Saving Ayden

by Muriel Garcia

  The walls are covered with pictures of Ayden. Everywhere. Not a single inch of these walls isn’t covered with pictures. Some are new, some seem to be older. Some seem to be taken from above her shower. This is making me sick. How could someone be so obsessed by someone else?

  The entire room is dedicated to her. Some of her belongings are here as well—ranging from hair ties to pieces of jewelry, or clothing to most disturbingly a bra and panties.

  “This guy is a fucking psycho!” Lewis exclaims, clearly as disturbed as I am.

  “You don’t say. This is fucking crazy. Looks like some are from New York too. He’s been following her around for what looks like a long time.”

  “Yes, some date back to four years ago.”

  “We need to take pictures of the room, pack all of this and get it back to the station. I’ll have to call Ayden to make sure she stays safe maybe even leaves the city for a while.”

  “I’ll start taking the pictures.” I nod and walk back to the car, getting evidence bags and gloves from the trunk.

  This is going to be a long night, having to collect everything and then make the call to Ayden to let her know what we’ve found. Anthony is going to be pissed. I understand him—she’s his woman but still, if we can’t find Michael or make sure she’s safe, shit’s going to go down. The club will get caught up in the middle of it and it’s going to be chaos.

  Chapter 20

  Ayden

  Ant and I are lying on the couch, cuddling watching some TV. We both need some time to relax, especially after we found out who framed my dad. I still can’t believe I was going out with the guy who was behind it all. Sure he was a weirdo and very insistent on going out with me, but I never ever imagined he could be capable of that.

  I still don’t get what he gets out of framing my dad. Well, besides the money of course and then dating me. Surely he knew I was Cabe’s daughter. Is it some kind of sick game he’s playing to get back at my dad, shoving it in his face that he was sort of dating me? Well it’s not like my dad was aware of it.

  It’s all too confusing.

  I want to find out why he framed my dad and why he would come after me. It’s all doing my head in thinking about it.

  I hope the cops are out to arrest him and make sure he’s behind bars for sending my dad there.

  I know the cops are supposed to do their job but since it’s Ant who went with the papers to free someone from his MC, it might not go down as well as we would want to. The cops around here have always tried to dissolve the MC and put all their members in jail.

  The men in the MC are smart though and it’s rare when they get arrested or stay in prison for a long time but still, it wouldn’t surprise me if the file mysteriously disappeared and then we’d be back to square one. We do know who did it now, so we could always figure things out on our own without the original papers.

  Hopefully it will all end soon.

  I’ve been calling my dad but I’ve never been able to visit him. Not that I didn’t want to, but just thinking of being locked in a place with men, some of them being rapists, makes me shudder. I just can’t. I’m glad he understands, even if he doesn’t know the real reason why.

  I don’t think I will ever be able to tell my parents what happened to me. Not only because I’m ashamed but I’m also afraid they will feel like it’s their fault—especially my dad. Back then he was the president of the MC so if he finds out what happened was the MC’s fault then he’s going to blame himself and it’s not going to be good.

  I know for a fact he will go seek revenge and probably end up behind bars again. I’m surprised Ant still hasn’t done anything about it. I did tell him I didn’t want anyone looking for that asshole because it would eventually fall back on me, but the more I think about it, the more I’m wondering if the reason he has that nasty scar on his face has anything to do with him trying to find out who did it.

  I look up at him. “Why did that guy attack you and cut your face?” I ask him out of the blue.

  “Where did that question come from?” He chuckles softly.

  “Just lost in my thoughts.” I shrug.

  “It doesn’t matter Sweet Cheeks. It’s there and unfortunately not going anywhere.” He kisses my forehead.

  “Doesn’t tell me why he attacked you…” I press.

  “Went to talk to the president of the Bastards from Hell. One of his minions didn’t like us being there, they attacked us. They got it pretty bad too.” He shrugs

  “Why did you go to talk to them? I thought you hated them.”

  “I do, but we are doing some business together and a talk was long overdue.”

  “You’re hiding something.” I glare at him and he sighs. “You went to ask him if they had anything to do with what happened to me didn’t you?”

  “Yes. I had to know if they were involved. Not such a good idea obviously.” He points at his cheek.

  “Well?” I try to sit up but he doesn’t let me.

  “Nope, you’re staying in my arms. And as weird as it sounds, I believe they had nothing to do with it. Yes we’ve always had problems with them, but I don’t think they are behind it. If they were then they would have made it clear it came from them in the first place.” He sighs. “I’m sorry I went to talk to him. I needed to know, it would have driven me crazy and I’d have ended up going anyway. I haven’t looked anywhere else since you asked me not to. I might have had a couple of guys from other charters look into it but that’s it.” He grins sheepishly.

  “I’m going to kick your ass one day for this. When you least expect it!” I glare at him clearly pissed with him.

  “Try to see it from my point of view. Let’s reverse roles. I’ll be you, and you be me. And no snarky comments.” He glares at me making me grin innocently.

  “Not saying a thing.”

  “Good. I disappear for a week, I come back and I’m totally changed. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I pack my bags and run away to New York for six years. I come back and refuse to talk to you at first. You find me getting groped by a fucking asshole and you help me out of that situation. I tell you why I ran away, why I’m distant and refuse to be seen with you or talk to you. How would you react? Would you just let it go without a fight or would you go out and look for the asshole that hurt me and took something from me?” He finishes softly.

  It’s hitting him hard to relive all of this. It hits me hard too. It takes me a few minutes to process but I’m winded when I come to the realization of what he had to go through as well. Putting myself in his shoes for that recollection wasn’t easy.

  “Fuck,” I sigh, “didn’t think of it that way. I’m not mad that you would do something to seek revenge on whoever did it. What’s I’m afraid of is that first you got hurt because of it and you’ll always wear that scar and second I’m still scared it’s going to fall back on me. I love what we have right now, I don’t know how to call it but with you I’m safe. My main concern is that one day when we aren’t paying attention, whoever attacked me will come back and take me away again from you and I don’t want that to happen again. I wouldn’t survive it.” I hide in his neck, crying for the second time this evening.

  “Shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry Sweet Cheeks. I’ll always protect you and always make sure you are safe. Trust me, I’d never let anybody hurt you. You mean the world to me.” He kisses the top of my head.

  “You mean the world to me too.” I whisper.

  He brushes his lips softly against me when my phone rings. I can’t help but giggle when he groans.

  “I can’t catch a break!”

  “Fucker.” I grins kissing his cheek and pick up the phone. “Hello?” I didn’t bother checking the caller ID, maybe I should have.

  “Good evening Miss Monroe, this is Detective Sanders. I’m working on your father’s case.” This better be good news! I put the speaker on for Ant.

  “Do you have good news for us Detective?” I ask nervously.

  “I take it that
Anthony is with you?”

  “Yes I am. What’s up Sanders?” He sits us up and takes the phone in his hand. I’m already shaking and he hasn’t told us anything yet.

  “As you know Miss Monroe, we were made aware of the evidence you’ve found earlier today and have been out to arrest Mr. Sullivan at his house. Unfortunately he wasn’t at his house.” We both hear him sigh. Fuck this is so not good!

  “What the fuck Sanders? I thought you had everything to arrest him!” Ant says rather angrily.

  “I know Anthony, a crew went to his office and he wasn’t there either. I went to his house and he wasn’t there and another crew was sent to his mother’s cabin on Lake Charles. He’s nowhere to be found I’m afraid.” He sighs.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! We gave you what you needed to fucking arrest him and he’s just free and you have no idea where? I swear to God, if you are protecting him and doing this to keep one of us in prison it’s going to get real ugly, real fast!” Ant bellows.

  “Calm down Anthony, I’m not protecting him…” He hesitates.

  “What aren’t you telling us Sanders?” Ant’s losing patience.

  “We obtained two search warrants, one for his office and one for his house.”

  “Okay. And?” Ant presses him.

  “His office was trashed, not trashed as if someone actually looked through it, but trashed as if someone did it on purpose to mess things to make it seem like what Ayden found was actually found illegally.”

  “S-so, I w-won’t get into any t-trouble, w-will I?” I stutter.

  “No Ayden, don’t worry.” I sigh in relief.

  “What about his house?” Ant asks, holding me close to him.

  “What we found there is…” He sighs, “I don’t even know how to describe it, I’ve never seen such a thing in my ten years of service.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ant looks as confused as I feel.

  “First of all, he’s on the run, he took some changes of clothes, some belongings, the content of a safe he had hidden in his house and his car. We don’t know where he went but there’s an APB on him country-wide.”

  “You better or I swear I’ll find him myself!” Ant growls.

  “I hear you Anthony but you shouldn’t. You need to protect her.”

  “That’s quite obvious Sanders. I never planned on not protecting her.”

  “Look, I’m just trying to help, what we found in his house is really disturbing.” He sighs. “I’m not sure she needs to hear this.”

  “Yes I do, I need to know what the fuck is going on,” I pipe in angrily.

  “Alright, we found a hidden room in his house. What we found inside is highly disturbing.” He takes a deep breath. “Every single inch of the room was covered with pictures of Ayden. Dating back from a couple of years ago to as close as last week. A camera was implanted in her bathroom and a few of her belongings were found too. I don’t know how long exactly it’s been going on, but he must have been obsessed with you for a long time. It seems it’s starting back to when you were in New York. Do you remember seeing him or talking or meeting him anywhere else at all?”

  “What the actual fuck?” Ant yells while I sit there shaking uncontrollably. Not because Ant is screaming, because that feeling of someone constantly watching me seems to be proven to be right. It’s very unsettling. And to know that he actually had a camera implanted in my bathroom? That’s downright creepy.

  “N-no, the first time I saw him was at Copeland Inc. I’ve never seen him before. And he was working there for a while so I don’t get how he could have been in New York following me and be here working. It makes no sense at all.” I’m really upset and muttering a lot.

  “We’ll find him don’t worry, Anthony, keep her safe. Take her wherever you need to, but keep her safe. I know you probably don’t want change your life because some nutjob is out there, but you really should have someone stay with her at all time. He’s dangerous, we need to lock him up and keep him away for everyone’s sake.”

  “Trust me, I will keep her safe.” Ant growls.

  “One more thing, do not get involved Anthony. I know that’s what you want to do but he’s dangerous. We don’t know his motives or why he’s so obsessed with Ayden and framed her father. Until we can determine a profile or find him, stay safe and don’t go looking after him because he will jump at the first chance he has to hurt both of you.”

  “Fuck.” I whisper and rub my face.

  “I’ll behave.” Ant’s voice is strained, he’s clearly not happy about it.

  “I’ll let you two go. We’ll do everything we can to find him as soon as possible. We’ll have the search area expanded country-wide. I’ll be sending a cruiser to search your house and get the camera out of the ceiling in her bathroom as evidence.”

  “Thanks Detective. Keep us updated.”

  “I will Anthony. Goodnight you two.” He hangs up and I break down crying.

  Ant holds me close to his body, caressing my back. I’m dumbfounded. I don’t know what to say or think so I just keep quiet and lay there in Ant’s arms.

  I can’t believe this is happening. After I was kidnapped six years ago, I knew there was a possibility that someone would be watching me and keeping track of my every move. I never expected that person would end up being someone I was close to. I know it’s a totally different situation but it’s still unnerving.

  I’m feeling numb. I don’t know what to make of all of this. Sure Michael was fucked up but I didn’t think it would be to that extent. I never met him before I started to work for Copeland Inc. How would he know me or know where I lived? It makes no sense at all. And why frame my dad? This is all confusing me and is making me sick.

  I never should have gone on dates with him. Were the pictures already taken and my belongings too at that point? Maybe… He did act weird about getting my address now that I think about it.

  Fuck does that mean he’s been in my house when I wasn’t… or worse, when I was?

  Chapter 21

  Anthony

  I’m livid hearing what they found at his place. It’s highly disturbing that he would have so many pictures of Ayden and some of her belongings. And to know that he’s been in here without her knowing is fucking with my mind. God knows what he could have done to her while she was unaware of him being inside her house.

  She’s shocked too—she’s been quiet ever since we hung up with the detective. I make sure to lock up everything downstairs and set up the alarm after getting a new code from the company, before heading upstairs, carrying her. She really didn’t need this new information tonight.

  On top of having to deal with what happened to her years ago, now she has a stalker. And she was dating that stalker.

  I wish I could go after that guy and just end him. At least it would solve one problem we have. I lay her on the bed and make sure she’s comfortable.

  “Talk to me Sweet Cheeks.” I whisper in her hair.

  “I’m not sure what to say, to be honest. I never suspected Michael could be this crazy and fucked up. Sure I knew he was a bit weird, but this bad? Never in a million years.” She sighs.

  “I still can’t believe it. I thought it would be limited to your Dad being framed, not to that fucking asshole being obsessed with you and following you everywhere.”

  “I know. I really don’t know how to feel about all of this. It’s scary and disturbing. I’ve never seen him until I started to work here, and I didn’t meet him straight away. I don’t get it.” She breaks down crying again.

  “Shh, it’s okay Sweet Cheeks. I’ll protect you and make sure you’re okay. Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” I kiss the top of her head.

  “You don’t understand—nothing will be okay! Just when I come to terms with the fact that I want a do-over with you, and decide to try and get past what happened six years ago, I get another shit storm of problems sent my way. I really didn’t need this. Nobody does but fuck I’ve been through enough
to last me a lifetime already and now this. Fuck this shit!” She screams at me pissed, hopefully not pissed at me.

  “I know, it’s a lot to take and I wish you didn’t have to go through this. I’m here—you’re not on your own this time. I’ll help you however I can to get through this, even if it means having you yell at me for something I didn’t do. I love you, I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper the last bit against her lips. She sighs and kisses me softly.

  “Sorry for shouting at you, this is just unsettling and upsetting. I just want one day, one single day where I can forget about all of this shit.” She cuddles into me.

  “I want to give you that Ayden—soon, it will happen soon, I promise you.”

  “Thanks Ant.” She smiles softly. “I should have come to you straight away when I found them. I waited until the end of the day and that’s probably why he managed to escape before the police got to his place.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it Sweet Cheeks. They will find him and catch him and if they don’t, I’ll stop him myself.”

  “I don’t want you to get into trouble because of him.” She pouts. She’s fucking adorable.

  “I won’t I promise. Who would watch over you if I did?” I can’t help but chuckle softly.

  “Let’s see there’s Gabe, Aleck, Bennett, Ryan, and Callum. Also don’t forget about Nicole, she has a really mean right hook.” She giggles softly. It’s music to my ears.

  “Alright, alright, you’ve got an entourage and don’t need me, I get it.” I fake being hurt, slowly turning on my back towards her.

  “I’m kidding, come back here.” She wraps her arms around me and cuddles into me. I sigh happily loving this feeling.

  With everything going on, I cherish moments like these. Where it’s just the two of us with nobody around to look or judge us.

  “This feels nice.” I kiss her forehead, caressing her back.

  “It does.” She says softly on a yawn.

  “You should get some rest Sweet Cheeks.”

  “Will you spend the night with me? I don’t want to be on my own.”