She’s crying. This is what shocks me the most. She’s sitting on an old, worn-out brown recliner, her legs pulled up underneath her, and tears stream down her face. In all the years I’ve known Storm, I have never, and I mean never, seen her at less than one hundred percent. She’s always ready to go, full makeup, sexy clothes, and those damn heels she always wears. But not today, no, today she’s wearing gray leggings with flip-flops and a shirt that seems to be a hundred times too big with the Gypsy Bastards logo on the front. I know from experience that the back either reads support or crew, depending whose shirt it is.
I have a feeling her shirt is marked crew.
She isn’t wearing any makeup and her eyes are puffy and red-rimmed. Seeing her like this freaks me the fuck out. Pushing my chair back, I move to go to her, but a stern look from Pope halts me and I take my seat again. He bangs his fist on the table to silence all those gathered. One by one, all eyes turn to him.
“All right.” He draws in a deep breath. “We have a problem. You all know Hadley from either down at Dusk, here at the clubhouse, seeing her with Wolf, or even as a babysitter.”
His gaze drifts over to me and then to Sparrow. The guys all murmur in agreement. It feels like a vise is on my chest, and it and squeezes tighter with every word he speaks.
“Hadley was taken this morning.”
A roar erupts from the men around me, but I watch Pope. If I dare to move or speak, I will be on him. How long has she been missing? It’s six in the goddamned evening. How long have they known about this, and why am I only finding out now?
Pope looks me straight in the eye as he fills us in.
“There was confusion at Dusk as to when she should be working, but Maurice called and asked her to come in. She never made it. No one notified us because … I don’t fucking know why, but Storm was worried when she got to work. She went over to Hadley’s and the place was locked up tight. No signs of a struggle or anything so there are still some blanks for us to fill in.”
Gripping the wooden edge of the table tightly, I hear it crack as I try to keep my cool. I spoke to her less than twelve hours ago. Scenarios run through my mind and the longer I sit and wonder where she could be, the more worked up I get.
Someone speaks and then silence falls. Looking up, I see everyone looking at me.
“What?” My voice doesn’t sound like my own. It sounds far away and strained. Is that really my voice?
“What do you want to do?” Viking looks at me. As their enforcer, it’s my job to make the decisions on things like this
“We all know you were getting close.” His voice is softer now and there’s worry written all across his face.
“I want to know where the fuck she is. Is she missing or did she just leave?” My gaze zeroes in on Storm.
She shakes her head vehemently as she continues to cry. “She wouldn’t just leave, Wolf. Something happened to her. All her stuff is still at the apartment and her dad’s car is still in the shop. If I know one thing about her, it’s that she would never leave that car. Something happened.”
Nodding, I take a deep breath before continuing. My emotions are all over the place. She’s supposed to be my second chance at life. What if something happens to her? But I can’t let those thoughts or my emotions control me, I need to be in charge.
“Okay. Then we do this like we always would. Beast, take Justice with you and check any security footage you can find between her building and Dusk. If she was headed to work, one of them would have caught her.”
Beast and Justice nod at me and move to get going.
“Sparrow, check her phone log. See if there’s anything weird. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’s still on and we can track her through that.”
Sparrow nods and moves to get his laptop before sitting down again. Looking at Pope, I wait for his input.
“The rest of you need to be ready to move. If something did happen to her, I want to be able to sort this out immediately.” His gaze travels from member to member as each nods in acceptance. “Hadley is a good woman and we need to find out what the fuck is going on.”
Storm rises from her spot to stand behind Pope and leans down to whisper something in his ear. For a moment, we all watch and wait. A red flush steals over Pope and his eyes narrow to slits before he rounds on her.
“Jesus Christ, Storm. How can you only be telling me about this now? It’s a bit fucking late, yeah?” he snaps at her.
Storm’s eyes widen before her hands go to her hips. The fire in her eyes is clear for anyone to see.
“Fuck,” Viking says below his breath.
“It’s a little hard to tell you anything with you keeping me at arm’s length.” Storm squares her shoulders and faces the president of my club head-on with no fear. At that moment, I respect her more than most other women I have ever met.
“You decided to keep me separate from you and your club and your life so don’t you dare yell at me because you don’t know the most basic shit about me anymore.” Storm turns to look at us and catches us all staring.
“Hadley and I had an altercation with Viper and the Mongrels a couple weeks back at Mary’s Rib Shack. He threatened to get back at us both.” Her eyes zero in on me. “Could this be them?”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod at her. “Yeah. We’ve been having some problems with their dumbasses too.”
Pope sighs loudly. “At least if it’s them, we have all the intel we need to get her back. Let’s wait and see what Beast and Justice get and then we can proceed.”
The guys file out of the room after that, each moving in their own direction. Many of them are unhappy with having to wait to find out if it was even the Mongrels that took her. Some of the men are so fed up with this shit that they simply want it done. Pope eyes me carefully before approaching me.
“Wolf?”
“Don’t, brother. How long have you known? How long haven’t I been told?” My gaze shifts from him to Sparrow. “That’s someone I care for and none of you had the courtesy to notify me the moment you knew?”
My roar rings through the clubhouse and I watch Storm flinch back. Without listening to a word any of them say, I leave and head to my room.
Two hours later, a knock comes on my bedroom door. Flinging the door back, I expect to see Pope or Sparrow but find Justice there.
“We found her on a camera.” He doesn’t wait for me or explain further. He turns around and moves down the stairs. When I reach the bottom, Pope is already in his alpha mode, planning our next steps. His eyes find mine.
“Viper took her. We have all the info and we are going to hit them and get her back. How do you want to handle this?”
Looking from man to man, I see that they’re ready for this. For months, this has been brewing and them taking someone we all care about is just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Nodding, I lean in and start explaining my plan.
Chapter Fourteen
Hadley
Waking to the same darkness as the previous time, the only differences I pick up are the mattress I am lying on that smells of piss and that my hands are no longer bound behind my back. My mouth feels like it has cotton wool in it and my limbs are stiff and sore. Lying still on the mattress, I start a mental inventory of my body. Everything aches and pains from my little toe to the top of my head.
Besides the aches and pains, I’m relieved to find that I’m still wearing my jeans and have no soreness between my thighs. I’m still wearing the remains of my tattered shirt but at least I don’t feel like I was violated while under the influence of whatever drug he shot into my veins.
Sitting up, I look around. The room is still as dark as the previous time I woke. I remember the room clearly, not that there’s much to remember. Moving off the mattress, I go to the far corner to get away from the stench that’s making me constantly gag. A cough from the opposite end of the room startles me.
“Who’s there?”
Turning around, I face the side of the room the s
ound came from. Fear courses through my veins as I know I can’t defend myself if I can’t see what I’m fighting.
“It’s me, Kaiya. Didn’t mean to frighten you. Thought you were still asleep.”
As she talks to me, I have to listen carefully. Her voice is quiet and there’s a wheezing sound in her chest with every word that is forced from her.
“Why are you in here? You were helping Viper earlier.”
I sound like a complete and utter bitch, but I simply don’t give a shit. This woman was charged with taking care of me until he got back from drinking with the boys and that fact puts her at the bottom of my trust totem.
“Help?” she asks and then bursts out laughing. She chokes off mid-laugh to cough loudly and I can hear that she is in pain.
“I haven’t helped that man one goddamned day in my entire life. I’m his little sister and I haven’t been out of this clubhouse since I was twelve. This is my hell and because I tried to help your ass, it has become significantly worse.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.” Again, with the bitch in me coming to the forefront.
“Okay. So next time my brother comes in here with the purpose of raping you, tweaked out of his mind and so drunk he can’t remember his own name, I’ll simply mind my own motherfucking business. Thanks for the heads up.”
Shock radiates through me. Besides Storm, no one has ever put themselves in harm to protect me. It’s a strange feeling knowing that a stranger cares for me more than most of the other people in my life.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a bitch but I’m freaking the fuck out and all I knew was what I heard him tell you.”
Kaiya doesn’t answer me and we both fall into silence. As I sit on the floor, I relive my few short years on earth. There’s so little I have done in my life and there’s still so much I want to accomplish. My memories are more bad than good and I was looking forward to creating new memories with the people I am slowly letting into my life. This is the room I’ll die in and no one will mourn me accept Storm and maybe some of the guys.
For what feels like forever, I sit on the floor and feel sorry for myself. Hearing footsteps on the outside of the door, I know someone’s on their way. Sitting deathly still, I wait as my death approaches. The door swings inward on a creak so loud and shrill that my ears feel like they might start bleeding.
The strangest thought flits through my mind. Why don’t they just oil the damn hinges? At that moment, I burst out laughing, and even to my own ears it’s a crazy sound. The overhead light flares to life and blinds me for a minute. As my sight returns, I hear Kaiya scramble further into the corner of the room. Looking up from my spot on the floor, I can see Viper leaning against the door jamb.
“What you laughing at, bitch?” he snarls in my direction.
I take him in from his scuffed-up boots to the top of his head. The man is a fucking mess. His boots are covered in what I assume to be puke, his jeans are torn and ill-fitting. His white shirt has sweat stains under his armpits and a huge mustard stain down the middle, and his beard is scraggly and thin. Tilting my head to the side, I make a split-second decision. If I’m going to die … I’m going down swinging.
As I slowly lift myself from the floor, using the wall for support and covering my breasts with my other arm, another man enters. He doesn’t look at me and simply walks straight to Kaiya, then he lifts her from the floor using her hair.
“Leave her alone,” I yell at the new man.
He has dark hair, but I never see his face as he doesn’t turn to acknowledge my existence.
“I’m so sorry. I tried to help.” Kaiya looks me right in the eyes as tears stream down her face. The look in her eyes frightens me. It’s one I know well from looking at it for years in the mirror—defeat. It’s acceptance. She has accepted the fact that no one’s coming for us and that this will be the end. The door closes behind her and the man. Looking to Viper, I see that he’s licking his lips and staring at my barely covered breasts.
When I have my feet planted firmly beneath me, I tilt my head slightly to the right and smile maniacally at him.
“Are you stupid? You dumb fucking whore,” he sneers at me. “You think this is a game or a joke?”
“The only joke here is you, asshole. You with your tiny prick. Needing to tie women up and intimidate them so you feel like you actually got some sack? I’ve seen bigger cocks on cockroaches.” I cackle at him.
Antagonizing the guy who kidnapped me can’t be a good idea. My mind must’ve finally snapped from all the stress. His face goes beet red and then purple and I wonder if he’ll simply have an aneurysm and I can just walk out. My luck isn’t that good. Before I can prepare, he’s on me, pushing me against the wall and wrapping his hand around my throat. My feet leave the floor as my head smashes against the wall behind me and my brain rattles around in my skull. Black spots appear in front of my eyes and I will myself to stay conscious. I need to stay awake, I need to be present for the last fight of my life. I would rather die standing on my own two feet than live another day on my damn knees.
“I’ll kill you, you cunt,” he roars in my face.
An immense calm overtakes me as I smile. He seems confused by the smile and my feet touch the concrete floor again. Leaning my upper body forward, I look directly into his eyes. “So you’ve said, asshole.”
He looks at me for a moment before he regains his control. Right then, I choose to start fighting. Lifting my knee to his groin, I attempt to shove his balls back into his body. His hold on my neck slips and I can adjust my stance just enough to bring my knee into his nose as he doubles over, holding his crown jewels. Feeling the bone crack, I have never been so damn grateful for self-defense classes in my entire life.
Slipping past him, I make it halfway to the door before I hear it. A boom rings through the room and a blinding, scorching pain runs through my left side. Propelling headfirst into the wall beside the door, I hit my head yet again.
Turning over, I sit with my back against the wall and stare at Viper. He’s holding a gun in his hand, pointed straight at me. The motherfucker actually shot me. I press my hand to my side in a futile attempt to stop the pain or the bleeding, or both. The moment he snaps is written clearly across his face. He doesn’t say a word, he simply limps over to me and cracks me in the side of my head with the butt of his gun.
Toppling over to my left side, I shriek in pain. The fact that I landed on my bullet wound is probably the only reason I’m still conscious. That won’t last long. He starts kicking me, landing the blows anywhere and everywhere he can. Feeling my ribs give way, I try to cover myself and make myself as small a target as possible. He kicks my stomach repeatedly until I throw up whatever was still in my stomach. At some point during all this, my bladder decides to relieve itself and this only seems to anger him further.
“Dirty fucking whore.”
He rages at me and kicks me in the left side of my head. Just as I finally pass out, I hear gunshots. At least it didn’t hurt when he shot me this time.
Chapter Fifteen
Wolf
We have formulated a plan and the strategy is sound. We’ll separate into three teams. One team will hit the club bar, one team will hit Viper’s residence, and the third team will hit their compound. Team one and team three are composed of ten men each with eight men on team two. I will be the lead on the team taking their compound. My gut tells me that’s where she is.
Fear crawls under my skin and makes my stomach churn. It’s a strange feeling and I haven’t felt this way since Amber went into labor early. But this is somehow a different type of fear. Fear for her safety. Fear for the unknown. Fear of losing her before I even had her. But the worst part? Fearing that I am going to the wrong place, that I won’t find her there.
Getting on my bike, I wait for the rest of the guys. Restlessness fills me and it feels like my skin is too tight. I check my weapons to make sure they are loaded and that I have enough extra clips. Under my black t-shirt, I
’m wearing a bulletproof vest—just in case. Along with my two 9mm Berettas, there’s also a twelve-gauge shotgun strapped to my back.
As soon as all my guys are together, we start up and head to the Mongrels MC compound. We wind through the hills on the outskirts of town until we are about half a mile away. We stop our bikes off to the side of the road so as not to be seen or heard. Moving through the trees and the underbrush toward their compound, we do our best to go undetected, staying quiet and moving in the shadows.
As we reach their perimeter fence, I realize how dumb these assholes really are. There is one guard sitting next to the gate with an empty bourbon bottle beside him. He’s slouched over and loudly snoring. Giving Sparrow the signal, I watch as he approaches the guard from behind and snaps his neck with the flick of his wrist. The gate is quickly pushed open by one of the other guys and then we are approaching across the gravel driveway. There are no CCTV cameras on the outside of the building so there’s definitely not anyone in there monitoring us.
The outside of the building is decrepit and there’s rubbish lying everywhere. From food cartons to beer bottles, condoms, crack pipes, clothes, baby diapers, and shit I would rather not inspect. The building itself seems to have been a farmhouse a million years ago. The porch stairs look like people have fallen through a couple of times and the railing along the front has been broken. It hangs at a weird angle from the post that it’s barely still attached to. The house itself has faded from the original color to a dirty gray, most of the windows are broken, and the screen door is hanging on by a thread.
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