Brave as It (Hellions Ride On #7)

8. Wesson

EIGHT

WESSON

Boomerism: There is never a choice between friends and family. Real friends are family.

“No flights out of Albert Ellis that can get me there faster than driving.” Karma explains studying the screen of his phone. “Checking Wilmington and Raleigh.”

“It’s over two hours either way, brother, find a flight and we’ll go from there.”

He nods still searching. “Bingo, I can get one out of Wilmington, one way, direct. Takes off in two hours. I’ll get there fastest that way.”

“Book two tickets.” I mutter, grabbing my wallet and keys off the nightstand.

“You don’t have to go, man. I’ll get there and handle my shit. This isn’t club business.” Karma tries to blow me off. “My kid, my bitch-ass ex, my problem.”

“Brother, thick and thin, shit comes down on you, it’s club business period. Your kid is family. We do this shit together. No man alone.”

He nods, “Appreciate ya. Ain’t got the time or energy to argue.”

He doesn’t have to speak anymore. No thanks are necessary. If the situation was reversed, he would take my back, no questions asked. This is what it is to be a Hellion.

“My van is out front, let’s go,” I tell Karma wheeling through the duplex.

“Thanks, brother,” he says trying to get himself under control. “I’ll update the club as we go.”

I nod and we get moving. It’s a blur as I get in my van, lock in my chair, and we hit the road. Karma is calling the brothers, getting no answer. With every unanswered call and unopened text, I can feel his tension and fear rising.

This is unusual. We all stay in communication regularly.

Our phones alert with texts at the same time a little over halfway to our destination: the Wilmington airport. Looking at the screen it has one word.

SERMON.

This isn’t uncommon, a random call out for a meeting. Our sermons are what other clubs call church. I don’t care what it’s called. That word comes up, every brother is expected in the cave within thirty minutes. Plain and simple. Except no one knows we aren’t where we’re expected to be.

We are too far out for that, and Hollis needs his dad. I need to get word back home why we won’t make church. I tap on my phone screen calling Kick. When Karma couldn’t get through, I should have called my brother, but I was more focused on getting us to the airport and letting Karma handle letting everyone know.

Each of us have a different order in which we reach out to brothers in the club. It’s not a big deal, there are enough of us to get someone somehow, just in these situations it’s better to go from the top down. He tried Tripp, Tank, Ruby, Boomer, BW, Red, and got no response.

“I’ll be to the compound in a minute,” he answers, “I got the text. You need Gatorade you fuckin’ lush? Your damn van is out front. I didn’t leave you stranded, even though your ass blacked out on us.”

“No,” I reply sharply. “Got a situation. Need you to loop the club in. Karma got a call. Anna has Hollis in Florida. We’re headed down to get him. Broad is tweaked. Something is wrong.”

“Fuck,” he mutters, “on it. I’ll ride out after sermon. Turn on your location so I can find your ass.”

“Got it. Gettin’ on a plane to Florida to get to them. I’ll be out of reach ‘til we land.” I tell him and click off.

Karma shoots a text to Tripp since he’s not answering calls. He might be in the cave already and that is a no phone zone. I don’t know what is going on at the compound. The mission in front of me is Hollis. Until he is back with his father, anything else can wait. Tripp will understand.

Talon “Tripp” Crews is the Haywood’s Landing Hellions president and overall, all Hellions charter pres. He took the gavel from his father-in-law Blaine “Roundman” Reklinger, Hellion original. He’s a strong leader and the club always comes first. If he’s out of pocket, there is a good reason for it.

It isn’t a second later, Karma’s phone rings. Tripp’s number pops up on the screen.

“Karma, it’s Tank,” he explains as soon as Karma answers and puts it on speaker.

Fuck, this isn’t good. The caller ID was Tripp’s phone, why is Tank on his phone? Did something happen to our president? This day is the worst ever and it’s just beginning.

“She’s got my kid,” Karma states through gritted teeth barely keeping it together. “Busted and I are headed down. Couldn’t get a flight fast enough local, headed to Wilmington to jump on one. We’ll be to Florida in three hours. Won’t make church. Tried to reach Tripp. Didn’t get an answer.”

“Yo,” Tank says not directly into the phone, “Tripp,” he pauses, “Karma and Busted are out of pocket. Anna took Hollis.” I can hear something being thrown and hitting a wall or table. There is shuffling of the phone.

“Get your son, get in touch. Dia and Maritza are missing,” Tripp says, and my blood runs cold. If Maritza is missing could this be tied to Anna taking Hollis?

“What do you mean, Dia and Maritza are missing?” Karma requests clarification. His face is white as a ghost and set in stone.

“Don’t fuckin’ know much. Maritza crashed at Dia’s last night. BW got a text from Dia around two this morning asking him to get Skye from her place and take her home with him until she came back. No information on where she was going, when she would be back. He got there; shit isn’t in place. Dia is very particular, and BW says nothing is tossed around, but it’s not neat and tidy as she normally is. It seems like she left in a rush. Maritza was gone too. Neither of them is answering calls from anyone. Location is turned off.”

“Did you force track their phones?” Karma wonders the same thing I was about to ask myself.

“Shut off. The watch BW gave his sister that also has a tracking device is on her dresser. She knows better than to leave without it on.”

What in the actual fuck! To our knowledge Dia hasn’t figured out the watch tracks her, but it’s engraved, and she typically doesn’t go anywhere without it. BW and Dia have a super close relationship and she treasures everything from her big brother.

Karma lets out a frustrated sigh, “Busted can drop me at the airport in Wilmington. I can get Hollis on my own, he’ll be back to help find the girls.”

“Hell no,” I tell him because I don’t want him facing his psycho ex alone. Regardless of the need to find Dia and Maritza, Hollis matters too.

“No,” Tripp orders. “Busted stays on you. I’ll get some boys in another charter rounded up to take your back. You know how Anna is. You can’t do this shit alone. She’s liable to say or do anything. Shit goes down and she doesn’t make it easy to get Hollis, you will have Hellions at your back, Karma. That is non-negotiable.”

“God dammit,” Karma yells letting out his frustration. “Ruby been looped in? Maritza doesn’t just take off. She’s too level-headed and responsible.”

Dia can be a wild child. Like the time she was working with Karsci, BW’s woman, behind his back to stage her own death. BW walked in on Karsci holding a knife to his little sister’s throat. He lost his shit and Dia was pissed he came rushing in.

Maritza doesn’t take risks like that. She truly is calm tempered and thinks everything through. She’s always been like the big sister not only to her own siblings but to me and Colt too. Growing up, she was the one watching the time to make sure we didn’t stay out playing too late. Maritza never wanted to get in trouble.

“I’m here,” Ruby states. “Go get your boy so when I find my daughter, I don’t have bad news to give her. She loves Hollis like her own.”

He isn’t wrong. Maritza has always watched Hollis for Karma. If it is his visitation, Hollis is with Maritza while he works. More than that, she makes his lunch, helps him with his homework, and even takes him to the dentist. Hollis prefers Maritza to take him to the doctors or dentists because he says she distracts him. There isn’t a single thing for school, or a game Maritza has missed for that kid. Maritza’s love and bond with Hollis is genuine.

I don’t know much about Anna other than she’s an epic bitch. Every which way she can play games with Karma using Hollis, she has done it. She isn’t motherly. I don’t understand it. Karma gives her a schedule of every baseball game, school function, and the broad is hit or miss. If she thinks she can get something from Karma she shows up, otherwise she’s ghost.

“Fuck, Ruby.” Karma’s voice is pained.

“Calm down, brother. Keep your head about you. Gotta get your son. That’s your priority. I’ll find my daughter.”

Ruben “Ruby” Castillo is a long-standing Hellion. While not an original, he’s been in the club longer than I’ve been alive. When my mom and Boomer got together, we lived next door to Ruby and his wife, Jenna. I spent my summers and afternoons playing with Maritza, her sister, and her brother. We waited at the bus stop together for school and never had a birthday without sharing cake with their family for any of us. If anyone is like a second set of siblings to Kick and myself, it’s the Castillo’s. Sure, we’re all adults now. We don’t fight like we used to. It doesn’t change that Maritza is like a sister to me.

Her relationship with Karma is more complicated. They aren’t romantic, but she’s a staple in the man beside me and his son’s life.

As for Dia Crews, she is the Hellions daughter. Everyone loves her and not because her parents are Tripp and Doll Crews. Dia is Dia. She is a bottle of sunshine with a splash of sass inside. Loyalty is in her veins so deep she has always and will always take a brother’s back. She’s a tiny tornado. If any of us have issues with a female and Dia gets wind, she doesn’t hesitate to get in a broad’s face. She’s fierce, kind, and absolutely someone who encourages and uplifts every single person she comes in contact with.

On the flip side of that, she doesn’t discriminate. If she thinks a brother is treating a broad wrong, she’s the one to call him out on his bullshit. She’s tough as balls that one.

After my accident, my parents were right at my side as expected. Dia, though, she was a teenager, still in high school. There wasn’t a day she didn’t come by the hospital or the rehabilitation facility to see me. She would grab my wrist, check my pulse, and look to the ceiling. “Whew, Busted, strong heart, thank God. See Busted, you got such heart, God said he can still do big things without legs.” Even when I was semi-conscious, I could hear her telling me how strong she thought I was. I might not have seen it in myself back then, or even now, but she sees it. Right now, whatever is going on, I need Dia to be strong the way I know her to be.

Dia sees the damn best in everyone. She’s not afraid to tell you. The level of vulnerability she gives to everyone around her. There isn’t a second of any day around her where you question whether you matter. She lives out loud the theme that you can’t say I love you too much.

Where did they go? What the fuck is going on? There is a heaviness in my gut simply thinking about them being in danger. I feel torn. I know Karma needs me and the club will take care of getting to Dia and Maritza. Still, though, those two are family for me and I want to help them too. I have all these questions and I feel twisted inside on where to be, what to do.

“Get Hollis, Karma. I’ll be in touch about Maritza and Dia. You keep us posted on your situation,” Ruby says remaining calm.

Ruby is steady like that. He says he’s learned with age that reacting without thought makes more problems than slowing down to assess what is really going on. He has the experience behind him to live those words.

“Call Link and get them in on it,” Ruby instructs, “Hellions marker on Tripp’s order.”

I don’t know if I could be calm if my daughter was missing. One thing I do know, Tripp and Ruby, the whole damn club will give out whatever marker, money, or anything necessary to bring them home.

“Of course. No marker. They are family too. I know my cousins they won’t accept a marker. Time is wasting. We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Karma says before ending the call.

He looks to me as I use my hand control to press the gas more and go a little faster. I’ll take the damn ticket if I get pulled. We don’t have time to fuck around.

“What the fuck is going on? What in the hell did I do so wrong in this life to have everything I love vanish with too many questions?” He asks to the air around us while looking at his phone. He doesn’t hesitate to call Link.

“You get someone to him, Karma?” Link answers without so much as a hello. They grew up together in Freedom Falls, Idaho. Lincoln, Draven, and Nixon still live there, but have come to visit Haywood’s Landing. I know they are amped up wanting us to get to Hollis.

“I’m on my way.” Karma tells him. “Got another situation.”

“Oh fuck,” his cousin says what we are all feeling.

“Hellions marker for this. Tripp called it.” Karma continues and Link cuts him off.

“Name it, no marker, no money, just tell me what the hell you need from us.”

“Maritza and Dia Crews are missing. Phones are off. Switch them on. Find them. I need a trace of something. Tripp and crew are ready to roll out but need some direction.”

“Text me Dia’s number. We got Maritza’s. I get a beat on them; I’ll reach out to Tripp. You go get fuckin’ Hollis, Dillon.”

The call ends without another word. I’m not surprised Karma has his cousins watching out for Maritza. She has his son more than Hollis’s actual mom, Anna.

Karma is clicking away on his phone as we pull up to the airport. “Brother, you ain’t gonna believe this shit!”

“What?” I ask getting parked and ready to exit the van in my chair.

“On a whim, I checked my phone. I share my location with Maritza, except when it’s club shit and she shares hers with me since she has Hollis so much. Her phone was off Ruby said. Maritza’s phone just came on. Her location can’t believe this shit. She’s in Florida too. Not far from where Link found Hollis.”

“Call Ruby. If Maritza is there it’s most likely Dia is with her. Maybe Hollis called her.”

The concern on his face is fierce. “What if my psycho ex is setting her up? I don’t trust Anna at all.”

“None of us fuckin’ do brother. One thing is for sure, and two things are for certain. One is we will get there come hell or high water and the two women best at going to war for someone they love are closing in on your son. No one will fight harder for your boy than Maritza Castillo and Dia Crews.”

Karma gives a halfhearted nod. “Situation shouldn’t be this. My ass shouldn’t have passed out so hard I missed the calls and texts. We lost precious time. She got too far with my kid.”

Time is against us. He is not wrong.

“Yo, whatcha got?” Tripp answers.

“Round up, ride out, fly out, I don’t know but Link is sending over location. Maritza is in Florida, same general area as Hollis. Last text from Link said they pinpoint Dia with Maritza. When we lined up what they sent us on Hollis and what we have on Maritza, they aren’t together yet, but they aren’t far from being reunited. I think Hollis called Maritza and she went out for him. Get the South Carolina guys on the way. Call Ravage. Call who the fuck ever can get there. We got a flight, so time is not our friend.” Karma states and I take the phone with a desperate concept.

“There’s a club in Florida where they are. I talked to a fucker. Shit isn’t good with me and him. I threatened his ass because well, he was a dick standing in the way of me talking to Emmalee. No matter now. He’s patched according to his cut I saw on the video. Sinister Sons MC. Call up their prez. They are in the area and may take a marker to be our eyes ‘til we can get there. They may not, but what harm is there in giving the offer?”

It’s a long shot since I told them I was starting war less than an hour ago, but I’m not against humbling myself for Dia and Maritza’s safety.

“You got it,” Tripp says before muttering to Tank to reach out to the Sons. “You two get on the plane. Reach out when you land.”

We end the call and go about doing exactly that.

I’ve never had a flight feel like eternity before. My mind is no longer focused on Emmalee, but on my family. Hollis, Maritza, and Dia need all of us and I’ll do anything to keep them safe.

Anything.