by Kay Maree
"So what's the plan?" Toby yelled. At least someone had my back on this. I knew it was foolish but it was all we had.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Corey
Two hours later, I was riding to Paul's location while Toby and Raven worked on the final details of my plan. If this was going to work then we needed to be in sync with this. I didn't know if Eoin was with Paul or if they had separated but I was going to turn that place upside down until I found them. If Paul wanted this money though, he would need to produce both girls. The sadist would want to watch the pain on my face as I was made to choose. He would want to see the pain on their face when I picked the other one so Eoin would have to be close or with him. While I was inside, the guys would be surrounding the building on the outside. They wouldn't ride in, they would move in the vans we used to get Derek off guard. We had gotten word to the Irish before they flew out so they knew what was happening. They had decided not to fly out here and just let us handle it. They would arrange for the body to be brought back. We just had to make the call when it was done. Pulling up, my phone rang in my pocket before it stopped then did it again. That was the sign that everyone was in position. Getting off my bike, I looked around at the abandoned warehouse. Why the fuck would they bring them here of all places? Shaking it off, I walked toward the entrance. I couldn't get too lost in my thoughts. I needed to be on top of my game.
Looking around as I entered the building and turned a corner, it was only a few minutes before I wasn't alone anymore. They both stood before me. Eoin looking bored, Paul looking sick. He was paler than when I last saw him and he was definitely thinner. I saw a staircase behind them. That must be how to get the girls. Dropping the bag beside me, I folded my arms over my chest.
"I underestimated you both. I thought you would have the girls with you so that you could watch the torture on their faces as I made my decision."
"We didn't underestimate you, Corey. We know that will have something planned and have kept them away from you."
"Oh no what will I do now?" My words were laced with sarcasm. I wasn't stupid and they were trying to play me as such. There is no way they would separate themselves from Rosa and Abby. They would need to get to them quickly if anything went down. "If you think I am going to give you the money and not take someone with me, you have another thing coming. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you so there will be no good faith here."
"How do we know you have given us the amount we are after."
"I have one million with me. We have transferred the remaining."
"Can we get this over with please? We know he is picking his sister so let's get on with it. I have a flight to catch."
"No... you don't."
"Excuse me?"
"I don't know if you have spoken to them lately but all your avenues of getting out of this country are no longer in place. I hate to break it to you but Liam has made sure of that. You will never get out of Vegas with Rosa."
"Then she dies." My hands clenched into a fist.
"Yeah, see that's not happening either. I will be taking them both with me. End of story."
"That wasn't the deal Corey!"
"I don't give a fuck, father. You said you didn't underestimate me? Clearly you have if you think this fucked up deal is happening right now. You of all people know I was raised different than that. Oh wait, no you wouldn't because you left. I brought myself up to never leave anyone behind so this is me doing that."
"It's two against one. How do you think you will get out of here alive?"
"I don't care if I do or I don't. I do care that you two don't and have made sure of that. As long as Abby and Rosa make it out okay, then my job is done."
"Such a martyr." I was done with their talking. It was time to end this shit once and for all and get the girls out of here and back to safety. Taking the gun from down the back of my pants, I pointed it and shot it at my father. I knew as soon as that gun was out, Eoin would be armed and ready. Once they heard the gun go off though, Freddie would put a bullet into the back of his head. I made sure when I walked into the room that I wasn't standing in front of him. The old Freddie didn't miss but he had been in rehab for months and was now clean and sober. I'm sure his aim was better but I wasn't taking any chances. It only took seconds for it to happen and he too was lying on the floor. Taking my phone out, I texted the all clear. Raven and Toby then entered followed by Chaos and JD. We needed to split up to find these girls.
"Toby and I will take the top, Raven and Chaos down in the basement. They will have been split up. JD can call in the cleaners to get rid of these pieces of shit and let Liam know it's been done so he can send his guys in." We all left, Toby and I running up the stairs. Toby kept climbing after we reached the first floor and went up to the second floor. I heard everyone calling out the girl's names but I was kicking in doors. I got to the end of the hall and out the door, I went up the fire escape to the roof. Seeing a little shed like thing up here, I ran over to it and looked in the window. Seeing Rosa laying on the floor, I made sure there was nothing behind the door before I kicked it in too. I crouched down and checked for a pulse. It was strong.
"Rosa, can you hear me?" I rested my hand on her cheek after moving her hair off her face. "We've got you, your safe now." Scooping her up, I held her against me. I needed to get her checked out by Katy. She let out a soft groan and moved her head to lay against my shoulder. Pressing my lips against her head, I just held her close to me as I walked back down the fire escape. Toby was finishing with the rest of upstairs when I came back down but his search came up empty. My panic levels rose a little. Please let the guys have her.
"Heard anything from downstairs?" I shook my head and walked toward the stairs.
"She had to have been downstairs. They wouldn't have separated them yet. I'm sure of it."
"You better be right or we are fucked, Bro."
"I will turn this town upside down if she isn't here. I will make sure we find her." We walked down to where we came in. I would get Rosa out to Katy who was waiting outside for us while Toby ran to where Raven and Chaos had disappeared to. The back door to the van was open already so I just laid Rosa down inside it. "Can you check her over. I need to go help the others with searching for Abby." After Katy gave me a nod, I turned and ran back inside. I checked the ground floor that we were on just to make sure there was nothing we were missing. I went down the stairs, we had to be missing something. Every instinct in me told me that she was here. "Have you found anything?" I called out to the others. Raven came toward me.
"She's not down here. We have checked everywhere." Shaking my head, I pulled out my phone and dialed Duke's number.
"Please tell me you have good news."
"Sort of. We have one. I need you to get hold of the building plans for this place. We have searched upstairs and down in the basement. Is there anything we could be missing?"
"Hold on, let me check." I held the phone to my ear as Raven walked off to keep searching. I headed back upstairs to do another sweep when a cupboard caught my eye. Opening it up when I reached it, I put Duke on speaker and turned on my flashlight on my phone. Banging my hand on the walls of the inside, I looked for something that shouldn't be there. Rosa had been found way too easily so either she had been moved recently for a quick getaway or one of them just wasn't trying. When none of the walls gave it away, I shone the light on the floor and crouched down. That was when I saw it, there was some flooring that was loose. I managed to get my fingers under it and pulled it up. When I did, a big square came away with it. Seeing a ladder leading down.
"Abby?!"
"Corey! Help me please! I'm stuck down here."
"I'm coming, Ace, hold on." I hung up the phone and pocketed it so I could climb down. When I got to the bottom, I looked around. There was a very tight passageway with a light coming from the end. I had to crouch down as it was a low hanging ceiling, getting to the end of it, there was a bit of a drop into an
open room. In the corner, was Abby sitting on a mattress. I had to blink back tears of relief of finding her. Quickly making my way over to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Bee just get me the fuck out of here! Is Rosa okay?"
"I don't know, she is with Katy now. She was unconscious when I found her. I came looking for you before I found out." I untied her arms from the rope that was hanging from the hook on the wall. Once we had her arms free, I worked on the ones around her ankles. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her to her feet. "Come on let's get you out of here." She nodded and held tightly on to me as we crossed back over the entrance to this hell hole. I lifted her onto the ledge then pulled myself up. I got her back onto her feet and walked us through side on so that she could lean on me. We reached the ladder and she slowly lifted herself up, with me following behind her so that she didn't fall.
"Cover your ears, Abby." Once she had, after a questioning look, I called out as loud as I could that I had her. Raven, Chaos and Toby all came spilling out from the basement. I was already headed out the door though. Covering her eyes when we got outside, I moved with her to the van and got her in. It was darker than being outside and wouldn't hurt her eyes as much. We had them. Now just had to get the far away from this fucking place as we damn well could.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Corey
Raven and Hailee left it a couple of weeks while the girls recovered but they finally had their big day. Thankfully Abby was fine apart from some minor bruising as was Rosa once we finally got her to come around. Eoin had injected her with something when he found out what Paul had agreed to and hid her on the roof away from Paul.
He was banking on me choosing Abby over Rosa so that they could disappear quickly. Paul couldn't sell him out if he didn't know where she was. Liam and Rosa's Mom flew out to the US to visit with her, Rosa not wanting to go back home right now. Raven and Hailee came and spent a lot of time at our place once she was up to visitors so he could get to know his sister before they went away for their honeymoon.
Most of the time though, Rosa stayed glued to my side. It would take some time to get her to trust herself and everyone else again. She did nothing but apologize to Abby for making her go alone when they saw Eoin but apparently, he had told Rosa that something had happened to her mom and they needed to go straight away. She went because for most of her life, she grew up with this man too. Abby didn't hold it against her though. For now though, we were all just enjoying the quiet. Well that is except for Diesel and Freddie at each other's throats every five seconds they were around each other. Freddie was trying to make amends with everyone and I for one was thankful to see him back. Sure we could have all gone in there, guns blazing but it needed to be quick and clean. I couldn't risk all the rest of them getting hurt by flying bullets or heaven forbid, something happening with the girls as we didn't know where they were.
After it all happened, I didn't know how long Rosa was gonna be here for but I was going to enjoy every second of it. I didn't want to be one of those guys who put pressure on her to make a decision, so as long as she was happy here, then so was I. If she wanted to go back to Ireland, I would go with her there too. Once her mom came out, I got my answer. I was sitting talking to Toby and Raven when the girls came out to the back deck to sit with us. Hailee and Abby were grinning like fools but Rosa looked nervous as fuck. She sat down in my lap with her back to everyone.
"I have been meaning to talk to you about something..."
"Oh and what's that, baby girl?"
"How would you feel about me staying here permanently?"
"Seriously?" She nodded.
"There is nothing I would fucking love more. When are we going to pack your stuff?"
"Mam and Liam are going back to do that. Mam will run my bar for me." Her face broke out in a grin. I sat my beer down and moved my hands to cup her cheeks. Pressing my lips against hers, I kissed her with everything I had. This girl was mine and I was never letting go!
THE END
About the Author
Lauren Firminger has had a love affair for books her whole life. From the fairy tales that were read to her as a young girl to the stories of love and loss that would distract her as a teenager.
It wasn’t until attending her first signing as a reader, in Sydney, that she discovered the world of Indie authors that would ignite her spark of writing once again.
Taking a leap of faith, Lauren published her debut novel, Learning to Fly. From there, the characters continued to speak with her and three years, seven books later, the words continue to flow. From military romance to motorcycle clubs, Lauren tests the boundaries of them all and hides inside the worlds she creates.
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CHARON MC
KHLOE WREN
CHARON MC
Copyright © 2019 by Khloe Wren
The right of Khloe Wren to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical or mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Editing Credits:
Editor: Carolyn Depew of Write Right
CHARON
Char·on ˈsher-ən, ˈker-ən, -än
In Greek mythology, the Charon is the ferryman who takes the dead across either the river Styx or Acheron, depending on whether the soul’s destination is the Elysian Fields or Hades.
CHAPTER ONE
Blade
Every step down the hallway had my rage boiling hotter. In my soul, I knew the room of kids we’d just found wasn’t going to be the worst thing I saw today.
Together with a handful of Charon MC men, I was cracking open the L.A. mob’s stable. Technically, it was my boss, Antonio Sabella’s, business I was about to help destroy, but considering I’d just come from putting that fucker in the ground, I was guessing I could comfortably say that he was my previous boss and that I was definitely now out of the mob. Finally, I was free from my cage.
My mind was still spinning at what we’d discovered in that first room we’d opened up. The smell had been bad enough I’d nearly gagged, but the sight of all those kids was something that will haunt me for years. I cleared my throat past the lump that was still lodged there. Boys and girls, some just toddlers, had all been huddled together in that room. They’d all tried to get away from the door when it had opened, all except one. A teenage girl had stood strong, ready to fight.
I mentally shook my head at how gutsy the kid was. They’d all shown clear signs that they’d been abused. Their naked bodies told stories that should never have been written. Yet that teen hadn’t cowered, hadn’t tried to hide. Instead, she’d demanded a weapon to defend the others in case we didn’t make it back to her as we told her we would. That kid was way too calm for what she’d been through. I was fairly certain I wouldn’t have been that fucking calm in her shoes. Not that she was wearing any.
The sight of all those kids was enough to trigger my fury on its own, but my rage had been c
hurning since long before I stepped foot in that room. Before we’d ended Antonio Sabella’s miserable life earlier, he’d told me he had suspected I might have been trying something when I arranged the meeting for today, so he had handed my girl over to his men to enjoy while he’d come to meet us. Fucker had thought I’d spare his life so he could call and have his men stop their games with her. Stupid bastard forgot I’d been trained under his reign. I knew full well he wouldn’t have made that call no matter what happened. Once he’d handed her over, her fate had been sealed as far as he’d been concerned. I was here to attempt to change it. The sounds of men enjoying sex echoed around the hallway as we marched toward the source of all the noise. With every step, I was praying we were going to be in time to save her.
I didn’t need to see through the walls to know she was in that room. Deep down, I knew. I fucking knew that those men had my Josefina in there. Sabella had kept her all to himself for seventeen fucking years, apparently not allowing anyone else to abuse her. By doing that, he’d made her into an unattainable object. So today, when, before he’d come to meet with me, he’d told his men they could take her and have their fun with her, they would have jumped at the chance. They’d have been worked up and been doing the vilest of things to their boss’ favorite toy.
I’d first met Josefina when I was twenty-one. She’d been a kid, just sixteen years old. Unfortunately for her, she’d already had an adult’s body. Lush breasts to go with her curvy hips and ass. She was a young man’s wet dream, but I hadn’t gotten aroused when I’d first seen her.
