by Hope Stone
I wasn’t sure, but I think he was calling me honey. The last thing I wanted to do was fall off his bike, so I wrapped my arms around his flabby midsection and held on for dear life. My hair was whipping my face, I was blindfolded, and his body odor was practically choking me. I needed to find a way to get out of there.
Thankfully, we only rode for a couple of minutes before I felt the bike stop. He grabbed me and pulled me off of the bike and dragged me into some building, which was where I was now.
Another way I knew it was a restaurant was because I could hear whats-his-name in the kitchen banging around. He’d tied me to a cast iron sink with some zip ties, and so the chances of me getting away at the moment were pretty slim. My poor wrists were bloodied and raw, and I’d cut the back of my arm climbing out the window. And I really had to pee.
“Excuse me?” I said, calling to my abductor. “Can you come here, please?”
He had been humming and somehow cooking something because I smelled food coming from the kitchen. Either he didn’t hear me or was ignoring me so I said it louder. “EXCUSE ME?”
“What do you want?” he yelled from the other room.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
He walked into the area where I was and was literally eating a bowl of food. It smelled like beans and rice, and lord only knows how old it was because this place appeared to be abandoned. Where did he even find electricity?
“Do I look stupid?” he said through food-filled cheeks.
I didn’t give him my honest answer and said, “I really have to go.”
“The last time you were in a bathroom you broke out a window. Pee where you are.” He turned to walk back into the other room.
“Please? You can leave the door open to make sure I don’t escape. I just really need to go.”
A wide grin spread across his greasy lips. “Oh yeah. I like that idea. I’ll watch you.”
He was so disgusting I shuddered. But it was either that or pee my pants. Besides, it would get me out of being tied up.
He set the bowl down on the counter and got a knife to cut me free. For a second I thought about grabbing it, but realized that he was probably better at knife fighting than I was. My dad took a fencing class at the country club once, but that was the extent of our family’s weaponry experience.
It only took a couple of minutes for him to free me, and then when I stood up he leaned in really close and took a deep breath. “You smell really good, chica. We’re gonna have some fun.”
He reminded me of a big fat cat who played with a mouse he’d caught before he killed it. As soon as I thought that, my chest gripped in fear. I needed to get the hell out of here or I’d end up dead, like a mouse.
He grabbed my arm and I winced because his fat fingers poked right where I’d been cut. He dragged me through the kitchen area and I could see that we were indeed in an abandoned restaurant. He’d managed to find a can of Sterno and used it to make rice and beans.
Honestly, the guy looked like he could stand to miss a meal or two and I wondered why he was so desperate to have food that he’d break out scavenged food and eat like we were camping buddies.
“You go in there. Leave the door open and I’m going to watch you.”
As I pulled down my jeans, I felt something in my back pocket that made me smile. It was my phone! I thought I’d left it in the car when I went to explore that sound and found the girls. The battery was probably dead, but maybe not. And if not, I might be able to get a text out.
“You smile, huh? You like to be watched?” He was rubbing his crotch and I could see a hard-on growing. I’d better think of something fast, or I was going to be his dessert.
After I finished peeing, I wanted to distract him before he got any ideas, so I said, “Are you a chef or something?”
“No, why?”
“I just wondered because you managed to make some really amazing smelling food in what appears to be an abandoned restaurant.” I wasn’t even lying. I was so hungry and the food did smell good.
“No, chica. But I did work in a taqueria in downtown LA before I came to La Playa.”
“Have you ever been to LBJs in Redondo Beach?”
“Naw, man. Mi familia didn’t go to those rich neighborhoods. Unless it was with a can of spray paint.” He laughed that raspy sounding laugh again.
“My name is Paige, by the way. Did you know that?”
“No.” He got up and grabbed the bowl of food and handed it to me. “Here. Since you seemed to like it.”
I really didn’t want to use the same spoon as him, but I wasn’t about to say no. I took a bite, and it really was good. “This is good. Thank you…?” I left a space for him to say his name.
“Chanclas.”
“Like the sandals?” I asked.
“Yeah. My real name is Carlos but when I initiated with my first MC I was wearing chanclas and the name stuck.”
“And now you’re with Las Balas?”
His eyes narrowed. “How do you know Las Balas?”
“My sister’s friend, the dark haired girl from earlier, she is dating one of your prospects.” My mind started to wander to where Lily was, but I couldn’t worry about that. As long as I kept this guy talking and kept his disgusting hands off of me, I was okay.
“Which one?”
“Scorpion.”
“Ah yeah. Weird kid. I don’t think he has what it takes to be a Las Balas, but it’s not up to me.”
He walked across to where I was standing and put his hand out for the bowl. “You done?”
I took the last bite and wiped the corner of my mouth and nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”
He turned to put the bowl on the counter behind him and when he turned back, his eyes looked different. The friendliness of just a few moments before was gone and his eyes were vacant and dark, and he took a small pistol and a switchblade out of his boots and unbuckled his pants.
“Okay. Enough foreplay. Take your fucking clothes off.”
Ryder
“I really advise that you come with us, sir. You need to be checked for internal injuries.” The paramedic was standing in front of the open back door of the ambulance that contained Lily and Bailey. The guy I’d been calling Linebacker was in a different one, under police protection.
It had only taken a few minutes for the officers to find out what had happened. There was a massive manhunt underway for El Diablo, and the entire desert was lit up from helicopters circling the area.
They had given me a preliminary exam and I was fine. What I needed to do was find Paige. “I’m fine. I need to contact the other girl’s family. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
I climbed up into the ambulance and kneeled down between Lily and Bailey. “They are going to take you to the hospital in Barstow, which is about an hour away. I’ll call your parents, Bailey, and tell them you are okay.”
“Actually, can you wait a little? They are going to freak out if they hear that Paige is missing.”
I wasn’t sure about that. I would want to know right away that Lily was okay. The uncertainty must have shown on my face because she added, “We can call when you get to the hospital, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Just then a youngish looking paramedic stuck his head in and said, “Almost ready.” Bailey smoothed down her hair and said, “Do I look okay?”
“Your hair is sticking up, but otherwise, yeah,” said Lily.
“Oh! That reminds me! I have something for you.” I dug in my jacket pocket and pulled out the hair tie and handed it to Lily.
“What’s this?”
“Gerard Way gave that to me to give to you.”
“What?” she asked, looking incredulous. “You met him?”
“Yeah. At the convention center. He took it out of his hair and told me to give it to you.”
She clasped it in both hands. “Oh my God. He WORE THIS?”
I grinned. “And wanted you to have it.” I leaned over and kissed her on the fo
rehead. “I love you, Lil. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I walked over to my bike and took a look at the helicopters looking for El Diablo. He was either going to get caught, shot, or go so deeply underground that he wouldn’t be a threat to us for a long time. Kidnapping two teenage girls with the intent to sex traffic them was a pretty major crime, and when one of them was the white daughter of a high-profile surgeon…he wasn’t going to get away with it, even if he did get caught.
I turned my attention to Paige. Where could she be? I figured my best bet was to go to the last place I saw her and try and figure out what happened from there.
It only took a few minutes to get to the Bun Boy Motel. The Audi was still there. The curtain and broken glass were still by the tree. I could see a broken-out window on the second floor.
Since I saw Chanclas with El Diablo and the girls said that “the fat one” was told he could “have” Paige, it made sense that it was him who took her.
He probably only had his bike, so he wouldn’t go far with a kidnap victim in the open like that. My best guess was that they were pretty close by.
I went around the other side of the motel to see if maybe they were in a room. But the bike was gone and I didn’t hear or see anything. He wouldn’t be so stupid as to keep her here, would he?
Maybe it would be a good idea to head over to the restaurant and see who was still there.
Two minutes later, I was there. The only ones who were still around were Hawk, Swole, Chalupa, and Scorpion.
“Did you find them? Did you get there in time?” Scorpion practically ran up to me as soon as I turned my bike off.
“I did. They were just about to be loaded onto the plane, but I got there in time.”
“I wondered when I saw all the copters,” Hawk said.
“Were they okay? Where they…hurt?” Swole asked.
“They seemed okay, but they’re on the way to the hospital in Barstow to be checked out.”
“Where’s Diablo?” asked Chalupa.
“That’s what the copters are doing. He ran off into the desert.”
“He’s toast,” said Swole.
I then turned to Hawk and asked, “Where’s Padre?”
“Trainer took him home. He kinda snapped back into reality after a bit.”
Memory issues were so weird, and I imagined we were just seeing the beginning of it with him.
“What about Paige?” Swole asked. “Did she go to the hospital too?”
“No. She’s still missing. I think Chanclas has her.”
“That fat bastard?” Hawk said. “He’s more dangerous than he looks. We need to find her ASAP.”
“Yeah.”
“Is it okay if I go to the hospital to see Lily? I need to make sure she’s okay,” Scorpion asked.
“I’ll take you,” said Swole. “I’ll make sure that Paige isn’t already at the hospital.”
“Good thinking,” I said.
“We’ll go out and look,” said Hawk, nodding to Chalupa.
“Too bad you don’t have Find My Friends,” Scorpion said. “That app is a lifesaver sometimes.”
“Oh my God, I do! We added each other before I left.” I pulled out my phone. “Dammit. It’s dead.”
“Here.” Swole handed me her backup charger. “This’ll take a few minutes but you’ll get enough of a charge.”
“Thank you!” I said, plugging the phone in.
“I want it back. Tammy will kill me if I lose it.”
“Will do.” I fist bumped her and then they all rode off in different directions. Now I just had to wait until my phone charged and then hope that Paige’s phone wasn’t dead too.
It was the longest five minutes of my life as I sat alone in the Bun Boy Restaurant parking lot waiting for my phone to charge enough to be able to turn it on.
I had too much time to think. I thought of my parents and what they would have gone through tonight with Lily being missing. I wondered what they would think of her and the job I did raising her.
I could almost hear my mother’s voice as she said, “I am so proud of you, mijo.” Tears sprang to my eyes.
I wanted what they had. She and my dad had loved each other so much. It was one of those fairytale kinds of things where they were always together—even in death.
I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life alone. Didn’t want to end up like Sofia. I wanted love, like Swole and Tammy, and even Hawk and his wife.
And as much as it surprised me to realize this, I was starting to think I wanted all of that with Paige. She was beautiful and funny and fierce and passionate. She was everything I could ever want in a woman, even though she was way out of my league.
Just then, the parking lot dirt lit up. My phone was on. I entered my password, opened the app, and there it was. The blue dot that indicated where I was (thank you Verizon for the reception out here). But where was Paige’s blue dot? “Please let her phone not be dead…”
My heart sank when I only saw one blue dot. Her phone must be dead. But then, I squinted to see, and it looked like there was a second blue dot flashing right under mine. “That’s weird. Why would the dots be…”
Then it hit me. She was here. She’d been right here the whole time!
The only place they could be was inside the abandoned restaurant. I ran over to the window and pressed my face against the glass. I didn’t see much because it was pretty dark, but it looked like there might be some sort of light coming from the back.
I took off running around the back of the building. The door was ajar, and I could hear voices. I stopped to catch my breath so my panting wouldn’t alert them to my presence. I wanted the element of surprise.
“I said take your fucking clothes off.” His voice was coming from the kitchen area.
“Look, you really don’t have to do this…” That was Paige’s voice.
“I don’t have to. I want to. And once we get started, you’re gonna want it too.”
It sounded like a belt fell to the ground and my stomach clenched. I wanted to kill him immediately but I forced myself to be quiet as I tiptoed to the entrance.
He had her backed up against a counter and his pants were down around his ankles. I saw a pistol and a handgun on the counter behind them.
“Please, no. Don’t do this.” She was starting to cry and he was pawing at her clothes.
“Get your fucking hands off of her,” I shouted. Chanclas practically jumped out of his pants. Paige lunged away and I dove for the gun.
Grabbing it, I aimed the gun at Chanclas, who was standing, facing me, with his dick hanging out. “Don’t shoot!”
“Like hell I won’t.” I shot the motherfucker in both knees and he went down hard.
“Let’s get out of here. We can call 911 from the parking lot,” I said, grabbing Paige’s hand.
We ran out the back door, and as soon as we got outside she threw her arms around me. “Thank you! How did you find me?”
“Find my Friends!”
She started laughing through her tears. “Oh yeah!” And then she asked, “But…the girls? Are they…did you…?”
“Yeah. I got there in time. They are on their way to the hospital in Barstow.” I then wrapped my arms around her. “It’s over, Paige. You’re all safe.”
Paige
“Really, don’t come down.” I was on the phone with my parents, who had me on speakerphone. Ryder and I were just leaving the hospital. “They’re keeping Bailey and Lily overnight for observation and then Ryder and I will bring them home in the morning. The doctors said they are perfectly fine.”
“I’d really rather come down, but I trust your judgment, Paige,” my dad said.
“I’m so glad you’re both safe, honey,” said my mom.
After he’d burst in just in the nick of time, we’d called 911 and then headed out to the Barstow hospital. The girls were already in a joint room, watching Keeping up with the Kardashians and laughing about hospital food. We’d all been interviewed by
the cops, who’d said they would want us to fill out a statement next week.
“Hawk, you need to make sure that no one else touches it. Only you. Got that?” Ryder was on the phone with Hawk, arranging to get his bike from Baker, since we’d taken the Audi to Barstow.
The engine roared to life as I pulled the car out of the hospital parking lot. I’d have rather Ryder drove, but my dad would kill me if I let someone he’d never met drive the car. We were just gonna have to change that and make some introductions tomorrow.
But for now, we were going to stay overnight in Barstow. It was a sleepy town halfway or so between LA and Vegas, and because of that, it really only had the kinds of accommodations used by truckers and travelers. No fancy hotels or anything. Frankly, I didn’t care. All I wanted was a hot shower, some food, a bed to sleep on…and Ryder.
I was blown away at how he single-handedly managed to save all three of us. It was like something out of an action hero movie, except it was real. This man, sitting next to me, really had risked his life to save me.
When I was in school, I’d read something about attraction between people in an emergency, and I was definitely feeling the spark. But, if I were being real, what was about to happen had been building for weeks.
As we made our way to the Ayres Suites, I stole glances at Ryder’s profile. He was quiet, deep in reflective contemplation. He’d been through a lot tonight, too. I could sympathize with the fear of losing a sister to sex traffickers, but not what it would feel like to have it be your only family and at the hands of someone you’d considered a father figure.
Suddenly, it occurred to me. Maybe Ryder’s rescue of me was just part of who he was. Maybe it didn’t mean anything about feelings for me—he’d have done the same thing no matter who it was. My heart sank a little as I realized that it was true. He was a man of character and strength. He hadn’t done it because he loved me; he’d done it because it was the right thing to do.
“Okay, we’re here,” I said pointlessly as we pulled the car into a space right in the back of the very full parking lot. There must be a lot going on in the sleepy town of Barstow tonight.
