by Emma Creed
“What could be dangerous about love?” I laugh. Nervously.
“When you’re the president's daughter, just about everything for the guy who you catch feelings for. ‘Specially if he’s a member of this club.”
He picks up one of his tools, a spanner I think, and twists it around in his hand before he continues. “You don’t fall for her back, that means you’ve broken her heart, and Daddy wants you dead.
You do fall for her, and decide to make her yours the way the men around here own their women. Daddy makes you suffer before you’re dead.
So if you did have feelings, either way, you’d be signing Jessie’s death certificate.” Skid strokes his hand through his beard as he takes a seat on the stool by the workstation. “Prez loves that boy like a son, but club rules are club rules, and I don’t think either of us want that for Jessie.”
I nod my head, taking everything he says in like I’m hearing something I don’t already know.
“So it’s a good thing I don’t have feelings for him then, huh?” I try my best to sound upbeat, despite my heart feeling like it’s been shredded.
Skid can see how his words have affected me, I’m not that good an actress.
Jessie spends that afternoon, and then most of Sunday driving around with me so I can get used to being behind the wheel again. It feels good to spend time with him, but I can’t stop what Skid had said replaying over and over in my head. And of course, he’s right. Skid’s always right.
Coming to terms with it isn’t really the issue, deep down I suppose I’ve always known I couldn’t have Jessie. I’d just chosen to ignore that fact rather than move on from it.
I can’t imagine another guy caring about me the way Jessie does. I’ve never wanted anyone else, I wouldn’t know how to. Jessie has been my future since I was ten years old.
Determined not to let Skid’s warning knock me down, I drive out of the compound on Monday all by myself, the tunes I’ve chosen blasting out of my stereo as I drive myself to school. Maddy is waiting for me in the carpark and looks like she’s about to burst with excitement when I park up.
“Wow, this is awesome. Looks even better than the picture you sent. I’m so jealous.” She checks out my new ride.
“You wanna take a ride when we’ve finished class?” I ask, grabbing my bag off the passenger seat and hopping out to join her.
“Course I do,” Maddy answers without hesitation.
“Cool, meet me here after.” I click the automatic lock, and we walk into school together.
School drags like a bitch, probably because I’m excited about going for a drive with Maddy. Being away from the club makes it so much easier to forget the whole Jessie dilemma, and hopefully, Maddy will be too distracted to mention him. I text Daddy and Jessie, tell them where I’m going, and promise to pick up Pizza on my way back through town. When I finally finish my last lecture of the day Maddy is already waiting for me at the jeep.
“Ice Cream over at Pikes Peak,” I suggest.
“That’s a great shout,” she giggles, throwing her bag into the back before jumping into the passenger seat. The ice cream parlor up at the peak do the best cookie dough ice cream in the entire world, Mom used to take me there when I was little.
We head out of the parking lot up towards Pikes Peak. We’ve only got a few miles out of town when I notice the sign for a gas station, and a quick glance at the dash tells me I’m low. I forgot about all the responsibilities that come with driving.
I pull in and grab my purse before starting to fill up, I’m concentrating on the pump, and don’t really pay much attention to the black van that pulls up beside us, not until I hear Maddy scream.
It all happens so fast after that, the side door sliding open, the huge guy wearing black dragging her out from my passenger seat. Maddy struggles but it’s hopeless, she’s like a fish caught in a net as he roughly throws her inside the back of the van.
I drop the pump to the floor and race towards her. Fully prepared to take out whoever it is that’s trying to take her, whoever they are will soon regret it. They’ve picked the wrong girls to mess with today.
But I’m halted by a strong arm, one that wraps itself around my neck and crushes all the air from my windpipe.
Strong hips force me to move forward, closer to the open van door. Then I’m taken off my feet and tossed inside.
I just manage to catch a glimpse of the terror in Maddy's eyes before the door rolls shut, and traps us both in darkness.
The tires screech, and our bodies lunge forward as the van speeds away, both of us tumbling around the empty space. We scream as loud as we can through our tears, banging and kicking against the solid panels. Our bodies knocking against each other’s as we frantically search in the darkness for a latch to open one of the doors.
In the end, we only find each other, and we cling to each other tightly, throats sore from screaming, and heartbeats pumping like they could burn out any second. We sit together in the silence, both too petrified to speak, and we wait for the journey to hell knows where to end.
After what feels like ages, the van noticeably slows down. Rough bumps beneath the tires throw us around, but we hold on to each other best we can.
The van comes to an abrupt halt, and daylight bursts through the back doors seconds later when it’s swung open. I hold my hand in front of my eyes while they adjust to the brightness, but soon a much larger shadow blocks out the light. Two gigantic men stand side by side between the doors, each of them holding a gun that’s pointed directly at us. A third man appears, pushing between them, a huge, dirty grin on his face as he looks in on us.
“Ladies.” His arm stretches out in an overly sarcastic welcome. I’ve never seen the man before, but I’m already praying to god that I’ll get the chance to watch my daddy and his brothers rip the ugly head off his shitty tattooed neck.
Me and Maddy scramble onto our feet and step out of the van. I try to take in our surroundings, figure out where we are. Derelict buildings stand tall around us. Massive warehouses with missing roofs, smashed windows, and unsteady brickwork.
The armed men make sure the barrel of their guns dig hard into our backs as they urge us to move forward and follow the guy who seems to be in charge. Neither me nor Maddy argue, but I’m Jimmer Carson’s daughter… I will not let them see my fear. Unlike Maddy who’s a whimpering wreck.
We’re led into one of the warehouses, the echo of flapping wings makes me jump when we disturb the nestling birds from the rafters.
I look up and count at least four half ripped out floors, between the ground and the roof. Old, rusty machinery suggests this place must have been some kind of factory when it was functioning. Now, it’s just a barren building in the middle of nowhere, the perfect place to take two girls who have been kidnapped.
Daddy and Jessie will find us though. I know they will, I just have to buy us the time we needed until they do.
There’s a single chair already waiting in the middle of the room, and the guy with the gun against Maddy's back gestures for her to sit down. Tears stream her cheeks as the one with the awful tattoos uses rope to strap her arms around the back of the chair. Then he steps off and picks up a plastic chair from the floor and places it beside her.
“Sorry, sweetheart, we were only expecting one visitor.” He grabs at my arm, his fingers bruising my bicep before he throws me at the chair.
He ties me to it the same way he has Maddy, and I snarl at him when he purposely brushes his dirty hand over my chest.
“Boss is here,” a voice calls out from the door we entered through, it seems so far away. Even if I could get us out of the ropes, it’s a long run to the exit and a bullet travels fast. My eyes begin to scan for another way out.
The sound of bike engines gives me hope, and for a wonderful moment, I think that Daddy and Jessie have already found us. That hope is shattered into teeny tiny pieces when a few minutes later another man walks in. This one is older, like Daddy, he wears a cut like him
too, except his doesn’t bear the Dirty Soul’s hooded skull. He has a smiling devil stitched into his leather.
A Bastard.
He’s followed inside by several other men, all of them nasty looking fuckers who wear the same cut. They are the men responsible for killing my mama. The Dirty Souls' enemies, which means me and Maddy are in deeper shit than I thought.
“What the fuck is this?” the older guy speaks first, close enough now for me to read his ‘president’ badge. He stands a little taller than Daddy, and is much rounder. His salt and pepper colored hair is similar too, but his light covering of stubble is nothing compared to Daddy's beard.
He carries the same presence though, and where Daddy has never scared me, this man most certainly does.
“You told us to get the girl, Prez,” the guy who tied us says.
“Yeah. A fucking girl. You wanna tell me why the fuck I’m seeing two of ‘em?”
“They were together, Prez, we didn’t want to leave a witness behind,” he explains, transforming rapidly from cocky, arrogant asshole, to brown-nosing weasel.
“Maddy.” The president smiles at the quivering mess beside me. “Always good to see you…”
My heart slows, as my brain tries to absorb what my ears have just heard. He knows her name? Always good to see you, what would she have ever had to do with these people? I don’t have time to think on that anymore, not when his attention turns to me, his forehead creased, as he leans closer and studies my face harder. His wrinkles iron out and his mouth upturns into the grimmest of smiles.
“Well, will you look at what we have here,” he chuckles.
“Boss?” the weasel asks, clearly stumped by his Prez’s change in reaction.
“Looks like our witness belongs to someone we know boys.” His eyes don’t move from mine, and I refuse to show weakness by looking away from his first. “This pretty little thing here is Jimmer Carson's daughter.” He grips my chin in his hand.
“Jimmer Carson, as in…” one of the men holding a gun starts to speak.
“Yes, Spider. Jimmer Carson, President of the Dirty Souls.” The old man's finger flicks the end of my nose. “Well ain't this lookin’ to be a beautiful day.” The laughter behind his voice is faint, but it still shakes through my bones, while fear screeches inside my head.
I say a silent prayer that Daddy and his brothers will find us before it’s too late.
We’re just about done loading the cage with AK’s ready for our run tomorrow. Squealer and Screwy have collected them from our safe place in Denver, me and Grimm have checked and repacked them ready for transportation over to the Utah Charter.
It was gonna be good to ride out, I was looking forward to hitting the road and catching up with some familiar faces at my pa’s old Charter. Maybe when I come back, I might even grow the balls to take Maddy out for that ride.
It’s been over two weeks since I asked her. She probably thinks I’ve changed my mind. The girl couldn’t have been more wrong. She’s on my mind every minute of every god given day.
The cage Nyx will drive and we will protect all the way to Cannonville, is good to go, and the two of us are ready for a drink. We’re making our way towards the clubhouse but are stopped in our tracks when Prez comes storming out. He has a look in his eyes that I haven’t seen for years, and it puts me straight on edge.
“Church,” he yells, barging past Troj and knocking the beer clean out his hand. Shit’s gone down, that much is obvious, and I already feel the trickle of adrenaline in my blood, readying me for whatever that shit might be.
We follow him into church, joined moments later by the rest of the gang. Prez is stood at the head of the table, while all our eyes glance at each other nervously. Prez standing ain’t a good sign, not at all.
“Someone’s got Hayley,” he speaks calmly, and controlled, though his eyes are wild. I’m on my feet before he’s even finished his sentence.
“Who?” I shout.
“Tommy just called, blacked-out van took her and the bitch from school she’s been hanging out with lately.”
My heart stops, and my skin chills when I hear they got Maddy too.
“He kept back, followed them to some abandoned factory just outside of Pueblo,” Prez continues.
“Bastards.” The bones in my neck crack when I stretch it from one side to the other. My mind focusing on only one thing, Bastard blood wetting my knife.
If one hair has been touched on either those girl’s heads, I’ll slice open every one of them and spit on the hell seeking souls that crawl from their bodies.
“What we fuckin’ waitin’ for, Christmas? Let's go.” Troj is up now too, practically bouncing on his feet. He can smell the fuckin’ fight, and he craves it as much as I do.
“Tommy's got eyes on the place now. Arm up and let's ride out,” Prez tells us.
“Ye hah! It’s kill time, Screwy,” Squealer shakes his brother’s shoulders, and Screwy’s eyes light up like it actually is fucking Christmas.
Everyone rushes out, the thunder of bikes starting to fill the yard. Prez pulls me back before I saddle mine, smacking something inside my palm.
“You take care of that till Chop comes back, son.” I wait for him to walk away before I looked down into my hand, and I almost choke on the lump in my throat when I see the VP badge staring back up at me. It’s worn and faded, the same one my pa had stitched to his cut when he was VP of this Charter. And although I’m only stepping in while Chop’s away, I know this is Prez showing me that I have the potential to be his second man someday.
I have little time for emotions now though, and I quickly seat up. Skid nods his approval at me when I take my new position on the left side of Prez. We wait for Prez’s right hand, and when it lifts in the air and points forward, we follow our leader out on to the road. It’s time to rain a whole ton of shit on the Bastards for thinking they can fuck with our family.
The men eventually clear out the room leaving just the weasel guarding us. His phone rings not long after and he turns his back on us to walk out of earshot, I see it as my chance.
“Maddy,” I whisper.
She looks up at me, her eyes red and raw from crying. “Listen. I think I can untie myself,” I tell her.
“So what if you can? They’ll kill us if we run.” Her voice doesn’t hold a thread of hope, and it makes me furious.
“Maddy Summers!” I overexaggerate my voice. “Miss enthusiastic, glass half full, life’s one long ride on a fuckin’ fun cloud herself giving up… Nah ah. I don’t fucking think so.”
I stretch out my bound hands, crossing my fingers to make them as narrow as possible, then hook the thumb of my other hand between the ropes. I twist the opposite wrist, working against the rope to loosen it. It’s tight but not too taut for me to eventually make a gap that’s big enough for my thumb to fit through.
Gradually I start to pull the rope apart, my wrists on fire from the friction of the coarse rope rubbing against my skin. But feeling the knots loosen slightly on the other hand make it all worth it.
“Maddy, do you know who these men are?” I whisper, trying to distract myself from the pain.
“The older guy yeah, but I had no idea he was like your daddy and his guys.” She shakes her head.
“He’s not,” I keep my voice low. “He’s the guy who had my mom killed, he tried to get me killed too. He hates my father and the club. How do you know him?” I ask, and Maddy's face drops.
“My mom got herself into some trouble with him.” She lets out a long breathe, and the shame on her face tells me not to push any further. Not now anyway. She’s clearly riddled with guilt for being the reason we’re in this situation, and I need her strong now, we can talk when we’re out of this mess.
“Do you think they’ll find us?” she asks through trembling lips. And as my hand becomes looser, my heart beats faster, I haven’t come up with a plan for what I’m gonna do next. Whatever it is though involves taking the weasel out, and he has a gun now.
“And then after the massacre, you and Jessie can go on that ride he promised to take you on,” I add, then watch a flicker of a smile battle through her sadness.
“You really like him, don’t you?” I smile back at her.
“I know your gonna tell me he’s bad for me and I’m not gonna tell you that you're wrong. But I see through all that. To me he’s a sweet guy, with beautiful eyes, and a smile you would throw yourself off a cliff for.
I saw the way he took care of you when you were in trouble and the way he looks out for you. Sure, he’s a little rough around the edges, but I’ve seen that he’s capable of some real good too.” Maddy’s really smiling now, and it doesn’t sting my chest as hard as I thought it would.
“Yeah I really like him,” she admits in her own totally goofy style. Tears well in my eyes, forcing me to work harder at freeing my hands so I can wipe them away before she sees.
My emotions aren’t at all what I’d expected. There’s no anger, no jealousy, just relief. Relief that someone else has seen who Jessie is beneath the leather cut he wears, if Maddy sees past the blood that stains his hands. Jessie might just get that happily ever after I’ve always wanted for him.
Deep down I’ve always known it wouldn’t be with me, I just hadn’t been ready to let myself believe it. It’s going to kill me to watch, but just like Maddy said, a girl would toss herself off a cliff to see that smile on his face.
I hear more bikes arrive outside, and the sound of a scuffle and gunshots causes the man watching over us to tuck his phone back inside his pocket and make his way back over.
“Either one of you bitches make a sound, I swear I will shoot you both in the face,” he warns, pointing his gun right at us. My hands are loose now, and I grip at the rope to stop it from falling to the floor. I know that the commotion outside is the Dirty Souls, and I try so hard not to let the relief show on my face. The door at the back of the room smashes open, and Jessie storms through it like a bull released from the chute, he’s followed closely by Squealer, Screwy, and Troj.