Reign of Wrath (Dirty Broken Savages #3)(11)

Priest looks fucked up, standing still as a statue and not really paying attention to the rest of us. His eyes snap with anger and pain, and his face is set in harsh lines. For once, he’s not making any effort to control himself, just letting the pain practically surge out of him.

It’s gotta be hard for him right now. We talked about Jade earlier, and now River is missing. I can imagine the places his mind is going to with that worry for River and the feeling of letting her down.

I’m only just barely keeping my own rage under control. I want to hit something, but that won’t really help. I’m not even angry at River for leaving.

No, this rage is at the world that hurt her.

The world that will still hurt her if it gets the chance.

She’s a warrior through and through, and I still believe that, even if she’s hurting right now. But it’s also true that she’s in a vulnerable state and not thinking clearly. Probably unarmed and dazed, wherever she is.

It would be easy for someone to hurt her like this. Easy for anything to happen, and I don’t want to take that chance.

“We’ll find her,” I tell them. “We’ll go find her.”

I’m not about to sit around and wait for her to come back when there’s a chance that maybe she won’t.

“Knox, come with me. Ash, Priest, you two stay here in case she comes back.”

If the other two want to argue that they should come too, they at least don’t waste their breath. They know it’s more important for people to be here in case River comes back on her own.

Ash nods and swallows hard, looking like he’s trying to get himself back under control. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Bring her back,” Priest rasps. His voice is tight and choked, as if he’s holding back a tidal wave of emotion by sheer force of will. Like he’s holding on by a thread.

I nod. I want to promise him that I’ll do it, that we won’t come back without her, but we all know there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to keep that kind of promise.

Because shit happens. Life is cruel, harsh, and unfair, and all four of us know that truth better than most people.

All we can do is hope for the best, which isn’t comforting at all.

Knox is already moving toward the front door, pausing to put his shoes on and then leaving the door open as he steps out into the driveway.

I follow along behind him, closing the door behind us.

“She didn’t take her car,” he mutters, catching my attention.

“What?”

He nods to the pile of rust and engine problems that River insists on driving, still parked in the driveway behind Ash’s car.

Shit. I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.

At least on foot, there’s a chance she might not have gotten too far, but that means she’s walking somewhere in Detroit at night alone. I’d bet on her in a fight nine times out of ten, but that’s when she’s in her right mind, focused. Now she’s out of it with exhaustion and grief, and there are too many scumbags in this city who would love to take advantage of that.

“We need to go,” I tell Knox, and he nods.

The two of us get into my car, and I peel out of the driveway, speeding down our street. Knox keeps his eyes peeled for any sign of her as we head out of the neighborhood, but there’s nothing.

“Right or left?” I ask him, pausing at a stop sign.

Left will take us toward the highway and into the nicer part of the city where all the expensive restaurants and shopping boutiques are.

Right leads toward less savory parts of Detroit, and before Knox even answers, I know we’re not turning left.

“You think maybe she went back to her old place?” Knox asks. “Her apartment?”

It’s hard to say. I don’t think she has any real attachment to that place, and from what I remember of the things River said about her past, she didn’t live there with Hannah or anything.

“No.” I shake my head, chewing on my lip in agitation. “But we can’t just keep guessing either. And we can’t cover enough ground quick enough to find her. Call Harv. Maybe he can run a sweep of security camera footage in the area and help us find her.”

Harv—Harvey Magellan—is one of our contacts, a hacker we keep in our back pocket for when we need to get into security systems or people’s bank accounts. He’s an odd guy, quiet and almost shy, but he knows his shit.

“Good idea.”

Knox calls him, his leg bouncing irritably when it takes Harv several rings to answer the phone.

Finally, he does, and I can hear the muffled sound of his voice from where I’m sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Hey,” Knox barks. “We need a favor.”

There’s some murmuring from the other end, and Knox barely lets him get through a sentence before he’s cutting Harv off.

“Don’t care. It’s an emergency, so get it done, or I’ll come over there and make you.”

Usually, I’d tell Knox that being shitty to our contacts is bad for business, but now I keep my mouth shut. The longer we don’t know where River is, the higher a chance something bad is happening to her.

We can smooth shit over with Harv later if we need to, but there will be no coming back from it if something happened to River.

Knox relays the information we have, telling Harv to check the security camera footage on the streets in a perimeter around our house. He describes River, from her hair to her tattoos, and just hearing him talk about her sends a pang through my chest.