Chapter 56 Please. Watch over my angel. Wherever she is...
Viper
My skin was itching with a bad feeling. Something was not right. I checked my phone again. The girls had been gone for six hours now. That seemed way too long to just look for a wedding dress, right? Then again, I had no idea how long it was supposed to take. My eyes found Torque across the room. We were in the common area. Dinner was over, Bear had run the grill tonight. People were hanging around, playing pool or cards, messing with the pinball machine. Torque looked up from his phone and our eyes met.
“Any news?” I asked. He was in a big chair, and I was on the smaller couch across from him.
“No,” he said. His forehead was all wrinkled up. “Does this usually take so long?”
“I do not know.”
I looked around and saw the Clown's woman, Carrie. “Hey, Carrie!” She glanced over, smiled, and walked my way.
“What’s going on, Viper?”
“How long does it take to buy a wedding dress?”
“That depends. Do you know what you want? The color, the style, all that? Then you have to try a bunch on. My sister took about five hours. For me, it was maybe one. Why do you ask?”
“Catalina and Jenna left six hours ago.”
“Well, that is not too strange. If you are worried, just call them.”
“We have,” Torque cut in. “They are not answering our calls or texts.”
“Do they have someone with them?” she asked.
“Yeah. A couple of prospects went along.”
She looked back and forth between us, waiting for more. When we stayed quiet, her eyebrows went up. “Well, have you tried calling the prospects?”
I looked at Torque. He just shut his eyes and shook his head.
I pulled up the contact for Rob and sent a text. Everything good?
An answer came back right away. Yep.
“Rob says everything’s fine,” I told them, and a wave of relief hit me.
Torque gave a nod, but his face still looked tense, like he was waiting for a storm.
“You think something’s wrong?” I asked him.
“I do not know. I just have this bad feeling right here,” he said, pressing a hand over his heart.
That was when the clubhouse door slammed open so hard the sound cracked through the whole room. Everyone froze. A man walked in, dressed all in black, a long coat, pants, a dark shirt. His hair was dark and smoothed back. His eyes, black and angry, landed right on me.
“Fottuti bastardi!” he snarled. You fucking bastards.
“Leonardo?” I said, stunned. What was my future father-in-law doing here? And how the hell did he get past the gate?
“You swore you would keep her safe! You promised me, with your life! I believed you!”
“What are you talking about? Catalina is safe. She and Jenna are out shopping for her dress.”
“Viper, who is this?” Torque asked, getting to his feet.
“This is Leonardo. Catalina and Jenna’s father.”
“Oh, right. From the hospital.”
“Yeah, ‘oh.’ How do you not remember me? You are fucking my daughter, are you not? Planning to marry her?”
“I do not know how to answer that without sounding like a complete ass. But fuck it, yes. I am marrying her, and yes, I am with her. I only met you that one time.”
Leonardo made a low, angry sound in his throat, an actual growl. I had never seen him like this. Sure, I had only met him a few times when Catalina was hurt, but he was always calm. Cold and deadly, but controlled.
“You will not be marrying either of my daughters if we do not get them back!”
“What? Leonardo, talk sense!” I shouted.
“Are these your men?” He shoved a phone toward me. On the screen were pictures of Rob and Danny, the two prospects who were supposed to be guarding the girls. Both of them were lying on the ground, shot in the head.
“What the fuck?” I roared.
“They have been taken. I have been trying to find Georgeio Caruso, the head of the New York Italian family. I warned the girls to be careful because they were being watched.”
“What? Why did they not tell us?”
He shrugged. “Probably did not want to worry you. I decided to come early, to surprise them for the wedding. I have missed them. I wanted to see my girls. Then one of my contacts sent me a message telling me to get downtown. Now.” He tapped the phone again. “One of my associates gave me this. There are pictures. And a video.”
He pressed play. We watched the girls walk out of a shop. Two vans screeched to a stop in front of them. I saw the two prospects run toward a crowd of men pouring out of the vans. Men in suits took them down. Then the men in suits grabbed Jenna. Torque let out a furious roar, and everyone in the room rushed over. But I could not look away from the screen.
My girl fought. God, she was incredible. Catalina took one guy down and was throwing herself at another, fighting like hell, until he spun her around and punched her hard. She went still.
“No!” I yelled as I watched him pick her up and throw her into the back of a van. On the other side of the screen, Jenna was screaming, fighting against the men holding her. One of them pressed a cloth over her face, and she went limp. They tossed her into the other van. The two vans sped off in different directions. Then the video ended.
“What the fuck is happening?” Butcher demanded, pushing through the crowd. “Who is this?”
“This is Leonardo. Catalina and Jenna’s father. Leonardo, this is Butcher, our President.”
The two men nodded at each other, a quick, grim acknowledgment. I filled Butcher in, my mind spinning. I looked at Torque. He was crouched on the floor now, his hands gripping his head. His breathing was rough and ragged. I knew I probably looked just as broken.
“What do you know so far?” I asked Leonardo.
“The men in the suits work for Caruso. The others, I do not know,” Leonardo said.
“Let me see that,” Butcher said, taking the phone.
I watched his face as he watched the video. Some of the men wore leather vests with no club name on the back. On the front of the vests were prospect patches.
“I know that guy,” Doc said, pointing at the screen. “I saw him with Atlas. When Atlas came to Florida with his VP and Sergeant-at-Arms, he had two prospects watching their bikes. That is one of them.”
He was pointing at the man who had knocked Catalina out.
“Are you fucking telling me Atlas has her?” I shouted.
“Looks that way, brother,” Doc said, his voice flat.
“Then who texted me back when I asked if everything was good?”
“My guess? One of them has Catalina’s phone,” Beast said.
A sound of pure pain and rage tore out of my throat.
“So two different groups have our women?” Torque asked. His voice sounded hollow as he stood up. “Do we know where?”
“I need a computer,” Leonardo said. “I put trackers on the girls years ago, under their skin. That is how I found them in Italy when they were taken before. They do not know about them. I do not have the right phone to find the signal here. But I can log into the site on a computer.”
We all crowded into Butcher’s office. Leonardo started typing, downloading something onto Butcher’s computer. Every second felt like an hour. I paced the room. Torque just stood there, arms crossed, staring at nothing.
“Here. Look,” Leonardo said, turning the screen.
A map came up with two blinking dots.
“Jenna is still in New York,” Butcher said, leaning in. “But Catalina… she is moving. Heading south. Toward North Carolina. That is where Atlas has his main clubhouse.”
I tried to shove my way out of the office, but Doc and Beast grabbed me, holding me back.
“Wait. We need a plan,” Doc said.
“They could be doing anything to her right now!” I roared.
“Viper, they are on the road. She might still be out cold,” Butcher said, his voice hard. “We split the club. One group stays here to get Jenna. The other goes with you to get Catalina. We leave no one breathing.”
“I will stay and help with Jenna,” Leonardo said. “I love both my daughters the same. But I know you, Viper. You will bring my Catalina back. I also have business with the New York family. She will understand.”
I gave him a sharp nod. Beast, Rockstar, Clown, Bear, Doc, and twenty other brothers would ride with me. Two prospects would follow in an SUV with extra gear. Butcher and thirty-five others would stay with Leonardo and Torque to rescue Jenna. The numbers felt solid.
It took us fifteen minutes to get ready, grabbing weapons, ammo, grenades, whatever we might need. We were all armed with our personal guns, and the SUV was packed with more. As we hit the road, my head dropped for a second. I sent out a silent, desperate prayer. ‘Please. Watch over my angel. Wherever she is, give her the strength to survive this.