“Been ready. We’ll head over to the warehouse now and secure the perimeter. Just let us know what you want us to do from there,” Rip assured him.
“Thanks, brother. We’re right behind you,” Cotton told them as they stood to leave. When the last of the Forsakens had pulled out of the gate, I set out to find Wren and Wyatt, figuring they were getting settled in their room by now. As soon as I walked through the door, I got a bad feeling as I scanned the room and didn’t see any sign of them. I reached in my back pocket for my phone and called Clutch. I called three times, but he didn’t pick up. It wasn’t like him not to answer, confirming my thoughts that something wasn’t right.
Not wanting to waste any time, I headed straight to my bike. I’d almost made it to the parking lot when Maverick stopped me. “Hey, what’s the rush? Is something going on?”
“Wren and Wyatt aren’t here, and Clutch isn’t answering. Headed over there now to see what the hell is going on,” I told him, trying not to panic.
“I’ll go with you,” he told me as he motioned for Q’ and Two Bit to follow us.
When I pulled through the gate, I didn’t look back to see if my brother was behind me. I knew he was there, same as Q’ and Two Bit; they were always there when they were needed. Maverick could see that I was worried, but there was no way he knew just how panicked I really was. Not knowing what was going on with Wren was killing me. I tried to push it out of my thoughts, trying to block the ‘what ifs’ that were racing through my mind, but it was useless. I knew in my gut that something was wrong, really wrong. I turned the throttle forward, pushing my bike to its limit. I didn’t care how fucking dangerous it was to drive at that speed, I had to get there. When I finally pulled up to her house, her car was still parked in the driveway. I got off my bike and hurried inside. When the door swung open, I found Clutch sprawled out on the floor, bleeding out all over the kitchen. Maverick and the boys came in behind me. Each of them rushing over to help with Clutch.
“Oh shit!” Q’ blurted out.
Maverick dropped to his knees and placed his fingers at Clutch’s throat, checking for a pulse as he tried to talk to him. “Clutch… brother, I need you to open your eyes. Can you do that for me, man? Open your eyes,” he demanded.
With a strained moan, Clutch tried to say, “Wr…en.”
I knelt down over him, and inches from his face I pleaded, “What is it, Clutch? You gotta tell me.”
When he tried to take a breath, his face grimaced in pain, but he finally managed to say, “Her… ex, and…”
“And what, Clutch?” I shouted as I tried to get him to respond, but it was too late. He’d passed out from the pain and blood loss.
“Call Doc and get the brothers to bring over a cage,” Maverick told Q’. “Tell them to make it fast. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
While Q’ made the call, Maverick did what he could to stop the bleeding. Clutch had two gunshot wounds to the chest, one close to his shoulder and the other was lower by his hip. Doc had dealt with much worse, so I had no doubt that he’d be able to help him. He’d have to.
“I’ll be right back,” I told him.
He nodded, and I headed down the hall to see if there were any signs of Wyatt or Wren. When I passed Wyatt’s room, I noticed that most of his things were gone. He’d packed up most of his stuff, but there was no suitcase. I left his room and walked across the hall to Wren’s. Her suitcase was still laying on the bed, but there was no sign of either of them in the house. I went back to Maverick and said, “No trace of them. That motherfucker came in here and took them!”
“Just stop for minute. Take a step back, and think about this. This is your thing, Stitch. You’ve gotta treat this like it is anybody other that Wren and Wyatt, forget that this is about the people you care about. It’s the only way you’re going to be able to find them,” Maverick explained.
I rested my back against the wall and took a deep breath. I knew he was right. I was letting my emotions get in the way. I tried to clear my thoughts, think only of the facts that I knew about Wyatt and Wren and all of their dealings with Michael. I was trying to think, but it was damn near impossible with my brother laying there on the floor, looking paler by the minute. Thankfully, the cage finally pulled up out front to get him. Two Bit opened the door for Doc, leading him quickly over to Clutch. Once Two Bit helped Doc load him in the SUV, they were both gone, leaving me alone with Maverick and Q’.
When they pulled out of the driveway, Maverick turned to me and said, “Okay, brother. How do we find this kid and his mother?”
“The cell phone. I gave him a cell phone a couple of weeks ago. It has a tracker in it,” I remembered.
“I’ll call Mike,” Maverick told me.
“What do you need me to do?” Q’ asked.