Midnight Wreckage (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 4) Page 2

  I felt Sledge’s fingertips brush my hair from my forehead. “Sleep, Queenie.”

  No need to tell me twice.

  I was passed out before his fingers even left my face.

  *

  Sledge

  The couch was shit.

  Her apartment was tiny.

  We still had no fucking clue where Gunner was.

  I kicked my feet up on the rickety coffee table and sighed. Even her TV was puny. Probably not even thirty-two inches and it was fucking old as shit. I grabbed the remote and pointed it at the TV. “Is it even color?” I grumbled.

  The TV flickered on and I flipped through the channels that were at least not in black and white.

  There were five of them.

  Five channels on the busted ass TV.

  I settled on some random daytime shit show and rested my head on the back of the couch. This was going to be my bed for the foreseeable future. I had been half-hoping Queenie had a spare bedroom or a big bed she wouldn’t mind sharing with me when I had seen the couch. All hope was crushed when I opened her bedroom door and saw the coffin sized bed. How the hell she managed to sleep well in that thing was beyond me. Roll over one time and your ass would be on the floor.

  At least she was small enough that I wasn’t too worried about her falling out of bed. She was also passed the fuck out and sleeping like a damn rock. She wasn’t moving for the rest of the day or night.

  On the ride to her apartment she didn’t talk much other than to make it clear we needed to find Gunner.

  Ten-four.

  We were trying to do everything we could, but we were coming up empty. Part of the problem was we didn’t know where to start. We knew absolutely nothing about Queenie and Gunner. She swore up and down that she didn’t know who or why someone would want to kill her and take Gunner.

  Was it random? Did some sicko see Queenie and decide they wanted Gunner?

  It was possible.

  And if that was what happened, it was going to make finding Gunner even more impossible.

  Whatever it was, I knew Queenie was a tornado ready to destroy anyone or thing in the way of getting Gunner back.

  I sighed heavily and stared at the TV.

  I just prayed to God when we did find him, he was still alive.

  You don’t mess with women or kids.

  If you did, the Kings of Vengeance were coming for you. Queenie, too.

  *

  Chapter Four

  XOXO…

  Queenie

  I scratched my signature and two x’s and o’s on the paper then set it on the table next to Sledge. He was gonna be so mad when he woke up and I wasn’t in the apartment.

  I didn’t care, though. Gunner was somewhere out there and I wasn’t going to find him lying in bed.

  Five hours of sleep was enough for me. My eyelids were heavy when I opened them, but that didn’t last long. Once I came out of the foggy haze, I remembered I was home and I could leave whenever I wanted. I wasn’t hooked up to a bunch of machines with a grumpy biker scowling at me.

  The grumpy biker was now passed out on my couch…thankfully.

  Sledge wouldn’t let me leave if he knew I was awake. Thank God he wasn’t going to find out I left until I was out the door and hopefully far enough out of his reach to bring me back home.

  It was half-past seven and there was still about an hour left of daylight. I pulled my shoes on and tiptoed to the door. I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure Sledge was still sleeping.

  I was going to have to deal with his wrath later, but I didn’t care. I opened the front door and pulled it closed gently behind me.

  I had to find Gunner.

  *

  Sledge

  I smacked the phone to my ear and answered the phone. “‘ello?”

  “Answer the door,” Quinn called.

  A loud knock sounded on the door. “That you?”

  “No, it’s the fucking milkman,” Quinn growled. “Yes, it’s me.”

  I dropped the phone on the couch and stood groggily.

  Quinn pounded on the door again.

  “I’m fucking coming,” I called. I didn’t need him waking up Queenie with slamming his fist on the fucking door. I dragged open the door and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “What the hell do you want?”

  Kimber popped out from behind Quinn. “We brought pizza.” She held up three pizza boxes and smiled. “Pizza, pizza.”

  “Is she drunk?” I asked.

  Quinn planted a hand on my shoulder and pushed me to the side. “No, she’s just fucking perky.”

  “Hey,” Kimber laughed, “you liked my perky a couple of hours ago.”

  Ugh. “I just woke up. You think you two can keep this lovey shit to yourselves?” I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. I was right about the couch being shit.

  “Where is she?” Kimber asked.

  I pointed down the hallway. “She’s sleeping. She was shot three times, Kimber.”

  Kimber rolled her eyes and headed to the kitchen table. “I see you were sleeping, Sledge, but I think you might need a couple of more hours. You’re a grumpy butt nugget.”

  “Butt nugget?” Quinn laughed.

  Kimber smiled. “Yup.”

  I glanced at the clock on the stove. It was almost eight o’clock. Queenie and I had been sleeping for almost seven hours. “I’ll check and see if she’s hungry.” I doubt I was going to be able to get her to budge, but she was going to have to at least try to eat something. Plus, she was overdue for her pain meds.

  “I’ll make her a plate.”

  I wasn’t too sure how fond Queenie would be of Kimber making herself at home, but she would have to take that up with Kimber, not me.

  I knocked lightly on the door, waited five seconds, and slowly pushed it open. “Queenie?” I called softly. I didn’t want to scare the shit out of her or something. I flicked on the light and stared at an empty bed with a rumbled blanket on top.

  “Sledge!” Quinn shouted.

  “What the fuck?” I growled. Maybe she was in the bathroom and I didn’t hear her moving around. That had to be.

  “She’s fucking gone, Sledge,” Quinn called.

  I twisted back around and stomped back into the kitchen. “What the hell do you mean she is gone?” I demanded. How did he know where she was when he just fucking got here?

  He held up a piece of paper. “She took off and left you this note.”

  I snatched it out of his hand and my blood boiled as I read the words.

  Went to look for Gunner. Don’t come looking for me.

  XOXO Queenie

  I crumpled up the note in my hand and tossed it on the floor. “What the fuck does it mean she went to look for Gunner?”

  Did she not think that we were looking for him? We were at a fucking dead end. Even the police were coming up with nothing. The van had no fucking plates and the shooter and the person who grabbed Gunner had their faces covered. All they had was a description of the vehicle, but there were quite a few black minivans driving around.

  Quinn folded his arms over his chest. “You didn’t hear her leave?”

  Obviously fucking not since I thought she had been sleeping in her fucking bed. “Yeah, I heard her and held the fucking door open for her.”

  Kimber stepped between Quinn and me. “Just calm down. I’m sure she’s somewhere close.” She pulled out her phone. “Just let me activate the bat phone.”

  “Now is not the fucking time for whatever the hell it is you’re doing, Kimber,” I growled.

  Kimber swiped a few times on her phone and then held it to her ear. “I’m calling Petra. The first thing we need to do is call Queenie, and I don’t think you have her phone number.” She raised her eyebrow. “Do ya?”

  Queenie was God knows where, and I was standing here arguing with Kimber. “Get her number.” And as soon as she did, it was going to be programmed into my phone.

  Kimber winked and clicked her tongue. “You got it.”<
br />
  “I don’t know how you didn’t hear her leave,” Quinn mumbled.

  I had a total of maybe eight hours of sleep for the past four days. As soon as my head hit the back of the couch and I took a second to just fucking relax, I was passed the fuck out. “Last I checked, I’m the one who is—”

  Kimber cut me off with a glare and swiped her finger across her lips. “Hey, Petra!” she called into the phone. “You wouldn’t by chance have Queenie’s phone number, would you?”

  I glared at Quinn but kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t going to put up with whatever guilt trip he was about to lay on me. It wasn’t like Queenie walked out the front door banging a spoon on a pot or something. Her ass snuck out of the house because she sure as hell knew I wasn’t about to let her leave on her own.

  Kimber listened for a second. “No, no. Everything is fine. We, uh, think Queenie just went for a walk, and we wanted to make sure she was okay. We just need her number.” She hit the speakerphone button and held it out in front of her. “I just put you on speaker so Sledge can enter the number into his phone,” she explained.

  “You think Queenie should be out walking right now?” Petra asked, concerned.

  “No,” I barked, “just give me her number.”

  Kimber glared at me. “You know you get a whole hell of a lot more bees if you use a little honey.”

  “Flies,” Petra called.

  “What?” Kimber asked.

  “Not bees, flies. You collect more flies with honey, not bees.”

  Kimber smiled wide. “That, too.”

  “The number,” I called. Jesus Christ. It was liking talking in circles when these chicks were involved with anything. They couldn’t stay on topic to save their lives.

  Petra rattled off the number. “But don’t call her.”

  “Why?” Quinn asked.

  “Because she isn’t going to answer to any of you. She’ll think you’re a telemarketer or that I gave you her number. Let me call her and try to figure out where she is and then I’ll tell you.”

  My finger hovered over the button to connect the call. “What makes you think she’s going to answer you?”

  “Because I’m her friend? I mean, it’s worth a shot, right?” Petra mumbled something and then her voice came back clear. “Give me two minutes. I’ll call you back.”

  She ended the call, and I glared down at the phone.

  “She has ninety seconds and then I’m calling her.”

  Quinn walked over to the pizza and flipped back the top. “Just enough time to eat a piece.” He grabbed a slice and shoved half of it into his mouth.

  “I told you to eat a piece on the way over,” Kimber nagged.

  Quinn shrugged. “I figured I could make it the short drive over. Now that we’re about to do a recon mission to find Queenie, I need to fuel up.”

  A minute later, Kimber’s phone vibrated in her hand. She swiped to answer the call and put it on speaker. “You’re on speaker.”

  “So are you,” Petra laughed. “Rhino and Dyno are here, too.”

  They both mumbled their hellos.

  “Where is she?” I asked. I didn’t give a fuck that Rhino and Dyno were on the line. We were probably going to need them to help find Queenie.

  “She’s at the gas station.”

  “Which one?” Kimber asked.

  Petra cleared her throat. “The one where she got shot and they took Gunner from.”

  “What is she doing there?” Quinn asked.

  “I don’t know,” Petra replied, “but she didn’t sound good.”

  “What do you mean?” I demanded.

  Petra waited a beat before she replied. “She was crying. I don’t know what she’s doing or why she’s there, but I’m on the way over there.”

  “No,” I thundered.

  Petra scoffed. “Yes, Sledge. I’m on—”

  I cut her off. “I’m going there. I’ll get her and bring her home.”

  Petra tried to argue with me, but I was already halfway to the door. I pulled my keys from my pocket and ran down the steps.

  Whatever the hell Queenie was doing, she didn’t need to be alone.

  *

  Chapter Five

  Still here…

  Queenie

  My ass was planted on the hard curb and my eyes were glued to the dark red stain on the pavement.

  I had made it out of the apartment without waking Sledge, but as soon as I hit the fresh air, I had no idea where to go. Sledge and the guys thought I was withholding something about where Gunner might be, but I had no idea where to even begin to look.

  The only place I wanted to be was where I had last been with him.

  I walked aimlessly until I got here.

  Gunner and I were on the way over to the clubhouse for a Book Club night. I had stopped at the gas station to get a six-pack of whatever looked good, when out of nowhere, a dark van or SUV stopped next to my car.

  I glanced over and my eyes connected with a person wearing a black mask. A scream ripped from my mouth and I barely moved before the gunshots ripped through the air and into my body. I remembered Gunner screaming, the back door of my car opening, then, he was gone.

  Tears blurred my eyes. I was supposed to keep him safe. Duchess was gone and now I was the last person he had in this world.

  I couldn’t even keep him safe.

  “Queenie.”

  I looked up. “You found me.” My voice cracked and I couldn’t even hide it.

  Sledge sat down next to me. “Petra.”

  Oh. Damn her. “I guess hoes before bros isn’t alive and well.”

  “Not when we don’t know if you’re alive and well.”

  I bent my legs and tucked my feet close to my butt. I rested my chin on my knees and sighed. “Or Gunner,” I whispered. I didn’t want to say it. I hated that I even thought about it.

  “He’s okay.”

  I swiveled my head to look up at Sledge. “We don’t know that.”

  “I feel it.”

  “Feel what?” I whispered.

  “I feel him. He’s still alive.”

  I felt it, too. At least, I thought I felt that. It might also have been absolute terror. Terror at the thought that I couldn’t keep a baby safe. “Then why can’t we find him?”

  “We’re looking, Queenie. The police are looking. Hell, I’m pretty sure the whole fucking city is looking for him.”

  “Doubtful.” I wiped the tears from my face.

  “Have you watched the news or anything?” he asked.

  There hadn’t been a TV in my room and I was passed out a good bit of the time. “Not my priority right now.”

  Sledge shook his head and pulled out his phone. “I think you might need to take a look at a couple of things.” He swiped a few times on his phone and then handed it to me. “That’s a donation page Petra put together. Whatever is being raised is going towards a reward for help in finding Gunner.”

  My jaw dropped at the alarmingly large number. “Is that…there can’t be ten thousand dollars.”

  Sledge leaned in and looked at the phone. “There isn’t. It’s eleven thousand.”

  My eyes dropped down to the phone. In the five seconds I had looked up, the reward money had crossed the elven thousand mark.

  Sledge grabbed the phone. “That’s not it.” He swiped again and handed it back to me. “Hit play.”

  I hit the triangular play button.

  “Do you have any clue who could have done this?”

  It was footage of a press conference with a police officer standing in front of a bunch of reporters.

  “As of right now, we don’t have any leads. We’re doing everything we can to figure out who wanted to harm Ms. Row and her child.”

  A reporter raised their hand. “What is Ms. Row’s condition?”

  “She’s stable.”

  “Is she going to make it?” the reporter continued

  “All I can say right now is that she is stable.”

  “
Does the boy have any other family?” someone from the back of the crowd called out.

  “Right now, the only family we know the boy has is Ms. Row.” The police officer looked behind him. “Though she does have a large, uh, group of,” he cleared his throat, “friends that are…”

  The camera panned to where the officer was looking. Quinn stepped forward. “Family.”

  Tears clouded my eyes and I pressed my hand to my mouth.

  Sledge grabbed the phone from me. “There’s more, but I think you get the point. You’re not in this alone. We’re all looking for Gunner and he’s going to come home safe.”

  I sniffled and tried to get my emotions under control. “And here I thought you were going to be all pissy biker about leaving without you.”

  Sledge grunted. “Well, I’m not happy about it, but the drive over here gave me a beat to calm down.” He set the phone on the curb between us. “Pretty sure you’re going through enough shit without me yelling at you about not being safe.”

  A laugh bubbled from my lips. “Courteous of you.”

  “Can’t say that will happen all the time, though.”

  “Noted.”

  Sledge looked at the stain on the pavement. “You find what you were looking for here?”

  I nodded to the stain. “I should have died right there. I shouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

  “But you are. You’re still needed here, Queenie.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes. “For Gunner.”

  We sat their quietly—my thoughts bobbing around in my head and Sledge just letting me be.

  It felt like he got me.

  I didn’t understand why I had come here in the first place, but it started to make some sense. I needed to be reminded that although shit was a fucking wreck right now; I was still here for a reason. I was still standing upright and I wasn’t going to take advantage of that.

  I opened my eyes and tipped my gaze to Sledge. “Think I can bum a ride back to my place with you?” I asked softly.

  “Whatever you need, sugar.”

  *