by Jade Kuzma
I clenched my jaw. My phone tight in my palm, I glanced down at it and desperately waited for a response from my brother I knew wasn’t coming.
“Get out of the car!”
“All right!” I said, as I put my hands up. “Just… Just please don’t hurt me.”
“Follow my instructions and there’ll be nothing for you to worry about.”
I swallowed anxiously as I slowly got out.
Just my luck. I drove to the one road in Ivory where nobody else is…
The man standing in front of me towered over me. He was as thick as a tree, his stare more menacing than any man I could remember. I kept my hands up while he snatched my phone out of my hand. The other man continued pointing his gun at me.
“Just do as you’re told and you won’t get hurt,” the man with the gun said.
“W-what do you want?” I stuttered. “Do you want money? Are you gonna rape me? I don’t think you guys know who you’re dealing with. When my brother finds out—”
“Your brother isn’t the one calling the shots anymore.”
The man put something over my mouth and held it to my face. It was a rag. The smell was so pungent, so powerful.
I struggled only for a second before everything went pitch black.
Chapter 8
BLAKE
The club had several warehouses where we conducted our business. Most of our meetings were held at the clubhouse but the club had enough money to own different properties in Ivory.
Spare parts.
Extra equipment.
A bit of booze when we wanted to drink.
The club had property when we wanted to conduct really private business. And nobody in town knew where it was.
As I sat in a room in the small storage warehouse, I clenched my jaw. My index finger pressed against my temple.
There was nothing inside of the room except for some chairs and a table, so I couldn’t distract myself with anything. There was a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling. It was just enough to see Ghost sitting there in front of me.
He was calm. He was always calm. It was easy to understand why he and Garnet were the two guys in charge of the club. But considering Garnet just abducted someone, Ghost was probably the most rational man in the club now.
“Where’s Garnet?” I asked.
Ghost remained in his set, his legs crossed as he stared forward at the wall in front of him.
“Michelle is in the hospital,” he said, not looking at me. “If there’s any chance that Harris is responsible for what happened to Michelle, it wouldn’t be a good idea to have Garnet in the same room as Harris’s sister.”
“How is she doing?”
“She’s stable. The doctors say she has a 50-50 shot.”
“Shit…”
“It could have been a lot worse though. She’s lucky that she’s still alive now.”
“She’s a tough girl. I’ve known Michelle for as long as I could remember.”
“She and Garnet… I think she’ll make it just because Garnet needs someone to keep nagging him.”
“I’m pretty sure she would be nagging him if she were a ghost.”
“Even in the afterlife, she wouldn’t give it a rest.”
Ghost and I managed to find a way to laugh in the moment.
“Any word?” I asked.
“Not since they got her. Brawn and Petey are on their way with her now. Petey says she didn’t put up much of a fight.”
“Good. There’s no reason we have to hurt this chick.”
Ghost finally turned and looked at me.
“Who said anything about hurting her?” he said. “You make it seem like you’re the only one who doesn’t want to touch her.”
“We’re already kidnapping her. I’m sure that’s already hard enough on her.”
“Listen…”
Ghost stood up and walked toward me. I didn’t look at him. I never looked at him when I felt a lecture coming on.
“We’re just holding her until we get to the bottom of this,” he said. “Once Harris tells us the truth, then she’s free to go.”
“And what if Harris has something to do with this? What if he ordered a hit on Michelle? The feds are here and the Sheriff’s Department. Shit, man… We’re already in deep.”
“Exactly. We’re already in deep. We can’t back out now.”
I sighed a deep breath, shaking my head as I tried to get over what we were doing.
“We’ll have this chick back in her apartment by morning,” Ghost said.
He took his seat and the silence filled the small room again.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“About what?”
“Do you think Harris did it? The Cobras have never been our friends, even with a truce in place.”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to say. But my gut tells me that Harris isn’t stupid enough to pull something like this with the feds in town… What do you think?”
Ghost slowly turned toward me. I was just as unsure as he was. Before I could respond, his cell phone resting on the table next to us started to vibrate. Ghost snatched up his phone.
“They’re here,” he said to me.
I got out of my seat and opened the door to the small room. I heard the sound of the garage door opening and closing.
“I’ll wait here,” I said. “Go check on them.”
Ghost nodded and left the room. A few moments later, he was walking back into the room with Brawn. In his arms, he held a small woman in a plain top and a pair of jeans. Her body was lifeless with a black bag over her head.
“Over here,” Ghost said, directing Brawn.
Our burly enforcer set the small woman down on a chair at the side of the room and faced her toward us. Her body slumped forward with her head down.
“Watch out front,” Ghost said to Brawn.
The big man nodded and excused himself from the room. I closed the door and watched as Ghost started examining her.
“Is she all right?” I asked. “Is she dead?”
“She’s just fine… Brawn gave her just enough to knock her out until she got here… In fact…”
Ghost was bent down in front of her. As he reached for the black bag over her head, she began to stir. Ghost pulled the bag off and stood in front of her.
I couldn’t see her face because Ghost was standing right in front of her. I leaned up against the wall with my arms crossed. For some reason, there was this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I clenched my jaw and swallowed to keep it down but it didn’t go away.
I looked down as Ghost started to question her.
“There you go,” he said. “You’re all right.”
“W-what…”
I heard her stutter incoherently.
That voice…
One word but it sounded so familiar. I shook my head as Ghost continued.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Are you doing okay?”
“W-what’s going on? Who are you?”
That… voice…
I closed my eyes and tried to place her voice. Despite how cloudy her words were, it still sounded familiar.
Katrina?
It hit me suddenly.
I raised my head up and my eyes widened.
No… No, it can’t be…
I slowly walked forward, Ghost still in my path.
“Where am I?” she said.
“You’re somewhere safe. It’s all right. You have nothing to worry about.”
I kept moving toward the two of them until I finally saw her face.
It was her.
Katrina.
Some of her hair was messy over her face. Her clothes were disheveled. But it was her. The same pale-skinned angel I spent time with just a few nights ago.
And when she looked at me with those brown eyes of hers, they widened as it dawned on her just the same.
Shit.
I clenched my jaw as the realization hit me.
Katrina. We kidnap
ped fucking Katrina Harris. Even if she didn’t say anything, it all added up. She was born and raised her. She was back in town. And she knew what it was like dealing with a biker.
I couldn’t let Ghost find out. I couldn’t let him know that I already knew who she was.
She narrowed her eyes at me as Ghost continued his interrogation.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
She didn’t respond. She just kept staring at me. As I looked into her eyes, I saw the thoughts slowly forming in her head. First it was the realization that she knew me. But it was gone now, replaced by a growing anger I had to figure out how to deal with.
“Let me talk to her,” I said as I put a hand on Ghost’s arm.
“What?” he said, slightly confused.
“Let me talk to her. I’ll deal with her.”
“Needle, what are you doing—”
“Just let me handle this, okay?”
Ghost looked at me then shifted his gaze toward Katrina. A slight smile formed on his lips as he turned back to me.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” I said.
“…Don’t get any ideas now.”
“I don’t have any fucking ideas, all right? Just watch out front with Petey and Brawn.”
“If Harris finds out you raped his sister—”
“I’m not gonna fucking rape her, okay?”
I raised my voice slightly. Ghost put his hands up defensively.
“Okay, okay,” he sighed. “Calm down. Just make sure you get some answers.”
“I’ll get ‘em.”
Ghost eyeballed me as he left the room. As soon as the door clicked closed, I stared at Katrina, her hands and ankles tied as she slumped in her seat.
“Blake… Blake, what the hell is going on?”
“You’re Katrina Harris. You’re Jordan Harris’s sister. Shooter’s sister…”
“Shooter,” she said with a short giggle. “He might be Shooter to everybody else but he’s just Jordan to me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me your brother was the fucking president of the Winter Cobras?”
“What?” she said as she shook her head. “Why the hell would I tell you that?”
“Because you knew I was in a club. And not every club is friendly with each other.”
“What are you saying? The Black Reapers… Do you guys have a problem with the Winter Cobras?”
“That’s one way of putting it…”
I ran my hand over my face and started pacing back and forth.
What the hell am I gonna do?
“Blake, what’s going on?”
I sighed as I looked at her. Katrina was innocent in all of this. I knew that much. The least I could do was explain the situation to her.
“Our club president, Garnet… His old lady is in the hospital. She got hit by a van that was owned by your brother.”
“Oh… Right. The police questioned my brother about it earlier this morning.”
“Did your brother have anything to do with it?”
“No,” she said adamantly. “I just talked to him. Jordan would never pull some stunt like that.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’ve known my brother my entire life. He wouldn’t put some innocent woman in the hospital.”
I looked into her eyes. From what I could tell, she was being honest. But that didn’t solve my dilemma.
“What’s this all about?” she said. “Why the hell did you kidnap me?”
“Garnet, my club president, is pissed. He thinks your brother is lying. He said to kidnap you, interrogate you, hold you for ransom until we got to the bottom of this.”
“I see… Well, there’s nothing to get to the bottom of. Jordan is innocent. You can let me go—”
“Hold on. It’s not that simple.”
“What? Are you saying that you don’t believe me?”
“I believe you. They won’t. If they find out I slept with you, they’ll tell me I’m not thinking straight. They’ll say you manipulated me.”
“But you know that’s not true. Blake, I’m telling the truth.”
I sighed again and shook my head.
“I can’t convince Garnet that easily,” I said. “As long as Michelle is in the hospital, he’s not gonna be thinking straight.”
“Stop messing around. You have to let me go.”
“It’s not safe for you. Something happened. And until Garnet gets to the bottom of this, you’ll never be safe. Even if Jordan had nothing to do with this, he’ll still want to hold you ransom until he gets some answers.”
“Oh, this is just fucking great…”
She rolled her eyes at me. I finally saw the frustration forming on her face.
I couldn’t just let her go. Garnet would be pissed at me and we wouldn’t be any closer to holding the answers.
I couldn’t keep her captive either. There was no telling what Garnet was capable of. With his old lady in the hospital, his head wasn’t in the right place.
“Blake, let me go.”
“I can’t. If your brother is responsible—”
“He’s not! Okay? I’m telling you, he had nothing to do with what happened to that woman. I’m sorry it happened to her but that’s the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter. Garnet won’t let you go until he gets his answers.”
“So, what are you going to do? Are you going to keep me tied up? Are you going to torture me until you get me to confess to something that didn’t even happen?”
“No, I can’t do that either…”
I knew what I had to do.
I moved closer to her and started undoing the binds around her ankles. I did the same with her wrists. As I knelt down in front of her, I looked into her eyes. Despite the circumstances, she was still the same angel I saw back when I first met her.
“We have to get out of here,” I said.
“Great. Take me back to my apartment. Maybe we can—”
“No. It’s not safe in Ivory for you. Not as long as Garnet is hellbent on getting his answers.”
“Let me talk to my brother—”
“You have two choices. You can either come with me or you can stay here. Going back to your brother is not an option.”
She gritted her teeth before reluctant agreeing with me.
“Fine,” she sighed.
I reached into my pocket and handed her my phone.
“Call your brother,” I said. “Tell him you’re fine. Tell him you’re just leaving town for a few days and not to worry about you.”
“I’m not going to lie to him—”
“You’re not lying to him. As long as you’re in Ivory, your life is in danger.”
“By your club president.”
I sighed a deep breath before responding.
“…By my club president.”
Katrina gritted her teeth before snatching the phone from me. She dialed on it with her eyes locked on me. After a few seconds, she started talking.
“Hey, Jordan. It’s me, Kat. I lost my phone and had to borrow it from someone. Just leaving a message and letting you know that I’m going out of town for a few days. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m fine… I love you…”
I took my phone back from her and stuffed it into my pocket.
“You know, that big guy took my phone,” she said. “It would be a lot easier to trust you if I had it.”
“I’ll get it back for you. Come on.”
“My brother won’t be happy,” she said. “What if he calls the cops?”
“He won’t call the cops.”
“But what if he does?”
“He wears a patch. He knows better than to get the pigs involved.”
I put a hand on her arm and raised her up from the seat.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Where are we going?”
I looked down into her eyes and the realization of what I was doing hit me.
I never thought I woul
d have to leave the club behind. But for now, I had no other choice. It was the only way to keep Katrina safe.
“We’re leaving Ivory,” I said. “Once this all dies down, I’ll bring you back.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Garnet is intent on starting a war if he has to. If this doesn’t die down, we won’t be coming back.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’ll be nothing left of Ivory to come back to.”
Chapter 9
BLAKE
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Calm down.”
“What the fuck are you doing?”
He repeated the question like he hadn’t heard me, a little louder the second time. Even when he was being irrational, Garnet did a good job of keeping his voice down.
Not that it mattered. He was too far away now to threaten me with anything. He knew yelling at me wasn’t gonna solve anything.
“It’s gonna be a few days, maybe less, before Harris realizes his sister is missing,” I said. “Once he realizes that, he’s gonna start looking for answers. The same answers you’re looking for.”
“He isn’t gonna find them.”
“That doesn’t matter. Once they find Katrina’s car, people will start searching for her. Harris is gonna be pissed.”
“Not as pissed off as me. Needle, you’re making this shit worse. You need to bring her back.”
“If I bring her back, all I’m doing is putting her in the line of fire. You’re pissed because Michelle is in the hospital. Pretty soon Harris is gonna be pissed because his sister is missing.”
“And what the fuck are you doing to help the situation?”
“I’m forcing his hand,” I said. “I’m forcing his hand the best way I can. You have to…”
I couldn’t believe what I was telling him. But as I looked at Katrina, I knew that there was no other choice.
“…You have to talk to him,” I said. “You have to negotiate. Tell him we have Katrina. Once we figure out who’s responsible for what happened to Michelle, he’ll see her again.”
There was silence on the other end. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Garnet hung up on me, but I could still hear his breathing on the other end of the line.
“You? You, Needle, want me to negotiate with the Snakes?”
“It’s the only way we’re gonna get some answers. Somebody knows what happened to Michelle. Maybe it was Harris. But if it’s not, he can still help you get the answers.”
