by Zoey Parker
I had to, though. For Gigi’s sake. Why couldn’t I bring her to the house with me? I hated Lance just then for taking me away from my home. My couch, my living room, my kitchen. My TV. My bathrobe, which I could feel free to wear while I ate a bowl of cereal and watched TV with my feet up on the coffee table. I was the mistress of my domain. Why did he have to take that away from me?
I wouldn’t leave Gigi there alone. I couldn’t. The only reason I felt comfortable taking my time was that I knew she would be safe with Erica and Traci for a little while. I trusted them. I just didn’t trust the rest of them—they weren’t bad people, but who knew what Gigi could be exposed to? I didn’t want to leave her vulnerable to that. Besides, I needed to know what happened with Rae. It would drive me crazy not knowing.
With that in mind, I got up from the couch to put my clothes in the dryer. I washed out my bowl and spoon, dried my hair and got dressed in record time. I had to be at the clubhouse by the time Lance showed up. I didn’t want him to get angry when he found out about me leaving. Besides, it would get Erica into trouble, too, and I didn’t want that.
I gave myself a little pep talk as I drove back. My heart was heavy. I wanted to be with Gigi, and I couldn’t deny wanting to see Lance, but I didn’t want to be there. I wanted to be back in my own world. Getting a taste of it only made me miss it more.
I hardly noticed when my phone rang, and remembered turning it to silent when Lance and I napped. I fished it out of my purse, sitting beside me in the passenger seat. An unknown number. I would normally have ignored it, but with the state my life was in I didn’t think it wise to ignore any phone call. It might have been Lance, for all I knew.
“Hello?”
I heard breathing on the other end of the line. Then, “Is this Jamie Hollis?”
“Yes. Who is this?” I pulled over to the side of the road, my heart racing. I didn’t know the voice, but I couldn’t miss the menace in it. Whoever it was, they weren’t just calling to say hello.
“We have the girl.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. I looked around, my first instinct to get help. There wasn’t anyone around, of course.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, digging my nails into my palm to keep myself calm. I couldn’t lose it. If they did have Gigi, I had to be calm for her.
“We have the little girl. The one you’re so close with.”
“Who’s we? And if you have her, what’s her name?” My mind raced.
A chuckle. “Gigi.”
I closed my eyes, slamming my hand against the steering wheel.
I had to think. I couldn’t panic. I had to keep it together for her sake. I took a deep, shaky breath, willing myself to stay conscious and calm. “Why did you take her? Who are you? What do you want?”
“It’s pretty simple. You have to come and get her.”
“I don’t understand. Do you want money? I don’t have any money.”
“We both know that’s not true, don’t we? Not with the kind of house you live in.”
I shuddered. Who followed me? I looked around again, wondering if someone watched even then.
“Bullshit. You’re a fucking coward. Why don’t you show your face?”
“Now, no need to get excited. And stop with the words. I can tell how scared you are—you can’t fool me.” A laugh.
“You’re so smart, is that it? You think you know me? You don’t know anything about me, or what I would do to protect that girl.”
“Oh, I know exactly what you would do.” A man. His voice was raspy, but I couldn’t tell if it was because he whispered or if that was his actual voice.
The blood froze in my veins. “Is this The Scarecrow?”
A pause, then another laugh. “You’re a pretty smart girl, aren’t you? If you’re so smart, you know what I’ll do with the kid if you don’t get here soon. I know you’ve heard about me.”
I thought about everything Lance had told me, and when I remembered him talking about trafficking, I wanted to scream in fury and panic. “What is it you want? Do you want money? I’ll bring it with me, everything I have.”
“We’ll talk about that when you get here. But you do have to get here, and soon. Otherwise, you’ll never see her again—alive, anyway.”
I thought I might pass out. I dug my nails into my palm again, desperate to keep it together. “Where are you?”
“I’ll give you the address. I want you here as soon as possible, too. No detours. Don’t stop off anywhere. Especially not at the clubhouse. I don’t want Lance hearing anything about this. Understood?”
“Understood.” I thought hard. How the hell would somebody get their hands on her in the first place? I left her at the clubhouse, with a dozen people. How could anybody have gotten her out? Was this some trap for me?
“How do I know you have her?” I asked. “How do I know this isn’t all a trap?”
Silence. Then, “Jamie!” I closed my eyes, gasping. That was her. No doubt about it.
“Convincing enough?”
“Yes. I’m convinced.”
“Then you’ll hurry over here. I’ll give you the address. Ready?” It was a random motel in the middle of the highway going north. I entered the information into my phone as The Scarecrow rattled it off.
“Got it,” I muttered.
“Get here quick. I wouldn’t want you to miss the fun.”
“No way. Not unless you plan to let her go.”
“I’ll let her go.” He chuckled. “I promise.” With that, the line went dead.
I shivered uncontrollably. Gigi. I couldn’t let him hurt her, but I didn’t know how I could possibly save her. I could tell Lance, but what would happen if The Scarecrow found out I did? He’d already followed me, or had me followed. I couldn’t go back to the clubhouse, or else risk being found out. I punched the ceiling of the car, crying, screaming in frustration.
I didn’t have a choice. I had to find Gigi. I entered the address into my GPS and pointed the car in the direction it instructed. There was no time to waste.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lance
Jax dropped his phone on the floor, then knelt down next to me. I searched his pale face for an answer. He didn’t say anything at first. I never saw him look like that.
“What is it?” I asked. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
I turned back to Rae. “What did you do? What did you give The Scarecrow?”
She looked at me, at Jax. His face went red.
“How could you do that?” he screamed.
“What did she do? What?” I let go of her and shook him instead. He lunged at her, but I held him back. I honestly thought he would hurt her, but I didn’t know why.
“Stop! What’s wrong! Tell me!”
He wouldn’t say anything. He shook, and looked at her.
“I had to pay off my debt,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry. I had to give him something!”
It hit me. Everything came together. I looked at her, shaking my head. I could hardly talk.
“Gigi, right? You gave him your daughter.”
I heard Flash gasp. “No,” he said. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t look at Jax or Slate. I looked at her.
“You did. Right? You gave her to him.”
She put her hands over her face. “I had to!”
I thought the world was crashing all around me. I was sure of it. How was everything still happening? How was I still breathing? How was it possible? What the hell was I supposed to do?
“Lance, come on, man. We have to go.” Flash pulled me up.
“You fucking bitch,” I snarled. It took everything I had in me not to kick her again and again while she sat on the floor of the terminal. She didn’t deserve to live.
She held up her hands. “Please! I had to! He was gonna kill me!”
“You should’ve let him kill you. You should have died before you gave her to him. You disgust me.” I spat on the ground in front of her. She wa
s gone. There was no hope for her.
“Please, please don’t hate me, Lance.”
I turned away. I couldn’t look at her anymore.
“Do you know what he’s gonna do with her? What’s the plan?”
“He’s gonna sell her…”
“Fuck!” I roared it, throwing my head back to scream. By that time, we had a few dozen people watching. They jumped back when I screamed.
“Back off,” Slate said, pushing people out of the way as the four of us ran for the door.
“Where are we going?” Flash asked.
“To the clubhouse. What did they say on the phone?” I asked Jax.
“Somebody came in, hit Erica—she was with Gigi. He took her away. That’s all they told me.”
“Damn it. Damn that bitch.” I climbed on the back of my bike and was just about to pull away when Jax added something else.
“Jamie’s not there either.”
“What?” I stared at him. “He took Jamie, too?”
“She wasn’t there when it happened. Erica said she went home to pick up a few things, I don’t know. They can’t get a hold of her.”
Nothing made sense. So many things were happening in my head at once, I didn’t know what to do first. I wanted to rush somewhere, but I didn’t know where anymore. I had to find them. I had to figure out how to get them. I had to save them before it was too late.
I pulled out my phone, and my fingers shook so badly I almost couldn’t get Jamie’s number to come up. I dial it, though, and it rang. And rang. And rang.
“Shit.” I hung up, starting the engine. “We’ve gotta get back to the clubhouse, now.” The other three nodded, and we raced out of the parking lot. It was a fifteen-minute ride before I would even get back to headquarters. Then what?
How would I find them? I was sure he had Jamie, too. I didn’t know how I knew it. I felt it in my bones. He found a way to get to her. Maybe he followed her, or had somebody do it for him. No way she would just disappear without telling me. I didn’t even know where she lived, or else I would have sent somebody to check on the house. I never felt so useless in my life.
I knew we had no time. None. He wouldn’t waste time getting rid of them. My daughter. A fucking child prostitute. The thought made me want to throw up. I held it back as I rode. I had to get to the clubhouse. That was the only thing that stopped me from being sick.
Gigi. Jamie. Gigi. Jamie. Did he have them together? It was the only comforting thing I could think of. Gigi didn’t have to be alone if she had Jamie with her. I knew Jamie would do whatever she had to do to keep Gigi safe. I shuddered to think what The Scarecrow might do if she fought back, though. And she would fight back if I knew her. I never wanted to kill somebody I never even met before that day.
The bike couldn’t go fast enough for me. A jet plane wouldn’t have gone fast enough. I revved the engine, weaving in and out of traffic, slipping between cars, running red lights. I didn’t even care that the others fell behind—they weren’t as determined as me. It wasn’t their daughter. Their woman. Jamie was my woman.
And all I could think of was never seeing her or Gigi again.
I got to the clubhouse in record time and ran through the door. The first thing I saw was Erica, sitting on the couch with an ice pack on the back of her head. Traci washed the blood off the side of her face.
“Holy shit.” I sat down with her. “What happened?”
She was hysterical. “I tried. I swear. I tried so hard. I screamed and fought him.”
I took her hand. “I know you did.”
“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have let him do it.” She was babbling. Her eyes looked unfocused. She might have been in shock.
“It’s not your fault.” I held her hand, rubbing my thumb over the back of her knuckles. Traci washed her face. “You should go to the hospital. Get your head checked out.”
“I’ll never forgive myself. Never.” She stared straight ahead. Her hand shook.
“Take her,” I said to Traci. She needed to get help, and I didn’t have the time to make her feel better. I wanted the girls out of the clubhouse anyway. I didn’t need them around when we did what we had to do.
Only I didn’t know where to start. What could I do? By that time, Flash and the others came in. “Get everybody in here now.” I tried to call Jamie again. Still no answer. I knew he had her. My gut told me so.
I explained what happened, and everybody looked as shaken up as I was. I looked out over their faces, two dozen guys. My crew. I knew they would do anything for me if I asked.
“We have to find them, but I don’t know where to go. I don’t know where The Scarecrow hides out. I need you to hit the streets, ask everywhere. Anywhere. Go to the clubs, drug dens, whatever. I don’t care. Just find out where he holds people when he’s gonna sell them.”
“You think he’ll sell them both?”
I thought about Jamie. She was beautiful, blonde, young. She had a great body. “Yeah. He’ll sell her, too, if he can.”
“Shit.” Everybody looked at each other.
“Keep your phones close by in case I call. If you hear anything, call me right away.” I watched them leave. Flash stayed with me.
“We only have a couple of hours, tops,” I muttered. I was sure I would throw up. “After that, who knows. They might ship them outta the country. I don’t know who he sells to. Jesus Christ, I don’t know anything about how this works. I never wanted to be anywhere near it.”
“Who would?” Lance asked. “I don’t either. Just rumors. I heard the same ones you did, that he sells kids and young women. That’s it. I don’t know about any buyers around here, whatever they’re called.”
“I can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“How could you know? What were you supposed to do?”
“I should’ve protected her better. I should have.”
Flash took me by the shoulders. “That’s what you were trying to do. Remember? That’s why we went to the station. To find Rae. To find out what The Scarecrow wanted. Only…now we know.”
“Yeah. Now we know.” My chest was so tight, I wondered if I was having a heart attack. I punched a wall, needing to release some of the anger inside me. It didn’t do any good.
“What about the cops? They might know somethin’ about where he hides.”
I frowned. I was almost desperate enough to try that, but it didn’t take much thinking to know it wouldn’t work. “If I call them, they’ll find out about Gigi. They might take her away. Besides, we’re dealing with a pro. Do you really think The Scarecrow would let the cops know where he does his shit?”
Flash thought about it. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s too smart for that.”
“He wouldn’t be as big as he is if he wasn’t.” I walked back and forth in the lounge. He had my daughter. He had my woman. Gigi. Jamie. Every beat of my heart had their names on it. I couldn’t stand not knowing where to go.
I grabbed my keys from the bar. “Come on. I have to do something.”
Flash followed me. “What if he calls here?”
I thought about it. “He could get my cell number from Jamie. If he wants to find me, he’ll figure something out.” We climbed on our bikes. Headlights filled the parking lot, and I turned around. There was a cab pulling up. I reached behind me, feeling for my gun just in case. Who knew what sort of games The Scarecrow played?
The door opened.
Rae stepped out.
I didn’t relax when I saw it was her and not some enforcer. “Get outta here!” I roared. My hand was still on the gun.
“Please, please. I gotta talk to you.” She sent the cab away.
I laughed bitterly. “I don’t know why the fuck you just sent him away, because I don’t wanna have anything to do with you.”
She looked dejected. Good. I wanted her to. She should have. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Huh? Why would you come here?”
“Man, relax. She might have some info for you.” F
lash put a hand on my arm, the one behind me. “Steady.”
I let go of the gun, and he dropped his hand. He was right. She was the only person who might be able to tell me something that could help. Otherwise, I was totally screwed. “What do you want?” I asked. My voice was quieter.
“I wanna help find her.”
“Them. You wanna help find them.”
“Them?” She looked at me, then Flash.
