Center of Gravity (Marauders Book 3)

by Lina Andersson

  “Yeah,” Mitch smiled. He leaned down and gave me a kiss. “See ya tonight, baby.”

  “Awww,” Brett cooed before pushing Mitch out the door. Then he turned to me. “Strip.”

  He worked me hard, but he got rid of the worst kinks in my back, and my leg felt better. He did mutter about obviously having skipped the morning workout, but agreed that I should get some credit for how much work I did on my own.

  Once we were all done, I went out to the reception area to call Violet, but she was mid-ink and told me to call Mitch, that he’d send someone for me. I thanked her, but when I tried Mitch didn’t pick up, and neither did Lisa.

  “Problems?” Anita asked and put her magazine down on the table. “I could give you a lift.”

  Short of taking the bus or a cab, she seemed to be my only option, so I nodded.

  “Thanks. That’s really nice. I’m just going downtown.”

  “Doing some shopping?” she asked when she stood up and dug in her pockets for her keys.

  “I need to try to find a birthday gift for Mitch.” We started towards the door. “But I must admit, I have no idea what to buy him. Birthday gifts tend to get harder to find the older the receiver gets.”

  “So very true,” she smiled.

  Her old Volvo smelled worse than ever, and she immediately began talking about some big crises in the chicken coop. I had a hard time seeing how chickens could be much of a problem. It wasn’t as if they were dogs who attacked each other, but that’s what it sounded like when she talked about them. ‘Rabid chickens,’ was that an actual thing?

  “Uh,” I said and pointed. “I think you missed the exit.”

  “Oh, sorry,” she laughed. “Too much in my head, I guess.”

  That’s when I started to feel that something might be wrong, and I took a firmer grip of my cane, but it didn’t matter. Anita made a sudden movement, and then everything was black.

  -o0o-

  I was very confused the next time I woke up. At first I thought I wasn’t able to open my eyes, my next thought was that I’d gone blind, and my third that everything was hurting. I was in a state of panic for quite a while until I felt Sprout moving, so at least she was alive. Just being able to stop worrying about her made me capable of trying to organize my thoughts.

  My arms were tied behind my back, I was lying on a concrete floor, and something tasting faintly of oil was covering my mouth. The last thing I remembered was being in the car with Anita.

  I should’ve listened to Mitch, and instead of going with Anita, I should’ve just kept calling until he picked up, because he would’ve picked up. He’d never not answered my calls before, so it was probably just a coincidence that he hadn’t, and if I’d tried five minutes later he would’ve answered. At least that’s what I hoped, because I didn’t want to think there was even the slightest possibility that he was tied up in a dark room just as I was. I should’ve listened to him and not taken any chances, but I hadn’t seen Anita as any risk whatsoever.

  There were a lot of people I should have listened to. Especially my mom when she told me that the women always paid the price for men’s deeds, because I assumed that that was what was happening now. Whoever the guy was that was after Mitch, he had me, and apparently Anita was working with him. Which surprised me. I’d never heard her talk about anyone but her man.

  I assumed shock was the reason why it took me a while to realize that Anita’s husband and the guy who was after Mitch were the same man. I’d just barely met him; it was Anita who did the talking, and I couldn’t even remember his name. I wished I’d asked Mitch a few questions about Hump, but I’d never wanted to know. It felt better to just… pretend it wasn’t an imminent problem, I guess. Somehow I’d convinced myself it was better if I didn’t know too much about the club and what was going on, but obviously I should’ve asked.

  After crying for a while, I got mad at Mitch instead. The anger escalated in proportion to how much my back and leg were aching. If he’d simply told me that the guy was missing a hand, we wouldn’t be in this goddamn situation! Why had he skipped such basic information?

  I heard a man and a woman argue outside, but also realized that it was the only sound I’d heard since I woke up, so I must be outside the city. Greenville wasn’t New York, but it wasn’t a dead town, so I would’ve heard something if we were in the more central areas.

  I tried to remember where Anita had said they lived. It was somewhere pretty far away, but it was impossible for me to know how long I’d been out and how far we’d gone. It was pitch black, no natural light anywhere, and no sounds that could be any kind of lead. The only thing was the man and the woman arguing outside, and they seemed pretty damn angry at each other.

  “We were not going to take her until tomorrow,” the guy, I assumed it was Hump, yelled. “We were taking her on his birthday. That was the plan!”

  “She was in my fucking car. Not like we’d get a better chance than that,” Anita yelled back.

  I couldn’t help wondering if the only reason he’d gone to physical therapy was to get to me, but that seemed like a stupid risk, and I tried to remember if he’d started before or after I met Mitch. I was pretty sure it was after, but still long before it got serious. I had a vague memory of when we’d changed days, and that was definitely after I’d started seeing Mitch, but few people had even known about it until Joshua was born. On the other hand, if he’d been keeping an eye on Mitch, he could’ve found out early. It wasn’t as if we were sneaking around. If they’d been outside his place, they would’ve seen me coming.

  If the idea had been to get close to me, it was brilliant. If Anita had come to my place, I might’ve thought it a bit odd, but I would’ve let her in. Without a doubt.

  I knew my mind was racing, but it was this or pure panic, and I assumed this was a better option. It was also this or paying attention to my body and how much it was hurting. I was wondering how long they would keep me here, but it sounded as if whatever they had planned would happen tomorrow, on Mitch’s birthday. I just really, really hoped they wouldn’t keep me on a concrete floor, because I doubted I’d be able to walk tomorrow if they did. Then other things occurred to me. Like how having me on a concrete floor for a night might be the best option in a whole line of really shitty things. Like rape or torture. Would they do that? Did people do that to pregnant women? It dawned on me that some people didn’t care about much, and they’d killed a woman simply for having a shop across the street from Mitch’s mom’s salon, so raping and torturing a pregnant woman probably wasn’t that much of an issue.

  That’s when the panic hit me like a freight train, and hyperventilating through my nose with an oily rag in my mouth wasn’t a good thing. I couldn’t even cry properly, and when the snot started to fill my nose, I couldn’t breathe, either. When the door flew open and light fill the room, I shut my eyes and screamed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I’m Here

  -o0o-

  It was a slow day at the garage. With Brick and Bear in Europe, there wasn’t really anyone around to keep yelling at them to pick up the pace. Mel was much too kind to use the whip to any greater extent. It was more likely that she’d lure people into working with the help of cookies.

  Mitch was working on a bike, and he couldn’t help thinking about Anna and the shine she’d had in her eyes the day before when she talked about the shoes Maggie had given her. How it had been so fucking obvious that she just wanted him out of the apartment to be able to play with them, but when she’d asked him to imagine himself not being allowed to see our touch a bike for years—that’s when he’d gotten it.

  His burner rang, and after wiping his hands, he answered.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s Russ. I’ve been talking to that bitch’s family, Hump’s old lady, and she’s a fucking mental case. She torched her former boyfriend’s trailer and beat up another boyfriend’s ex-wife. In general, I think she’s the problem.”

  “Shit.”
<
br />   “I’m not saying Hump isn’t a fucking nut, too, because I’m pretty sure he is, but those two in combination is bad as fuck.”

  “Anything else?”

  “According to the bitch’s cousin, Hump’s in Greenville for PT every week. Drives really fucking far to do it. The bitch usually calls him while waiting for him.”

  Mitch started towards his bike and waved at Mac and Sisco. “When does she call?”

  “That’s why I’m calling you immediately. On Thursday mornings, so you should be able to catch him.”

  Mitch was about to throw up. Anna had been going to physical therapy every Thursday for as long as he’d known her, so there was nothing saying that it should be worse today, but Anna’d been getting lift from some chick whose husband went really far to get PT, so that added up in a terrifying way.

  “Fuck! I gotta go.” He turned to Mac. “We need to find Anna—now! I think Hump’s Old Lady is the woman who used to give her a lift home form PT.”

  “You’re shitting me?” Mac said. “I talked to Vi, like half an hour ago, and she said Anna had called while she was in the middle of work.”

  Which meant Vi hadn’t given her a lift home. Mitch pointed at Sisco to indicate that Mac needed to explain what was going on, and while he did, Mitch picked up his phone to call Anna. Her phone was turned off—which hardly ever happened. So he called Brett, but according to him, Anna’d left as usual, and he hadn’t seen her since. When Lisa didn’t pick up either, he turned to Sisco and Mac. They both nodded, and they all started walking towards their bikes while Mitch talked.

  “Mac, go to the clinic, just to see what they say and wait there while I go to Lisa’s. Anna was going to call her, and she’s not picking up. She had a few days off this weekend, so I want to see if her car is there.” He noticed Sisco hesitating. “I don’t give a shit what it is you two are up to, but I need you.”

  “That wasn’t it,” Sisco snarled. “Just... really think they’d hurt a pregnant woman?”

  Mitch stopped dead in his tracks. “What?” He took a step towards Sisco. The guy looked sick. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Sisco nodded. “We’ll find her.”

  Mitch’s brain was going crazy while he was on his bike on the way to Lisa’s, but he exhaled when he noticed her car in the parking lot. At least they hadn’t taken both of them, and maybe she’d picked up Anna and they’d gone to Lisa’s for a coffee or something. He ran up the stairs to her apartment and banged her door while pressing the doorbell at the same time.

  “Lisa! Come on!”

  “What the fuck?” she yelled when she opened the door. She wasn’t wearing anything but a robe, and her hair had and unmistakable fuck-mess to it. “What’s wrong?”

  “Did Anna call you earlier? Is she here?”

  “No. She’s not here.” Lisa looked confused, but she walked inside and started looking for the phone in her bag. “I didn’t hear the phone, but I’ll check it.”

  “What’s going on, babe?” Mitch turned and stared at Chris, so apparently Lisa’d followed his advice. “Oh, uhm, hi.”

  “She called, but I missed it.” Lisa looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. “What’s going on, Mitch?”

  “Has she talked about that bitch who gives her a ride home?”

  “Um.” He could see Lisa’s brain working; she was starting to look worried. She knew something was seriously wrong. “Anita, I think her name is.”

  “And her man?”

  “I don’t think she ever mentioned his name.”

  “Know why he’s going there?” Sisco asked. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “Not sure.” Tears were forming in her eyes. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “Was it his hand?” Mitch asked, completely ignoring her question. “Had he lost his hand?”

  “Yes,” Lisa said, and looked even more scared. “In an accident. Some farm equipment...” She sobbed. “Who’s the guy, and where’s Anna?”

  Mitch had never in his life experienced the kind of panic he felt at that moment. It was one thing to suspect something, but something completely different to have one’s worst suspicions confirmed. It was Hump. He’d been close to Anna all this time. If he’d just fucking told Anna that they’d taken his hand, she would’ve known, but he never had, because… Because telling a woman who’d lost so much in accident that they’d done that on purpose to another guy… he hadn’t been able to. And now her phone was off. She never turned off her phone. She might not answer if she was pissed at him, but she’d never turned it off before.

  His legs went out from under him, and he landed on his knees.

  “Come on,” Sisco mumbled and knelt down next to him. “We’ll get her.”

  That might be true, but what state would she be in when they did? What was Hump doing to her? The images that were flooding his mind crippled him. He couldn’t think about anything else, his brain refused to switch track, and it was terrifying. It felt like a deep, dark hole, and he didn’t know how to get out of it.

  He felt a sharp slap on his cheek and was looking into Sisco’s eyes.

  “You are the smartest guy in this club, and we need you. You need to be on top of your game for us to pull this off. Focus. Your woman needs you, so use that head of yours.”

  “Okay,” Mitch mumbled.

  “I know we’re all gonna follow you on this, so tell me what to do,” Sisco continued. “Take a few deep breaths, and tell us what to do. That’ll keep you grounded. Plan this out.”

  He nodded and tried to think about what they needed, what could lead them right.

  “Send Dawg to talk to Brett, her therapist. Mac is already there, and have them give all the info to Mech so he can do a search. Bull needs to call Russ to get what else he has, and maybe he’s got some Nomads close by that we can use when we find out where he’s been living.” Each sentence that came out of his mouth brought him back a little and gave him the next step. His breathing got easier as he went, too. “Wrench needs to go get Irina so we can keep her safe. Mace should bring the other women in, just to be sure.”

  “Good,” Sisco nodded. “Keep going. What are we doing? You and I.”

  “We’re going back to the clubhouse. He’s going to reach out. He’ll want me to know that he’s got her.” He looked at Lisa. “Get dressed. You’re going there, too.”

  The moment he’d said that, it was something to hang on to. Hump wouldn’t kill her yet, because he wanted Mitch to know he had her, and he was going to use her against him. It was a small silver lining, but it was something. He needed to focus on that, and try to push away the thoughts of the horrors Hump might be subjecting her to.

  “Good.” And now Sisco was smiling. “Stay in this mode and we’ll get her home.”

  Lisa was crying when she came back dressed with Chris next to her.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “If I’d picked up…”

  “It’s not your fault. Don’t think about it. Bring all the medical equipment you have, we might need it,” Mitch said and gave her a hug. He was pissed at her, he honestly was, but logically he knew it wasn’t her fault. “Get her to the clubhouse,” he said to Chris instead.

  “I will,” he nodded and put an arm around her.

  On his way back to the bike, he kept trying Anna’s phone, but it was still off. Sisco was on the phone, too, barking out orders, so that shit seemed to be moving at least. He tried to keep in mind what Sisco’d said, that he needed to stay on top of his game, panicking wouldn’t help Anna, but that panic was at the back of his head the entire time, and he wondered how long he’d be able to keep it at bay.

  The answer came a lot faster than he’d expected, because Mech and Tommy met them when they arrived at the compound.

  “He sent an email,” Mech said.

  Mitch was afraid to ask and instead just clenched his jaws tighter, nodded, and followed Mech and Tommy inside. He held his breath when he moved closer to the computer, and when he made out what was on the screen, h
is mind blacked out again. It was Sisco’s hand on his shoulder that brought him back.

  “Still need you, kid. There are numbers in that email, and you need to tell us what they are.”

  He took a few deep breaths, blinked a few times, and tried to block out the image of Anna, lying on her side on a concrete floor with a red rag in her mouth and hands tied together behind her back.

  ‘Happy Birthday’ the message said, along with ‘8/23, 11 A.M—Alone.’ August 23rd, his birthday, and he wondered if that had been the plan all along. To hound him for months and give him the final strike on his birthday. If they didn’t find Anna before then, she’d be with Hump and his old lady for over twenty-four hours, and he could imagine a lot of things they could do to her in those twenty-four hours.

  “You’re slipping,” Sisco mumbled. “Focus.”

  He nodded and looked at the other series of numbers on screen. “It’s longitude and latitude,” he mumbled. “It’s a place, and it’s not far.”

  “Tomorrow. So they’re not gonna be there now,” Tommy said. “Can you get me a satellite image of that place?” he asked Mech.

  Mitch turned his head and stared at Tommy. “What?”

  “Former Scout Sniper, Recon Marines. You know, undercover ops, and shit like that,” he smiled. “Do your stuff, try to find her now, and I’ll sort out tomorrow if it gets to that. Okay?”

  He hesitated for a second. “It says alone. What if they see you?”

  “They won’t see me,” Tommy assured him. “Not a shot in hell that they will. I promise you.”

  He decided to trust him, and nodded. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.” He turned to Mech. “Set him up with Russ, too. He needs to know everything Russ knows.”

  Mech nodded, and after a slight hesitation he came over and gave Mitch a hug. “We’ll get her.”

  Sisco followed him outside where he was met up by Mac who was coming with Vi, Joshua, and April. He didn’t say anything, just caught Mitch in a long hug, before taking a step back.