Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Sam stiffened in my lap. “We can’t find a couple of our kids.”
He glanced at his wife. “Stevie mentioned seeing Maddy take off with a couple guys from her school.”
My eyebrows shot up, and a rumble started in my gut. “What guys?”
He turned away a moment, remembering. “Stevie only mentioned it because Billie asked if she wanted to go find Maddy and Max. She said that was a flat no because she didn’t like the guys she saw take off with Maddy.”
Suddenly we were all sitting up straighter. Every single one of us.
“Did she give you a name?” Logan asked, bristling. He stared at Brett’s wife.
She shook her head.
“Ask her.”
His wife jumped, her eyes swinging my way. I grimaced. I hadn’t intended to speak so sharply.
Brett spoke up. “Stevie’s no narc. She won’t say anything unless we trick her, and when she finds out we did that to her, she’ll be pissed. We’re not fucking up any progress we’ve made with her.”
I didn’t like this, not knowing where my daughter was.
Sam leaned back against me, tucked her head to her shoulder, and whispered, “She grew up with Shannon.”
Shannon Broudou. Or that’s what she went by in high school. I almost forgot about her, but Sam was right. Stevie was her daughter and from what I heard about her, Shannon only got worse as she got older. Well, fuck. I forced the anger to ease out of me and gave Brett a quick nod. “We’ll find ’em a different way.”
Brett’s eyes flashed. He tilted his head to the side. “You know… I might’ve also noticed the car and the kids driving it, and when Stevie mentioned that, I might’ve asked a buddy to look up the license plate. You know, because maybe I might want to know what kind of assholes Stevie doesn’t like or what kind of assholes your girl is hanging out with.” He was enjoying this, and he held his phone up.
A text came through on my phone.
I opened it to find a driver’s license for one Beltraine Moreaux, along with the car’s owner, Phillip Moreaux, a name I recognized from the board at Kade Enterprises.
I grunted. “Thank you.”
“Have fun hunting.” Brett gave a wave before leading his wife out.
Sam shot off my lap, hurrying after them. She’d give them her thanks, but she’d also try every card in her arsenal to charm Billie Harm into being her friend. Sam had made the decision she was going to befriend the woman, come hell or high water.
I used social media to look up this punk. When I got to his TikTok, it wasn’t private, and I clicked on his last live, which was posted forty-three minutes ago. My blood went cold when I saw they were at some place for underground fighting.
I shoved up from the table.
Everyone took notice. Logan frowned.
I sent him the link, and his eyes flared when he saw what kind of place they were at. “Oh. Those little fucks are ours.” He shared his phone with Nate, who passed it to Matteo, and in the meantime, I had a little difficulty curbing my excitement.
I’d been missing the violence that used to be part of our lives.
This was different. Being home was different, being in Fallen Crest.
Outside of this city, I was Mason Kade, NFL Hall of Famer and a retired football star. But here, to an extent, people didn’t care. I loved that. I was just Mason Kade, and where this little shit had taken my daughter, I was going to hurt him. And I was going to enjoy every second of it.
“His dad’s on the board,” Nate remarked, standing with the others.
I grunted, pulling out a wad of bills to cover everyone’s tab. I held it out to a passing waitress. “How old are you?” I asked her. “You know where this is?”
She took the money, her eyes widening before she focused on my phone. I had pulled up the kid’s live video. “Oh.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, squinting at the phone. “Oh!” She jerked back. “That’s out at the old county fairgrounds.”
Channing started laughing.
It was the same place Channing used to fight.
Logan laughed with him. “Nice to know some shit doesn’t change.”
I thanked the girl and nodded to the money. “That’s for the owner. If it doesn’t cover everyone, he can reach out. I’ll come in and pay it off.”
“Oh. Uh…” She blushed, trying to hand it back. “He won’t take it. He’s real proud that the legendary Mason Kade came to his establishment.”
I shook my head. “Then use it to cash out as many as possible. Keep thirty percent tip for yourself and whoever else waited on us. We need to take care of something now.”
She nodded, speechless, as I pushed past.
Nate and Matteo headed outside.
Moose and Congo were waiting on the sidewalk. Channing cut across the section to talk to Heather, his hand at the small of her back. Sam headed my way, her eyes dark and worried.