Our Secrets

by Erin Osborne

  “Why do you want me here?” I question, forgetting he’s going to hurt me for it.

  Scott laughs his ass off for a minute before pulling himself together.

  “I’ll finally clue you in. You’re gonna be sold off to the highest bidder. You think I’m sadistic and twisted, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The other women in the club will be joining you. It’s just a matter of time until we put everything in place,” he states, getting in my face. “I guess you should’ve been able to carry a baby to term because then you wouldn’t be suffering the same fate as those other skanks at the clubhouse. I guess it’s really your fault since you went there. If you had stayed away, they wouldn’t have been on anyone’s radar.”

  “Leave them alone!” I muster up enough energy to yell out.

  “You don’t give me demands!” he shouts back, backhanding me. “I’ll be back when I’m back. Remember what I said.”

  He lets go of me, causing me to drop to the scarred wooden floor. Splinters dig into my legs as I grimace out in pain. His laughter fills the still air as he leaves me in the room and heads for the door leading to freedom, fresh air, and everything I want to be heading home to.

  I wait a few minutes to let the pain subside. Once it’s to a bearable level, I crawl to the bed so I can use it to stand up. I’m dizzy as hell, the nauseous feeling overwhelming as I push the pain aside and rush toward the bathroom on the opposite side of the cabin.

  After taking care of business, I head toward the kitchen so I can begin cleaning up Scott’s mess. There are dirty dishes, takeout containers, pizza boxes, and beer bottles littering every available surface before beginning to fall to the floor. This is absolutely disgusting, and I want to lose the empty contents of my stomach once more. instead, I take a few deep breaths. Well, as deep as I can with messed up ribs. This is going to take me all day with moving slower than a snail.

  It’s been hours since Scott left and ordered me to clean the cabin. I’ve gotten it clean for the most part. There’s just a little more to do. However, he also demanded me to make sure there was a hot meal on the table for him when he walked through the door. Since I’m not sure when that will be, I wash my hands so I can begin to cook for him.

  After looking through the cupboards, I realize it’s slim pickings today. There is just enough stuff to make tuna noodle casserole. That will have to do for him because there isn’t a damn thing else I can make him. No meat left in the refrigerator or freezer and nothing to prepare as sides. If Scott doesn’t like it, he can kiss my ass.

  Grabbing what I need, I set about boiling the noodles. While they’re on the stove, I finish working on the rest of the mess Scott’s made while I’ve been laid up. It’s not easy to clean when you really only have one good arm because I’m sure one of them is broken. I’m also limping, and my body is on fire. Not the good kind from when you work out or something like that. A very bad kind where I have to stop so I can catch my breath.

  I’m done with the vacuuming when I finally give up. There is no way I’ll ever be able to finish the rest of the cabin before Scott gets back. I’ll be lucky to finish dinner in time. So, I head back to the kitchen after putting the cleaning supplies away to finish preparing his meal. I don’t give a fuck what he says, I’m eating something today. I’ve also been drinking water off and on all day. He can fuck right off. It’s nowhere near what I need, but it’s the best I can do.

  Once I drain the noodles, I use the pot they were cooked in since there isn’t a big enough pan to put in the oven. I don’t even think the oven works. It hasn’t once gotten up to temp since I’ve been here. Well, on the days I’ve cooked and tried to use it. I was also blamed for that. I truly don’t understand how it’s my fault if things don’t work in this crazy place.

  I’ve got everything mixed and cooking when I hear the crunch of dirt, gravel, and whatever else is on the ground. This means I have a few minutes to get things done and ready for him. Hopefully it’s cooked all the way through, so he doesn’t bitch. Yeah, I’ve been testing the food since I’ve been cooking it. The bites I’ve had are on the verge of scalding hot. Scott shouldn’t have a damn thing to complain about.

  Before he walks in the door, I’ve got his food dished up and a beer at the table for him. I’m just putting his silverware next to the plate when he bursts through the door. Stepping back from the table, I keep my eyes averted from him as he storms to the table. Scott doesn’t even pull his chair out and sit down as he takes his first bite.

  “What the fuck is this shit?” he shouts, spitting the food out on the floor I’ve just spent hours cleaning.

  Lifting my eyes, I watch as he picks the plate up from the table and flings it toward me. I barely manage to duck out of the way as the plate smashes into a million pieces against the cupboard behind me. Tears fill my eye because I know what’s about to happen now.

  “You stupid bitch!” he hollers, walking to the stove where the pot still remains.

  Scott picks it up and dumps is over the floor in front of the stove. Once he’s done, he uses his boots to smush it into the wood and small carpet in front of the sink. Walking back toward the table, he grabs his beer and walks to the living room. He sits down and turns the TV on.

  “Clean this shit the fuck up,” he orders as he turns his head to look back at me. “You’ve got fifteen minutes, or I’ll be beating your ass. Again. When will you ever fucking learn?”

  Tears pour down my face as my heart races, my body trembles in fear and pain, and I’m in worse pain because my breathing has picked up. It’s as if I can’t get enough air in my lungs to survive. Black spots dance before my swollen eyes as I reach out to the counter for support. Unfortunately, it’s with my arm that’s broken or badly damaged. I yelp out in pain as Scott begins to laugh his ass off.

  Bending slowly down, I begin to pick up the pieces of his plate to throw away. Once as many of the shards are tossed in the garbage, I grab the broom and dustpan to clean up the rest. Using the dustpan, I scrape most of the casserole off the floor into the pan so that can be thrown out.

  I must go over my time limit because before it’s all scrubbed out of the carpet, Scott is ripping me from the floor by my hair. He drags me back into the room so he can handcuff me back to the bed. Once I’m laying there, Scott begins to beat me. It’s not long before I’m surrounded by the blackness once more. The only place which gives me any salvation.

  Chapter Thirty

  Tags

  I’VE BEEN POURING over the maps of Willow Creek and surrounding towns looking for anything we may have missed. When I’m not out on the road or doing that, I’m going through Torch’s notes to find the name Presley. Scott kept murmuring it while he was in a psychotic rant. It’s been hours and Pyro has been helping me. Finally, I see what we’ve been looking for.

  Scott’s mom’s maiden name is Presley. Turning on the computers, Pyro and I begin pulling records under his mother’s name. After what feels like hours but is mere minutes, I find what we’re looking for. Pulling up the image on the computer of the address, I nudge Pyro so he can look at the screen with me.

  We’re looking at a rundown cabin with only one entrance and exit. That makes it extremely easy for us to breach the door and get in to get Scott. While everyone else is dealing with him, I’ll be going in search for Victoria. She’s the only concern I have. Pulling up Google Earth, we see one SUV sitting alongside the cabin. It’s covered by the forest and not easily visible from any spot. No one is covering the outside of the building either. Scott must be a complete dumbass not to have protection against us finding him.

  “Let’s get this shit to church,” Pyro orders as I begin printing everything off. “I’ll call Satan and have him send out the alert.”

  Nodding my head, I print off what we need to take with us. As soon as it’s done, I grab it all, pick up the laptop, and make my way out of Torch’s war room. That’s what I call it since it’s filled with computers and everything. Everyone who has never stepped foot in here
laughs their asses off. Torch simply smirks in response whenever it happens.

  Without stopping or trying to pull anyone along with me, I make my way toward the room we hold church in. Setting everything up, I take my seat waiting for everyone else to show up. My legs are bouncing, and I can’t seem to stop moving. For the first time since this all started, we have a solid lead on. I’m busting to leave here and make my way to my woman.

  Finally, everyone filters into the room and takes their seats. Torch and Pyro are the last to walk through the door. They walk over to me and take seats next to where I’m at. This is not their normal position, so I realize Torch wants to look over the information himself as we’re speaking.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Satan demands after calling church to order.

  “Found a cabin in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere listed under Scott’s mother’s maiden name. There’s an SUV parked alongside the buildin’ and I’m pretty sure it’s ours. This is where Victoria is,” I fill everyone in. “It’s four hours from here at least. Here’s what we see on Google Earth.”

  Turning on the connection to the laptop, I let everyone else absorb what we’ll be walking into. The woods are so dense surrounding the cabin we’ll have to be careful when we get close. It looks really easy to miss the turnoff location. We’ll be turning on a dirt road which resembles a path more than road. It’s overgrown and will be better hiking up through there. However, without knowing what condition Victoria’s in, I’m not willing to risk it.

  “What are you thinkin’?” Grinder asks me as he studies the image on our screen.

  “We need to take at least two vehicles all the way up there. It would be different if we knew what was happenin’ to Vic, but we don’t. You all know she’s pregnant and I’m not willin’ to risk her any more than she already is. I don’t think we should take our bikes on this one. Split us up into two vans and head out with all of our weapons and the toys these two want to play with,” I say, motioning with my head toward Torch and Pyro. “From there, we rush the cabin and find Victoria while Scott is bein’ entertained by the rest of you. From what I saw, her brothers should not be the ones to do that. I will.”

  “Anyone else got any ideas?” Satan questions, looking around the table.

  For the next hour we go over one plan after another. When we finally have something everyone can live with, we’re dismissed to load up with what we need. I’m the first one in the van waiting on everyone else. Torch and Pyro aren’t far behind me.

  I’ve been impatient the entire trip to this cabin. I’m in the back with Torch, Pyro, Satan, Gunner, and two Prospects. Everyone except for the three of us who love Vic seem relaxed and calm. While I know they’re getting in the mindset to take Scott down, they seem completely at ease. Unlike us; we’re jumping out of our skin with every passing mile.

  Finally, we’re pulling up to the cabin. Since we’re going in dark, the vans are left on the road leading up to the cabin. We don’t want Scott to know where here. If he gets the chance, I won’t put it past him to grab Victoria and use her as a shield. He won’t give a fuck about what her condition is as long as he gets free. I’m not letting him go free though. He’ll be brought into the clubhouse where I can take my time with him. Where Torch and Pyro can take their time with our new plaything.

  Walking up to the cabin, we carefully step up on the porch. I stand on one side of the door while Pyro takes up the opposite side. Torch is standing between us as we wait for everyone to get in position. Once we’re all ready, Torch boots the door in. I rush in first followed closely by Pyro. He races for Scott who’s trying to drunkenly stand up from the couch with a beer in hand. There’s drug paraphernalia sitting in front of him while his pants are undone, and his hand still wrapped around his limp dick.

  Scanning the interior, I race toward the left where the door is barely hanging on the hinges of the doorframe. Flinging open the door, my heart shatters in my chest. Victoria is lying on the bed, completely naked while her body is covered in dried blood, cuts, bruises, and gashes from what little I can see on her back. Her arm is laying at an odd angle and I know it’s broken. Tears fill my eyes as my gaze lingers on each and every mark on her usually perfect, porcelain skin.

  I race to her side but come up short since I don’t know what to do. There is no way in hell I’m going to intentionally do anything to hurt her.

  “I got her! Someone send Doc in here!” I call out, panic racing through me.

  Doc, Satan, and three other brothers race to my side as I hear the grunts and assault taking place in the other room. Torch and Pyro are already getting the party started. I’m not even upset I can’t join in.

  “Doc, what do we do?” I plead with him, turning tear filled eyes toward him for a brief second.

  He reaches out to check for a pulse. His face is grim as he leaves his fingers in place for a minute. Every now and then he shifts them around slightly. The feeling in my gut intensifies as I realize he’s trying to find her pulse.

  “Please, baby, stay with me. I need you with me. Both of you,” I plead, placing a soft kiss against her burning, grayish colored skin.

  She’s warmer than she should be. This is not a good sign. I’m guessing she has some sort of infection based on the temperature of her skin. It really doesn’t surprise me based on the numerous injuries covering her body.

  “There’s a pulse. It’s barely there, but I found it. We need to get her to the nearest hospital. Now,” Doc orders, looking down the length of her body. “I don’t want to chance puttin’ anythin’ on her body with her burnin’ up the way she is. Tags, we’re gonna place her in your arms. I need you to support her neck as best as you can. I’ll make sure her brothers are out of here and in the van with that twatwaffle, so they don’t see her like this.”

  Nodding my head, I prepare to have her body placed against mine. It will be the first time in over a week I’ll have felt her body against mine. Usually I’d be happy as fuck. Right now, I can only feel pain, despair, and rage filling me. I want to lay hands on the motherfucker who thought he could do this to my woman. I’ll have that chance when she’s better.

  Doc, Satan, Grinder, and Gunner lift her up in their arms. I’m even more filled with rage at their hands on her precious body. Even though I know not a single one of them are thinking of her as anything other than Torch and Pyro’s sister and my woman. They each have respect for her because of things she’s overcome lately. We all do.

  Once she’s in my arms, we race through the dilapidated cabin and toward the van. One of the Prospects is racing toward the house, so I don’t have to carry her very far. Capone opens the side door as I carefully climb in with her still in my arms. Capone, Grinder, Gunner, Doc, another Prospect, and Wrath climb in beside me.

  I stretch out as Doc and the guys get her in a comfortable position for our trek to the hospital. I’m not sure how we’re gonna explain this shit, but we’ll figure something out. We always do. For now, I only want to get her there so we can save her. Save our baby. While I want our baby, at this point, Victoria is more important. You can call me a selfish asshole for thinking that, but there’s no other way this works. Without her, the baby dies anyway. If they have to do something to save her life; they’re going to do it. That’s simply how I feel about the situation.

  “Be there in ten minutes. I’ll go as fast as possible,” the Prospect driving informs us. “I used to live here so I know exactly where I’m goin’.”

  “Thank you,” I murmur before turning my attention toward Victoria.

  The length of the drive, I murmur to Victoria. I’m not sure what the hell I’m saying to her. I only know for sure I’m pleading and begging her to be strong enough to survive this. To come back to her brothers, me, and family in the club. I want to have something to tell Torch and Pyro when they show up at the hospital.

  Before I know it, we’re pulling into the hospital. The Prospect riding in the passenger seat jumps out before we’re even stopped. He races back outsid
e with nurses pushing a stretcher. Opening the door, my brothers help me carry her out and place her on the stretcher so they can get her inside to begin fixing her. Doc races alongside them as we all follow them inside.

  I’m stopped outside the doors separating the waiting room and patient rooms. Instead of losing my shit, I know I have to let them help her instead of focusing on me losing my shit. I’ll only hinder the process. So, I take the clipboard shoved at me and sit down between Capone and Grinder. Wrath is pacing the room since he hates hospitals with a fucking passion. We all do for various reasons.

  The rest of the patients or family members are warily eyeing us as we take up one side of the room. Wait until the rest of our family show up. They’ll lose their fucking minds. Turning my eyes toward the paperwork, I fill it out to the best of my knowledge. Knowing her insurance hasn’t finished going through just yet, I put down my information for the responsible party section of the forms.

  Rushing toward the counter, I need to let someone know she’s pregnant. I’m not sure if Doc will remember to tell them since he’s already back there with her.

  “Can I help you?” the woman at the desk questions.

  “Um, the patient, Victoria, we just rushed in is pregnant. I’m not sure if anyone will know that back there. Can you please, please let someone know,” I plead, breaking down as my legs threaten to collapse.

  Suddenly two men are on either side of me holding me up. Barely registering it’s Torch and Pyro standing with me.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll make sure they know she’s pregnant. Are the forms done?”

  “We can worry about that shit later,” Pyro barks out, scaring the woman. “Let them know the information they need.”