Kellan

by Jayne Blue

  Flat-nose made a clucking noise with his tongue and shoved my face hard back against the couch cushion. I made my body as still as I could. I’d been playing possum since I finally came to.

  “Ah, this one’s no cherry. Are you, sweetie?”

  Flat-nose moved off but his friend Dick-nose stepped forward and leaned down to get a better look at me. His breath smelled like garlic and pepperoni.

  I bit the inside of my mouth hard, but Dick-nose saw me flinch.

  “There you are. Why don’t you sit up and show us that pretty face? Maybe you can even sing us a song.”

  Dick-nose grabbed me by the shoulders and jerked me up into a sitting position. I breathed hard through my nose against pain spiking through my arms and wrists. They’d kept my hands tied tight behind my back with zip ties that were digging into my skin. I resisted the urge to kick out hard and smash Dick-nose in the balls. It would lay him flat but then what? Flat-nose sat behind him spinning a pistol on the table. And I had no idea who or what was outside the door.

  I was in a dark, stale-smelling room with wood-paneled walls and no furniture except for the olive-green couch I was sitting on and the card table where Flat-nose sat. I could hear muffled voices beyond the door and glasses clinking.

  My guess? This was the Devil’s Hawks clubhouse. Flat-nose and Dick-nose wore their cuts. Flat-nose’s patch identified him as a security. Dick-nose’s said Assistant Road Captain. I wondered if that was like Assistant Asshole. I bit back my urge to ask him. It bothered me they didn’t hide who they were. Not their faces. Not their affiliation. It could mean they had no worries that I’d ever be in a position to tell anyone about it.

  I knew this should have sent cold fear through me. Panic even. But if I had any hope of getting through this, I’d need to keep my head. Maybe I was scared. Maybe this was some form of shock and my brain just hadn’t had a chance to catch up with the reality of my situation. But at that moment, with Dick-nose peering into my face then letting his eyes travel down to my chest, I just felt a rage so intense it made me taste metal.

  “What’s the plan?” I said, my voice ragged and hoarse. “Shut down The Wolf Den? That’s your big play? You hoping to open an Applebee’s or something instead? Don’t want competition selling your world-famous buffalo wings?”

  I was an idiot. Some smarter part of my brain told me to shut the hell up. Don’t give them a reason to make you unconscious again. But rage fueled me, clouding my better judgment.

  Flat-nose let out a genuine laugh. “Yeah. The Russians are gonna love you.”

  I decided not to press him on what the hell that meant except the most obvious. Whatever they were planning to do with me, it didn’t involve killing me. At least not right now. I’d count that in the plus column. Big plus.

  “What are you hoping is going to happen with this? I sing in a bar. I’m not famous. I’m not rich. I’ve got a dad too drunk to stand most days. If you’re hoping somebody’s going to meet some big ransom demand, you’re going to be disappointed.”

  Dick-nose stood up. “You think we’re giving you back? Don’t worry, sweetie. Ain’t nobody going to miss you after too long. Ain’t nobody going to find you in time.”

  That fear I’d managed to hold back started to seep through the cracks in my strength, burning like acid. No one’s going to miss me. Though I knew that wasn’t true, I worried no one would come for me in time for it to matter. It had been hours already. I’d been out for most of the time it took to get here, but I knew we’d left Lincolnshire far behind.

  And I knew the Devil’s Hawks by reputation. Even more than the Great Wolves. We’d played some gigs in some seedy joints years ago and I knew the Hawks had a pretty firm grip around Detroit. None of it legal. None of it good. In fact, one of the managers who tried to sign us warned us plenty to stay out of any bars they frequented.

  I could be in trouble. Real trouble. So far, their game had been to scare the girls who worked for Kellan. They’d upped it with Jeannette. With me, it seemed they were changing the rules altogether.

  And these assholes had gotten a hell of a head start.

  Kellan hadn’t expected to hear from me for hours. When Mitch and Justin got back to the house, they would just have found it empty and probably assumed I’d headed to the hospital. Sure, they’d all put two and two together and realize something was wrong, but God only knew how long that would take. Too long. And these fuckers knew it. We’d driven hard and fast out of town and now they were talking about handing me over to Russians. If I didn’t figure out a way to get out of this mess myself, I never would.

  So I was alone. I would always be alone. No matter what.

  Despair crept up my spine like cold tendrils of ice. It threatened to pull me down. I felt tired. Defeated and depleted. My eyelids got so heavy I wondered whether they’d drugged me again or I was still feeling the effects of the first time. I just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep. It would be so much easier.

  Ain’t nobody going to find you in time.

  Nobody. Nothing. Just me.

  The door opened and two more Hawks came through it. I squinted in the dim light trying to see the patches they wore. I knew it wasn’t a good sign that even more of them felt no need to hide their faces.

  “Get your shit together,” one of them said. He was the shortest of all but wide as a fire plug. Vice President. “Bringing her here was a bad idea.”

  “We didn’t have much of a choice. When the boss said move, we moved. Nobody followed. Nobody even knew we were there,” Flat-nose said.

  Dick-nose turned back toward me. “Hear that? Nobody. You like lying down with bikers, you picked the wrong club. Bunch of weak-ass wolves.”

  I swallowed hard and looked away. He was trying to bait me. Give him a reason to smack me or do something even worse if I said something to piss him off.

  “Knock it off,” the V.P. said. “This isn’t about the Wolves anymore. Mission accomplished. Our other friends are waiting. We need to move. You got her handled?”

  Dick-nose turned back to me. He moved quick; sliding behind me he jerked me to my feet keeping his hands on my upper arms. He pushed me forward until I nearly lost my balance.

  “Easy,” the V.P. said. “I don’t want her face torn up.”

  “Where are we going?” I couldn’t help myself. The panic I’d fought off for so long rose. I’d read the articles, seen the horror stories. Whatever was happening, I had to fight like hell to keep them from taking me to another location. As long as I was here, there was at least a chance someone might be able to figure this out.

  The V.P. moved quickly. He wasn’t angry, wasn’t interested in wasting breath trying to scare me. He grabbed a rag from the table and shoved it into my mouth, nearly choking me with it. It still reeked with whatever drug they’d used to knock me out. I tried to take shallow breaths, scared to death I’d pass out again. But mercifully, that drug had worn off. All it left was a bitter taste in my mouth to mix with the bile rising in my throat.

  Dick-nose shoved me forward. We were heading down the hallway to an open back doorway. I could see the parking lot beyond it. It was pitch black outside. The van they’d brought me in was visible and I could hear its engine running.

  Shit. Shit! If they shoved me in and drove away, I knew on instinct I’d never get away from them again. I dug my heels into the ground and tried to scream again even though I knew it was probably hopeless. But maybe. Just maybe, there was something beyond that door. A gas station. A truck stop. Something. If I could only get someone to hear me and care.

  Dick-nose shoved me hard. I fell forward and lost my balance, landing painfully on my knees. Flat-nose came beside me and hauled me back up, propelling me forward.

  “Move!” he shouted.

  The hallway got shorter and shorter. My window of opportunity shrank with it. That open van door represented hell. If they shoved me through it, I’d never get back out.

  I screamed as much as I could through the rag in my mou
th. Flat-nose and Dick-nose each had a strong grip on my arm. They lifted me off my feet and kept on moving. I kicked at them, thrashing like some wild thing. It was useless.

  Then we were out the door. The van was twenty feet away. The driver looked my way and nodded to Flat-nose and Dick-nose. They pushed me forward.

  Then a popping noise came from all around.

  “The fuck?” Flat-nose stopped walking. Dick-nose kept moving, damn near wrenching my shoulder out of its socket.

  Something was happening at the front of the building. Flat-nose let go of me and ducked for cover. Dick-nose gave him a look of disgust.

  “Get the fuck up!”

  The van driver threw his door open and had his gun drawn. I dropped to my knees, trying to get as low as possible too, but Dick-nose kept his grip on me. He hauled me back to my feet and toward the building.

  I took the biggest breath I could and spit for all I was worth. The rag in my mouth dislodged just enough for me to shove it completely out with my tongue. Then I screamed for all I was worth.

  Dick-nose dragged me back into the building. “Shut the fuck up or I’m going to just put a bullet down your throat instead of the rag.”

  He threw me back into the room where they’d kept me and ran out into the front of the club. I thought about running back toward the parking lot, but the driver was still there and I was afraid he’d take the initiative to shove me into the van and just drive away.

  More gunfire. An explosion toward the front of the club that seemed like fireworks and strobe lights through the partially open door. The sound was so loud my ears rang and I could barely think. Some back corner of my mind processed what it was. Not gunfire. Not fireworks. Flash-bangs like the cops used. Except there’d been no lights and sirens. Nothing.

  Still, I stayed low and crawled toward the hallway leading to the parking lot. As my ears cleared a bit, I heard shouts and grunts. There was movement to my left out in the parking lot.

  I struggled to get to my feet. My balance was still off from having my hands bound behind me. I heard a thick smack, then something heavy hit the pavement. Booted feet lay across the doorway leading outside.

  Then an avalanche of leather and fists poured through the door. I sank back to my ass.

  He almost tripped over me. With fury in his eyes he would have run right past me, except I screamed one last time.

  “Kellan!”

  He froze, towering over me like a mountain. God, he was big. Strong. Berserk. He looked down, his eyes struggling to focus, his nostrils flaring from exertion like a bull ready to charge.

  “Mallory?” His voice was choked. I struggled to get back up and he reached down to help me.

  Brax, Tate, and E.J. ran in behind him, stopping short when they saw me too.

  Kellan pulled me to him, lifting me off my feet like I weighed nothing. He kissed me, squeezing me so tight I actually burped.

  “Kel,” Tate shouted. “We need to go!”

  Brax got to me next. He had a knife in one hand and his gun in the other. He gave me a nod and flicked the knife, cutting the zip ties from my wrists in one fluid movement. I threw my arms around Kellan and we were back out in the parking lot. Colt stood over the van driver. When he tried to get up, Colt smacked him hard once with the butt of his gun.

  Gunfire, real this time, came from the front of the club. Then two club members I’d never seen before came tearing around the front of the building screaming as they went. “Go! Go! Go!”

  “How far are we going with this, Colt?” one of them said, breathless as he stopped right in front of us. He wore a president patch too.

  “All the way,” Kellan answered for him. Colt turned toward Kellan and gave him a grim-faced nod.

  Kellan kissed me on the forehead and set me down. “This is Dex,” he said, pointing to another club member I’d never seen before. This one was big and dark with thick black hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. “You go in the Jeep with him and Mac. I’ll meet you back at the club.”

  “Wait. Where are you going?” Panic made my voice high.

  He kissed me again. “Don’t worry.” He nodded over my head toward the guy with the president patch. “I’ll be one minute behind you.”

  “You sure?” the guy asked. He was tall and blond with a deep tan and deeper dimple.

  “Yeah. It’s gotta be Colt and me and it’s gotta be final.”

  Mac took my arm and led me into the back of Jeep. Before I could form another thought, Dex jumped in. Mac wasted no time. He jammed the steering wheel hard, squealing the tires as we tore out of the parking lot. I looked back. Everyone but Colt and Kellan was on their bikes and tearing off after us. I pressed my hand against the window glass.

  None of the Devil’s Hawks were anywhere in sight save for the driver Colt had pummeled. The last thing I saw before Mac made the turn toward the highway was Colt and Kellan walking calmly toward the building; each had a lighter in one hand and what looked like a beer bottle in the other.

  I turned; shutting my eyes tight I pressed my back into the car seat.

  “You okay?” Mac said. He looked at me through the rearview mirror. “They hurt you?”

  Dex turned around and reached for me. His hand was warm where he touched my knee.

  “Nice to meet you, Mallory,” he said in a deep but kind voice. “You figured out I’m Dex.”

  I opened my eyes and smiled. “Yeah. Thanks.” My eyes flicked back toward Mac. He shot me a wink in the mirror.

  “He came,” I whispered, my heart pounding in my ears. “You all came.”

  “Hell, yeah, we did,” Mac said. Dex squeezed my knee.

  “But all of you?”

  A look passed between Mac and Dex. “Yeah. That’s how it works, Mallory. Someone messes with one of us, they get us all.”

  “One of you?”

  Mac laughed. “Yeah. You. Haven’t you figured that out yet? You’re one of us, darlin’. You think you can handle that?”

  I smiled past the lump in my throat. I blinked back tears as I looked out the window and behind me. There were two riders on each side of us, one right behind. In the distance, I could see two more riders speeding to catch up. Colt and Kellan. And behind them, the warm glow of flames where the Devil’s Hawks clubhouse used to be.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Kellan

  My girl looked shaken, but strong when I pulled in behind the Jeep. But her step was sure when she got out and came to me. I pulled her into my arms and told her I’d never let her go. I couldn’t wait until it was just the two of us again. But she was safe and whole and back at the Den. She said she didn’t need a doctor. She just needed to see Mitch and Justin and they needed to see her.

  Mitch tore across the parking lot and into his sister’s arms, nearly toppling her over. Justin walked out slowly, his hands shoved in his back pockets. He caught my eye over Mallory’s head and gave me a nod. Mallory peppered Mitch’s face with kisses for as long as he’d let her before he started wiping his face. She tousled his hair and put her arm around him.

  “Can we see Dad now?” Mitch asked. God, it was late. Nearly midnight. But I understood the kid’s need. Now that everyone was safe and sound, he wanted to draw his family close. It’s what I wanted too.

  Mallory questioned me with her eyes. Smiling, I nodded. “Yeah. We’ll drive you out there first thing in the morning. They won’t let you see him until then, Mitch. You okay with staying the night here?”

  Mitch nodded. Mallory mouthed a thank you and walked into the Den with him. They’d stay in the rooms upstairs. As much as I wanted to get Mallory alone, that was going to have to wait. I needed to settle things with the club first.

  Jase was already at his car. He gave a nod to me across the parking lot and another to Colt. He left without asking what happened. That was for the best. Without him, tonight could have gone way different. I wouldn’t forget that. Not ever. Then I turned and went back into the building. The rest of the club was already in the back room
waiting.

  The meeting was short and sweet. Everyone was still keyed up from what happened at the Hawks house. God, it had been so quick. And smoother than any of us planned for. No one got hurt.

  “They just flat out weren’t expecting us to act as quick as we did,” Colt said.

  “I think you’re secure for at least a good while,” Sly said. “A little birdie told me someone tipped off the Monroeville cops. That’s one more thing this club owes your brother, Colt. They ought to find some interesting shit in the rubble of that clubhouse.”

  “I’m not worried,” Colt said. “The Hawks will move off. Maybe not forever, but long enough so we can get our shit established without interference now.”

  Sly nodded. “I’m still going to send some extra muscle your way for the time being.”

  “What about the head of the snake?” Brax said.

  Sly and Dex exchanged looks. “For now, you let us handle that. You’ll get the first call if anything else heads your way. But like Colt said, you should have some peace for a while now.”

  Peace. I knew it was a relative term where the Great Wolves were concerned. And after tonight, everyone at this table knew there would be times we’d have to play things old school. And everyone at this table would be ready when it happened again. For now though, I’d take the peace we’d earned.

  The meeting broke up after that. We said our goodbyes to Sly and Dex, offering to let them crash here as long as they wanted. They were both anxious to head out and I understood that too.

  I went upstairs to find Mallory. She’d taken the bedroom across from mine. The door was slightly open and I peeked in. She was out cold, sleeping peacefully on top of the bed. She hadn’t even taken her shoes off. Mitch was right beside her, tucked under her arm and snoring. It made me smile.

  I tiptoed in and slid off Mallory’s shoes, then Mitch’s. I grabbed a blanket from the closet and draped it over them. We might be in for another long day tomorrow but for tonight I was damn glad to have the two of them safe, whole, and under my roof.