Page 22 of Next Level
“Brother, Sunshine’s good friend called her and told her that guy Garrett who owns the Pontiac is her adopted brother. She said she’ll help us find him.”
My mind is running in circles, so I take a deep breath.
“So you don’t have her?” I say, disappointed.
“Ray, Cherry is flying to Portland right now to meet you. She’ll be there by morning. She knows all the places he would be. We will find him. She thinks he’s at their parents’ property in Washington.”
“I can leave now. I don’t need her. I’ll go right now. It’s a—”
Dawg cuts me off. “No. Brother. Wait for her. She can get you close without anyone getting spooked. She doesn’t really get along with him, and he’s kind of estranged from the family, but if he sees her, it won’t be suspicious. We need to do this right.”
I calm my mind, taking a few deep breaths.
“Who knows about this?” I say, defeated.
“No one but me and Sunshine.” There’s a pause, and then Sunshine’s voice comes through the phone. “Hi, Level. She’s legit and should be landing in Portland early in the morning. We’ll text you her information.”
I don’t say anything. I just look around and see all the members watching me, waiting for news. It would be better to have someone who knows what the fuck this guy is thinking.
“Okay, send me the details, and I’ll pick her up,” I reply.
“I’m sending you the info now. Keep us posted,” Dawg says before hanging up.
“They find her?” Fate asks, getting up from the bar, ready to take action.
“No, but his sister came forward. I’m picking her up from the airport in the morning, and we’ll head to Washington.”
“His sister? Can you trust her?” Raven asks, still sitting at the bar with a beer in his hand.
“Don’t know, but it’s a solid lead, and I trust the person who knows her, so I’m going with it.”
“Okay. I’d feel better if we went with you,” Fate says, sitting back down at the bar.
“Thank you, but I think it would be better to go alone. The cops are all over this, and now they have the address Judith gave us too, so I need to be quick and quiet. I just hope I can get there before the FBI does.”
“Okay, brother. We’re here if you need us,” both men say in unison.
The next morning, I’m sitting in my truck at the cell phone waiting area. Cherry’s supposed to text me when she’s curbside.
Dawg sent over a picture of a girl standing next to Sunshine. She had sunglasses on in the photo, but I’ll be able to find her just by her hair. She’s got tight little curls like Shirley Temple.
Just then, my phone dings with a text.
UNKNOWN: “I’m here”with a location pin.
She knows to look for my black four-door Chevy Silverado. When I see her hair, I know it’s her. Pulling up next to her, I roll down the window.
“Cherry?” I holler through the window.
When she looks up, she’s beaming. And God as my witness, I’m instantly hard, and my heart skips a beat.
The bitch is beautiful, like goddess beautiful with piercing green eyes.
Fuck me.
Words come out of her plump lips, but I don’t hear anything she says.
Jesus, she is gorgeous.
