I believed him. Della had told me that their relationship had become nothing more than booty calls, and she’d grown tired of his asking for money. I couldn’t believe how cold and callous Daryl was acting, though. He didn’t seem to care what happened to her.
“Maybe I should just put her out of her misery.”
I stopped breathing. He couldn’t be serious! I’d never cared for him, I’d always thought that Della could do better, but I’d never thought him capable of what he was implying now. I was seeing a whole other side of the man, realizing suddenly that he’d been playing both Della and me, hiding his true self from us while he’d used her. How could we have been so blind? He’d been decent in the beginning.
Afraid that he might do just that, desperation made me rush out, “Rebel will be here any minute now.”
“Fuck, we’d better get out of here,” Jack said, beginning to drag me out of my apartment. “Leave the bitch, man!”
I heard the sound of the click on my door, realizing that Daryl had locked it, and then he was pulling it closed behind us. “You got your car?” he asked behind us.
I struggled to get away as Jack pushed me in front of him down the short hallway, satisfied now that Della was safe and Daryl couldn’t hurt her any more. I knew that if they managed to get me into their car that I would be in big trouble. Panic caused me to squirm, and I began to cry out for help again, hoping to leave a witness to a barefoot woman being taken away against her will.
I knew my disappearance wouldn’t go unnoticed. Rebel would find me. So I screamed as loudly as I could and lashed out at Jack, clipping him on the side of his head. I knew that I’d caught him unaware when he stumbled back with a grunt, but instead of releasing me his hand clenched tighter around my arm. He didn’t seem to have the same violent tendencies as Daryl.
With a sound of angry frustration, Daryl snatched me roughly from Jack, slapped me hard enough for me to see stars, and then threw me up against the wall. The breath whooshed out of my lungs with the force of my back slamming against the stucco wall, and before I could react, his hand was wrapping around my neck tightly. He lowered his face close to mine, baring his teeth like a rabid dog.
“Listen, you fucking bitch,” he began with a breath so sour that it made me gag. “You’ll come willingly with us, or I won’t hesitate to go back and finish Della off. It won’t take much for me to kick the door in, you got me?” he snarled. I was trapped by the evil glint in his eyes, noticing that they weren’t as dilated as they had been before.
I didn’t want to take a chance that he would kick the door in, and he didn’t give me time to respond. He yanked me away from the wall with a jerk and dragged me behind him. I glanced around as he led me toward the parking lot, feeling more and more fear set in. My mind raced with everything that had happened, and the terror of what might happen next made me feel sick inside.
The next thing I knew I was being forced down on the floor into the back of a fairly new Camaro.
Chapter 17
Rebel
I pulled into the parking lot of Ginger’s apartment complex just as a black Camaro screeched out onto the main road. I flipped the driver the bird because his reckless exit had nearly clipped the front wheel of my bike as I’d been turning in. Whoever he was, he was in a fucking hurry. I parked my bike in a vacant spot and made my way to Ginger’s door.
My steps slowed as I neared her apartment and I noticed that Della’s door was wide open. I slowed down as the inside of her apartment came into view. The first thing I noticed as I paused in the doorway was the silence. My gut told me there was no one there. I began to look around, noticing the disarray of items that had been neat and orderly the evening before.
Then my gaze landed on the first droplets of blood that were splattered on the wall. Shit! I instinctively reached for the gun that I kept tucked at the back of my pants. “Anyone here?” I rushed through the room to her bedroom, taking in the overturned lamp, the pillows on the floor, and the cracked mirror on the wall as I went. “Della?” She wasn’t there, but it was apparent that her bedroom was where the attack had begun. There was blood on the sheets. I spun around to go back the way I’d come, following the trail of blood to Ginger’s door.
Fuck! There were smears of blood all over the door.
I turned the knob, but it was locked. I’d made a key, but I didn’t waste any time digging it out of my pocket. I took a step back and raised my foot, kicking the door open with one kick. As it flew back against the wall my gaze landed on Della’s prone, beaten body on the floor. I dropped to my haunches and checked for a pulse. Her weak moan revealed that she was barely holding on to consciousness.
“Della, it’s Rebel, sweetheart. Can you tell me what happened?” I’d already dug out my phone and was punching in 911, brushing her hair out of her swollen face. My gaze darted around the apartment, searching for Ginger. My gut told me that she wasn’t there.
“Ginger…”
“Where is she?” I asked, trying to remain calm. The 911 operator picked up, and I gave her the address, telling her that there’d been an attack and that we needed the police and an ambulance. Then I dialed Tanner, the Sentinels’ president, and a friend of mine who also happened to be cool with Daytona law enforcement, just in case I needed him. “Della—” I reached for the throw hanging off the back of the sofa and arranged it carefully under her head. She moaned again as I moved her. “Sorry, sweetheart.” Jesus, she was a bloody mess. Unable to tell if she had a wound that needed immediate attention, I searched to see if she was bleeding out anywhere. “Where’s Ginger?” Blood was staining the fabric between her legs.
“Gone,” she murmured low.
I’d figured that. “Did someone take her?”
I caught her slight nod. “D-Daryl.”
I frowned. “He did this shit to you?”
Again she nodded. “H-He came ba-ack for money. Though I-I was lying‒” She couldn’t finish her sentence as she was gripped by some terrible pain.
The fucking prick! I should have known from the way he’d stomped out of the apartment the night before that he was going to come back.
“Did-Didn’t have it.” She paused and took a slow breath. “Beat m-me.”
That was fucking obvious. “Why did he take Ginger?”
She closed her eyes and I watched tears leak out of the corners. “My fault,” she admitted in a pained voice. “I-I came ov-over here. Tr-tried to get a-way from him.”
She didn’t need to explain the rest. It was easy to surmise what had happened after that. The little fucker! I was going to end him. I fisted my hand, fighting the urge to slam it against the wall, angry at myself for deciding to stay at a motel the night before. With the job I had to work later that evening with Jace and Moody, I’d wanted a solid, undisturbed sleep. Being curled up around Ginger’s soft, enticing curves would have been too distracting.
I could hear the sirens in the distance. Normally I wouldn’t have hung around, but I wasn’t a bastard. I couldn’t leave Della alone like this, and I needed more answers before they took her away. “Sweetheart, do you know where he took her?”
Her face was swollen beyond recognition, blood was seeping from her nose and mouth and an area behind her ear. Her lips were split open. One eye was completely swollen shut. Her clothes were torn, the blood that was splattered on them probably coming from her face. Her fingers were broken on one hand, her other hand was gripping between her legs. She was lying in a semi-fetal position. I could only imagine what kind of internal injuries she may have.
“Don’t know,” she finally got out in a soft tone. “I h-heard Daryl say he knew someone …” She drifted off, to gather her thoughts I assumed. I waited, the close sound of the sirens revealing that they’d arrived. “A m-man. I think. Someone lo-looking for girls?” A deep furrow appeared between her brows. “Does th-that sound right?” It was obvious that she thought she was confused by what she’d heard.
I wasn’t confused over what she’d
overheard, only slightly amazed that Daryl would have those kinds of connections. He hadn’t struck me as someone with friends in those circles.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Listen, the cops will be here any second. Don’t mention anything about Daryl taking Ginger.” I wanted to deal with that little fucker myself. “Okay?” I sensed her hesitation and realized that she may be having a hard time comprehending what I was saying. “Do you understand, Della? I’ll get Ginger back. And I’ll make Daryl pay. You want that, right?” She nodded. “Then leave it to me. All you need to tell the cops is that you don’t know who attacked you. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” she whispered. She grabbed for my hand. “Please find her.”
“Police!”
I looked up to see two cops come through the doorway, and Tanner was right behind them. His serious gaze took in the scene before our eyes met. He and I went way back, and I knew that I could trust him to see the truth before his eyes.
“Who called it in?” the younger cop asked. The older, heavier cop squatted next to Della.
“I did,” I said, getting to my feet slowly. I kept my hands in plain sight, because experience had taught me that some cops jumped to conclusions. “I found her like this.”
“Don’t move!” He was a rookie, that was obvious, and gung-ho.
Tanner and I exchanged knowing smirks. Some things never changed. Wear a little leather, biker boots, and a cut, and you were dubbed the bad guy before any questions were asked. “I called for an ambulance, too,” I frowned. “Where the hell are they?”
The cop who’d been conversing softly with Della rose to his feet. “They’re on their way.” He made eye contact with his partner. “She collaborated his story. Said she doesn’t know her attacker.”
Two guys in blue uniforms rolling a stretcher appeared at the door, causing us all to step out of the way.
“So you said you found her this way, did you see or hear anything before then?” the younger cop asked, taking out a note pad.
Jesus, I didn’t have time for this. I had to find Ginger. “No.”
The older cop’s brows suddenly shot up with surprise when he saw Tanner standing behind his partner, as if he’d just noticed him. “What are you doin’ here, Tanner?”
“Deputy Callahan,” Tanner acknowledged, before nodding toward me. “Rebel and I are old friends.” He crossed his arms, and I could read the mutual respect in their eyes. Tanner’s MC, the Sentinels, was the good guys who rode the streets at night helping keep the citizens safe. There were twelve men in his club, all retired vets.
“Old friends, huh? You can vouch for him?”
I snorted. I wasn’t a good man, but the cop wasn’t asking if I was clean or law abiding. He wanted to know if I was honest and could be trusted, if I had morals. I’d always leaned toward the right side of things, even when shit was about as wrong as it could get. I’d killed, but the fuckers that I’d ended had deserved it.
Tanner nodded without hesitation. “I can.”
The cop nodded in return. “We’ll follow the ambulance to the hospital and get a statement from the woman.” Della was being lifted onto the stretcher, a neck brace surrounding her neck, whimpering softly.
“Is she going to be alright?” I asked.
One of the EMT’s made eye contact with me while the other one covered her up. “We won’t know the extent of her injuries until we get her to the hospital,” he explained. “Just going by what we see I would say yes, but there could be internal injuries.”
I nodded.
“You sure you don’t know anything?” the young cop inquired in a slightly suspicious tone that I didn’t like.
I pinned my gaze on him, and had to give him credit for not looking away. Whether it was because he was too young to know any better, had back up, or the gun on his hip, he was standing his ground. I smirked. “I told you, I found her like this. You think I’m stupid enough to beat a woman bloody and then hang around to call the cops?” Not that I would ever take a hand to a woman.
“She didn’t say anything?” he persisted.
I ignored him.
“Let’s get to the hospital,” Deputy Callahan interjected. “Before they dope her up so much that she doesn’t know her own name.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” I agreed, crossing my arms. I wanted them gone so I could move on to finding Ginger.
“One more question.” I glared at him. His partner released a heavy sigh and glared at him, too. “Just in case we have questions later, what’s your name, and how can we reach you?”
I wasn’t going to give him my road name, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that I’d been staying there in that apartment. “The name on my license is Michael Woods.”
“That’s two questions,” Tanner grinned. “And you can reach him through me.”
“Good enough, now let’s move.” It was clear that Deputy Callahan had had enough.
Thank fuck. We walked out ahead of them, and I heard the click of the door that revealed that one of them had pulled Ginger’s door closed. Tanner and I walked quietly to where our bikes were parked and watched the police get into their cruiser.
“Thanks for coming, man,” I said when we finally made eye contact. “I knew your club and the police had an understanding. Didn’t feel like dealing with shit if it happened. I’ve got someone to find.”
Tanner nodded in understanding. “Any time, brother. Callahan’s alright, but Sanders is a hotshot newbie and likes to make waves. So what’s going on?”
“I found the woman that I was looking for.” I’d run into Tanner on Main Street earlier in the week and had told him that I was looking for a girl. I snorted to myself as I remembered that I’d walked up on him fingering a beautiful woman behind One Eye Saloon. “The woman who was just taken to the hospital is her best friend. The guy who beat her took Ginger, and I’m going to get her back.”
“Shit, brother. What do you need from us?”
I relaxed, knowing that I could count on Tanner and his club. Daytona was his town, and he knew it well. “You did it by showing up, brother. But I’ll take you up on your offer. Can you work the streets on a lead where they might have taken her? Della heard them mention something about a man looking for girls.”
“Fuck, a flesh peddler,” Tanner stated, his expression serious. “I know that shit goes on, but usually by the time we hear about it the key players have already packed up and left town. Their people remain tight-lipped, because they’re paid good money for the girls they find.”
“It’s kind of why I’m in town, for a job that involves a politician’s daughter gone missing.” I knew that I could trust him not to mention it to the wrong people.
Tanner’s brows shot up at that. “Do I want to know?”
Again, I shook my head. “You know me, brother. Most of my dealings are with people on the wrong side of the law. I know how you feel about your town,” I smirked, mounting my bike. “The Feds are involved in this one.”
“You’re working with the Feds?” he asked incredulously.
“Fuck, no,” I scowled. “Just happens they have a raid planned for the same place. We plan to move in earlier to avoid them.”
Tanner grinned knowingly. “You’re talking about Marcus Duponte. I have my own sources, brother. The fact that we know what the Feds have planned is the only reason we haven’t made a move on him. We don’t want his kind of operation in our town.”
“Yeah, it’s about time he got shut down.” I started my bike.
Tanner climbed onto his bike. “Know where to begin looking for your girl?”
I ground my back teeth, the thought of Ginger in Daryl’s hands, being hurt, making me want to destroy something. “I have an idea.” I’d have to contact Jace. He had a contact feeding him information about Duponte’s activities, which meant that they might have a list of suppliers.
Tanner nodded. “I’ll call my brothers and we’ll hit the streets, ask around.” He started his
bike and turned to head in the opposite direction, throwing his arm up in a wave as he pulled out onto the main road.
I knew that I could count on him. I pulled out my phone and hit Jace’s number, eager to find my woman. My woman. Ginger may not have known it yet, but she was mine. I’d laid claim to her four years ago.
Daryl was already a dead man, but if he hurt Ginger I was going to make him suffer first.
I was good at that.
Chapter 18
Ginger
I didn’t know where I was. Everything had happened so damned fast. First, they’d pushed me down onto the floorboard of a car, and then we were moving through the streets of Daytona. I remained silent, saving my energy for when I would need it, and estimated that we’d been traveling for about half an hour before we reached our destination.
From there things got scarier. I was pulled roughly from the car and bound with my arms behind my back with a scratchy piece of rope that Jack had found in the trunk of his car. I was thankful that they hadn’t forced me into the trunk of the car, because it looked like a catch all for discarded, smelly junk. Jack had foraged around until he’d found a half roll of duct tape, and slapped a strip of it over my mouth.
“Don’t want you causing us any trouble,” he said, giving me a wink.
“Come on,” Daryl snapped, grasping me around the upper arm.
I took in my surroundings as he pushed me toward a large, white house. It was isolated, located at the edge of a swamp, and overshadowed by huge, ancient cypress trees. The sight of the swamp made me nervous when I thought about the snakes and alligators that made their homes there. It was the perfect place to get rid of a body.
I stumbled up the porch steps. Daryl knocked loudly on the door, which was answered by a fairly short, round man who quickly showed his disgust at seeing us.
“What the hell!” His nervous little eyes darted around the area beyond the door, as if he were expecting to see someone else, while he rushed us inside and shut the door. “I don’t like people just showing up at my fucking home.”
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