by Lake, Rae B.
"What do you want? Leave me alone." Her voice trembles, and she looks more scared than before. Something must have happened.
“It's me, Storm," I announce like it's supposed to mean something to her. Like she is supposed to like one of her captors more than the other.
"I know. Are you going to do the same thing he does?" She whispers.
"Who? What are you talking about?" I ask, hoping she isn't about to say what I think she is.
"Your brother came down here a few hours ago, and he was talking crazy. He knows my father isn't going to give up that easy, and he needs to find something more to sweeten the pot. He pulled the covers off me and cut my bra and panties off. He said I was too sweet to be covered up like that and acted like he was going to fuck me, but he just jerked off and left. I thought maybe you were coming down here to finish the job." She tries to keep her head up, but I can see she’s scared, and she should be. She is tied to a table, held hostage by someone who is becoming more unstable as the minutes pass.
"No, that isn't my deal at all. It wasn't his either. I've never known my brother to force himself on a woman." I heave out a heavy sigh and back up so I'm not so close to her, giving her the space she needs to feel safer. The last thing I want is Duo to be scared I'm going to touch her inappropriately.
"What happened to your face?" She asks.
"He just killed him." I shake my head, replaying what happened in the back of the property in my mind.
"He killed who?" Her eyebrows furrow and she tightens the sheet around her chest.
"There was a man, homeless I'm sure, who wandered over here. He was in the back looking for food just as I had earlier. I'm sure this wasn't the first time he has been here, as he knew where to go. Of course, Vale thought it was someone here for you, but instead of confirming why he was here, he shot him in the leg. Once we figured out he wasn't a threat, I picked him up so we could get him to the hospital, but Vale shot him in the head while he was in my arms. He killed him as if he didn't have a care in the fucking world. He could have shot me and killed me right then, and you’d have thought he was just strolling down a beach. He was so calm. I don't understand it." I get everything off my chest, and even though she didn't ask to hear all my shit, I can see on her face she’s paying attention to what I've said.
"How can you not see what’s going on here, Storm? Your brother is using you."
I shake my head because there’s no way he’s using me. I've been here with him every step of the way. He is just going about things a bit differently than I would have. "No, he's not."
"Yes, the fuck he is. Tell me. Did you know he was going to come for me?"
"No," I answer truthfully.
"Did you know he was planning on attacking the Juric crime family?"
"No." Shaking my head, I walk to the other side of the room.
"Did you even know he set up this place? Everything in here has been planned long before we got here. Did you know any of this was going on?"
"No, I had no idea about any of it."
"Then, as I said before, the man is using you. You’re following your brother because you are loyal to him, but he’s only letting you tag along, so when shit goes bad, someone’s there to take the blame. I promise you if he has to shoot you to get away, he will. You’re just another pawn in his game.”
I don't want to believe what Duo’s saying. Vale would never do that to me. We may be twins, but he has always been the more mature of us. When we decided we were going to get heavy into the biker life, Vale was the one to suggest we join a motorcycle club. When our bullshit parents decided they were going to run around the world and leave us to fend for ourselves, he convinced the manager in the supermarket to let us get bag boy jobs to have money to buy food. For fucks sake, it was Vale who taught me how to ride a fucking bike. There was no way my brother was using me. I could see he was a little forceful with what he thought would be the best thing for us, but he’d never intentionally hurt me.
"Bullshit. I know he’s a bit off-kilter right now, but you don't know my brother as I do. He would never do that shit to me."
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Storm, but you don't know your brother like you think you do."
I shoot her one more look over my shoulder before I walk out the door and back to my room. There are a lot of things people can tell me about Vale, I’d believe, but him thinking about sacrificing me isn’t one of them.
The meet between Duo's father and Vale is set to happen in a few days, but instead of things getting less tense like I thought they would, everything seems to worsen. Vale is a paranoid fuck most of the time. He spends most of the nights walking back and forth by the windows, trying to ensure no one is making their way onto the property. He looks like a big cat you see in the zoo, just pacing back and forth, waiting for the second he can attack.
"What’s the plan for when he gets here? Are we just going to hand her over? What the hell does a deal with the Croatian mafia look like?" I stand at the doorway and pump Vale for information. Fortunately, since the homeless man, we haven't had to kill anyone else. At least no one I know about.
"Yes. As long as they agree to the deal." His voice doesn't sound very confident. Is he having second thoughts? I like second thoughts. If he’s going to back out of this shit, maybe now would be the time for him to do it.
"You don't think they will take the deal?" I ask.
"I don't know. I thought for sure they’d be trying to locate her, but have you seen anyone? I haven't seen one fucking assassin. Not one gang banger, nothing. It's like they don't even care. If she isn't as important as I thought, there’s a chance they’d rather us get rid of her than give us asylum. It doesn't make sense. I know of her father. He might not be in her life, but he is proud of his seed." Vale tilts his neck from side to side, cracking it in the process, trying to release some of the tension.
"So what the fuck are we going to do now? If she isn't going to be the ticket to freedom like you said, why the hell do we still have her here? We should just let her go and get the fuck back on the road. Maybe they won't come looking for us. There is a chance." If I were a begging man, I’d get down on my knees right now and beg for him to let this shit go.
"Fuck that. If she isn't as important as I thought she was, then we just have to make her more important. We need to keep her a little longer and lie to them. I got a plan, Storm." He looks at me, and a slight smirk raises the intact portion of his face.
"What the hell do you mean by that? You want us to lie about what?" I couldn't see how that would get us anything. They’d soon figure out that we were lying and kill us anyway.
"No, we wouldn't be lying, at least not the whole time. They would see for themselves. The only problem is that would take a little longer than we planned."
I shake my head, still confused about how he expects us to convince Liam and the rest of the Juric crime family they should hold off on killing us. "Wait, say what? How do you suggest we make her more important?" I don't understand how we could change someone's worth. If they didn't care enough about her before, what would holding her longer do to make them want her more.
"We’d need to knock her up. They won't want anything to happen to the kid." Vale puts his hand to his chin like he is really thinking about this.
My jaw drops, and I stare at him for a second. He can't be serious. Does he think we can just keep her here and rape her until she’s pregnant? What the fuck? Does Vale want to shove his dirty cock inside my Duo? I want to shove my hand through his chest. "Vale, what in the fuck are you thinking right now? You think she’s suddenly going to agree to have sex with us. That shit is probably one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard."
The smirk drops from his face, and he glares at me. A small twinge of fear seizes the base of my spine, but I shake that shit right the hell out. I'm not scared of my brother, no matter what he looks like or says. That shit would never fucking happen.
"Who said anything about letting us? Sometimes you just ha
ve to take things by force. Soon enough, she’ll start to like it. I bet we make her come more than she's ever come in her life."
"Get the fuck away from me." I take a step back from him. He disgusts me. This man, who I was once proud to call my twin, is talking about raping a woman like it’s as normal as asking someone out on a fucking date. The pussy piece of shit.
"Oh, don't act like you wouldn't be into letting that sweet thing jump on your cock. I see how you've been looking at her." Vale jokes, and the more he speaks, the more I want to just punch him right in the face. I can't believe he’s even thinking about this.
"Get the fuck away from me," I growl.
The semi smile he wore on his face drops off, and he takes a step closer. "Or what? You going to fuck me up? You going to cross me for some gash?" He shakes his head, "I don't think so, brother. Remember this if you decide you want to be a fucking hero, you’ve been with me every step of the fucking way. There is nowhere you can go where they won't find you. Not only will you have them after you, but I still have quite a few contacts who owe me a favor as well. You think what's happening now is bad? You have no idea the kind of hell I can have raining down on you. Don't make any bad decisions, brother. I love you." He bumps by me and walks back to the main area to look out the window.
I can't deal with this shit. I don't want to go against my brother, but at the same time, I don't want to be the asshole he’s making me out to be. The worse thing is I know what Duo is going to say downstairs, and no matter how much I don't want to believe her, the alarms are blaring in my fucking head. I could try and walk away on my own and see if he follows through on all the fucking threats he has issued, but that would leave Duo alone with him. With Vale, the guy who said he doesn't mind raping her to get what he wants. I can't do that either. What the fuck do I do?
I move into one of the far rooms and try to calm my emotions. I'm sure everything will work out. It has to work out. There is no other way.
I sit with my thoughts and guilt for what seems like an eternity, though it's only a matter of seconds.
"Motherfucker!" I roar, lifting the bed and flipping it on its side before picking it up and swinging it at the fucking walls. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I scream, destroying as much shit as I can. This isn't going to work out, I know it's not, and the longer I try to convince myself otherwise, the deeper into the shit we get. Huge chunks of the weathered wall start to come down, and the bed bends and breaks from the force of me swinging it around like a goddamn sledgehammer. Once I exhaust myself, I fall to the ground and just let my head fall into my hands. I don't know what to do.
Usually, I would talk to my brothers for advice, but that isn't something I can do now. Right?
I catch my breath and take the phone out of my pocket. I stare at the small device for a long time before dialing the number to the clubhouse. This is my last resort. If I don't get some answers from this call, I don't know what the hell I will do.
The phone rings a few times, and someone answers, "Wings."
It's a voice I don't recognize. I was hoping it was Wire or someone else, but I'm glad it's someone who might not know me off the bat. Someone I can speak with who won't immediately want to come and kill me. Would there be anyone there who may still have a little love in his heart for me?
Mack.
My cousin. I could only hope he wouldn't be so pissed at us he’d want to kill us on the spot. We’d been through a shit life together and were once really fucking close. Maybe there is a chance with him.
"Yeah, let me talk to Mack." I bark, trying to make my voice gruffer than usual. Just because I don't recognize the person on the other end of the phone doesn't mean they wouldn't recognize mine.
"Mack?" The person asked like they were confused about my request. It made sense that they would be. Mack doesn’t speak very well. You often need to watch his body language and gestures to understand what he’s saying. So him talking on the phone is something that doesn't happen very often.
"Yeah, Mack," I say again.
"Ok, if you say so." The person puts the phone down. Hopefully, it’s to get Mack to pick up the phone.
After a few seconds, I'm about ready to hang up the phone myself. Doubt is creeping in, making me second guess my rash decision.
"Yeah?" Mack's voice comes through on the phone. I open my mouth to respond, but I don't know what to say. What can I say to make sure he doesn't freak out when he hears my voice? I’ve spent so long evading them that just calling them up now seems counterproductive.
I take comfort in knowing I’m on a burner phone, and they won't be able to trace me. They could try and coerce me into coming home, but they don't know where I am. That’s the positive I can come up with right now.
"Mack, look, don't freak out, ok. Just stay calm.” I speak slowly, hoping he does what I ask and doesn't same my name out loud, alerting anyone around him. If Wire knows he’s talking to me, I'm sure he’ll take the phone and take over the conversation.
"Oh, ship." He whispers.
Oh shit. Mack meant to say, oh shit. This could be harder than I thought it was going to be.
"Mack, don’t snitch, not yet. I need you to be my family right now. I know shit is bad, but I'm fucking stuck right now. I got no way out." I try to listen to the background noise to make sure I still hear people going on with their conversations. If it goes quiet, I know they’re paying attention to Mack and may know I’m on the phone.
"Yeah, real fucking bad," he says.
He is probably the only other person who would feel something close to what I feel when it comes to Vale. He could be in the same situation. "Would you just let them kill Maven, no matter what she's done? Would you let them sit her in front of you and kill her?"
I can hear him growl through the phone. Maven is my other cousin and Mack's twin sister. They are thick as fucking thieves, and I know he would feel the same way I did when my brothers wanted to kill Vale. I couldn't fucking do it. I can't just let them take my brother’s life in front of me and not do anything.
"No. Never." He answers.
"I had to get him out, Mack. There was no other option." I sigh and am grateful he can't say much. He’d be screaming his fucking head off if he could.
"Let him goat. Too deep."
I try to decipher what he said. Let him goat? "Let him go?" I ask to verify.
"Yes. He's not who you think he is."
"I'm starting to see that, Mack, believe me, I am. The problem is still the same, though. He is still my brother, and even though he is as fucked up as a goddamn bedbug right now, I still can't let go."
"You're going to dig then."
I'm going to die.
I close my eyes, listening to what Mack is saying. If I stay on this path, Vale is going to get me killed. "There is no hope then. No hope at home?" I’m sitting on the ground now, my head down and the phone pressed tightly to my ear. Even I can hear the pain in my voice. To save one brother, I gave up all the others.
"For you. Yes. For him. No." He is very clear about that.
"I don't know if I'll be able to make it. There’s a situation brewing down here I don't think I can get out of. Vale got us deep into some shit."
"We know. People frog here on the case."
People frog here? I rack my head, trying to figure that line out. Fuck, is he saying people from home are on the way down here? The news has already spread about what Vale has done?
"Shoot on sign. No questions asked." He continues to speak, but his voice is getting lower. Mack is trying to hide who he’s talking to, but the things we are talking about give it away to anyone listening.
"Shoot on sight. Vale said he has things in place. The girl was right; we will never fucking make it." I lean my head back and let it slam against the hard wall behind me.
"No, him. Only you."
Now I was completely confused. Why the fuck would the hit be only for me? And why the fuck wouldn't Vale tell me that shit? I need way more fucking information now, and I kno
w he isn't going to be able to give it to me.
"What does that mean. I'm sorry, Mack. Who else is there who can talk to me without wanting to kill me? Who can I trust right now?" This was a bad fucking idea. I’d abandoned my kutte and have been on the run from them for fucking months. There is no one there besides Mack I can trust.
"Talk to Ink?" Mack asks.
"No way, man, he wants me dead." I shake my head. I know there’s no way for him to find me through the burner phone, but if there’s anyone who could reach through a fucking phone and squeeze the life out of me, it would be him. I'm not easily intimidated, but Ink is a scary motherfucker.
"No, Vale dead. You stopping hit from that." Mack says, and he exhales hard. He’s getting frustrated.
"What the fuck, man? Who are you talking to?"
I hear someone in the background, and the background noise starts to dim. They're focused on Mack now. He said Vale's name. They’re going to know I’m on the phone, and I expect Wire on the phone any second.
"Prez?" I ask, hoping he’s there for me to speak with. He had abandoned his patch, too. Prez would know what the fuck I'm feeling right now.
"Man, no. You missed a log." Mack's voice was soft.
My heart begins to race in my chest now, not just from the situation I’m in, but Mack said I missed a lot. What the fuck did I miss that I couldn't talk to Alex? What happened to my family while I was off traipsing around the fucking globe trying to save my brother?
"Talk to Ink."
The line gets quiet, and so does everything around him. At first, it sounds like Mack is covering the phone, but then I realize everyone’s quiet.
"Ink, fob." He says.
"Who is it? You don't have that ‘I won a million dollars’ look on your face. Bad news?" I hear him ask before taking the phone.
I guess it would make sense he thinks it's bad news. People don't usually call a motorcycle club to talk about the kids and shit.
"A little. Just be calm ok." Mack says, and I hear the phone shuffle hands.
