Page 38 of Laying it Bare Biker Style - Grayson

“She’ll be back, Grayson. She loves you.” I twisted at Sage’s soft words to spot her standing in my doorway, Jade snuggled in her arms.

“That’s why she won’t be back.” I rubbed at the place where my heart ached again.

She stepped into my room, walked over to me, and gave me a side hug. “Hang in there, Grayson. I know how much she loves you. She believes she’s doing the right thing. But it will all work out in the end.”

I grunted out a weak thank you.

After patting my arm with her free hand, she walked back over to the door and out into the hall.

When I finished loading Brooke’s bag, I carried it out to set it on the floor by the front door. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Dani when she came by for it. I didn’t want to end up begging for information on Brooke. The fact that I was positive she was hurting as much as me didn’t bring me any comfort. Then I headed out the side door to my bike for a long ride. A ride Brooke had expressed wanting to experience with me. Something else we’d never get to enjoy together again. Afterward, I grabbed a quick shower and then lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to pull myself out of this funk.

The next morning, I went in to work as usual, but my mood was worse than that of a bear who had been woken early from his hibernation so everyone gave me a wide berth.

Sometime after lunch, Ryder stepped up beside me while I was working under the hood of a red Audi Coupe. “Prez called and asked if a few of us would head out to an old warehouse on Billings Drive to see if Brutal Demons have anything stored there or are using it as a temporary meeting place. He’s pretty confident after this last fiasco they’ve turned tail and headed out, but he wants to be certain.”

I wiped my hands on the rag hanging from my belt loop. “Cool. I could use some violence and blood.”

“He said not to use unnecessary aggression. If there are only some punk ass kids hanging out, we’re just to make them scatter.”

“Why the hell not? We still have police support. Brooke made sure of that.” I couldn’t help the venom in my words. Her absence was wreaking havoc on my heart and emotions and I didn’t like the sullen corpse I had transformed into, so instead wanted to concentrate on my rage and vent my frustrations in brutality.

“Don’t make me over step the lines and have Prez remove you from the mission.”

I stared him down.

He huffed out a chuckle. “You know me better than that. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now. But I know how much you love her. And I also know she loves you too. Give her a few days. It may not blow over with her dad, but it will blow over with her.”

Once we searched the warehouse, we learned that it was in fact abandoned. For the time being, we didn’t believe we had to worry about another strike from them, but wouldn’t completely let down our guard. They probably headed out of town to regroup, but hopefully decided they were no match for us and would go bother some other town. Or even better, disband and give it up entirely.

The next day was even rougher to get through. I went through the motions of going to work and was somewhat productive, but my mood was only souring. I itched for the day to end, but it wasn’t like I had anything better waiting at home. But at least there, I didn’t have to deal with anyone. Ryder and Sage gave me ample space. So I was partially relieved at the end of the work day.

When I stepped inside our place, my eyes darted over to the front door. Dani still hadn’t stopped by for Brooke’s things. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. A huge part of me wanted to text Brooke to see when Dani was coming for her stuff – but really it was just an excuse to connect with her – so I tugged my phone out of my pocket.

However, the sound of someone’s fist pounding on our front door shifted my attention to our visitor. Really not in the mood for company, I stormed over to the entrance and practically ripped the door from its hinges. The view of the person standing on the other side did not improve my temperament.

“What the fuck do you want Chief Nolan? Oh, that’s right; I can’t call you that. If you’ve come to gloat some more I think you’ve done enough.” I was a split second from connecting my fist with his face – damn the consequences – but my instincts screamed something wasn’t right.

”And why the fuck do you look like shit. I’m the only one who should look like shit. You got what you wanted.” Hell, I was so stuck in my fury and grief I didn’t pick up on his haunted expression at first, his eyes bloodshot and puffy. Only one thing would make him look like that. My breath stalled at the back of my throat, congealed, and turned into a boulder before plummeting into my gut. My chest clenched in suffocating fear. “What the fuck happened to Brooke?” A wave of panic surged through me.

“Someone has her. I don’t know who or where she is.” He shoved his phone at me. “They sent me this video. I can’t look at it anymore. I don’t even want it on my phone, but I know I need to keep it so we can look for clues. I know you have every right to slam the door in my face. And I know I have no right to ask for your help, but I need you to help me find her. I know you love her so please do this for her.”

Taking the phone from him, I almost crushed it in my palm. I shouldn’t have dropped my gaze to the scene unfolding before me. It was like a cruel twisted nightmare I wanted to wake from. The fucking son of a bitch had one hand down the front of Brooke’s pants and the other clutched around her throat choking her. Her face was bruised and bloody and her clothes were torn and blood splattered as well. Fury lit through my veins like hot lava spewing from a volcano. “Did you inform the police?”

“No. I need someone who I know will get her back, by any means necessary. I never should have threatened I would come down on your club. Things go back to the way they were and should always be.”

“Step inside while I call Prez and then we’ll head out to the club to get Hack to take a look at this video. He’ll be able to figure out where she is.” Taking a step back, I twisted to yell toward the back of the house. “Ryder! Get Sage and Jade ready! We’re heading to the club!”

A moment later, Ryder rushed down the hall. “What the hell is going on? Why are you carrying on like a maniac? We just got Jade down for a nap.” He took in our unexpected and usually unwelcomed guest and his expression grew even more agitated. “And why the hell is the chief in our living room?”

“Someone has Brooke. We need to find out where.” I turned back to Nolan. “How long ago did you get this?”

“About an hour.”

“What the fuck took you so long to come here? Did you really think I would slam the door in your face?” Time was of the essence here. And he should have known that.

“I was rearranging my living room furniture.” He hissed through clenched teeth.

Well in that case. I couldn’t really fault the guy for that. I wanted to explode in a fit of rage as well. “We’ll get her back. I’m going to kill that mother fucker, have someone revive him, and kill him again. Multiple times. No even better; before I kill him, I’m going to shred his dick which he better not have had anywhere near her.” That thought almost had my fine thread of control unraveling. “Then I’m going to break off each of his fingers and shove them down his throat for daring to put his hands on her.”

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