoulder at him, “don’t you fucking go missing, too, you hear me? Find him and bring him home.”

I nodded once and left the room, heading upstairs. I wouldn’t pack anything; wouldn’t need it. Going underground meant no comforts. No motels. No beds. No showers. I’d more than likely be camping out in the woods or whatever abandoned buildings I could find.

My burner phone rang as I was walking into Chase’s apartment. It smelled so much like him in here that my chest ached with longing for him. Sophia was curled up on Chase’sside of the bed, her arms wrapped around his pillow, but at the sound of my ringing phone, she lifted her head, blinking at me through sleepy eyes.

“What?” I growled into the phone.

---