Holding On: Ruthless Sinners MC

by L. Wilder

  “You thinking about what happened tonight?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Okay, then. What’s got you so tense?”

  His voice was low and filled with turmoil as he answered, “Just ready for this to all be over so we can get on with our lives.”

  “I completely understand.” I rolled over to face him. “I feel the same way. So, what can we do about it?”

  “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

  “I wish you would just listen to my idea.” I laid my head down on the pillow next to him as I snuggled a little closer. “I really think it could work.”

  “Where did you come up with this idea of yours anyway?”

  “It just kind of came to me.” With a giggle, I admitted, “I watch a lot of CSI, and I’ve learned a thing or two.”

  “This isn’t some TV show, Remington. You’re talking about your life here, and I don’t want anything putting you in danger.”

  “I wouldn’t be in danger. At least, no more than I’m in now with that Detective Mathews still out there looking for me.” I glanced up at him. “Besides, it would be a quick in-and-out kind of thing. And you and your brothers would be there to make sure nothing happened.”

  “Okay, give me this idea of yours.”

  “Well, it’s pretty simple. We just make it look like Detective Mathews kidnapped me.”

  “And how are we supposed to do that?”

  “Well, first we’ll need to know where he lives or if there is some secret property that he owns. Once we get that info, the rest is pretty simple.”

  I went on to tell Noah everything about my plan, and to my surprise, he didn’t tell me it was crazy or that there was no way in hell we would ever do it, but he didn’t tell me we would either. Instead, he simply leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll think about it.”

  As much as I wanted to push harder to convince him it could work, I decided it was best to leave it alone. His arm, on the other hand, was a different matter. I skimmed the top of the bandage with my fingertips. “I don’t like that someone hurt you, Noah. It scares me.”

  “This isn’t the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last.” He gave me a quick kiss before saying, “It’s late. Get some rest.”

  And just like that, our conversation was over. Noah closed his eyes, and it wasn’t long before he drifted off to sleep. I, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep for the life of me. With my mind racing, I tossed and turned the entire night, and when morning came, I was tired but eager to get on with my day. Being careful not to wake Noah, I eased out of bed and started to get dressed. I’d just slipped on my shorts when Noah opened one eye and grumbled, “Where do you think you’re running off to?”

  “I thought I’d go down to the kitchen and get us some coffee.”

  “And what if I wanted you to stay here in this bed?”

  “Then, I’d say I’ll get back in bed with you once I go get us some coffee?”

  “Alright, then. Hold on,” he said as he threw back the covers. “I’ll go with you.”

  “You don’t have to come, Noah. I’m capable of getting it myself.”

  “I’m well aware.” He put on his jeans and added, “I need to check in with Viper anyway, and while we’re down there, we can grab a bite of breakfast.”

  “Okay, I could make us some eggs or something.”

  “Doubt that will be necessary.”

  “Why’s that?”

  After putting on his boots, he slipped on his cut and said, “You’ll see.”

  I followed him out the door and down the long, narrow hallway. I was still trying to get used to the clubhouse. I’d really only been in the infirmary, the room where I’d stayed after the attack, and the bar. Until now, I hadn’t realized that there were so many different bedrooms, or that there was a large family room with an oversized kitchen in the back. It was pretty cool. I could see why Noah liked it here. When we walked into the kitchen, a bunch of the guys were sitting at the table eating breakfast while several scantily dressed women were scurrying around the stove cooking. I looked over to Noah with a curious expression on my face. “Who are they?”

  Before he could answer, a beautiful brunette wearing bright purple scrubs came up behind us and answered, “Don’t mind them. They’re just the club girls. They help the guys out with the cooking and the cleaning.”

  “Oh.”

  “I don’t believe we’ve met.” She extended her hand and said, “I’m Delilah, Hawk’s ol’ lady.”

  “Oh, hey. I’m Remington.”

  “I thought so.” She glanced over at Noah. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  As we continued towards the table, Widow looked over to us and said, “Perfect timing. Pancakes just came off the griddle.”

  “Oh, man. Pancakes are my favorite. I wish I could stay.” Delilah leaned down and kissed one of the men on the cheek, then said, “I’ve gotta get to work.”

  “Bye, babe. I’ll see you when you get home.”

  Before leaving, Delilah turned back to me and said, “I hate that I have to rush off, but we’ll get together soon. We’ve got lots to talk about.”

  “Okay, I’ll look forward to it.”

  Once she left, Noah pulled out a chair for me, and after I was seated, he sat down next to me. I glanced around the table, noting all the friendly smiles. I’d met Country, Rafe, and Widow, but there were several I’d never laid eyes on before. Country picked up on the fact that I was feeling a little uneasy, so he leaned towards me and whispered, “Don’t worry. They might look a little rough around the edges, but they don’t bite.”

  “Well, thanks for letting me know.”

  Country used the end of his fork to point around the table as he said, “Big guy on the end is Ransom. The guy with all the tats? His name’s Menace. Be wary of him. That guy can fuck you over in ways you can’t imagine, and this here”—he patted the shoulder of the man next to him—“is our VP, Axel.”

  “Nice to meet you all.”

  They each nodded with a smile, then continued eating and talking amongst themselves. Noah and I each made ourselves a plate, and we’d just started to dive in when Viper walked in. I was already feeling a little nervous being around all the guys for the first time, but seeing him brought my anxiety to a whole new level. I watched silently as he strolled over to one of the girls and whispered something in her ear. A bright smile crossed her face as she beamed up at him and nodded. After giving her a quick pat on the rear, he walked over to the table and sat down in front of me. The guys said their good mornings to him, then returned to their idle conversations. Unlike the others, I wasn’t talking or eating. I was too fixated on the man sitting in front of me, hoping he wouldn’t notice me sitting there, but no such luck.

  His eyes met mine as he said, “You look like you’re doing better.”

  “I am. Thanks to you and your brothers.”

  “Glad we could help.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ve heard you and Widow had an interesting conversation last night.”

  “Um.” My eyes nervously skirted over to Widow as I answered, “Yes, sir. I did. I hope I didn’t overstep by talking to him about it.”

  “Wasn’t you who overstepped.”

  I did my best not to stare as the girl walked over and placed a plate of food on the table and winked. “There you go, handsome.”

  “Thanks, doll.”

  A jealous twinge came over me when the pretty blonde looked across the table at Noah and purred, “What about you, Shotgun? Can I get you anything?”

  “He’s good,” I answered for him. “He’s got everything he needs. Thanks, though.”

  With a forced smile, the girl gave Shotgun a nonchalant shrug, then turned and walked back over to join her friends. I don’t know what came over me. I’d never acted like one of those jealous girlfriend types, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Clearly amused by the spectacle, the guys started snickering. After several moments, Country leaned forward and said, “Ye
p, I knew I was gonna like her. That one right there is whiskey in teacup.”

  “Glad you approve,” Noah scoffed as he shook his head. “My day has been made.”

  The guys started laughing once again, and I might’ve been wrong, but I was pretty sure Noah chuckled a time or two himself. When the laughter died down, Viper took a drink of his coffee, then looked at me and said, “I gotta say, I was a little intrigued by your whole kidnapping idea.”

  “You were?” A smile crept over my face as I turned to Noah and said, “Well, I’m glad to know somebody was.”

  “I’ll admit, it’s a little far-fetched, but if we played it right, it could actually work.”

  “It’s too dangerous, Prez,” Noah argued. “Besides, there are too many fucking plot holes.”

  “Such as?”

  “Too many loose ends to keep her alive. He would’ve killed her immediately and ditched her body. Made sure it didn’t come back to bite him in the ass.” Noah’s tone was stern and unforgiving as he continued, “The cops are gonna have questions that she’s not gonna be able to answer. Like who fed her? Did he beat her? Did he rape her? Fuck. The questions will be endless.”

  The room fell silent as everyone at the table considered what he’d said. I thought that would be the end of my crazy idea, but it seemed Noah’s brothers weren’t ready to give it up. After several moments, Hawk ran a hand over his face with a low, muffled grunt, then said, “We can make it look like she was drugged or something. It would help explain why she didn’t know anything.”

  “You want to drug her? Are you fucking kidding me?” Noah snarled.

  “I’m not talking about a full-on drug overload. Just enough for the doctors to find a trace amount in her blood stream,” he answered defensively. “You know Doc can come up with something.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” I answered. “And as far as who was watching over me, why don’t we say he had one of those gang members do it? Maybe even the one you’ve got chained up around here somewhere? We could say it was him.”

  Widow looked apprehensive as he looked over to Noah and said, “You’re not gonna like it, but if we do this, we’re gonna have to make her look a little worse for wear. Give her some dingy clothes and a couple bruises here and there.”

  “What the fuck do you mean by bruises?” Noah growled. “No one’s putting their hands on her.”

  “Easy there, killer. I’m not talking about a full-on throwdown, but she can’t come out of there looking like she’s been on a fucking vacation for the past few weeks.”

  “What the fuck are you saying?” Shotgun slammed his fist down on the table in a rage. “That’s enough. We’re not doing this shit. No one is drugging her and putting fucking bruises on her.”

  “Noah, it’s okay. I can do this. It’s just a few bruises.” I leaned over and whispered to him, “I could do it to myself, but—”

  “Hold on, you two,” Viper scolded. “No one knows the Punishers roughed her up. We’re the only ones who know that, so we can get away without the fucking bruises.”

  “He’s got a point there.” I smiled and said, “I guess I won’t have to get roughed up after all.”

  “Maybe not, but there’s still a problem with this whole plan of yours,” Widow interjected. “How are we gonna get the cops over there, and who’s to say they won’t sweep it under the rug like they’ve done everything else where this Mathews guy is concerned?”

  “I’ve still got everything I was able to pull off of Long’s computer. With that and Remington’s kidnapping, it’ll be enough to put him behind bars for a good long while,” Menace replied. “But Widow’s right. Been looking into Long’s partner. Way I see it, he could’ve gotten his hands on the information Long had on Mathews and that would’ve been the end of it. Clearly, he didn’t, and there’s probably a reason why. I don’t know who we go to, but if we don’t get all this in the right cop’s hands, we’re fucked, and all this shit will be for nothing.”

  Viper leaned back in his chair as he announced, “Looks like it’s time to start calling in favors.”

  “You think you’ve got someone who can help with this?” Noah asked sounding hopeful.

  “Absolutely.”

  “See. It’s all coming together.” I nudged Noah with my elbow. “My plan wasn’t so bad after all.”

  “I’ll guess we’ll see soon enough.”

  Shotgun

  There was a lot I didn’t like about Remington’s plan. It was dangerous and borderline crazy. We were talking about breaking into a fucking cop’s house. And not only that, we were going to be drugging her, locking her inside, and crossing our fucking fingers the asshole didn’t show up while she was there. If that wasn’t enough, there were no guarantees that anyone would buy her story. More than anything else, I didn’t like that we didn’t have more time to plan. If this thing was going to work, we had to move fast. We needed to get Remington to Mathews’ place while he was busy investigating the explosion at the Tyson plant. Billy had done his job well. Not only had he removed the Punishers’ causalities from the scene, but he’d also made sure to leave no trace of evidence behind, making Mathews’ job even more difficult. Knowing he’d be there for most of the day, we set Remington’s plan into action.

  While Menace got busy gathering everything he could find on the layout of Mathews’ place, Doc took Remington down to the infirmary and helped her get ready. I gotta admit, when she stepped out from behind that curtain, she definitely looked like she’d been held captive for the past couple of weeks. Her hair was a tangled, matted mess, and there were dirt smudges all over her clothes and face. An unsure expression crossed over her when she asked me, “Well, what do you think?”

  “I think you did good.”

  “Really?” She stepped closer and extended her hands, then said, “Doc helped me dirty up my fingernails and added oil to my hair to make it look like it hadn’t been washed in a while.”

  “Good idea.” As I looked down at her, my stomach was in knots. Even though I knew my brothers would be there watching over her, I hated the idea of putting her at risk. I knew what it was like to lose someone I loved, and I didn’t have it in me to go through that again. “We can find another way around this, Remington.”

  “I’m sure you can, but this will work. I feel it in my gut. You just have to trust me.”

  “I do trust you.”

  “Then, stop worrying so much, and let’s get this thing over with.” I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her towards me. I was about to kiss her when she held up her hand to stop me. “You don’t want to do that. I’m all gross, Noah.”

  “I don’t give a damn.” I crashed my mouth down on hers, kissing her long and hard. When I finally released her, I looked down at her and whispered, “You look beautiful to me. Always have. Always will.”

  “You’re crazy, but thank you.” She lifted up on her tiptoes as she gave me a quick kiss, then said, “Okay, now what?”

  “We’ll head over to Mathews’ place and assess the situation. There’s a large shed in the backyard and a basement. We won’t know which one will work best until we get there.”

  Doc stepped over to her and said, “I’m going to give you half a valium now, and a whole one when we get there. The half won’t knock you out, but it’ll help steady your nerves and get it into your blood stream. The second will most likely make you groggy, but with all the adrenaline that’ll be pumping through you, it’s doubtful that you’ll be completely knocked out.”

  “Okay.”

  “As soon as we have you in position, Viper will reach out to his contact, and it’ll just be a matter of waiting for the cops to show.” I had no doubt that Remington was starting to get freaked out, but she was fucking bull-headed and wouldn’t back out. Hoping to set her mind at ease, I placed my hands on her shoulders as I said, “Widow and Ransom are keeping an eye on Mathews, so we won’t have to worry about him just showing up, and even if he did, we’ll be right outside to make sure nothin
g happens to you.”

  “I know you won’t. I’m just ready to get this over with.”

  “We all are.” I glanced over to Doc as I asked, “You ready?”

  “Absolutely.”

  With that, the three of us left the infirmary and headed outside to join the others in the parking lot, where Menace was already in the SUV with Doc and Axel. Remington and I made our way over to mine, and I was pleased to see that Country and Hawk were already inside waiting for us. “Where’s Rafe?”

  Country pointed towards the clubhouse door and said, “Here he comes now.”

  As Rafe climbed into the SUV with me and Remington, he took one look at Remington and started to chuckle. “Damn, girl. You look worse than you did when Shotgun pulled you out of that dumpster, and you smelled better too.”

  “Thanks, Rafe.” Remington rolled her eyes. “You really know how to charm a girl.”

  “He knows all too well. Don’t ya, brother?” Country poked.

  “I’ve never had any complaints,” Rafe boasted.

  “Not sure Krissy would agree with that.”

  Rafe was about to respond when Shotgun held up his hand and said, “Don’t you two start that shit. I’m not in the fucking mood.”

  With that, the truck fell silent as we pulled out of the gate and followed Menace towards downtown. After a fifteen-minute drive, Menace pulled into an alley next to an old convenience store. He got out and walked over to my window. “I’m going to check things out.”

  “I’m coming with.” As I got out of the truck, I asked, “Did you kill the security system?”

  “Yeah, we’re good.”

  We continued down the small alley until we came up on a clearing where three houses stood relatively close together. Even though each one was a different color, they all still appeared similar in design. Each of them looked about the same size, two or three bedrooms, and they all had a concrete walkway that led to the front of the porch. There was an acre or so in the back, and each had an oversized shed. “Damn, which one is his?”

  “The gray one in the middle,” Menace said. “An old guy lives in the green one on the left with the ramp on the front steps, and a single mom with four kids lives in the one with the swing set in the front yard.” As he started towards Mathews’ driveway, a serious expression crossed Menace’s face. “We gotta be slick about this, brother. We don’t need the neighbors seeing us and tipping off Mathews.”