Then my phone rings.
And I see Axel’s number.
I can’t scramble quickly enough to press the enter button. I hold the phone to my ear, and the entire room stops, watching me, their eyes wide. “H-h-hello?” I whisper, praying with everything inside me that I hear Axel’s voice on the phone.
I don’t.
“Well, hello, Meadow.”
It’s Beast. My blood runs cold, and I clench my fists.
“What have you done with him?” I snarl.
“You know, I’ve thought about this, and it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I thought about keeping Axel until I had the USB drive, but then I decided, I really don’t want to let him go. Without Axel, that club will go up in flames. They can’t function without him. When he’s gone they will run off the rails, and the cops will focus on them. I’ve really only wanted Axel for one thing...the satisfaction of killing him.”
“You’re bluffing,” I stammer.
A cold laugh comes across the phone. “Poor naive little girl, how stupid do you think I am? Axel had the USB on him, and now I have it. I simply have no purpose for him. He’s been scum in my life for too long now...”
My body freezes. I gave Axel the USB. Oh God, I gave it to him right before Beast showed up. Tears leak out of my eyes, and fear makes it hard to breathe.
“Please,” I whisper, “I’ll give you anything, just bring him back.”
Colt kneels in front of me, his eyes searching my face.
“Aw, now, your pleading might have worked if I hadn’t already killed him.”
“You’re lying,” I scream.
“I have pictures, if you’d like. Please hold; I’ll send them through to your phone.”
The next few seconds of my life pass by in a blur as I feel my phone vibrate in my hand. With the function of a robot, I move it from my ear and stare down at the screen. My scream escapes, ragged and broken, as a picture of Axel, covered in blood, his eyes wide open, his head tilted back. He looks...dead. No.
No.
Colt snatches the phone from my hand, looks at the picture, and then presses it to his ear. “You son of a bitch. I’ll fucking kill you for this. I’ll fucking gut you.”
Then he sends the phone soaring across the room, but I don’t notice. My entire body slumps forward. There’s no strength to hold myself up. All I can see in my head is Axel’s vacant eyes, and the way his mouth was slightly open. My screams come out high-pitched and violent, unbreakable. Colt leans down, scooping me into his arms. I feel his hot tears drop down onto my cheek. By the time we’re halfway down the hall, my screaming has turned to ragged pleas.
“He’s lying!” I cry, not believing it.
It can’t be over. It’s a trick. He’s playing with us.
Colt looks down at me, his eyes broken. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“No, Colt, he’s not dead,” I begin to scream again. The pain in my chest is something I can’t explain. It’s like two hands have reached in, and torn my heart out. Desperation fills my veins, fighting against reality. This isn’t real. It’s just too easy. It’s too simple. Beast wouldn’t just ring up and say he’s dead. It’s not how a man like him works. He wants a fight, he wants our desperation.
It can’t be real.
Colt takes me to his room, and lays me on the bed. I clutch him, not wanting to let him go, needing something to take this aching pain in my chest away. Grief wracks my body, causing me to shake and cry so hard my teeth snap together. My mumbled words are not comprehendible to anyone. My lifeline has been torn from me. We never even got a chance. We finally broke down that wall, and then we were left with nothing but emptiness.
My beautiful broken man can’t be gone.
CHAPTER 27
MEADOW
Darkness, consume me.
“You need to keep looking, Cobra!” I cry, storming through the club four days later.
I’m sleep stricken, my eyes are burning, and I haven’t eaten in days. I know Axel isn’t gone, and no matter what everyone is telling me, something doesn’t feel right. It’s just not in Beast’s nature to go down that easily, and after finding out what he did to Axel all those years ago, I’m not convinced he’s not doing it again. He’d get off far more by knowing he had Axel, torturing him, while everyone thinks he’s dead.
Cobra glares at me. “Fuck, Meadow, I’m doin’ everything I can. I can’t find Beast. I’m not entirely convinced we ever will.”
“You can’t give up on him, he’s not dead!”
“We saw a damned photo!” he barks, stress consuming him.
“That means nothing, you know that. How can you just walk away so easily?”
He grabs my shoulder, shaking me slightly. “God dammit, Meadow. I’ve not slept trying to find him. Do you think I’ll rest until I at least have his body? Jesus, you’re making out like I don’t fucking care. He’s like my fucking brother.”
His voice cracks on the last word, and my heart sinks. God, I’m being such a bitch. He’s doing everything he can, but there’s only so much they can do without recourses. I step forward, wrapping my arms around his waist. He stiffens, and I’m sure for a moment he won’t hug me, but finally he wraps his arms around me. I hold onto him, needing some comfort. My heart is breaking day by day.
I won’t lose my fight though.
“I’m so sorry, Cobra,” I whisper. “I know you’re hurting too.”
He pulls back, looking down at me with a hard stare. “You gotta let me work this how I need to.”
I nod. “And you have to let me work it how I need to.”
He doesn’t question me, because quite frankly I think he’s gotten so desperate that he needs the reassurance that someone else is out there looking for Axel besides him. I give him a weak nod, and grip the keys to Axel’s SUV. I walk out the front door without another look. There’s only one person who might be able to help me now, and that’s Raide.
The ride over to his office is slow; my mind keeps going to Axel. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about what he’s going through right now. I don’t even want to think of the situation he’s probably in, but I do know I’ll fight, just like the guys, until the day I get a final answer. It’ll be Axel alive – which I believe he is – or it’ll be sighting his body as proof he’s gone. I won’t stop until I get one or the other.
“Meadow,” the receptionist says as I walk through the front door to Raide’s office.
“Is he here?” I whisper, exhausted.
“Yes, let me call him.”
She’s giving me a hard stare; clearly she thinks that I’m having one off with her boss. She has no idea. I hear her whispering something on the phone, and then she hangs up and I see Raide’s office door open. At the sight of him, my eyes burn. I don’t know why. He’s the only hope I’ve got left; he’s the only chance we might have of finding Axel. He walks over, surprising me by taking me in a firm, yet warm hug.
“I’m so sorry, Meadow. We’re doing everything we can.”
“Can we talk, Raide?” I ask, pulling back.
“Of course, come in.”
We head into his office, and I sit on the chair over from him. He looks as exhausted as me, his eyes are heavy and his face is lacking any emotion. I speak before he gets the chance, I don’t want to waste anymore time.
“I don’t think he’s dead,” I say, simply.
Raide looks up at me. “No, I don’t think so either. It’s not the way clubs like Beast’s run.”
“Axel’s guys don’t have enough recourses to be able to find him on their own, but I know you do.”
He sighs, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t have enough information on Beast, without that USB...”