Page 94 of Creed
“I’ll get my guy at the Bureau ready, but I’m not giving him shit until we have something that’ll stick.”
I nodded, turning toward the door.
“And Creed?” Preacher’s voice dropped, his eyes hard. “We do this smart. I know you want this motherfucker gone. I want him gone, too, but we gotta be careful with this shit. One wrong move, and we’re done for.”
“Understood.”
I walked out of his office and started down the hall to find Shep and Grim. We were close. I could feel it. And once we had him pinned, there would be no badge, no cop buddies, and no bullshit that would save Maddox from what he had coming.
I made my way back to Shep’s office, and as soon as he spotted me, Shep proudly announced, “I’ve got him tied to three burners. One of them pinged off a tower near the Vault the same night Gabby was snatched. Another near…”
“It’s not enough. We gotta have something more than burners and bank statements.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. “We gotta have something concrete, or we’re just wasting our time.”
“I’ll find something.”
“You have to. Preacher’s on standby with his guy at the Bureau. We get one more piece,one clean, irrefutable piece, and we hand him over.”
Shep cracked a rare grin. “On it.”
He turned back to his laptop, and we spent the next couple of hours going through hours and hours of CCTV videos from all over town trying to hunt down Maddox. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. We were all reaching our wits end when my cell phone started to ring.
I pulled it from my back pocket, and I was surprised to see that it was Devin calling. It wasn’t like her to call from her landline, so I answered, “You okay?”
“No.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Mom and Dad are fighting,” Chrissy answered. “It sounds pretty bad. They’ve fought before, but not like this. Dad’s really mad, and I think he’s been drinking.”
“Where’s Austin?”
“He’s at Malcomb’s house.”
“Okay. Stay put, and I’ll be there in a minute.”
I was already grabbing my keys from my pocket when I told her, “I’m on my way now.”
“Okay.”
In the background, Brian’s voice bellowed, “Chrissy, open this goddamn door!”
“Don’t open it!”
“O-okay.”
“I’m coming, kid. Hang on.”
I ended the call and immediately dialed Devin’s number. She didn’t answer, so I tried the landline. Again, no answer. Fuck. Rage vibrated through my chest as I headed for the door. Grim’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “What’s going on?”
I didn’t even slow down. “Maddox is over at Devin’s place.”
The words had barely left my mouth when he and Shep stood and followed me out to the parking lot. I didn’t bother telling them not to come. I knew nothing would stop them, so I just kept moving forward, praying we could get to her before Maddox did something stupid.
Devin’s face flashed through my mind. Her beautiful eyes. Her scent. Her full lips when they curled into a smile. Damn. I’d kill him if he hurt her.
This motherfucker was asking for war, and I was about to give it to him.
I drove too fast.
