Gio (Steel Demons MC #6)

Chapter 28

Gio

I t’s been twelve goddamn hours since Viper called with proof that he had Harper and still we were arguing over the best course of action. I was pissed off. She’d called and given us a lead that Viper and his men couldn’t possibly know about, but still we were too late. We found her phone less than an hour after Viper’s call, but the building was empty.

Harper wasn’t there.

“Look, no plan is perfect,” I heard my brother say in an effort to be the voice of reason. “If she’d kept the phone with her, they’d have found it, and we wouldn’t have tracked them this far. But we can’t sit here and debate this shit until the end of time. Harper is counting on us.” Rocky knew how hard this was for me and for Cole and I appreciated him fighting when I was unable to.

My mind was too full of Harper and what Viper might be doing to exact his revenge. The Blood Reapers were fucking psychopaths, known for their vicious retaliation methods that included torture and murder, but they were also known to capture loved ones of their enemies and get them strung out on drugs before they pimped them out until they were all used up.

Fuck that shit. If we didn’t come up with a plan right fucking now, tonight would be another night of carnage for Viper’s MC.

“We have to find her first,” Slate began. “She did good by leaving the phone on but now we have no fucking clue where she is.”

“We will if we call Viper and tell him we have his product,” Cole offered, his voice was thick with tension because it wasn’t an ideal plan.

“That’s our last resort plan.” Diesel’s voice was calm but there was an underlying hint of anger, and I was sure I was the cause. “Sheriff Cross paid me a visit this morning,” he began, and I felt the weight of his stare on the side of my face.

Cole asked what none of us had the courage to ask. “What did he want?”

One by one the gaze of everyone in the room fell to me and tension filled my body.

“What the fuck did you do?” Cole was the one who asked the question, and I didn’t bother to look up.

“I did what I had to do.” I wouldn’t apologize for it. “Someone had to do something.”

“Goddammit Gio,” Diesel yelled and smacked the table with his fist. “You burned down two of the Reapers’ stash houses and a tattoo shop.” Diesel was furious and he has every right to be.

Still I wasn’t sorry. “I did? Prove it.” Maybe outright defiance wasn’t the best option but dammit, somebody had to do something.

“You’re damn lucky there is no evidence,” Diesel added. “Or else we’d have even bigger problems.”

“How could these problems get any bigger? Huh? They have Harper and who knows what the fuck they’re doing to her!”

“I get it,” Cole said. “She’s my fucking sister, man, I totally get it and I’m glad she has you in her corner. But what you’re doing right now? It’s gonna get you killed. Or Harper. And it’s gonna suck us into a war we’re not ready for.”

“Ready.” I snorted and shook my head. “Who the fuck is ever ready for war?” I looked around at each of the men gathered in the room because they knew there was no preparation for war. It happened and you made decisions in the moment and hoped they worked out. “The truth is that Viper can’t be trusted. We might get Harper back and we might not, but I’m worried about what the fuck she’s going through now, while you decide what we’re gonna do about it.” I felt sick to my stomach thinking about what they could be doing to her.

“Well we have three less properties to search for her at,” Slate offered up with a laugh. His comment seemed to release some of the tension in the room. “It’s not great but it’s something.”

“Then whoever is doing it should keep doing it. Eventually he’ll find her.” I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t.

“Stop this shit, Gio. I get it man, they have your woman and you’re spiraling out of control. I’ve been there but it’s not going to help, not now and not with Viper.” He inhaled and let it out slowly. “We’re meeting with Viper and his number two tonight.”

“With what package? The Black Devils have probably sold most of that shit by now.”

“We have it taken care of,” Diesel answered vaguely. “You’ve been up all night wreaking havoc on Blood Reapers’ properties, go take a shower and have a fucking nap.”

A nap, like I’m a fucking child. “I’m fine.”

“It’s not a fucking suggestion,” he shouted. “Cole, make sure he goes home and rests and then make sure you get his ass back here tonight. One hour before the meeting with Viper.”

“You got it.” Cole stood and stared at me until I got to my feet. “Don’t make this harder Gio.”

I stood, anger colored my every move as I shoved the chair back until it tipped over. “What the fuck ever.” I stormed out of the room and made a beeline for my bike because a ride was just what I needed to get rid of some of this anger and tension.

Harper was gone and I wouldn’t be able to rest until she was back here and safe in my arms. “Wait up, Gio!” Cole called after me, but I ignored him.

***

My mind wouldn’t focus on anything. Every fucking blink took me back to that office building where they’d snatched Harper from. When I closed my eyes, I felt the bullet as it tore through my arm and sent me to the ground. When I stood up again, there she was with that asshole’s arm hooked around her, yanking her backwards. They took her from me, dammit and I’d done all I could, but it wasn’t enough. “I shot one of those fuckers right in the head,” I grunted. “I should’ve shot the other one, but he used Harper as a shield.”

“You did what you could,” Cole insisted.

“And it wasn’t enough!” I shook my head. “She was so fucking scared man, the look in her eyes when she realized I was a fucking liar and I wouldn’t save her. I can’t forget it.”

“Harp won’t blame you, trust me.”

Maybe she wouldn’t. Harper had a big heart like that, but it didn’t mean that I wouldn’t blame myself for a long damn time. “I have to find her before they destroy her.”

“We won’t let that happen.”

Damn right because I had a plan. “Right.” We rode side by side for close to an hour before I finally exited the highway and headed home. It wasn’t home without Harper there, but she would be back where she belonged.

Soon.

“I’m gonna hit the shower and get some sleep,” I told Cole.

He eyed me carefully. “Good. I thought you’d put up more of a fight.”

I shrugged. “Yeah well, a man’s gotta sleep, or try anyway. Won’t be any fuckin good for Harp if I’m dead on my feet.” I was too wired to sleep, and a hot shower was just what I needed to give me another burst of energy. I stayed in there longer than usual because I needed to clear my fucking mind. I needed to make sure I saw everything when I found Harper because I would find her.

I dressed quickly and quietly before I locked my bedroom door and left out the window. I couldn’t risk alerting Cole, so I pushed my bike down the driveway and to the corner before I fired it up and took off. I had a list of other businesses and stash houses that belonged to the Blood Reapers, and I decided that a systematic approach would be best. Last night I’d gone for the properties that would hurt that motherfucker the most, but today my only goal was to find Harper.

Fourteen hours with Viper was too fucking many.

The methodical approach worked well because it kept me focused on one goal at a time, one foot in front of the other. The first stash house was locked up tight with no guard because it was just a bunch of weed and a few guns, nothing worth stealing or fighting over.

But losing it would still hurt the Reapers so that’s what I did, filling the bathtub with every liquid I could find and dumping the drugs into it. Maybe they knew some fucking chemist who could separate that shit out, but it would cost them any profit. No fire, so nothing for Diesel to bitch about.

The second stash house had two bikers standing guard. The first one was smiling at his phone which made it easy to sneak up on him from the backyard and slide my knife across his throat. The second man put up more of a fight, but I had rage on my side, and she was the best backup I could’ve had. He put up a good fight and landed a few blows that slowed me down.

When his gun came out and he smiled, I smiled wider and took a step forward to grab the wrist that held the gun before I stuck my knife under his chin and pushed up. He crumpled like a paper bag, and I kicked him out of my way before I searched the house.

Instead of Harper, I found neatly wrapped drugs stacked up in room after room, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth, I was sure. The basement and the attic were empty too, so I struck a match but then I froze as Cole’s words hit me in the gut.

A war we’re not ready for.

He was right. This amount had to belong to the Santangelos, and we didn’t want shit with them, so I left it as it was and kept moving.

The next location was an empty bar, and Harper wasn’t being held there either so I smashed up every fucking bottle I could find until my rage only simmered. Location after location came up empty and was left in total fucking carnage.

Still, no Harper.

The fifth location was a brothel that sat as the lone house on a block filled with apartment buildings. It was a three-story Victorian style which meant lots of rooms and my arms started to tingle. This was the perfect place to hide her in plain sight.

It was early enough in the day that the place wasn’t busy but still, I had to be careful because I didn’t know who was inside. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I knew it was Cole before I even looked at the screen. I ignored the call, and the stubborn fucker called right back.

“What?”

“What the fuck, Gio? Are you trying to get Harper killed?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “You know that’s not what I’m doing. I’m making sure that the Harper I get back is still the woman I love, okay?” Shit, I hadn’t meant to say that. “I’m not waiting until she’s bloodied and bruised, battered, or fucking traumatized Cole.”

“You left me behind.”

“Yeah, because you’re a fucking Boy Scout and I can take the heat of this myself as long as Harper is safe.”

“No, fuck that. We’re brothers before the MC, we do this shit together.”

He was right. “Not this time Cole. I can’t explain it, but I have to do this. It’s my fault she’s gone, and I have to save her, no matter what it takes.”

“I could have Slate track your phone.”

I nodded, surprised he hadn’t done that already. “You could but you won’t. I’m close Cole, I know it. I’ll call you when I find her.” I ended the call and turned off the ringer. If something happened to me, I needed Slate to track my phone to get Harper to safety.

Now it’s time to save my woman.