Another school year has closed and it’s summer again. Cameron decided to leave with Jamie for the summer months, and Country and I spend each night in each other’s arms, exploring each other’s bodies. Things are getting tense between us, it gets harder and harder with each passing night not to take things farther than what we can. I have my license now and don’t need to depend on him so much for all of my needs, we still grocery shop together and he still throws things into the cart that we don’t need, but I don’t say anything. I know how he is when his sweet tooth isn’t taken care of, so I let it go…to each their own and all of that. The car that used to stay parked across the street is a thing of the past and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. We still don’t have a lead on my folks and what their life was like or who they were before we were born, but it’s getting easier as the days go on to deal with their disappearance. Cameron calls me every day, she took her car with her so that if things got too intense or uncomfortable for her she can come back home.
I miss her dearly in the daytime, but Country fills my nights where the empty space of my best friend leaving isn’t so intense. When I talked to her earlier today, she told me she’s thinking of transferring schools for our senior year and staying with Jamie on the reservation. She’s happy, so if this is best for her I’ll support her with whatever decision she makes. I’ll miss her terribly, but all I want is for her to be as happy as I am. Besides the absence of my folks, I’ve never been happier. I spend my days keeping as busy as I can, I’ve started working for Gunner with errands for the club and their businesses. He’s giving me a weekly salary making it easy to not touch the money left for me and having some spending money and enough left over to fill the tank several times over. Tonight, we’re having a party at the clubhouse, well, not really a party more of a BBQ. I’m in charge of gathering up all of the groceries and bringing them to the clubhouse. I already bought the meats and have had them marinating in the refrigerator, today I’m getting the rest of the staples.
Country is busy at the garage, he seems to be a natural at repairing cars and bikes, so he’s gotten himself a full-time job. He loves it and I’m so happy for him, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do to earn a living for the rest of his life, but I think he’s figured it out now. He’s getting his mechanic’s license with the help of the club and he’s high on life. I’m riding his high with him and help him study at night, I may be just as knowledgeable as him about repairs once he completes his courses! I look in my rear-view mirror to make sure Curley is still behind me, which he is, he’s not one to be easily shaken…not that I would anyways. I know he’s there for my protection should anything arise. I pull in and find a space at the local grocery store, he pulls in next to me and makes it over and opens my car door for me as I pull the key from the ignition.
“Sorry you drew the short straw and are on grocery duty with me today.”
“No short straw, I volunteered. I didn’t want to be on set-up duty at the clubhouse and it’s easier with you then with the rest of the women.”
“Awe, you say the sweetest things to me Curley,” I say sarcastically.
“Just tellin’ it like it is sweetheart,” he says to me as he winks. He’s such a flirt and I have a blast when I’m with him. If I can’t have my brother or Country at my side he’s my next choice. The conversation I had with Country last night in bed comes back to me – “You have choices in life Charlee girl, the world is your oyster.”
“Charlee’s choices huh?”
“I have faith in you, you’ll always make the right ones, and if not, I’ll be right by your side when you make the wrong ones.” We were discussing what I wanted to do after high school, I don’t really want to go to college, I’d rather work for the club and get my life started. Preferably with him and the future family I long for.
I come out of my thoughts when Curley grabs a basket. “What are we shopping for today?” he asks me, so I pull the list out I made and hand it to him. We begin our journey up and down the aisles. Chips, dips, sodas, beer, candy for the kids…I can never resist giving them a sugar rush then sending them home with their folks. I decided to keep things simple and easy where the only thing the women have to do is open up bags and set them on the table. They guy always take care of the meats and grilling, why can’t we have things easy for once?
When we’re finished shopping we load up the trunk of my car and take off to join the others who are waiting for us to return with the supplies. I already took the meats over earlier this morning, so I don’t need to make any further stops. The people at the grocery store know who I am and who I’m shopping for, so they let me get the beer with no issues any time I stop to purchase some. Knowing I have some influence in the community brings a smile to my face, not even the cops in this town would dare say anything. They pulled me over one time to issue me a citation for my taillight being out, which I wasn’t aware of or I would’ve already had it taken care of. I was lucky because sitting next to me in the car was my big brother. The cop took one look at him, put his pad away and informed me that I needed to get that taken care of, which my brother did that night. But now, I’m on a don’t pull over list and I’m living on top of the world. Not that I’d do anything bad enough to get pulled over for mind you, but the hassle of dealing with them is something I no longer have to worry about.
Out of habit I look behind me to make sure he’s doing alright, and I notice there’s a truck practically on top of him. I pull over to let the fool pass us by, only the jackass speeds up and clips the back tire on his bike. I scream out in frustration and put the car in park, I get out of the car to go check on him and make sure he’s alright since it threw him into the ditch. His bike is replaceable, but he isn’t, and he’s become such an important person in my life. As I make my way over to where he’s lying I notice the truck stop and begin to scream at them.
“Are you fucking stupid? Didn’t you see him, he’s hard to miss! You better hope he’s alright or my brother’s club will rain down hell on your life!”
As I finish my ranting I notice a gun pointed on me, “You’re coming with us bitch.” The fuck I am! I’m not stupid, I know once I get into that truck there’s nothing to guarantee my safety or keeping me alive. I will not be another statistic!
“Make me,” I say putting on a brave front, knowing that I’m anything but at this time.
“You stupid cunt, you either come with us now or we’ll kill you on the spot.” The road we’re on is deserted so I need to weigh my options. I know that if I leave with them I might as well dig my own grave now, but what options am I left with here? Curley is out cold, I see blood coming from his head, so I know he won’t be waking up anytime soon if at all…that thought fills me with dread. He has to be okay, he was hit as a distraction to get to me.
“Why? Why are you doing this? I’ve done nothing to you, I don’t even know who you are!”
“No more talking, get into the truck now or I’ll shoot your friend here in the head. He’s still breathing right now, but he won’t be for long if you keep running your mouth.” Mean man number one says to me. They’re both tall, built and intimidating as hell. You can tell by looking at them that they’ve led a hard life and don’t mess around. It’s no-holds-barred with these jackasses, but I don’t want to go, I don’t know what lies ahead for me or my future if I get into that truck with them. Mean man number two holds the gun out and aims it at Curley, that’s it decision is made, I have to go wherever it is they’re taking me and try to make it out alive and as unscathed as possible. I go to where they are, one of the mean men as I’ve come to call them in my head, grabs my arm roughly and drags me to the truck where he proceeds to throw a bag over my head and ties my hands and feet together.
The fear has finally sunken in, I hope that I make it out of this and see my brother and Country again.
I look at my watch for what must be the tenth time in the last twenty minutes. Charlee and Curley should’ve been back over an hour ago and I’m
starting to get worried. I go out to the parking lot to see if they’ve pulled up, no such luck, my gut is churning telling me something’s wrong. I go in search of Gunner and find him at the bar with a bunny wrapped around him.
“Gunner, Charlee and Curley should’ve been back by now.” He looks at his watch and scowls at it, he jumps up from the stool and heads over to the phone.
“Let me call the grocery store and see if they’re still there,” he says picking up the receiver and calling information to get the number. They put him through and I watch as he talks to whoever answers the call on the other end. I see his face turn from curious to concern, he slams down the phone and runs out towards his bike, I’m hot on his heels knowing that my instinct was dead on.
“Talk to me!” I shout out at him needing to know what’s happening and where we’re going.
“They left over an hour ago!” he shouts back at me gathering the others’ attentions. It’s not just the two of us jumping on our bikes it’s all twenty of us.
“What’s going on?” Buster our road captain yells out to us.
“Charlee and Curley went to the store and left over an hour ago and they haven’t made it back yet, we’re going to check the road from here to there and see if they’re possibly broke down,” Gunner hollers back, but I know and so does he that they aren’t broke down, they would’ve come back with whatever vehicle was still working. Kruger looks at me, and I can tell he’s thinking the same thing I am, they found trouble on their way home.
Ten minutes down the road and my suspicions are confirmed, seeing her car pulled over, driver’s side door open and Curley’s bike wrecked and laying on its side turns my stomach and I lean over to the side and lose my stomach’s contents. If she was okay she would’ve run to me the second she heard us pull up, our search for them finds him in the ditch, blood oozing from a head wound and no Charlee in sight. And I lose my shit, I start screaming out her name running up and down the road looking in every single inch of the ditches on either side and I run into the woods that the road lays between. I take the right side and Gunner takes the left, the brothers separate with six coming with me, and six going with Gun and the rest staying at Curley’s side, protecting him from any further threats to his being, since he is in no position to do it for himself.
With no luck finding my girl within the depths of the trees and bushes I make my way back to check in with Gun. I see several jackets laying on top of Curley to keep him warm while we wait for help to arrive. Malice rode back to the clubhouse to put a call in for an ambulance. As I wait my body begins to shake in fear of what my girl must be going through and how scared she must be. Malice returns with the tow truck to bring both Charlee’s car and Curley’s bike back to the clubhouse, I’m glad someone’s thinking because the only thing running through my mind is how I’m getting my girl back and home where she belongs. Gunner joins us shaking his head at me letting me know he found nothing on his side either. I see anger, worry and frustration written all over his face, a face that I know mirrors mine at this minute.
“We will find her and bring her home,” Kruger says to me and the others murmur out their agreements. I know we’ll get her back, the question is what kind of shape will her body and mind be once we do?
Three days…that’s how long my girl has been missing for. We’ve scoured the streets, called in every marker we have and have called in all of our support clubs. The Rage Ryders, the Lost Devils Outlaws, the Throwdown Riders and the Lost Spirit Outlaws are all combing their streets looking for leads from their end. Nothing has been found, and no leads. It’s as if she vanished into thin air. Just like her parents, only this wasn’t her choice like it was theirs. She would’ve never left me, Gunner, the guys or Cameron behind. Fuck Cameron, we need to call her she still doesn’t know her friend is missing, I’m dreading that phone call, but I know it needs to be done. Neither of those girls will forgive me if I don’t inform her of the incident. Curley is in ICU and things are bleak as far as his recovery is going. He hasn’t woken up yet to give us any details, he has swelling on his brain and is in a coma thanks to the doctors who medically put him in one to give his brain time to recover. I head to the main room and over to the phone. I pick it up to make that dreaded phone call.
“Who are you calling?” Gunners ask me as he makes his way over to stand next to me.
“We haven’t called Cam yet, she needs to know what’s going on.”
“Fuck you’re right, give her a call,” he says but doesn’t move away from me, he stays glued to my side as I press the numbers that will connect me to her. The phone rings several times before it’s answered.
“Hello,” I hear as Jamie answers the phone.
“Jamie, it’s Country, can I speak to Cam for a minute please?”
“What do you mean can you talk to her, she should be there with you!” he says, sounding anxious.
“Jamie man, this isn’t time to play around, I need to speak with her.”
“Well, you can’t, we got into an argument and she took off days ago, I haven’t heard from her and assumed she was heading home to you guys. I was giving her time to cool off before I called her to talk.” Alarm bells go off in my head and I relay what I just heard from Jamie to Gunner.
Fuck no! Hell no, both of them are missing and we’re just now figuring it out! “No, no, no, no, no…I want them found! I want them found now!” I scream out as I reach around and punch a hole in the wall. Not only is my baby sister missing but my Cameron is also, she can’t be, I can’t even fathom life without those two in my life. I can’t lose them…either of them. I need them like I need air to breathe, they’re my everything. My life has no meaning without seeing their beautiful faces every day, without the sassiness they display and the love they so freely give. They make me feel human, alive and I will kill every single motherfucker who is involved with them missing. I will shred them piece by piece, I will torture, maim and make them fear the day they were ever born…they will beg for mercy. They will beg me to stop as I squeeze the life from their pathetic bodies. I want blood—I want their blood, I want them annihilated!
I start to wake up from this foggy sleep, I feel disoriented, disconnected and can’t get my eyelids to cooperate and open. I try to use my other senses to figure out where I am and what’s going on…my memory is a little fuzzy as to why I’m feeling this way. I didn’t drink last night because I don’t use alcohol in any way, I don’t do drugs so those two are out. I don’t remember being in a car accident…the last thing I remember is checking in my rearview mirror to check on Curley after we left the grocery store. Then it hits me, and I remember, he was hit by a truck, I stopped to help him and started giving the driver hell…oh fuck me, dammit to hell someone kidnapped me! I can’t believe this shit.
Since my eyes are still not working and opening, I move my hands over my body, it’s a slow process since everything seems to be moving in slow motion. My arms and legs feel so heavy it’s hard to move them, but I manage to get enough range of motion to realize I’m still clothed, nothing seems to be broken, but I’ve got a raging headache. My memories come flooding back and I remember that I fought them even when we got in the truck and I ended up with a blow to the back of my head. Those bastards are lucky they didn’t kill me…if I ever see mean man one or two ever again…once I get out of here that is, I’m going to obliterate them.
I can hear sniffling around me and I try to reach out for the source, it’s then I realize that I’m blindfolded and that’s why I can’t see…duh Charlee, wake up and get with the program. As I start to come around fully I notice that my right leg is chained to the wall, what a bunch of fucking idiots, what’s the use in blindfolding me when I can reach it to take it off? They must be amateurs in the kidnapping business, maybe I can use their stupidity against them. I remove the offending object from my eyes and notice it’s dark, I’m in a block walled room and I’m on a …eww, this mattress has definitely seen better days—gross. There’s a window in the top
corner of the room allowing just a smidgen of sunlight to enter.
As my eyes begin to adjust and I look around I see another figure on another what I assume disgusting mattress. This person also has one leg chained to the wall, I can’t tell if it’s a woman or a small man, so I call out. “Hey, I’m Charlee, do you know where we are?”
“Ch…Ch…Charlee?”
“Cameron! Oh my God Cameron, is that you?” I begin to panic, how the hell did they get their hands on her? She’s supposed to be safe and sound with Jamie on the reservation.
“Charlee! What’s going on? Where are we and why did those men grab me on my way home?”
“I don’t know Cam, but I promise you the guys will find us and figure it all out, we just have to be patient and bide our time. Do whatever they say and keep yourself as safe as possible. Don’t do anything or say anything to cause them to harm you in any way.”
“Oh yeah, because I’m the one we have to worry about opening her mouth and inserting foot,” she snorts out at me…what can I say, she knows me well and knows I have a foot to mouth disorder. I’ve always been this way, especially when I’m nervous or scared. I may not be able to take my own advice, but I hope with everything within me that she does.
Charlee's Choices: DreamCatchers MC Page 11