by KJ Dahlen
Could she fully trust him? Would her family find her now? If she gave Oden and his sons up, would they be able to escape and hunt her down like they were hunting down Sarah and her mother?
Suddenly, she got up and ran for the bathroom. Slamming the door shut, she heaved over the toilet. It was dry heaves as she hadn’t had anything to eat yet, but it didn’t help. Laying her head against the coolness of the wall, she closed her eyes and just sat there.
She was so involved in her own thoughts she didn’t hear him come in. She didn’t notice him at all until he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back out to the bedroom.
Sitting down in the chair, he held her in his arms for a long moment. Then he asked her, “Are you all right?”
Sydney nodded but still didn’t say anything. Then she looked over at him. She saw his concern and she had to smile slightly. “How did your phone call go?”
James shrugged. “They weren’t happy. Theo has a niece living in the area and she doesn’t know we’re here yet. Protocol says we should let them know we’re here.”
“Them?”
“She’s part of the local MC, the Sin’s Bastards. In fact, she’s married to one of the members. They protect Troy and its people. Bastian doesn’t think they will like the fact that we’re here at all, let alone doing what we’re doing here.”
Sydney pressed a hand into her belly to settle her stomach. “What do they want you to do?”
“Just stay where we are. They will come to us. That was the plan all along but they weren’t going to come in just yet. They were going to wait until we had something we could use before they showed up.” James shrugged. “When they heard about you, they decided to come sooner rather than later.”
“What about Sarah? Is she coming too?”
James nodded. “Theo won’t let her stay alone, he figures this way, she has protection not only from him but the MC as well.”
“And will they protect her?” Sydney wanted to know.
James nodded. “Yes, they will. And while we’re busy doing what we have to do, they will protect you and Sawyer too.”
Sydney bit her lower lip.
Just then, her belly growled and James chuckled. He tapped her thigh, “Come on sweetness, I’m about starved. Let’s go get some breakfast.”
Chapter Four
They went to the local Ihop for pancakes. Sydney groaned the scents inside when they arrived.
James smiled as he noted her groan. God dammit, she was so cute.
When her plate of pancakes arrived, she moaned as she inhaled the sweet scent of pancakes. She smeared butter all over then poured maple syrup over them. The golden brown cakes were light as air when she started eating them and several occupants around her smiled at her enthusiasm as she attacked her stack.
James had to smile as well as he watched them disappear. Then the door opened and Sam ‘Bones’ Tory walked in. The smile left his face when he spotted him.
Sam walked over to their table and pulled out a chair. He glared at him for a moment, then turned to stare at Sydney.
She set her fork on her plate and looked down.
James growled at the other man’s intrusion. “Why are you here?”
“Why are you here without telling us?” Sam growled back. “What are you guys here to do now? Deke isn’t going to like the fact you didn’t call first.”
James shrugged. “We didn’t get here until very early this morning and I haven’t had time to call him. Theo and Bastian are on their way. They were going to get in touch with Deke when they arrived.”
“Who is this?” Sam nodded at Sydney. He took note of her hair color and her eyes.
“My woman.” James gritted his teeth.
“Does your woman have a name?”
“Her name is Sydney Cross.”
Sam started at the name. Turning his head, he stared at her carefully. Looking around the restaurant, he got to his feet. “You mean Sydney Dell, right? You’d better come with me. She isn’t safe on the streets.”
Sydney gazed fearfully at James and shivered. The old fears she lived with rose in her. Her nausea was back only this time she wouldn’t be dry heaving.
James went on alert instantly. “What makes you say that?” he asked slowly.
“We got outsiders in town,” was all Sam would say.
James nodded and got to his feet. “We got to go sweetness.”
Sydney got up as well. She looked slightly green now. But she took a deep breath and stood a little taller. Combatting the nausea she met his eyes with a look that told him she was ok, more than ok, she would survive. “I’m ready.” She reached her hand out and took his. She let him lead but followed him closely.
Sam brought up the rear.
Once outside he told them, “You’ll be staying at the compound. Deke will want you close to him. Theo and Bastian as well.”
James nodded. “Ok but we have a job to do here and he won’t tell us we can’t do it.”
“We’ll see about that.” Sam glared at him.
“This job has nothing to do with Troy,” James assured him. “But it is important.”
“Tell it to Deke.” Sam shook his head. “I’m just the messenger here.”
“We need to stop by the motel and gather our belongings.”
Sam swung his leg over his bike and nodded. “I’ll wait.”
“As most of my equipment is still in my car, we don’t have that much to gather. I have to call Theo and Bastian anyway and let them know where they can find us.”
“God damn Bane being here...” Sam shivered. “OK....” He reached for Sydney and grasped her wrist. “Get your shit and meet us at the hot rod shop, we got to get her off the fucking streets and now.” He hauled her to the back of his bike.
Sydney glanced back at James in a panic then her eyes widened as she saw what was behind him. She turned around and grabbed onto Sam. Holding on took effort but when he pulled away, she was cuddled right up tight against him.
James watched as they rode away then slowly turned around and looked at what she’d been staring at.
Two men stood there looking perplexed. They hadn’t seen Sydney and now, they never would.
James brought out his phone and took their picture then slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Going to his car, he got in and headed for the motel. He quickly gathered their things and checked out, then made his phone call to Theo and Bastian. They weren’t happy with the changes, as they wanted to wait until they got there to call in Deke but when he told them Sydney’s family was there, they understood his situation.
He was almost positive the men he saw on the street were part of her family. They all shared the chocolate brown hair and grey eyes she had. He only prayed Sam would keep her safe until he got there.
The only difference between them was the boys looked a lot meaner than Sydney could ever be. That and the fact that it appeared as if they had led a hard life. Their clothes could have been neater, less dingy and they could have at least combed their hair. He could see their meanness from where he stood.
If those two were her brothers, it isn’t any wonder she ran away. She was very lucky to survive the beating she told him about. When he pulled out of the parking lot of the motel, he kept one eye on the road and the other on the surroundings he found himself in.
He took the long way around the city in case he was being followed and when he pulled into Morgan’s Brothers hot rod shop, he drove right into the shop. When he got out of the vehicle, he found Sam and Mountain waiting for him.
“What the hell is going on here? How did you know we were even here?” James demanded.
Sam crossed his arms over his chest and just glared at the man. “We got eyes on the streets son.”
James leaned against his car and nodded. Running his fingers through his hair he asked, “Ok I’ll give you that but how did they find us so fast?”
Sydney joined them and went to stand next to James. “My father has ey
es in Glen’s Falls too. Could be a Raider and maybe even one of the Devils must have seen me and tracked us here.” She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment.
“Just who would put out a bounty on you, young lady?” Sam asked. “That’s why I pulled you off the streets so fast. You’re worth 50,000 dollars.”
Sydney opened her eyes and Sam could see the terror in them. “Flynn Dell. He’s my dad. He runs Glen’s Falls.”
Sam growled. “Your dad is having you hunted down? Dammit, that fucker is just too much!”
“You know her dad?” Mountain asked as his brothers gathered around.
Sam looked like he wanted to hit something, hit it hard and destroy it. “Yeah, I know the bastard. I ran into him once about twenty years ago when I was on a run back in Maine. The cocky little fucker was just getting his foot in the door in Glen’s Falls. Me and four other guys were traveling through there. We weren’t even going to stop in town that day just go straight through town and meet our contact in Saratoga Springs when Flynn and his guys stopped us before we even hit town. They were standing in the road blocking our passage and Flynn demanded a toll. He wanted a hundred bucks for each of us to go through.” Sam rolled his eyes. “We told him to fuck off and tried to go right through him. One of his men pulled out a gun and shot my lieutenant in the shoulder and again Flynn demanded his fucking money. Wasn’t nothing I could do when he had five guns trained on us but pay the man.”
“Now, I remember you,” Sydney told him in the quiet that surrounded them after Sam told his story.
Sam turned his head to glare at her. “What the fuck you mean by that girl? You weren’t there.”
Sydney hung her head for a moment then raised her eyes to him. “Yes, I was there as was my brothers. We were all there as he made us watch his rise to power in that dirty little town. I was only six at the time and I almost screamed look out but my brother Liam held his hand over my mouth. Liam, Archie and Nash just stood there watching with an unholy gleam in their eyes. There was nothing I could do to stop what was happening.”
“You remember something that happened when you were only six years old?” Mountain asked softly. “I suppose it was traumatic enough you would remember it but still, most kids wouldn’t’ remember every detail.”
James shook his head. “She has an eidetic memory, she remembers everything.”
Sam stared at her. “Everything?”
Sydney nodded but didn’t say anything.
James brought out his phone and showed her the picture of the two men he took before he left IHOP. “Who are these jokers?”
Sydney shook as she looked at the picture on his phone. Hot tears ran down her face as she stared into the cruel eyes of her two oldest brothers. “It’s Liam and Archie.”
“Why did they follow you two down here?” Mountain asked.
Sydney turned to the big man and said, “To put a bullet in my head.”
No one said a word as they digested her statement.
Finally, Byron asked, “They would kill their own sister?”
Sydney nodded. “They would, my father will expect no less from them or anyone he has power over and that includes the Raiders or the Blue Devils.”
“Question is why?” Sam finally asked.
“When my mother was still alive, my father had no idea I could remember everything I ever saw or read. My mom had me keep that part of me to myself. My dad was a bastard even back then. She never wanted him to know about that or she was sure he would use that against everyone he met. He found out when I was fourteen and he was so mad at her, he beat her to death. One day, she was there and the next she was gone. The boys were almost fully grown by then and they would test me all the time. They couldn’t believe I could remember every little detail. When I was sixteen, my dad wanted me to slip into the Blue Devils compound and get their secrets, so he could blackmail them into working for him. Nash got me in and broke into their safe and I did what I was told. When we went back to my dad, I gave him just enough to satisfy him but no more.” She gazed up at Sam and looked him straight in the eye. “I wanted nothing to do with them after that. I knew if I got caught, he would let me rot in jail to cover his own ass. After a beating he told my brothers to give me, I packed a few clothes and left when I could walk again. I had to be very careful because if anyone caught me, my dad would have beat me so bad, that I might not make it through. He always hated me because I was a girl and he wanted all boys but after my mom didn’t tell him about what she called my gift, he hated me even more.”
The men in the shop all shook their heads in disgust.
James tucked her closer to him protectively.
“The night I left though, I made a phone call to the police. I dropped a dime on my brother Nash and the police picked him the next morning on a robbery charge. He ended up going to jail for close to a year. My dad was super pissed. I knew I was dead to him then and I heard via the underground he put out a hit on me.” She turned to James. “That’s why I didn’t want to go back to Glen’s Falls. My father has that fucking town wired for sound. I’ve hidden from them for ten years and now, he knows exactly where I am. He won’t stop until I’m dead and everyone who helps me is dead as well.”
The quiet in the garage fell hard as the men all stared at her.
She turned to Sam and motioned toward his vest. “He’ll take on your MC again. He doesn’t think he can be touched, not by you and not by the police. He’s got everyone in power under his control.”
Sam just stared at her for a moment then turned to Mountain and his brothers. “We need to let Deke know this shit. If we’re going to war with this prick, he needs to know why, so we can get prepared.” He looked over at James. “You need to get her to the compound and quick. At least there we can protect her better than we can here.” Looking back at Mountain he ordered, “Start making calls and get the women back to the compound. I’d rather overreach right now and get them under protection than leave them out there defenseless. Give Amos a call and have him get Cassie and Peaches under wraps.”
Mountain nodded and walked back to the office to begin making his calls.
Sam looked back over at James and Sydney. “Come on, let’s get you undercover too. You’ll be safer at the compound.”
Sydney turned her head and looked beyond the opened door. The parking lot and street behind it seemed quiet but she could feel eyes watching her. Suddenly, she saw a rustling high in the tree across the way. She couldn’t tell what if anything made the leaves rustle but she knew something or someone was there waiting.
She moved quickly to stand in front of James and pushed him away at the last second then the quiet was shattered by the sound of a gunshot. She screamed as she grabbed her shoulder and fell to the floor.
Sam and the others pulled out their weapons as they rushed to stand on either side of the main doorway and peeked outside.
One of Mountain’s brothers began passing out more weapons.
James scrambled to pull Sydney out of the line of fire while Sam bellowed, “Did anyone see where the shot came from?”
Sydney winced in pain and held her hand over the wound. Blood ran through her fingers and dripped to the floor. “He’s in the tree out to the right at the edge of the street,” she gritted out through the pain.
Sam and the boys aimed at the tree and began shooting.
Four shots later, a body fell from the one of the lower branches. Another man dropped from the tree on the left and ran away.
Mountain got another shot off and it hit him but the guy kept running.
The man on the ground screamed as he writhed around in pain. “You mother fuckers shot me!”
Sam walked out along with Chance and Byron. When they got close, enough Sam looked down at the wounded man. It was one of Sydney’s brothers but he didn’t know if he was Liam or Archie. He’d taken a bullet to his leg and a graze to his shoulder.
Sam reached down, got ahold of his weapon and gave the man a kick to
his wounded leg.
The man screamed and began swearing.
“Oh, shut the fuck up you big baby.” Sam sneered. “What the hell did you expect? You shot first.”
The man glared up at him. “I’m talking to a dead man right now. My father will bring his army down here and wipe your club off the face of the earth.”
Sam squatted down to his level. “If he does, you won’t be alive to see him. And if he tries, you’ll meet him in hell soon enough.”
Chapter Five
James scooped Sydney up in his arms then carried her further back into the shop and out of the line of fire. He took her into the lunch room. She was crying silently and shaking. “What the fuck were you thinking woman?” he scolded her.
“He was aiming right at your chest,” she whispered through her tears.
Chance was standing there waiting for him with a first aid kit and a basin of water. “Set her down here and we’ll see what we’re dealing with.”
James set her down on top of the table. Then he tore her sleeve apart and he could see the hole in her flesh. Stepping back, he let Chance get closer.
Chance wiped the blood off her arm and lifted it to check the other side. Another hole was there. He looked over at James. “It’s a through and through. The bullet isn’t inside her at any rate. He began mopping up the blood from her arm and putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.
James went to stand on her other side and Sydney buried her face in his belly. She tried not to make a sound as that always irritated her family. She hated the sight of blood especially her own so she never looked at it. When she felt Chance wrap the binding around her upper arm, she felt the tightness and then James wrapped his arm around her. “Hush now girl, it’s over,” he whispered in her ear.
