Page 34 of Murder & Mayhem
I growled at Gid, shooting him a warning glare, as Jamie turned bright red and shrunk in on himself.
“For fuck’s sake, Gid, just shut the hell up.” Then, turning to Jamie, I said, “Ignore everything that comes out of that asshole’s mouth. I usually do.”
Gideon pressed his hand to his chest in an overdramatic fashion. “I’m wounded, Nicky. And here I thought you loved me.”
Jamie snorted, and I relaxed a little. Gideon walked up to Jamie, a light smile on his face. He was wearing his weekend clothes, a pair of faded jeans with a hole in the knee, heavy black combat boots, and a leather jacket over a black T-shirt. He had recently gotten a haircut, so his bright red hair was short on the sides and longer on the top. It was windblown now, and he had a bad case of helmet hair, but Gid never seemed to care. His neatly trimmed beard was a couple shades darker than his hair and covered the bottom of his face.
Despite his easy manner, Jamie still stiffened as he got closer, not that I blamed him. Gid was fucking huge, almost 6’5”, with wide shoulders that were barely contained in his leather jacket. He was surprisingly light on his feet, which probably made him more terrifying. You couldn’t hear him coming if he didn’t want you to. Now, though, he was trying to be friendly, and I hoped Jamie realized he would never hurt him.
“Hi, I’m Gideon. I promise I won’t bite. Well, unless you want me to.” He held out his hand, while I mimicked choking him.
“Gid . . . ,” I warned. But somehow, that made Jamie a touch calmer. He smiled sheepishly at my brother.
“Good to know.”
I sighed and looked at Gideon. “Okay, so how’re we doing this?”
“Put in your ears, I think Ari has an idea.”
Climbing back into the car, I grabbed my earbuds and then an extra pair. I handed them to Jamie. If he was insisting on coming, he would have constant communication between the four of us. I was not letting them grab him with me caught unaware.
Gideon raised his eyebrow in surprise. “I’m surprised you’re letting him come.”
Jamie glared at Gideon, getting on his tiptoes so he could look him in the eyes. He still had to look up. “He’s notlettingme do anything. I can make my own fucking decisions, and Bailey is my brother! I’m sick of everyone trying to put me on the sidelines.”
Gideon raised his hands in front of him in a “peace” gesture. “Easy there, firebird. I didn’t mean anything by it. If you want to come with us, I sure as fuck won’t stop you.”
Jamie didn’t back down for another few seconds beforeheaving in a deep breath and backing off. “Good.” But I could see his hands shaking. We needed to fucking move.
Once we were all set, and Ari was talking in our ears, we all got back in my SUV, with Gid leaving his bike off to the side and partially hidden. Hopefully, none of these fuckers would decide to take it because that would be the one time Gideon deviated from the code Ari had set for us, and he would take the heads of anyone who even looked at his bike without permission.
We had barely made it through the gate when four men armed with rifles and balaclavas covering their faces formed a semicircle blocking the path. Gideon clicked the safety off his gun as I slowed down and put the SUV in park.
I glanced at Jamie in the rearview. He was watching the Wraith crew with wide, terrified eyes. “Jamie, stay here and stay down.”
I half-expected him to argue, but he only nodded and slumped down in the seat, his hoodie pulled down low over his face.
“Let me handle this,” I said to Gideon, and then I stepped out with my hands up where they could see them.
“Wow, this is some welcome. Do you do this every time someone comes to drop off some junk? Must really scare the customers.”
The one in the middle stepped forward. “Cut the crap. We saw you were with the Sullivan kid. State your business here.”
Well, that had been quicker than I’d expected. I stayed calm and easy. They seemed like professionals. None of them had pointed their guns at me or the SUV yet, and I at least hoped that they were smart enough not to be trigger happy. But the downside to that was that if they did choose to shoot, it would probably hit.
There was no point in me bullshitting. That would be a good way to get shot.
“We’re looking for Bailey Sullivan.”
A fourth guy appeared from the small security shed. His face wasn’t covered, and I recognized him immediately as Flame, the leader of the Wraiths. He was in his early forties with an odd shade of blond hair that was nearly gray. It was well maintained, and he assessed us with cold, icy-blue eyes. The car door opened and Gideon walked out to stand next to me. We were still outnumbered, but I did appreciate having him at my back, even if I would rather he stayed with Jamie. I didn’t dare turn around to make sure he was okay though.
Flame walked through the middle of his men and stood facing us. “He’s not here.”
I’d predicted Flame would bullshit us or try to make a deal.
“There are two more people hidden in the woods, but they’re far back. So far no one is going to the car,”Ari informed us.“I can only get into the security cameras on the outside. I see no Bailey, O’Malley, or even any indication that they’re holding them.”
I had a feeling Flame was telling the truth, but still, I had to push a little. “We traced Sloan O’Malley’s car here. We know he picked up the kid yesterday and he was supposed to bring him to you.”
