Matt’s POV

“Where the fuck are they taking us now?” I sighed, running my hands over my face. We had been in this tax for an hour now and I was losing my nerve, though I wasn’t the only one. To my left MJ was squeezing Brian’s hand so hard that her knuckles looked like they were about to pop through the skin, not to mention that she was paler than a sheet of paper. Poor blondie looked like she was about to explode any minute and the tears that kept welling in her eyes were putting Gates on edge.

“The hell if I know,” he sighed, pulling MJs head onto his shoulder and carefully running his fingers over her hair. Maybe I had been wrong about what they were doing on the plane before because up close it looked like Gates was trying to keep blondie from going over the edge. There was no tonsil hockey going on today. “Breath, baby doll,” he breathed, gently placing a kiss on the top of her head. Part of me was envious that he got to hold the one he loved while I was pulling at loose ends.

I took off my aviators and looked up to meet the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror. When he saw me looking he averted his gaze with a small curse. “Sir, where the are we?” We had made it well past the city and now the desert, deadly hot sun, and bikers were all that surrounded us. And when I say surrounding us, it wasn’t an understatement. Those brute bastards were everywhere you looked and Gates couldn’t even throw a cigarette out the window without hitting one. I didn’t like this—any of it.

“We are in the Nevada desert,” Did I look like that big of an idiot? No shit we were in the desert and I was positive that Dice wasn’t here. Why were we wasting our time out here?

“I got that,” I snapped, trying to control my rising temper. “But why?”

“Look, I’m just following orders. They told me to follow the big guy on the bike so that’s what I’m doing,” the man sighed, shaking his head.

“This is fucking useless! I’d have more luck finding Dice walking the streets alone. These bastards are leading us to the wolves!” I raged, punching the empty passengers seat. The driver flinched and shot me a warning look, but I couldn’t stop. I was too pissed off and upset about this whole situation.

“I just want to find her, kill that fucking bastard, and go back to Huntington Beach. This wild goose chase we’re on is a waste of time and she’s probably dead right now while we drive around looking at the fucking countryside! I swear if we fuck this up by listening to these bikers and something happens to Dice, it’s on you MJ.” I hissed angrily, not able to stop the word vomit that came out in my frustration. I was so pissed that I wasn’t thinking straight but I couldn’t miss the muffled sob from the opposite side of the car.

“Dude…” Gates shook his head at me, his jaw locking. “What the fuck is you—“

“Don’t even fucking start with me, Gates.” I pointed a warning finger at him. “It’s her fault we’re in the middle of nowhere right now instead of looking for Dice.” God the sound of her crying was pissing me off even more.

Brian leaned his head back on the seat and let out a frustrated groan. “Look, I know you’re frustrated, we all are, but taking it out on us isn’t going to help. MJ had nothing to do with this and is just trying to help. We wouldn’t even know she was in Vegas if it wasn’t for her.” Gates’ eyes met mine and I scoffed. “And if you fucking yell at her again, I will personally beat your ass. She’s just as stressed out as you are.”

I ran my hands over my face and forced myself to look out the window. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, he was right. Dice was MJ’s best friend and they were basically all each other had. She had to be taking this just as hard as me, if not worse. I suddenly felt like a big dick but I wouldn’t apologize. We were out here because of her and we still didn’t have Dice back. That thought alone was killing me inside.

“I-I…they have to-to have a plan,” MJ’s voice squeaked and I sighed. “They-they said they had eyes on Jay. Maybe they-they grabbed him….and-and took him to the club h-house? She-She’s not…dead.” Another shaky sob escaped her small frame.

“MJ—“

“She not DEAD!” she screamed over top of Brian, her blue eyes suddenly glaring a hole in the side of my head. I couldn’t even look at her. “You were supposed to look out for her!”

I whipped my head around to look at MJ, a snarl on my lips. “Don’t even fucking go there, MJ. I swear to god…”

“You’re the reason she left last night! She wouldn’t go home unless you pissed her off and texting your fucking ex would do just that! So don’t even blame this on me!” MJ continued and I started to see red. I had never seen her so angry and bold but I wasn’t afraid of her. I would put that little bitch in her place if Syn wouldn’t. “I’m trying to find her, just like you are! Don’t you think this is hard on me too? She’s the only person I actually consider family! Don’t you dare even think for a minute that I wanted this or that this is easy for me!” She was now inches from my face and looked like she was ready to slap me.

“Will you two cool it!” Brian grabbed MJ around the waste and pulled her back down into the seat next to him. He placed himself between the two of us, anger adorning his features. “Blaming each other isn’t going to help this! Jesus. It’s no ones fault that Red does whatever the fuck she wants when she wants to. Fuck, she could have went home to sleep in her own god damn bed!”

I scoffed and opened the window to let he sound of the Harley’s drown out the lecture that Gates was giving. I didn’t want to hear it. I just wanted Dice back and the more I sat here and thought about it, the more I realized that it was indeed my fault she left. God, I was such a fucking idiot. I threw the only thing I ever wanted out the window in one night, and now she was gone.

“Look, now we’re getting somewhere,” I heard Gates say a few minutes later. I looked out the front window to see a big abandoned warehouse in the middle of the desert. It looked out of place and I wasn’t all too surprised when we pulled in. “What are we doing here?”

“It’s probably their club house,” MJ explained, the anger and fear still evident in her tone. The car was slowly coming to a stop and you could feel the rising level of anxiety in the car.

“How about we just wait here until we—“ Brian started but MJ had already booked it out of the car. “I swear she never fucking listens,” he sighed, getting out and following her over to the Dragon brothers. “MJ!”

This was complete bullshit and I didn’t trust any of these guys. They could have brought us out here to rob us and take MJ for all that we knew. Did I mention that I didn’t like bikers?

“So Dog picked up someone meeting the description of Jay,” I heard Ripper say as I reached the group. I took in a sharp breath and met Brian’s eyes. If they caught Jay, where the hell was Dice? I pushed my hands deep in my pockets and closed my eyes, trying not to think the worst but I couldn’t stop my mind from going there. “We just have to have someone identify him so we can start getting some information.”

“I know what he looks like,” MJ looked down at the ground and then stood up to her full height. “I can identify him…”

“But if it is Jay, does that mean…” Brian started, asking the exact question I was trying not to think about.

“No, we picked him up outside the pharmacy with this bag. Based on what he was buying, we think she is still giving him hell,” Duke walked towards us with a bag full of items.

“What was he getting?” I crossed my arms over my chest watched as he set the bag on the hood of the car. “Looks like he was buying gauze, peroxide, paracord…” he took out each item and set it on the hood of the taxi. “Medical thread, needles, ibuprofen, a couple ice packs, a ace bandage, and tampons….” Viper’s eyes met mine and I just looked at the floor and shook my head. That bastard must have beat the shit out of her and was trying to patch her back up for a second round. “Well, at least if he was buy this shit, she’s still alive.”

“I’m going to be sick,” MJ whimpered, turning away from the group and heading towards he fence.

“This is a sick bastard we’re working with,” Ripper cracked his knuckles before he continued. “He was fucking laughing when we brought him in. Kept saying the bitch had it coming to her.”

“Let me question him, I’ll get some fucking answers,” I growled, the red in my vision rising for the fourth time today. “Where is he?”

MJ’s POV

I took in shaky breath as I paced the warehouse compound, a cigarette hanging from my lips. My brain was exploding with thoughts and what ifs about Dice. I couldn’t even process what was happening here anymore. The only thing I knew was that I was angry, terrified, and disgusted all at the same time. How had things gotten so out of hand? None of this was supposed to happen and now we were all stuck in this nightmare.

“Grapes, grapes, grapes in my mouth makes me happy down south,” my phone sang in my pocket, instantly causing a smile to fall over my face. That was the poem song that Dice and Jimmy wrote last week and they must have put it as my new ringtone.

“Hey, Jim Jam,” I answered, blowing out a cloud of smoke.

“Where the hell are you? You guys just up and disappeared!” Jimmy sounded slightly out of breath but amused all at the same time. “You left me with dipshit, though not that I’m complaining. I’m beating his ass at COD as we speak.”

I chuckled, just imagining him dancing around the living room with his phone on one ear and this xbox headset on the other ear. “We’re in Vegas.”

“Wait a fucking minute!” Jimmy screamed, causing me to pull the phone away from my ear. “You assholes went to Vegas without me? You know how the slot machines call my name…how could you and knife mistress do that to me? I thought we were friends,” he sounded like a sad puppy. I wished that this were a pleasure trip.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose with my cigarette between my fingers. “We’re not here for fun Jimbo…Dice is missing and we are pretty sure Jay took her.”

“Fuck.” Was all that he said, the line on the other side very quite all of a sudden. I don’t think I had ever heard him be so quiet and it was frightening. “Well, I will get my knife collection and be out on my next flight. I will bust her out of her fortress of solitude and teach that asshole a lesson. No one takes my Dicey-Dice without fucking asking!” If it had been a joke I would have been laughing but there was nothing but seriousness in his voice. “I’ll fucking save her like Batman. Well…she’s batman so I guess I will be Robin? That’s gay.”

“Jim, I think you should hold down fort at home and make sure no one else comes looking for her or…me.” I sighed. I figured I was probably safe but it would give Jimmy something to do. “Booby trap the shit out of the house and when we get home the three of us will watch the Godfather with Brian and eat mint chocolate chip ice cream upside down on the couch,” I promised, though I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. I didn’t know what I would do if Dice wasn’t with me anymore. Those three months she was gone before I was totally lost.

Jimmy screamed something at Johnny over the phone before he came back to me. “Yeah, no…I’m coming out there. Where are you staying.”

“Well…that’s the thing, you see. We hit up our old biker friends to help find her. I couldn’t tell you where we were if I wanted to. Just turn Matt’s house into a fortress and protect the shit out of it. I’ll even tell you where Dice keeps her knives if you stay in Huntington.” He didn’t need to be out here in the middle of this.

“MJ? Who are you talking to?” I turned around and held up my finger to Brian, begging for another minute. I blew out a cloud of smoke as Jimmy took in a quick excited breath.

“So you’d tell me where her secret lire? Is there a password? Did she booby trap it with secret Dicey things?” I could tell he was itching to know. In all honesty, it was a box of machetes she kept in the back of her closet. She always said something about them being passed down from her grandfather. “I will use those knives with honor and make sure short shit doesn’t touch them…or Vengeance. He doesn’t know anything besides hair gel and fashion anyway. He’d fucking cut himself and then I’d have to explain the bloodstains to Matt…again.”

I raised my brow. What did he mean again? Oh, hell I wasn’t going to ask. “They are in the back of Matt’s closet underneath her Batman onsie,” I giggled, thinking how silly that sounded. Brian gave me a questioning look but I just shook my head and took the last drag of my cigarette.

“THAT’S IT?! SHE’S NOT PROTECTING THEM MORE THAN THAT?!” Jimmy screamed, and I really had to hold my phone a few feet from my face. Brian chuckled and instantly knew whom I was talking to. He came over and wrapped his arms around my waist, probably still seeing the concern in my features. “What was my knife mistress thinking?”

I chuckled half heartedly as Brian answered for me. “She obviously didn’t think they would look there. Smart thinking if you ask me.”

“You knew about their secret location too?” Jimmy continued and I knew if we kept this us, he would keep us on the phone all day. “Why am I always the last one to know things! Not fair! Gatesy-poo doesn’t even believe in our club.”

Brian laughed. “Hey, I didn’t make the rules, your all might knife mistress did. But we’ve got to go find her, Jimbo so we’ll give you a call later. Let us know if you see anything there,” he said and Jimmy let out a big exasperated sigh.

“Fine but make sure you get that son of bitch,” Jimmy said before the line disconnected with Jimmy screaming at Johnny again.

“He was about ready to fly out here,” I sighed, putting my phone in the pocket of my leather jacket.

“And you’re surprised?” Brian snorted. “He would be kicking and screaming through the streets of Vegas if you let him come here. You know how he is.”

“Yeah, and according to Matt, that’s what we need to be doing,” I still couldn’t believe that he was blaming me for all this. I turned away from Brian and put my fingers through the chain-linked fence, looking out over the desert. It was mid day and extraordinarily hot in all this black leather.

I chewed my bottom lip as Brian turned me back around to face him. “Hey, don’t listen to Shadz, he’s just stressed out with all this. He’s just not good at dealing with shit.”

“I know,” I sighed, recalling the multiple times he and Dice fought about absolutely nothing. I swear sometimes they just did it so see who could yell the loudest. They were similar in that they both didn’t know how to actually deal with each other or what they actually wanted. They were both crazy in my mind, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. “I just don’t want him to be right…”

Brian sighed and put his hands on either side of my face, his browns locking with my eyes. “We’re doing everything we can, okay. So just relax, you heard those guys, they think she is all right based on what they found.”

“If anything happen to her—“

“Just stop and let us take care of this okay?” He gently kissed my lips just as I heard another voice behind us.

“Mia, can you come identify this bastard?” I sighed and looked into Brian’s eyes one last time before pulling away. I was thankful that he was with me because I honestly didn’t know how I would handle this on my own.

I took Brian’s hand and followed Duke and Ripper down the dark corridor. The old warehouse smelled like mold, stagnant water, and heavy alcohol, and I thought Rico’s smelled badly? I was wrong. We walked silently down the hall, the only sound was the echoes of our boots hitting the hard cement floor. When we reached the end of the corridor, Ripper opened big metal doors that lead to a room with a table and a man tied to the chair.

I took in a shaky breath and met Brian’s eyes, instantly recognizing the hair. However, when we walked around to the other side of the table, I was stunned to see the man sitting before us with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“So nice to see you again, Blondie,” the man sneered, his tone instantly creeping me out.

“So is this that bastard we’ve been looking for?” Ripper asked. I looked over at the table to see Matt leaning on it with his knuckles and glaring the guy down.

I sadly shook my head and the captive man exploded with twisted laughter. “No, this is Jay and Malcolm’s cousin, Austin. Last I knew he worked for Jay…” I sighed, now rubbing my hands over my face.

“So you’re not as dumb as you look?” Austin laughed again. “Well, your bitch of a friend got exactly what was coming to her…and if it comes down to it, blondie, you’re next.”

Notes