“Sniper, what’s up, brother.” Rowdy slaps me on the back and snatches my bottle of whisky.
Rowdy is as his name says. He is the rowdiest motherfucker in the charter and he happens to be from our New Mexico chapter. He smells like ass, looks like ass, and his behavior is that of an asshole. His name should be ass. Straightforward fucking ass.
“Not much, Rowdy,” I slur. Maybe if I act too drunk he will go the hell away and bother someone else. I don’t want company. I am not sitting by my fucking self for the hell of it. I want to get wasted and fucking go to sleep without thinking. That is all I goddamn want. Is that so hard for some of these fuckers to understand?
“Not talkative, eh?” He chuckles.
Oh for the love of all my guns, go the fuck away!
“He’s moody today, Rowdy. Come visit with me.” Dizzy laughs. “I might spray ya down with my perfume, but I’ll be a friend for ya.”
Take the bait, dude, or I’m afraid I might put a bullet into your knee, brother.
Dizzy’s looks win him over and he walks away to go be with the lovely little black swan. I am able to save a bullet. Dizzy has always been pretty good at reading signals. She must have spotted my ‘I am gonna shoot him’ expression from across the room.
“Yo, you ain’t gonna give me a kiss, man?”
You got to be kidding me. Now I have to deal with Roger? I don’t fucking think so.
“Hey man, I got some shit I gotta do. Catch up later, yeah?” I trudge my way over to bar for another bottle before making my way to my room to drown and pass the hell out.
***
Chapter Eleven
Sniper
“All right, listen the fuck up,” my brother shouts and my hands fling up to cover my ears. I’m fucking hung-over and not ready to be on my bike all day to scout for Hispanics.
“Red Ladies, you’re here to help guard the compound with the older members of Breakneck. Got it?” he orders.
Great. Just what I need. Lucy around to stir up more shit for my friendship with Piper. Fanfucktastic.
I fucked myself by drinking too much, and even though I know it won’t screw up my game while we’re out looking for these fuckers, I will be a miserable fucking bastard to be around. Godspeed to my brothers left dealing with my ass.
“Got it, Prez.” Dizzy salutes.
The bitch isn’t in the military. The women of our charter are great, and any other day I would find that shit funny as hell, but not right now. It annoys the fuck out of me. My age has caught up with me, and my tolerance for hangovers gets worse by the day.
“Great…” My brother trails off, and it is apparent I am not the only one sick of our present company. “Brothers, each of my men are assigned with a group of you, and you guys will be heading to a different section of town to look for these fucktards who pose a threat to my club and my goddamn town.”
For the first time in my life, I am fucking grateful to be my brother’s sergeant-at-arms. His group will no doubt be a quieter group because these brothers of ours, when they are in town, love to kiss ass. All chapters want to kiss the ass of the President of the entire Breakneck in hopes of one day getting transferred or to lower their dues. The Master Charter rules all of the chapters, and even though each chapter may have their own set of rules, they still have to follow The Original Charter’s beforehand.
“You see anyone who looks like a Cartel member, you shoot the motherfucker in the head without fuckin’ blinkin’. Understood?” my brother growls. “I want this problem fuckin’ eradicated.”
The sound of magazines clicking into chambers echoes around the room, and Braxxon progresses with his orders as the brothers prep and listen at the same time.
“My wife has to be left undisturbed by this bullshit. She’s on bed rest, and the women, and that includes the Red Ladies, are the only ones that are to go and talk with Winter. She’s got a whole list of instructions she has to follow, and this bullshit is one of the many things that can cause a miscarriage. Don’t make me regret callin’ you fuckers for help. Got it?” he threatens.
Lord, let’s get this shit over and done with. I want to shoot some idiots and get my life back under control.
“Let’s roll,” he finishes and we make our way outside towards our bikes. When I climb onto my lady, I see Piper and Jinx at one of the picnic tables. Piper turns her head and gazes at me. The look on her face hits me with an invisible brick to the stomach.
I don’t wave because it would be pointless. She is too angry with me to even care to wave back if I did. Being one of the members with a heart fucking sucks during times like these, and when most of your brothers know you wear your heart on your sleeve, it makes it harder to hide shit that you are feeling.
“Earth to Sniper, my brother, you good?”
I turn my head to look at Braxxon and straddle my bike, while I give him the look that says, ‘fuck off’. He knows what the hell is wrong with me. He is my brother by blood. He likes to give me shit, and now is not the time to give me fucking shit.
“Fuckin’ chill out.” He laughs.
How can he laugh when our compound is overrun with people, our privacy is gone, and our town is in harm’s way? We have got to gain control over the situation before anything fucked up happens.
I will never understand the inner workings of my brother’s brain and its messed up thought process. Sometimes, the man is not sane.
As I wait for him to throttle forward, I pull up beside him and wait for the gate to open so he can leave. My job is to keep him safe. Because I’m the sergeant-at-arms, my brother’s life comes before my own. I forfeited the right to my own life when our dying father granted me my position in the club. So my gun is cocked, loaded, and rests in my saddlebag. I also have one strapped to my leg and another in the back of my jeans.
Braxxon wants to head back to Petra’s place to see if the Cartel members stayed behind at the property of our deceased drug dealer. When we arrive, Pyro pulls up to Braxxon’s side. I pull back, turn my bike off, and grabbing my gun out of my bag, take high ground so I can cover my brother from all vantage points. With my scope, I will be able to see all areas surrounding Petra’s place with perfect vision. I’ll also be able to take out anyone that may be hiding, and they won’t see it coming. I will already have a bullet soaring through their skulls.
I walk up a dirt hill and hide behind a giant boulder. My stand clicks as I open it, and positioning myself on one knee, I peer through the scope, adjust my focus, and set my sites. When I am satisfied, I grab my fold up binoculars out of my pocket and survey the premises. It is a ghost town. I refold my binoculars, tuck them away, and return to my rifle. Pyro and Smokey make hand gestures to signal no one is around, and they get back on their ladies and ride towards me. I pack up my baby and head back to my bike and await my next orders.
“Let’s ride around, and we’ll stop to check on all of the others—”
He is interrupted by the ring of his prepay. We watch as he answers, and when my brother’s hand starts to turn white from his tight grip on his phone, my senses go on full alert.
“Back to the compound,” he roars as he hangs up his phone. “Juan says there are Hispanics heading straight towards Breakneck!”
Motherfuck! We throttle and ride as fast as we can towards home. I pray we get there in time.
***
Chapter Twelve
Piper
I am overwhelmed with the amount of people here at the compound, and Jinx and I are sick of being cooped up, and we’re only on the second day. So we offer to take over gate duty, and when the gate opens, we get to see outside and remember we won’t always be trapped here. There is an outside world. It has only been a few days, but it seems like a lifetime.
“Is it me, or when the gate opens, does it seem like I can hear the sound of music?” Jinx laughs.
Definitely not only her.
“Nope, I’ve imagined it, too.”
We sit in the office building we cleaned out not
long ago and wait for the buzzer to sound so we can get our next peek out of the compound. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you are stuck with this many people around you and all the chaotic sounds that come with them, your head gets a little foggy. The noises are almost too much to bear.
“How much longer do you think we’ll be stuck here?”
Question of the hour. “There’s no tellin’,” I answer.
We spin around as fast as we can in the roller chairs. Nothing but the squeak of the chairs fills the air around us as we twirl over and over again.
“I’m beyond bored,” Jinx grumbles.
The word bored is nowhere close to being a good enough word.
“When I walked in to Club Sated for the interview, this is not how I saw my week going.” Jinx chuckles, as she tries to make light of the situation.
I snort. Hell, I have been through lockdowns with the club before, and I didn’t even see my week heading in this direction. With the other charters here, as well as the Red Ladies, I would give my left boob to get the hell out of here for at least an hour. It is as if I am suffocating. I have been sharing my small apartment in the live-in with Jinx, which isn’t bad, but I can’t find one room in this compound where I can escape contact with at least one other person. The bathroom doesn’t even count because Jinx will want in there if I am in there too long.
“Me neither,” I respond.
The bell rings and we jump up, walk out of the office building, and hit the gate control. When it opens a quarter of the way, we see Frank the prospect on his knees, staring up at us. Three giant men stand around him, and before I hit the button for the gate to close, one uses a gun with a silencer attached to shoot Frank in the head. One guy grabs Jinx and the third grabs me. My brain is slow, and before I can call out for help, a rag covers my mouth, muffling my screams. My eyes flutter shut and I lose consciousness.
***
The sound of trickling water beside my face wakes me. The pounding in my head worsens as I attempt to sit, but when I attempt to stretch my legs in front of me, my ankle jerks and stops me. I look down and notice a shackle on one foot chained to the wall. My vision is still blurry, my mind foggy, and my brain struggles to process what happened and how I got here. I hear sniffles beside me and I spot Jinx as she holds her face and cries. I can’t reach her, and when I try to say her name, no words come out. I peer around the dark, damp room and decide we are in a basement of some sort.
My butt cheeks are chilled, and I already know I’m in my t-shirt and bra, but my jeans, socks, and shoes have been removed, and Jinx’s, too.
I have to gain control over this. I cannot freak out.
You’ve been in this situation before, Piper. Keep calm.
“Jinx,” I whisper in as low a voice as I can. “You have to stop cryin’. Look at me.”
More sniffles. I remind myself to stay calm because if we both are a sniffling mess, it won’t do us any good.
“Jinxie. Look at me, girl.”
All I can see is her silhouette from a little bit of light that streams down through the cracks in the ceiling above us.
“The more noise you make, the more they’ll come and check on us. And when I say check on us, it isn’t in a friendly way, okay?”
She says nothing and I suspect she won’t for a long time to come. If I had time to analyze myself over my calmness, I would, but I don’t have time to freak out. If we are able to figure out how to get out of the situation we are in, at least one of us must stay sane.
“I’m not going to lie to you and say things are gonna be okay. Because I don’t know if they will be, but I can do my best at gettin’ us through this the best I can,” I choke out. “I’ve been through something similar before. First rule, we can talk, but it has to be quiet. Please don’t be loud. If you have to cry, muffle it with your arm.”
Jinx shakes her head back and forth in disbelief as the tears still garble from her throat. I hear voices above us. My head tilts on its own accord, and I strain to listen. Spanish. They are speaking Spanish. So the men who kidnapped us are Hispanic like they looked. I should have learned Spanish, but the people who trafficked me were Russians.
“Jinx,” I whisper yell, and my hand flies to my mouth to quiet myself. When I have my heartbeat back to normal and I am sure I can quiet myself down, I remove my shaky hand. “This situation will not be any better if you draw their attention to us more than it has to be.”
As quiet as I can manage, I stretch as far as the chain on my ankle will allow and wave my hand for Jinx to follow my movement. We meet in the middle of the wet, damp concrete floor with the leaky pipe above us, which continues to drip water.
“Jinx…,” I say quietly as I grab one of her hands in mine and squeeze. “If they feed us, don’t scarf it down, okay? They will starve us. We need to prep our bodies the best we can. Follow my lead with the food, if we get any, okay?”
She says not one word, but the white peaks of her eyes show me she heard me. “If they rape us—”
Jinx cuts me off with a gasp, and I use my free hand to cover her mouth. “Shh…”
When her sobs quiet, I remove my hand.
“They most likely will, and I need you to remember the best memory you’ve ever had and put it on repeat in your mind, okay? It’s important. You can cry about it later, but the more you struggle and the more noise you make… the worse it makes it on you, okay?”
My stomach twists into knots as I recall the past I have done so well at forgetting. I know deep down in my heart that I have people looking for me this time around. Sniper won’t stop until he finds me, no matter if we left things with unresolved issues. He won’t stop. I have to believe with everything in me that he won’t stop until he finds me.
“They’ll come for us. You have to believe that. Sniper won’t stop until he has me back safe, and you, too. When they come in here, don’t struggle. Go with it. It sounds idiotic, but people like the ones that have us chained at the ankle, they feed off of the struggle.”
Her blue eyes are bloodshot red, and the tears continue to stream down her face. “They’re gonna rape us,” she squeaks.
This poor woman should never have had to be in this situation. I shouldn’t either, but you don’t always get what you want.
“Quiet down, Jinx.” I shush her.
She is going to bring them down here faster than I am prepared to deal with them. They want something from the Club, so they’ll keep us alive as long as they can and then kill us when they get what they want. I pray that Sniper and the guys find us before that point comes.
“My ankle hurts,” she whispers as one of her hands pulls at the metal band. “It’s cold, and we’re going to end up sick with infection.”
Infection is the least of our worries, but I do not have the heart to tell her so. Life is unfair. It is positively unfair.
“Jinx, listen to me. Infection is the last thing that should be on your mind. Within the next twenty-four hours, we’ll most likely be drugged and raped. You need to promise me you’ll stay calm. I can’t bear to watch what will happen if you don’t.” I grab both of her arms to shake some sense of reality into her. “Take all your happy moments and use those to survive. Whatever happens to me, close your eyes, and remember I am strong enough to get past it, and I will do the same for you. If we don’t anger them further, it’ll be easier on us. Do you understand?”
Her arms shake and her body starts to convulse underneath my fingertips. “That right there needs to stop,” I screech way too loud and scold myself mentally afterwards. “Calm is your best friend. You need to remember that.”
The situation is going to be tough enough, and her spazzing out is going to worsen our ordeal if she can’t get a grip. I understand she has no idea how to handle this situation. If this was my first time being kidnapped, I’d be freaking out as well, but it isn’t. I know from experience that the key to survival is to stay calm. Calm is and will be your savior if you want to make it out alive.
> The tremble from my own fear is invisible, buried deep down underneath my exterior, waiting until the right moment to unleash.
“You’re too calm. It’s messing with my head. Why the hell aren’t you screaming and shouting to be released,” she exclaims.
Has she not listened to a word I have said?
“You’re not gonna make this easier on us,” I whisper as I let go of her arms. “Stay in your corner and don’t say a word if they come down here. Just follow my lead. If one comes down to touch you, don’t scream. Hold your tongue, and think of a happy moment.”
That is all I can say, and I am not going to repeat myself again.
“Sit in the corner and pray,” I order under my breath as I scoot back against the cold cement wall and listen to the trickle of water hit the concrete floor. The chain around my ankle chafes the skin under the metal ring.
***
Chapter Thirteen
Sniper
“What do you mean, she’s fucking gone!” I grit through my teeth and kick the chair nearest to me across the room. This can’t be happening. I can’t have this shit. I won’t. I can’t. Goddamn, what the fuck were they thinking?
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! is on repeat in my head.
“They fuckin’ shot Frank dead and kidnapped Piper and Jinx,” Braxx says in a calm voice.
How the fuck can he be so chill about this? Those motherfuckers have Piper! My chest heaves in and out, and before I can stop myself, my fist flies through the frame of the clubhouse door. Wood splinters in the air all around me. My blood boils beneath my skin, and I let out a roar like an angry lion. They let those motherfuckers take my best friend.
“Why the fuck were Piper and Jinx on gate duty in the first place?” I roar as I whirl around and slam my fist into the wall. Plaster scatters all over the room, and my knuckles bleed.
Words. There are no words to describe the anger raging inside of me.
“They were bored,” Rap says from beside me.
Discovering Me (Breakneck #4) Page 7
