Page 120 of Dozer

Dozer

“How soon do you want to head over to the shop?” I asked Romeo. How long was labor? I assumed Pippa would be gone most of the day.

“Ten minutes?”

“Sounds good.” I stretched and downed the dregs of my coffee. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the number, and my gut clenched. “It’s Gabi.”

Romeo leaned forward.

“Hi,” I said to her. “Everything okay?”

Gabi was hysterical. Romeo must have heard her. He jumped from the table and called for Rogue.

“Gabi, what’s going on?”

“She’s not here!” The rest of what she said blended in a frantic, garbled hysteria.

“Gabi, take a fucking breath and talk to me.” My heart pounded hard enough to hurt. I slowly stood and gripped the phone. “Where are you?”

Rogue joined Romeo, both staring me down.

“The house,” she said on a sob.

I put the phone on speaker and set it on the table. “Where is Pippa?”

“I don’t know,” she wailed, barely able to talk through her tears. “She’s not here. There’s blood, Dozer. There’s blood on the wall.”

Scorching heat burned through me. I couldn’t breathe. A wave of dizziness overtook me. I dropped to a squat next to the table, gripping the edge for support. “Get in your car, Gabi. Lock the doors. Call Vance. We’re on our way.”

Fuck. He had her. Fuck. Fuck. Panic seized my chest. I gulped for breath, but I couldn’t shake the trembling vibrations.

I turned to Romeo. His mouth formed a hard line, and a vein pulsed in his temple. “Don’t fucking lose it, Dozer. Put on your cut and get your fucking gun. We need to go.”

Rogue was already on his bike when we exited the clubhouse. “Blade and Hana will meet us there.”

Thirty seconds later, we rumbled out of the parking lot. I barely noticed the road. I was flying on autopilot. She’d be there. No way could he have gotten to her.

No matter what words I told myself, there was no other explanation. He fucking got to her. Fear like I’d never know clawed at me, sinking talons deep and ripping me apart.

I couldn’t think. Tears blurred my vision. He fucking had her. Because of me, he was desperate to keep her.

By the time we pulled into the driveway, Gabi was on her phone. Fat tears rolled down Hana’s face as she clung to Vance. Blade had his hands in his pockets.

My bike nearly tipped in my rush to get into the house, to find her inside, that this was just a misunderstanding.

Romeo followed me in.

“Pippa!” I hollered, rushing through the house. With a hard jerk, I threw open the garage door. “Fuck.” Clutching my chest, I bent over and gulped a breath.

“Dozer.”

Romeo stood at the open sliding door. Blood smeared along the doorframe. There was more blood on the patio.

Romeo and I went back into the house and rushed to our room. The closet was open. Without the bed, the room looked so empty. Without her here, my chest felt like a gaping hole.

Metal glinted in the sunlight. Her house keys rested on a pink beach bag. This was where he took her.

“Romeo, what do I do? What the fuck do I do? He has her.”

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