by S. Nelson
“Answer it,” her father shouted before I realized what was happening.
“Put it on speaker,” Stone barked, rushing toward me.
I watched Tripp dash out of Chambers, his arms jerking around him, only to return seconds later, followed by the rest of the men.
I connected the call but didn’t say anything at first, all words failing me during the one time I needed them the most.
“I’ll make this short and sweet.” The voice on the other end wasn’t Dutch this time, but Griller, the Savage Reapers’ president. “I want money.”
“How much?” I blurted. I was willing to offer everything I had, and I had no doubt Ryder would do the same.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he tutted. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. That fucker who stole our property, he’s gonna lose his next fight.” My eyes swung to Lincoln, the crease in his forehead mirroring mine. That’s all he wanted? For Lincoln to throw his next bout? “He there?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. You all have him to blame for this. He took what didn’t belong to him. I should probably thank him, though, because I got two for the price of one. Or should I say two and a half?”
“Don’t you fuckin’ touch—”
“I’ll do whatever I want. Already have. And if you want them back alive, you’ll do everything I say. If I even think for one second you’re planning anything other than what you’re told to do, I’ll send them back to you in pieces.”
His instructions were heard loud and clear, but the part I remained focused on was when he said “already have.” Was he messing with us or had he dared to lay a finger on either of them? I prayed it was the former, but my gut told me he spoke the truth.
Emotion welled in my eyes when I looked at Ryder, both of us probably thinking the same damn thing.
“When’s the fight?” Lincoln stepped closer to ask his question.
“This Friday. And it’s against Boland, so make it look good.” Nick Boland wasn’t a strong contender in the ring, and I had a feeling the guy had been chosen on purpose to humiliate Linc, not that he’d give a damn about his reputation when the lives of two of our own were on the line.
“Friday?” Ryder shouted. “That’s in two days. There’s no way you’re keepin’ them until then.”
“You don’t really have a say, now, do you?”
“We need to see proof they’re still alive or no deal,” Marek interrupted, holding up his hand when Ryder started to protest.
Silence greeted us from the other end of the conversation, and at first, I wasn’t sure if the call had been disconnected, but when I looked at the top of the screen, I saw the call log ticking on. Then several seconds later an alert popped up of an incoming text. I clicked on it and nearly dropped the phone. He sent a picture of them, huddled in the corner of a room, two men holding their faces upright to look into the camera. There was blood on Zoe’s face, her left eye black and blue and a split on the side of her mouth. Braylen’s temple was coated in blood, but she didn’t look to be in as bad a shape as Zoe.
I flipped the phone around so the guys could see, my eyes pinned to Ryder the entire time. With the amount of rage racing through me, I didn’t think I’d be able to contain myself, but one look at him and I calmed slightly.
It was as if he’d absorbed a fraction of my fury for himself.
He snatched the device from my hands, staring at the photo, mumbling, and cursing under his breath, collapsing into the nearest chair, and slamming his fist into the table over and over.
“All good?” Griller’s tone was calm, relaying that of a man having an ordinary conversation about simple topics, acting like holding our women ransom hadn’t just sealed his future death.
“And when do we get them back?” Prez asked, his chest inflating with a deep and slow inhale. His blue eyes darkened, and if I thought for one second he wasn’t invested in the safe return of Braylen and Zoe, his fierce scowl proved otherwise.
“After he loses, I’ll contact you.”
“That’s not good enough. We need to know the plan right fuckin’ now. Not after.”
“You don’t get a say in how this turns out. Do what you’re told.”
“What guarantee do I have you won’t hurt them if we follow the plan?” Marek lowered his head and exhaled, his shoulders tensing and rising toward his ears.
“You don’t have one. But you know what’ll happen if you don’t.” An eerie pregnant pause followed. “One wrong move on your end and I’ll be sending a different kind of picture. I’ll text the address, as it’s not gonna be announced until a half hour beforehand to ensure you guys can’t case the joint.” Then the line went dead and all of us stared at each other, no one knowing quite what to say.
“I can go back to them.” A soft and unsure voice from the doorway sliced through the stifling silence. Someone had apparently forgot to shut the damn door. Maddie stood there with wide eyes, her posture timid and defeated. When I looked over her head, I didn’t see anyone behind her, so it was reasonable to assume she’d been the only one to hear the conversation with Griller. “It’s all because of me that this is happening,” she cried, her trembling chin indicative she was gonna break down further any moment. She looked to Linc, then to Marek. “You can send me back.”
Linc rushed to her, pulling her into his side. “You’re not goin’ anywhere.” He quickly turned to Marek. “Right?” Panic twisted his words while he waited for the fated answer.
“Right.” Prez walked toward them, but his sights were set on someone else. “Sully!” he shouted, making Maddie flinch. When his wife appeared, he jerked his chin at Linc’s woman. “Get her out of here.” His tone was harsh, but Linc didn’t dare comment, releasing Maddie to Sully before retaking his seat.
“Now what?” Jagger edged closer to Marek. “We can’t leave them there until the fight. And who’s to say he’s even gonna let them go once Linc loses?”
Marek’s attention landed on our newest guests. “When can you meet your guy?”
“Anytime you need,” Ford answered.
“Set it up.” Prez pointed at Hawke, then Cutter. “I want you two to go with them. Take the van.”
Afterward he looked around the room, assessing the mood of everyone, which seemed to be linked.
Uncertainty.
Fear.
Anger.
And a splash of hope for delusion.
“As of this moment, we’re on lockdown. No one leaves except us. We’ll figure out who’s gonna stay behind to watch over the families after we discuss a few more things.” Marek raked his fingers through his dark hair, expelling a puff of air, looking more tired than the second before.
“I thought this place wasn’t big enough for everyone,” Ace said. “How am I gonna convince Chels she can’t go anywhere for who knows how long?” His question was more to himself than to any of us.
“We don’t have any other choice,” Stone replied. “We’re not letting them out of our sights. We were hoping not to get to this point, but here we are.”
As we set about planning our next move, I couldn’t get rid of the shadow of doubt looming over me. I prayed for Zoe and Braylen’s safe return with every fiber of my being, but every minute that passed, the hope that twisted inside me slowly dwindled.
Why would Griller give them back to us? He didn’t strike me as a man of his word, even though not once did he mention he’d return them once he got what he wanted, which was money. We just assumed the exchange was implied.
But what if it wasn’t?
What if he was simply fucking with us, dangling a shred of possibility only to snatch it away at the last second? He could make more and more demands, keeping them hostage for weeks, months, possibly forever.
I dismissed each scenario from my frazzled brain, realizing I’d stop at nothing to get them back as quickly as possible.
Fuck waiting until Friday.
We were gonna storm their clubhouse and every known affiliation as
soon as Marek gave the go-ahead.
33
Being in the dark heightened my sense of fear, yet an odd perception of safety overcame me, which was ridiculous because I was anything but protected.
I was back in the dank cellar, pacing, mumbling to myself in an effort to comprehend what was going on. If I was on the outside looking in, I’d view me as some nutjob, talking to myself with my hands flying all around me. But I wasn’t crazy. I was sane.
Sane and confused.
Sane and hurt.
Sane and fearful.
“Are you okay?” Braylen’s fingertips glided off my shoulder and I flinched, curling into myself, my brain taking its sweet time deciphering whether the person beside me was a threat or not.
“Why are they doing this?” I whispered, the syllables falling from my lips afterward a jumbled and explosive mess.
Brick had warned me things with the club weren’t good right now, that the issue of my safety was a high priority for him, for my dad, but I never expected to be kidnapped and… I tried to eliminate the memories of what they’d done to me, but I couldn’t, not completely, and I feared I’d never be able to.
Braylen shuffled closer, keeping her hands at her sides this time. “Because Linc took Maddie from them.” At first her words meant nothing to me. In fact, I didn’t understand why she said what she had. Then it dawned on me that she was only answering my question.
I’d found out about Maddie through Brick but only bits and pieces, not wanting to pry. The other reason I hadn’t pushed him for answers was because I didn’t want to imagine all she’d been through. Thinking about it now, as best I could, maybe those details would’ve been useful to know, even though I could’ve never imagined the same thing happening to me.
“Do they want her back?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, gripping her belly, and expelling a breath.
Pressing my hands together and resting them against my mouth, looking like I was about to pray, I asked another question I doubted she had an answer to. “Do you think they’ll let us go?”
“I don’t know,” she repeated, pulling me into her before I even realized she touched me. I fought against the contact at first, but she never relented. “Don’t lose hope. I’m sure they’re working on a plan to get us out of here.”
“But we don’t know where we are. How will they?” I tried again to free myself, but she only held tighter. Each word I spoke depleted my strength, and it took everything not to break down and give in to the cold fingers of despair squeezing my soul.
This was one of the few times we’d been alert at the same time, but instead of treasuring the fact she wasn’t still lying on the floor, I wished for silence.
I hadn’t told her what they’d done to me, or that I offered myself up in her place. If I didn’t say the words out loud, I could pretend it was all a bad dream. Only it wasn’t, and every prick of the slightest sound made my heart race, even if that sound came from me.
My breathing.
My pulse, which drummed loudly in my ears.
Even the constriction of my throat when I swallowed.
Braylen didn’t answer my last question. She just held me closer and kissed the top of my head, but I couldn’t stop my brain from concocting various questions.
When would I be dragged from this room again?
How many would there be?
Would they kill me afterward this time?
And for as torn as I was over the last unspoken question, I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d toss me aside and finally steal Braylen away from me. There would be an odd sense of connection we’d share if they did to her what they’d done to me, a sorrow and pain that would join us.
We’d have someone to share the horror with, someone who understood.
But as the tears filled my eyes, then spilled down my cheeks, my body racked with trembles, I knew in my heart that I would do everything in my power to make sure I was the only one who suffered at those bastards’ hands.
34
Waiting was the worst thing I could be doing right now, too many scenarios building together inside my head that only made me want to destroy everything in my path. The moment I saw that picture, my heart shattered, shards of despair plunging so deep I didn’t think I’d ever recover.
There was so much blood, more on Zoe than Braylen. Had they beaten her? Tortured her? Worse?
“How are you holding up?” Addy’s touch startled me, her soft voice pulling me away from the dreadful images in my head. Hunched over on the couch with my head resting heavily in my hands, I bounced my shoulders because there were no words that could adequately answer her question. A swirl of emotions blended together to form another—one I couldn’t describe. “We’ll get them back.”
“Can you promise that?” I twisted my head to the side to look at her, my tone harsh, even though she didn’t deserve to be the target of my anger.
“What I can promise,” she responded, not specifically answering me, “is that these men will do everything they can to bring them home, even if that means burning it all to the ground.”
We stared at each other for a short time, her eyes roaming my face, studying me, like she was trying to read my mind. I took comfort in her gaze, realizing she was hurting, too, like the rest of us.
“How are you doing otherwise? Do you want me to look at your chest and leg?” She shifted on the couch next to me, giving me room in case my answer was yes, although I wasn’t about to strip right here, out in the open. As if sensing the same, she added, “Do you want to go into one of the bedrooms?”
Stone happened to walk up to us at that exact moment, only hearing her last question.
“What the fuck, woman? Why you askin’ him to go to the bedroom?” Her husband stood between us, kicking my boot with his before reaching down and grabbing her arm. He pulled her to her feet. Without glancing upward, I felt the tension swirling around him. Granted, I would’ve reacted much the same way had I heard Zoe ask another man that same thing, but this was an entirely different circumstance. Addy had always taken care of those that needed medical attention, unfortunately, me included. So her question could only be centered around those needs.
“Calm down. I was going to look him over, assess the state of his healing, and I doubted he wanted to strip down right here in front of everyone.”
Stone smacked my arm. “You healin’ okay?”
“Yeah” was my one-word, curt answer.
“See? No need to look him over.”
“You’re impossible,” she chastised, touching the back of my head when she stepped around Stone. “Brick, if you need me, let me know. Okay?”
“Thank you.”
They walked away but I wasn’t alone for long before Morgan plopped down next to me. My eyes glided over her outfit, pissing me off all over again. Then a reminder hit me, stealing the air from my body in the next second. Because of my stupid comment to Zoe, she’d changed from her jeans into a short, yellow dress. That’s what she was obviously wearing when they took her. All rationale disappeared as I imagined them leering at her, even though I knew they’d react the same way if she’d been wearing those damn molded jeans.
“Can you tell me exactly what’s going on? Tag keeps giving me coded answers, but I can tell it’s something serious because everyone here looks to be on edge, even like someone died.” She gasped. “Did someone die?”
“No,” I barked, reeling in my temper when her eyes widened. “Sorry. It’s just… shit.”
“Well, that’s clear as mud.”
“I can’t tell you right now. I just need for you to listen to me and stay put until I tell you otherwise.”
“Okay. I can stay here for a while. But remember I’m setting up the gallery, so I’ll have to—”
I turned toward her and grabbed her shoulders. “You’re not goin’ anywhere until I say so. Do you understand me, Morgan? Nowhere! I don’t give a fuck what you think you have to do for your boss. You call in and
say you need a leave of absence.” My fingers dug into her. She tried to wriggle away but I held her in place. “I’m not playin’ around. They won’t get you too. They won’t,” I repeated, shaking my head. “If you even try to step foot outside this clubhouse, I’ll lock you in one of the rooms.”
“You’re hurting me,” she whispered, her wide and glassy eyes staring back at me. “Let go.”
“Not until you tell me you understand.”
“I get it.” Her voice took on a sterner edge that time. “Now let go.”
I finally released her, and she hopped off the couch, never giving me another glance as she rushed back toward Tag. He placed his hand where mine had been and she flinched. I most likely unintentionally left a small bruise on her, but I needed her to understand, all while knowing she didn’t comprehend a damn thing at the same time.
It was only when he shot me a filthy glare that I felt bad for scaring her, but at the same time I wanted to punch him in the face for acting protective over her. He’d just met her, what right did he have to shoot me any kind of look?
“Where’s Linc?” Marek asked, striding up next to me. Could I not get a free moment to wallow in my anguish?
“Don’t know. Maybe in the kitchen or one of the rooms.” I pointed toward the hallway. “Why? What’s up?”
“I wanna talk to Maddie.”
“About?” I stood to my full height, towering over Prez, as I did most of the guys, but my size didn’t affect him. Not in the slightest.
He flashed me an annoyed look, then scoffed. “You think I have to answer you?”
“No. Sorry.” Everyone was on edge, Marek included, so I didn’t say another word about it before he stalked off toward the back rooms. “I can’t take much more,” I mumbled to myself, glancing around the large common space filled with everyone we knew.
Zander and Luke hung out near the bar, Trigger waving them off every time one of them tried to convince him to give them a drink. It wasn’t Zander’s age of nineteen he objected to, and Luke was twenty-one, of legal age, but he wasn’t giving anyone alcohol. We all needed our wits about us and the last thing we wanted was to be drunk and caught off guard if something went down.