by Zara Teleg
I had to get out and leave, now. I didn’t have time for goodbyes. I didn’t want anyone knowing where I was going; it could only put them in danger. My mind was racing. I was hyperventilating. I was out of my mind with overwhelming fear. I couldn’t breathe…
Keep it together, Juliet. You can do this. Just breathe, in and out. That’s it, deep breaths, in and out.
I thought a shower might help. It didn’t. I ran the hot water over me and rocked on the floor until the water went cold. I took some anxiety medicine that I had stashed away. As it kicked in, a plan formulated in my head. I would pack and then get Lord on my way out early tomorrow morning. He just had the small surgery so I called Dr. Hennessy to see if it would be okay to pick him up at the crack of dawn. He lived on the property where his clinic was, so he was always there early checking on his overnight patients.
Telling Ivy about this would just make things so much worse. I couldn’t think about how angry she would be when I just took off without telling her. I needed to put distance between us; the less she knew, the better. I hoped she’d understand that I did it because I had to. I wouldn’t have her in danger.
I cranked the music and reveled in the calm the little pill provided. I packed my ass off the rest of the day. I canceled dinner plans with Ivy and told her I had finished packing and was headed straight to bed. I told her we could meet for breakfast. She bought it, or she was too exhausted to argue.
I packed the essentials in my Jeep until the only space left was for Lord, leaving behind anything that was not necessary. One more little blue pill made me too tired and loopy to do anymore. Now I just had to wait ‘til first light, and I could pick up Lord and be on my way. At dusk, I sat in the lawn chair by the fire pit one last time. Alone. My wine glass was my only company as I relived the memories I had made over the past four years in a place I would soon no longer call home.
Rage
Five hours into the long journey home, we stopped for some food. Since it was close to dinner, the diner on the side of the long, deserted highway seemed like our only viable option. Serving breakfast twenty-four hours a day sounded good to me. I would never turn down pancakes for dinner.
The door chimed as we walked in. Heads turned, everyone stared at the two of us. After five hours on the road, with our cuts and bikes covered in dust, we probably looked like trouble. The place smelled like greasy food and coffee. My stomach rumbled. Kai even heard it and looked at me, shaking his head. “Hungry?” he asked.
A waitress cautiously approached our table like we were going to rob her. She instantly relaxed as Kai turned on his playboy charm. The waitress was maybe in her mid-twenties with big hair. It seemed they still went with that look around these parts. She spoke with a heavy southern accent as she took our order, she stared at Kai even while taking mine.
I was surprised the coffee was decent in the dive. Juliet got me hooked on that really dark, strong brew from Roasted, and now most anything else seemed weak. Maybe even bad coffee was tasting okay because it had been two weeks since I was home—maybe time just had a way of changing your mind.
Our orders came, and we ate in silence. We paid our bill and left Bunny, our waitress, a generous tip. I think if Kai had asked, she would have jumped on his bike and never looked back. Now full, I would have much preferred a nap to another five hours on my bike. The sun would be long set by the time we arrived home.
Before going back on the road, I hit the restroom while Kai mentioned needing to call Hawk back. He had a couple of missed calls. When I came out, I saw Kai pacing next to his bike, his phone by his ear. It had been two days since we had decent phone service and here I still only had barely one bar.
Kai gave me a worried look. “You tell him,” he said into his phone and handed it to me.
“What the fuck now?” I asked.
Hawk went over the past two days’ events. When he got to the part of Bodie having to watch over Juliet because Joker’s men were stalking her, I nearly lost my shit. He assured me they had all left town and that she was safe. It was then that Bodie chimed in from the background.
What the fuck? “Is that Bodie? Did you leave Juliet alone?” I yelled into the phone.
Bodie yelled from the background, “She’s fine. They’re gone. After I dropped Lord to the vet overnight for her, I didn’t want to be in the way of her packing.”
I could hear the slap and then the whisper, “Shut the fuck up!”
“Packing?”
“You heard that, huh?” Hawk said, sounding defeated.
“Packing for what? Is she going somewhere?” She couldn’t be moving yet. Ivy had said she had at least another month in town, not that I was asking.
After exhaling a deep breath, he said, “I didn’t want to tell you before you drove.”
My voice turned into a growl, “Tell me what, Hawk?”
“Rage, she’s leaving. For good. She got spooked by the Devil’s and now she’s hell bent on leaving right away.”
Dots formed in front of my eyes, my blood pressure rose so fast I became slightly dizzy. Anger took hold of me.
I hung up the phone without saying another word, throwing it to Kai. I was on my bike kicking up gravel and out of the parking lot before Kai even mounted his.
The speedometer couldn’t keep up with my pace.
I broke every traffic law known to man. With the speed I was going, I didn’t think a camera or the police could have caught up to me. The bridge to Sugar Maple came into view, the home stretch. I had spent the last three and a half hours thinking about how much I fucked up with her.
I should have never listened to her—I should have been there to protect her, then maybe Juliet wouldn’t be leaving. If she’d already gone, I knew I would never see her again. Never hold her in my arms again, never be inside her again.
I still loved every inch of her. The more I thought about her as I drove, the more I realized I was a fool. Now it all made sense. She was trying to get me to push her away. I just hoped I wasn’t too late. I don’t know how I ever thought I could live without her.
An unfamiliar sting pained my eyes as I flew over the bridge. The twists and turns going up the mountain that I usually cautiously drove up was just a dark blur until I spotted Juliet’s cabin. The fairy lights still illuminated the small home, making it look like something out of a fairy tale.
My heart slowed its rapid beating when my eyes landed on her Jeep, sitting in its usual place in the driveway. Relief filled me.
I took long, quick strides to reach the door as quickly as I could. Thank fuck, Juliet hadn’t left yet. I smiled as I heard the music coming from around back. My knuckles struck the door three times, hard. On the third, the door popped open. Weird, I thought that after the incident with Joker’s men, she would have her door locked. Maybe she was expecting Ivy. Since Lord wasn’t here to greet me, I yelled her name several times before going to the patio where the music was playing. I could see her favorite chair illuminated by the fire. I called her name again as I made my way down the path.
“Juliet,” I said before realizing no one was there. Her blanket was on the ground next to a bottle that was tipped over. The stem of a glass sat among thousands of tiny pieces that glittered across the area.
My mind was racing as I looked at the spilled red wine that coated the ground. Wait, Juliet was allergic to red wine. I bent down, touching the dark liquid. My two fingers trembled as I put them to my nose. I inhaled deep, the copper essence filled my nostrils as I kicked over the table. FUCK!
Something unfamiliar under the table caught my eye. It sparkled on the ground, catching the light from the dwindling fire. A necklace? I pushed the small wooden table back further to inspect the area. A gold amulet was on the grass, the fire glinting off its shiny back and chain. I wiped it off and turned it over and angled it to the light from the fire.
My teeth ground together so hard I nearly cracked them. My hand tightened around the medallion, squeezing it hard enough for its sharp edge to
draw blood.
I dug into my pocket for my phone as I raced back inside, looking around. With all the boxes and piles, it was hard to tell what if anything was out of place. I looked around every room. Hawk picked up.
“Asshole,” he answered. “You fuckin’ hung up on me.”
“Gone, she’s gone.” My eyes wildly scanned the room. The open laptop caught my eye.
“What are you talking about?” Hawk asked.
Hawk was hollering something I fucking couldn’t understand. I placed him on speaker and approached the laptop that was open on the table. I was speechless as the picture on the screen became clear. It was a photo from my fight. I pushed zoom on the keyboard and looked intently at the shot. A man was leaning over, speaking to another man; he was pointing. I followed the line. His finger was directed at Juliet. Zooming in more, I knew exactly whom I was looking at. Marco. I recognized him from the trial pictures. He wore the same smug look on his face.
“Dude, what the fuck is going on?” I heard Hawk, echoing out of my phone.
“Meet. We need a meet now. Call everyone in.”
I grabbed her laptop and cord, tossing them into the first bag I could find. I threw it on my back and ran toward the door, shoving the medallion deep into my pocket.
I drove past the line of bikes parked at the club before skidding to a stop. I jumped off and ran through the doors into the meeting room. My brothers were in little groups talking and became utterly silent when I barged in. I set the laptop down, plugged it in, and opened the screen.
“Hack,” I yelled. He was the tech guy, not me. “Can you pull up the pictures that were on the screen, I’m not sure, I—”
“I got you, man.” He turned the computer and began to work.
A stone-faced Hawk entered with a bottle and a full shot glass and handed it to me. I gulped it down and refilled before I could get anything more out.
A few minutes later, Kai stormed into the room with such force the papers that were sitting on the large wooden table scattered into the air, fanning up and onto the floor. He approached me with a scowl on his face. He fisted both sides of my cut, his face inches from mine.
“What the fuck, you asshole?” He said, almost spitting his words. “You just took off. I couldn’t even keep up with you. You could have killed yourself. Every fuckin’ time I came upon something on the road, I fuckin’ prayed it wasn’t your splattered body.” He pushed off me, letting my cut go and stepping back, wiping the spit from his mouth.
“Are you done?” I asked, pointing to the empty seat around the table.
“Got it, man” Hack yelled.
I turned the huge monitor that Hack linked to the laptop so everyone could have a view. About twenty thumbnails showed up on the screen. The first photo I clicked was of me sending the Superman punch that knocked dickface Ramsey out.
“Are you showing off?” someone piped up.
My eyes glared at everyone around the table. “This is not a fucking joke,” I barked.
“Zoom in here.” I pointed to the group of men in suits. “And here.” Hack zoomed in on Marco’s face. A unanimous “fuck” made its way around the table.
I clicked on the next photo, the one where he pointed out Juliet. My stomach soured. Ledger kicked his chair out from the table. “He knew? He was fucking there.”
I reached deep into my pocket and pulled out the broken chain with the gold medallion hanging from it.
I choked out, “I found her chair overturned by the fire, with glass everywhere.” I swallowed hard before continuing. “Blood…blood was on the ground, and this.”
I tossed it from my hands like it was burning me. It landed face up, the Devil’s Damned tag had the name Joker engraved below the skull.
“She’s gone,” I choked out. “Joker has her.”
Hawk was up, standing next to me, his arm on my back. I pushed him off.
“Fuck, man, she was leaving. You couldn’t fucking keep a man on her another day until I got back?” I pushed him hard.
He stumbled backward before coming back at me. “We thought they were gone.”
Others jumped to their feet and forced us apart. Colt hit the gavel. “That’s enough. Rage, you ain’t going to find her fighting with your brothers.”
Hawk looked distraught, head in his hands, “Fuck, you think I would have let Bodie leave if I thought there was any possibility of her still being in danger?” He shook his head. “They were gone. We watched the bikes cross the bridge.”
Colt yelled, “All of you, shut the fuck up. Let’s get a plan to find her.”
An hour later, we had all our sources on the lookout. We had learned a lot about the cartel’s operation when we were on our road trip. We shared intel with several of our chapters as well as other civilians that we call in from time to time. Hack said it would take a few hours, but he would tap into some traffic cams to see what he could find.
Right before dispersing from the room, we heard heels clicking heavily, stomping across the floor in the hallway outside the room. A woman’s voice became clear. Ivy.
“You can’t go in,” the prospect stepped in front of her, blocking her way.
“The fuck I can’t.” She pushed passed the two prospects that operated the door. Her mission was to get to me. Her hand went up, forcefully slapping me across the face. I could have stopped her, but I didn’t. I deserved it. She kept her red hand out, shaking.
She crumbled to the floor sobbing. “You shouldn’t have left her. He’s going to kill her and Paige.”
“Paige?” Her baby sister? “Ivy, what are you talking about?”
Her sobs made her words unintelligible. She pulled out her phone. Her finger shook as she pushed play on a voice mail.
A man’s voice began speaking, “Ivy, this is Gavin, I need to speak with Anabelle. Please have her call me, it’s urgent.”
We all looked to each other, confused.
“I-I was teaching and didn’t have m-my phone on me. G-Gavin called five m-more times b-before he left this m-message,” she said between sobs. She clicked on the last message.
“Ivy, please, it’s Paige. My source that has been checking on her said she’s missing. Her apartment was overturned. I didn’t want to tell you over voicemail, but Anabelle could be next.” His voice was begging, “Please, she needs to call me immediately.”
Ivy stuttered, “I-I would have been here s-sooner, but I had to t-take a taxi. Someone stole m-my car, and none of you fu-fuckers answer your phones when you’re in a m-meeting.” Her sobs became heavy, her tears were flooding from her eyes.
I picked up the nearest chair, putting it over my head and launching it like it was foam. It bounced against the wall; two brothers dodged out of its way.
Colt slammed the gavel. “Feel better?” He grabbed me. “Man, throwing shit isn’t going to get her back here. We all have jobs to do if you want to save them. Let’s get to it.”
Hawk grabbed Ivy and pulled her into his chest. “We will find them.” He kissed the top of her head.
“You ha-have to,” she said, collapsing into him. “He will k-kill her. He’ll kill them b-both.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Juliet
A creaking floor kept trying to wake me from my deep sleep. I could feel eyes boring into me. Lord must have to go out; he always stared at me until I woke up.
I tried to blink to shake off the terrible sleepiness. Something wasn’t right. Only one eye half opened, the other was so swollen it seemed sealed shut. Every moment I became more aware of the pain that radiated in my body, especially in my face. Drool pooled at the side of my lips. My throat was sore and dry. I couldn’t open my mouth.
I could see from one eye a man sitting in a chair, a bat in his hand. He was staring at me. His voice echoed, “Anabelle, good, you’re awake.” Light fluttered in and out as the echo sounded loud in my brain.
A door slapped against the wall; my body jolted at the sound. A metal chair screeched as it was dragged against t
he floor. Muffled screams became loud; the chair now stopped next to me. I kept trying to force my eyes open.
“You slept much longer than your sister. I thought you’d never wake up.”
Those words, the Spanish accent, my eyes snapped open as far as they could. I ignored the shooting pain. I squinted, zooming in to make out the figure screaming in the chair next to mine. Tape covered her mouth. There was no mistaking it. Paige, my baby sister.
No. No. No. It can’t be. I tried to reach out. It wasn’t until then that I realized my body was tied up and my mouth was covered in tape. In a span of seconds, a million scenarios went through my mind.
Paige wouldn’t stop shrieking. She wailed and thrashed in the chair until it nearly fell over. Marco suddenly stood and yelled, “Shut her up!”
An enormous man then approached her. His voice was deep and disturbing, “Calm down, my sweet, I don’t want to hurt you again.” He touched her face, which made her muffled shrills even wilder. He placed a white cloth over her nose and mouth. Her body became limp in seconds. “Now, that’s better.” He stroked her hair.
It was my turn to thrash and yell, seeing his creepy hands on her. “Don’t even try it,” a new voice came from behind me. He took a few steps until he was right against the back of my chair.
“You aren’t going to be that lucky,” he said by my ear, his hot, foul breath on the side of my face. “You can imagine my delight when Marco came to the club looking to kidnap some whore who did his brother wrong. I recognized you as soon as I saw the picture.” He laughed a sick, devilish sound. Chills ran up my spine. Joker.
“Rage’s girl.” He knelt in front of me as he drew out the words, smiling through his rotting teeth. “We’re gonna have so much fun.” A cold steel blade traced across my cheek and down my jaw. The tip rested under my chin as he forced my head up. His calloused fingers ran over my cheek. “Yep, as soon as these boys are done with you, you’re mine.” He said those last words in a wet whisper into my ear. “It won’t be long now until I get a taste of you!” The icy blade rested against my neck, he pressed it enough so I could feel it just slicing my flesh.