“What the fuck’s going on?” he demanded.
“Come in and shut the damned door,” Phoenix barked.
Viking entered pulling the door shut behind him. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for them to fill him in. Peanut told Viking about Johnny being spotted near the clubhouse. Viking let out a curse as he sat down on the arm of the couch. He looked around before he asked what the fuck they were planning to do about the man stalking Phoebe. Peanut knew then that everything between Phoebe and Viking would work it’s self out. Relief flooded him with the knowledge, and he set about making a plan.
It took them about thirty minutes for the four of them to come up with a way to catch that abusive fucker without endangering his girls. Peanut was relieved as he nodded to his brother’s and walked out with a solid strategy to put Johnny’s sorry ass down like the sick fuck he was. He left the clubhouse, keeping his eyes peeled for a black sedan on the way back to the townhouse. When he pulled into the drive and parked, he looked up at the quiet house with his senses tingling. Something was coming and it wasn’t good. He hadn’t felt this keyed up in a long damned time, and he didn’t like the feeling of dread curling inside his stomach one damned bit.
Chapter Eighteen
Peanut glared at the clock on the wall as he paced back and forth in the kitchen. Phoebe should have been back twenty minutes ago. He’d intended to drive both Jazzy and Phoebe over to the school himself but she’d left before he’d gotten out of the shower. He hadn’t wanted to upset her before they she left so he hadn’t told her about Johnny being in town. Peanut ran a hand over his mussed hair still watching the clock. She could have run into traffic or decided to stop for gas or something. He needed to calm the fuck down. His insides were in knots. He lifted his phone, punching in the code and hitting her contact. He waited while the damned thing rang. It went to voice mail and that was when he decided enough was enough. He grabbed his keys and punched in Viking’s number. It rang twice before Viking picked up.
“She left this morning without me and now she isn’t home yet,” he snarled into the phone as he headed to his bike.
“What? Fuck, it’s early, dude. She can’t be more than ten minutes overdue, are you sure she isn’t just running late or something? Maybe she had to pick something up or get gas. You need to chill,” Viking said gruffly.
“It’s my gut, Viking. It’s going nuts, something’s wrong.” Peanut climbed on his bike and started it, ignoring a wildly waving Brenna. He knew she was trying to get his attention but he was too fucking worried about Phoebe to care.
“Damn, alright man. Give me fifteen and I’ll help you look. Just drive the route she usually takes and I’ll meet you near the school,” Viking muttered, giving up trying to reason with Peanut.
Peanut drove hard towards the school with his eyes peeled for the Kia. He was nearly to the school when he saw her car pulled off the side of the road. He pulled up beside it and cursed up a storm as he noted that the doors were unlocked, and her purse was still inside. Fuck. That son-of-a-bitch had her. He fucking had his woman and his baby. Peanut wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hold his temper in check if Johnny had harmed either of them.
A sudden thought had him dialing the school. When the attendant answered he asked for the attendance office. She told him to hold and he did so impatiently. When a woman picked up a few minutes later he demanded she check to see if Jazzy was in class. He knew that if that fucker had taken his baby girl too then he would die today and fuck any legal issue it caused them. He’d go to fucking jail if he had to, but nobody messed with his family. He was pacing beside the car when she finally picked back up and confirmed that Jazzy had made it to school. He hung up with a small sense of relief, but it didn’t get rid of the hard pit of anger in his stomach that Johnny still had his woman. He reached into the car grabbing her purse and the keys that were still in the ignition. He pocketed the keys and was putting her purse into his saddle bag when Viking rode up, pulling over with a grim look.
“Fuck, motherfucker got her, didn’t he,” Viking grunted.
“We need to find him. Like now. I will not let him keep her and if he hurts her or my boy, I am going to slice him to pieces.” Peanut climbed on his bike and cranked it. He pulled out and headed towards the clubhouse likely going twenty miles over the speed limit but he was too worried to fucking care. Despite wanting to chase after Phoebe he had no idea where to go and he knew he’d need his brother’s help finding her. If nothing else he could get his brothers searching the roads to see if they couldn’t find this fucker.
Rage had a contact that he could tap to follow Johnny’s credit cards to at least give them a direction to look in. It was the fastest way since the fucker wasn’t likely to stick around here now that he had Phoebe in his clutches again. He silently prayed that his girl was smart and played along with that fucker. She had to know he’d be coming for her.
He entered the clubhouse heading to Rage’s office. After explaining what was going on to Rage, he called his contact. Peanut paced back and forth inside Rage’s office fifteen minutes later waiting on the report from Rage’s police buddy who was tracing Johnny’s credit card activity. It was taking entirely too long and he was about to lose his shit. Every second that ticked by she was with that fucker who could be hurting her, and he couldn’t stand it.
“Sit down,” Diablo barked from his seat on the leather couch across the room.
Peanut turned to glare at him, not caring about the club hierarchy at the moment. It didn’t matter to him that Diablo was his vice president, he was too keyed up to sit. Phoebe was the only thing that mattered to him right now and standing in this room while she was likely being tortured or hurt was making him insane. His hands rubbed the back of his neck before falling to his sides to clench.
“Seriously, pacing isn’t helping and you’re making me crazy with that constant back and forth. Sit down,” Diablo commanded.
“Leave him be. He’s worried about his woman,” Phoenix snapped from his seat on the edge of the desk. Rage was sitting in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk, his face set in a grim line as he ignored their arguing. Peanut couldn’t stand the idea that Phoebe was out there and he wasn’t there to protect her. How had he allowed this to happen? He should have told her Johnny was in town last night when he’d gotten home. Only he’d wanted to break the news to her gently.
“He needs to calm the fuck down. He is losing his shit and we need him focused, not freaking the fuck out,” Diablo grumbled, shifting in his seat.
“He’s not going to calm down till she’s safe and we all damned well know it. Just let him pace if it helps,” Viking muttered, shoving off the wall to grab a piece of candy from the jar on Rage’s desk.
“Jackson should be calling soon. He’s damned good at tracing cards and Smith likely isn’t smart enough to hide his activity,” Rage said, dropping his feet from the desk to lean forward.
Peanut ignored them all and sank into his own thoughts. Letting Phoebe drive Jazzy to school had been a mistake. Not that he’d had a choice since she’d left while he was in the shower but fuck, he really wished he’d waited to shower until after dropping Jazzy off at school. His mind was tossing scenes of Phoebe at him and they seemed to be superseded by the ones of Melony. He could still remember the glassy eyes that were staring at the ceiling and the bruises swelling her flesh. His eyes closed and he tried hard not to think about that night Melony had been killed by her abusive father.
Unable to contain his explosive anger for another second, he slammed his fist into the door. The loud crack of the wood breaking echoed in the room. He hated that he didn’t know what was happening to Phoebe. He was losing his damned mind just standing around here waiting. He punched the door over and over again, letting out a roar as his fists began to ache but he didn’t stop.
“Stop, this isn’t going to help. Do you want to be useless when we find her? Stop before you break something and can’t ride,” Viking said, pulling hi
m away from the door. Peanut would have fought him harder, but he knew Viking was right. He needed to get his shit together and be ready when Rage’s cop friend found Smith.
“He fucking has her, Viking. You saw what he did to her when she was with him. What the fuck is he doing to her now after she ran from him? Damn it, I’m losing my shit right now,” Peanut muttered, burying his face in his hands. He pushed his palms into his eyes trying to hold in the rage pouring through his veins. He needed to get a grip on his temper.
“I know but we will get her back. She’s smart and we know she will do everything she can to hold on until we get to her. We’ll get her back and we will teach that fucker that nobody messes with the Devils Arms MC. She’s one of us now and you know we will go to the ends of the earth to protect her,” Viking assured him, holding his shoulder as he tried to reason with him.
Peanut wasn’t reassured but he finally sat down on the chair beside the desk, trying hard to sit still. He gripped his knees, bouncing his legs. The phone on the desk rang and he almost jumped for it but Rage had already answered it. He talked for a moment or so before hanging up.
“He rented a room fifteen minutes ago that’s about thirty miles from here,” Rage told him as he stood up. Peanut got up and headed to the door, not waiting on anything else. Every second they wasted was another second she was in that bastard’s evil control. He wouldn’t waste any more time than he already had.
He headed out of the clubhouse followed by the rest of his brothers, who were strangely silent as they climbed on their bikes. Rage took off first with Peanut close behind him. As his bike ate up the miles between them, Peanut found himself doing something he hadn’t done in years—he was praying. Praying that she was going to be alive when he found her, and god help that son-of-a-bitch if she wasn’t because what he’d done to Melony’s father was going to look like child’s play if Phoebe was dead.
Chapter Nineteen
Her heart was still beating a thousand miles a minute after she’d pulled the car to a shuddering stop. She didn’t realize that the asshole who’d run her off the road had stopped too. She was gripping the steering wheel tightly while trying to breathe as she rested her head on her hands when her door was ripped open. She was so freaked over the near accident that she hadn’t even noticed him walking towards her car. She jerked her head up. Her eyes widened as she saw her worst nightmare standing there holding the door open. She’d blinked several times, sure for a moment that she was seeing things.
“Hello, whore. Did you enjoy your little fuck fest with the biker?” Johnny demanded.
His hand was resting against the door with his body blocking her escape. Not that she was in a mental state to process his presence much less form a get-away plan. She realized that she wasn’t imagining things after hearing his voice. Her mind had blanked, and she had suddenly been back in that place she’d been months ago when she’d left him. Johnny shouted at her to get her whore ass out of the car and without thinking she did. She climbed out of the car and let him shove her towards the black sedan that had run her off the road. Phoebe held her breath as he shoved her into the back of the car, her shoulder hitting the edge of the door as she was forced inside. She let out a little cry as pain blasted through her arm. She wanted to kick herself for letting him coerce her into his car.
What had she been thinking? Why hadn’t she thought to fight him? She asked herself as she watched him climb into the front seat talking to himself. He had obviously lost his mind. He was even worse than he’d been when she was still living with him. She could tell by the glassy looking eyes and the wild talking he was doing. He even sounded like he was arguing with himself about her. It was disturbing. She couldn’t really make out what he was saying because he was mumbling. It worried her that he seemed more unstable than he’d been a few months ago when she’d left him.
What was he on? Was it cocaine or heroin? Her hands went to the seat belt as he started the car. Phoebe needed to put it on. She thought briefly about jumping out before he took off, but she was scared to try it. He would surely be angry if he had to chase her and she wasn’t sure she could make it back to her car without him catching her. Damn, she really wished she’d grabbed her purse because then she could have called Peanut or one of the other dozen numbers programmed into the phone that he’d given her. Only she’d been so shocked by seeing Johnny that she’d left it in the front seat. Damn, what was she going to do? Why the hell hadn’t she used some of those moves that Sin had taught her over the past three months?
Why had her mind sent her back to that place where she was a victim? She wasn’t one any longer but her upset over being forced off the road and the shock of seeing Johnny must have put her on autopilot. Realizing he was pulling onto the road she finished buckling her seat belt. Johnny was still muttering to himself and he barely missed a street sign as he jerked onto the asphalt.
“How can you be pregnant?” Johnny suddenly demanded.
“I’m pretty sure you know how babies are created,” Phoebe said dryly.
She wasn’t about to turn into that timid little mouse he was used to dealing with. Johnny’s hand flew over the seat aiming to hit her. Since he was driving all he managed to do was hit her leg and swerve all over the road. She was grateful there weren’t any other cars on the road.
“Don’t you back talk me, bitch! I am already mad that you ran away. What the fuck did you think would happen when you ran off with your boyfriend? Did your whore ass think I wouldn’t notice? Or that I would let you just make a fool out of me like that?” Johnny demanded from the front seat. She could see the mad look in his eyes and she bit her lip hard really worried about his state of mind. She gripped the seatbelt and reminded herself that she needed to play along with him until she could get away.
“No,” Phoebe said even though she wanted to tell him that she hadn’t run away because of Peanut. If only she could scream at him that this whole issue was his damned fault. That he was the reason she’d run away. If he hadn’t turned out to be an abusive asshole hooked on whatever drug got him high then they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. She couldn’t say any of that though. She didn’t want to make him turn around to hit her and end up killing them both when he crashed the car. His driving was impaired enough already.
“I’m going to teach you not to fucking leave me. You’re even pregnant with that biker’s fucking baby. How could you betray me like that? Huh, how could you after everything I’ve done for you over the past five years. I gave up my chance to become a partner two years ago so I could make sure I was home more and do you appreciate that? No, no you didn’t. You repaid me by being a whore and a fucking dumb one at that. Do you think that fucker gives a damn about you? I can tell you he doesn’t. He just wanted a mother for his brat. He was using you and you fell for it just like the dumb fucking slut you are.” Johnny was really working himself up and she knew that wasn’t good. She needed to get him focused on something else before he lost it and crashed the car. He was already swerving again as he glanced at her in the back seat. She needed something to buy herself some time. She had to figure out how to get away from him and find a way to get in touch with Peanut.
“The baby’s yours, Johnny,” Phoebe finally settled for. Not that she wanted to tell him the truth about the baby but she had to do something.
“What? Why are you lying about that? I know it’s not mine, it can’t be.”
She could hear the confusion in his voice and see it on his face as he glanced at her in the rearview mirror. His hands were on the wheel but he frowned hard and turned slightly to look at her again. Shit, that wasn’t what she’d wanted.
“Please watch the road. I don’t want you to kill our baby,” Phoebe said, trying to play it up and get his attention back on the road.
“Stop lying,” Johnny growled, his eyes snapping back to the road.
Phoebe could only hope that some cop would be working one of these roads he was driving down and would pull them o
ver. If that happened she might actually get away from him, but she couldn’t count on her luck. She’d never had any and that was why she needed to come up with a solid plan. She was sure he’d drive for a while before they stopped. He would want to get her back to South Dakota where he thought he had complete control over her.
“I’m not lying. I was only working for the bikers, but he wouldn’t let me leave when I realized I’d made a mistake leaving you,” Phoebe explained, every word feeling like poison in her mouth but she had to get him to believe that she’d seen the light and was really glad he’d found her again. If he thought that way, she might actually escape him when his guard was down. They would have to stop eventually, and she needed to come up with a plan to get away from him. With the lessons she’d learned from Sin on how to defend herself, she should be able to get away from him and call Peanut.
“See, I told you he was using you. You shouldn’t have run away with him,” Johnny roared angrily. His hands pounded on the steering wheel and Phoebe worried he’d break it.
“Yes, you were right,” she agreed, trying to calm him down. When he was in this mood, telling him he was right had always helped to placate him. It didn’t always work but it was currently her best bet to get him to calm down.
“I know I’m right. I don’t need you to tell me. We will have that kid aborted. I know it’s not mine. We can just get rid of it and then you and I can go back to the way things were before you were stupid and ran off with that fucking biker.” Johnny had lost his tiny little mind. She was about twenty-five weeks pregnant; no doctor was going to abort this baby at this stage. Hell, maybe they would but she wasn’t about to allow that to happen. She’d find a way to kill the son of a bitch before that happened. No way in hell was he hurting her baby. Gritting her teeth as she silently apologized to her unborn son, she told him what he wanted to hear.
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