I nod.
“If she’s dead,” my eyes lock with his, “I’m killing both of them and whoever’s on the end of that phone,” states Kade.
I shake my head and look back at Debbie. “No, it’s my kill.”
“Whatever you need, brother.”
Dane stayed behind at the church, phone to his ear, talking to someone as we left. Debbie demanded that only she, Dad, and I were to go and get Cassia. The whole thing stinks, and from the glances that her and Dad keep exchanging, I know something else is going on.
We drive through town and pass the Sheriff’s Office. The only time Debbie speaks to me is to tell me where to turn. It’s a small town. I grew up here, and from the direction we’re traveling, I know where we’re headed. There’s an old mine on the outskirts of town. Years ago, when I was a boy, a rich man came to town and convinced everyone that there was gold in the hills. There wasn’t, but it didn’t stop everyone from helping him dig his mine. He promised the town would be rich, but instead, it crippled us, and when the gold and the money didn’t appear, the man disappeared along with a substantial amount of cash from the town council. The mines have been boarded up for years. It’s a good place to hide a body. That thought sobers me up, and I glance at Debbie.
“What?” she asks aggressively.
“Why?”
Debbie looks at Dad, then back at me. “I knew you’d come to the rescue. When her father came to us and said he’d help us, I knew you’d save the day. Dad wasn’t so sure, but when you turned up in church that day, I knew I’d backed a winner.”
“What made you think I had that kind of money?”
“Oh, no, not you. Your friend Kade. Years ago, I did some digging on you to make sure you were okay.” Debbie chuckles. “And Kade Cantrill, heir to the Felicity Cantrill Trust, was your best friend. How on earth did you manage that?” She waves a hand in the air. “Doesn’t matter. So, when your girlfriend’s dad came to us wanting us to convince you to leave her, a plan was formed. You’ve played your part very well.”
“Fuck you!” I growl.
“Oh, Zeke! Come on! You’ve always worn your heart on your sleeve. You’ve always loved too much and too wholeheartedly. You never got that from us.”
“He’s poisoned you, Deb, and turned you into a heartless bitch. You know you’re finished in this town, yeah? You might have the church and the house, but you and he are done. You’ll be pariahs.”
Debbie grins. “Turn here. And yes, we will be, but Zeke, there’s always a plan.”
We go through the gates to the mine entry. They’re wide open, and I drive the short distance to the first shaft. There’s a police cruiser parked with that deputy that was watching Cass and me the other day. He’s standing, leaning up against the hood of his car, ankles crossed like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
Debbie gets out and goes straight to him. He smiles and draws her in for a hug. I look at Michael Russo.
“How long’s that been going on?” I ask.
“A while. It’s not serious. He’s a pawn. When we get what we want, he’ll be disposed of.”
I look at him with disgust. “How did you get like this? You’re supposed to be a man of God. All I ever wanted was for you to love me. To treat me like you did the girls, but instead, you drove me away. You might not have been my biological father, but you were the only one I knew. You have to know that my MC won’t let this stand. You’ll be hunted. Dane won’t let this slide.”
Russo scoffs. “He has to find us first.”
We both get out of the car. Debbie and the deputy are whispering to each other and stop as we get close. I look in the back of the car and can’t see Cassia.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“Are we all set?” the Deputy asks Debbie.
“Yes,” she replies.
He nods and tosses me a set of keys. “Check the trunk.”
I jog to it and open it. It’s empty. I slam it down, and he and Debbie are laughing. Rage surges through me, and I stalk toward him. The deputy draws his gun.
“Come on! You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” he asks.
“Brian, don’t tease. Tell him where she is.”
Brian points toward the open mine. “She’s tied up at the end of the shaft. She’s fine.”
I start to walk toward it, and Debbie calls to me.
“Wait!”
I stop and turn around to face her.
“What?”
“Take Daddy with you.”
“Debbie?” asks Russo.
“He’s going to need help untying her. Please, Daddy, just do it.”
Brian, the deputy, hands him a knife. “For the ropes. She’s tied up pretty good. I’m going to wait for you while Debbie drives that car to the rendezvous point.” Brian looks at me. “After you’ve untied her, I want you and the woman to wait thirty minutes before you come out. Preacher, as soon as she’s untied, you hightail it back to me.”
“You’ll be waiting?” asks Russo skeptically.
“That’s the plan!” replies the deputy, grinning.
Russo eyes him and his daughter and nods. Even I know this doesn’t feel right. I suspect Debbie has another plan that doesn’t include him. The deputy hands Russo a torch and claps him on the shoulder.
“See you soon, Dad,” quips the deputy.
Russo nods and gestures toward the mine. “After you.”
I go first with Russo a couple of steps behind me, the beam of light glinting off the rock walls. It’s cooler in here, and if we didn’t have light, I wouldn’t be able to see my hand in front of my face.
“Could we pick up the pace?” I ask testily.
“Son, she’s not going anywhere,” replies Russo sarcastically.
I turn on him, closing in on his personal space. “I’m not your son. Never was. Cassia is alone in the dark, and she’s probably scared. I need to make sure she’s okay,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Fair enough.”
He does pick up speed, but it’s still not fast enough for me. After ten minutes, I stop, and he nearly runs into me.
“Give me the flashlight and the knife.”
“No. You heard what Brian and Debbie said.”
“Old man, we both know they aren’t going to be there when you go back out. You’ve been fucked over by family. How does it feel?”
In the dim light, his eyes go wide, and he shakes his head.
“No, we have a plan.”
“Makes no sense for you to be down here. And if Cassia is dead, I’ll rip you limb from limb, and no one will ever find you.”
Russo turns, and I grab him by the arm. “Give me the torch and the knife.”
“I need the torch! How am I going to find my way out?”
“Put your hand on the wall and follow it up. You’ll be fine, and if Debbie and Brian are waiting, you can leave with them. And if they aren’t, it’ll give you a head start from me. When I get out of here, I’m going hunting, and Dad, you better pray I don’t find you.”
Reluctantly, he hands over the torch and knife. I turn away from him and begin to jog further into the mine. I don’t wait to see what he’ll do, all I can think about is Cassia. The mine’s path is relatively smooth, and the walls feel like they are closing in on me the further down I go.
“Cassia!” I yell into the void.
“Zeke!” I hear faintly ahead of me.
“Keep yelling, petal. I’m coming!”
“Zeke! I’m so cold! The water is so cold!”
My jog turns into a sprint. Water? There shouldn’t be any water. Even as a kid, there wasn’t water in here. Mind you, I’ve never been this deep before. As I round a bend, I see Cassia—arms over her head, tied at the wrists, suspended in a body of water.
“Zeke!” Cassia screams.
The smell from the water hits me first, and it’s definitely cooler here.
“Hang on. I need to cut you down.”
The rope is suspended by a pulley
and tied off at the wall. A knife isn’t needed. It makes me wonder if Deputy Brian wanted me to kill Russo all along.
“I’m going to lower you down.”
“I’m not sure how deep the water is, and my feet are tied,” replies Cassia in sheer panic.
“Okay, Cassia, look at me.” Cassia drags her eyes from the murky water below to me. “I’m going to lower you into the water. Then I’m going to swim out to you. You might need to float, love. You can’t panic. If you do, you’ll drown.”
“I’m scared,” Cassia whimpers.
I wedge the torch into a crack in the wall. I turn and grin at her. “Do you believe me when I tell you I’ll get you out safe and sound?”
“Y-yes. But I’m cold, and my arms are numb.”
“Cassia, I’ve got you.”
With that, I slowly lower her until she’s up to her neck in the icy water.
“You ready?”
Cassia nods. I let go of the rope and jog into the water. The temperature of it takes my breath away. I keep going, then I dive under and swim as fast as I can in her direction. The water is putrid, and the stench of rotting flesh fills my lungs. When I get to Cassia, she’s shivering but floating.
“That’s my girl.”
“C-cold.”
“I know love, I know.”
I pull her into me, grab her around the waist, and swim us back to shore. It’s not easy with my bruised ribs but I can feel how terrified she is. There’s no way I’m letting her go. When I can touch the bottom, I pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. In my whole life, I’ve never experienced anything like this. Is it a dead body in the water or an animal? Even in the dim torchlight, I can see we’re covered in grit and lord knows what else.
Delicately, I cut the ropes from her hands then her feet. Cassia immediately throws her arms around me and sobs, the kind that makes your entire body shake, and all the while she’s clutching at me, trying to get closer. The noise echoes around us as she lets out all of her misery, and then the torch flickers once and goes out. Cassia screams and goes rigid in my arms. I press my lips to her forehead.
“Calm down, Cass. We’re in this together. I’m not letting you go.” I feel Cassia nod her head, the movement jerky and her breathing is rapid. “Love, we need to go. It’s cold down here, and we’re both wet. We need to get moving and get out of this hell hole.”
“Y-yes,” Cassia agrees shakily.
I stand and pull her up with me. “We’re going to go as fast as we can, we’ll need to hold onto the wall and feel our way out. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, Zeke, just don’t leave me.”
“Never again.” It’s more than words. It’s a promise, a vow.
The pace at which we walk is slow. I end up putting one hand on the wall and my other arm goes around Cass as she clutches my waist. To begin with, she says nothing, but I think the darkness around us is playing with her mind. I feel so responsible for her being in this position.
“Zeke, I’m sorry,” Cassia whispers.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I state firmly.
“I-I doubted you.”
“Cass, that’s on your dad. Not you. Family is complicated. Hell, look at what mine did to you.”
“I still love him.”
“I know, petal. We’ll work it out, together. I think by the time we have kids, he’ll come around.”
Cassia comes to a complete standstill. Her hands feel up my chest to my face.
“Kids?”
“Yeah, petal, kids. I’ve always wanted more than the two point five kids and a white picket fence. The more the better.”
In the darkness, Cassia crushes herself against me, her lips seeking out mine. This kiss is needy, wanting, and I allow her to lead it. It’s not about sex, it’s about wanting to be closer, needing to feel that connection, and I let her have it. When she breaks away, Cassia grabs my hand and starts jogging forward into the darkness.
“Petal, I appreciate you wanting to get out of here, but I don’t want you breaking your neck in the process.”
My ribs throb slightly, and I thank Doc silently for strapping me up so well.
“I’m going to live! You’re going to marry me, give me children, and we’re going to fix things, eventually, with my dad. So, get your legs moving, honey, I’ve got things to do!”
I burst out laughing as she continues to drag me through the darkness. Eventually, we see a pinprick of light ahead. All this does is make Cassia move faster. By the time we make it outside, I’m breathing hard, and her face is flushed from the exertion.
Cass lets go of my hand, bends over and places her hands on her knees as she breathes deeply. “God, I smell awful.”
“Me, too, love.”
I look around us, and there’s no one here. There are no cars, and we are a fair way out of town.
“The others will be waging war on this town if we don’t get back to them soon. Think you can keep up the pace you set in the mine? We need to get back.”
Covered in filth, smelling worse, Cass smiles at me. “Hell, yes. Let’s see if you can keep up, future husband.”
“For the record, I mentioned kids, not marriage.”
Cass grins at me. “It was implied.”
“You think so?” I ask with a smirk.
“Oh, honey, I know so.”
Debbie
Brian and I got on the road as soon as I couldn’t see Dad anymore. Stupid old man trusted me implicitly. We are headed to the nearest airport and freedom.
“Deb, how much are we getting?”
“A lot. If we’re careful, it’ll last a lifetime.”
“Tell me the exact number.”
Brian’s hand goes from the steering wheel to my leg, and he squeezes lightly. I smile at him and pull up the bank account details on my phone. While I wait for it to load, I rub Brian’s arm soothingly.
“Well?”
The bank account finally loads, and the balance is zero. Involuntarily, I gasp and Brian’s hand tightens on my leg, almost painfully.
“What?” demands Brian.
“T-the bank account is empty,” I stutter.
“What?” replies Brian angrily.
“It’s not there. The money is gone.”
Brian pulls the car over, slamming on the breaks. He twists in his seat, face all scrunched up, hatred pouring from his eyes.
“What do you mean it’s gone?”
“I don’t know—”
“If you’re trying to screw me, Debbie, I suggest you rethink it!”
“I wouldn’t! I love you! We have to go back. Dad must have betrayed me. I mean us.”
“How?” Brian has doubt and distrust laced within that one little word.
“I don’t know. All I know is I don’t have it, so he must.”
Brian looks both ways up and down the road, and when there’s a break in the traffic, he turns the cruiser around.
Hands gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles are white. “You better not be fucking with me.” I shake my head vigorously. “We need to ditch the cruiser and find another car. Where would your father go?”
“He’d go somewhere familiar. He’d go to the house. The church would be too risky. We need to go home.”
Brian nods, but I can tell he’s not happy. I had planned on getting rid of him at the airport either here or when we hit Mexico, but maybe I need to do it sooner. I’m watching him from the corner of my eye. Brian begins to nod, and then a smile works its way across his handsome features.
“It’s going to be fine, Debbie. We’ll get what we deserve and leave this fucking town behind us.”
“Yes, we will,” I agree.
In my mind, I know Brian is going to get exactly what he deserves.
Dane
Smithy and a couple of his men stake out the preacher’s home. Imagine their surprise when he came back. After a quick phone call, it was decided they would wait and see if anyone else showed up. The rest of his a
nd my MCs are out looking for Zeke. My men and I wait at the church. The longer it takes to locate him, the more my gut twists in on itself as I fear the worst.
Kade was no help, his constant pacing with a face set like stone did nothing to alleviate my fears.
“Stop,” I order, and he immediately does and faces me. “We’ll find him.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Zeke is strong, smart, and he’s got Cassia to live for. It’s only a matter of time before he turns up.”
Kade places both hands on his hips, lets out a breath, and looks down at his feet.
“I can’t lose him, too.”
I knew JJ would be running through his mind. JJ was one of his closest friends, and he got killed a while back. Losing him hurt Kade and Zeke immeasurably. I wasn’t sure if either of them would stay in Tourmaline, but they did.
“This isn’t the same. Zeke knows this town, he’ll find an out. You have to have faith, brother.”
Kade nods and looks into my eyes.
“I’ll burn this fucking town down if he doesn’t come home.”
“One of the reasons I wanted you two patched in at Tourmaline is your dedication to each other and the MC. I’m here with you in this piss-ant town because I believe in you, so believe me when I tell you, Zeke is fine.”
Kade straightens and nods seemingly convinced by my words even though I’m not sure I believe them myself.
“Dane?” Rebel asks.
We both turn to face him.
“There’s a guy named Boris here, and he wants to talk to you. Claims he’s with the Nazarov Organization.”
I raise my eyebrows and cast a glance at Kade who shrugs.
“Let’s not keep the Russian mob waiting. Lead the way.”
We are at the back of the church in the garden as we walk into the building. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. Elizabeth and Leonie are still sitting in the front pews looking strained and confused by the day’s events.
A man in a black suit with an ugly red Hawaiian shirt is sitting on the opposite side of the church to Zeke’s sisters. His head is down, and for all intents and purposes, he looks like he’s praying. I look at Rebel who shrugs and points at him. The man appears to be about forty with thinning blond hair. I sit beside him as he mumbles to himself, fist pressed to his lips. I clear my throat, and he tilts his head and stares at me, stopping his murmurings then closes his eyes, mumbles a few more words, crosses himself and then gives me his full attention.
Savage Lies: Savage Angels MC #7 Page 13
