Carter's Treasure

by Amy Gregory

  Molly walked out of the bedroom and went straight to Karen and hugged the woman as tight as she could. Karen’s floral perfume seemed an anchor of some sort, the scent never changing over the years, always the same, always there. Without words, she went to James’s waiting arms. The man might work at his design table most of the day, but his form never showed it. He was probably missing the gym just as much as she was. Molly had always loved the differences between the two. They were a perfect match and one didn’t go without the other. When she needed comforting, Karen carried a gentleness that calmed her heart, and James had the strength in his hold that always let her know everything would be fine.

  She plopped herself onto one of the open kitchen chairs and waited for the questions. The sooner she got them out of the way, the sooner she could be sitting on her bike.

  Karen’s eyebrow shot up, and with her finger pointed at Molly, she gestured up and down at Molly’s attire. “Um, sweetie…you are not going running. I’m sorry.”

  “I know.”

  “Why do you look like you’re up to something?” James tilted his head, his probing eyes quite obviously trying to figure her plan out.

  Over the years, she had seen that look more times than she could ever count. While Brody loved her dearly and he was an amazing man, he had been a mischievous kid. He never got into any major trouble of any kind, never had even a brush with the law, but the boy had given James and Karen a run for their money. Brody had always drug Molly laughing behind him, constantly leaving her on the receiving end of that very same expression.

  Molly shook her head and giggled for the first time in almost a day. “You know, I thought you’d trust me better than that these days.”

  “Oh, baby girl, Brody ruined you there,” James said as he laughed at the familiar line.

  “And like I always told you…I was the good one.”

  “Was being the operative word there, sweetheart. That boy tarnished that halo of yours. We could always see through him, and you, my dear, were crystal clear. Just like now, I can see the gears turning in your head. You’ve got the start of your gear on, and I’d lay my money on the table that you think you’re going riding.”

  Molly wiggled her eyebrows at the shit eating grin on James face. “Well, that’s why they pay you the big bucks…you’re so damned smart. And guess what, you’re coming with me, wise ass.”

  Before he could argue, Molly threw her hand up. “George already said I could. He’s waiting for me. Said to come up and see him in the tower when I got down there.”

  “You think you’re cute huh, baby girl? Outsmart the old man?”

  She tried to smile at James’s teasing. Instead, she shook her head. “No. I just need it. Please? Will you take me?” Her words didn’t hold the same humor they did only seconds ago. They verged close to a desperate plea.

  “Oh, honey, yes, I’ll take you down there. Did you already call Joe and have him start getting your bike ready?”

  Molly nodded.

  Karen gave her a sympathetic nod. “I’ll stay here and wait for Carter and then send him down to the track if you’re not already back.”

  “Thanks, Karen. I know he’d be completely panicked if we were all gone when he shows up.”

  “Well, I think that boy is a good one, that’s for sure. And he’s so stinking cute too.” Karen’s eyes went as wide as her smile.

  Molly knew she was trying to bring her spirits back up. It was working. She grinned at Karen. “He’s hot, that’s for sure,” Molly’s tone softened, “He’s so sweet, Karen…I just love him.”

  “I’m glad, sweetheart. You deserve it.” Karen squeezed Molly’s hand before standing. “You want something to eat?”

  “Maybe after I ride?”

  “Promise?”

  Molly stood up and slipped her arms around Karen’s waist. “Promise.”

  “All right, baby girl.” James stood up. “Let me top off my coffee and I’ll meet you in the trailer. Don’t go down there without me.”

  “Are you kidding me? Hell no.” Molly knew she was safe walking from the motorhome to the bike trailer, it was a matter of feet and she had cops watching their whole area, but there was no way in hell she’d venture any further than that.

  She opened the trailer door and glanced over her shoulder. “See you in a few minutes.” She blew him a kiss like she did every other time she left the house.

  Molly was halfway between Carter’s motorhome and her bike semi when she heard a girl laugh. She looked to the side and saw the neon green and purple haired girl walking in her direction.

  “Damn girl. They’ve got you locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”

  Molly looked at Dylan’s new romance and her lip curled up in a skittish smile. The girl’s overbearing personality was a little much for Molly on a good day, much less this weekend.

  “Oh, hi. I’m sorry…it’s Maggie, right?”

  “Marcie. But you were close. Where ya going? I’ll walk with you. Dylan’s off somewhere and I’m bored.” The girl cracked a huge smile that sent a chill down Molly’s spine.

  “Um…actually I’m…um…getting ready to practice.”

  “Oh, well. I’ll come.”

  Molly’s heart began to beat a little faster. She just couldn’t shake the girl. “Um?” Molly shook her head and backed away.

  “Let me rephrase that.” Marcie grabbed Molly around the waist with one arm, pressing the blade of a sharp knife to Molly’s side with the other. “How about you come with me? We need to have a little chat.”

  The chills that had rolled down Molly’s spine spread out and seeped into her veins. “Where are the cops?” Molly mumbled in almost a panic.

  “See them over there?” Marcie nodded almost nonchalantly toward the table the two cops were standing by. “They just found another letter.”

  “You?”

  “Yep.”

  “Why?”

  “Just keep walking we’re going to go somewhere we can talk. In private.”

  “How’d you know I was even coming out?” Molly asked as the safety of the four trailers disappeared behind her.

  “I’ve been waiting for the perfect time. I could hear your phone call from the bedroom. Those camper walls are thin, you know?”

  “How did the cops not see you?” Even though Molly knew she should keep her mouth shut, the questions continued to tumble from her mouth.

  “They only walk around the back every once in awhile. Now quit asking questions. You’re pissing me off.”

  Marcie increased the pressure on the knife, the blade digging in just enough to puncture the skin. Molly couldn’t contain the high-pitched yelp.

  “Even think about screaming and you’re dead. Just keep walking and smile at the people that we walk by,” Marcie said through gritted teeth near Molly’s ear. She just barely loosened her hold. The two might appear they were old friends, though she dug the knife just a little deeper. Molly cursed the cold weather outside. If it wasn’t the middle of winter, the crazy bitch wouldn’t have that god-awful baggy coat on. Then the knife in her side would be visible to someone.

  “Where are we going?” Molly’s worst fear was leaving the building. If they did, then Carter would never find her.

  “I told you to shut up.”

  Marcie continued to walk the perimeter of the pits, avoiding the majority of the people, zigzagging through the open spaces of semis. Molly was trying to gauge how much time had passed since she’d walked out the door, four, maybe five minutes? Surely James had made it to the rig and figured out she wasn’t there. Molly knew without a doubt he’d expect the worst. That would mean he’d call out an all-out hunt. That glimmer of hope kept her breathing slow. Marcie’s direction turned one last time and Molly knew she was a goner. Marcie chuckled proudly at Molly’s sigh of defeat.

  Dylan’s motorhome.

  He always parked it by his team’s bike rig. After all that had gone on, he’d done his best to not say two words to Molly…or Carter for that
matter. She knew Marcie was right. No one would ever come looking there. Marcie pushed her inside and climbed in behind her and locked the door. Molly felt the trickle of blood flowing down her narrow waist, but was too terrified to check how bad it was.

  Carter saw James come running at him, Joey and Brody on his heels. Mike came from the opposite direction and George from another. His hands started shaking so bad he could barely get his gloves off.

  His mechanic had asked him to take his bike for a couple of laps after the meeting so he could test something. He should’ve told his manager to give him a few minutes—he should have gone to check on her first. The fear gripping him right then was so tight, he couldn’t even get questions out. His throat went dry and choked shut, the rest of him paralyzed by fear.

  Carter knew James had found the answer to his question on his face. “Shit! She’s not here!” James shouted when he took in Carter’s expression

  “They have the building locked down and surrounded, she’s only been missing less than ten minutes. She couldn’t have gotten far,” Mike said to them, before turning to the police officer standing by his side.

  Carter finally found his voice, the shaky words tumbling out, “Wha…what happened? Where’s Molly?”

  He knew it had to be bad, the way they all converged on him at once. The next moments all passed by in slow motion. He didn’t know which direction to turn, who to listen to first. All he knew was suddenly he was walking and then running...to the one person he trusted the least. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jesse running his way with Eli, the three of them ready to kill the one guy that had given Molly trouble from day one.

  He didn’t expect Dylan to come around the corner whistling. Carter’s fist struck his jaw before Dylan could even ask what for. Eli had Dylan’s arms behind his back, holding him for Carter’s next swing, when Mike’s wrapped his arms around his younger brother. The screaming and yelling barely registered as it echoed around Carter, but he only heard his own words that dripped with hate.

  “Where is she?”

  “Who?”

  He fought Mike’s hold, but his brother was trained. “You asshole! Molly, where…is…she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Bullshit! She’s missing and you’re involved.”

  Carter watched Dylan try to wiggle out of Eli’s hold. Eli wasn’t going to let that happen. Eli yanked Dylan back, his grip tightening on the smaller man’s arms.

  “Sterling, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I was just coming back from a meeting. I’ll take you to my rig and coach. You can see for your fucking self.”

  Carter pulled from Mike’s hold and took off running ahead of Dylan with Jesse and Mike right on his heels. Eli drug Dylan along behind. James and Brody had caught up just as the group of men descended on the spot where Dylan had parked. Mike motioned for the engine on the running bike to be cut.

  The tell-tale scream of Molly’s panic attack shook Carter to his core.

  Mike turned and yelled at the cops that were joining in. “Cuff him.” He pointed at Dylan who was struggling in Eli’s arms.

  “I didn’t do anything.” Dylan’s words fell on deaf ears.

  Carter took off in a rage for the motorhome door. “Carter, wait.” Mike jerked him back by both shoulders. “You can’t go in there.”

  Carter tried to shake him off. “Mike!”

  “Stay here, let me do my job. We don’t know what’s inside.“

  “I know what’s inside. Molly!” His voice was desperate.

  A rage swept through him. His heart was on the other side of that stupid ass trailer door and he wanted nothing more than to kick the fucking thing in and take back what was his. She needed him. He couldn’t stand by and let someone hurt her. He just couldn’t. Carter could feel his stomach start to turn against him, bile rushing up his throat.

  “Damn it, Carter. Listen to me. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. You go barreling in there—you could get her killed. Now…stay.”

  Molly saw the anger in Marcie fanning higher and higher. Now that the knife wasn’t pricking her skin, she could breathe, though she could feel the panic building, threatening to constrict her throat. She held perfectly still, standing in the middle of Dylan’s coach. She knew she was going to have to keep it together if she was going to make it out of there alive. She made a mental note of the layout, the type of windows, which ones would be big enough to crawl out of, anything she could use a weapon—if she got the chance.

  “You don’t remember me, do you?”

  Marcie’s words startled Molly and she blinked without responding as she stared blankly back at the deranged girl in front of her.

  “Do you?” Marcie’s face twisted in disgust as she took a step forward, demanding Molly’s attention. As if Molly could focus on anything else.

  “I met…um…you a couple of weeks ago. With Dylan that…um night.” Molly tried to keep her voice steady, to keep the shaking to a minimum. She didn’t want Marcie to know she was even more petrified than she appeared. But the fumbling for the words was a dead giveaway.

  “No, bitch, before that,” Marcie snorted. “That pencil dick was just the easy in I’d been waiting years for.” Marcie pierced Molly with her glare. “I know you know who I am.”

  Molly looked at Marcie. She’d never seen the girl in her life. Her circle was pretty small and only included family along with the newly added Carter, Eli, and Jesse. No. She was damn sure she’d never seen this girl before.

  “No,” she finally answered meekly.

  “The name Lynda ring a bell?”

  Molly shook her head. There was only one Lynda she’d ever met, but that was years ago at an amateur’s track down in Texas. The big-bosomed, bleached blonde with the big Texas curls held in place by a can and a half of cheap smelling hair spray. That lady was nice. She’d run the concessions at the small track. Molly had only talked to her once, maybe twice. Something stupid, like the woman giving her a popsicle for free when it was really hot one day. Molly shook her head at the recollection, not even sure why she remembered the woman’s name.

  “No. It doesn’t.”

  “She knew you. She liked you, liked to give you snacks from the stand.”

  Molly’s head spun. She didn’t know what Marcie was talking about and she didn’t care that some Lynda had liked her, didn’t know why it mattered.

  All Molly could discern was that she wanted out. She needed to be back in Carter’s arms. She needed this nightmare to end.

  It had to end.

  She could feel it coming, the rapid beating of her heart, the struggle for a solid breath. She knew the signs of an attack. She tried to concentrate on Marcie’s question. Molly’s silence once again pissed off the knife-wielding maniac.

  Marcie stalked up and grabbed Molly by the waist again, holding the knife to her throat this time. The scream that came from Molly was bone-chilling, even to her own ears. There was no way she was getting out of this motorhome alive. The threats and story started to play on around her. She could feel the wave building. It wouldn’t be long before the panic attack took her under. At that point, she was a sitting duck. Molly knew this Marcie girl’s anger would be pushed to the brink and she would be defenseless.

  Molly tried to piece the words Marcie was shouting together, but they were not coherent enough to make much sense. Lynda was my mother…She loved Ray so much…You took him away…

  The last few sentences rang louder than the rest, mainly because they were screamed in her ear.

  “It was all your fault. You put him away. It was you. You killed her.” Her words became desperate, disjointed. “The blood…it was everywhere. I was ten years old and held her while she died. I begged her to stay with me.”

  Molly held her eyes shut tight as a palpable rush of anger shook Marcie and she pressed the knife harder against Molly’s neck.

  “I was ten years old, bitch.”

  Molly’s fear was crippling her, her words b
arely audible. “I didn’t know.”

  “Well, my gramma always said, an eye for an eye, just like The Good Book says.”

  When Marcie’s hold tightened even more, the wave crashed down hard on Molly. She screamed and her knees went weak. She felt the knife slice through the skin of her neck as she crumbled to the floor.

  “I want S.W.A.T. on all sides. Have the ambulance drive in—no sirens. Nothing startles whoever is in there, got me?” Mike’s commands were precise.

  There was steel in his voice, not like the softness he used on Molly. Carter had never seen his brother in this mode, with this kind of power radiating from him. He could hear the racking sobs coming from the thin walls of the coach. Every second that ticked by was another moment that something could happen to Molly. He knew from the crying she was upset or hurt or both. Carter wrenched his fingers through his hair as he watched Mike working with the crisis commander. Why weren’t they working faster? He needed them to hurry, to make it all end. Carter felt himself being torn in two. He knew his brother would do everything in his power to save Molly, but Carter wanted to go in guns blazing and kicking ass. Anything they had to do to save the girl inside. He paced a three foot line back and forth, continuously rubbing his hands over his face and up into his hair, all the while staring at the door of the motorhome. From inside, Molly cried out again, sending a fresh wave of fear through his body. He turned toward his brother. “God, Mike! Do something! Please!”

  When soft arms wrapped around his waist, he closed his eyes and gripped Erin tighter to him. It was Brody’s hand on his shoulder that he didn’t expect, a sudden understanding of everyone’s new roles in Molly’s life. They were all in this together. There was no blame laid, no screaming at who should have been watching her. There were only silent tears and prayers as they all hung on every word and noise they heard coming from the motorhome.

  The vicious story bled from just inside the walls, causing Carter to want to tear his hair out as he listened to the deranged girl blaming Molly for the choices her mother had made. It was a woman holding Molly hostage, just like Mike had assumed. A wave of sympathy hit Carter as a picture of a little girl holding her bleeding mother imprinted itself in his mind, that emotion melting like ice in his veins when the woman screamed, “An eye for an eye, just like The Good Book says.”