by Debra Kayn
Chapter Five
Low humming filled Christina's ears. She stared at the floor, while her heartbeat continued to race. Her insides hurt. Even breathing was difficult. Afraid Cam would sense her fear, she willed herself to remain calm. Men who'd harm a woman and put no thought into the consequences of their actions would shoot her without any guilt.
She didn't want to die.
For the first night, she'd held out hope he'd let her go. The second day, when he'd brought her water bottles and food into the bedroom, she demanded to leave. He'd left her without speaking a word. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth day were more of the same. He came in, she asked, begged, cried for him to let her go, and then he walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.
Wrapped up in the blanket off the bed, Christina faced the fact there would be no one looking for her. A tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly moved to wipe it away. She'd miss the home study appointment at the Brickman's tomorrow if Cam refused to let her leave.
The strides she'd made in her life to be independent and balance a career and home life were for nothing. She was right back to living in fear of a man who'd rather kill than benefit society.
Nobody knew Cam kept her locked inside his bedroom. She held her breath, counted to ten, wishing the door would open and Cam would let her return to her apartment. She promised if that happened, she'd quit her job, she'd move, she'd live on the street if she had to. She rubbed the blanket against her face and exhaled. No matter how many promises she made, fate was against her.
She'd exhausted herself yelling for help yesterday and she'd bruised the side of her wrist from banging on the door for hours. She was past the point of fearing for her life. She was going to die and nobody would care, because she never allowed herself to make friends or involve people in her life since her parents were murdered.
The silence in the house after the motorcycles rode away last night bothered her more than the bumping and low moans coming from the other room when Gunner brought her breakfast this morning. She pulled the blanket around her tighter, trying to still the shivers wracking her body. Later, when Stache came in, escorted her to the bathroom across the hall, and ordered her to shower, she'd locked the door and hurriedly followed his directions. Somehow, during her shower, he'd removed all her dirty clothes without her hearing him come into the locked room. The thought he'd been in the bathroom while she was naked frightened her.
The men in the Moroad Motorcycle Club were ruthless, law breaking criminals, who had shown her nothing but contempt and violence. She walked over to the door and put her ear to the wood. She wondered if she was the only one in the house right now.
What if he left her here to die alone? She moved back toward the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress. No one would ever know she had a life before stepping foot inside this house. She bit into her lip, knowing it was wrong to wish for Cam to come back and let her out.
She wasn't naive. The way Cam looked at her was anything but friendly. He wanted her, and the sexual undertones every time he made an appearance were vibrantly clear. Last night, he'd brought her dinner and stood in the doorway until she couldn't stand it anymore and started eating to ease the pain of an empty stomach. Her belly fluttered remembering what happened. After that first bite, Cam seemed to relax and his mouth softened. For a second, she wanted to do whatever it took to please him in the hopes he'd let her leave.
Taking his softer stance as a sign of him changing his mind about keeping her prisoner, she had asked if she could go home.
His only answer was to shut and lock the door again.
All night, she'd snuggled under the covers. Cam's musky scent of smoke and beer on his pillows and blankets surrounded her, and she'd cried herself to sleep. She dropped her chin to her chest and inhaled deeply. She could still smell him.
She scooted off the bed and walked across the room to escape the reminder of who was holding her against her will. There were so many laws he'd broken, he could spend years in prison for what he was doing.
She shoved the edge of the blanket under her armpit and knocked on the bedroom door. "Hello?"
Frustration gave way to impatience. She banged harder. "Is anyone here?"
The clink of the lock turned. She stepped back, shoving her bare arm under the cover. Adrenaline rushed through her body. She hoped it wasn't Cam, and maybe she'd have a chance at escaping.
Jeremy stuck his head inside the room. She sagged in relief, rocking back a foot.
"Oh my God, I'm so glad it's you." She rushed the door. "Can you find my clothes and bring them here."
Jeremy backed out of the room. She grabbed his arm, tangled in the blanket, and stumbled. "Wait. Is your dad here?"
"No." Jeremy glanced behind him. "He put me in charge in case you needed something."
She said, "I need my clothes."
"Cam washed and put them in the dryer before he left. They're probably in the utility room. I'll go get them." Jeremy pulled the door toward him. "I'll be right back."
The click of the latch locked her inside again. She rubbed life back into her bare arms. With Cam gone, all she had to do was convince Jeremy to let her go. She'd take him with her, away from the hell he was living in, and call the authorities. Cam was not a fit father, and now she had the proof she needed to protect Jeremy.
The door reopened and Jeremy thrust a pile of laundry at her. She wiggled, getting one arm free, and took her clothes from him.
"Thank you."
"No prob," Jeremy said, looking anywhere but at her.
"I, uh, need to get dressed." She shrugged. "Can you give me a couple of minutes, and come back in here?"
"Cam said—"
"I just want to talk to you," she said, hoping he'd take her up on the offer.
He nodded. "Okay. I guess that's okay."
"Good." She dropped the blanket the second the door shut and scrambled into her clothes.
The fresh scent of laundry detergent filled her nostrils. She pushed her hair off her face and pressed her hand to her stomach. She had to stay calm to convince Jeremy what she said was more important than the orders Cam gave him.
"Jeremy?" she called.
He came through the door. She rubbed warmth into her hands and slipped her shoes onto her feet. Not wanting to rush, she smiled at Jeremy.
"The sun is already warming the house up," she said. "I bet you're enjoying the break from school, huh?"
"Yeah." He shrugged. "I like working on my motorcycle."
"I bet." She stood and approached him. "Why don't you show me your bike, and then I'll go ahead and leave?"
Jeremy chewed on his lower lip. "Cam's orders were for you to stay here."
"You and I both know he's kidnapped me." She tilted her head and softened her voice. "I need to go home. It's not safe for me here."
"But he said..." Jeremy hooked his hand under his armpit. "He's not going to hurt you."
"He's already violated my rights. I don't want to be here." Her pulse accelerated the longer it took to convince Jeremy this was the right thing to do. "You can come back to my apartment. I'll make sure he doesn't come for you. You're a minor, and have done nothing wrong."
Jeremy shook his head. "I can't let you leave."
"God, Jeremy. Don't you see what he's doing to you?" She clasped her hands under her chin to keep from shaking sense into him. "It's not right to hold someone hostage. It's not right that he gave you a gun and yes, I know Cam was the one who gave it to you. You're surrounded by questionable men every day. Last night, there was a party outside my door while Cam kept me locked away. I heard things, Jeremy."
She couldn't be positive, but she thought she heard someone having sex on the other side of the wall. When the grunts and moaning stopped, she heard a man speak about guns. Then she'd spent an hour trying to decipher why she was relieved it wasn't Cam's voice on the other side of the wall, and came up empty.
Jeremy walked backward to the door. "It's not a bad place, Ms. Ni
ckelson. Cam's all right. He even came in to check on you last night when you were sleeping. He didn't know I was watching from the stairs, but he covered you up and kissed your forehead. I don't think he wants to hurt you."
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Cam had come into the room while she'd slept? He'd kissed her?
"Please, let me go." She stood in front of the door.
"I can't, but I'll talk to Cam. Maybe he'll change his mind once he knows you're not going to turn him in." Jeremy closed the door.
She lunged for the handle, but the deadbolt latched into place before she could pull the door open. Not willing to give up while Cam was gone from the house, she hurried over to the window, opened the glass, and grasped the bars covering her escape. The excess energy she put into trying to shake the barrier loose fizzled and left her weak. She let her head fall against the blunt, edged metal pieces bolted to the house.
She didn't understand anything happening to her.
Her only concern was to get her and Jeremy out of a bad situation. God, she was kidnapped by an ex-convict. There were a hundred reasons to worry about her safety. Everything she knew about the inner thoughts and behavior of someone who spent time in prison worried her. Cam's promise to kill her if she tried to escape was a real possibility, not a threat.
Prisoner #18794 told her there were rarely any thoughts behind his crimes. If he saw something he wanted, he took it. If a man hurt him, he hurt the man back. Nothing bothered him, because every choice he made was for bettering his life, with no worry about anyone else. She bet Cam lived by the same principle. She meant nothing to him, and if she learned anything from having a criminal ruin her own life, men with no respect for the law never changed.
Bad blood was bad blood.
The rumble of approaching motorcycles pulled her away from the bars. She studied the dust cloud coming closer to the house. Cam rode in the front of the group. She wiped her face with her hands and moved over to sit on the bed. Folding her hands in her lap, she watched the door. To survive, she needed to outsmart Cam.
She continued to wait.
And, wait.
Her body vibrated, paralyzing her with nerves, and still she forced herself to prepare for him to come into the room.
Hours went by, music blared in the other room, and occasionally loud male voices broke through the heavy metal music. She closed her eyes to rest. She had no idea how long she waited but when she opened her eyes and stretched her back, the sun had already gone down and pitched the room in darkness.
Pressure in her bladder told her it'd been a long time since her shower when she'd used the bathroom. Her stomach growled. It had to be after nine o'clock at night.
She reached up and combed her fingers through her now dry, uncombed hair. Her throat spasmed and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She wondered if Jeremy was in the other room and she could get his attention without bothering Cam.
Before she could stand, the door opened. With the light coming in from the other room, she couldn't see his face, but she knew it was Cam. He was the largest man she'd seen at the house.
"Out," Cam said, stepping back into the hallway.
She rushed forward and almost pitched headfirst into Cam. Her left foot, numb and uncoordinated, tripped her in her hurry to use the bathroom. She jerked back from Cam and shook her leg. Her need to pee increased.
"M-may I use the bathroom?" she asked.
He nodded, pointing her across the hall. She limped, almost tripping as her foot tingled awake. Behind closed door, she quickly used the toilet. Relief filled her and she grabbed the adrenaline rush. She'd need every ounce of strength to make it out of here. She would not allow him to lock her in the room again.
Not wanting Cam to come into the bathroom, she wiped, flushed, and washed her hands. To her surprise, she opened the door and found the hallway empty. She tiptoed down the hallway, staying far away from the bedroom. After a peek into the living room and finding it empty, she hurried across the room and made it to the foyer before Cam stepped out of the kitchen, halting her escape.
He held a plate with four pieces of pizza on it. "Eat."
"I'm not hungry." She sidestepped toward the door.
"I wouldn't walk outside the door right now. My men are busy, but the shoot to kill order is still valid. It's a long way to the road and even farther to town. You wouldn't make it off the porch." He walked passed her and set the plate on the coffee table.
She didn't believe him. For some reason, he wanted to fuck with her head. She turned the knob and opened the door. It took two seconds for the scene in front of her to make sense, and when the shapes in the dark turned out to be other Moroad members, she screamed.
Stache's gaze came up and met hers, taking his attention off the man sitting in the grass at his feet with blood running down his face. She covered her mouth. The reflection of the knife in Stache's hand flickered underneath the wounded man's throat. There were at least a dozen men standing around watching Stache murder a man.
She fell against the door and scrambled to slam it shut to block out what was happening outside. Now shutoff from the activity in the yard, she stared at Cam. He sat on the couch, propped his legs on the coffee table, and lifted a piece of pizza to his mouth. He wasn't even fazed about what was happening right outside his own front door.
A man screamed in pain. She jumped away from the door. Undecided about asking Cam for help or facing the men outside, she sought the safest route.
"Aren't y-you going to stop them?" She wrapped her arms around her waist. "They're killing that man."
"No." He dipped his chin toward the plate. "Eat. You need food in you."
"I want to go home." Her chest quivered and she screamed, "You can't keep me here."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What I can do is lock you back in the bedroom without eating, but I thought you'd enjoy getting out and putting food in your stomach before I have to put you back in there for the night."
His catering to her comfort contradicted his treatment of her since he threw her in his bedroom and locked the door. She shook her head and looked around the room. Berating herself for thinking she could leave, she forgot the main reason she was here.
"Where's Jeremy?"
He picked up another piece of pizza. "Outside."
"Oh, God." She squeezed her eyes closed at the answer.
She'd been around Jeremy's age when she'd witness her parents' murders and life had changed for her. The destruction and horror she'd gone through still stuck with her to this day, and now she'd put Jeremy in the position of living with his father.
Cam would never let her walk away after witnessing what was going on outside. He'd never allow her to protect Jeremy. No one had to tell her the outcome of her being here.
She walked across the room. Cam asked, "What are you doing?"
She stopped without turning around. "I'm going back to the bedroom, because I refuse to believe everything is okay here and eat with someone who would sit like nothing is happening while a man outside is being murdered. It's wrong."
Cam remained silent, and she took his lack of communication as permission to leave him. She shut the door. Unable to lock it from the inside, she sat down on the floor and leaned her back against the wood. She never felt more alone.
Even in the most desperate time of her life, she'd reached out and had prisoner #18794 to make her feel secure. She groaned and covered her face. At least then, she was safe, because he could comfort her with words. She'd give anything to have a letter from him telling her how to get out of the trouble she was in now.
Chapter Six
Jeremy lounged on the couch, his eyes on the floor and not on the television show playing in front of him. Cam worked on braiding the rest of the get-back whip with the Moroad MC's colors. After the club took out Ted, a recent release who'd used Moroad's name inside the state pen without permission, Jeremy hadn't said a word about what went down.
"One thing Mo
road stands by is the solidarity of our club." Cam pulled the black cord tighter. "When an outsider uses our name for protection it undermines our strength within the inside. It dilutes the power you have within the club"
Jeremy glanced at him. Cam crossed the navy cord over the black and brought the material through the braid. It was impossible to explain to Jeremy the supremacy behind the club without showing him first hand. First, he was too young to listen to a lecture. Second, he'd only accept a little at a time as he matured.
While what Jeremy witnessed tonight wasn't planned ahead of time because he'd had no idea Ted would show up, there was no better time to feel out the kid for the future. He'd used the timing to his advantage, and now Jeremy was scared enough to listen.
"One man can take away the club's freedom." He caught the end of the cord between his teeth and pulled. "That also means you're protected from ever leaving the family and finding yourself in juvie, homeless, or tried as an adult."
Jeremy's body tightened. "Are you going to kill Ms. Nickelson?"
He finished the next three rows on the braid without answering the kid. Jeremy wasn't the only one who had a soft spot for Christina. He battled with that particular weakness himself. One mistake of thinking he could trust her and she turned on him¸ he'd find his ass back in prison.
"Depends on if she comes around," he said, not giving a straight answer.
"What if she doesn't?"
"She will." Cam held out the end of the braid. "Hold that."
While Jeremy held the braid taunt, Cam worked the lead one-inch ball into the center of the cord. His fingers made quick work, sealing off the end, and knotting the different cords. He took the get-back whip, ran his hands down the length straightening it out, and inspected his work. Satisfied it'd be the right length and weight for the motorcycle it was going on, he handed the whip over to Jeremy.
