“Always, Sweet Cheeks, I will always come home to you. You are my home,” I promised, before giving her another hard kiss, and stood. Digging into my back pocket, I pulled out my keys and set them on the table. Bastian always said I could use his bike whenever I wanted the feeling of the open road and that sounded like a good idea right now.
“Make sure you get one of the guys to follow you home. Rafe will do it, just tell him when you want to leave, okay? Promise me?”
“ I promise I won’t leave without Rafe.” She smiled reassuringly, easing some of my anxiety. The last thing I needed was something to happen to her or our daughter; I needed them both now more than ever.
CHAPTER TWENTY
ADELINE
“Well what was that all about?” Stella asked me, looking at the door where Marshall disappeared through.
My mind whirled with questions, Stella’s being one of them. Whatever went on after he went off with Booth and Ford must have been pretty bad to rattle my man. And rattled he was, I have never seen him so frazzled and jumpy, not even when he first laid eyes on my pregnant belly for the first time. That, he took in his stride and embraced the prospect of being a dad and starting a life with me. What could possibly be more shocking than that?
“I don’t know, but if I know Marshall, if he says he needs time, then it must be important. He lives to make sure Sproggo and I are looked after. He wouldn’t leave unless he had no choice,” I replied adamantly. Knowing down to my bones, I spoke the truth.
“He looked very upset, I wonder what happened in there?” Rainn mused, looking in the direction of the war room. Seeing the men emerge, the first thing I noticed was Booth and Gabe looking more than upset, they looked devastated.
“Handsome,” Stella breathed out, getting up and heading straight for her husband and son. Then Rainn spied her own husband and pushed out of her seat too.
“I’m going to find out what Beast knows,” she declared, taking off after Stella, and leaving me sitting stunned and alone.
“Okay, then,” I muttered, just as my phone rang in my handbag.
Hoping it was Grill, I quickly fished it out, then promptly deflated when I saw on the screen it was the clinic’s night nurse.
Swiping the screen, I put the phone to my ear. “Hi, Peyton, what’s up?” I asked, injecting some enthusiasm into my tone, but not feeling it.
“I am sorry to call you after hours, Addy, but Dr Bogonvillia isn’t answering his phone.”
“It’s fine, sweetie, what is the problem?” I asked again, pinching the bridge of my nose and praying silently for patience. Peyton was a very able assistant, and I knew she wouldn’t call me for no good reason.
“Well, everything was fine until an hour ago, then all of a sudden, the lights in the animal room went off. I found a torch and continued on, but now I can smell burning, like an electrical burning odour.”
“I tried to call a few people before you, but then the office phone went dead. And Dr Bogonvillia’s number is programmed into the office phone.”
“You did the right thing, Peyton; the wiring must have an issue. I will head over and see what we need to do next. Calling an electrician this time of night will cost a fortune, I would like to see before I make any decisions.”
Telling Peyton to keep the doors locked and wait for me, I pushed my hefty weight out of the seat and went in search of Rafe.
It took me fifteen minutes and five questions to different people to find out Rafe was in a meeting with his team behind closed doors with Booth and his men. Even the wives had disappeared presumably to the same place.
“Bugger and crap,” I cursed, thinking of my next step. The wiring at the clinic was a huge concern, and a fire was a dangerous outcome for Peyton and the sick animals. Leaving it too long could be disastrous.
Finding my new vet’s number, I called and waited for him to pick up, but like Peyton said he wasn’t picking up.
Looking at the keys in my hand, I decided on a course of action.
Taking a pen out of my bag, I grabbed a cardboard beer coaster off the bar and wrote a note for Rafe. This should appease Marshall’s demands not to go out alone, I decided. Then looked around for someone to give the coaster to, I knew a lot of the actual members of the club, but not many of the hangers-on or the employees.
Seeing a young man in his early twenties or even a bit younger, it was hard to tell these days; I walked over to him. “Hello, are you a friend of the club?” I asked, then took a step back when his almost black eyes glared at me.
“Who are you?” he asked, instead of answering me.
“My name is Adeline Welham. I am Marsh— um, Grill’s fiancée. I need to go check on the vet clinic, but I don’t want to go without telling Rafe, he is—”
“I know who he is. What does the club have to do with your problems?” Again, I took a small step back from him, his tone and demeanour scaring me.
“Um, well, the club is now a partner in my clinic, so Booth and Shiloh will need to know why I am leaving,” I explained nervously. Holding out the coaster to him, I waited for him to take it, which he did. Snatching it from my fingers and scowling at me before looking down to read my note.
“The club is in partnership with you? You, a virtual stranger?” he growled, his face a furious thundercloud all of a sudden.
My fight or flight response kicked in, my senses yelling at me to get as far away from him as possible.
“Um, as you can see from the note, I have a wiring issue at the clinic, give that to Rafe or Booth, please,” I add, quickly backing away from the angry man. My balance wasn’t the best, and going backwards without knowing what was behind me was tricky, but something inside me screamed not to turn my back on him.
Receiving nothing more than an evil smirk from him. I gauged that I was far enough away from him to turn around and get to the door safely.
On shaky legs, I hurried to the car park where Marshall had parked our ute, and away from the angry young man. Making a mental note to tell Marshall about the encounter, I unlocked the car with the key fob and shoved myself in behind the wheel. Thank God Marshall was so tall, so the steering wheel was far enough away from my belly while I wedged myself as comfortably as possible inside.
How much bigger was this baby going to get? I resembled the Goodyear blimp and growing more and more every damned day.
“Give mum a break, Sproggo,” I asked my child when a foot kicked me in the side, reminding me I wasn’t alone.
As if I can forget, the Hubble telescope can probably see me from space.
And with that silent thought, I promptly forgot about the angry man and our encounter.
Not my best move.
***
“Does the manual say anything else I should do?” I asked Peyton with a shout so that she could hear me. With my head stuck in the electrical box and standing on a stool and Peyton holding me around the calves in a firm but weird spotter hold. I checked that all the other fuses were in better shape than the burnt-out one I’d replaced after thoroughly reading the how to change a fuse on YouTube.
“Um, hang on, let me check my phone,” she said. Her phone was held against my shins and Peyton was reading it between the gap of my legs.
“Yep, it looks like we went through all the steps in the right order. I don’t smell anything anymore, so all is good,” she announced happily.
Sighing with relief, I gave the electrics one last look over declaring the problem solved, then leaned back and closed the door with a snap.
“Okay, now to get me down.” It took some doing, but with help from Peyton and a lot of leaning my weight on her, we eventually got me down safely on my feet.
“Thank god that is over. If Marshall saw you up there, he would have blown a gasket. I am sorry again Addy, and I had no idea I was afraid of heights.”
“Don’t worry Pey, I won’t tell anyone I got up on a chair and changed a fuse because you are a wimp if you don’t tell anyone I said a bad word,” I bargained wi
th her, laughing at her facial expression.
“Bad word! Addy, you called the fuse box a mother cock-sucking muppet!” she spluttered in between fits of giggling.
“Shush! Or you will be cleaning out the outside enclosures for the next month,” I threatened, biting the inside of my cheek to hold back my own giggle. Being around the club for the last seven weeks was rubbing off on me, my language in particular. That particular nugget I got from Shiloh when I was visiting with her at her bike repair shop.
“Okay, next is the phone system, let’s see if we can do a double, and repair that too,” I suggested, walking out of the supply room where the fuse box lived and into the office only to be met with an overwhelming stench of petrol.
“What the devil is that— Oh my God!” A scream left my throat when the angry man from the club appeared from the animal room, and with a jerry can for fuel in his hands.
“Well, if it isn’t the pregnant bitch vet. Get that fuse fixed bitch? You were so busy trying to save the club some money you didn’t even know I got in the back door, did ya?” he scoffed arrogantly, then threw the metal can at my feet, hitting me on the ankle. Pain radiated from the spot he hit, nearly bringing me to my knees, had it not been for the quick reactions of Peyton.
“Addy!” she cried out, grabbing me from behind, keeping me upright.
“Just who do you think you are anyway?” the shouted demand was aimed at me; the only thing was I didn’t know who he was or why he was so angry.
“Who are you? Why did you pour petrol in the animal room?” I cried, desperately trying to understand, and also buy some time praying that someone at the club noticed I was missing and came looking for me.
“I am someone who deserves a hell of a lot more than you! You aren’t even related to that pathetic gang of misfits and fuckheads. Your fiancé isn’t a member, but he gets treated better than I do.”
“They gave you money? What the fuck is that about?” he continued his rant like some kind of crazed loon, confusing and scaring me more than I had been in my whole life.
“Please, talk to me, tell me how I can fix this so we can all go home safe.”
An evil laugh bubbled from his throat, and his eyes fixed on me.
“Fix it? You want me to fix this? Okay, bitch, let me show you how I am going to fix this.” Digging his hand into the front pocket of his tailored slacks, he produced a box of matches.
My blood turned cold.
His intentions so clear now, if the petrol hadn’t given me a clue, the small red box certainly did.
Peyton gasped behind me; her hand gripped my shirt in a stranglehold.
“Addy,” Peyton whimpered, her terror for the situation palpable.
I was terrified not only for the animals and my worker but mostly for my unborn daughter. Without thinking, I wrapped an arm around my belly and prayed silently that Marshall could somehow feel my terror. Our connection was deep and real, and I just hoped it was as magical as I thought.
“Say goodbye, bitches.” With one last laugh, the intruder backed away to the front door, around us was a puddle of fuel close to where we were standing. We had to move and right now.
“Tell the club to go to hell, if you survive that is,” he laughed, then struck a match, the sound of the matchstick against the coarse striking surface, the most unnerving sound. I watched in horror as he threw the lit match into the puddle, a ball of flames bursting in front of Pey and me almost immediately. The man rushed to the door and pushed his way out, being glass I could see that he locked it behind him, then disappeared only to see the headlights of a car flash on the other side of the glass. Even with a fire burning and spreading quickly around us, I stood there in a trance as Marshall’s ute was parked sideways in front of the door, the passenger side so close to the surface effectively acting like a barrier, so there was no escaping.
“Addy, we have to move!” Peyton cried frantically, pushing me away from the flames that were quickly closing in. Thankfully the accelerant was haphazardly strewn around the room giving Pey and I room to move without having to jump through the fire.
“The animals!” I shouted, kicking my brain into gear and hurrying to the double swinging doors, pushing them open just far enough for Peyton and myself to fit through then closed them engaging the lock. Urgent barking from the healthier dogs and whimpers from the weaker ones tore at my heart, but I couldn’t afford to dwell just yet. I needed something to use to stop the smoke from entering and the petrol here from catching fire.
“Grab some towels and blankets, hurry Pey,” I ordered her, while I raced to the sink and began filling a bucket with water. “Roll them up and tightly lay them on the floor, blocking the gap under the doors.”
I didn’t wait to see if she was doing as I asked, I knew she would be. Scared or not, Pey loved animals as much as I did.
Once the bucket was more than three-quarters full, I heaved it out of the sink with all my strength, feeling a pull at my side with the effort.
Don’t you worry, baby girl, mummy won’t let anything happen to you. I assured my daughter, knowing that I would do anything and everything to get out of here alive, but leaving the animals wasn’t an option. I vowed to help every living creature the day I received my degree, and by God, I planned on upholding that vow.
“Hon, give me a hand with the bucket.”
Peyton kicked the hastily rolled blankets and towels into place, then rushed over to take the bucket from me, and I could see the realisation on her face that she knew what I wanted to do.
“I got this, you go and open the cages, then we will break the back window in the storage room and get them out,” she yelled, gently shoving me away from the danger area, then turned and tossed the water all over the floor concentrating the water on the barriers.
“Thank you, Peyton,” I whispered brokenly, my adrenaline starting to wane and the pain in my ankle intensifying as well as the pain in my side.
“Don’t thank me yet, boss, we still have ten animals to get to safety.”
Doubt crept in as I stood there while Peyton went back to the sink to fill up the bucket again. On the other side of the door, I could hear the roar of fire catching hold of the furniture; sounds of shattering glass fuelled my fear.
“Addy, go!”
Springing into action, I raced over to the animal cages and began unlocking the doors.
This had to end with everyone getting out alive; it just had to, my life with Marshall, a dream I wanted more than anything.
I had to succeed and get out.
My baby depended on it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
GRILL
I don’t know how long I sat there at the intersection, the Harley rumbling underneath me. The simplest decision of whether to go left or right, suddenly too difficult to make.
My thought process was so screwed up since the meeting in the war room; all I could think to do was to get the hell away. Run as far and as fast as I could, from the truth Booth and the rest of the Souls hit me with today.
And the worst part of my cowardly act was– I left Addy all alone at the compound without so much as an explanation. Not that she judged me or even got pissed at me, my girl kissed me and let me go, making me feel even more like an arsehole.
I should never have left her like that, not telling her what I now knew. Addy was the most important part of my life; she finally trusted me, and here I was, keeping shit from her and not letting her in. Hadn’t that been my biggest issue with her? Addy’s walls were now down because she felt comfortable with me. And I repaid that by giving her the keys to the ute and asking her to make her own way home.
“Way to go, Webber, real slick move,” I grumbled over the loud headers. Bastian’s bike was a beast to ride, and normally I thrilled in the freedom of riding it every chance I got. Tonight, I couldn’t get into it, not with the intel Booth dropped on me eating at my mind.
My dad, holy shit that was a shock. All these years hanging with the Souls, hanging with
Booth, and the whole time he was my uncle, neither of us wise to the fact.
I still had a lot of questions for him, like why didn’t Booth know my mum. If he’d never met her, why not? I got the impression that he and his brother, my dad, were close, so how did Booth not know my mum and not put two and two together that way. Whatever the reason, I had many unanswered questions.
One of them being, did my Aunt Faye know? Surely, she would have told me if my mum did confide in her. I know they had been estranged for many years before and after my birth, the only reason she returned to Creswick was to take custody of me. Her parents, my maternal grandparents, had left the house to both sisters. Mum and I lived in it together with Faye’s promise she wouldn’t ask for a sale or rent.
Thinking about the house and my grandparents brought me to another topic I was not ready to talk about yet. The bombshell that my grandfather was a murderer required a shit load of whiskey before I approached that subject with anyone!
A car horn blasted from behind me, the sudden loud sound ripping me from the horrors of my fucked-up lineage. Taking my hand from the handlebars, I impatiently waved the vehicle to go around me. My ride and running were over; I had an ache in my heart for Addy’s touch. Only she could calm me, and all of a sudden, I felt anything but calm.
The honking car, came around me, the driver yelled something out about biker bastards thinking they owned the road. Glaring at the driver, some yuppie-looking wanker with a chip on his shoulder, I waited for him to pass, then shuffled my feet back and turned the bike around. I had only been gone for thirty minutes or so, and Addy should still be at the club. Pulling down on the throttle, I gunned the powerful noisy engine and headed back down to the small town of Buninyong and headed back to the compound.
Back to Addy. An uneasy chill was shooting up my spine, making me increase my speed.
Something wasn’t right.
The ute wasn’t in the car park. That was the first thing I noticed when I pulled into the compound gates. Counting the cars left, the ones I knew, I observed that the vehicles my team used while home were all still there. Gabe and Cole’s bikes also still there.
Grill (The Wounded Sons Book 3) Page 18
