by A. M. Myers
“You, too.”
The sun blinds me as I walk outside and I kind of wish I had remembered to bring my sunglasses. At the truck, I pull the keys out and as I try to unlock it, I feel a prick at the base of my neck, like a bee sting. I reach back to swat the little bug away and my world spins before descending into darkness.
Chapter Thirty
Chance
Carly:
I will. And I love you too.
The door in front of us opens and Tia, the woman we’re helping today, peeks up at us as I slip my phone back in my pocket.
“Ready to hit the road?” I ask. She glances back into her house and scans the room before nodding.
“Yeah, I think I am.”
Smith takes her bag and leads her to his truck as I do my own scan of her home. Once I’m satisfied she hasn’t forgotten anything important, I shut the door and head toward the road. Moose and Fuzz are waiting in Fuzz’s Charger behind Smith’s truck and I nod to them. Moose rolls down the window.
“You guys go in front of us, yeah?”
Moose nods. “You got it.”
I offer Tia a smile as I jump in the truck and nod at Smith as Fuzz pulls out in front of us. Taking two different vehicles may have been a little excessive but since her boyfriend has friends who could cause complications for us, we thought it was best to take extra precautions. Tia came to us a couple of days ago and said she needed to get out fast. Her sister drove down from Shreveport last night and is meeting us at a gas station on the edge of town. Then, we’ll follow them out of town just to make sure they get out of here okay. All in all, it should be a fairly easy job.
Which is good since I’m so eager to get back to Carly.
“You got an address for the gas station where we’re meeting your sister?” I ask and Tia nods, pulling her phone out before rattling off an address. Smith nods in response as he follows behind the Charger and I relax back into my seat.
Damn… all things considered, life is pretty good at the moment. Ivy seems to be doing as well as anyone could expect after what she’s been through, even better, maybe, and Carly and I are finally in a good place. After everything, all the back and forth, I’m ready to start looking toward the future with her. Hell, I would ask her to marry me right this minute if I was sure she wouldn’t freak out. She’s come a long way, but she may not be ready for that just yet.
“Y’all have someone watching Dirk, right?” Tia asks from the backseat and I barely hold back a scoff. What the hell kind of name is Dirk, anyway?
“Yeah, darlin’,” Smith answers her. “Blaze is posted up outside the firehouse.”
“He’s got lots of friends that are cops, too.” She flicks a nervous gaze out the window of the truck and I turn to face her, offering her a smile.
“So do we.”
Propping her elbows on her knees, she shoves her hands into her hair and blows out a breath. “I don’t know if I can do this. He’s going to be so angry when he finds out I’m gone.”
“Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“No. No, it’s not. I’m not strong enough for this. Dirk was right all along. I need him.”
“You know why he put all that shit in your head?” I ask and she shakes her head. “Because he’s the weak one. He needs you to believe you couldn’t survive without him when the truth is he feeds off of you. It’s your strength that drew him to you in the first place and without you, he’s going to crumble. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that you can do this.”
She takes a deep breath and meets my eyes as Smith pulls into the gas station. A woman steps out of a blue sedan and Tia’s eyes widen.
“Robin,” she whispers. As soon as Smith parks the truck, she’s scrambling to unbuckle her seat belt. Once she’s free, she jumps out of the truck and races across the parking lot, hugging her sister.
“Damn,” Smith says as he grabs her bag out of the back. We head across the lot while Moose and Fuzz stay in the Charger, ready to roll. No matter how easy a job is supposed to be, I don’t want to hang around and tempt fate. The faster we can get these two out of town, the better.
“Oh my God, thank you,” Tia’s sister, Robin, says as we stop in front of her car. I nod.
“Of course. We’d like to get on the road though. No point in hanging around.”
Robin nods. “Right.”
“Y’all are gonna follow that Charger,” I say, pointing to Moose and Fuzz. “And we’ll be behind you in the truck. Once you get about thirty miles out, find a place to pull over.”
“Okay,” she replies before turning to the car. Smith and I walk back to the truck and I nod to Fuzz. As we jump in the truck, he starts up his car and pulls to the edge of the parking lot, waiting until Robin and Tia are behind him before he pulls out onto the road. The sedan pulls out next, followed up by us and Fuzz turns to take us over the bridge.
Smith is quiet during the drive and I can’t stop thinking about getting back to the clubhouse, so I can finally finish what I started this morning. I pull out my phone and send her a text.
Me:
I’ll be back in an hour.
Are you naked yet?
Smirking, I wait for her response but when she doesn’t reply, I shove my phone back into my pocket. She’s probably still talking to Ivy. They had a lot to share with each other today and I’m really hoping her sister will be able to shed some light on all these random pieces of information we have. Streak still can’t figure out how it all fits together and he’s getting damn near hysterical. The guy doesn’t handle being out of the loop very well. I suppose that’s the side effect of being able to find out anything you want in a matter of minutes.
I’m still worried about Julian, too. Hopefully, Carly can convince Ivy to go to the police, so Rodriguez can finally do something about this. Other than that, I’m not sure what we can do to stop him. Ivy can’t live at the clubhouse forever and eventually, she’ll have to go back to living her life. With the lengths he went to for her the first time, I don’t see him giving up no matter how long it takes. He doesn’t seem like a guy that doesn’t get his way very often so I’m sure this is pissing him off.
Smith’s phone rings as the two cars in front of us pull off the road and he pulls it out, shaking his head. “Goddamn it.”
“Problem?” I ask and he shakes his head.
“No, just my fucking brother again.”
I nod. Smith’s brother is always getting into some kind of trouble and Smith is always bailing him out.
“Might be time to let him sink or swim.”
He sighs. “I’m not just going to abandon my little brother, Chance.”
I get where he’s coming from, but Smith is killing himself to help his brother. I’m pretty sure all he’s doing is enabling him. Maybe cutting him off would force him to grow up. Or maybe not. All I know is Smith is a good guy and his brother is using that to his advantage.
When he puts the truck in park, I climb out and walk over to the car, knocking on the window. Tia rolls it down and smiles at me.
“Thank you.”
I nod. “Of course. Y’all should be good to go now. Are you driving straight through?”
Robin shakes her head. “No, actually. My friend has a cabin and we’re going to stay there for a week while she stays at the house. That way if Dirk comes looking, he won’t find us.”
“That sounds like a good idea. We’ll have Streak keep an eye on his location and if he starts moving your way, we’ll give you a heads up.”
They thank me again and I send them on their way before turning back to the truck.
“Back to the clubhouse?” Moose calls and I nod, pulling my phone out, frowning. I still don’t have a message from Carly.
“Yeah, let’s get back.”
They nod and head out as I climb in the truck and dial Blaze’s number as Smith follows behind them.
“Hello?” he answers.
“Hey, Boss. Robin and Tia just took off.”
“
Everything go okay?”
I nod. “Yep. I’ll fill you in on the rest when we get back.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you soon.”
I hang up and stare at the message I sent Carly, something is bothering me, but I can’t pinpoint what it is. Maybe she just left her phone up in the room when she went to find Ivy. Or maybe she’s taking a nap… she was pretty tired when I left earlier. Sighing, I slip my phone in my pocket and try not to worry as I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes.
* * * *
“We’re back,” Smith says, nudging me, and I open my eyes as I yawn. Damn, I guess I was tired. As I climb out of the truck, I grab my phone and check for a message from Carly. Still nothing. Slipping it back in my pocket, I head toward the door. When I step inside, Moose, Fuzz, and Kodiak look up at me from one of the tables.
“Nice photo, sleeping beauty,” Kodiak says, holding up his phone to show me a photo of me sleeping in the truck. “I think you’ve got a little drool there.”
“Ha ha,” I sneer, scanning the room. “You seen Carly?”
Kodiak shakes his head. “Naw, man. Not since earlier.”
Nodding, I jog up the stairs and check the room before bounding back down and heading toward the TV room. Just before I reach it, Ivy steps out and I stop.
“Hey, is Carly in there?”
She shakes her head. “No, I was just coming to check if she was out here. She went to get food and movies but that was a while ago.”
“How long?” I ask, panic slicing through me and she shrugs.
“I’m not really sure. Over an hour, at least, though.”
I start backing away from her as I pull my phone out. “Do you know what store she was going to?”
“No.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. Something isn’t right here. Carly wouldn’t just disappear on me… not anymore. Right? I dial her number again and press the phone to my ear, growing more and more agitated with each ring. When her voicemail picks up, I almost throw my phone across the room.
“What’s going on?” Smith asks.
“Carly’s gone and she’s not answering her phone.”
Sinking into one of the chairs, I rub my hand over my face and go over our exchange this morning. Things were good, we were good, so I can’t believe she would just leave but look at her track record. How many times since we got together has she ghosted on me? Ivy steps out of the hallway, looking nervous, and I shake my head. No, she would never leave her behind.
“Streak!” I yell, jumping up from the chair and marching toward the stairs. He pokes his head over the railing.
“What?”
“Track Carly’s phone. Now.”
His eyes widen and he looks like he’s going to say something before turning and running back to his office.
“Dude, calm down for a minute and tell us what’s going on,” Kodiak says, patting my shoulder and I shrug him off.
“Ivy said she left here over an hour ago to get food and now she’s not answering her phone.”
Kodiak turns to Ivy. “You sure it was an hour?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “It could be closer to two, I’m not sure. I was near the beginning of Titanic when she left and it just ended.”
“Shit, yeah, that’s closer to two hours,” Smith says and everyone turns to look at him. How the fuck does he know how long that movie is?
“Her phone’s off,” Streak calls over the railing. “But her last location was the gas station a couple of blocks over.”
I don’t wait for anyone, running through the clubhouse and charging through the door as I head for my bike. Firing it up, I peel out of the parking lot and race toward the gas station, my heart pounding. The guys may be content to sit around and throw out theories. I’m not. I can’t explain it, but I just know something is wrong.
When I finally spot the gas station down the road, I speed up with a pit of rocks in my stomach and my heart racing. As soon as I pull into the lot, pain blooms in my chest and my heart feels like it might explode. My truck is sitting abandoned with my keys and a bag of food on the ground next to it. I jump off my bike, letting it fall to the ground with a crunch as I race over to the truck and peek inside.
“Fuck,” I hiss, stepping back and running my hands through my hair as the world blurs around me. No. This can’t be happening. I finally had everything I’ve ever wanted and it’s all gone in the blink of an eye. She’s gone.
“Kodi, drive his truck back,” Smith instructs and I turn to look at them, blinking. Smith’s truck is behind mine, doors wide open as Kodiak jogs over to me and picks my keys up off the ground. When the fuck did they get here? “Let’s get back to the clubhouse. Blaze already called Rodriguez.”
He tries to turn me in the direction of Smith’s truck but I turn away, looking up at the gas station before shaking him off and running up to the door. I jerk it open and the cashier’s head snaps up, eyes wide.
“There was a woman in here a while ago, blonde hair, gray eyes. She was driving that truck,” I say, pointing to my truck in the parking lot. He nods.
“What about her?”
“Where the fuck did she go?” I scream, slamming my fist on the counter as my breath punches out of me and my hand shakes.
“I don’t know, dude.”
My eyes narrow and I jump over the counter without thinking, grabbing the little punk by his shirt and shoving him back against a wall. He trembles under my grip and holds his hands up.
“She was taken from your parking lot, so I know you saw something. Tell me what happened,” I whisper, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of my face.
The cashier shakes his head, whimpering, and the sweet smell of weed hits my nose. “I swear, I didn’t see anything. I was in the back, smoking a joint.”
“Chance!” Smith yells from behind me and I glare at him over my shoulder before releasing the cashier and jumping over the counter. I storm out of the gas station and stop. My truck and bike are already gone and I scream, balling my fists as I kick the trash can next to the door.
“Get your shit together, brother,” Smith growls as he steps up next to me. “Your woman needs you.”
His words stop me in my tracks and I blink before walking over to Smith’s truck, feeling numb. She needs me. Carly needs me and I’m over here losing my goddamn mind. The panic is all consuming, eating up every available space in my brain until it’s all I can focus on, except for one single thought that manages to break free.
I have to find her.
It plays on repeat, again and again, as I try to get a grip on my fear. Smith is right. Carly needs me right now and I’m fucking useless like this. As he pulls out of the lot and turns back toward the clubhouse, I rest my elbows on my knees and cover my face with my hands. Replaying the day in my head, my throat constricts. Why did I leave her this morning? Someone else could have gone with Smith if I had asked so why didn’t I?
“Chance!” Blaze yells and my head jerks up as I realize that the truck has stopped. He snaps his fingers in my face and I turn to him. “Rodriguez is on his way.”
I nod, releasing a breath as some of the fear abates. Okay, this is good. Between Rodriguez and the club, we will figure this out and get Carly home safe. Climbing out of the truck, I rub my hand over my face as I walk back into the clubhouse and stop. Smith, Kodiak, and Moose are all huddled in a circle, whispering and my heart hammers. Kodiak turns to look at me, revealing Ivy with tears running down her face.
“What is it?” I ask, my voice scratchy and barely audible.
“Chance,” Kodiak starts, his gaze cutting to Moose and my jaw clenches.
“What is it?!” I yell again and Smith steps forward, handing me an envelope with my name on it. “Where did you get this?”
“It was taped to the front door when we got back,” Smith whispers and my brow furrows as I tear into it. As I scan the words on the page, my fucking heart stops.
I have your girl.
You get her back
when mine is home
where she belongs.
J.H.
Chapter Thirty-One
Carly
My mouth is painfully dry as I peel my eyes open, squinting at the harsh light above me. My shoulders scream with a searing pain and tingles shoot down my arms and into my hands. Where am I? I try to turn but my body stays rooted to the spot and I look up, fear spiking my heart. My hands are tied above my head, strung up in the air with a thick rope. It’s thrown over a bar before disappearing behind me and my legs are tied to the legs of the wooden chair I’m seated in. It squeaks as I wiggle and I start to tremble as my head pounds. This is all too familiar. The dry mouth and pounding head remind me of that night, or more specifically, the morning after when I woke up in my bed, covered in bruises.
No.
This can’t be happening again.
“Look who finally decided to rejoin the land of the living,” a familiar voice says and I gulp in air as I scan the room, searching the concrete walls for the source of the voice. The damp, stagnant air stings my nose and my stomach rolls as my heart thunders in my ears. “Those drugs knocked you out longer than I thought they would. I’ve been getting impatient over here.”
“What the fuck do you want?”
The voice laughs, a truly evil sound that sends goose bumps racing across my flesh, and Julian steps out of the shadows. The mask is gone; showing the monster I always knew was underneath. “Oh, I think you know what I want, Carly.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I shake my head as a bead of sweat rolls down the side of my face and the hair on my arms stands on end. When I open my eyes again, I pray this will all just be a bad dream. I’ll be at the clubhouse with Chance, safe in his arms, and not trapped in this hell with a demon I know all too well. But my prayers go answered. I open my eyes and Julian smiles at me. I bite my tongue to hold the cry that desperately wants to break free.
This can’t be happening.
“What are you going to do? Hold me hostage until she comes back to you?” I ask. He nods, wagging his finger at me.
