It seems like forever, but suddenly there’s a little sound from her lips. Her eyes flicker, then open. Rusty sits her up more. “Take a drink, sweetheart. But slowly, just a sip.” He holds a bottle to her lips. Dropping to my knees I crawl over to her, take hold of her hand and squeeze it.
“Pal?” She says croakily.
“You’re going to be fine,” I tell her, with a cautious glance at Rusty who nods, and confirms it.
“Yeah, sweetheart. We got you now. You’re going to be fine.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jayden
I’d tried to stop myself losing consciousness, but it was something I had no control over. As I lay in that car, accepting I couldn’t get free, knowing my feeble attempts were doing nothing more than to exhaust and overheat me. Though it went against the grain, I knew lying still would help me to last longer. Gradually, I knew I was losing the fight.
I started to hallucinate, felt insects walking over me. At one point, I could have sworn there was a snake in the trunk slithering around my legs. Then my eyes closed again, and this time, I no longer had the strength to open them.
There’s moisture on my cracked lips. My tongue flicks out greedily to wipe it away, without thinking where it came from. I open my mouth slightly, in the hope that there’s more. Is it raining?
I’m hallucinating again. I’m hearing voices. My hands no longer seemed tied behind me, maybe I’ve lost all feeling. Must have done in my head too, it no longer feels like it’s resting on metal. There’s also a cooling breeze flowing over me.
I attempt to open my eyes which are darn near swollen shut and sealed with dried tears. As more water dribbles into my mouth, I at last manage to see out. It’s one of the bikers, Rusty.
“Take a sip, sweetheart. But slowly.”
Someone grabs my hand, holding it tightly. “Pal?”
His mouth moves, I don’t hear his words, but that doesn’t matter. I’m just overjoyed that he’s here and I’m no longer locked in that car. I try to reach for him, but my arms are dead. I can’t move my legs. Rusty helps me sit upright, holding that bottle to my lips, taking it away when I take a big gulp.
“Slowly, take it slowly. Too much too soon and you’ll be sick.”
My limbs start tingling. “Oh,” I gasp.
“Pal, start rubbing her legs. She’ll have cramps from dehydration and from lying in the same position for so long. Ink, Pyro, work on her arms.” Then into my ear, he says, “Sorry, darlin’, your muscles are crampin’. It will hurt. We’ll get you back to the clubhouse and I’ll get you some painkillers once I know you can keep them down.”
“I can’t ride,” I tell him, seriously.
“Fuck, no,” he chuckles. “Got the crash truck coming.” He smooths his hand over my forehead, I think it’s a comforting gesture, but he disavows me of that when he says, “You’re not burning up so much. Your temperature has started to come down.”
At last I think I can move my arms. I struggle to sit straight, Rusty helps. It’s then I notice I’m not wearing clothes, well, only my underwear. And there are men all around me. “Pal, my clothes?” I gasp.
Rusty snorts a laugh. “She’s going to be fine if that’s what she’s worried about.” Then to me, he asks, “You got a bikini, darlin’?”
“Yes, but…”
“Probably less decent than what you’ve got on now. Hey, Pal,” his voice has hardened. “Fuckin’ look at this.” I’m leaning forward, Rusty’s now able to see my back. “She’s been fuckin’ tasered.”
“He’s going to die.”
Hoping Pal knows who it is, but so there can be no doubt, weakly I grab his arm. “It was Taser.”
“Yeah. We’ve sussed that already, Jay.” The expression on Pal’s face would be frightening were it not that I know it isn’t directed at me. He’s planning retribution for Taser. Good.
A truck has appeared. I’m lifted in arms I’d given up thinking I’d ever feel around me again. Pal lifts me into the back, then slips in beside me. “Put the air conditioning on full while you load my bike, Wills,” he instructs the prospect.
They know what they’re doing. It only takes a couple of minutes before Pal’s Harley’s secured and we’re driving. Once back at the clubhouse he carries me straight up to our room, Shooter following close behind, Rusty too. Pal goes to place me on the bed, then stops abruptly, making me fasten my arms around his neck.
I grin when I see why. Bitch is comfortably stretched out in the middle of the comforter.
“Just put me down, Pal. She won’t hurt me.”
“It’s me I’m worried about,” he growls. But he places me down carefully. Bitch gets up, arches her back, then stretches her front paws out. She comes and cuddles beside me, butting her head against my arm, purring loudly.
“Jayden gonna be alright?” a gruff voice asks. It’s Hellfire.
I pull on Pal’s arm. “A tee-shirt would be good,” I tell him.
Pal starts, seeming annoyed he hadn’t thought of that for himself. Quickly he opens a drawer, grabbing the first thing he finds and passing it to me.
Once I’ve put one of his long tees over my head, pulled it right down until it covers my backside, I take the tablets Rusty hands to me, swallowing them with a fresh bottle of water. Everything hurts. My head, limbs, my back. Overshadowing all that, though, is the fact I’m alive. Bravely I stare Hell in the eyes. “I’m going to be fine.”
The prez steps closer. “How did Taser get you to go with him, Jay?”
I scrunch my eyes shut, remembering my terror, swallowing hard. “He said Pal had come off his bike, was badly injured, probably dying, and was in the hospital.”
Pal swears loudly, his hand grasping mine and squeezing as though he knows I wouldn’t have been thinking clearly after hearing that. Raising my hand I touch the graze on his cheek.
“Yeah,” he starts sheepishly. “I may have landed dirty side up. But he didn’t know that, Jay. He lied.”
“That’s the final nail,” Hellfire murmurs.
“I, er, I want to see him.” I sound weak, but it’s a result of what I’ve been through.
“Nah, Doll. You don’t,” Paladin contradicts, softly stroking my cheek, treating me like porcelain. “Why the fuck would you want to do that?”
I narrow my eyes at Pal, then use them to plead with Hellfire. Trying to put more strength in my voice, I ask, “He got his taser with him?”
“We took it off him, Jay. You’ll never have to worry about him again, I promise.”
They misunderstand, seeing me as a frail young girl. I’m not. I’ve survived worse than Taser. This time, I’m in a position to get revenge. Gently moving Pal’s hand away, the ire comes through as my voice deepens. “Hellfire. I want to use his own taser on him. Let him know what it feels like.” I speak louder, “I want to watch him piss himself.” Pulling myself upright, I try to make them understand. “I need this, Hell. Please.”
“You know what?” starts a voice from the doorway. Looking around Pal I see Pyro. Raising his chin toward me he continues, “Had my doubts whether you were ol’ lady material.” He chuckles. “Don’t have any doubts left now. Give her this, Prez.”
Hellfire isn’t convinced. “No, Jay. You don’t want to see him like he is now. We’ve already had… words… with him.”
Beaten the shit out of him more like. As long as he’s still breathing, I want payback of my own. “He left me to die, Hell. Alone. He nearly succeeded. I don’t know why, don’t understand it. Know you won’t tell me because it’s club business. But let me see him hurt for myself. Please. I need this.”
When I was just a young teenager, men hurt me. I had no control then, like I’d had none today when Taser kidnapped me. I want to make him pay for what he did. I’d like to lock him in a trunk and have him die in the sun. But if I can’t do that, I’ll make him hurt instead.
Pal’s looking at me strangely. Then he says over his shoulder, “Prez. Let her. She does need this. Give her some p
ower for once.”
“If I could have hurt Blackie, I’d have done it.” A female voice sounds. Fuck. Is everyone coming into my room? “I wouldn’t have had regrets. He took something from me, I wasn’t there to make him pay.” Why’s Moira talking about the old president? I park that thought as I don’t understand it, just listen when she continues, “Taser took Jay’s freedom at the least. Put her in a nightmare situation. She could have died had you not found her in time.”
“Lucky for the tracker,” Hell says. “Taser wasn’t saying shit about her. Wouldn’t even admit he took her, just tried to put all the blame on Mace.” He thinks for a moment, then turns away from his wife and looks at Pal. “You know Jayden the best Pal. If you think this is right, I’ll go along with it. Just remember, he isn’t looking pretty.”
“I’m not looking my best either.” I run my finger around my cracked lips. My wrists are bleeding and bruised from where I fought against my ties. I’ve not looked in the mirror, but I’ve a lump on my head, and my eyes still feel swollen. “When I look at him, I hope it will be like seeing my reflection.”
“You look beautiful,” Pal breathes. He’s got blood in his hair too, and a graze on his cheek. He had come off his bike, though Taser hadn’t known it, that part was actually the truth. But that I’m here, alive, and he is too, makes me comprehend what he’s saying. Seeing each other again, is what matters the most. Our injuries will heal. While it will take time to move on from what’s happened, our fear of never seeing each other again, both of us are still here and have a future to look forward to.
The thought makes me want to put him out of his misery. “Yes,” I murmur, so low only he can hear.
“Yes?” He knows what I’m saying, that I’m answering the question he asked the night before last. What I didn’t expect were the tears that appear in his eyes. He hadn’t cried when he found me. Nor when he got me back here. But me agreeing to be his old lady?
“I thought you’d be pleased, not sad,” I tease him.
He places one hand over me, resting it on the bed so he can lean in to give me a kiss. Unfortunately, he’s got too close for Bitch’s comfort. She strikes out with a hiss. As he whips his hand away, I start laughing.
“Fuck knows what’s up with young people today.” Hellfire puts his arm around his wife while shaking his head. “Come on. If you’re up to it, come and do your worst to Taser now.”
I slide to the edge of the bed. Pal hands me my unicorn pyjama bottoms he’s picked up from the chair. I slip them over my legs, and discreetly, covered by his long tee, up over my butt. Sliding my feet into my bunny slippers I realise how ridiculous I must look. But what does one wear when about to face their kidnapper?
I get to my feet, wincing in pain. My legs are stiffening, my back and arms feel bruised as hell, and my head is still throbbing. But I don’t want to miss this chance. I have to do it now while the memories are fresh. Given time, I won’t forgive him, but my resolve to face him might weaken. I hadn’t lied. Something inside tells me I need to make him hurt. To take retribution for myself.
Hellfire catches my arm at the doorway, he stares right down into my eyes. “You sure about this?”
“I’m sure. He hurt me, Hellfire.”
Hellfire leads the way. The steps down to the basement are dark, plain concrete. Nothing’s been embellished here. At the bottom, a door appears to be hanging off its hinges, and there, right in front of me, ropes around his wrists attaching his arms to a beam above, is the man who left me to die.
Blood’s flowing freely from a cut above one eye. His chest is bare, and there are dark bruises and burn marks on him. He’s breathing shallowly as though in pain, but when he hears footsteps approaching, he opens the one eye he can. His mouth turns up in a snarl as he sees me.
“You’re alive.”
“No thanks to you.” Faced with my abductor, my voice shakes. The last time I’d seen him he was pushing me into the trunk of Mace’s car. The flashback takes me back there again.
“You don’t have to do this, Jay.” Paladin’s arm comes around me. I shrug it off and take a step forward.
“Why?” I ask. “Why do you hate me so much?”
“I don’t give a fuck about you either way. You were a means to an end,” he wheezes.
That’s even worse in a way. That I mean so little.
Hell passes something to Pal, who places it into my hand, wrapping my fingers around it. “Aim it at him,” he instructs. “Keep your finger on this button. Thirty seconds is recommended.”
“Is it turned up high?”
“As far as it will go.”
Taser’s eyes have widened, then he laughs. “Like that will hurt me.”
Oh, I’m determined it will make him hurt. Like I hurt and ache. All I want to do is lie down and rest, but first I need to see him lose his dignity just like I had lost mine. Without delaying any further, I aim, fire, and when those barbs land in his chest, keep my finger pressed down hard on the button, so much pressure my fingertips are white. He goes rigid, then his legs give out, he’s hanging by his wrists, his body jerking, his mouth open wide but no sound coming out. I keep the power on.
I don’t know how long it is before Pal pries my fingers away. “That’s enough,” he says gently.
I let him take the taser out of my hand, then I turn, burying my face in his chest. “Kill him,” I plead toward Hellfire. “I want to know he’s gone so I don’t have to worry about him.”
I’ll always be haunted by the thought the Herreras are still coming for me. I don’t need another threat around.
Chapter Forty
Paladin
Needing to take Jay away I sweep her up into my arms. She’s shaking so much; I worry how what she’s just done might have affected her. I know why she wanted to hurt him, could understand it completely.
“Pal?”
“Yeah, Doll?” I’m crossing the clubroom and pausing with my foot on the first step.
“Did he piss himself?”
My face scrunches as I tell her. “Sure did, sweetheart.”
She gives a strange, twisted grin. It’s the type of expression I hope never to see again on her face. “Good.”
As she turns her head into my shoulder, I continue up the stairs and along to my room where Moira and Jeannie are waiting. Somehow they’ve got rid of Bitch, and there’s hot soup ready for her on the bedside table. I stay for a while, watching her eat, watching her do something normal to prove to me she’s still in the land of the living. When Pyro comes up and knocks on the door, letting me know everyone’s in church, I’m assured by Moira that Jay will be fine with her and Jeannie.
Glancing toward my girl, she raises her chin and looks at me bravely, reassuring me for herself.
It’s a sombre meeting room that I enter. Pyro and I are the last to take our seats. Shooter’s been given a chair alongside me.
Hellfire half-heartedly bangs the gavel.
“Today is one of the worst days there’s been for the club in thirty-six years.” He pauses as though to let the seriousness of what he’s about to say sink in. “One of our own has turned traitor.”
Lizard brings out his cigarettes, takes one, then passes his pack around. Today there are a number of takers. He lights up, inhales, blows smoke out, then asks, “Care to enlighten us, Prez? Most of us only know half the story.”
Hellfire takes a cigarette when the pack reaches him. It’s the last one, he raises his eyebrow at Lizard who shrugs. Prez takes it as permission, then scrunches the empty packet in his hand. “Okay, some of you already know some of this shit, others don’t. So I’ll go through from the top. Let’s start with Ingot.”
As he mentions the deceased enforcer’s name, fists thump over hearts. I do the same as a mark of respect though I can’t recall ever meeting the man. All I need to know is that he was a brother.
“Ingot was involved in a hit and run, as you already know. The driver left the scene. Neither us, nor the cops, ever found anything t
o point a finger at the culprit.”
“It was Taser?” Ink asks, his voice full of emotion. Sadness and anger combined.
“Yeah.” Hellfire says the word that makes the table erupt.
When at last single voices can be distinguished, Bomber snarls, “He still breathin’?”
“Just,” Hell confirms. “Club vote is needed to take him out. For those who like closure, the vehicle used was driven to Blue Mesa Reservoir and dumped in one of the deepest parts. That’s why it never turned up.”
“Fuckin’ long way to go. That’s a four-hour drive,” inputs Sparky. Being Road Captain he seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of where places are and how long it takes to get to them.
“Yeah. His accomplice, his cousin, followed him and drove him back here. Taser wanted that truck to disappear completely. Wanted to make sure it could never be linked back to him.”
Thunder’s tapping his mouth. “I recall he was one brother who wasn’t around the day Ingot was killed. But then, we weren’t expectin’ one of our brothers to be murdered, so there was no reason for any of us to stay close, and we weren’t suspicious of any absentees.” He sounds like he’s choked up as he adds, “Never looked inward. Didn’t see the fuckin’ need.”
“I was at a Comic-con that weekend,” Cad puts in. “Taser wasn’t the only one missing.”
“Well we never fuckin’ suspected a brother.” Pyro’s got tears in his eyes. “I’d never have believed it of Taser. Still can’t get my fuckin’ head around it now. Prez, do we need to go any further? I vote we dispatch the fucker to meet Satan. Don’t like breathin’ the same fuckin’ air.” The murmuring suggests others feel much the same.
“I hear you, Brother,” Hellfire replies sounding tired. “But I want everyone to know what’s been going on. More importantly, why.”
Satan's Devils MC Colorado Boxset 1 Books 1 - 3 Page 34
