by S. Nelson
Hope was our only option, but with such a dreamlike wish, came despair. What if they never found us? What if we’re moved before they could come for us? What if they killed us, deciding we were more of a hinderance than a bargaining chip?
“We have to hold on a little while longer,” she said, drifting over her unanswered question, mumbling something afterward, but I was so focused on the darkness that cut through the beam of light under the door to comprehend her words, let alone allow them to register.
The jingling of keys spread goose bumps over my skin, the tinkling of metal sounding more like a jackhammer, vibrating through me, and stealing my next breath. Then the next.
And the next.
I waited for the door to open, counting how many times my heart pulsed in my throat. A voice on the other side spoke calmly, as if he weren’t about to walk into a room where two women were held hostage.
“Is he there? What about her? Tell him not to let her out of his sight.” He said something else but lowered his tone right before he pushed the door open.
“Get up.” Neither of us moved for fear of what would happen once we did, although if we didn’t do as instructed, I feared that option as well. “Now!” he shouted, reaching down and snatching me by the back of my hair, pulling me to my feet, literally kicking and screaming. Braylen hopped up as quickly as she could, her hand flying to her belly with the sudden jerking motion before she straightened her posture. He pointed toward her. “Stay there or I’m gonna take you next.” Then his grip on me tightened and he lifted me to my tiptoes, the pain in my scalp cascading over every nerve in my body. “And if you don’t stop fightin’ me, I’ll make you watch as I throw her to my buddies.”
There were so many things I wanted to shout back at him, but in the end, I ceased my struggle. I wasn’t brave enough, or stupid enough to call his bluff.
“What do you want with us?” Braylen’s voice shook, her body trembling the longer it took for him to answer. He pulled me closer, his scent of cigarettes and beer wafting up my nose and making me gag. Physically, he was attractive. He was clean-shaven, and even had nice brown eyes, his features in perfect proportion, but I’d witnessed the ugliness dwelling inside him, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he ever used his looks to fool unsuspecting women until he got his clutches into them. I didn’t know his name, nor did I want to, but he’d never assaulted me, only usually bringing me to the other men.
Usually… I couldn’t believe I’d been here long enough to have to use that word.
“What the fuck do you think we want you for?”
She fired another question at him the second he stopped speaking. “Are you using us to get something from them?”
“Of course.” He took a few steps back toward the door, easing up on his hold on my hair without releasing me.
“What?”
“Like I’d tell you.” Several more steps and we stood at the threshold of the room. “Besides, it doesn’t matter, ’cause once we get what we want, you’re still not goin’ anywhere. Ever,” he enunciated.
I closed my eyes and silently cried, having nothing left to give.
Not a sound of a heavy breath.
Not an utterance of a plea.
Not a care for what was going to happen to me.
The only person I cared about right now was Braylen, and as long as I complied with what they wanted, I could only hope they would continue to leave her alone.
39
Sirens wailed in the distance as my consciousness shoved me forward. My ears continued to ring, only this time I could make out more of what was being said to me, Kaden leaning over me when I’d finally managed to pry my lids open.
“You scared the shit out of me, man.” He shook his head slightly, raking his fingers through his dark hair. He studied my face, his unwavering attention making me uncomfortable.
“What happened?” I grumbled, my memory blank, only coming back in ragged shards.
“There was an explosion.” His eyes drifted from mine, closing, then quickly reopening seconds later. “Cutter—”
“Cutter was out there,” I finished for him. He’d been lying on the ground, but I had no idea how long I’d been out, or if the ol’ guy was okay.
“Addy is out there with Prez and Stone. Last Tripp said, he had a pulse, but it was weak.”
“Did someone call an ambulance or the cops?” The squeal of the sirens sounded closer.
“We didn’t, but obviously someone heard the blast.”
Kaden helped me into a sitting position, and before I could lean against the back of the couch, Morgan jumped into my lap, throwing her arms around me and hugging me so tightly I thought for a moment she was gonna cut off my air supply.
“Oh my God,” she cried. “I thought you were gonna die.”
“I’m fine.” I reached behind me to untangle her arms, but she wouldn’t relent, and because I’d scared her, I let her cling on to me for a little while longer. When she finally pulled back, tears drifted down her cheeks. “I’m fine,” I repeated, flashing her a tight grin.
“What if you have internal bleeding or a concussion?”
“I’m sure I don’t.” I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t afflicted with either of what she mentioned, but I wasn’t gonna worry her more with my uncertainty. Besides, Addy would look me over soon enough I was sure.
“What’s going on? Was that an accident or did someone purposely blow up that van?” I didn’t have any answers for her, and even if I did, I still wouldn’t tell her.
“I’m sure it was just an accident, Bean,” I responded, and it was probably the first time she didn’t chastise me for calling her by her nickname. She hugged me once more before pulling herself to her feet. I followed quickly afterward, surprisingly stable on my feet. “You stay inside, okay?” I leaned down so we were closer to eye level. “Do you hear me?” Her head moved up and down, a few more tears falling to join the others. I signaled for Maddie to come over, and as soon as she was near, she threw her small arms around my waist, hugging me tightly like my cousin had done seconds ago. “I’m fine,” I told her too.
“I’m so happy you’re okay.” She released me and took a step back, looking up at me, then to Morgan, her tentative smile falling quickly after forming.
“Can you stay with her?” At this point, I wasn’t sure which one of them I was talking to, and I didn’t clarify, just as long as they remained inside the clubhouse while I tried to find out what was going on. I looked to Kaden. “Let’s go.”
Once outside, I saw several paramedics hovering around Cutter, who was still lying on the ground, motionless. Addy stood off to the side, Stone and Marek next to her, all three of them looking on with worry, but it wasn’t long before Addy noticed me and rushed over.
“How are you?” She ran her hands over my head and down my body, but instead of answering her, I glanced over her head to her husband, shocked by what I saw, which was him not paying attention to his wife fawning over me.
Which could only mean one thing… shit was dire.
“I’m fine.” Mumbling those two words had already gotten old, all while being grateful I meant them at the same time. If I’d been any closer to Cutter when the blast happened, I could very well be uttering a different thing, or not being able to utter anything at all.
“Is he gonna be all right?” I asked, pointing toward the ol’ guy.
“I don’t know. I’m used to dealing with gunshot or stab wounds with you guys. Explosions are new to me.” She was silent for a few seconds. “Fortunately.”
“Yeah, fortunately,” I repeated, consumed with the possibilities of the casualties if that bitch had managed to talk Cutter into letting her bring that minivan past the gates.
A flurry of activity erupted when the bomb squad showed up, preceded by several cops, and unmarked cars, who I could only assume were FBI or some form of other governmental agency. Peering over at Marek and Stone, I could see they weren’t happy with our new visitors. Not so much the par
amedics, but the law enforcement, both scowling every time someone asked them a question. Their presence couldn’t have come at a worse time, although to be fair, the goddamn van exploding outside our gates was for sure an unforeseen occurrence. And of course, we were all worried about Cutter.
“Were you involved in the explosion?” A short, balding man with a gray beard, dressed in dark blue slacks and a white button-up suddenly appeared next to me with a pad and pen in his hand. His black, thick-rimmed glasses were smudged in the center of his left eye, and I couldn’t help but wonder how that obtrusion to his sight didn’t irritate the hell out of him. Odd thing to focus on, but it was better than everything else that plagued me.
“I saw it happen if that’s what you mean?” I all but growled at him. Addy touched my arm, the simple contact telling me to reel it in.
“Were you injured?”
“No.”
“No? So, you weren’t knocked unconscious from the blast?” The crinkling of his paper as he looked back through his notes was like nails on a chalkboard. I didn’t want to be part of their investigation, nor did I want them hanging around longer than they needed to. I should’ve been upfront when he asked me but having them mixed into our business right now wasn’t good.
By this time, everyone who’d been inside was out here with us, being questioned. Most didn’t see anything, but when I peered over at my cousin, I deduced she’d been the one to tell this guy what happened to me. None of my brothers were gonna offer up additional information, I was sure of it. To be clear, it wasn’t so much a deduction as I saw her pointing at me when this guy had talked to her before me.
I wasn’t angry with her. I was more so pissed at myself for bringing her here instead of demanding she stay put at my place until I returned.
“I was, but I wasn’t injured because of it.” My ears continued to ring but other than that annoying side effect, I felt fine, like I’d been telling everyone who’s been asking.
“Did you see who left the minivan there?” he asked, pointing toward the now blown-apart gates. Realizing telling him the truth would only hinder us, I lied.
“Nope. Probably just some guy who was havin’ issues with it and saw we had a garage.”
“You don’t think the explosion was intentional, then?”
“I doubt it.”
“And why’s that?”
This fucker’s tone and line of questioning was grating on my last nerve, but I had to appear as casual as possible. Otherwise, I’d raise his suspicions. And believe me, he was skeptical. I could see it in the way he narrowed his eyes at me, silently telling me he didn’t believe a word I said. And in the way his thin lips would disappear between his teeth before popping free.
“Because what reason would they have to do that?”
“Perhaps someone has a beef with your club.”
“A beef?” I asked, barking out a laugh afterward.
“Yeah.”
“No one has a beef,” I said, using air quotes, “with us.”
“That’s not what I hear.” I wanted to punch him in the face right then, but I restrained myself, Addy’s grip on my arm repeated, and stronger this time.
“Is that all?” I took a deep breath and stared down at him, and when he finally shifted on his feet, he gave me a curt nod.
“For now.” He reached inside his pocket, pulled out a business card and handed it to me. “If you think of anything else, give me a call.” I didn’t reach out to take it, but Addy did.
“We will.” She glanced from the card, then back to him. “Detective Munson.” He returned her grin, moving on to question someone else.
“Maybe you should go back inside and rest.” She peered up at me with a worried look in her eyes. God love this woman and her doting ways. I had no idea what I, or any of the rest of us would do without her. The club relied on her medical expertise, but Addy was such a pillar of strength during times of uncertainty, she gave us all comfort.
“I’m fi—”
“Fine, I know,” she finished for me. “Okay, I’m gonna go tell my husband I’ll ride with Cutter.” From the corner of my eye, I saw them load him into the back of the ambulance, Addy shouting to wait for her before hurrying across the lot where Stone was talking to Hawke. They stood next to the ring where Linc sparred with Jagger.
Did they know what happened here? Had someone called them? Was the fight over and done? I jerked my arm in front of me and looked at my watch, noting it wasn’t time for him to even get in the ring yet. He still had a few minutes to go, according to what we were told. Then it was anyone’s guess as to how long the fight would last. If it were a normal bout, Linc would annihilate his opponent in less than fifteen minutes, even without having fought in weeks, but tonight he had to lose, and make his defeat look real. There was no telling how long that would take, although I doubted it would last any more than a half hour. Then again, I never thought someone would have the balls to bring a van here with the sole intention of blowing it up, so maybe, just maybe, any source of reality I still possessed was hampered.
I felt like my ability to reason, to comprehend, to justify… to hope, had all but been abolished.
“Hey,” I shouted, jogging up to Tripp. His hand was on the door to the clubhouse.
“What’s up?”
“Do the other guys know what happened here?”
“I’m just about to call Ford.” He proceeded to explain when I shot him a look. “I don’t want to call Jagger or Linc because I don’t know if they can even answer the phone right now, and I’m sure they have eyes on them. I don’t want them to give anything away with an expression or say anything.” His cell appeared in his hand.
“Give them the description of that fuckin’ chick. I know she’s got somethin’ to do with them. Maybe she’ll show up there.” I realized the possibility of that woman being associated with the Reapers was almost a given, but the chances she’d show up at the fight were probably low.
“I doubt… you know, never mind. I’m not gonna doubt anything from here on out.” Tripp yanked open the door and disappeared inside.
“Chels knows what she looks like,” I shouted after him, right before the door closed.
I stood there motionless for what felt like forever, even though I realized it was only minutes. When was Prez gonna release us to take down the Reaper locations and search for the women? Was he waiting for another call from Griller before doing anything? Or was he banking on the element of surprise.
Looking around the lot, I didn’t see him anywhere, but the second I opened the door to go inside and join the others, I heard an eruption of voices coming from Chambers, betting Ryder was doing most of the yelling.
I stepped inside the room; the look Zoe’s dad shot me prompting me to nod. We were on the same unspoken page, needing to strike now if we had any chance of getting them back alive.
40
“Any word on Cutter yet?” Trigger asked, looking more worried by the second, a sentiment we all shared. They’d carted him off still unconscious, and with him being so close to the blast, we didn’t have a clue as to what kind of condition he was in. Add his age on top of it all, and all we could do was hope for the best until we heard something.
“Addy texted me and said they took him right into surgery.” Stone typed out a message on his cell, then hit the side button to blacken the screen.
They’d only been gone for forty-five minutes and it took nearly twenty minutes to get to the hospital, so I was relieved to hear they’d started working on him right away. At least he was still alive.
“Are we sure that cruiser is gone?” Ace fidgeted next to me, bouncing his leg so fast he intensified my unease.
Right after they hauled the van away and had talked to everyone present, the lead detective told us they would have a unit posted nearby in case the explosion was deliberate, which we knew it was. It took some convincing, but Prez succeeded in telling him we didn’t need anyone watching over us, that we’d be fine. Besides, we
didn’t need anyone hanging around. Cops watching our comings and goings would only lead to suspicion.
“Last I checked,” Hawke responded, looking as wound up as the rest of us.
“So, what now?” I all but barked the question. “Who is gonna stay here and who is goin’ to which location?” To say I was on edge was the understatement of the year. I barely had the wherewithal to form a fucking thought inside my jumbled brain, let alone ask a question, and a meaningful one at that.
My anger coursed through me in waves, jolting me when I thought about Zoe’s possible condition, both physical and emotional.
The door swung open as Marek opened his mouth to speak, Jagger and Linc hurrying inside. My heart hit my stomach because I thought Tag or Kaden were barging in because there was another issue. They’d been asked to stand guard due to the destruction of the gates, both armed with more than one weapon.
“What the fuck?” Jagger mumbled, shaking his head, standing near the entryway to the room, his eyes wide with disbelief. “How’s Cutter?”
“Still in surgery,” our VP answered, rising from his seat to approach his son, who was a step behind Jagger. “What happened at the fight?” Stone reached out to touch Linc’s face, but our fighter pulled back at the last second, his dad’s arm falling to his side.
“I lost.” A shadow of a forming bruise darkened beneath his left eye, but it was his right that held my focus. Typically, after any of Linc’s fights, he had a black eye or split lip, sometimes bruising around his ribs, but since he had a shirt on, I couldn’t determine if there was damage to that area of his body. But this time, and I was sure it was because he had to make the bout look believable when he lost, he’d allowed his opponent to leave him with a cut and swollen right eye.
Stone scowled, looking like he wanted to inquire about the injuries but held back. “I know that. Did you see any of them?”
