I immediately bristled. “Teasing him how?” I asked, on edge at the thought of anyone teasing any of the kids.
He sighed. “It’s a small town—gossip spreads like wildfire. Sounds like some of the kids were razzing him about not having a dad.”
“What the hell?” I demanded. “That’s so… mean,” I sputtered.
“Kids are mean.” He shrugged.
“You don’t seem very worried,” I accused.
He looked over at me, his gaze steady. “I’m not worried because I’m gonna teach him how to handle himself.”
“You mean how to fight?” I demanded. “He’s only seven! And I don’t want him solving problems with his fists.”
“We’re not raisin’ a bully here, baby. We’re raising a kid who’s had it rough. We can shield him at home but he has to fight some of his own battles. The earlier he makes it clear he’s not to be fucked with, the better. He needs to learn how to handle himself,” he reiterated. “In the meantime, I told him that if anyone fucked with him to tell them his pop is Cal Jackson.”
Dammit. Those words made it virtually impossible to stay angry. “I bet he liked that,” I murmured.
He nodded. “He did. Now what the hell are you doin’ all the way over there?” he demanded, spreading his legs and indicating I should stand between them.
I did as he asked, pressing in between his muscular thighs, my palms pressed to his chest. “Is that why you’ve been so tense tonight?” I murmured. “Because Max was being picked on?”
“Didn’t realize I seemed tense. We’ve done enough talking anyway.” He looked at me with his gaze half-mast and his voice deepened. “What I want now is you to get on your knees for me.”
His quiet command had heat rushing between my legs as I dropped to my knees.
That weight bench got a hell of a workout.
Chapter 27
The heat confirmed summer was just around the corner as I headed to the club to pick up the ribs Scarlet had made before heading over to Pipe and Ry’s. It was the night before their wedding and we were in full celebratory mode. I’d picked Mason up from day care and Cal had already picked up Max and Emmie. Em had a few sniffles so we’d kept her out of day care for the day. We’d been spending more and more time at the club. I was learning to embrace my role as the Prez’s old lady.
The last few weeks had been some of the best of my life. Mason and I had officially moved in to our new home. The kids were settling in remarkably fast. Max was doing better in school and before I knew it, summer vacation would be upon us.
Even the oppressive heat couldn’t detract from my joy. I was loving days spent by the pool watching Cal play like one of the kids in the water and nights spent wrapped up in my man. We were building a family together and it was beautiful.
Tag’s motorcycle revved ahead, leading us to the exit that would take us to the club. The Knights had maintained their vigilance as the hunt for Tim continued.
The road stretched out in front of us as Mason babbled in the backseat. When an SUV came barreling onto the road seemingly from nowhere, my heart rate immediately spiked. It hadn’t been behind me, that much I knew, which made it likely that whoever it was had been lying in wait for us.
The realization sent ice down my spine.
The SUV sided up aggressively to the driver side of my car, forcing me to crank the wheel to the right to avoid a collision.
I bit my lip hard against the shriek that nearly escaped. I didn’t want to scare Mason despite it being obvious that there was something to be very much afraid of.
Tag banked his bike hard, his expression full of rage as he headed straight for us.
The SUV sided up to my car once again, this time making contact with the left front bumper. The impact sent my car into a spin.
Gunfire erupted in the air as I fought to gain control of the car.
Mason had started to wail. The thought of him afraid and in danger had me gripping the steering wheel with renewed focus. I didn’t have time to be afraid. I had to protect him. I’d do that with my life if need be.
In a heartbeat.
My car righted itself, now facing the opposite direction on the road. I pressed my foot to the gas, ready to gun the engine, but another shot tore through the air. The car immediately swerved, careening out of control and hitting the guardrail at the side of the road.
They’d blown out one of the tires.
My heart hammered in my chest as I dove from the driver seat, determined to get to Mason. A man I’d never seen before was already there. He grabbed my arm roughly, towing me from the vehicle.
My only moment of relief came as Tag raced to stand in front of Mason’s door, guarding it like a fierce warrior, a gun pointed at a second man who seemed determined to get to Mason.
“I will fucking shoot you if you come one step closer.” Tag glowered.
The second man raised his gun as well. His arm shook and I took in his bloodshot eyes and bedraggled appearance. The man who held my arm began dragging me bodily to the waiting SUV. I struggled against him until I felt the cold press of steel against my temple.
I sucked in a ragged breath as sheer terror shot through me.
“I’ll put a bullet in your head if you keep fighting me.” The man threatened as we neared his SUV.
I kept my head still but my eyes shot over to where Tag stood, desperate to make sure Mason was okay.
The second man took a step forward, and without delay Tag fired, hitting him square in the chest.
He crumpled to the ground as a spray of red filled the air.
Tag kicked his gun out of reach. “I told you, motherfucker—one step closer,” he growled before his eyes turned toward us with intent.
“Shit!” the man who held me exclaimed. He pressed the gun harder to my temple. “Stay back.”
Tag took a step in our direction.
“I will fucking kill her!” the man screamed desperately.
I set my eyes on Tag. “S-stay with Mason,” I pleaded. “Please, Tag.” I desperately needed to make sure he stayed with my boy.
“Do you know who that is?” Tag demanded of my captor, his chin lifting toward me. “Do you know who you’re fucking with?”
The man’s posture grew taut as his hand shook.
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered belligerently. He shoved me into the back of the waiting SUV, and slammed the door.
My heart lurched seeing the wire cage in between the backseat and the front. A quick test of the handles confirmed what I’d already assumed: locked from the outside.
I was trapped.
With a final muffled warning to Tag that I couldn’t hear, the man hopped into the driver seat, the engine still running, and tore down the road.
I craned my neck to watch as Tag held a phone to his ear, watching our rapid departure with a vicious glare.
He was opening Mason’s door as they moved out of sight.
Despite everything, I sighed with relief. He had my boy. And Cal would come for me. Of that I had no doubt. And when he did—there would be hell to pay.
I just had to survive long enough to witness it.
We drove toward Reno as I struggled to formulate a plan. I assumed Tim had orchestrated all of this. The thought of his hands on me again filled me with dread.
My captor grew increasingly agitated, checking the rearview mirror every few seconds.
“You could just pull over,” I suggested quietly. “Drop me off and keep going. You could still make this right,” I told him.
It was clear he was freaked. It could have been due to his accomplice’s demise or Tag’s threat, I wasn’t sure. That combined with whatever he was on was making him extremely agitated.
“Shut up,” he barked.
I winced at his harsh reply. Clearly any form of reason was out.
I went back to exploring my options, growing more and more frustrated as I realized there were few.
I longed to hear the growl of motorcycles behind us,
but was only met with the steady hum of cars on the highway.
When we pulled off the highway into a suburban neighborhood, I studied my surroundings warily. I’d never been to this area of Reno but it looked like any middle class neighborhood.
The small home we pulled up to had a sweet, albeit slightly neglected exterior. With its faded blue shutters and chipping white paint, it looked like a family home. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
I shuddered at what lay in wait for me inside.
“You scream, I’ll kill you.” The man turned to warn me before he exited the SUV, opening my door seconds later. He pulled me roughly from the vehicle, pulling me inside.
The smell hit me first. Body odor mixed with rotting food and something sickeningly sweet.
The small living room was dim despite the sunlight that still glowed outside. All the shades were pulled, making the space all the more sinister.
Another man walked into the room, looking more tweaked than the two I’d already dealt with. “Where are the kids, Corey?” he demanded, his bloodshot eyes swinging from me to the man who held my upper arm in a firm grip.
His question enraged me.
“She only had one with her. I left him. She had some fuckhead with her. He killed Joe, man,” the guy whined.
“Fuck,” the other man bit out.
This didn’t make sense. Tim was anything but respectable, but he was immaculate and organized. I looked around, wondering how he’d ever be associated with these men who could only be described as tweakers.
“Well, go get her then,” the man I now knew as Corey ordered his accomplice.
Then it all clicked. This hadn’t been planned by Tim. It wasn’t about him at all.
It was Janelle.
When my sister walked into the room a moment later, I barely recognized her. Her thick shiny hair now hung in thin greasy streaks down her back. Her once luminous eyes were now lit by an entirely different source as they bounced around the room anxiously, looking too large in her gaunt face. She’d always been trim, but now she was rail thin.
“Where are the kids?” she demanded.
“Janelle, what the hell?” I exploded. “You abandoned them in a motel room—left them starving, and then you send these assholes to what? Kidnap them?” I demanded. My entire body vibrated with an anger I could barely contain.
She glared at me. “I can’t kidnap my own kids. They’re mine!” she cried hysterically.
This wasn’t the sister I knew. She’d been on benders before, fallen off the wagon. This was something else entirely.
Despite my fury at the type of danger she’d tried to put the kids in—that she’d put me in—anger wouldn’t get through to her. It was possible nothing would, but I had to try.
“What’s going on, Janelle?” I asked in a much softer voice, hoping like hell that there was a piece of her that I could still touch. “I want to help.”
“You never wanted to help me,” she sneered. “You always thought you were better than me.”
I reeled back in shock. “That isn’t true.” I shook my head adamantly.
“What the fuck, Janelle,” Corey interjected. “I don’t give a shit about your family drama. You said if we got the kids we’d get the money and the stash.”
I thought back to my encounter with her dealer in Reno. It must have been his money she’d held over them.
Janelle glared at him. “I don’t see any kids—do you?”
I looked at her in shock as any hope I’d held waned at being able to reach her. “You wanted to bring Max and Emmie here? Then what?” I demanded in horror. “You never even tried to pick up the phone and call me, Janelle! I would have tried to help. Tried to get you back to a place where you could be in a position to take care of them again. Instead you jump to this?”
She looked at me blankly.
“Who are you?” I demanded, incredulous. I didn’t expect an answer, not really. I didn’t think she knew how to answer it. Instead, I changed tactics. “Jan. You have beautiful babies,” I murmured hoarsely. “Max is so sensitive and smart. Anyone younger, anything fragile, he innately cares for. He’s so special,” I rasped.
I thought I saw a spark of something in her eyes—something not drug induced.
“And Emmie.” I sighed. “What a sweet, smart girl.” I smiled despite myself. “She has a capacity for love I’ve never seen. She trusts first and asks questions later.”
I took a cautious step closer as she watched me warily.
“I love them, Janelle. Like they’re my own. I’ll protect them with my life. But they deserve to grow up with their mama. We didn’t have that chance. Don’t take that from them.” I shook my head. “But it can’t be like this.” I looked around at the dank, depressing space around us. “You know they don’t deserve this.”
She looked at me with utter devastation on her face. “I can’t be anything but this.”
Her words hung heavy in the air, making the already cramped space feel utterly claustrophobic.
I shook my head. “I don’t believe that.”
Her gaze turned hard. “Yes, you do. You’ve known it for years. You and I—we grew up in the same pile of shit. You’re just content to pretend you don’t stink.”
I’d never known she resented me so much.
“It’s not like my life was perfect after I left,” I retorted bitterly. “Far from it.”
If she’d been there for me, I would have told her everything. But she wasn’t, and when I thought about it, she never really had been.
“Enough!” The dark-haired man bellowed as he scraped the back of his shaking hand under his nose. He turned to Janelle, getting in her face. “Where’s the money?” he demanded.
“I don’t have it,” she replied, meeting his frazzled gaze head-on.
The punch came out of nowhere as he knocked her to the ground. I cried out, running to her side as she collapsed to the floor. He towered over us, his expression furious. “You fucking lied? I should fucking kill you. Joe is dead because of you! We only grabbed this bitch because you said you had more of that stash.” His eyes turned to me before he continued. “Casey says she has some friends in some motorcycle gang. We’re probably fucked!” he exclaimed, his gaze still on me.
One could only hope.
“Brandon, I can get what I owe you,” Janelle swore, rising shakily to her feet holding her tender cheekbone. “I had it….” She trailed off.
“But you fucking snorted it or shot it. Didn’t you?” he demanded. “Didn’t you!” he cried. “And I thought I was a fucking junkie,” he muttered in disgust.
She winced but didn’t deny the accusation.
This situation felt as though it had the propensity to blow rapidly out of control, but I was powerless to stop it.
“We need to get the fuck out of here,” Corey threw in. “I say we take her with us,” he added, his eyes on me.
Brandon, who despite being just as much of an addict as the other two was clearly the man in charge, considered his suggestion. “Good idea. She could be good insurance for us. Plus, she’s hot.” His eyes looked me up and down, landing on my chest.
I shuddered.
“That wasn’t the deal,” Janelle argued, looking panicked. “I just wanted my kids. You weren’t even supposed to take my sister. Just let her go and I’ll get you what you need.” Her voice lowered as she attempted to sound alluring. “I’ll give you what you want too.”
My stomach rolled at the thought of her giving herself to these men—at the thought that she probably already had.
Brandon sneered. “You were a piece once but you’re washed-up now. You can’t even get me hard.”
“That’s because you’re a fucking junkie!” she exclaimed. “Don’t blame that shit on me.”
The three of them stood arguing and I took their momentary distraction as an opportunity to take a step back and then another. If I could get close enough to the front door, I could make a run for it.
The sun had set a
nd I wouldn’t have to get far before I could use the cover of darkness to my advantage.
I’d opened the front door and slipped through when I heard shouting behind me. “Hey! She’s trying to fucking run!”
The boom of gunfire tore through the air. The slice of pain that radiated through my calf had me collapsing to the ground.
“You idiot!” one of them hissed. “Someone’s gonna call the cops!”
“I didn’t mean to shoot, it just went off, dude.” One of them—Corey?—answered.
They drew closer and Brandon took my arm and pulled me roughly back inside. They dropped me on the floor and started to pace. “Fuck, she’s gonna bleed all over the place. We’ve got to get the fuck out of here.” Brandon cursed.
Janelle was sobbing. “I’m sorry, Jilly. I never meant for this to happen.” She was shaking her head frantically. “They’re better off with you. I’m such a fuckup,” she wailed. “That’s why I brought them here in the first place. I wanted them to be with you so I could get my shit straight. But then I got high and everything just sort of went blurry....” She trailed off, biting her lip.
“It’s okay,” I replied, though it was anything but. Right now I needed her help. “Can you get me a towel or something like that so I can stop the bleeding?” I asked urgently. After a quick inspection it looked like the bullet had gone straight through my calf without hitting anything life-threatening. I just needed to stop the bleeding, which was beginning to make me feel woozy.
She nodded and ran to the kitchen.
Corey and Brandon were frantically rushing around the room, shoving belongings into backpacks to make their getaway. One positive about being shot: it would be way too difficult and messy to take me with them now.
“You’re just gonna leave me here!” Janelle shrieked from the kitchen when she realized what they were doing.
I gritted my teeth in pain. “Janelle, I need a towel,” I reminded her urgently.
“Fuck yes, we’re leaving you here,” Brandon scoffed as the two of them rushed through the front door, slamming it shut behind them.
“Shit!” Janelle exclaimed frantically.
“Janelle,” I gritted out. “I need you to focus,” I demanded. The pool of blood surrounding me was growing by the second.
Cal (The Ride Series Book 5) Page 16
