by J. C. Allen
“You?” I said.
I was feeling a shift inside of me—a shift that had gone from terrified to uncertain to emotionless to now rabid. If I was going to be tied down, fine, but I wasn’t going to roll over and let this asshole just push me around with his bad puns and jokes and dark threats.
“You’d have to stand up high enough to get me first.”
He stared at me, confusion washed over his face, and then looked away, ashamed, before turning to me with red in his face. I waited for him to hit me, but even with balled up fists and veins bulging from his eyes, he did nothing of the sort.
And that’s when it occurred to me.
If I was property, they couldn’t offer damaged goods and expect to make money. Rock might have hit me, but Rock also owned me. None of his cronies—who didn’t own me—had ever hit me. And now Tyler, who did not own me, could not hit me.
Good.
“You wanna come closer?” I offered. “Or are you scared?”
“Why should I be scared?” he said with a scoff.
“My point exactly,” I scoffed back, lifting my shackled wrists. “I mean, chains? Really? Whose idea was that? Yours, I’m guessing. Nobody with the Falcons who’s been around was nervous enough around their whores to take things this far. Did it make you feel safer? Or was it just easier on your conscious to have me chained up like an animal?”
He only shrugged.
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” he said. “A damn about why you’re in chains or not. Think of them as insurance, if you will. Ultimately, you’re ours, so however you want to talk to us is up to the Falcon.”
I felt a cold chill at that name, remembering how Matty had reacted when I tried to push him for information on that. If this was the namesake of the club…
“You know if Derek finds you, he will kill you.”
“Oh, I know,” Tyler said. “I’m not an idiot. If Derek gets me one on one and I’m unarmed, I’m dead. I’m fully aware. You haven’t given me a threat. But let me give you one, Eve Kellerman. You see, the dirty secret is that after Rock fell, I thought that going over to the other side would be a mistake. In fact, I committed myself to staying with the Saviors. I even left your lovely boy a note when he woke up. But then, I got paid a visit from the Falcon.”
Another shiver.
“He correctly pointed out that a kicked animal might retreat for a little bit, but once it sees the perp again, it will stop at nothing to attack, bite, and kill. The Black Falcons are very much in the same position. We have gotten much stronger overall since, and you coming back here—”
“Was a mistake,” I said, cutting him off. “You might be stronger overall, but the Saviors have Derek and Matty.”
Tyler snorted, but I could see the coming laugh was fake.
“There’s so much you don’t know, Eve,” he said. “It’s cute. You think you know everything, banging the head of the Saviors, but you know nothing. I mean, tell me what you are, right? You a whore or not?”
Those familiar five words…
“You a whore or not?”
… maybe I was destined to wind back up in the life of prostitution.
Maybe I was destined to never be happy.
Maybe Chuck’s death had not so much set me free as shown me the truth—he had only accelerated the downward spiral of my life; I was going to wind up there eventually.
I looked down, trying my best not to show tears in front of him.
“God damn you, Tyler.”
“Go ahead and hate me if it makes you feel better,” he said. “Makes no difference to me. Either way, you’re awake. The Black Falcons have decided to auction you off—they say you’re not worth the trouble to keep around—and, as luck would have it, the starting bid is well into the six figures, meaning my slice of the pie is going to make for a nice trip somewhere. You should be flattered. Six figures for a whore like you—”
“You seem pretty confident about that,” I said, shaking my head.
I took no pleasure in that, mostly because I knew that Tyler was either lying or I was a part of some package deal. I valued myself, more so than ever after Derek, but I was under no illusion that someone would pay six figures to have me as a personal whore.
“About you being purchased? Give yourself some credit, Eve.”
“No, you idiot,” I spat. “About you just skipping off because of this one thing.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
“Only that you’re dealing with the Black Falcons,” I said. “See, here’s the dirty little secret you don’t know. The Savage Saviors may have been a club and may have engaged in things that were ‘illegal’ but they had morals and ethics. If they owed you something, you got it. The group you just joined? Those two assholes to the side? They will cut your throat for a percentage of what you thought you were going to get. And even if they don’t, you really think you’re going to get five figures worth? Falcon might throw a couple hundred bucks your way just for the hell of it, but you’re a goddamn fool of a midget if you think that you’re going to get your fair share.”
“Shut the fuck up,” he said, stomping over to me.
“Or what? You gonna hit me?” I said, narrowing my eyes at him, knowing full well if I was about to be auctioned off that nothing would drive the price lower than bruises. “You’ll never have a better chance than this! And that’s what’s sad for you, Tyler. Your best chance is no chance—that’s the story of working with the Black Falcons.”
I saw him shiver, his lip tremble, and his eyes drifted back to my chest. This time, I didn’t bother trying to hide my assets from his view. Instead, I grinned. He wanted my breasts, but he couldn’t have them. He was, simply put, in a spot where he talked a big, punny game, but he had such little actual weight that he couldn’t do anything.
“Were you always this disgusting?” I asked. “Were you always someone who fled a situation as soon as things got bad? Were you always the coward who just jumped from one group to the next for selfish gain, only to realize after the fact how easily manipulated you were? Or have you always felt pain at being the short guy, the one who watches all his friends get laid while you alternate between the overly sweet guy and the mega asshole who— ”
“Shut the fuck up, whore!” he screamed at me, pulling back a clenched fist.
Good! Yes! He’s so weak he crumbles even before me.
“Oh yeah, Tyler! Do it! Damage Falcon property right before an auction! I’d pay to see what happens to you then! I’ll pay more than whatever anyone pays to have me!”
He fell back, running his once raised hand through his hair as if it was all he’d ever meant to do. He let out a loud “fuck!” as he walked away, his muscles clenching and unclenching in frustration.
Good.
I was glad that I was getting to Tyler. I barely knew him, but I knew him enough to say it was what he deserved and more.
My body shook with its own rage and I worked to relax as well. It wouldn’t do me any good to get worked up. I had to find a way to get out of here. I was sure that Derek would be looking for me by now, but I needed to have a back-up plan.
So far, I had jack shit.
“Consider yourself lucky,” Tyler finally said, turning away and going back up the stairs.
“Luckier than you still,” I called after him. “I’m dead or rescued soon. You’re dead or imprisoned for life with this club.”
“Fuck you, Eve,” he said, not bothering to look back.
“Only in your dreams, I’m sure,” I shot back.
He flinched noticeably at that. He must have realized that whatever he was promised he could do to me, he knew in his gut he might not be able to.
Then, just before he left, he came back down the stairs, standing right in front of me before squatting down. Unlike with Chuck’s eyes, which had no soul, I saw a soul in Tyler’s eyes—but his had anger, confusion, and resentment. His anger came not from a lack of empathy, but a lack of getting
his way. He was probably the small man in so many more ways than one to other people.
“You know, Eve, there are more ways than one to leave my mark on you,” he said. “Ways in which no one would ever know. Except maybe a doctor, but let’s just say no one in a lab coat is coming to check in on you. Understood?”
Then he ran his hand over my cheek. I prepared to spit on him, but just before I could unleash the wad, he stood up and left.
And then, he was gone, along with the two other Falcons with me, the door slamming shut and the basement I was chained up in returning to near total darkness. I clenched my eyes shut, trying desperately to calm myself against the raging sea of anger and hate I’d suddenly awoken into.
Madness, I mused to myself. This must be the sort of madness Derek was telling me about. The kind that drives him to do unbelievably stupid yet sometimes heroic things.
Then, left alone in this foreign place, I continued my pursuit for a way to free myself.
I tried to yank away on the chains, but I quickly realized that was a very good way to burn myself out, become too tired to actually escape, and have to rely completely upon Derek and the Saviors to escape. I tried to wiggle my hands free, and while I had the illusion of progress, I was pretty sure I wasn’t actually doing anything to escape.
In short, I was not going to get out of here.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed after a few more attempts to wriggle free, but I was sure that the chains weren’t going anywhere. And, while that was the case, neither was I.
I closed my eyes, trying to remain calm when every part of me wanted to scream. I couldn’t think of anything to help. I glanced around the room, looking for anything that could have any use and saw that the basement might as well have been abandoned. Aside from me and these chains, it was empty.
I wondered again exactly where I was. The basement didn’t look much different from the kind you’d see in a residential home. I wondered if the Falcons decided to move here after Derek and them had blown up their old base.
I wondered if this might be my grave—that the so-called auction was one giant front and that I was about to be killed.
No. I couldn’t let this be it.
Derek would come for me and he wouldn’t come alone. I just had to hold out, had to stay safe until he found his way to me.
And just how, exactly, is he going to do that?
Even as I fought this negative feeling, I realized that it wasn’t wrong. Just how would Derek find me? If the Black Falcons had set up base at some random residential house, I had to assume it wasn’t going to be easy to find. It’s not like they placed a big neon sign on their bases. Even the apartment Tara and I had lived in hadn’t seemed that out of the ordinary for the area it was in. Derek would have to break-and-enter a whole lot more houses than just Matty’s to find me at this point.
I bit my lip, wrapping my chained arms around my knees as I hugged them to my chest. I suddenly felt extremely exhausted. Between the stress and still wearing off the side effects of whatever drug Tyler has stuck me with, I was finding it extremely difficult to focus. It didn’t help matters that this, of all moments, was the one in which I decided to feel strangely emotional about losing Chuck.
It was over. I would never get to see him redeemed. The legacy of Chuck Kellerman would be of jealousy, rage, and sadness. If Chuck had just had the chance to free himself of the stresses of dealing with coming up short, he would have maybe had a chance at having a better life.
But instead, there was no changing his story now. For better or for worse, Chuck could do no more harm, but he could also have no more chances at redemption. This was the end, and there was nothing more I could do for him.
The feeling was… tiring.
My eyes began to drift and as bad as I wanted to stay awake and stay alert, I couldn’t fight it any longer. Falling to my side, I drifted off to a dreamless sleep, hoping that maybe, this was the nightmare, and that Derek had actually rescued me before Tyler could drag me away.
Alas, such a wish was not to be fulfilled. I woke up to what sounded like fingernails tapping on glass. And given that they were on the glass of the same windows I had just seen the last time I had awoke, I realized that I was, once again, living a nightmare I could not pull myself of on my own.
I pulled myself to my feet, looking around for a source of the sound. I squinted to see out the window and saw that there was a blurred face in the glass. I could hear a voice muffled through the glass and bit my lip.
I wanted to see who was trying to talk to me, but another part of me worried that it was just a member of the Falcons playing a trick on me. It wouldn’t have been the first time—they loved their psychological torture, after all, and nothing was more likely to end my life than a mind trick that would drive me to suicide.
I watched as the person on the other side carefully pushed the glass window open. I gulped, preparing myself to fight as best as I could or to absorb a hit as best as I could. The face came forward.
Suddenly I was staring at the face of…
“Tara?” I said, not able to hide the shock in my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“Shush!” she said, placing her finger to her lips. “Look, I don’t got much time. I’m lucky to be here at all.”
This was… OK, this part had to be the dream. It was conceivable for the Black Falcons to drag me to a random basement for torture or for auction, but this? Tara, just showing up out of nowhere, at the window?
At least it’s a pleasant dream. Might as well go with it.
“How did you get here in the first place?” I asked quietly.
“You suck the right dick, you get the right information,” Tara shrugged.
“What? Really?” I said, shaking my head.
At least this “dream,” which I had to acknowledge was less and less of a dream, was disturbingly realistic.
“Well, that, and I knew someone who still works with these losers,” Tara said, frowning down at me. So why not just go with the safer option? “How you doing, Eve?”
I sighed, pulling up my chains for effect. I didn’t do it so much to send a message to Tara as it was to show the depths of trouble I was in, but the scrutinized look on her face told me as much.
“I could be better,” I said.
“They chained you up?” she more stated than asked as she glared down at my hands. “Fucking savages. What, they think you’re a criminal?”
“Tara, this is really dangerous,” I said, biting my lip. “Don’t worry about me. You could get killed. You being here will get you shot on the spot.”
“Yeah, and just like I said to your boyfriend, you aren’t the boss of me,” she said, shaking her head. Definitely not a dream. “Can you tell me what they’ve got planned for you? Any ideas?”
“Some short asshole named Tyler says they plan to auction me off,” I said, glancing back up at her and shook my head. “And while the Falcons are usually grade-A assholes, I think I can trust that he’s telling the truth this time around. He didn’t hit me, and if they weren’t about to put me up for public consumption, they wouldn’t have held back from hitting me.”
“Don’t suppose you know when that’s happening, do you?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“No. Chuck is dead.”
“Don’t tell me you pity the son-of-a-bitch,” Tara sneered.
She doesn’t know Derek is the one who killed him. I’m sure she’ll find out later… but now’s not the time.
“Not one bit,” I said, although that wasn’t entirely true. “I’m just pissed that I won’t have a chance to do it myself. But you? I do care about. You are risking a lot right now just being here.”
“I know, which is why I gotta make this quick,” she agreed and sighed. “I don’t like it, but I gotta go. I’ve got to call Derek—tell him… well, everything—and it’ll be better if I don’t get stupid and try to make the call anywhere near here.”
“Agreed,” I said, fi
nally relieved she was thinking of her own life for once. “Tell him to be careful.”
Tara rolled her eyes.
“Much good that’ll do. Last time I talked to him, I got the impression he was aching to get some killing done.”
“Damn…” I muttered, shaking my head. “Look, I don’t know what the scene’s like up there, but it’s very fair to assume they’re still here. Can’t say how many, but with me here and Derek… well, with Derek being Derek, it’s fair to assume there’s a lot of them and they’re prepared for trouble.”
“Alright, I’ll warn him,” she sighed. “Guess it’d be worth it to warn you to keep your head low when the shit hits the fan.”
“Understatement of the year, Tara.”
And just like that, with a blown kiss, she was gone.
On the one hand, I felt overjoyed that once more, Derek and his crew were coming for me. There was such relief and gratitude in knowing I had my Knight and his team behind him to come and get me.
But unlike before, there was no sneaking out. There were no surprise attacks. There was nothing of the sort.
There was only about to be a whole lot of bloodshed and violence in my name.
13
Derek
I knew I was supposed to be waiting.
I knew that Tara was our best bet, and I knew she was doing her thing. I knew that of all the people on our team, she was the one who knew the Falcons inside and out, perhaps on a level I didn’t want to think about too much.
I knew that even if Tara didn’t work out, we really didn’t have a whole lot of options; we had no idea where the Falcons were, our other sources hadn’t had any luck, and even if we decided to go door to door throughout town, the Falcons would notice, hastening whatever plans they had to hurt Eve or worse.
But, God fucking damnit, I also knew that she was taking her sweet-ass time!
And, in the meantime, I was just sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, and putting all my faith in a single person’s plan to manipulate scared whores out of information regarding a target of interest for a violent motorcycle club.
