by Amy Cecil
"Well shit, Emma, I didn't think of any of that," Hawk replies. Shaking his head, he says, "You shame me. I should've thought this through more thoroughly."
"Well, you did have other things on your mind, like a blown-up clubhouse," she states sarcastically and then adds, "I think we should look for him first before we pronounce him dead. And I know where you can start."
We both look at her, surprised by her declaration. "How could you possibly know that?" Hawk asks.
"Because I have a pretty good idea where I was being held."
"So you know where Grayson was keeping you?" he asks hopefully. And for the first time since the explosion, I am hopeful as well.
"I don't know the exact address, but I have a good idea. I bet if we retraced my steps, I could find it again," Emma says encouragingly.
"What do you mean retrace your steps?" he asks.
"When Mark released me, he basically just kicked me out. I didn't have a car, and I had no idea where I was. So I started walking until I came across a gas station and used their phone to call a cab."
Looking hopeful, he says, "Look, Emma, I realize that you have been through a horrific ordeal, but you could really help us out a lot if you and I sit down somewhere and you tell me everything that has transpired over the last 48 hours."
She nods. "Yes, I will do what I can to help you."
"Thank you. I'm sure this will be difficult for you, but any information you can provide would help a lot." He pauses for a moment and then adds, "Why don't we get out of here? We'll go grab a cup of coffee and we can talk. I've been working on a new location for the club, but it will be weeks until it is ready. I've secured the vacant space above Betty's Dinor until we have something permanent. We can talk there."
"Ok, that sounds nice."
He turns back toward me. "Why don't you join us? I think having you there will help Emma." I glance over at Emma to make sure that she is good with that and she nods.
Hawk and I follow Emma on his bike. I love riding with him. He is so strong, and I feel safe when I wrap my arms around his waist. After all that's happened, I need a sense of security and Hawk definitely provides that.
Chapter 10
We get to the diner and take a seat in a booth in the back. The waitress comes to take our order and we all order coffee. Once she leaves, Hawk turns toward Emma and says, "Why don't you start from the beginning?"
"Ok, let me think for a minute." Emma takes a deep breath and then continues, "Rebel and I had just gotten back from the grocery store. No, wait—I need to go back a little further. At the grocery store, there was a man there with a devil tattoo on the back of his neck that seemed to be hovering around me. I actually bumped into him, and when Rebel came up and asked me what was wrong, the man was gone. I told Rebel about it, and when we left we saw a Harley in the parking lot. He asked me to watch the bike as we left to make sure it stayed parked. It did. When we got back to the house, we started to unload groceries."
Hawk interrupts her and asks, "Did anything look out of the ordinary when you got back to the house?"
"No, nothing that I noticed."
Looking disappointed, he says, "Ok, go on."
"So, Rebel was going into the house as I was coming out. I got to the car and started to grab a couple of bags, then everything went dark. The next thing I remember is being in a dark room, tied to a bed." She stops and I can see that she is getting uncomfortable. Grayson must have done a number on her for her to hesitate like this.
Hawk senses it too and reaches for her arm. Laying his hand on her arm, he says, "Emma, I can only imagine what you have experienced during this ordeal. But, sweetheart, I really need to know everything. If we are ever going to find out what's happened to Ice, you need to tell me everything."
She nods and continues. "As I said, I woke up in a very dark room, naked and tied to a bed. Mark was there, and for the longest time, he would not speak to me. He only laughed. His laugh sounded as if it came from Satan himself. It terrified me, and I don't think I will ever forget it. I was really scared and the only thing that kept me sane was the hope that Caden or the club would find me. But nobody ever came."
"Emma, did Mark rape you?" Hawk asks the question that I wanted to ask her but couldn't.
Oh God, please say no.
She shakes her head. "No, he didn't. He tried, but when I refused to fight back it made him angry. So angry that he stopped and left the room."
"Oh thank God!" The words come out of my mouth before I can think. I am so relieved that he didn't, for her sake as well as for Ice's—if he is still alive.
"I'm thankful that he didn't rape you. You're gonna have enough scars from this ordeal to handle, you don't need any more on your plate," Hawk says. He then adds, "I assume the bruises on your face are from him?"
"Yes, he hit me in the face several times. I tried very hard to remain coherent, but it was difficult. I believe over the course of the time that I was there, which I am guessing was a little over 24 hours, that I went in and out of consciousness several times."
"Did he give you any reasons as to why he was doing this?"
"Yes," she replies. "He was very calculated in his reason, mentioning that he had Brianne worked over because she was threatening to tell me everything about him. He never went into details as to what that was, so I don't know what he didn't want me to know, but that he wanted to teach her a lesson." She stops as if she is trying to remember, then adds, "He also said that when I ran to Caden for help it only moved his plan along faster. When I asked him what plan, he said that he wanted to take back from Caden all that Caden took from him. None of that made any sense to me. I didn't have any clue what he was talking about—for all I knew, they had never met. I'm afraid that this was all my fault."
"Did he say anything else?" Hawk asks.
"He said that he was going to break me; that he was going to use me over and over again and then send me back to Caden and the club that rejected him. I didn't get the impression from him that he'd had Brianne killed, so I think she is still alive. If this is all my fault, Hawk, I'm so sorry."
Hawk asks, "Do you know what it was that he was trying to hide from you?"
Emma shakes her head and says, "No, I have no idea. He never said any more about it and when I asked he would just tell me to shut up."
Hawk then asks, "Can you remember anything else?"
"Yes, he said that he knew about my relationship with Caden longer than he had known me. I really didn't think about it much then, but looking back now, I find that very odd. Caden and I grew up together. How would Mark know anything about my childhood?"
"Not so odd, Emma. Based on what you have said, I think there is more to this than just a jealous boyfriend who lost his girl to the big bad biker. I believe there is a past connection between Ice and Mark that we don't know about. It could be the driving force for all of this. You and Brianne just got caught in the middle. So, please, stop blaming yourself. I believe we'll find out more once we get to where you were being held." He pauses briefly then adds, "Anything else?"
"He showed me a video that was recorded the other night."
"A video?" he asks.
"Yes, it was a video of a party at your clubhouse. Caden was with another woman. Mark said that he wanted me to see what kind of man I was involved with." She looks at me warily and adds, "I think it may have been you dressed up as me, but Mark never said anything to that effect. He just wanted me to think that Caden was cheating on me."
Suddenly I feel bad. She was never supposed to find out about that and I know it will break Ice's heart to know that she has. "It was me, but I was just a decoy, Emma. The club wanted the Satans to think that you were at the clubhouse. They didn't want them to know that Ice had sent you away. I promise, nothing happened."
"I know, Honey, but thanks for saying it. At first, I felt that Caden had abandoned me. I felt that I had nothing left and that if I got out alive, I still would have nothing ‘cause I had lost Cade to another wo
man. I was praying that Mark would just get it over with, ‘cause at that point, I was sure he was going to rape me and then kill me. I had given up. I think that is what saved me. I went completely still; I was lifeless and had stopped crying. I had no more fight in me. When I just laid there, silent, not even crying anymore, that's when Mark got angry and stormed out of the room. He left that video on and I watched it over and over. After viewing it several times, I realized that it was you with Caden." She glances over at me and shrugs. "Eventually I fell asleep or lost consciousness, I am not really sure which. When I came to, I heard talking out in the hallway, but the only voice I heard was Mark's. I realized he was talking to himself, but not just in the normal way people talk to themselves. No, Mark was actually arguing with himself. It was very creepy and I had never seen him do that before. He stormed into the room, still talking. He untied me and threw my clothes at me. He ordered me to get dressed and get out."
"That's it?" I ask, shocked that he would just let her go.
"Yeah, he basically just threw me out. That's why I had to find my way back home."
"So that is how you know where he kept you. Can you take us there?" Hawk says.
Emma nods. "Sure, I can try. I walked for several blocks until I found a gas station and called a cab from there. The clerk at the gas station gave me the address for the cab company. Wait, I think I still have it." She rummages through her purse and pulls out a slip of paper. "Here it is! The lady at the gas station gave me money for a cab to get home. I saved the address so that I could go back and repay her."
I do not understand this girl. Who does that?
"Wattsburg? What in the hell was he doing there?" Hawk is surprised—me too, for that matter. Wattsburg is a ways away from here. Why would he go so far?
She shakes her head. "I don't know. I remember when I left I looked back at the place that held so much horror for me and couldn't believe that it was a quaint little house in a residential neighborhood. It was kinda eerie, knowing what lived behind that door."
"Emma, are you up to going back to Wattsburg?"
"Absolutely!"
Emma and I follow Hawk back to his house, where he leaves his bike. Emma lets him drive the car and within forty-five minutes we’re pulling into the parking lot of the gas station Emma spoke of. Hawk asks, "Do you remember how you got here?"
She gets out of the car and looks down all the possible streets we could go down and then she yells excitedly, "There! I came from that direction."
"Ok, let's go," Hawk says.
"Wait, let me do something first. I'll be real quick." She runs into the gas station.
"What in the hell is she doing?" Hawk asks.
I giggle in disbelief and say, "She's paying the clerk back."
"Damn woman," he replies shaking his head. Suddenly, I see Emma in a new light. After all the trauma that she has been through the last few days, Ice missing and having to go back and face the house that she was held captive in, she still makes a point to pay back the store clerk who helped her get home. I have to say, I'm impressed.
A few minutes later, she comes back out with the biggest smile on her face. Go figure. She gets in the car and proceeds to give Hawk directions. She's cautious and hesitant, making sure that she is leading us the right way. After we’ve travelled for several minutes, she says, "Drive slower, Hawk. We're almost there." Hawk slows down as instructed. Then Emma says, "That's the one. Right there, on the left. The one with the front porch and rocking chairs."
Hawk drives past it to the next block and parks the car. As he gets out of the car, he turns to us and says, "You both stay here for now until I check things out. I mean it, ladies! I don't need to be worrying about either of you right now. Stay put!" He reaches into his cut and pulls out a gun, turns the safety off, and cocks it. He turns and walks toward the house.
After Hawk leaves, Emma turns to me and says, "This is driving me crazy. How in the hell does he expect us to just wait here?"
"I know, I agree, but he's right, he doesn't need to be worrying about us too. Let's let him do what he needs to do and he'll come back for us."
I can tell she's not pleased, but she will have to get over it. Hawk is right, he doesn't need to worry about us. So we just sat there in an agonizing and awkward silence.
About fifteen minutes later, Hawk returns. He gets in and says, "I don't think anyone is there. I'm gonna call the boys for backup. We're going to go in." He calls Ryder to request backup and then turns to us and says, "You ladies coming?"
Neither of us hesitates and we jump out of the car. We walk back down the block to the house. When we get there, Hawk walks up on to the porch and rings the bell. He waits and when nobody answers he tries the door. It’s locked. He goes around to the side and tries the side door. Surprisingly, it swings open. He turns back toward us and says, "Wait here." Hesitantly, he walks into the house, gun cocked and ready. He's gone for about five minutes and then comes back and says, "Come on."
We walk up the side porch steps and walk in the house. As soon as we get inside I can see that Emma isn't doing so well. She's nervous and on edge, understandably so. We continue through the mudroom and enter the kitchen. There is nothing unusual about the kitchen. Leaving the kitchen, we get to a long hallway with several closed doors. I shudder to think what is beyond those doors and suddenly I'm fearful of what we might find. I really don't think my heart will be able to take it if we find Ice in one of those rooms, dead. The first door reveals a small bathroom. Hawk opens the second door and we find that is a bedroom. Clothes are still hanging in the closet, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Hawk began to go through Mark's things on the dresser, opening dresser drawers and scoping out his closet.
On the other side of the hall, there are three closed doors. Hawk opens the first one and we see that it is an office, with several file cabinets and a desk. On the desk is a laptop. "I think we might find something here that will help us. When the boys get here, I will have Dbag check out the computer and the files," Hawk says as he leaves the room.
He then opens the next door and the stench is unbelievable. This has to be where he kept Emma. It is very dark and creepy. The walls are painted black, and with black curtains are drawn over the windows. There is a bed in the center of the room with ropes and chains attached all around it. Hanging on the wall are various whips, canes, and belts.
This fucker is crazy! I think to myself. How the hell Emma could get mixed up with a psycho like this is beyond me. I wonder if she knew about all this or if this is a surprise to her. By the horrified expression on her face, I'm guessing she had no clue.
I've never been one to have a filter and before I can stop myself I say, "Holy fuck, Emma! Is this the room that he held you in?"
Quietly, she replies, "Yes, I believe it is."
I can't help it. At that moment I feel so bad for her, I walk right over to her and hug her. "I'm so sorry."
"It's over now. We need to concentrate on finding Caden."
"What is that God-awful smell?" Hawk asks.
"Hell if I know," I reply, "but it smells like piss."
"I need to get out of this room. I'll have the boys go through shit in here when they get here," Hawk says and rushes from the room, Emma and I close behind him.
Hawk approaches the last door and opens it. From what I can see, it opens to a stairway that leads to the basement. "What the fuck!" Hawk yells.
I don't know what's wrong until the odor coming from below hits me. Oh my God! It is so bad that it overpowers the lingering smell from the last room. Hawk closes the door and walks into the kitchen. He comes back a few seconds later with three towels. He hands them to us, then opens the door again and we proceed down the stairs.
When we get to the bottom, Hawk flips the light switch. We all stand there in horror. What we see before us is more blood and gore than I can imagine from the worst murder scene. It looks like something out of the movie Frankenstein. There is a table in the middle o
f the room with all types of surgical instruments scattered on it, every one of them covered in blood. A stream of blood flows to the edge of the table and drips down to a puddle below. Whatever happened here was recent. The blood is not completely dried.
In the back, a body hangs from a hook on the rafters. It's dark and shadowed so I can't make out who it is. Dear God, please don't let that be Ice, I silently plead. Hawk approaches the body, looks at it and then asks Emma to come closer. She slowly walks over to him and I know she is thinking the same thing I am. When she gets up close, Hawk asks, "Is this Mark Grayson?"
"Yes." Simultaneously, we both breathe a sigh of relief.
Hawk shakes his head in disbelief, glances back to us and says, "Ice is back."
"Hawk, no, please say that Ice didn't do this," Emma pleads.
I've heard the stories, I've heard that he can be ruthless, but can he be so twisted as to do this to another human being? I’ve known Ice for a few years now and now that I think about it, I could see him doing this—especially if he is protecting someone he loves. And he loves Emma.
"It's his signature work. Grayson has been tortured, and flames have been carved into his chest. Ice did this, I'm sure of it," Hawk confirms.
"Fuck!" I reply.
Frantic, Emma asks, "What's going on? He's alive! Why aren't you both happy about this? Mark is dead and Cade is alive!" She pauses, waiting for us to say something, and when we don't she continues, "What's going on, you two? What aren't you telling me?"
"Emma, let's go back upstairs away from this mess and wait for the boys. Then I'll try to explain," Hawk replies.
We go back upstairs and sit down at the kitchen table. Hawk starts, "Emma, there are things about Ice that you don't know. I don't believe he is the same person that you grew up with." He hesitates for a moment, then continues, "Things have happened in his past that I believe have changed him."
"Hawk, I don't mean to be rude, but I know he's changed. I know he is not the boy that I knew as a child. But really, what does all that have to do with the dead psychopath in the basement?"
