Page 48 of Only The Strong

“Running it,” Miles calls next to him. “712 Cornice. Go!” He yells and all four of us rush from the room and down the stairs.

When I push through the door of the clubhouse and into the parking lot my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see Jack’s name on the screen. Panic rushed through my stomach and I quickly answer the call. “Don’t tell me somethings wrong,” I say as a greeting.

“The house is empty,” Jack says down the line and I stop, Ronan, Saint, Mason, and Leo fanning around me.

“Maybe they stopped somewhere before going to my house.” I turn around and face my brothers. Praying this is the reason they’re not home.

“Finn’s Hellcat is in the driveway—”

“Check the entire fucking house!” I interrupt him.

Jack huffs out a breath. “I did. There’s a giant ass hole in the wall in the kitchen and all of your alcohol is broken on the floor.”

I end the call without saying anything else to him. “Fuck!” I yell. I look around at everyone surrounding me. “Let’s go. He took them.” I stalk to my truck, Saint and Ronan following me while Mason and Leo walk to their bikes and climb on. Saint comes to the driver's door beside me and pushes me to the back door. “Excuse the fuck out of you, dickhead?” I push his shoulder hard.

“You’re too fucking wound up right now, you’ll lose focus and kill us before we get there.” He pushes me back a few steps and opens the door for me. “Read me the directions and Ro will text Jack the address.”

Reluctantly and with a glare I step into the backseat of my own fucking truck and sit down.

* * *

We makethe trip in half the time it was supposed to take, screeching to a halt in front of a normal looking one story house with flower beds in the front yard and a wooden bench swing on the porch. My brothers and I storm up the lawn, clearing the three steps to get to the porch and I brace myself before kicking the front door in. It swings into the wall behind it, the handle busting the plaster and staying wide open for us. We all rush in and clear all of the rooms of the small house, before finding a door to a basement. I quickly check that everyone is behind me before turning the knob and quickly making my way down the stairs, luckily someone flipped the light at the top of the stairs because I was coming down blind. The basement is empty as well, but based on the scene down here I’d rather Reese and Finn still be missing than be here. In the corner is a large kennel, like that which a dog would be in with a padlock laying on the floor in front of it. In the middle of the room is a gambrel hanging from the ceiling and on the floor beneath are dark splatters with a perfect untouched circle in the middle, like a bucket was placed there. I walk towards the back wall and look at several pictures of Reese pinned to a board. Pictures of her on the back of my bike, us riding into the clubhouse, walking into my house, her in her office, and so many others, but the one that makes my blood boil is of her leaning with her head in her hands on what looks like a bathroom floor. I recognize the dress she's wearing as the dress from her friend’s birthday when she was drugged. Eli had something to do with the guy that drugged her and he took a fucking picture of her before trying to kidnap her.

“Cale, you need to see this.” I turn around to see Saint holding up the lid of a giant deep freezer.

I walk over and peer inside. A naked woman lay crumbled inside, her throat slashed but dried blood covers her throat and over her face, making sense of the gambrel. I can’t make out any facial features because of the blood covering her entire face, but her red hair, the same shade as Reese’s, tells me all I need to know. “We need to find them. Now.” My voice shakes.

“We have one more thing we can try.” Mason quietly speaks from the corner where he’s kneeling next to the empty cage.

“Have Miles track her gun,” I say, closing the freezer and walking towards the stairs.

48

REESE

The throbbingin the back of my head makes me keep my eyes closed, but when I try to bring my hands to my head to cradle it I snap my eyes open when they won’t give way. I frantically look around me. My hands are handcuffed behind me around a pole and I’m in a giant empty room with cement floors and walls with tall ceilings, safe to say I'm probably in some warehouse. I see Finn’s arms also looped around a pole some ten feet away from me. He’s still slumped over and I can't see if his chest is moving or not.

“Finn!” I hiss, trying not to be too loud just in case Eli is near. “Finn!” I whisper yell again when he doesn't answer the first time.

Whispering his name the second time must break through his unconsciousness because he groans and raises his head, his eyes screwed shut. “You should have run, Princess,” He says without opening his eyes.

“He would have shot you!” I argue, my eyes wide.

He rests his head against the pole behind him. “Still.” Finn opens his eyes and takes in our surroundings. “Why the fuck are we here?”

My eyes narrow at him. “You know where we are? Where are we?” I whisper yell again.

“The warehouse.” His voice is laced with confusion, he blinks several times and he looks around the building.The warehouse. Well, that’s quite obvious, I had already figured out we were in a warehouse.

Before I can question him further, Eli steps out of a room from behind me. Turning my head I can barely make it out but it looks like an office. “Where’s Huntley?” Finn growls at our captor.

“Who?” Eli’s face almost splits with his creepy smile. “Oh your girlfriend, she’s fine. I only told you I had her so you would surrender.”

Finn jerks against the cuffs and the pole creeks. “Why are we here?” He sneers.

Eli paces between Finn and me, his hands clasped behind his back looking calm and smiling. Seeing him so at ease and knowing he was the one watching me this entire time makes my stomach roll. “Well I knew your club of criminals would never let Reesey and I go easily, so I brought you both here to see what your club is doing in the basement. I know you make bullets. With that and trading you, the club would be wise to allow us to calmly leave town.”

I shake my head, so confused with what’s going on right now. “Why are you doing this?” I try to stay calm, Eli and I were friends.

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