Saved by the Devil (Devils Arms Book 3)

by Michelle Woods

  “The baby is yours but if you think we should get rid of it I trust your judgement. I know you always know best, Johnny,” Phoebe managed to choke out, almost gagging on the horrid words. She hated that she needed to play his game in order to lull him into a false sense of security. Only she knew from experience with Johnny that one of his many flaws was his belief that she knew he was always right.

  “Yes, yes, it’s my call. We get rid of that brat then you will have to earn my trust again. I don’t care if you say you’ve learned your lesson. You need to be kept in a safe place. I will have to lock you up. We lost our apartment because of you. I had to find you, so I missed a lot of work. Now when we get back, I will find a new job and you will stay at home like always, only I will be locking you in. It’s for your own good,” Johnny said, nodding like he’d just gifted her with the best news in the world.

  Damn, he’d really gone nutso since she’d left him. He’d likely lost his job because he’d already missed a dozen or more days before he’d “had to find her” as he claimed. More than once his work had called the house looking for him. She’d always covered for him, telling them that he had a cold or the flu. His job had likely thought he was very sickly but as long as he’d had PTO time, they had let him get away with it. He must have run out and they’d fired his ass. Not that she was surprised, she was pretty sure Mr. Peterson had been trying to get rid of Johnny for more than two years now. Somehow Johnny had managed to bring in just enough clients to keep the main bosses happy and save his ass from being axed.

  She still wasn’t sure how he’d always managed to hold onto that job after his behavior had become really erratic. She didn’t believe for a moment that he’d been searching for her when he’d missed work. No, he’d likely been in a drug haze. It was only when he’d realized that he’d lost his job and his house that he’d likely started looking for her. Not that she cared when he’d started looking. She would have been perfectly happy if he’d never looked for her.

  “I know,” she said, wondering how she’d managed to agree without laughing her ass off. She wasn’t going back to that sad life where she was a victim ever again. Johnny would learn that the hard way. Either she would teach it to him, or Peanut would. She wasn’t sure yet who it would be but she knew for a fact that he’d learn it.

  “Damned right you know,” Johnny said. He seemed calmer and she watched the back of his head as the miles grew between her and Peanut. She wanted to insist that they stop but she didn’t want to set him off again. She needed to think. He typically got tired after one of his blow ups. It was usually when the high started wearing off. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. She knew they’d been driving for a little under a half hour when she started noting his head drooping a little.

  “Johnny, I can drive if you want me too. I don’t want you any more stressed than you already are. I know I messed everything up when I ran away. You were right about that mean biker who trapped me to take care of his kid and all. I want to help you.” She waited on him to acknowledge her offer. She knew he’d flat refuse to allow her to drive, but it was the only way she could think of to make him stop somewhere.

  “You can’t drive. How do I know you won’t try to go back?” Johnny demanded, glaring at her in the rearview mirror. His dark almost black eyes narrowed.

  “I wouldn’t do that. I know I made a huge mistake when I left you. You know how much I care for you.” She couldn’t bring herself to say that she loved him. Even though she’d told him thousands of times before, it just seemed wrong to say it to him after meeting Peanut. She didn’t love Johnny and she hadn’t for years. Phoebe smiled brightly to cover the fact that she hated every second that she had to play this game with him.

  Johnny snorted and pulled off the interstate at the next exit, driving in the direction of a local motel. She hoped he was heading to the motel or at the very least the McDonald’s the sign advertised. Phoebe held her breath as she waited to see where he was going. She really needed him to stop somewhere so she could escape him. The more public the place they stopped was, the better because she would need someone to distract him while she made her get-away. Hopefully some good Samaritan would help.

  “I’m getting a room and we will sleep for an hour or two,” Johnny said as he pulled into the motel parking lot near the office.

  “Sure, honey, whatever you want,” Phoebe said sweetly, using the voice he’d always liked. He eyed her as he turned off the car, his dark pupils taking up most of his eyes despite the obvious crash he was nearing.

  “You better behave while we’re here, Phoebe, or I will punish you. I only seek to provide you with the correction you need. I don’t want you thinking you can act like a whore and get away with it. Now, we’re going inside and you’re going to stay right beside me the whole time or I will have to chain you up with the chains I bought.” At first, she thought he was joking but then she realized he wasn’t one to joke. Holy shit, he actually planned on chaining her up. She knew damned good and well she couldn’t let that happen. Lord only knew what he’d do to her once she was at his mercy with no way to escape.

  “I will be good. I missed you so much. I just want to be with you now that you found me,” Phoebe said, smiling bigger than she could ever remember smiling before. She knew it was fake because it hurt her face so much to do it. Johnny nodded as he moved out of the car, opening the back door since the child locks were preventing her from opening it herself. She almost rolled her eyes. Johnny was a seriously fucked up motherfucker. Johnny held her arm as he led her into the office with his hand tightly wrapped around her to let her know who had the upper hand in this situation. She knew it was best to let him think that, so she didn’t fight him as he checked them into the motel. She would bide her time and when she felt that her odds for getting away were better, she’d make her move.

  She waited near the desk while Johnny talked to the attendant. Johnny had let her go once they were inside the lobby, but he didn’t take his eyes off of her while he checked them in. Phoebe watched the man behind the counter hoping to see a glimmer of interest that she could use to her advantage. Unfortunately, the rather heavy-set man wearing a black button up—with a mystery stain on the collar—was too busy watching the TV next to him. She knew he was watching some kind of sports game because she could hear a referee calling out penalties. Realizing that the man wasn’t going to be helping her get away from Johnny, she glanced around the office. Her eyes took in the broken soda machine, a scuffed-up coffee table, and three lumpy chairs before coming back to rest on the motel employee. Her heart sink into her shoes as she realized that the motels office was empty of anyone other than the three of them.

  So much for a good Samaritan.

  Johnny took the key from the man before turning to grip her arm. He jerked her into motion and she followed reluctantly. His grip on her arm tightened until it was too tight. She grimaced as he tugged her towards the door. Phoebe sighed; she would likely have bruises on her arm when he finally let her go. Johnny led her outside and she focused on coming up with possible escape scenarios. Maybe she could use the move Sin had taught her to twist his arm behind his back and steal the keys from him. Phoebe quickly discarded that idea because she wasn’t sure she could take him down hard enough to get away. He’d locked the car so it would likely take too long to get it open and he’d catch her.

  Johnny led her past the parked car and she again considered the plan to steal the keys only she waited too long and they were too far past the vehicle for it to work. She’d just have to think of something else. Johnny shoved the key into the lock on the room and pushed the door open. The smell that exited the room was stale and a bit musky like laundry left in a basket for too long. Phoebe wondered how long it had been since the room had been cleaned with a little shiver of distaste. Johnny shoved her into the room ahead of him before entering.

  Phoebe turned to look at him with a bright smile on her face while trying not to panic. Being in such a small space with him
really scared her, despite her newfound courage. Johnny looked at the bed and moved to sit on the edge.

  “Come sit,” he said, his eyes bloodshot and a little wild looking.

  Phoebe stared at the bed trying not to vomit at the idea of sitting on the faded floral bedspread. It was bad enough she was going to have to sit next to Johnny—did she really have to do it on that bed? Gods she really hoped it didn’t have bedbugs or lice. Her stomach turned as she stepped closer to the bed, her heart in her throat. She steeled herself to deal with the disgusting task at hand.

  “Sure,” Phoebe replied.

  She walked over to stand in front of him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to sit on the bed. Not with the nasty thoughts of fluids and other disgusting things that might be on the musky linens. Phoebe didn’t want to make Johnny mad, so she put her hands on his shoulders beginning to massage them.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” she forced out.

  Her mind was already trying to come up with ideas that would work. She had to keep him distracted while she figured out what to do. Her mind was racing as she cast her eyes around looking for a weapon to use against him. Her eyes landed on the phone that say on the beside table.

  “I don’t want to hear your lies. In a minute I’m going to get those chains so I can get some sleep. You never listen and I wouldn’t put it past you to try and get away again. I know how stupid you can be. I won’t let you fucking trick me. No more games. You’re going to do whatever I say when I say it from now on.” Johnny snapped his hands covering both her wrists.

  “Johnny, darling, I told you that I was going to come back to you, but that biker told me if I did he would kill you. I just couldn’t chance that.” She smiled sweetly at him.

  Johnny grunted unhappily before lying back on the bed his head resting on the pillows. Phoebe almost gagged thinking about the possible bugs or other things he was lying in. She hated hotels they were always gross. The baby kicked and she wanted to rest her hand on her stomach to reassure him that everything was going to be okay, but she didn’t want to draw Johnny’s attention the baby bump.

  Reaching up she unbuttoned her blouse a little revealing just her breast seeing Johnny’s eyes move to them. He’d always liked sex after he came down from a high. Phoebe wanted to run when his hands rose up to cup her breasts. It took everything she had not to flinch away from his touch. She felt dirty and she prayed that Peanut wouldn’t hate her for using sex to distract Johnny. She leaned forward and kissed him. It was gross.

  His thick tongue stabbed into her mouth like he was trying to kill her. It tasted sour like day old milk and she couldn’t take it. She pulled away on the pretense that she wanted him to kiss her breasts. She jerked her bra open. When she was sure his eyes were closed, she reached towards the phone on the bedside table. It looked sturdy enough to do some damage. His mouth started kissing down her chest as she brought the phone up slowly raising it above his head as he continued to kiss her. She counted to three before closing her eyes and jerking back while simultaneously brining the phone down as hard as she could on his head.

  “You fucking bitch!” Johnny snarled, looking shocked as he blinked once, then twice before falling back on the bed.

  Phoebe stood beside the bed with the phone still in her hand trying to make sure he wasn’t going to get up. She held her breath and waited two heavy heart beats, but he stayed motionless. Deciding that she wanted to be sure she brought the phone done hitting him in the face again. She missed his forehead where she was aiming and ended up giving him a black eye. When he barely grunted, she let out a little sigh of relief before setting the busted phone back on the bedside table. It was cracked in two places now and a bit of the plastic had broken off and was on the floor. Maybe using the phone wasn’t such a good idea. She really should have thought about needing the phone to call Peanut.

  She picked up the handset and sighed when she realized it was definitely broken by the lack of dial tone. Her eyes wearily on the still figure on the bed she struggled to think. She needed to get in touch with Peanut. She would have to call from the main office or a payphone. Only she didn’t have any money and she didn’t want to be anywhere near here when Johnny woke up.

  A sudden idea struck, and Phoebe grinned as she buttoned her shirt back up and dug into Johnny’s pocket for the car keys. She wasn’t going anywhere until Peanut got here to make sure that Johnny didn’t come after her again. Even knowing that calling him and his brothers would likely end up with Johnny being taken out of here in a body bag she headed out the motel door to put her plan into action.

  Chapter Twenty

  His hands gripped the handlebars tightly, his palms sweaty and his nerves frayed. It had taken a little over twenty-nine minutes to get to the motel even with them going eighty-five. Every mile that they traveled brought them closer but the knot in the pit of his stomach only tightened. He couldn’t shake the worry that he was going to arrive too late, that all he’d find was the broken body of the woman he loved. The fear wouldn’t leave him and his mind was twisted into a mess of what ifs. What if he’d told her last night? What if he’d driven Jazzy to school?

  What if? What if?

  The constant refrain was making him nuts, but he couldn’t seem to stop the thoughts from circling inside his head like twisting snakes that wanted to consume him. Rage parked near the motel office, his face grim as he crawled off his bike. Peanut pulled up beside him followed by Viking and the rest of the club. They all wore matching grim expressions as they climbed off their own bikes. No one spoke as Rage tucked his riding gloves into his pockets and looked around the lot. Peanut did the same, his eyes focusing on the black sedan parked near one of the rooms. He knew that was the sedan of the fucker who’d taken Phoebe.

  He turned, intending to head in the direction of the room. Viking’s hand landed on his shoulder stopping him. Peanut glared at his brother who shook his head before speaking.

  “Let’s get a key and find out for sure what room. We only get one good shot at this and we don’t want it to go south. He might not have hurt her yet and if he hasn’t, we don’t want to spook him by breaking into the wrong room,” Viking hissed, his eyes imploring him to see reason.

  Peanut wanted to shake his hand off and charge in the direction of that room but despite his need to get to Phoebe as fast as possible, he wasn’t going to risk more harm coming her way if he could help it. Damn, he fucking hated this. He needed her safe.

  “Fine, hurry the fuck up,” he growled, still staring at the sedan.

  Rage nodded and him and Phoenix headed inside while the rest of them hung out around their bikes watching the rooms. Two men opened a door about ten feet from them exiting their room. They nervously eyed the seven of them standing there watching the motel with wary expressions as they headed to their truck. One of the men unlocked the doors and they quickly left. Peanut watched their fading taillights trying not to think about the fact that these seconds that they stood here waiting on Rage to get information and a fucking key could mean the difference between finding Phoebe alive or dead.

  He turned to glare at the office, wondering what the hell was taking them so long. Viking was leaning on the wall nearby watching him. He needed to do something. They were close and it looked like the fucker was still here with her. What was he doing to her right now? Was he hurting her? Fuck, he couldn’t wait any longer, he just fucking couldn’t. He moved, intending to take off towards the door—fuck waiting. Rage came out of the office at that moment with a key in hand. He nodded to the rest of the men and they all fell into step behind him. Peanut reached out, grabbing the key from Rage when he neared him.

  He didn’t fight him, and Peanut read the number. Damn, good thing they did go get this fucking key or they would have been barging into the wrong room. He walked towards the door, his guts twisted and his heart beating in his ears. His palms were sweaty and his mind was in chaos wondering what he’d find when he opened the door of that room. He tried to prepare hims
elf but he knew deep down that nothing would stop him from killing that fucker if he’d hurt Phoebe.

  He glanced at Viking who was beside him as he pushed the key into the lock. Viking pulled out his gun and nodded. Peanut already had his own weapon out and after a brief look at the others he noted that they all looked ready. He shoved the door open, stepping inside. His eyes were immediately drawn to the figure chained to the bed. He stared at the body, his mind unable to compute what he was seeing for a full minute. The door to the bathroom opened and steam came pouring out of the room, followed by Phoebe. She was drying her hair with a towel and was dressed in an oversized man’s shirt with her jeans.

  “Oh, how’d you get here so fast? I just called you,” Phoebe said, smiling brightly at him.

  Peanut looked from her to Johnny, who was chained to the bed with a lump rising on his forehead and a really dark shiner starting to form around one eye. Viking started laughing as he put his gun away. He reached out a hand and tugged at a length of Phoebe’s wet hair. Peanut pushed his gun back into his holster as he glanced from her to the bed again in wonderment.

  “You’ll do, little one, you’ll do,” he said before he opened the door to let the others into the room. Peanut reached out, pulling her into his arms and running his hands over her trying to assess if she was alright. Had that fucker hurt her before she’d chained him to the bed?

  “You okay?”

  “Yes, I just had to wash his touch off. I felt dirty letting him touch and kiss me, but it was the only way I could think of to get the upper hand. I hope you don’t hate me for letting him kiss me. We did not have sex! I clocked him with the motel phone while he was kissing my chest. It was disgusting.” Phoebe was almost gagging as she told the story. Peanut wouldn’t have cared if she’d fucked him a dozen times to save herself as long as she was alive when he got here to save her. Only she’d saved herself. Fuck, she was perfect.