by K E Osborn
“You! You were at the hospital when I found out I was pregnant, weren’t you?”
He tilts his head smirking at me—it’s menacing and evil. “If I knew where you were all this time, don’t you think I would have come sooner?”
I jolt my head back. “So, you weren’t there?”
He laughs. “I think you might have been dreaming of me, beautiful.”
My body shudders as I glance around the room. “Where’s Dr. Branson?”
He looks to the floor behind the desk. I can barely make out a hand sprawled on the floor, so I move slightly to see the doctor knocked out with blood pooling from his head. I let out a loud gasp as I spin without hesitation to run, but his fast pace catches me quickly. He spins me, his body pressing me up against the door blocking me in. His warm breath breathing against my face as his onyx eyes stare deep into mine—his are cold, dark, haunted.
“You were never meant to leave me, Mylee,” he murmurs as his hand comes up caressing my face, a cold shudder running down my spine in fear.
“Leave you? I was never y-yours.”
He snorts out a laugh. “We’re destined, you and me.”
I raise my brow, curling my lip. “How can you think that?”
He takes a deep breath. “We were at the hospital at the same time, fate brought us together. Destiny intervened showing me the way. For the world to be right, for the world to be on the right path, we have to be on the right path. Do you hear what I’m saying?”
Tears well in my eyes, thoughts of my babies cross my mind. I don’t want him to hurt them. I don’t care about me, just don’t hurt my babies. I have no idea what he’s planning, all I know is I need Trax to get here and soon. But right now I need to delay Everett. “Why don’t we take a seat, and we can talk this out?”
He lets out a sinister laugh. “You think I’m stupid? You think I’m crazy? I planned all this meticulously.” I raise my brow, trying not to answer honestly. “Mylee, I know your biker will be here any minute, so we have to leave... now.”
My brows pull together. “No!”
“Yes!” He grabs my hand yanking me. I move to pull away, but he drags out a syringe with an attached needle from his lab coat pocket. I tense up halting my movements. “You walk out of here with me calmly, like nothing’s wrong, or I will stab this into your stomach.”
I tense up, but notice there’s nothing in the syringe. I wonder what the hell game he’s playing at here. “There’s nothing in the syringe, Everett?”
He cocks his brow at me. “There’s air, Mylee. Do you know what happens when you inject air into the body?” My body trembles not really wanting to know the answer. “When an air bubble enters through a vein, it's called a venous air embolism. Or if it enters through an artery, it's called an arterial air embolism. The air then travels to your brain, heart, or lungs and causes a heart attack, stroke, or respiratory failure… wouldn’t want that now… would we?” His words send shock right through me. I gasp as my palms coat in a fine mist of sweat. I can’t believe it, why is he doing this?
“What do you want?” I whimper.
“I told you. Come with me quietly. We have work to do.” He spins me, wrapping his arm around me while the other carefully positions the needle at my side making me whimper out a stifled moan as he reaches for the door. “Not a peep, you got it?”
I shudder as he slowly opens the door. We step out into the small hall. Unfortunately, there’s a wall blocking our view into the main waiting room so no one can see us from here. Tears flood my eyes as he pulls me in the opposite direction making us head out the back way, away from the reception desk. Away from where I know Trax will be coming in any second now.
TRAX
Finding a parking space was a fucking nightmare. I know I’m probably missing out on important shit right now. All I want is to fucking get in there with my woman to see what the hell’s going on. Once I finally found a space, I raced inside, and I’m now walking up to the front door in a mad rush. Yanking open the door, I stride in to see Mylee isn’t in the waiting room. She must have gone in already.
Fuck.
I don’t want to miss anything, so I walk over to the reception desk. The redhead looks up at me through her glasses and smiles a little wider than your typical smile. I inwardly chuckle knowing why.
“Afternoon. I think my woman, Mylee, has gone in with the doc, can I head in there?”
She bats her eyelashes at me. “Sure thing. She went in about five minutes ago, just head straight on through.”
I turn heading past the wall to the door of the doctor’s room, but the door is slightly ajar. I furrow my brows thinking it’s a little odd as I approach. Pushing the door to see no one’s inside, I take a breath thinking they must have gone to have the ultrasound area already when I hear a slight groan from the floor. I turn back, then I see it. Someone’s laying on the floor behind the desk.
I burst through the door, my heart leaping into my chest as I race around the desk to see Dr. Branson in a pool of his own blood, oozing from his head. My chest tightens, and I immediately begin to panic.
Where the fuck is Sparx?
I roll the doctor over, his eyes flutter open as he looks to me. I wave my hand over his face as he comes to. “Are you with me?”
He groans a little more. “Someone got me good.”
I tense. “Someone hit you?” I ask as he moans against his movements. “Do you know who?”
He shakes his head. “Some guy dressed in a doctor’s robe, he kept saying he was coming for her, that he was going to take her. They were destined to be together, then he knocked me out when I tried to get him to leave.”
Panic washes over me, and I stand abruptly. “Fuck! It’s shit you got hurt, but I have to go,” I tell him bolting out of the room, my feet feeling like fucking lead, they’re so heavy. I can’t seem to move fast enough, nothing I do is making me move quicker than I need to.
I burst out of the room, running out into the reception area. “Did you see where a doctor took my woman?” I burst out, the redhead shakes her head looking confused.
“No, she’s been in with Dr. Branson ever since she arrived.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I groan. “Dr. Branson’s hurt, you might want to see to that. Is there a back exit?” I ask.
“Yeah, but it’s only for staff.”
“This is an emergency, I think someone’s kidnapped my woman. Show me the exit. Now!”
She stands up rushing from behind her desk. We run down the back of the hall toward a door that’s ajar and swinging freely in the breeze. Dread fills me as I get to the top of the stairs and look out to see fresh tire marks. I grip my hair as I look to the redhead, her head swings from side to side like she’s confused.
“This door shouldn’t be open,” she murmurs. I let out a loud groan as I rush down the metal stairs looking around trying to see anything, but all I can notice is an empty parking lot with fresh tire marks. My chest aches with overwhelming pain.
Everett has Mylee, and I have absolutely no idea where to begin looking.
What the hell to do.
Holy shit.
I breathe in and out so fast I realize I need to keep myself together.
I need to think.
I’ve got to keep my shit together for my woman and my babies.
Yanking my cell from my jeans pocket, I hit the number I need right now. The only man I can think of to help me.
It rings, and for a moment I think he isn’t going to answer, then I hear a giggling girl sounding an awful lot like Cindi down the line and muffled kissing noises. “This better be fucking good, Trax.”
“I need you right now… Everett has Sparx.”
Ace grunts, the cell muffles slightly like he’s arranging himself, then he clears his throat. “Fuck. Where are you?”
“At the doctor, he took her, Ace. I wasn’t there to stop him. I just… oh fuck!” I yell out so loud it echoes through the parking lot.
“Okay. I
’m on it, you coming back to the clubhouse?”
My stomach sinks. I don’t know what the fuck to do. My instinct is to go, search the streets, just fucking look. But what the fuck am I looking for? My time is better spent back at the clubhouse trying to narrow the search area down, with my brothers by my side. And I have a call to make, a fucking call I never ever wanted to make to her father—to Crest, the man I look up to, the man I respect, the man I have now let down.
Fuck.
MYLEE
My hands are covered in sweat as I stare out the window of the car wondering what the hell I’m going to do. I’m caught here questioning just what Trax is thinking, what he’s doing, what hell he’s going through while I’m stuck here in a car with a crazy guy I met while in a psych hospital. I take a deep breath turning to look at Everett trying to think of how I should play this. “You look like you’re doing well, Everett,” I murmur.
He looks to me letting out a small laugh. “I’ve never been better, Mylee. You, me, we never belonged in that place. My father, he put me there for no good reason. It only made me edgy, made my skin crawl. I’m better off out of there.”
I raise my brow wondering why the hell he hasn’t been recommitted a long time ago—I suspect he’s completely off his meds right now. He never wanted to take his medication, and that fact always sent him spiraling. His thoughts on government conspiracies, the way the world was working against him, always made me question his logic. I tried to stay away from him in the hospital, but he gravitated toward me, never leaving me alone. It got so bad they had to put him in solitary for a while because they thought he might do something to harm either one of us. Or another patient. His attachment to me for some reason seems like it’s something to do with a childhood friend of his who died when she was young.
He said in the hospital I reminded him of her. My golden locks, my innocent features. Through me, he was connected to her. When she died, that’s when he became unstable from what I’ve been able to understand. They were playing in his father’s barn with his rifles. They were only about six or seven when the gun went off accidentally killing the girl instantly right in front of Everett. He was never the same and has been in and out of psych wards ever since. His father, the senator, trying his hardest to hide his son’s secret past—the past where Everett shot his best friend, then lost his mind in the process—is something that doesn’t sit well on record for a man running for president. Malcolm Scott has done a good job keeping his private life under wraps. The world knows he has a son, but they know nothing about said son. It’s all been hidden really well, and I know if news broke of the Senator’s son being mentally unstable, then the Senator’s chances for the race to the white house would probably be tarnished.
A lump forms in my throat, and I clear it shifting in my seat to face Everett more, trying to seem like I’m engaging his conversation. I want to appear friendly. I want to gain his trust. “Everett, I know our time in the hospital was brief, but I feel like I got to know you… about your past, about where your mind goes. But what I don’t understand is where we’re going right now?”
He smiles. It’s not a comforting gesture. It has a hard edge to it, and it unsettles me. “I’m taking you somewhere I should have taken you long ago. It’s just, I’ve had a hard time tracking you down. But I’ve had people on my side, Mylee. People who understand me.”
I bob my head as if I’m following.
I’m not.
“People, like who?”
“I have a few people that were in hospitals with me. They understand. They think like us. They know the system is flawed, that the government is stopping the right people from being together.”
“People like you and me?”
He lets out a small laugh. “See. You get it! This is why I knew this would work, Mylee. You’re perfect, even if…” he glances down at my stomach, “… you’re tainted.”
A shudder runs through me as my hand inadvertently runs to my tummy to protect my two unborn babies. I don’t want to question him or bring any added attention to my children. They need to be protected and kept as safe as possible. I have no idea what his intentions are, but I will do absolutely everything in my power to protect my babies.
No matter the cost.
My eyes begin to well in fear as I glance out the window, I don’t want him to see me wavering. “Are we heading back to Michigan?” I ask trying to sound blasé.
He chuckles. “Yeah, gotta get you back home. You’ve had your fun with those Defiance bikers. They kept you away from me for long enough. It took a hell of a lot of effort to get you away from them. My dad set up the plan to run a pedestrian over near your doctor’s office to cause a delay in traffic so you’d be running late. That diversion allowed me to get into the doctor’s suite unseen. It worked like a charm, too. Shame the pedestrian died, a casualty of love and war, but it’s worth it to have you by my side, my love. I’m pissed off your biker bastard didn’t make it in, I had a plan for him, but that doesn’t matter now.”
I let out a gasp as I realize what he’s saying. His dad’s in on this? He had someone killed so Everett could get to me. Holy shit, this is bigger than I could have possibly imagined! Not only that, but Dr. Branson could be dead for all I know.
Fuck! If Malcolm’s in on this, then is Trax safe?
Is he even looking for me?
What the hell is Everett up to?
What the hell is he planning?
I knew he was crazy, but now I’m beginning to understand—he’s fucking lethal.
TRAX
Rushing into the clubhouse, Torque is by my side instantly as his face falls. “Is it true, did Everett get Sparx?”
I grunt. “Do you fucking see her with me right now, brother?” I blurt out in anger more at myself.
He grits his teeth as we walk straight toward the chapel without hesitation. “What the fuck happened? You had Andretti’s men with you for lunch? Did they not keep up their end?” Torque asks.
I roll my shoulders. “No, this is on me. We were running late, fucking traffic accident right outside the place. So, I let her go in without me while I was getting a parking space. I should have known. I should have fucking known. I watched her walk in through the doors. I thought once she was inside, she’d be safe… I mean she was fine, there were people everywhere. I wasn’t going to be long. I thought she’d be okay. Fuck, Torque, I did this. I let her get taken.”
He grabs my cut pulling me to face him. “Stop! You can’t play the blame game right now. It’s done. We have to figure out how the hell to get your woman back.”
“Amen,” Ace calls out from behind his desk as I look over while he continues to type away on his computer.
“Do you have anything?”
He exhales. “I hacked into the cameras as soon as we hung up. The doctor’s office doesn’t have anything, but the gas station across the road did, so I pulled that up. It showed Everett hauling Sparx out the back into a black Hyundai Sonata. I couldn’t get the plate numbers from the footage, so I tried to follow the path they took. Trying to get cameras that lined up has been difficult, but I’ve managed to get a match eventually. He’s driving fast, so I’ve lost which road they took, but I have the plates and have programmed it into the system so when it pops up as a match on any of the cameras it should ping letting us know where they’re headed.”
Taking a breath, I try to take all of that in. My heart’s beating rapidly in my chest. “Okay, can we ride while you track it?”
“Yeah, I can put it on my cell and mount it to my bars, kinda like a GPS. It should tell us the exact route he’s taking.”
I look to Torque, his eyes hard in understanding. “We ride. I’ll get the boys.” He grips my shoulder looking at me, the eyes of my blood brother staring firm. “We’ll get her back. We’ll get them back. Don’t worry, we got this.” With a simple exhale, he walks out of the chapel as I hear a loud whistle echo through the clubroom, but I’m too caught up in my own thoughts to listen t
o him telling my brothers the deal right now.
I look to Ace with pleading eyes, my stomach sinking through to the bowels of hell. “Can we really do this… track him down?”
“I got this, you follow me, and we’ll find her. We got the plate, it’s programmed… as long as it keeps pinging the cameras, we’ll be able to follow it.” Ace grabs a few pieces of tech equipment then we walk out into the clubroom where my brothers are all lining up, their subtle nods don’t go unnoticed. I risk a glance to Mom, her eyes watering as she holds onto Neala tightly. I can’t acknowledge them right now as I turn walking toward the door, not waiting for anyone. I need to ride. I need to ride now. My woman and kids need me. I’ll be damned if I’m waiting for anyone.
I walk outside, the sun hitting my face making the sweat already rolling down my temple feel even colder against my skin. Just needing to feel the vibration of the heavy metal between my legs, I make my way to my ride. I have to be on the road, going after her. I need her back in my arms. I want that fucker to pay for taking her. I swear to God if he’s even touched a hair on her head, I will gut him quicker than he has a chance to take another breath—be damned Sensei’s teachings.
My ride turns on effortlessly, the rumble vibrates up through me as I yank on my helmet roughly. I’m frustrated. I need to get going, but everyone seems to be fucking dawdling. Ace is beside me appearing to feel my agitation. He starts his ride as Torque slides on his bike while I signal to Ace to lead the way. Normally, it would be Scratch, but Ace is the only one who knows where the hell we’re going, so Scratch will have to take a general position for this ride.
Ace pulls out, and I follow behind him, skidding my tires out on the turn. Torque pulls up beside me, giving me the strength I need as we ride beside each other. Scratch pulls in behind us, and everyone else follows. My brothers are with me in this. We have no idea what we’re riding into, what the hell we’re going to be facing, but none of us care because when one of us are in, we’re all in, and right now this is my fight, and my family is at my back.