Bound (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 3)

by Michelle Betham

  “Goodbye, Theo.”

  “Goodbye, Skye.”

  “You take care, OK?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, you too.”

  And with one more smile she heads into the clubhouse.

  And out of my life.

  Skye

  It’s pointless dwelling on the guilt now. It’s pointless trying to change what might or might not happen, I have no control over any of it now. Except, I do. I could still tell Gabriel what Cole knows, and I’ve been struggling with that all night; for most of today. And I’m still struggling with it now.

  And, OK, I said it’s pointless dwelling on the guilt but seeing Theo outside, it’s hard not to feel sick at the thought of what could happen to him in a matter of hours. But the fact he’s starting to show signs of suspicion; the fact he thinks I’m hiding something – and he’s right, to think that, but all it means is I’m relieved it’s all coming to an end, even if I’m sick to my stomach with fear and nerves.

  But I’ve had my instructions from Gabriel. Keep up the act and just wait until someone comes to get me. Is that someone going to be him? I doubt it. The next time I see him will, God willing, be at the debrief after all of this is over. If it finishes how it should, because I still have no idea what Cole Rockwell has planned, and that’s what’s making me so nervous. Is it too late to tell Gabriel? Could I still pull this back, stop a bigger, possibly more dangerous mess from happening?

  “Skye. A word.”

  I swing around to see Mack standing there. “Everything all right?”

  He jerks his head back toward the chapel and I follow him inside, and I feel my heart jolt to a sudden stop because Cole Rockwell’s also there, in the room. He’s leaning back against the wall, chewing on a match, and the second I walk in his eyes are on me, burning into me, and I feel everything from blind panic to a near paralyzing fear.

  “Our boy out there,” Cole begins, the match dangling from the corner of his mouth as he speaks. “Mack here tells me he’s gone all paranoid over you, darlin’.”

  “Paranoid?”

  Playing dumb is the only way I can think of to handle this.

  Mack sits down at the head of the long, rectangular table that takes up most of this dark and somewhat intimidating room and swings his feet up, steepling his fingers over his chest as he looks at me. “We just gotta make sure, Skye, is all.”

  “Make sure of what, exactly? I mean, are you accusing me of something here? Because, if you are, do you want to tell me what it is?”

  “Listen, sweetheart, you have to understand that what’s happening tonight…” He swings his feet down and leans forward, fixing me with a penetrating stare. “You’re new ‘round here, darlin’. And sometimes it just takes a bit of time to trust people, you gotta understand that. But we ain’t accusing you of nothing.”

  “You sure about that?”

  I look from one to the other, and I watch as Mack glances over at Cole, and he nods. And I may be coming across all ‘I don’t give a shit’ on the outside but inside I am scared to hell. I don’t know what they’re thinking, or what they’re gonna do.

  “Go home,” Mack says. “And stay there, until this is over.”

  “OK.” I’m relieved, if truth be told. I’d rather be back at the house, alone, than run the risk of being caught up in something that could go dangerously wrong. Because as I look over at Cole his expression chills me to the bone. He’s silently warning me, and I watch as he slides a small knife from his cut pocket and raises it to his neck, his eyes locked on mine. Mack can’t see this, he has his back to Cole, and by the time he stands up Cole’s pocketed the knife, he’s passed his silent message on to me. “I’ll go home.”

  Mack walks over to me, reaching behind me to open the door. “Theo’s gonna be OK, Skye. Everything’s gonna work out.”

  I look at him, and then I glance back over at Cole but his expression is still dark; threatening. And I say nothing, I just turn and leave and head back out into the clubhouse, out into the compound. I’m going home. This is the last time I’ll see this place, and I’m not sad about that, but I am scared, about what’s going to happen here. About what’s going to happen to Mack and Izzi. About what’s going to happen to Theo, even though a part of me is angry at him for voicing his suspicions to Mack, that could just fuel Cole’s unstable shit even more.

  “Skye?”

  I’m almost out of the compound when I hear him calling after me, and against my better judgment I stop and turn around. I should have kept on walking, got out of there while I could because I can already start to feel it all turning sour. There’s an atmosphere in the air that’s way past foreboding, and I should just get out of there. But seeing him, it flicks a switch, triggers my frustration, and I’m up in his face before I can stop myself.

  “What the fuck were you doing? Telling Mack you got suspicions, about me? And you tell him that? Tonight? Jesus, Theo, what the hell were you thinking?”

  “OK, you wanna do this? You do know something, and I’m not asking you now, Skye, I’m telling you. And whatever you know, I need to know it too, because if something goes wrong tonight…”

  “I don’t know anything, Theo.”

  Lying to him kills me. It hurts, and I hate myself for doing this, and there’s a part of me that’s confused and torn and I want to tell him to run. I want to tell him to get out of there, to forget this crap and just run, but I can’t. I want to, but I can’t. I’m wearing my wire, they’re listening in, and I can’t tell him shit.

  “You’re lying, Skye.”

  “Please, Theo, don’t do this…”

  Gabriel

  “What the fuck is she doing, Gabe?”

  “Shut the hell up, Phil.”

  “She’s gonna blow this.”

  “She won’t.”

  “Are you listening to this? They got suspicions, Gabriel, and that’s not good. It’s gonna put everyone on edge…”

  “And if they thought those suspicions had any foundation they wouldn’t send her away. They’d keep her there, keep her close. And Theo, he cares too much about her to do anything that could hurt her. It’s gonna be fine. We just need to sit tight for a little while longer.”

  “And what the fuck is she doing talking to him, huh? When all she had to do was get out of there? She was on her way to freaking safety and she…”

  “I said, shut the hell up, Phil. She won’t say anything, all right?”

  “You seem to think you know her so well, Gabriel. You’ve known her a couple of weeks. She’s a fucking criminal. A club girl. You really think you can trust her?”

  I throw him a look, but he isn’t quitting tonight. “We’re all on edge here, Phil. But I’m telling you, she won’t blow this. Not now. And I do know her, OK?”

  “Inside and out, huh?”

  I narrow my eyes as I look at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Come on, Gabe. You think I don’t know?”

  “Don’t know what?”

  “That you’re sleeping with her.”

  I walk over to him, and I grab him by his collar and I throw him back against the wall because I am fucking angry now. “You know shit, Phil. You know nothing, you say nothing, because we don’t need this crap tonight, OK? So forget what you think you know and get your head back on what we’re supposed to be dealing with here.”

  I let go of him and go back over to the table, notching up the volume on the laptop, trying to keep my hand steady because it’s shaking slightly.

  “She can’t handle this, Gabriel.”

  “She’s done good. She’s endured shit for this operation, Phil, and you know that. You heard what that fucked up bastard Rockwell made her do, so she’s done good.”

  “Gabriel…”

  I sit down and drag a hand back through my hair. I’m calming down now, and I need to do that, I need to calm down. Whatever Phil thinks he knows, I have to make him believe it’s not true.

  “It’s almost over.” My voice is q
uiet, because I can’t handle the fact I’ll never see her again, after tonight. And it’s messed me up way more than I thought it would. I thought I could just walk away from this and move on, but I’m not sure it’s gonna be that easy. “So let’s just make sure it goes without a hitch, all right?”

  Theo

  She’s lying.

  She knows something, I can see it on her face; in her eyes. And she’s scared, and that makes me scared, too, but she isn’t talking. And I don’t know if pushing her is the best idea. But she’s lying. I’m certain of that now.

  “I have to go,” she whispers, but I reach out and grab her arm, I stop her from walking away.

  “Please, Skye, if this has anything to do with tonight…”

  “I have to go,” she repeats, and her tone is almost robotic now. It’s like she’s just shut down, switched off. And I let go of her. This is pointless now. If she does know anything, she isn’t gonna tell me. “I’m sorry, Theo.”

  That’s the last thing she says to me as she turns and walks calmly away. And I just sink to the floor, drop my head into my hands and close my eyes.

  I don’t know who to trust anymore.

  I don’t know who’s playing who, or if I’m even gonna get out of this shit alive.

  I don’t know anything anymore.

  And I don’t know what the hell to do now…

  Skye

  I know what I have to do now. I can’t do this anymore, and I should have been stronger, should have been brave enough to do this sooner because stalling like this, lying like I have been doing, I could have ruined everything; fucked so much shit up.

  I practically run into the house and slam the door shut behind me, locking it securely before I run to the back of the house and check the doors and windows. And then I grab my cell, and I press call before I have a chance to think about what I’m doing; what could happen if Cole Rockwell finds out I’m about to tell the FBI that he knows who I am. What I’ve been doing.

  “Skye?”

  It’s Gabriel who answers, and I breathe a sigh of relief that it’s him on the other end of the line.

  “Cole Rockwell he… he knows I’m an informant.”

  There’s a slight pause while he quite obviously takes this news in. “Jesus fucking Christ… when, Skye? When did he find out?”

  “A couple of days ago.”

  “A couple of days ago? And you’re telling me now? How the fuck did he find out?”

  “He said he had his suspicions, about me… Gabriel, I need to talk to you.”

  I can hear muffled voices in the background, instructions being issued, and I know I’ve caused some serious shit, keeping this to myself, but I’m still wearing my wire, they’re still listening in, and I can’t say anything about me and Gabriel. I can’t do that, I have to be careful.

  It’s a minute or two before he speaks again, and he sounds different; his tone’s harsher, he’s gone all professional on me. But what did I expect?

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  And that’s all he says before he ends the call. I throw the phone down and sit forward, dropping my head into my hands. If it was a mess before I don’t know what the hell it is now. And then, from the back of the house, the sound of glass shattering cuts through the silence, and I feel my heart start to pound as panic takes over, and I get up and run to the front door but he’s there before I can unlock it, his arm around my neck as he drags me back into the kitchen, his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. But my throat’s so tight I’m not sure any sound would’ve come out anyway. All I’m feeling is panic and nausea and then I realize I’m still wearing my wire, so surely they’ll hear this? Won’t they? If I can just make some kind of noise… But he’s too quick, and with one deft flick of his hand he’s ripped the choker from my neck and tossed it in the trash before he drags me out into the yard, out through the back gate, and I try to struggle, try to cry out but he presses his hand tighter against my mouth, and I feel the tip of a knife push lightly against my lower back; I can only hope that someone is seeing this. Gabriel, he said he was on his way, is he close enough to have seen this happening?

  I’m thrown into the back of a truck which speeds off the second the doors are slammed closed, and I try to sit up, but a sharp pain in my side stops me and I lie back down. I think I’m alone. It’s dark, and I can hear voices coming from the front of the truck but I’m definitely alone. And I’m terrified. More scared than I’ve ever been in my life because I know it was Cole Rockwell who took me. He said he’d know the second I told someone. I told Gabriel. And Cole knew.

  I grit my teeth and finally manage to sit up, although the pain in my side is telling me I may have broken a rib when I was thrown in here like a sack of rubbish.

  I draw my knees up to my chest and I close my eyes and I try to breathe, try to stay calm. Gabriel was on his way. He’ll see I was taken. He’d keep me safe, he promised me that. He’ll find me, and I have to cling onto that hope, it’s all I have left now.

  But I’ve come across men like Cole Rockwell before.

  I know the kind of man he is.

  I messed up.

  And now I’m paying for it…

  Chapter Fourteen

  Theo

  “Where’s Cole?”

  Mack looks at me and shrugs as he throws another holdall and the spike strip they’re gonna use to stop Dom’s prison van into the back of the truck. “Dunno. Not seen him for a while now. Look, Theo, just stay calm, OK? Cole’ll come through, ‘cause if he don’t he’ll have me to answer to. I don’t take too kindly to being fucked over.”

  That bad feeling I’ve got, it isn’t easing any. Ever since Skye walked out of this compound a couple of hours ago it’s felt like this whole plan is balancing on the thinnest of threads, and any time now it’s just gonna come crashing down around us.

  I had a call from Dom earlier, a very quick one, to let us know that he was about to leave, and in less than half an hour his prison van is due to drive through the outskirts of this town, and we’ll be waiting, but all that hope I had before; that certainty that this was what I had to do to avenge my own guilt, that’s gone. It’s been replaced with a new kind of fear now, nerves have taken over everything, a panic is starting to form in my gut that I can’t kick. And I don’t want to do this anymore. I really don’t.

  “I want to stop this, Mack.”

  Mack says nothing for a beat or two, but he stops what he’s doing. He just keeps his back to me for a second, and I feel that panic rise further up into my chest, wrapping itself around my heart. And then he turns around, and his expression is dark but tinged with confusion.

  “You want to what?”

  “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want it to stop.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “I’m serious, Mack. This needs to stop. We go out there, and you, this club, it’s in danger…”

  “Jesus Christ, Theo, we’re in danger every day of our fucking lives. This is small-time shit compared to some of the crap we’ve done.”

  “Don’t do it, Mack. Please.”

  “Please? You freakin’ begging me?”

  “Skye, she…”

  “Christ, not this shit again… What about her?”

  I didn’t know it for sure. I only had an inkling, and that only started a day or so ago, and I wasn’t sure, I really wasn’t. But now – I’m still not sure, but the one thing I am sure of is that she isn’t who she says she is. Which means we really shouldn’t go ahead with this.

  “I think she’s… I think she might be an FBI informant.”

  Mack stares at me, and my heart is racing, Jesus, it’s banging against my ribs so hard…

  “And you’re telling me this now?”

  “I didn’t know for sure, before, Mack.”

  “And now?”

  I drop my gaze and run a hand along the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I’m still not one hundred per cent sure…”

  �
�I don’t fucking believe this…”

  “And the fact Cole’s missing… I think he might’ve realized something was up, too, Mack.”

  Mack leans back against the truck and flips a cigarette into his mouth, turning his head away from me. I don’t know what he’s gonna do, but we really should call this whole thing off because if I’m right…

  “The FBI could be waiting, Mack. You know that, don’t you? If I’m right, then that’s a very real possibility. I know how this shit works. They get you on this, they get you on everything else they couldn’t pin on you in the past.”

  He drops his head and takes a drag on his cigarette, blowing a thick stream of smoke at the ground.

  “Mack?”

  He slowly looks up, his eyes locking with mine. “What do you want me to do, Theo?”

  “I want you to step back from this.”

  “You can live with that, can you? You can live with your brother rotting behind bars for something he didn’t do? ‘Cause they’re gonna find him guilty. Ain’t no other option on the table there. You really think you can live with that?”

  “If it means saving you from going down, Mack, yes. If it means keeping this club alive…”

  “What do you care about this club, huh? I mean, you ain’t hanging around, are you? Whether you get your brother outta this shit and fuck off to Panama, or whether we step back and leave it alone, you ain’t staying. Are you?”

  I look at him, but I can’t answer that. I can’t. Because I don’t know.

  “If what you say is true, Theo, and that girl is an FBI informant she’ll have been wearing some kinda device that means they heard all kindsa crap that could see you up to your neck in shit just as much as we are. So you really can’t stay, can you? Me, I can get outta that crap easy, been doing it all my life, but you…”

  “I used to be a lawyer, Mack.”

  “But you ain’t one now, kiddo.”

  “What if I’m wrong?”