Page 3 of Chaos & Carnage

“Good. Call if you find anything and we’ll do the same. Otherwise, we meet back here in an hour.”

Without waiting for confirmation, he drags Dante out of the kitchen, and I hear their car engine starting as Cain walks back in.

“Where the fuck are they going?” he bites out.

“They’re checking out two of the routes.”

Cain frowns. “I said we were all splitting up.”

I just shrug my shoulder in awhat can you dogesture.

Huffing out a breath, he shakes his head. “Marcus will be here in a few to keep an eye on Evie. I’ve got the clubhouse on lockdown. Anyone who isn’t out looking for Red is on patrol, ready for an attack.”

I nod in agreement. “What about Luc?”

“Marcus is bringing him over too, along with a couple of the kids.”

“Does he know about Red?”

Cain shakes his head. “Not yet. I imagine Marcus will fill him in before he gets here.”

Wanting to be ready to leave as soon as Marcus gets here, we retrieve our weapons, and Cain goes to check on Evie while I scour the map again. I’ve outlined the area where Red is most likely to be, and I send a picture of the map to Marcus and a few other club members Cain delegates responsibilities to. I also include Bones and the kids, ‘cause I’m sure any who aren’t with Luc will be out looking for her too.

I hesitate with my thumb over the group chat between myself, Cain, Red, Dante, and Enzo. Red had insisted we set one up, but the entire conversation so far is basically Red talking to one of us and our response. A pang hits me in the chest as I read her last message. It’s nothing special, just her telling Cain and me to be careful the night we stormed Giovanni’s skyscraper, butgod,does it make me miss her even more.

Hitting send on the image, I close out of the chat, making a mental note to check Red’s apartment as well. It’s the only other place she might have gone if she was hurt or injured and couldn’t get back here or to the clubhouse.

Luc comes storming through the door as Cain reappears down the stairs, and even though he’s only five and a half feet tall and beat to hell, he’s wearing a formidable expression that should make Cain proud. “What the hell happened to my sister?!”

“We don’t know the answer to that yet, bud,” I say, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We’re going out to look for her now.”

“I want to come.”

I’m already shaking my head before he finishes speaking. “No. Not happening. You’re in no state to be out searching the streets for her, and even if you were, Red would rip all of us new ones if she knew we didn’t enforce bed rest on you.” I can see the retort written all over his face, but before he can argue, I lean in and whisper in a quieter voice. “We need you here, keeping an eye on Evie for us.”

His facial expression changes in an instant, looking more like the beaten and battered fifteen-year-old that’s just been dragged through hell and back. “How is she? Is she okay?”

“She’s putting on a brave face, but I think she could do with someone to talk to. You’re the only one who has any idea what she went through.”

He chews on his bottom lip before nodding. “Okay, I’ll stay here, but you better find my sister.”

I’m staring him straight in the eye when I say, “We will. I promise you. We’ll bring her home.”

With a few last words to Marcus, Cain and I head out, deciding to stick together as we climb into the Cadillac and follow the third route I mapped out. We drive slowly, scouring the road for any signs of Red or her bike. Halfway along the first route, my phone pings in my pocket, and pulling it out, I find a message in the group chat from Enzo.First route was clear. No sign of her.

I sigh, resting my head against the headrest. “They haven’t seen any sign of her yet,” I inform Cain, keeping my gaze on the window and the streets beyond. I hear him sigh beside me.

My finger taps against the armrest before I finally blurt out the question that's been circling in my head since Enzo and Dante stormed into the house. “What if Giovanni has her?”

“Then we’ll get her back,” Cain snarls, and I can hear the leather steering wheel cracking beneath his tight grip. The bitter taste of guilt permeates the air. We should have driven or followed her. Actually, fuck that, we should never have let her leave in the first place. We thought we had more time before Giovanni came for us, but we knew it was only a matter of time, and we still—Istill—let her walk out the door.

Hell, she didn’t even tell me she was leaving. I had to hear it from Cain, and by then she was already gone. I’ve been so stuck in my head these last few days, trying to shuffle through the tangled web of my emotions, that I’ve barely evenseenRed, let alone paid her any attention. I’ve been careful to maintain distance between us while I work shit out, knowing every time I brushed her off or ignored her, it stung.

She tried to hide it, but I could see it. Feel it. I hated doing it, even at the time, and now I feel like shit when I look back at every time I didn’t reach out to interlock our fingers, or pull her into my lap, or choose the seat beside her. I can picture every single one of those digs slicing into her and causing damage.

Knowing she’s missing and that something might have happened to her has put everything into perspective. I was confused and emotionally overloaded, but I was seriously fucking stupid to question my feelings for Red. She’s it for me. The one thing I didn’t even know I was searching for. She gives me purpose and meaning in a way that nothing else ever has. She’s the one ray of light in a city of violence, poverty, and despair. The only fucking thing that keeps me going when I feel like giving up. She’s the bright smile and sultry eyes I fall asleep dreaming of and want to wake up to every morning. She’s fucking mine, and I’ll be damned if I won’t get her back!

My fist slams against the dashboard as I growl out my frustration.

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