by K. J. Dahlen
~* * * *~
Deke missed seeing the woman standing behind a tree just outside the main gate. He missed seeing the expression of hate on her face and seeing Connie slip inside the compound, keeping herself in the shadows.
Once she got inside the club, she scurried off to a little used closet to wait for the right time to make her strike. She knew that at some point, everyone would be gone. They all had their own things to do. However, she also knew they would be back, so if she was going to get even with Cassie she wouldn’t have long to get the deed done and get out of here in one piece. She realized if anyone caught her back here, she would get beaten or worse, killed for what she was about to do.
When Connie didn’t hear any sounds coming from beyond the door of the closet she was hiding in, she opened the door slowly. Peeking around, she found she was alone. She quickly moved toward Deke’s bedroom and quietly opened the door. Seeing Cassie asleep, she slipped into the room. Standing next to the bed, she sneered at the other woman. She turned and walked over to one of the shelves in the room and picked up a heavy wrench laying there. She went back to the bed and brought the wrench down on Cassie head. The sound the impact made was loud and Connie feared someone heard it. She went to the door and peeked out. She was surprised that no one was running toward the bedroom. Then she smiled. No one but her had heard the thud of metal hitting her skull.
She turned back to the girl on the bed. Blood ran from the impact point and was making a stain on the bed sheets but Connie didn’t have time to worry about that at the moment. She had to finish her mission and get the hell out of Dodge before anyone caught sight of her.
She grabbed an extension cord and wound it around Cassie’s wrists. She made it extra tight, so it would hold her. Then she hoisted the woman over her shoulder and began walking toward the door. Making sure the coast was still clear, she hurried toward the kitchen and beyond.
Opening the basement door, she turned on the lights. Each step she took brought her deeper into the dark dankness below ground. By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs, Connie could see the puddles of water left standing by the recent rains. The dark black mold on the walls stunk to high heaven. Wrinkling her nose at the scent of mold and decay, she carried Cassie’s body over to the far corner of the room. The light had shown her there was an anchor imbedded in the wall to hold shelving at some point in the past. She looped the end of the cord she’d tied Cassie’s hands with and made sure the bindings would hold her.
When she was done, Connie glared at Cassie hanging there in the oblivion of unconsciousness. “You cost me everything I worked for all my life bitch,” Connie sneered at her. Kicking her in the ribs a few times, she said, “The least I can do is repay the favor.”
She turned quickly and hurried for the stairway. At the top, she hit the lights and plunged the basement into complete darkness. The last sound in the room was the snap of the door being locked.
Connie then hurried back to the woods before anyone could see her. From there, she began the long walk into town. She would have to find a job and a place to stay. Without any money, it wouldn’t be easy. She would have to find a way to get by. She was a survivor.
~* * * *~
Reva smiled as she made her way down the hall to Deke’s bedroom. It had been four hours since she checked on Cassie. She knew the other woman needed her sleep but it was time to join the world of the living. She knocked softly on the door and waited for Cassie to call out. When she didn’t, Reva knocked a bit harder.
When she didn’t hear a sound behind the door Reva opened it and went inside. When she did, she came to a standstill and felt a horror wash over her. A bloody wrench laid on the floor beside the bed and a small pool of blood stained the sheets. With her body shaking, she wanted to scream but couldn’t get any sound to come through her mouth. She turned and ran out to the main room of the clubhouse. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she tried to breathe.
Sobs vibrated from her chest as she stumbled to the kitchen and reached for the phone. Dialing a number she knew by heart, she waited for Gator to pick up the phone.
~* * * *~
Gator was laughing at something Deke had said when his phone rang. The two of them were in the dance hall office. When he answered the call, he could hear someone sobbing. Frowning, he sat up in his chair and held the phone to his ear. “Who is this?”
“Gator, she’s gone,” his wife cried.
“Who’s gone baby?” Gator asked as fear crawled up his back.
“Cassie. Cassie’s gone.” Reva sobbed. “I went in to check on her like Deke asked me to do this morning and I found a bloody wrench on the floor and Cassie is missing. Oh Gator!” she cried out. “There’s blood on the sheets.”
“We’ll be right there baby. Don’t worry, we’ll find her.” Gator ended the call and got to his feet.
Deke stood beside him and asked, “What the fuck is going on man?”
Gator looked at his brother, his best friend. He didn’t know how to tell him, so he just blurted out what he knew, “Your spitfire is missing and there’s blood on the sheets.”
Deke ran for the door. Gator was right behind him. As they ran through the club, several of the brothers started running as well. They might not know what was going on but when the President and Vice President of the MC start running, they knew enough to rush as well.
Speeding through town, they got to the clubhouse in record time.
Deke didn’t even take the time to put his kickstand down. Instead, he handed his bike over to Gator and ran for the door. Throwing it open, he found Reva standing there sobbing.
She was wringing her hands together trying to hold it together.
He grabbed her by her upper arms and looked into her eyes. “What happened?”
“Oh Deke, I’m so sorry!” Reva wailed. “I went to check on her and she was gone.”
Deke’s fingers tightened on her arms as a crushing fear almost knocked him over.
“Let go of my woman.” Growled Gator as he took in the sight of Deke’s hands clenching Reva’s arms.
Deke snapped his head around to stare at Gator. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You’re hurting my woman, man.” Gator could see the rage on Deke’s face and he didn’t want Reva on the other end of it.
Deke turned to stare at Reva. He could see the terror and pain on her face. He let go of her arms and pulled her to him. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s okay Deke. I understand but you have to find Cassie. She’s hurt and she needs you.” Reva told him.
When Deke let her go, Gator grabbed her. “Are you okay baby?”
Reva shook her head at his concern. Pushing him away she said, “You go with him. He can’t do this alone, honey. He needs you and the boys right now.”
Gator kissed her quick and tore down the hall. When he entered Deke’s bedroom he found his boss down on his knees. Laying his hand on Deke’s shoulders, he gazed at the pool of blood on the bed. Deke was holding a pillow and it had bloodstains on it as well.
Then he looked at the floor. There was a stained wrench sitting there. Gator bent over to pick it up. He could see a fingerprint on the handle. A bloody fingerprint.
Deke looked up at his friend with a lost look on his face. “What the fuck happened Gator? Where is she?”
Gator frowned. “It looks like somebody snatched her, man.” He handed the wrench to his friend.
Deke stared at it. All he could see for a moment was Cassie’s blood on the head of the tool. Then he noticed the bloody print. Rage filled him and he threw the weapon into the corner. He got to his feet. “Who would do something like that? Especially here. She thought she was safe here. I told her no one would hurt her here, man. Somebody is always around, or they’re supposed to be anyway.”
“Let’s do a search. Whoever took her couldn’t have taken her far. The gate stays locked 24/7 man.”
Deke and Gator joined the others in the main room. Deke still ca
rried the bloody pillow in his hands. He looked around at all the men standing there. Holding up the pillow, he called out, “My woman is missing and there’s blood on the sheets where she was sleeping. I thought our clubhouse was safe for our women and children. This is where we live. This is where we work and play. I want this place searched from top to bottom. I want the parking lot and the woods searched. Don’t leave so much as a blade of grass unchecked. We have to find her.”
Everyone split up and began searching. They moved furniture out of the corners and checked every room. Some of the guys went outside and began to search the grounds.
Reva joined Deke and Gator. Tears still streamed down her cheeks. “Oh Deke, I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”
Deke pulled her in for a hug. “This isn’t your fault.”
Reva buried her face in his chest. “But she went missing on my watch.”
Deke reached down and grabbed her chin bringing it up to meet his gaze. ”Hey, now, none of that. I asked you to check on her once in a while, I didn’t tell you to stand guard. It wasn’t on you to protect her; that was on me. I’m the one that failed her. I’m the one that let her be taken. Don’t you worry, we’ll find her. We have to find her.” He brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “Now don’t you worry about this. It isn’t your fault.” He smiled and said, “Go give that man of yours a hug, so he don’t kill me.”
Reva laughed and Gator swept her into his arms and kissed his woman.
When he finally pulled away from her, she was blushing bright red. She looked into his adorning eyes and whispered, “I love you big guy.”
“I love you too,” Gator told her as his big hand patted her ass. “Now, find something to do while we search for Deke’s woman.”
When Reva left them, Deke gazed down at the pillow in his hands. The pillow still had the scent of her shampoo on it. The amount of blood on the pillow and on his bed told him Cassie was hurt. How badly, is what scared him. He could picture her laying in a ditch somewhere bleeding to death and he felt helpless. He glanced over at Gator. “She’s out there somewhere alone and scared to death. She’s bleeding, man. How can I help her if I don’t know where she is? Would she know to come back here if she could or would she crawl into a hole and hide?”
Gator grabbed hold of his friend. “Stop it man. Get a hold of yourself. It’s gonna be okay. You have to believe that. We’ll find her. Tell you what, let’s get Peaches over here. She knows Cassie the best. She might be able to help and when she finds out Cassie is missing, she’ll want to be here anyway.”
Deke nodded. “Get her here quickly. We need to find Cassie.”
Gator made the call.
Within ten minutes, Peaches was running through the door. “Where is she?” She grabbed Deke’s shirt.
“Chill woman, we don’t know yet. We’re still looking for her.”
Peaches let go of his shirt. Her hands clutched into fists and she began pounding on Deke’s chest. “You have to find her. You have to!”
Deke grabbed her wrists. “You better calm down, NOW.”
Peaches collapsed and would have fallen to the floor in a heap if Deke hadn’t caught her. Swinging her up into his arms, he carried her to a table. Calling out for Reva, he set her down. “We’ll find her. You have to believe that.”
Peaches looked up at him then something caught her eyes. She got to her feet shaking. Her hand went to her mouth and she gasped in shock at the painting on the wall. “Oh, my god…”
Deke got to his feet and stared at Peaches and then the painting. He didn’t understand what she was carrying on about. “Cassie painted that last night.”
Peaches turned to him. “She did?”
Deke nodded. “What does it mean to you?”
“Cassie paints when she wants to share a little something of herself with you. She has talent but she’s very careful just who she shares it with. It’s her own secret.” She turned to study the tiger again. “This is Rufus. She named him that the first and only other time she drew him. He became her escape route when the old battle axe would hurt her. When she would be laying there all curled up in a ball after a beating, she wouldn’t be crying her little heart out. She would be talking to Rufus. She would be hurting so bad but she never shed a tear.” Peaches shook her head. “Not Cassie. She’d never let it out that she was in pain because she didn’t want Mrs. Pierce to know she’d broken her. Cassie wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.”
Deke stared at the painting of the tiger. “So, what does it mean for her to have painted this here?”
Peaches moved closer and reached out a hand to touch Rufus. “She’s sharing her most imitate feeling with you. She’s sharing her art. It’s the one thing in her life she could really call her own and she swore no one would ever take it away from her. In other words, she’s sharing herself with you and your club.” She stared at the painting again. “Isn’t he beautiful?” she whispered.
“You said she drew him one other time. When and where was that?”
Peaches frowned. “She drew him on the walls on Mrs. Pierce’s basement where she was tied up all the time. She told me it was the only thing she could do to keep her sanity. She scratched him out of the stone wall with a rock.”
Deke felt like he’d been punched in the gut as it occurred to him. He turned to Gator and asked, “Does this place even have a basement?’
Gator shrugged. “Damned if I know.”
They both turned to Reva.
She was nodding. “Yeah, it does but it’s nasty down there, so we don’t use it.” She got to her feet and walked over to the door leading to the basement. Everyone had followed her through the kitchen. When she reached for the handle, she felt the resistance. Reva frowned and looked at Gator. “This door wasn’t locked earlier today.”
“How do you know that?” Deke asked.
“I went down there early this morning, thinking we could clean it up and start using it again, but I found standing water on the floor and black mold three feet up the walls. I was going to say something to you guys but it slipped my mind.”
Deke moved her out of the way and checked the lock on the door. What he found wasn’t good. He glanced over his shoulder at Gator. “Somebody broke off something inside the lock. We’re going to have to break the door to get down there.”
“I’ll go find a crowbar,” Gator told him.
Reva backed away from the door. She looked over at Peaches then grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the main room. Sitting her down at one of the tables, she picked a bottle from behind the bar. She poured the girl a drink and shoved it into her hands. “Drink.”
Peaches shook her head. “Don’t drink. Me and Cassie have never touched booze and we vowed we never would.”
“Drink it,” Reva repeated.
Peaches frowned. “No, I won’t do it. Me and Cassie made a vow. I’m not breaking it.”
Reva slammed the drink down her throat and waited while the liquor burned its way to her belly. One by one, the other members trickled back to the clubhouse. She could see by the defeated look on their faces…they hadn’t found anything.
The sounds of splintering wood came from the kitchen area and everyone stood still, waiting. They heard the sounds of heavy boots descending the basement stairs and then they all heard a male cry of anguish echoing through the clubhouse. Everyone looked at each other. It was a sound they’d never heard before and never wanted to hear again.
~* * * *~
Cassie groaned as she came back from oblivion. Her head ached and her wrists hurt. She tried to struggle but her hands wouldn’t move. She could feel the bite of the restraints get tighter and it lent to her struggle with the past. The smell of mold hit her and her mind flashed back to when she was a child. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She didn’t want to find out if she was back in her own little corner of hell. She tried to move her wrists but couldn’t. The reality of where she was came down on her. She had escaped this particular hell at one of the lowest
points in her life and now, she knew even without seeing it with her own eyes—she was back.
She started to remember the days when she was trapped down here as a child. Her body remembered the beatings she took. She could still feel of the strap as it burned her tiny body after each and every stroke.
Cassie finally opened her eyes and saw nothing. She wanted to scream but couldn’t. Her throat wouldn’t allow any sound to be released. Her own fears wouldn’t allow any sound to penetrate the darkness that surrounded her. It wouldn’t allow her to struggle against the obvious but it would allow her to surrender herself to the past.
With her eyes wide open, Cassie sank down into her own hell as the past came back and took over. She was too tired to fight it, so she didn’t. She gave up the struggle to survive and she let the fears take her.
~* * * *~
Deke flipped the lights on and came down the steps. When he saw her hanging there, eyes wide open staring at nothing, he let out a cry of anguish. He rushed to her side and carefully picked her up in his arms. Gator reached out with his pocketknife and cut the cord that bound her to the wall.
Neither man spoke as the made their way back to the stairs leading back to daylight.
Slow heavy steps came back up the stairs. Gator came out first leading the way. Deke carried Cassie in his arms. Without a word to the men standing there, he made his way down the hall to his bedroom where he carefully laid Cassie down. Gator, Reav and Peaches followed him but everyone else stayed behind.
A moment later, Reva came out of the bathroom with a basin of water and a cloth to bathe the wound on her head.
Deke took the rag away from her and knelt beside the bed. Dunking the cloth in the water, he cleaned the wound on her head.
Her eyes still stared at nothing and she was acting like she couldn’t hear him calling her to come back to him.
