Page 68 of Cole

“Bailey in the ground.”

There weren’t a lot of ways to interpret that phrase. Panic made me clumsy as I reached for my phone and knocked it off the desk. Cursing, I grabbed it as someone nearby shushed me loudly. I stood up from the study carrel and started to shove my things into my backpack, while frantically searching for his number in my phone.

I hadn’t used it since he’d put it in that morning at his cabin. He hadn’t called me either. He’d probably already forgotten all about me, but that didn’t matter. I had to warn him.

I scrolled through my missed calls until I found it, and the label he’d put himself under.

Papa Bear.

My breath felt short as I dialed, leaving the library at the same time.

The line rang, and rang. No answer. Shit. Of course, he wouldn’t answer. Why would he answer me, when I’d been so horrible just last week? I tried again as I ran for my car. No answer. Getting desperate, I hung up and called Marcus instead. This time, it didn’t even ring. I was about to call Arianna, when I remembered that the Hellions and their fans were at an away game. They wouldn’t answer for hours.

I got into my car and googled the phone number for The Clutch. I pulled out as the line rang, and kept on ringing. No one answered. I gave a short scream of frustration and banged the steering wheel. Ok, I wasn’t going to get through. I needed to tell him face-to-face.

The drive through town had never taken so long. I had just pulled onto the highway that led to The Clutch when a group of motorcycles passed me, going the opposite direction. I whipped around, trying to make out who it was. It was impossible, they were too fast, but there had been a sizable number of guys, easily over ten. That had to be them, right?

Luckily the road was quiet, and I was able to make a U-turn and start in the other direction. Another bike passed me as I started driving that way. A lone rider. This one I got to see much more clearly. The bike wasn’t a heavy-duty motorcycle like Cole’s was. The rider looked smaller as well. They weren’t wearing the same kind of cut that the rest were.

Finn?

I followed behind him as close as I dared to.

It was Finn. He was following them, right into something dangerous… and trailing behind for some reason. Following where he shouldn’t? “I owe that boy a life debt.” Cole’s voice filled my head. He wanted to protect this kid, and now here he was, following his idol right into a trap. Thoughts of Rosie weeping at the graveside of her only son filled my head. I couldn’t let him just go. I had to try and help.

Following them felt like I was chasing a storm. A dark cloud moved swiftly and quietly across the sky, the rumbling of the bikes like a warning before thunder. I trailed them past the outskirts of town, my fingers gripping the steering wheel so tight that they started to tingle. My stomach dropped every time Finn’s taillights glowed red. I was terrified that he might glance back and realize the same car had been following him for miles. I trailed them like that for twenty minutes before the road narrowed and the buildings thinned out. They turned toward the industrial district, a part of town I had never needed nor wanted to visit.

I watched as Finn pulled in beside the entrance to an empty lot. I drove past, looking wildly at the scene. I could see red glowing taillights farther inside the lot. Cole’s group had stopped, but not one of them had gotten off their bikes or killed their engines. I pulled to the side of the road a few blocks away and slid out of the car, careful not to make a single sound as I closed my car door. I’d found them.

The industrial district felt like a boneyard of rust and decay. The air hung heavy with the smell of metal and dust. Rusted piles of metal left on the sides of buildings to rot, broken windows, and sagging chain-link fences made my senses heighten. If anyone wanted a place to disappear, it would have been here.

I reached the lot and kept low, creeping along the line of abandoned shipping containers that were stacked on the far edge of the lot. I ducked behind them, trying to get closer to Cole. It suddenly felt like a very bad idea to get caught in the middle of anything. I made my way to the last container, but still couldn’t see much. Ahead of me was an empty gravel and dirt lot, nowhere to hide. I sighed and leaned against the navy blue container as I tried to catch my breath and work out a way to get a better look. Should I just walk out and ask to speak to Cole? I couldn’t see what was happening, or who was there.

A rung bit into my hip as I crouched against the cold metal. It took my brain a few seconds to catch up to my surroundings. A rung. A ladder was welded onto the side of the container. Maybe I could see better from higher up.

I grabbed the rung at eye level, and my foot found purchase on a rung below. Slowly, with deliberate movements, I made my way up the ladder to the top of the container. I army crawled across the top until the bikes and their riders came into view.

From my place on top of the container, I had a perfect view of the entire parking lot where Cole and his men were parked, and the warehouse behind them. The warehouse was large and looming in the darkness. It looked as though it had been abandoned and completely forgotten.

I saw Cole gesture to the men, and each one responded by shutting off their bikes. The silence that followed was deafening, and I was so grateful I had made it to my hiding place under the cover of their loud engines.

Gage’s slow and deliberate speech broke the silence, “Lion sure as hell better come through on this one. It’s been too fucking long that we’ve been hangin’ on his dime.”

Maddox’s gravelly voice bounced off the abandoned warehouse walls as he said, “When has he ever not? You know the man doesn’t miss. Hasn’t once.”

I slowed my breathing as much as I could, worried they would hear it. They were talking about The Lion, whatever mystery figure the first recording had been about.

Cole’s voice cut in low and sharp. “Enough.”

He wasn’t making a suggestion. The silence that followed told me everything I needed to know about how much his men respected him.

“What, we can’t say his name now?” Gage asked, letting out a forced, dry laugh.

“Not out here,” Cole clipped back.

The others dropped it, and for a long beat, the only sound was the crunch of gravel as the men below shifted their weight. There was a soft shuffle of boots as Maddox dismounted his bike and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. He lit a cigarette, and the smell of smoke drifted to me.

What would Cole say if I went down to warn him now? I’d have to tell him about the listening device. My skin crawled just thinking about it, but what else could I do? I needed to do it, and I needed to do it now.