Page 95 of Protecting Her Secrets

Chapter Thirty-Two

Walker

I ignoreWilder’s pleas to take a minute to come up with a plan and jump in my truck. There’s a pit in my stomach telling me something is wrong with Skylar. Maybe she had a good reason to turn the system off, but whatever that was turned bad. I can’t explain how I know; I just do.

As I peel out of the parking lot, that pit grows into a boulder, weighing heavy in my gut. My mind races through every possibility. My eyes were on Klutch, but his whole club seemed to have made the trip, and since I don’t know how many that is or who they all are, the potential for one of them getting to Sky is huge.

I call her cell over and over, but she doesn’t answer. It’s not safe, but as I drive, I bring up the cameras to my property, not seeing anything amiss. All is quiet from every angle—until I pull up the view showing the base of my hill on the mountain.

“Fuck!” I slam my hand on the steering wheel because my ATV is parked on the road, and next to it are a bunch ofoverturned boxes. But the worst part is my dog, who’s running in circles, looking panicked and unsure what to do.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Skylar is gone, and whatever is in those boxes has something to do with it. My foot nearly bottoms out on the gas as I head out of town. Right before the turn that’ll take me to the base of the hill, the rumbling of motorcycles sound, and in my rearview, I spot the Sons coming up from behind.

Feeling like I have the backup I’ll need, we make the turn, and five minutes later, we’re parked and staring at the scene. What look like pictures from Skylar’s childhood are scattered everywhere, the slight gust of wind spreading them. There aren’t many things that would’ve convinced Sky to leave my house, but memories of her mom, especially if she was told about the fire, are definitely one of them.

While I try to calm my anxious dog, the bikers work to gather all the memories without being asked. When I get Skylar back, and there’s no doubt in my mind I will, she’ll be grateful.

Wilder, Rowan, and Ridge pull up shortly after. Rowan approaches me while Wilder sticks close to his SUV, his phone to his ear, and Ridge walks around, studying the scene.

“Sky turned off the alarms, but the cameras were still recording to the cloud. I have the whole thing,” Rowan says when he approaches, holding out his phone. I hit play and watch in horror as a woman lures Skylar to her trunk and then stabs her in the neck with a needle before shoving her inside.

“Who is she?”

“No clue, but Wilder’s on the phone with Bakersfield PD and every agency in between, putting out a BOLO. We have a clear view of the license plate, so as long as they don’t dump this car, we should find her quickly.”

“They’re not stupid. They’ll probably find this thing on the side of the road somewhere within the hour,” I say, rubbing at my temple, a headache forming.

“Maybe, but maybe not. It’s a lead.”

Wilder tucks his phone in his tactical vest and walks over, looking somber. “Highway patrol just pulled over the band of Broken Rebels riding south. Klutch wasn’t with them, but according to them, he had to stop for gas and was ten minutes behind them. They said they’ll wait off the side of the highway and see if he rides by. But since we have no evidence they had anything to do with it, they had to let them go.”

“You heard him at the bar. He made it obvious he took her,” I say.

“Words are just that: words. We have to have physical proof. I’m sorry.”

“So we just sit around and wait? Fuck that. Someone had to have seen something.” I pull out my phone and hit Miss Martha’s contact.

“Walker, are you okay? I heard there was some trouble down at the bar.”

Of course, she already heard about that. “Yeah, I’m fine, but Skylar isn’t.”

I give her a rundown of what we know. Every few seconds, she lets out a pissed-off sound that gets louder as I go on. By the time I’m done, the woman is spitting mad.

“You sit tight. If someone saw that car, I’ll know within the next twenty minutes.”

“Thanks, Miss Martha.”

“And when we find it, you let me at that woman. I’ll show her how a real woman handles her business.”

The call ends, and even though I’m more scared than I’ve ever been in my life, I nearly smile at how lucky I am to have this community.

“Is there something we can do?” Cyrus asks.

“I don’t think so. The Broken Rebels are halfway to Bakersfield, and Skylar isn’t with them. They won’t be stupid enough to have her anywhere near them. If I were to guess, they’ll hold her somewhere until things calm down.”

“Guess we’ll get out of here, then.” He pulls on a pair of leather gloves. “Sorry we weren’t much help.”

I shake his hand. “You were more help than you’ll ever know. He wouldn’t have taken me seriously without you.”

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