Rebellious

by Gillian Archer

  On Reb the look was intoxicating.

  On Joker it scared the crap out of me.

  Of course, the large knife he was wielding might’ve had something to do with my fear.

  He held it in front of his face and watched the light glint on the blade. A twisted smile stretched his thin lips. “You know, I had plans for this baby a couple weeks ago.”

  I didn’t say anything, but I also didn’t take my eyes off his knife.

  “Me and Reb met up at the Honey Pot, and I was this close to him ’til that fucker Tank got in my way. But I got a nice slice out of his arm. There’s still some TB blood on the hilt.” Joker rubbed his thumb over a spot on the hilt of the knife, then licked his thumb with relish. “Sweet. Do ya think your blood is gonna taste as sweet when it’s rolling down my knife?”

  My body started trembling. I was going to die. He was going to kill me in some basement, and there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t even try to scream or cry. What was the point? I was bound and helpless and he was going to kill me. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. I blinked furiously as a tear ran down my cheek.

  Joker bent down to me, and I flinched, then ducked away. His hand clamped down on my jaw in a crushing grip. “Don’t. Fucking. Move.”

  I could only whimper as his tongue traced the path my tear had taken. Then he shoved my face away from him, and I cringed, waiting for another blow or his knife to follow.

  But nothing came. I rubbed as much of his touch and my tears off my face as I could with my shoulder, then took a cautious look around. He stood a few feet away, but he wasn’t alone now.

  Rhonda was plastered against him and sucking on the side of his neck like a leech. This time my shudder wasn’t due to fear. She moaned deep in her throat, then pulled away with an audible slurp.

  “Ah, sweetie, you started the party without me.” She turned and gave me a smirk. “Don’t look so high-and-mighty now, do ya, bitch?”

  I flinched as she spit at me. Rhonda swiped at the spittle hanging off her lower lip and scowled.

  I didn’t know what to say to her, so I kept silent. But that seemed to antagonize her more.

  “You think I don’t know what you did to my family? You just sweep in and take my son, my husband, and my fucking spot in his bed, and I’m not gonna do shit?” Her face turned redder and redder with every word until it rivaled her cheap bottle dye job. “I tried to warn you off with my flowers and the tires, but didja listen? No, you didn’t, you stupid bitch. No one replaces me in my family’s life. No one!”

  She grabbed the knife from Joker and lunged at me. She slashed at my arms with a manic intensity. I hissed with the first cut and she laughed. It only took seconds to make my hiss turn to whimpers and then sobs from the pain. White-hot rivers of agony streamed along my arms. I tried to dodge her, but there was nowhere to hide.

  When I didn’t think there was another inch of skin on my arms she hadn’t sliced through, Joker grabbed her by the back of her hair and pulled her off me.

  “Christ, woman. I don’t think there’s anything fucking hotter on this earth than you with bloodlust in your eyes.” He turned her in his arms and jammed his tongue down her throat.

  Rhonda hummed with pleasure and the knife fell to the floor with a clatter as she ran her blood-soaked hands up his grungy shirt to grab on to the back of his neck.

  I didn’t know where to look. Seeing the amount of blood on Rhonda and now Joker made me light-headed. Although that might’ve been my own blood loss. And I knew if I saw my arms, the pain would be twenty times worse. Bile tickled the back of my throat, and I swallowed heavily. Giving in to the pain, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the sensation of blood dripping down my fingers. Not to mention the sound of it hitting the floor or of Joker and Rhonda going at it in front of me.

  I tried to think of happier things. Jessica and Zag’s wedding in less than two weeks. How cute their baby, Harley, was the last time I saw her. That devilish twinkle in Tucker’s eye when he tried to sneak an extra helping of dessert. The hell Reb would unleash on these assholes when he showed up.

  If he showed up. Because if he didn’t, I was going to die. Oh God.

  Oh God.

  But no one showed up.

  I listened to Joker and Rhonda make out, but soon their slurps turned to groans and the rustling of clothing. They were going to have sex right in front of me while I bled out. I tried to block the sounds, but they might as well have been on top of me. Between my excruciating pain and the sense of overwhelming doom, I couldn’t take it. The tears I fought off for so long coursed down my cheeks, and I bit my lip to keep my sobs inside. It killed me that they could see me cry, but I wasn’t going to give them added pleasure of hearing me cry. I’d die first.

  There was a distinct possibility that might come true.

  “Oh, Reb.”

  My eyes flew open at Rhonda’s moan.

  “What the fuck?” Joker pushed her away and Rhonda stumbled as she clutched her bra to her voluptuous chest. Joker pointed a finger in her face. “Don’t you ever call me by that bastard’s name.”

  “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry. I just—it was an accident. I swear.”

  “Bullshit. I heard what you said to her. How it was her fault that you got kicked out of his bed. Really? You really wanna play that way with me? You think I’m stupid?”

  They continued to argue and I fidgeted uncomfortably. My shoulders were starting to ache something fierce. I rolled my right shoulder and felt the rope tied around my wrists slacken somewhat. My heart raced. I twisted my arms again, and the rope loosened a bit more. The blood running along my arms was actually working in my favor. I threw a look over at the arguing couple, but they were too busy with their drama.

  Taking advantage of their distraction, I continued to work on the rope around my wrists. It bit into my skin but between the hits from earlier, the cuts Rhonda inflicted, and my numb shoulders, I had a hard time processing additional pain. It all rolled into one throbbing mass of injuries that I was trying really hard not to focus on. I was almost free when I heard a huge crack.

  I looked up in time to see Joker’s face swing to the side with the force of Rhonda’s slap.

  “Don’t call me that!” she bellowed in his face. “Fuck this. Fuck you and your shitty little crew. I’m so out of here.” She took off for the door, but Joker bounded after her.

  “Like hell you are. You’re neck-deep in this shit, too, cunt.”

  Rhonda hissed out her breath as she turned on the bottom step and glared at Joker. “I said. Don’t. Call. Me. That.”

  “I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want. And you’re not leaving. I’ll make you regret even trying.”

  “Watch me.” Rhonda spun around on her stilettos and raced up the stairs.

  “Fucking bitch!” Joker was hot on her heels.

  They cleared the stairs, and I heard a door slam shut somewhere in the distance.

  And then muffled thumps and yells. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but I wasn’t going to let this opportunity disappear.

  With renewed determination I wriggled and twisted. The ropes felt distinctly looser, but I couldn’t quite get them—

  Bang. A door slammed upstairs. Then I heard something that suspiciously sounded like gunfire. Pop. Pop. Pop.

  Shit! I wriggled and twisted and groaned as I struggled against the ropes. Whatever was going on upstairs wasn’t good, and I knew I only had one chance to get the hell outta here. I had to take it.

  Tears coursed down my cheeks and I whimpered, both from the pain and from my fear of what would happen if I didn’t get away. Just when I thought the knots would never give way, my thumb popped free and the ropes fell to the ground.

  I froze in fear, afraid the slight sound had penetrated a set of stairs and a whole floor above me. Everything stayed suspiciously quiet. I tore at the ropes binding my ankles. The rough twine bit into my tender fingers and I got a few splinters—not that I gave a shit. I just wanted them off and t
o get as far away from here as possible.

  After a minute of struggling, the ropes fell away and I was free.

  I stood cautiously, half afraid that I wouldn’t be able to hold my own weight up. My head spun and I swayed a bit, but I could stand. Euphoria sang through me. I was alive.

  Now all I had to do was get the hell outta wherever here was.

  I looked around the room but I didn’t see anything that would help me. Just the grungy futon, industrial sink, and bare lightbulb swaying overhead I’d spied earlier. Dammit. Was it too much to hope for a phone or a freaking handgun?

  I crept toward the stairs. I knew it was my only way out, but I was so freaking scared. My heart pounded in my ears. Aside from my pounding pulse and the sound of my blood plopping onto the cement floor, the house was silent. I knew for a fact that the bad guys were up there. How many were there? What was that sound I’d heard? Who shot who? Since no one had come charging downstairs to rescue me, I doubted the gunfire was a good sign. Had Joker killed Rhonda? Did Rhonda kill Joker and did his Tramp brothers then kill her?

  All my fear crashed down on me. My heart raced, and I think the mixture of my fear and the trauma made me light-headed. Oh God, my body ached. I could still feel my blood running down my arms. It hurt so bad, but I was afraid to look. Between my throbbing arms, aching jaw, and rope burns, I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

  I couldn’t. I had to do this. There was only one way out, and I was taking it. Trembling with nerves and pain, I had taken the first two steps up the stairs when I saw it.

  A rhinestone-encrusted camouflage handbag, halfway up the stairs.

  In her sudden flight either up or down the stairs, Rhonda must’ve dropped her purse.

  I crept to it as fast as my aching body would let me and tore open every pocket I could find, praying that she had left her cellphone inside somewhere. Tears of relief, or gratitude, sprang from my eyes when I saw her cheap flip phone. I sent up a quick prayer of thanks for her continuing the burner phone tradition she’d learned from Reb. I wouldn’t need a passcode to make a call.

  Thank God.

  I didn’t hesitate. My fingers flew over the keys as I called the only person I trusted to come get me.

  But he didn’t answer.

  Chapter 25

  Reb

  The third time Rhonda’s number flashed across his phone’s screen, he considered throwing the fucking thing into a wall. He didn’t have time for her drama. He didn’t care what made-up shit she was calling about now. He needed to find Emily.

  After a few more rings, the phone finally fell silent. Then it beeped with an incoming text.

  Rhonda: This is Emily. Please answer!

  Shit. His heart fell to his stomach. His fingers flew across the screen as he dialed Rhonda’s number. Shit. Shit. Shit.

  “Reb?” Emily’s harshly whispered voice was the sweetest fucking thing he’d heard in a long time.

  “Oh my God, baby. Where are you?” They could sort through the craziness of her having Rhonda’s phone later. Right now all he wanted to know was where she was and how soon he could get to her.

  “I’m in a basement. I think it’s Joker’s place. I don’t know for sure.”

  Joker. Fuck, he should’ve known. Reb mentally kicked his own ass as he signaled to the guys at the clubhouse to follow him. “I got you, baby. I know the place. We’ll be there in ten minutes. Is…” He took a breath to calm his racing mind. “Is there somewhere you can go where you know you’ll be safe?”

  “I don’t know.” Emily whimpered.

  The sound hit Reb square in the chest. He’d done this to her. He’d brought this fucked-up shit into her life. Christ. “Is Rhonda there with you?”

  “No,” she whispered. “I-I-I think Joker might’ve killed her. They got into a fight and left. Then I heard some pops that I think were gunshots. Oh God, Reb. I’m so scared. Come get me.”

  “I am, baby. I’ll be there as quick as I fucking can. Just…I need you to hide somewhere safe. Somewhere they won’t be able to find you and get to you. I will be there in ten. Less. Everything will be okay.”

  Reb could hear her gulp.

  “Okay.” She made a sound that was suspiciously like a suppressed sob.

  Reb’s heart plummeted to his toes. Fuck. She was terrified. People made stupid mistakes when they were scared. But not Emily, he reminded himself. She was tough. She had fought like hell to survive her childhood. No matter what happened out there, she could handle ten minutes.

  So he reminded her of that.

  “You can do this, baby. You’re strong. You’re the strongest fucking woman I know. You stood up to me when Tucker needed you. Shrimpy little you in your white dress, looking gorgeous as all fuck in the middle of my clubhouse. Brave. Probably scared shitless, but you stood toe-to-toe with me. Now you gotta be strong for yourself. All you need to do is hang on for ten more minutes and I’ll be there. I’ll take care of everything.”

  “Okay.” She sounded stronger now, and Reb’s heart slowed to a more manageable cadence.

  “I’ll be there before you know it, baby.”

  It killed him, but Reb ended the call and stashed his phone in his vest pocket. Then he turned to the guys crowded in the parking lot.

  “We’re riding to Joker’s house. I want everyone—and I mean everyone—there. Emily is somewhere on the property. Any Tramp you see is free game, but not until we find her. So no hothead bullshit. Joker is mine. And if you see Rhonda, corral her. That bitch has some answers to give me. But Emily is our first priority. Let’s ride.”

  The guys hollered their approval and mounted their bikes. The whole block vibrated with the force of three dozen bikes firing up. The sensation energized Reb and fed the bloodlust coursing through his veins. He might’ve started the night torturing an innocent guy, but he was going to finish it killing a Tramp. That fucker—and any other he could get his hands on—was going to suffer.

  Emily just had to hang on until he got there.

  Reb gripped the handlebars tighter and shot out of the parking lot like a bat outta hell.

  He had a princess to save.

  “Hang on, baby. Just hang on.”

  Emily

  I knew I was supposed to be strong, but really all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide behind my hands until all this was over. And believe me, I would. But I could still hear Reb’s voice. You can do this, baby. You’re strong. You’re the strongest fucking woman I know.

  “Ten minutes,” I whispered to myself. “Ten minutes and it’ll all be okay. I can do this.”

  I crept up the staircase and peered around the door. The room was blessedly empty. In front of me had to be the grungiest room I’d ever seen. And seeing how I’d just come from that basement, it was saying something. Between the beer bottles, bongs, candy wrappers, and used condoms littering the floor, I didn’t want to step foot into the room.

  Popping my head around the corner, I held my breath and listened. Nothing. To be honest, I couldn’t remember if I’d heard anything after the shots. Did they leave? Was I all alone? Or were there more guys just waiting out front to tackle me the second I tried to run away?

  I took a deep breath and went for it. Taking extra care not to step on anything crunchy or wet—shudder—I cautiously made my way through the excuse of a living room and through the kitchen to what I guessed was the back door. I was superstitious about using the front door. Was it possible to successfully sneak out the front door? Somehow the logic didn’t mesh with my brain, but that might’ve been the pain and blood loss frying my brain cells.

  Like the living room, the kitchen was also disgusting, and deserted—unless you counted cockroaches as residents. I shuddered at the cluster streaking across the floor. At the back door, I slowly pulled aside the short curtain hanging over the window and peered out. It was dark outside, but judging by the amount of pine trees and lack of neighbors, I was somewhere high in the mountains. The house sat atop an inclined dr
iveway. From my vantage point, I could see at least three outbuildings—garages most likely. And not a single soul. But it was dark, so anyone could be out there in the shadows.

  In for a penny…I took another steadying breath, then opened the back door. No one immediately came charging out. I looked around one more time and made my move. I was almost clear of the back door when I heard a car door slam in the distance.

  Shit. Someone was here. But I couldn’t see anyone. Taking a chance that if I couldn’t see them then they couldn’t see me, I quietly closed the back door behind me. I stayed close to the side of the house and crept away from the driveway and toward one of the outbuildings.

  The moon was almost full; it felt like a spotlight on me. I tossed a look over my shoulder but didn’t see any sign of Joker or anyone else. After a steadying and painful breath, I darted across the open part of the yard. I don’t think I breathed again until I reached the side of the outbuilding. Practically diving for the shadows, I collapsed in a heap and panted in relief. I was safe. Oh my God. My heart pounded so loud in my ears, I don’t think I would’ve heard someone come up behind me.

  But I was wrong.

  “I know you’re out here,” Joker yelled in a singsong voice.

  My heart climbed up my throat and pounded even louder in my ears. Shit. Double shit. Fuckity fuck. What was I going to do? It felt like eons since my phone call with Reb, but I doubted more than five minutes had passed—if that. I had to save myself.

  Oh God. Oh God.

  Keeping to the shadows, I crept alongside the building. There had to be plenty of hiding places in a garage. Cars, barrels, lots of things to hide behind or in. I’d be okay until Reb got here. I could do this.

  “I’ll make you a promise,” Joker yelled. “If you give yourself up, I’ll go easy on ya. Kill you nice and quick. No suffering, I swear. But you do not want to make me find you. ’Cause that’ll piss me off. So I’ll have to play with you a bit before, to get my humor back.”