by Erin Osborne
We all pull in and I pull my phone out so I can call Vanish. He answers and I fill him in on my gut feeling. How I don’t like that Charlie is following my girl, but I have work to do at the club for a few hours. He assures me he’ll keep an eye on her and let Tonya know what’s going on when she gets there.
Just as I go to hang up with him, my phone lets me know I have another call. Looking at the screen, I see its Gloria’s number. We all have it because of Heaven. She wants us to look in on the woman from time to time so we all have her number in case she needs us.
“Hello?” I ask, answering the phone.
“Colt!” she says, yelling my name. “You need to get here. Something is wrong.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, my voice alerting my dad, Bounce, and Breaker that something’s not right.
“Someone took Emersyn. She brought the baby in and left quickly to get to the club. When she was heading to her car, another car pulled up. A man got out and punched her a few times before stuffing her in the trunk of the car,” she tells me, her voice letting me know she’s crying and out of breath.
“Where’s the guy on the motorcycle who was followin’ her?” I ask as the members of the club surround me.
“I didn’t see anyone pull up beside her,” she answers.
“We’ll be right there. Go inside with Zoey and don’t let anyone else in,” I say, straddling my bike and starting it up without saying a word to anyone.
My heart is beating so fast, I’m sweating, and the only thing I can think about is Emersyn. Jeremy fucking has her. Charlie is missing and when I find his punk ass, I’m going to fucking kill him. None of this makes any fucking sense to me as I race toward Gloria’s house.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emersyn ‘Sky’ Wilkes
I CAN’T BELIEVE Colt got me a car. Not just any car, but a damn Charger. This car is my dream car and he bought me one. I love this man with my entire heart and it’s not because of this car. It’s because we haven’t seen one another in years and he still remembers my love of cars like this. I was worse than him, Logan, and Blood combined when we would go to car shows.
Leaving the house, I let the wind blow through the car as Zoey and I make our way toward Gloria’s house. After her appointment, Tonya had to get to the club and can’t babysit today. I’m happy because my baby girl gets to spend time with Gloria tonight. It’s been a long time and I know it will be good for Gloria.
Charlie, I think his name is, follows me into town. When I go to turn off for Gloria’s road, he disappears. No other cars are behind me. I debate if I should call Colt or not. Deciding not to, I continue on my way to Gloria’s since I’m almost there. I’ll be in and out and then to Legacies. One of the guys will be there and I’ll let them know. They can make the call about what to do.
My gut begins to churn, and I know something is about to happen as I pull up at the apartment. Rushing inside, I hand my precious daughter over to Gloria.
“Please make sure no one gets to her,” I plead with Gloria. “I’ll be at work and Tonya and Heaven will be there. If you see anyone you don’t know, call them. Please?”
“I will, honey,” she assures me, taking the diaper bag from my arm and Zoey.
I wait until the door is closed and hear the lock click in place before turning and heading to my car. As I get closer to my car, another one squeals to a stop right next to mine. The urge to run overcomes me and I try to make it to my car so I can get in and lock the doors. I don’t let the panic threatening to overtake me get the upper hand. Instead, I don’t think and just run. Well, I try to run to the car. I don’t scream or anything to draw attention to us because I don’t want him to do anything to another person. Especially knowing my daughter and Gloria are so close to us.
Unfortunately, Jeremy is out of the car he’s driving and faster than me.
He pulls a gun from his dirty, stained jeans as he gets closer to me. The second he’s in reaching distance of me, Jeremy reaches out and punches me twice in the face. Visions of Zoey and Colt fill me as my head snaps back. I hear my neck crack, but I don’t think about it. Images of Zoey and Colt fill my mind for a few minutes and my heart breaks with the knowledge that I’m about to be taken away from them. Our baby and me won’t be around to watch Zoey grow up or see Colt happy. I doubt our baby will survive whatever is about to happen to me. Black dots fill my vision until it overcomes me completely.
Waking up, I’m surrounded by complete darkness. My heart begins to race, and my entire body begins to shake uncontrollably. For a few minutes, I let myself panic for before I make myself calm down. I take deep breaths and try to slow my heart down so I can begin to take stock of what I know and what I can find out.
The first thing is Jeremy has me. He showed up out front of Gloria’s house. My only hope is that she heard the squealing of the tires and alerted Colt or someone from the club. If not, I’m even more screwed than I thought. Jeremy has a gun and I know he’s not afraid to use it; I’ve seen him do it before.
Secondly, I smell gas. It’s almost overwhelming as I try to breath but only get the smell as it invades my entire body. The gas is so strong I almost get sick because it’s all I can smell. This is not good; at all.
Thirdly, I can hear the vibration of the tires spinning against the road. Every now and then there’s a bump to let me know I’m in the trunk of a car. Not the back seat, but the trunk. Well, this definitely complicates things even more.
Lastly, I can’t feel my arms or legs. As I try to move around, I realize I’m bound by something. Because I can’t feel anything, I don’t know if it’s tape or zip ties holding me captive. I’d try to get my phone, but I know it’s plugged into my car. I put it on the charger as soon as Colt left me in the car and that’s where it sits.
My mind goes to Charlie and I wonder what happened to him. If he were with me, Jeremy probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to me. On the other hand, Jeremy could’ve shot Charlie and still gotten his hands on me. I’m not sure how that would’ve played out because he left me alone when he wasn’t supposed to. I want to be mad at him, but I can’t because I don’t know if he’s a part of this or not.
Instead, I turn my attention to Ginger cornering me in the store. She told me she knew about Jeremy and that she’d let him know when I was alone. If she wasn’t following me, then how would she know I was alone. My mind begins to spin as I try to piece everything together. The only thing I can come up with is that Ginger and Charlie are working together to help Jeremy. He let her know I was going to be alone and she told Jeremy. He had to have been close to get there so quick.
Knowing there’s nothing I can do right now, I let my mind fill with Colt and Zoey. My daughter’s smiling and happy face fills my vision as I think about the times I got to play with her and make her laugh. The times I got to hold her in my arms and the day I gave birth to her. Zoey will be one in about five months from now and I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss her first steps, word, day of school, boyfriend, heartbreak, and everything else a mother should be there for. I won’t get to see any of it because I know Jeremy is going to kill me after he spends time torturing me.
Colt is the next vision I see. His handsome face fills me as I think of how upset he’s going to be when he realizes I’m missing. How he won’t stop looking for me and it will crush him when he finds out Jeremy is the one who took me. We spent a night talking and I told him more in detail about what he used to do to me. How Jeremy would torture me for fun before raping me. The days I was covered in bruises and so battered I could barely move. He’s been keeping my secrets to himself so I know this will destroy him.
The last thing I told Colt was that if Jeremy ever got his hands on me, he wouldn’t be content with simply torturing and raping me this time. Oh, it would satisfy him for a little while, but soon it just wouldn’t be enough for him. He would keep going until my body gave out and I died before his eyes. Colt promised me that wouldn’t happen because he’d do
everything in his power to make sure Jeremy was put to ground before I was ever touched by him again.
As far as I’m concerned, Colt kept his promise to me. It’s not his fault Charlie is a traitor and is choosing whatever he’s getting out of this over his loyalty to the club. Charlie may not be a full patch member yet, but he was on the right track to become one. Now, I don’t honestly know what they’ll do to him.
I let my thoughts drift back to the man I’ve loved my entire life. If nothing else, I want him to be happy and find someone to move on with. I’d love for him to raise Zoey as his own because I know that’s how he sees her. She’s his little Princess and he’ll do anything for her.
Tears stream down my face as I think of everything I’m going to miss out on with two of the most important people in my life. Then I add in thoughts of my dad. He’s trying to get better so he can be my dad again and meet Zoey to be a grandfather to her. My concern is that he’ll be destroyed if he gets out of the treatment center to find that I’ve been kidnapped and killed. I don’t think he’ll make it no matter who’s around him.
Stopping the constant thoughts and pictures on a loop in my mind, I take stock to see if I can tell if anything is different. About the same time, the car goes around a corner sharply and I’m thrown into the back of the trunk. My head slams into something because I can’t stop myself from moving around. It hurts like a bitch, but there’s nothing I can do about it until I’m out of the trunk and hopefully out of whatever is restraining me. Jeremy always does like it when I fight back.
As I try to push myself back from the metal inside the trunk, I realize the car is slowing down. He hits a huge bump and I’m once again thrown around. This time my head hits and then my ribs land across something as I fall back toward the floor of the trunk. Pain immediately shoots through my body and I whimper. There’s no way in hell I’ll scream out and risk Jeremy hearing it; he feeds off that shit.
Before I can try to move and get comfortable, the car comes to a stop. Then it shuts off and I hear the door open before slamming shut. I can hear footsteps running toward the car and a muffled conversation happening right outside the lid to the trunk. Because it’s muffled, I can’t make out the words, but I know it’s definitely Jeremy and a female.
It’s Ginger.
The lid finally opens, and I look up to see Jeremy with an evil grin on his face. Ginger is standing right next to him and she’s looking down at me with a triumphant look on her face. They think they’ve won, but I won’t give in. Not as easy as I used to. I have a life to protect they don’t know about and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure I get out of this. With or without help.
“I told you the bitch would be alone. It wasn’t hard to get Charlie to leave her alone. He wants my pussy and I promised him he could have me once you got your hands on the slut,” Ginger says, her voice grating on my nerves.
“That pussy belongs to me now,” Jeremy grunts out, grabbing onto Ginger’s hair and pulling her roughly to him. “No one touches you but me. When I’m done with you, no one will want you.”
Ginger looks at him and I can see the true fear in her eyes. She’s getting a look at the true Jeremy now and I have a feeling she won’t be able to handle him. Not as I watch her body begin to tremble and she leans away from him. Jeremy backhands her and she almost falls to the ground.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she says, trying to please him. “What do you want me to do?”
“Bitch, you’re gonna take her ass inside and make sure she can’t get away. If you fuck that up, you’ll be right next to her. I’ll be back in a little bit,” Jeremy bites out, pulling me from the trunk and dropping me on the ground behind the car.
Without waiting for me to get up, Jeremy gets in the car and turns the ignition on. As quickly as I can, I scoot my body from behind the car. While I know in my heart this is just another mind game for him, I also wouldn’t put it past him to run me over since he’s got Ginger here. It’s not like he needs me. But he won’t. Jeremy won’t let me go because he sees women as nothing more than a possession to him. Even when I was with him, he was fucking whoever he wanted to, and they couldn’t fuck anyone else unless he gave the okay for it.
Ginger pulls me up by my hair and drags me into the ramshackle structure that once looked to be a house. Looking around, I see it looks as though we’re deep in the country somewhere. At this point, I’m not even sure if we’re still in the same town or somewhere else. Who the hell knows how long I was passed out for earlier?
She drags me into the house and then toward the back. The floors are wooden, and I can feel splinters going through the soft material of my sweatpants and into my skin. Still, I don’t whimper or make any sound because Ginger is just as fucking crazy as Jeremy is. She’ll probably laugh in my face and do something more to hurt me. Right now, the only thing I want is to be left alone so I can think about how to get the hell out of here.
I watch as she opens a door and drags me inside a small room. There’s no window in the room, or anything else. Ginger leaves me at the back of the room and walks out the door before slamming it shut behind her. I hear the lock click in place. Finally, I’m alone and not in the back of a damn car. I’m still bound, but I’m alone. That’s all that matters to me right now.
Thinking, I realize, I never should have left Jeremy. Yeah, I’d probably be dead right now and I don’t know where my daughter would’ve ended up. But now so many more people are involved, and I hate this for them. Especially Colt and my daughter.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Emersyn ‘Sky’ Wilkes
JEREMY CAME IN the room I was being held in after however long and began using me as a punching bag. He was high as a kite and while his follow through wasn’t what it could’ve been, he still hurt me. I curled up in a ball to protect my baby the best I could. But it opened my back up and he went to town kicking me there. And punching me in the head. I don’t even know if he stopped when I passed out from the pain.
Now, I’m slowly waking back up. The pain is radiating throughout me and I go to move so I can find a more comfortable position, but I can’t. My eyes fly open and I see I’m in a different room. This one has a window with bars on it, two different doors, and a dresser. I’m lying on a bed and my hands and ankles are handcuffed to the bed frame.
Looking down the length of my body, I see I’m naked. My clothes are laying in a pile on the floor beyond the bed. A video camera is set up at the end of the bed and I’m not sure if it’s recording currently or not. Even though I can see, I’m having a hard time because my eyes are almost swollen shut. That’s probably why I have such a horrible headache. Or the punches to my head.
Tears slide silently down my face as visions of Colt, Zoey, and my family fill me. Regret I didn’t try to find Colt sooner fills me. Then pain that I didn’t try to help my dad more take up the space left in me. I cry for the unborn baby who will probably never see the light of day and who’s life will be cut short before it even begins. Finally, I cry for the loss of everyone I love in my life. I don’t want to die alone like this; but my chances of getting out of here are pretty much zero.
Before I can stop the flow of tears, the door unlocks and slams open. It’s not Jeremy, it’s Ginger. She’s high and stumbling into the room with a tray in her hands. I don’t want anything she’s trying to feed me.
“Here’s your fucking lunch,” she says, her words slurring as she slams the tray down on the filthy mattress next to me.
Everything on the tray slides to the floor and crashes. I jump as much as I can with the restraints holding me hostage. Footsteps sound and without looking I know Jeremy is on his way here to investigate what’s going on. Can’t have me getting free and leaving him. Again.
“What the fuck is going on here?” he slurs from the drugs and alcohol.
He’s got a beer bottle in his hand and I know it’s not the only thing he’s been drinking. It never is. Jeremy doesn’t drink just beer; it’s what he starts drinking a
fter finishing a bottle of whiskey or rum. So, he’s been drinking for however long and will be passing out soon. Not before he inflicts pain though.
“She knocked everything over,” Ginger lies. “Guess she doesn’t get to eat now.”
Jeremy walks closer and yanks Ginger up by her arm. He’s in her face yelling at her as I tune them out, trying to find something I can use to unlock myself. Not that I know how to do that. He smacks her and the sounds reverberates through the room. I’m immune to it since I’ve lived through it for so many years. That sounds horrible but Ginger made her own bed and now she can lay in it. She’s the reason I’m here with this psycho and I have no feelings toward the pain she’s suffering. Though I suspect the drugs she’s currently high on are dulling it.
“Get the fuck outta here and don’t come back. I’ll come fuck you when I’m done here,” Jeremy finally growls and Ginger races from the room as fast as she can in her current state.
With his attention now on me, Jeremy pulls a knife from his pocket. He’s always got one on him somewhere. He turns the video camera on and slowly walks over to me. By moving slow, he thinks I’m going to be more scared. That it will give me more time to think about what he’s going to do. I’m so used to it that it doesn’t faze me any longer.
I brace my body and wait for him to make his move. Even in his drugged-out state, I don’t give him the reaction he wants. Jeremy begins to slice as much of my body as he can. He starts with my legs and places cuts up one leg and then down the other one. They aren’t deep but they sting like hell and they bleed. Moving up my body, he begins to make cuts on my abdomen.
“So, you leave me only to turn into a whore for a motorcycle club. Starting with a fucking Prospect? You really are the trash I already thought you were. Nothing but a dumb fucking skank,” he growls at me. “You think I give a fuck if that biker had his cock in you? I don’t. Mine will be the last one you ever see or feel as I fuck every single hole you have.”