Griffin nodded. He squeezed her hand a bit tighter as he spoke. “Just waiting for the actual license and social security card to arrive. Everything is in place, and I’ll be surprised if anyone can figure out she hasn’t been Ella Sanders since the day she was born.”
“Moving her now probably isn’t the best idea,” Vlad said next. He let out a sigh, and his gaze flicked from Griffin to Rachel. “No doubt Gabriel will be keeping an eye on the bus stations and airports, as well as eyes on here. It’ll be hard to get her out of town that way without him following right behind. Only way to get out would be to get her a flight out of the country, somewhere he wouldn’t be able to easily follow and track her down.”
“Which we can’t do because I can’t file for a passport until her license arrives.” Griffin let out a low string of curses. This time, Rachel squeezed his hand. Part of her agreed with Padre. Getting out of town was probably a good idea. But she didn’t want to leave Griffin yet. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be ready for that, but she couldn’t say forever. “I could always drive her. Not like he’s going to be able to watch every car coming and going from the city, and unless he actually reports her as missing, he won’t be able to use the police to set up roadblocks.”
Everyone turned to look at Vlad. Even if Rachel hadn’t already known it, it would’ve been obvious Vlad was their leader. Everyone voice their opinions and gave suggestions, but it was he who made the final decisions. He let out a sigh, then shook his head, and Rachel’s heart stopped beating as she waited to hear what he had to say. “Like Padre said, we need to act as if Makenna told them everything, including that we’re the ones protecting her. Which means Gabriel might already be watching us, waiting for the right time to strike. If you take her out of town alone, he might decide that’s his best chance, when it’s just the two of you and none of us can back you up. No, it’s better to keep her close for now. Better for you to have the entire club at your back than to try to face whatever that son of a bitch has planned on your own.”
Griffin nodded, but the look on his face told Rachel he’d have been more than happy to take on Gabriel alone. She was glad he didn’t have to. Griffin didn’t know how cruel and cunning Gabriel could be. What Vlad had said was right. It was better if they had the entire club around, though she did feel a bit guilty for asking these men to protect her.
Rachel stopped dead as she realized. She’d never once asked them to. She hadn’t asked any of them to help her. Makenna had asked them to help her out of the hospital, but after that, they could’ve just let her loose. But they didn’t. They’d taken it upon themselves to keep her safe, to make sure Gabriel would never again be able to touch her.
Was that what it was like to have friends? To have a family? That was what you were supposed to do for people you loved, wasn’t it? You were supposed to protect them, watch over them. You were supposed to do whatever it took to take care of them. Even though her daughter wasn’t born yet, Rachel already knew she’d have done all of that and more for her.
“We’ll stay close by, then,” Griffin said. “Once we’ve got the license and social security card, I’ll apply for an expedited passport. I’ve already got bank accounts set up for her. I funneled a good bit of money out of Gabriel’s accounts into it, so once we’ve got the passport, she can disappear.”
“How much money?” Vlad asked. He narrowed his eyes at Griffin. Apparently, that hadn’t been part of the plan. At least, Griffin hadn’t filled Vlad in on that part.
Griffin shrugged. Despite Vlad eying him, he didn’t flinch. Rachel didn’t think she could’ve stood under that man’s gaze without buckling, but Griffin did. “Couple million. Took it in chunks out of his various accounts and fed it through more dummy corporations than you can count.” Griffin grinned, clearly proud of his work. And she guessed he should be, since she wouldn’t have even known how to get into Gabriel’s accounts, much less do anything else.
“That’s a lot of money.” Vlad’s voice was even, but there was a deadly edge to it. He definitely wasn’t amused at Griffin having gone behind his back to do this. “How long will it take for him to notice the money is gone? Once he figures it out, it’s just going to make him even angrier.”
“I doubt he ever will. I made sure not to take too much from any single account. Most of it came from accounts that had been dormant so long Gabriel probably didn’t even know how much was in them. Besides, it was only a drop in the bucket for him.”
And yet, it was still too much. Rachel didn’t want a dime of that man’s money, and she told Griffin that. Everyone stared at her, but she refused to look at anyone else. She kept her gaze firmly on the man next to him, trying to fight back the blush in her cheeks from all the attention focused on her.
Griffin sighed, then ran a hand through his short-cropped hair. “I know you don’t want it, but you need it. With that money, you can literally disappear. You won’t have to worry about working, about trying to pay for diapers or baby food or anything like that. Besides, Gabriel owed it to you. It’s a fraction of what you’d get in the divorce proceedings.”
Rachel still didn’t like taking money from Gabriel, but she didn’t argue. Griffin wasn’t wrong. After everything Gabriel had done, he should’ve been responsible for ensuring the baby had a viable future. The money would go a long way toward that. Even if she never spent a dime of it, the baby would have everything she needed. No matter what happened to her, she would be okay at least.
“I don’t know,” the guy called Sticks said. His frown was almost as big as Vlad’s. “Rich people tend to want to stay rich.”
Again, Griffin just shrugged. Whatever he’d done to get the money, he was pretty sure Gabriel wouldn’t find out. Rachel just hoped he was right.
19
Griffin
In the end, it was decided for Griffin to take Rachel back to his place, at least for the night. Everyone would be on standby just in case something happened. He couldn’t argue the logic against having everyone nearby. It did seem safer than risking getting jumped in the middle of nowhere outside of town. If that happened, none of the guys would’ve been able to get to him.
He wasn’t going to risk Rachel’s life like that. No, it was better to stay put and keep her close by. He drove around his apartment a few times, looking for any signs it was being watched, but he didn’t spot any. If Gabriel had already found them, there wasn’t any outward indication. All throughout the rest of the day, he was tense. Worse, Rachel was tense, too. He tried to relax for her sake, but it was difficult. Every time Hannah bumped into something, he jumped.
When the mail came, he was relieved to find Rachel’s documents in there. Then, the two of them went online and applied for her passport. It was sad to know they were getting closer and closer to her leaving. If it meant keeping her safe, though, Griffin was willing to suffer. Keeping Rachel safe was the only important thing.
“Let’s call it an early night,” Rachel suggested, and he agreed. Sitting around the apartment all night doing nothing wasn’t going to help either of them. Getting some sleep was their best bet. Rachel took his hand and pulled him off the couch, leading him down the hall. He expected her to lead him toward her room, since it’d become a habit for him to say goodnight to her in there. Instead, she pulled him into his own room.
When she started undressing him, his heart rate skyrocketed. His cock twitched, but somehow he managed to stay soft. Even once he was down to just his boxers and she was only wearing panties, he still hadn’t gotten hard. Nor did Rachel seem keen on instigating sex, which was just fine by him. There would be time for that later, he promised. Tonight wasn’t the night for it, not with both of them stressed and on edge.
Hannah flopped down in front of the door, and Rachel laid her head on Griffin’s chest. He smiled as she snuggled in. It’d been a while since he’d had a woman in his bed, and he couldn’t ever remember going to sleep with one without having sex with her first. Rachel was opening his eyes to a whole new world
it seemed, one he was perfectly happy with.
As tired as he was, sleep didn’t come. He just lay there, holding on to Rachel, in that limbo where he wasn’t quite awake but wasn’t asleep either. With how little sleep he’d gotten the night before, he should’ve drifted right off. But his brain wouldn’t shut down for the night, no matter how hard he tried.
When Hannah stood up, a low growl in her stomach, Griffin’s eyes flew open. Immediately, he was wide awake. Hannah must’ve heard him move since she turned her head toward him for a moment before looking back at the closed door, growling. He didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what she was telling him.
As quietly as he could, he nudged Rachel, waking her up. When her eyes fluttered open, he put a finger to his lips, telling her to keep quiet. Quickly and quietly, he slipped out of bed and retrieved their clothes, tossing Rachel hers. Hannah growled at the door the entire time, and Griffin carefully turned the lock. It wouldn’t keep anyone out for long, but it would at least slow them for a couple seconds.
“Out the window,” he whispered to Rachel. Her eyes widened until she turned and looked, seeing the fire escape out there. She nodded, then rushed over to slide it open while he went over to his nightstand. When he motioned for Hannah to follow Rachel, the ever-obedient dog went immediately. She was a giant ball of fluff, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t protective. Worst-case scenario, Griffin knew the dog would help keep Rachel safe.
As Rachel helped the large dog out the window and onto the fire escape, Griffin pressed his thumb to the little black box inside his nightstand. It let out a soft beep, then popped open, allowing him to pull his pistol out. He double-checked it was loaded, then headed toward the window himself. Footsteps echoed down the hall, getting closer and closer, as he stepped over the window frame. Just as he was out the window, his bedroom door flew open, someone having kicked it.
Griffin couldn’t make out any of the faces of the four people who rushed into his room, but he didn’t care. He fired off three shots in their direction, then bolted down the fire escape. He’d gone down two flights of stairs when gunshots echoed from above, bullets pinging against the sturdy metal. Griffin ducked and continued running down the metal stairs, glad he’d chosen an apartment that had the stairwell style fire escapes and not the ones with ladders.
Once he was on the ground, he risked a look back up at the window. Someone had stepped out onto the fire escape. A woman, it looked like. He squinted in the low light, trying to make out her face. It looked like Selena, but in the dark, he wasn’t positive. When the woman raised a gun, though, he stopped caring and immediately fired two shots at her, making her duck back against the wall.
That gave him the chance he needed. He bolted toward the front parking lot, catching up to Rachel and Hannah easily. It was a good thing he’d left his keys in his jeans pocket when he’d gotten home, he thought as he unlocked the SUV. He sprinted ahead and opened the rear door, motioning his girls inside, then slamming it shut before jumping into the driver’s seat and firing up the vehicle.
Griffin sped out of the parking lot, tires burning against the pavement. Another car followed him out, and he let out a string of curses. Of course they’d have left someone in the parking lot, just in case. Whoever had come after them weren’t amateurs, it seemed. It was going to take more than a couple guys in an SUV to catch them, though. He’d rebuilt this car himself from the ground up, and there wasn’t a stock SUV on the market that could catch it. He slid his phone out of his pocket and pressed the SOS app, knowing it would send an all-hands signal to everyone else in the club.
Each time he took a sharp turn around a corner, Rachel let out a squeak from the backseat. He glanced in the mirror at her, seeing her buckled in, her face ghostly white. She was terrified and not of Griffin’s driving. “Don’t worry, I’ll lose them,” he told her as he took another sharp turn. The car tailing them wasn’t giving up easily. Griffin could take the turns faster than them, but there weren’t many areas he could disappear.
Something pinged against the rear of the SUV, and Griffin looked up again. Someone was leaning out the passenger seat, shooting at them. Griffin barked out a laugh at the futility of it. Unless one of them pulled out a fifty cal, they weren’t going to be able to pierce the bulletproofing he’d installed. He’d built this thing to be a tank with the handling of a sports car. Vlad had not been amused when he’d showed up at the clubhouse and found the car stripped down to its frame, but Griffin hadn’t been dissuaded from his project.
Keeping busy was what he did best.
Griffin pushed his baby to its limits as he took turns at the last possible moment. Each turn he took put him further and further ahead of his follower. In the tight city streets, it wasn’t easy for them to keep up with him, not in the car they were driving and not without a professional driver. Whoever Gabriel had sent after them hadn’t expected Griff’s little toy.
Eventually, the SUV disappeared from his rearview mirror. He didn’t slow down. He kept speeding around the city, backtracking more than once, trying to spot anyone else who might’ve been following him. Only when he was sure no one else was on his tail did he head to the clubhouse.
Until they had an idea of who Gabriel had sent, that would be the best place to keep Rachel safe. He doubted anyone would be stupid enough to attack the clubhouse again, not after all the upgrades they’d made to the place. It’d drained the club’s resources considerably, but now that place was a fortress. Which meant he’d be able to keep Rachel safe there.
At least, he hoped he could.
20
Rachel
Rachel clung to Hannah in the backseat. At times, she buried her face in the dog’s fluffy fur as Griffin whipped them around corners. Rachel screamed as the first couple shots hit the car. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cried. She was so out of her element. She was used to going to brunch or helping with charity events. Being in a car chase with people shooting at them? That was not the turn she’d ever expected her life to take.
Somehow, leaving Gabriel had turned out to be more dangerous than staying with him. Sure, he’d never once shied away from hitting her, beating her until she was black and blue, but he’d always been careful to never do any lasting damage. Bruises could be hidden. Broken bones could be explained. If she turned up dead, though, that wouldn’t easily be swept under the rug. Now that she’d left him, he seemed to have taken the gloves off.
She figured this was his best bet to be rid of her. Have her killed, then pin the blame on Griffin and the others. Claim they’d kidnapped her, tried to ransom her, and when he didn’t give in to their horrible demands, they’d killed her. That kind of scheming was right up his alley. Then he’d be rid of her and have his hands sparkly clean.
There were only a few people at the clubhouse when they arrived. Rachel walked on shaky legs, Griffin staying on her left, Hannah on her right. Supported between the two, she managed to make it across the parking lot until Gabriel got the door unlocked. He entered a code on a digital keypad, then pressed his thumb to it. The little device beeped, then metal scraped on metal as the locks disengaged. All the times she’d been there before, the place had never been locked. Was it locked now because of how late it was or because of everything going on?
Vlad rushed over, helping Rachel in. “You two okay?” he asked, his eyes dark.
Griffin nodded and spoke, thankfully. She wasn’t sure she could even remember how to use her voice. “Yeah, we’re good. Fuckers broke into my apartment. Hannah gave us the heads up, and we bailed through the fire escape.”
“Old Maggie has some coffee going for everyone,” Vlad said once Griffin gave him the complete rundown. There was a dark anger in his eyes, unlike anything Rachel had ever seen before. The look made her want to hide behind Griffin, but she managed to steel herself. Hannah brushed against her legs, and Rachel leaned down to pet the dog, thankful for her constant companionship.
The rest of the club filled in over the next hour.
The woman they called Old Maggie, along with the other girls of the club, sat with Rachel in the little kitchen area of the clubhouse. She wanted Griffin there by her side, but she knew he was busy filling everyone in on what had happened. The girls kept her occupied, talking about all sorts of things to keep her mind busy.
Without them, Rachel wasn’t sure what she’d have done. They were the only things keeping her sane, and she was ever thankful for their presence. She just wasn’t sure how much more of this she could handle.
21
Griffin
“Son of a bitch,” Griffin growled as he stared at the computer screen. His hands were balled into fists, and he fought back the urge to punch the machine. He managed to contain his temper, barely. He took deep breaths as all the puzzle pieces slowly started to fall into place. Now he knew how Gabriel had found Rachel so easily.
“What’s up, Shakespeare?” Vlad asked. When Griffin whirled around in his chair, he saw the rest of the club watching him apprehensively. Apparently, Vlad had been the only one brave enough to interrupt Griffin’s thoughts.
He bit back the retort he nearly launched at Vlad, then let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. He still wanted to hit something, but it was better to save his anger for someone that deserved it. Like Gabriel. “It was the fucking Jokers that busted into my place.” He turned back to his computer, pressed a few keys, and the security footage from his apartment filled the largest screen in the room. Everyone had crowded into his little office, and they could all clearly make out the Joker logos on the back of their vests. “And Selena Nuñez? The woman Rachel and I had run into at dinner? Not only is she Gabriel’s mistress, but she’s the cousin of Emilio Nuñez, one of the Jokers’ enforcers.”
Hunted: Steel Kings MC - Book 4 Page 7