Grabbing the chain link fence, she crawled her way to a standing position and then she pushed herself away. She almost stumbled and fell but she managed to keep to her feet. Moving slowly, she stumbled toward the clubhouse. When she got close enough, she hung onto the wall and made her way to the door.
The handle was slippery and she lost it more than once before she could grab it and pull it open. When she stumbled inside, she fell to her knees.
Sam came up from behind her. “Izzy! I’ve been looking for you and Melor…” He saw she was bleeding and he hefted her up.
People were rushing to her trying to assist but Mountain took her from Sam and when he lifted her, she groaned.
He went toward the sofa and lowered her on the seats. “What the fuck happened to you and where is Melora?” he demanded.
“He got her,” she mumbled. “We were walking along the fence when he came out of the woods. He made her crawl through the fence and he took her.” She closed her eyes and said, “Once he had her, he didn’t need me. He hit me and took her.”
Mountain stood and started for the door but Deke stopped him. “He’s long gone but we know where he’s taking her. He won’t hurt her, not yet anyway. Calm down and think.”
Mountain turned to face him. “I’ll kill the bastard if he hurts her. I’ll rip his arms off and beat him to death!”
“You might have to stand in line.” Sam growled as he paced beside the sofa.
Reva rushed forward with a pan of water and several cloths. She sat down beside Izzy and began bathing the wound on her head. Izzy groaned every time Reva touched her but Reva ignored her protests as she cleaned the wound. The water in the basin turned red before the wound was clean enough to wrap a cloth around her head.
When she was done, Reva helped her to sit up.
Izzy closed her eyes as the pain came over her. When it abated, she opened them again.
“Did he hurt her?” Sam asked.
“No I don’t think so.”
“Did he say anything?” Mountain asked as he gently laid his hand on her arm.
Izzy started to shake her head but groaned when the pain shot through her. “No, only that he needed her and he didn’t need me.”
“So now what do we do?” Gator asked.
“Now we get my daughter back.” Mountain seethed.
“If we go after her with guns blazing, she could get caught in the crossfire.” Sam growled.
“I’m not going to sit here and wait while he gets farther away with her,” Mountain spit out.
“No we won’t,” Deke stated. “But we’re going to be smart about this. We’ll do it Melora’s way. We’ll go after Michael and see just how much he has to lose before we get her back. It was Melora’s idea and it may be the best way to get her back.”
“What do you have in mind?” Leon asked.
“From what Iceman said this morning, Michael is a businessman. It might take some doing but I think we can appeal to his better nature.”
“Let’s get started then. I want her back before he has time to hurt her,” Mountain said.
“Zipper, I need you to start draining his bank accounts, both business and personal,” Deke suggested. “Move it around enough for him to lose track of it, then deposit it in our account. We may as well have it as to throw it away.”
“I can have my associates freeze his business dealings,” Leon offered. “By the time I’m through, he won’t have anyone willing to give him the time of day.”
“Do it.” Deke nodded. “We need to move quickly and quietly. By tonight, I want him ready for the picking.”
“I’m going to call my old club and get someone down there waiting for them,” Iceman said. “I don’t want him getting anywhere near that doorway. Whatever is down there, can just stay down there.”
“Yes, dammit…do it.” Mountain nodded as he looked around at all of them. “They may find her there too. Please let them know that if they can do it without her getting hurt, they need to grab her.”
~* * * *~
Eli pulled over to the wayside just outside of Boston. He’d been lucky enough to get the woman in the security feed. He didn’t know her name but that didn’t matter. He needed more information before he called his father and she would be the one who could give it to him.
Turning in his seat, he observed her sitting in the back seat. She had the look of fear in her eyes and it gave his a bit of a rush to see it there. “Who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Melora.”
“What do you know about the book Leon Vincinti had with him yesterday?”
Melora shrugged. “I’ve never seen it before.”
“But you saw something in the book, I saw you.” Eli growled.
Melora shrugged but didn’t say anything.
“What was in the book that got you so excited?”
Melora remained silent.
Eli slapped his hand on the back of the seat. “What did you see in the book?” he demanded.
“I saw a symbol.”
“What symbol?”
“It was a round symbol with the sign of a horoscope inside it,” Melora offered.
Eli frowned. “What are you talking about?”
The symbol you asked me about. It was circular with a horoscope sign inside it.”
Eli waved his hands. “What about it?”
Melora shrugged. “You asked about what I saw…I told you.”
“What about the symbol? What does it mean?”
“I don’t know anything about the symbol or what it means.” Melora shook her head.
“What about the other woman? What did she have to say about it?” Eli wanted to know. When Melora didn’t answer his questions he asked her, “Do you want me to hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No that won’t be necessary. She said the symbol was old, she said it went back to the pre-Civil War days when smugglers used the tunnels and caverns to hold their goods until they could be sold.”
“How did she know all this?”
“She saw the book when she was a kid living with Janelle. When she was older, she ran across the symbol again and researched it in the library. That’s when she discovered the secret behind the symbol.”
“And what is your connection to all of this?”
“I found the symbol carved in a door frame under the city.”
“So you know where the tunnel is!” Eli exclaimed.
Melora shrugged. “Well, yes and no. I found it but I don’t know where I was when I found it. I was sort of lost.”
“How could you get sort of lost?” he asked in frustration.
“It’s very easy to get turned around under the city,” Melora explained. “It was dark and I didn’t know where the hell I was going.”
“Do you know what’s in the tunnel?”
“I have no freaking clue,” Melora admitted. “I don’t think anyone does. It could be anything or nothing.”
“Well, there’s only one thing to do, we need to find it again, open the tunnel and find out for ourselves what’s in there.”
Melora shook her head. “I can’t go back down there.”
“You don’t have a choice. If I say you’re going, you damn well will go.” Eli glared at her.
“But what if I can’t find it again?” Melora asked. “I told you I found it by accident before.”
“Then you better hope your luck holds true and you can find it again,” Eli warned her. “My father wants whatever is in that tunnel.”
“Your father can suck fucking lemons,” Melora swore.
Eli reached out and slapped her hard. “Watch your tongue woman. You’re well-being is subject to his whim.”
“The Sin’s Bastards are gonna crucify you and your father, so you’d better be concerned about your wellbeing,” Melora scoffed. “There won’t be a rock big enough for the two of you to hide under when they get done with you.”
Eli rolled his eyes. “They won’t touch us. My dad will crush them.”
<
br /> Melora sneered. “We’ll see. You do not know these men. You will die.”
He stared hard at her as he raised his fist in warning. “So where are we going?”
Her eyes narrowed with hate at him. “We have to start at the Sumner Tunnel.”
Eli turned in his seat and stared his car. Driving through the city, he made his way to the Sumner Tunnel. Before he entered he asked, “Now what?”
“We can’t drive through we have to walk in.”
“Why?” he turned in his seat to stare at her.
“Because that’s what I did before,” Melora explained.
“Where the fuck am I supposed to park my car?” Eli whined.
“I don’t know.” Melora shrugged. “I wasn’t driving when I went through before.”
Eli growled as he tried to turn his car around and find a parking place along the street. He had to park a block and a half away.
When he finally opened the back door, Melora glared at him. “I can’t have my hands tied behind my back. Someone will notice and call the police.”
“Shut your mouth, bitch.” Eli growled as he reached into his pocket for his knife. He reached behind her and cut the ropes holding her hands together.
Melora groaned when her hands were released and she began rubbing the soreness in her wrists.
Eli grabbed her by the upper arm hauling her out of the car. Pulling her close, he warned her, “Just don’t try anything like running away from me. You won’t like it if I have to track you down.”
“I don’t like it now,” Melora countered.
He pulled her back to the trunk and opened it, then grabbed a flashlight and a jacket. He put the jacket on and slid his gun into the small of his back to conceal it. He picked up another length of rope and shoved it into his jacket pocket. Next, he grabbed a chalk line. The items he used in his construction job could come in handy in this quest. “Let’s go.” He pushed her along in front of him. He gripped her hand and held it tightly in his own. When she pulled away, he crushed her hand. “Don’t get any ideas. Just walk.”
~* * * *~
Melora searched the streets as they walked toward the tunnel. She thought she felt someone was watching her but she didn’t know who or where they were. She only hoped the someone watching was on her side.
As they entered the tunnel, she was blinded momentarily. She stopped and allowed her eyes to adjust to the light difference.
Eli growled and pushed her into the semi darkness.
Melora took a deep breath and tried to quiet the restlessness inside her belly. Each step she took further into the tunnel, the more nervous she became.
Just then, she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine and before she could turn her head, a huge bike rolled past her. The roar of the engine echoed in the tunnel and the noise almost deafened her. As the bike passed her, she could see the back of the biker’s cut. It read Sinners.
For a moment, she felt a glimmer of hope, then the bike roared down the tunnel and disappeared into the darkness. Melora swallowed hard but refused to give up. Iceman had been a Sinner once and he knew this town. If there was one biker there could be more waiting in the darkness.
Slowing her steps, she poked along until Eli noticed. He pushed her along faster until they came to the door she had gone through before.
“We have to go through here,” she told him.
“Then open the door and go through,” Eli ordered. He shoved her hard against the metal door. She struggled to open it and when she did, she slipped into the darkness beyond. When he joined her and the door snapped close behind them the darkness engulfed them completely.
Eli fumbled with the flashlight and the beam of light barely made any difference. Before she could step away from him, Eli grabbed her hands and brought them behind her back. With the length of rope, he tied her wrists again and pushed her forward. “Get going. Find the way you went before and no tricks or I’ll leave you here alone in the darkness.”
Melora began moving deeper into the tunnel. She stopped and cocked her head listening for the sound of running water.
“What are you doing now?”
“The last time I was here, I heard the sound of water all around me. I’m just trying to find that sound again. It’s the only way I know I’m going in the right direction.”
“You’re wasting my time.” Eli seethed. He pulled out the chalk line and snapped a blue line on the tunnel beside them. “Which way now?”
“I’m not sure.” Melora was all turned around. “I can’t remember which way I went.”
“Well, you better remember the right way,” Eli warned.
“You aren’t exactly helping!” she yelled at him.
Eli reached out and slapped her again.
Melora fell into the wall and slipped to her knees. She cried out as debris cut into her legs. Leaning against the wall, she gathered her strength and pushed herself to her feet. She was helpless now that he tied her hands again, but she wanted to kill this man badly. She could feel blood running from the cut near her mouth and she ran her tongue over her split lips tasting the irony flavor.
“Let’s go,” he ordered. Using the flashlight, he motioned at two different tunnels. “Which way?”
Melora simply picked one. She wasn’t sure but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She had a baby to protect. Her eyes were adjusting more to the darkness and she felt she could see a bit better. She thought she heard a footstep close by and she could sense someone was there. In all the years she had been on the run, her senses had saved her life many times over, so she felt certain someone really was there behind them.
Then she actually felt someone watching her and she knew then they weren’t alone in the tunnel. She hoped whoever was in there with them was on her side. She paused and stood there with her eyes closed trying to remember her way in the dark.
They moved deeper into the tunnel and Melora got the feeling of water all around her. Walking further in, she came to the Y in the way. She knew where she was now and where they had to go, taking the left tunnel they came to the part with the older wood.
Eli stopped every once in a while and marked the frame work with the chalk line.
The light from the flashlight barely made a dent in the blackness around them but Melora felt sure of where she was going. She just prayed whoever was there with them would make their move before too much longer. She didn’t want Eli to find the door.
She stopped again in the tunnel to figure out where they were. Eli pushed her to move forward and she stumbled. Falling against the wall, she cried out. Then footsteps rushed toward them and she heard Eli cry out as someone hit him.
She leaned against the wall as she heard the struggle between Eli and his assailant. When there was no more noise, she turned her head and saw Eli’s form laying on the ground. The flashlight glimmered over his face and she could see it was bloody and his eyes were closed. Melora raised her gaze.
A tall man wearing a dark vest was bent over breathing heavy. He looked over at her. “Are you Melora?”
She nodded.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so. Who are you and how did you know we were down here?”
“My name is Reaper and my President got a call from Iceman. He asked that we find you and bring you to safety.”
Melora closed her eyes and thanked whoever was in charge of the universe. Well, in this case Iceman was. She smiled and it brought pain to her lip. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Reaper stepped closed and helped her to her feet. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his knife. Cutting the ropes that bound her hands, he gently helped her by rubbing her wrists. Then he reached down and grabbed the flashlight Eli dropped.
“What are you planning to do with him?” Melora asked.
“I’m supposed to bring him with us.” Reaper shrugged. “We have more men waiting up top. I’m supposed to bring you back to the clubhouse where you have people waiting for you.”
“That sou
nds good to me,” Melora said with relief.
“Do you know the way out of here?” he asked. “I wasn’t really paying attention to the way we came. I was watching for a moment when I could get him, without you being hurt. That was our specific instructions.”
Melora smiled, that would be what Sin’s Bastards would say. She pointed upward. “Eli marked the way with his chalk line. All we have to do is follow it out.”
Reaper nodded then bent over to hoist Eli over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
Melora paused at this feat and then wondered about something else. “By the way, how did you follow us in such darkness?”
“Well, they do call me Reaper for many reasons, and that is one of them.”
Melora wanted to laugh but her body hurt too much. Shining the light up, they followed the blue lines back the way they came. A short time later, Melora pushed open the door that lead the way out into the Sumner Tunnel.
Reaper hustled through the tunnel and out against the pull of traffic. He went over to a truck parked just outside the tunnel. Opening the back door, he shoved Eli’s body into the backseat. He helped Melora into the front seat, ran around the front of the truck got in, then drove away.
He drove down the street and making several turns, he finally stopped in front of a warehouse near the water. The emblem on the side of the building claimed this was Sinner territory.
They got out of the truck and Eli was lifted over his shoulder again. Reaper led the way inside.
When the door closed behind them, Melora found herself standing in front of a line of big men. They all wore a biker’s cuts and they all stood there with their arms crossed over their chests.
A moment later, the men parted and an aisle formed leading to a man leaning against the bar.
Reaper walked down the aisle and dumped Eli on the floor in front of the man. The man didn’t even look at Eli, instead he watched Melora as she followed Reaper.
When she reached the man, she lifted her head and looked at him.
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