by Marla Monroe
He backed his bike out from between the others then pulled out of the lot at a leisurely pace. He couldn’t wait to get her on the back of his bike so he could feel her wrapped around him. Gunner thought they might take a little detour to open the bike up some so she’d need to hug him even tighter.
It took him about six minutes to get across town to where the parts store was located. The second he climbed off the bike he knew something was wrong. The front glass door was broken. Glass littered the tile inside the building. He raced inside, calling out as he did.
“Jackie! Answer me.”
He checked behind the counter, the back where several metal shelves were tipped over, then the office. It was there that he saw the main struggle. The door was off one hinge and against the wall. It was obvious she’d put up a fight, but where was she? Was she hurt? He didn’t see any blood thank, God.
He had his phone out and pushed Hawk’s number before he even thought about it.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“The One-Niners have Jackie.”
“What? Fuck! How do you know?”
“They broke in the front door of the store, and she’s missing. There’s evidence of a struggle in the building. I don’t know of anyone else who would have taken her.” Gunner pulled at his hair as he paced up and down the hall. “We’ve got to find her, Hawk.”
“We will. When we do, I’m painting their blood on our jackets. Meet you at the clubhouse.”
Gunner ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket before racing through the empty building to his bike. It only took him three minutes to pull up outside the clubhouse. Hawk pulled in seconds behind him.
“Was there any blood,” Hawk asked.
“No, but she put up a fight.”
“I’ll kill them for this.”
The roar of bikes coming down the gravel road told them that the club was coming together. They waited for their presidents to walk over before following them into the building.
“Any news?” Terror asked.
“Nothing other than she fought. No sign of blood, so we hope she’s not injured,” Hawk told him. “Who’s with Mia?”
“I’ve got Bear with her. It’ll take an army to go through him. If I didn’t know better, I’d have to kill him for being in love with our woman.”
“No one’s called you guys?” Gunner asked.
Rage shook his head. “They’re waiting to be sure we know that she’s missing. They’ll call soon. It’s almost five.”
“More than likely they’ve been watching to see what sort of schedule we had with moving her around.” Rage clapped Gunner on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, guys. I never thought they’d go after Jackie since she isn’t officially part of the club.”
“I guess they don’t know that,” Terror said.
“When this is over, and we have her back,” Hawk began. “We’re making her our old lady.”
“Are you sure about that? You’ve only known her a few days. I can’t see that being long enough for something that serious, guys.” Terror folded his arms.
“How long did you know Mia before you knew it was right?” Gunner asked shoving his hands on his hips.
“Point taken.” Terror sighed.
“What do you think their demands will be?” Hawk asked.
“They’ll want us to leave town. They want this territory now that they’ve been pushed out of their own. I don’t get why they think we’re so weak, though.” Rage sat at the head of the table.
“They figure that since we’re trying to set up a sanctuary territory that we’re not going to fight. They’re dead wrong, though,” Hawk said.
“Damn straight,” several of the others agreed.
“Have a seat everyone. Let’s see what we’ve got. Loco show us the map you’ve been working on.” Rage nodded at the other man.
“I’ve marked all of the known empty buildings and houses within a twenty-mile radius. I don’t think they’re staying any farther out since they are slinking around town spying on us. Plus, they would want to be close enough to get the drop on us if they see an opportunity.” Loco pointed at several of the circles with red X’s through them. “These have already been cleared by our people. The rest still need to be checked. There’s about twenty-eight left.”
“That’s too fucking many,” Hawk said.
“No way we can cover all of those before they hurt Jackie,” Gunner added.
“That’s why Loco is tracing any calls that come to the clubhouse phone. We might not be able to pinpoint their exact location, but we should be able to narrow the search area down by over half.” Rage looked over at Loco.
“I figure they’ll use a cell phone so I can tap into the frequency and figure out what cell towers they’re bouncing off of. Since we have areas without coverage, it should be fairly easy to tell. There are three towers in the region. Whichever one they ping off of will give us the area to search.” Loco had the map divided into three circular areas that intersected each other in one point.
“How accurate is this?” Gunner asked.
“It’s as accurate as where the phone is. If they go to a different point to call us, it will send us in the wrong direction. You have to insist that they put Jackie on the phone so they’ll be working off the correct tower.” Loco pointed out the three towers with a pencil then sat.
“So all we can do now is wait until they call.” Terror leaned back in the chair.
“I fucking hate to wait while she’s somewhere scared to death. You don’t know her history. She’s already been in this kind of situation in the past. It could break her,” Hawk told them.
Gunner knew his friend was having a hard time by the gruffness in his voice. He was so angry that worry wasn’t even hitting yet. He wanted to beat the hell out of something but didn’t want to miss out if they called. He paced instead.
“You wear a hole in that carpet, you’re paying to replace it,” Terror said. “That’s not doing you any good. Sit down and try to relax. We’ve got to remain calm, or they’ll get the upper hand on us. Don’t make me order you to stay here, Gunner.”
“Fuck that! I’m not staying here when we know where she is.” Gunner plopped down in the chair next to Hawk.
They sat waiting for what felt like hours. Finally, at five thirty, the clubhouse phone rang. Rage nodded at Loco then picked it up.
“Yeah?”
“Who the fuck is this?” Rage asked.
“We aren’t doing shit unless we know she’s alive. Put her on the phone.”
Gunner leaned in closer to try to hear the other side of the conversation, but couldn’t.
“I don’t give a fuck. Either I talk to her or there’s no way in hell we’ll even move an inch.”
“Motherfucker. He hung up.” Rage slammed the phone down and looked over at Loco. “Do you have anything?”
“If they call back, I have the area they aren’t in, and that leaves two areas. Hopefully they’ll call back so we’ll know where to look. I’m betting he was calling from a different place.”
“What if they don’t call back at all?” Hawk asked.
“We start searching and wipe the bastards out. I’m wondering now if this is a small faction of the club instead of the entire MC. Whoever I was talking to didn’t have the smarts for this kind of operation, so the president is somewhere else.” Rage drummed his fingers on the table then slapped his hand down hard enough that the table shook. “Son of a bitches dare enter our territory and fuck with our people. We’re going to wipe the ground with them. Lock and load everyone. As soon as we have an idea of where to look, we ride.”
Chapter Fifteen
Cool concrete felt good to her fevered flesh. Jackie wasn’t sure how long she’d been down in the basement, or even how long she’d been lying on the floor. With the windows boarded up and the light off, she had no sense of time. She’d screamed for as long as her voice had held out, but more than likely, they were somewhere remote or they would have gagged her
.
She’d spent the first part of the time she’d been down there feeling her way around for a weapon or a tool she could use to pry the boards off the window. There was nothing, not even a mattress she could sit on. She found that there were two windows and one door. Other than that, the walls were concrete blocks. She could feel the edges cemented together in roughly six inch by fourteen-inch cinder blocks.
She explored the staircase to see if there was any loose wood on it, but there wasn’t. She tried kicking against the bottom rail to loosen it enough she could pull it off, but she missed more often than she hit it since she couldn’t see. She had to face it. She was stuck down there until someone came for her.
Jackie weighed her options. She could curl up in the corner under the staircase, or she could wait for someone at the top of the stairs and try to rush them, take them by surprise. Neither option sounded the least bit appealing, but Jackie needed some sort of plan, or she’d go crazy in the dark. It reminded her too much of her former life.
In the end, she decided to wait under the stairs. She’d wait until they turned on the light and started down, then attempt to trip them by reaching through the open stairs. It was the best plan she could come up with without a weapon. She wondered if they’d ever come back down.
Her stomach churned in a combination of hunger and worry. Once they realized that no one would care if something happened to her, she was sure they’d kill her. Or worse. There were always worse things than death. She knew that firsthand.
Deafening silence filled the dark room. Were they even upstairs or had they left, leaving her all alone in the basement never to return at all. She could die of thirst and hunger. The idea of how long it might take sent a line of ants down her spine even as she shivered in fear. She’d been hungry enough to eat a roach before. Thank God there were none down there with her. Or at least she hadn’t heard anything scurrying around.
I’m probably going to die down here. They won’t let me go even if by some crazy miracle, The Howling Death MC caved to their demands. They have no reason to let me live.
She slid down the back wall beneath the stairs to wait for someone to come. She had no guarantee they would, and she didn’t know if tripping someone descending the stairs would even work. At worst, it could mean punishment if he didn’t fall. At best, she’d get free from the basement and end up surrounded by more of the crazy bikers.
She settled down to wait and tried to stop the worst-case scenario thoughts from flooding her mind. She’d endured hell. She could endure this.
Noise overhead startled her back into focus. How long had she been drifting? She couldn’t tell. She listened, trying to determine how many there were, but the sound was too distorted. Then the sounds moved over to where the door leading down to the basement was. The noise of the lock being thrown then the door opened, and a light was switched on. It blinded her long enough that the man made it down the stairs before she could react and trip him. She cursed and blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes used to the light.
“Come over here, bitch.” The voice was one of the guys who’d taken her.
She shook her head no. He’d have to come for her. She’d fight him tooth and nail.
“Don’t make me come get you. I’ll make you sorry.”
“Screw you and the bike you rode in on.” It was the best insult she could come up with in her state of mind.
He chuckled. “Might just be on the menu later, bitch. Now come over here.”
“No.”
He cursed and stalked over to where she stood in the corner with the stairs over her head. He’d have to bend over to get to her. She’d use that. When he bent, reaching out for her, Jackie jerked his arm and pulled with all her might, making him hit his head then fall forward. She slipped past him and ran for the stairs. She managed to get to the top of the stairs before another man caught her racing across the kitchen. He slammed her up against a wall.
“What the fuck?” He held her there with one hand around her throat. “Jug! Are you okay? How in the hell did she get away?”
“She was under the stairs and made me hit my head when I went to grab her. I’m going to kill that bitch.” The man in question emerged from the basement rubbing his head. “Give her to me.”
“Settle down. She’s got to be able to talk on the phone. Then you can knock her around a little. Make the call.”
Jug cursed then pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons before he held it to his ear.
“Are you ready to do as we say? I’ve got the bitch for you to talk to.”
He listened then smiled. “She’s fine, for now.”
A few seconds more of listening. “Here she can talk for a second.”
The phone was pressed to Jackie’s face. “Talk to them.”
“Hello?”
“That you, babe?” Gunner’s voice reached her, sending hope to her galloping heart.
“Gunner. Are you coming for me? They have me in a basement.”
“Bitch! Shut the fuck up.” Rooster pulled her by her throat away from the phone then slapped her. “That’s all they’re getting.”
“Guess you heard that. Now, twenty-four hours and we start sending parts if you’re not gone.” Jug pressed End on the phone and pocketed it. “Better hope they leave. If they don’t, I’m going to cut off a finger and wrap it up in a bow for them.”
Rooster jerked her from the wall then grabbed one arm and pressed it up behind her back. “It’s back down for you.”
“Can I have something to drink?” Her voice remained hoarse from all of the screaming she’d done earlier.
“Jug. Get a couple of bottled waters for her. She can ration them out while we’re gone.”
“Why give her anything. If she dies, we can still cut off her fingers to send to them.”
“If they don’t bleed they’ll know she’s dead. Dead people don’t bleed, man.” Rooster shoved her ahead of him toward the basement door.
Jackie fought him, kicking back and then snagging the doorjamb in an effort to stop him from throwing her down there again. He did just that. Rooster shoved her down the steps so that she ended up tumbling down the last three or four stairs before Jug threw two bottled waters at her. One hit her in the chest while the other one sailed over her head.
“Be careful with them. We’re going to be gone for a while.” Rooster slammed the door shut, and the click of the lock told her she wouldn’t be getting free that way.
* * * *
“He hit her. I heard him.” Gunner turned and planted his fist in the wall next to him.
“Calm down.” Rage turned to where Loco sat fiddling with his computer. “Do you have their location?”
“I’ve narrowed it down to this section.” The man jumped up out of his chair and pointed to a circular area on the far side of town. “She’s somewhere in one of these houses. I’m trying to get plans for them so I can tell you which ones have a basement and which don’t. I’ll relay them to you over the phone. You can get started clearing them in the meantime.”
“Okay. We go in groups of three. If we spot bikes, we call in help.”
Rage divided them up so that Snickers went with Hawk and him. Loco made copies of the map, and each group took three houses to search. The three of them raced from the clubhouse and jumped on their bikes to roar toward the first house.
They stopped a quarter mile from the first house and crept on foot so as not to alert them if they were in the house. When they arrived at the house, there were no bikes, but they searched the place anyway, breaking the lock when they couldn’t get in. It didn’t seem to have a basement or cellar, but that didn’t stop them from going through every room and closet in the house. Nothing.
They ran back to the bikes and headed for the second house on their list. This one had three bikes outside it. There was evidence that there had been more from the churned-up gravel leading up to the house.
“Call in the others,” Hawk told Snickers. “We’re going to
look around to see where the other entrances are.”
“Be careful and don’t go in alone,” Snickers warned them.
Gunner followed Hawk as they made a wide circle around the house and mapped out the back door, the door under the carport, and the one leading into the front. They also noticed boarded-up windows at ground level. There was a basement, and with the windows being boarded from the inside, Gunner was sure their Jackie was down there.
“I don’t want to wait for backup, Hawk. She’s down there now. We don’t know what they may be doing to her.” Gunner opened and closed his hands into fists over and over.
“We wait. Can’t do her any good if we’re hurt and can’t get to her. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Gunner didn’t like it, but Hawk was right. They returned to where Snickers crouched behind some bushes.
“Did you get them?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah. They’re all on their way. We’re supposed to wait for them.” He looked from Hawk to Gunner. “We are waiting, right?”
“There’s at least five of them. We don’t want to risk one of them getting to Jackie and either killing her or using her as a shield.”
“Good choice.”
They watched the house, waiting for the others to arrive. It felt like hours to Gunner, but in reality, it was only about thirty minutes before the majority of the club arrived. They’d parked their bikes down the road like Gunner, Hawk, and Snickers had.
“Any movement?” Rage asked.
“No. Not a peep out of them. I’d bet all of them are inside there waiting for us to move out. They’ll send a couple to check to see if we’re gone closer to time,” Hawk said.
“They have to know that we won’t leave for any reason,” Gunner added.
“I’m sure they probably do. There are only five of them. It’s the most any of us have seen since we’ve been watching them,” Jinx told them.
Gunner didn’t want to wait any longer. He wanted Jackie out of that basement. “What’s the plan?”
