Cash reached for me, with his hands on my waist he hauled me up and threw me over his shoulder. I still didn’t know if I was capable of moving or running, but I didn’t care to find out at this point. I was happy in the position I was in, right there on Cash’s shoulder.
He jumped out of the van with me like that in his arms, and around me I could see a shootout was taking place between the two groups. Every man around me had a gun. The fire was still blazing. There was shouting and bullets flying in the air. I had no idea how Cash planned on getting us out of there. I was doing everything I possibly could to keep myself conscious and awake. This was too much. It was like being in the middle of a war zone.
I thought I would pass out any moment. But I didn’t. I was fully conscious while Cash ran with me through the terror that was this violent shootout. It was so loud around me that it wouldn’t have mattered if I screamed at the top of my lungs just then.
Cash was carrying me through it all and I had no idea where he was taking me. Initially, I thought he was going to take me to his bike. Maybe it was parked somewhere, and we would simply ride away, make a smooth exit. But then the thought struck me that I didn’t know if I was too injured to be sitting up in his bike. Besides, we were not headed for any vehicle. Unless he had parked it in the forest for some reason.
We had crossed the street over into the thicket of trees. I bounced in his arms while Cash ran, ducked, spun and bolted. He was taking every precaution he could to avoid us getting struck by any stray bullets. I was surprised someone hadn’t noticed us yet and hadn’t come chasing us.
Now he was running through the darkness of the woods with me still hanging over his shoulder. It didn’t seem like Cash had any trouble running with me in his arms. It seemed to be easy for him, despite the fact that he might have been injured himself.
“Where are we going?” I managed to whisper now when his pace seemed to slow down a little.
“I’m trying to find you a safe spot,” he replied. The noises of the shootout seemed to be at a bit of a distance now. Cash had managed to run away pretty far with me, which meant that maybe…just maybe, we were safe now. Had he really saved me? Had he really rescued me again?
Why?
I couldn’t think of one good reason why he would risk his life for me again. Did he feel the same way about me as I did for him? That couldn’t be possible…he was not that kind of man!
Then, Cash was laying me gently down on the ground.
My eyes had adjusted to the dark so I could see his body, the muscles on his arms clenching and moving as he arranged me neatly on the wet ground. Underneath me, I could feel the damp soil and the wet twigs of the woods; but none of that mattered to me in that moment. All that mattered was that I was safe, which meant that my baby in all likelihood was safe too.
Cash crouched down in front of me and before I could stop myself, I clutched his hand tightly.
“Thank you, for doing this, for all this. I don’t know why you did it…” The words were barely coming out of my mouth. I felt like I had no voice left. Cash was staring directly into my eyes with a fierceness and softness at the same time.
“This is all because of me. None of it is your fault. They were using you to get to me…to get to my club.”
There was a harshness in his voice now and I could see that he was angry. But then his gaze softened again, and he gulped.
“I want to make sure that nothing like this happens to you again. I’m going to try and take care of this mess, but it’s going to be difficult and I don’t know how long it will take. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t intend to get you tangled up in this shitstorm.”
I continued to clutch his hand tightly, refusing to let go. It felt like his presence was the only thing that was keeping me upright and conscious. I had a sudden urge to tell him everything. To tell him the truth about the baby.
But Cash slowly reached his hand out towards me, he grabbed the side of my face and I felt his rough large thumb stroke my soft cheek. I could have melted right there in his arms. I wanted him to kiss me…but that was the last thing on his mind.
“I’m sorry, Vivian, but I have to go,” he said. My heart quickened in my chest again.
“What…back there?” I squeaked the words out and Cash clenched his jaws and nodded gently.
“I have to go back and help my friends. We are all in this together and it’s going to be a long night,” he replied. With his other hand, he slowly started pulling his hand away from me.
“If something happens to me and if I don’t come back here soon, I want you to try and find your way through to the other side of these woods, okay? I want you to find your way out. Do you think you can do that?”
He was glaring right into my eyes and I had no choice but to nod my head, even though I had no idea how I was going to do it.
We stared at each other for one heavy moment and then he stood up. I watched him from my crouched hidden position on the ground, wishing he didn’t have to go. I was going to be scared and alone again. I could feel those tears pricking my eyes. I really didn’t want him to go…
“Take care of yourself, Vivian,” he said in a somber voice and then he turned around and I watched him running back towards the fire and the shouting and the bullets.
I had this strange tightness in my stomach in that moment…like somehow, I knew I would never see him again.
29
Cash
When I returned to the shootout with my weapons drawn, I saw that the war had escalated majorly. Just as I predicted it would. It was why I couldn’t just leave my friends and brothers and make a run for it. I had to come back and help push them back.
The Sons of Satan were trying their best to hold fort against us. We had taken them by surprise, by attacking them after the meeting was officially over. They weren’t expecting us to follow them and launch an attack after we had agreed to the terms. They thought we were meekly going to give up our Mexican contacts to them.
But now that we knew they had Vivian right there in their custody, this was the perfect opportunity for us to strike. And I had managed to get Vivian safely out. Which meant that the Sons of Satan no longer had something we wanted.
Both sides were raging and there was chaos everywhere. Nobody was shy about shooting. Gunshots were going off on either side and I could see people hurt.
We were using overturned bikes and cars as shields, but a lot of them had caught fire by now. It wasn’t going to be long before the alarms were raised because the smoke would be easily visible in the air, even at a distance.
At one point, I looked down at my leg and saw that the stitches Bender had administered on my thigh were tearing and splitting open. I was starting to bleed out from the same spot again.
Besides that, I couldn’t see any other wounds on me. Not yet anyway.
Around me, my friends; Patch, Bones, Rogue and Grimm were shooting. Some of them were already badly injured but none of us were prepared to back down yet.
There were other prospects and club members behind overturned cars taking turns to shoot at members of the Sons of Satan. We were all still fighting, not giving up, even though it was hard to tell at this point who was winning. We were all in a sorry state.
The only thing that really mattered right now was the fact that Vivian was safe. Or at least that was what I could hope for. Hopefully, they would never find her now that she was hidden away in the woods.
It was the only thing I cared about, even if I died tonight. I just wanted her to get out of this place alive.
* * *
Eventually the cops showed up. I knew it was going to happen soon. The fire would have alerted them as predicted and we could hear their sirens at a distance.
It was the only way this war was going to end. That or all of us died here tonight.
We broke up, running out in different directions while still taking shots as we ran away. I didn’t bother with following the others to where the bikes were still parked. I nee
ded to go find Vivian first.
So, I ran straight back into the woods, towards the spot I remembered depositing her. Back on the road the cops had full-blown shown up and I hoped all our club men had already dispersed. If there were going to be any arrests tonight, it should only be the Sons of Satan.
But I couldn’t be concerned about that right now. I needed to find Vivian first.
I went running back to the spot where I left her, but she wasn’t there.
Fuck!
I cursed under my breath.
“Vivian! Where are you?” I hissed in the dark but besides me there was no other movement anywhere around me. The woods were silent and pitch-dark. It was only the sirens and the commotion caused by the cops I could hear in the distance.
“Vivian! Are you here? It’s me!” I was walking around in circles now, hoping she’d just crawled away somewhere further. The chances of one of the Sons of Satan finding her was low. As far as I knew, nobody had seen me make a run for it with her into the woods, but there was of course still a chance of that happening.
Fuck!
What if they followed me in here? Waited for me to leave and then nabbed her again?
Fuck Fuck Fuck!
I should have taken her somewhere else, far from here, away from the scene completely. I shouldn’t have been thinking about the club!
I sat down with a thump on the wet ground and rubbed my hands over my face. It was obvious she was nowhere close to me right now. Could she have left on her own?
How long had I been fighting out there? Maybe she got scared and made a run for it like I told her to?
“Vivian!”
I tried calling out to her again one last time, but the woods were still silent. She wasn’t here.
Someone had either nabbed her or she’d left on her own.
Suddenly, every inch of my body ached, and I realized I’d been losing a lot of blood. I needed to get out of here and get my wound stitched up again before it got infected or worse. I couldn’t afford to lose a leg right now. There was still a lot of work to be done.
I had no choice at this point but to get off the ground and limp out of the other side of the woods and make my way back to the clubhouse somehow.
30
Vivian
I was dazed and exhausted and just after Cash left me, to go back to help his friends, I felt like the darkness was back to closing in on me. I was alone and scared, just like I knew I would be once Cash left. But at least this time, my hands and feet were free, I was free to shout for help too if I needed to. But right now, all I wanted to do was remain completely still and quiet.
I tried not to move in fear that someone else would find me. I was so afraid of those men finding me again. My hand kept going to my stomach, rubbing and stroking it affectionately in the hopes that nothing had happened to the baby. That was all I wanted to know…that my child was going to be fine.
Suddenly, since the kidnapping, my pregnancy had become all too real. Even if I hadn’t been able to acknowledge it before, now I felt protective about my baby. My motherly instincts had kicked in and the only thing I cared about was keeping my baby safe.
So, when the cop sirens started sounding in the distance, panic filled my veins. I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to run to the cops now and surrender myself? But telling them what happened to me would lead to a lot of questions—questions that could get Cash and the Black Cobras in trouble. That was the last thing I wanted to do, after how they had repeatedly saved my life.
Not to mention the fact that Cash was the father of my child. How could I simply walk over to the cops and betray him?
In my panic, the only thing I could think of doing now was to get up and start running in the opposite direction. I didn’t look back again, while my feet carried me forward.
I had no idea what direction I was headed in, where this path would lead me…I didn’t even know which woods I was in. Since the kidnapping, I had lost all my bearings and I had no clue where the men had taken me.
So eventually, when my feet struck against a fallen branch and I tripped and collapsed on the ground; I didn’t know how far or close I was to getting out of those woods.
I scrunched myself up into a protective ball, hoping to give myself some heat and slowly my eyelids started to flutter, and I realized I was drifting away. It was out of my control now. I couldn’t stop myself from falling asleep if I wanted to. My body was simply shutting down and I couldn’t help it.
Tomorrow…I’ll deal with it tomorrow I thought. It was too dark now anyway.
* * *
I blinked my eyes open sometime later. It could have been several hours later because now the sky was bright, and I was turned over on my back and I could see birds flying across the sky.
The previous night, the kidnapping, seeing Cash…everything felt like a sudden dream now. It all came rushing back to me but none of it seemed real. It couldn’t be real!
I sat up with a jerk and looked all around me. I was surrounded by the woods still. I hadn’t made it out. But maybe that was what kept me safe here overnight.
I looked down at my feet which were dirty and bare now, there were marks and cuts on my legs, just like there were all over my arms too. But at least I was free. There were no ropes binding me, no gag on my mouth either. I took in a deep breath of the fresh air and blinked some more.
I had no idea where I was.
“Cash…” I said his name and it came out like a croak. I knew he wasn’t anywhere close by. Anything could have happened to him. Maybe he got arrested by the cops last night. Maybe he got seriously hurt…I hoped he was alive. But how was I going to make it out alive from here?
I struggled to get back up on my feet again. I was feeling so weak. How long had it been since I’d last eaten or had a sip of water? My hand rose up to my belly and I stroked it gently.
“Are you okay, baby?” I spoke softly to my stomach. I couldn’t feel anything, and I had no idea if we were safe or not.
But I wasn’t going to waste any more time crying today. Not while it was still daylight and I could do something to save myself and the baby. I had to do something. I had to get out of here and find food!
I could barely move my feet. When I took a step, every inch of my body hurt and pinched and ached. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and tried to take quick steps in an unknown direction.
“Help!” I called out, as loud as I could, even though it wasn’t loud enough. I kept walking…over twigs and branches, the soles of my feet bare and stinging now as I tried to make the trek.
“Help!” I called again and I knew nobody could hear me. But I wasn’t willing to give up yet. My clothes were torn, I was a mess. I could barely even stand straight anymore, but I kept taking one painful step after another.
“Please! Help me!” I cried out and I thought I could see a clearing.
Just then; I thought I heard the sound of a car go by. Was I near a road? A town maybe?
My feet picked up speed of their own accord and I realized I was running, even though I barely could.
“Help me! Help me!” I screamed as loud as I could, and I felt dizzy again. It was too much. I shouldn’t have attempted to run. My body was giving up again and I was going to fall to the ground.
I made one last ditch attempt at shouting once more.
“Help!” I screamed just as I collapsed to the ground and my eyes were shutting again, but I thought I saw a gas station on the other side of the road and there were people there.
I just hope against hope it wasn’t a dream.
* * *
I woke up to the sound of beeping and I felt disoriented for several minutes. I was expecting to see the sky again, maybe some birds flying by, but all I saw were cables and a fan on a white ceiling.
My heart was racing in my chest again and I gasped and tried to sit up. Only to realize there were IV drips in my arms and I was on a reclined bed. I was in a hospital.
; “Try and relax, Miss, you’re going to be fine.” I heard a voice and looked over to see a nurse in a starched uniform standing beside my bed with a clipboard in hand. She’d been in the process of making notes.
“Where am I? What happened?” I mumbled the words.
“You’re in a hospital, in Kernville. Some kind folks found you collapsed on the side of the road and brought you here. Now, can you tell me your name?” The nurse was polite, but I could see she was curious.
I stared at her, aghast, but grateful at the same time. At least I was warm and safe. I could see bandages everywhere on me where the wounds were healing on my arms and legs.
“Vivian Aldren,” I replied, and the nurse smiled and made a note of it on her clipboard.
“That’s wonderful. Exactly what I want to hear. You’re going to be fine. You were just a little dehydrated that’s all. No major injuries were found on you,” she added.
My hand rose up to my stomach.
“I’m pregnant,” I croaked, feeling like my energy was depleting again. The nurse continued to smile, and she nodded some more.
“We know, and everything seems to be fine with the baby too, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
I felt relief flood me when I heard that. Nothing else could have brought me that kind of joy.
The nurse came closer to me, looking at me with kindness.
“Do you want me to call the cops? Anybody you would like to make a report to about what happened to you?” she asked, and I shook my head.
“I have nothing to say. I just got lost in the woods,” I replied. The nurse stared at me like she didn’t believe me, but she nodded and eventually left me alone in the room again.
Cash: The Black Cobras MC #2 Page 12