Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
The sanctuary and the first few rooms beyond it were empty. By the time we hit the fourth room with no luck, I was starting to wonder if we were on a wild goose chase. The fifth room was empty, too.
We hit pay dirt on the sixth.
Behind the door, we could hear Titus singing, well, rapping. Badly.
Dad swung the door open, his pistol at the ready, but the only people in the room were Noel and Titus.
“Dad,” Titus said, the relief in his voice making my throat tighten.
His face was black and blue, but otherwise he seemed fine.
“Who’s here?” my dad asked as he bent down to untie Titus.
“Hey, Noel,” I said gently. Counting on my brothers to watch our backs, I kneeled down by Esther’s baby sister. She hadn’t come through their morning unscathed and was almost as black and blue as Titus.
“Otto,” she breathed, smiling painfully. “Happy to see you.”
“Hey, I was keeping you entertained,” Titus complained from behind me, his voice strained. “I had two more verses to finish.”
“Let’s get you out of these,” I murmured, reaching for the ropes that tied her wrists to her ankles. “Jesus.”
“Thanks.”
“How long have you guys been in here?”
“I’m not sure,” she murmured, rubbing at her wrists once they were free. “About seven songs, I think.”
“Eight songs,” Titus corrected, dropping down beside me. “You must’ve forgotten I’m a Little Teapot.”
“I remembered that one,” she replied matter-of-factly as I helped her to her feet.
“Let’s get ’em outta here,” my dad ordered. No one stopped us as we walked the kids back down the hall and out the front doors.
“There’s no one in there,” Gramps informed us, glowering at the prospect in front of him.
“I’m tellin’ ya, man,” Cian said, his eyes widening. “That’s the car that brought ’em in!”
“It is,” Titus confirmed, reaching out to pull Noel against his side. “I think they left with someone. They got a call and bailed.”
“It’s not like they’re missing,” Noel pointed out quietly. “I know where both of them live.”
“Thatta girl,” Rumi praised, raising his hand for a high-five. She ignored him.
“Think it’s best we get you two both back to the club until we know what’s what,” my dad said tiredly.
Noel looked around until her eyes landed on me.
“Your sister’s already there,” I told her.
“You ever ridden a motorcycle before, sweetheart?” my dad asked her gently.
Noel shook her head.
“It’s not hard,” he continued, walking her toward the bikes.
“You’re not ridin’ with me,” Rumi announced, shoving Titus hard enough that he stumbled a few steps. “There aren’t many lines I’m unwillin’ to cross, but having my baby brother ride bitch on my bike is one of ’em.”
“The singin’,” Will groaned, throwing his arm over Titus’ shoulders. “So bad, kid. It was so bad.”
“I was tryin’ to keep her from freakin’ out.”
“It worked,” I replied. “Good job.”
“Mom’s gonna kill me, huh?”
“Probably.” I shrugged.
“When I got to her house, they’d locked her in her room—”
“Save it,” Will muttered as we reached the bikes. “We can talk about it at the club.”
I helped Noel put my helmet on, buckling the strap under her chin. “Your sister’s gonna be real happy to see you.”
“My dad was really angry,” Noel whispered, looking over my shoulder to where Titus was climbing on the back of my dad’s bike.
“Don’t worry about that now,” I reassured her. “Let’s just get back to Esther, yeah?”
Beyond the fact that Noel had her arms so tight around my waist that I could barely move, the ride back to the clubhouse was pretty anticlimactic. I wasn’t sure what the hell the next steps were, but for once, I was thankful that I wasn’t going to be the one making the decisions. All I wanted was to get back to Esther, take a fucking shower, and crash for the next twelve hours.
It was a nice dream.
The minute we rolled down the driveway, there was a group of women hurrying out of the clubhouse, searching the group for each of their men. Esther hung back a little with my mom, clearly trying to seem unaffected, but she wasn’t hiding her relief very well.
I knew the moment she spotted me and her sister.
As soon as I parked the bike, Noel was scrambling off with absolutely no finesse whatsoever. I cursed under my breath, trying to keep it from going over and sighed when she was finally clear, putting down the kickstand so I could get off too.
“What are you doing here?” Esther asked, fumbling with the helmet strap. “Are you okay? Where’s Titus?”
As people filed back into the clubhouse, my family gathered up so we could give them an abbreviated version of events—mostly the part where we found Noel and Titus tied up in the church.
“I wouldn’t leave,” Titus explained. “I knew she was in trouble, so I just kept makin’ a nuisance of myself until they let me see her.”