“I didn’t say that.” Jared smirked. “I actually suggested it.”
“Yeah, I don’t see what the problem is,” Sid piped in.
“You’re one of the safest riders I know.” Damon added his two cents with a shrug.
“It will be fine, Duncan.” Pam looked his way. “I really want to…”
“I said no dammit,” Duncan yelled.
Pam snapped her head back, her face paling a bit. Her stomach pitched violently, but her eyes were on Duncan. She knew this man would never hurt her, he just yelled. Yelling wouldn’t hurt her. Duncan would never hurt her. She repeated that last part to herself.
“Ah, okay. Do you have another plan?” she asked Duncan, surprised her voice held strong.
“Give me a minute.” Duncan frowned.
“Why don’t you go out front with them, and I’ll ride to the apartment with one of these guys,” Pam added with a nod toward the other Warriors. Pam did lean back at the look on Duncan’s face. His expression scared her more than his yelling.
“Over my dead body.” He didn’t yell, but his lowered tone of voice warned her she may have pushed a little too far.
“Damon…off with his head.” Sid broke the silence with his usual smartass comment. “I’ve got things to do, and I’m tired of waiting.”
“Shut the…”
“Fuck up, Sid,” Sid finished for Duncan. “You guys seriously need to come up with something new.”
“If anything happens to her, I will kill every single one of you.” Duncan grabbed Pam’s hand, ignoring everyone as he led her out of the room.
“I don’t think he meant you.” Jared put his hand on Jill’s shoulder. “Then again, if things go bad, I’d hide out for awhile.” Jared tapped the front of Jill’s cap down over her eyes as he passed her.
*****
Duncan led Pam into the garage that held their bikes. This was a bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea, but yet, here he was, going along with it because the idea of her riding with anyone else drove him absolutely insane. He’d just threatened to kill his fellow Warriors over it. Poor Jill probably thought she was a part of his kill list. God, he had to get a grip.
“This one?” Pam pointed, and when he nodded, she tried to lift her leg over to straddle the seat, but her belly got in the way. “Wait a minute.”
Watching her try to figure out how to get her beautiful pregnant body on the back of his bike, did him in. He watched the frustration line her face as she tried hard to prove her point that she could ride.
“This isn’t going to work.” Pam’s eyes shot up to his, full of disappointment. “But I want to ride with you. I’ve always wanted to ride with you. I was so jealous of Nicole when Damon would take her for rides. Then I would see you pull up to the warehouse on your bike, and I wanted so badly to ask you for a ride, but I couldn’t. Now that I can finally ride with you, I’m…I’m too fat!” She threw her arms wide, a disgusted look on her face.
Duncan couldn’t help it, he laughed pulling her to him. Her words meant more to him than she would ever know. She had wanted him back then, and that made him soar. “You are not fat. You’re gorgeous.” He hugged her, placed a kiss on the top of her head. Climbing on the bike, he started it up. After it hummed to life, he crooked his finger at her.
A large excited smile brightened her face. She took a step and stood next to him. “Really?”
“Yeah…” he winked, “really.” In truth, he had wanted her on his bike. He had felt the same when he watched Damon and Nicole take off for long rides. He had yearned to do the same with Pam, and even though he was a little nervous and protective over her, he felt the same excitement she had. They didn’t have helmets since they never wore them, and it wasn’t law in Ohio to wear one, but he would take no chances with this woman, ever. He would ride with care.
Pam clapped her hands and laughed. “How do you want me?”
Duncan moaned at the thoughts that question brought to mind. Instead of answering, he grabbed her hips and turned her around. With ease, he lifted her onto the bike in front of him, sitting her sideways, her legs propped over his. Pulling her into the V of his legs he grabbed her arms wrapping them around him. “Don’t let go.”
“I won’t.” She looked deeply into his eyes as if she was not only answering for the bike ride, but for her trust in him also. After a few minutes of just staring at each other, their eyes saying more than words ever could, she laid against him, her head resting where his heart used to beat.
Chapter 9
They arrived at the apartment much too soon for Pam. She knew she wasn’t ready, but she was done with the poor me attitude. She had to get her act together before the little one came. She had no choice.
Jared and Sid were already there, sitting on their own bikes. As soon as she and Duncan pulled in next to the Warriors, with a coolness that would make any woman’s heart flutter, they stepped off their bikes. Jared waited until Duncan parked before carefully picking her up and setting her down so Duncan could step off.
No one said a word. It was if they all knew something major was about to happen, at least something major to her. Without thinking twice about it, Pam reached out and grasped Duncan’s hand tightly. She was scared, scared to death. She was about to step into a past that terrified her.
Walking in the door, she stared straight ahead, swallowing the bile that hit the back of her throat. The smell was the same. She hated the smell of this hallway. It smelled like pain, fear and defeat to her.
Duncan stopped. Immediately, a few steps behind them, Jared and Sid stopped too, waiting for Duncan’s signal. “You don’t have to do this.” He looked down at her, his eyes searching her face for any sign of retreat.
Gratitude filled her, but she shook her head. “I do have to do this, Duncan. I have to take back my life. It’s just an apartment…right?” She forced the small smile on her face, but he didn’t return it. He just squeezed her hand gently.
They stopped in front of apartment 3. Pam made no move to open the door. Clearing her throat, her eyes steady on the door, she dropped Duncan’s hand. “I don’t have a key.” She was thankful that no one said anything; she would have lost her nerve to speak if they had. She felt their eyes on her. “I wasn’t allowed to have a key. If he wasn’t here, I waited outside until he got home.”
Three different tones of growls filled her ears as Duncan moved her carefully to the side. With one well-placed kick, the door flew open, bouncing off the wall.
“Who needs a key when you have one of us with you?” Duncan winked at her, but didn’t walk in, he waited for her to make the first move.
Taking a deep breath, Pam moved one foot in front of the other, feeling Duncan right behind her. Stopping just inside the door, her body froze. Kenny had liked to hide from her after locking the door. He would hide behind the door, and as soon as she walked in, he would either push her into the room or smack her in the back of the head. Her eyes shifted to the door Duncan had just kicked open feeling an unsettling fear that he might be there, ready to pounce.
“No one is here, sweetheart,” Duncan said behind her. “You’re safe. Nothing and no one will hurt you.”
Pam jumped at his voice then slowly looked at him over her shoulder and saw the truth in his eyes. She was safe. Kenny had no power over her anymore. With a slight nod, she stepped the rest of the way into the room and felt a small sizzle of power edge its way back into her mind. She walked into the apartment without Kenny being there. Yeah, she’d take whatever she could; even something as little as that gave her a surge of power. Her eyes searched the small apartment, purposely avoiding the dining table. He had liked to use that table for his sick games. She knew she would have to confront it, but for right now, it was enough that she was inside without breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Where do we need to look?” Sid asked, keeping his voice low, knowing her nerves were on edge and ready to break.
For a second, she didn’t say anything. She had to figure out ho
w to keep them out of the bedroom. She knew what was in there waiting for her, but she didn’t want them to know. If they had been through it already while she was missing, she didn’t know it, and she didn’t want to face it with them watching her every move. She could smell the old blood and knew they could too.
“Why don’t you start out here?” Pam pointed to the living room area, her voice shaky praying they didn’t question her motives. “He liked to hide papers in books. You might find something there. Also under and behind the couch as well as inside the cushion covers.”
“Done.” Sid nodded glancing at Jared and Duncan with a knowing look. Each Warrior looked toward the closed door at the end of a short hallway where the scent of blood came from.
“Can you look in the kitchen?” she asked Duncan when Jared and Sid started going through their area. “He hides stuff in the freezer at lot. Also, pots and pans.” It wasn’t like she was lying. Kenny did do all of the things she just said, but she knew where the most important things were hidden, and she had to take care of that…alone.
Duncan stood staring at her, searching her face, but finally nodded. “I’ll be right there if you need me.”
Feeling her throat close with tears, she could only nod back. He turned first, his gaze landing back on the door at the end of the hall before disappearing into the kitchen. Pam gave a sideways glance at Sid and Jared to find them still searching, but eyeing her. With a deep breath, she focused on her destination, and once again, put one foot in front of the other.
She found herself standing in front of another closed door, this one even scarier than the last. Reaching out, she touched the knob with shaky fingers. Slamming her eyes closed, she gave a twist, swinging the door open with force. When nothing happened, her eyes opened, and just like that, she was taken back, back to the past where every foul word said to her and every foul deed done to her smacked her in the face shocking her with the pain that pierced her chest.
Without warning, she bent to the side, throwing up the toast she had for breakfast.
*****
Duncan stood in the kitchen trying to calm down. His body was buzzing with too many emotions; he felt like he was going to explode. His focus wasn’t really on what was in the kitchen because he knew this was a decoy. Pam knew exactly what she was doing and where she needed to look, but she wanted to do it alone. It took everything he had to abide by that because he smelled the blood; though old, he smelled it and knew it was Pam’s. That alone sent his protective instincts into overdrive making him shake with rage. Hearing her small footsteps moving down the hall, Duncan stepped out of the kitchen and leaned against the wall where Pam wouldn’t see him. He glanced at Jared and Sid, and saw they too had stopped their search, their focus on Pam. They had also seen her ploy and were ready to aid her if needed. It touched him that his fellow Warriors cared for his woman and would protect her if he couldn’t.
Pam was one hell of a woman. The more he found out what had happened to her, the more his respect grew for the woman who had stolen his heart, a heart that had felt nothing for hundreds of years. And the more he found out, the more he wanted to find the bastard and send him to hell. Looking around the tiny apartment, he could see her touches here and there, but there was a heaviness…a sadness hanging in the air. The faster he got her out of here, the better. A bitter sound reached his ears. With a quickness, he was down the hall holding her head while she dry heaved, the toast she had this morning already spewed on the floor.
While holding her head, talking softly in her ear, his eyes searched for what had upset her; his rage reached new limits. Chains hung from the headboard posts, the white sheets were spotted with dried darkened blood. His eyes slammed shut, a curse so foul on his lips that he fought to hold back. Turning his focus back on Pam, he picked her up carrying her away from the horror of her past.
“I got you, babe,” he whispered gently in her hair, but his eyes were anything but gentle. They were black as midnight, with a hate and rage so deep, Sid and Jared stepped back. He sent them both a silent message which they got loud and clear.
Duncan walked out of the apartment and headed for his bike. Her shaking was scaring him, but her quiet heavy breathing worried him most. Standing next to his bike, he held her, his senses searching out to make sure they were alone.
“Babe, you have got to calm down.” Duncan rubbed her back. “Please.” He had never said please in his life, but her unresponsiveness was terrifying to him.
She pulled away from his chest, but her hands still fisted his shirt. “I hate him!” she wheezed out, her eyes unfocused. “I hate myself for letting him do…those things.”
“You did nothing, Pam.” Duncan gripped her chin forcing her eyes to meet his. “Do you understand me? None of this is your fault, and you know it.”
For a second, she just stared at him, disgust filling her face. She started to scramble out of his hold. “Let me go!”
It took everything he had not to drop her, her fierceness to get away from him strong. “Stop!” He gripped her as gently as he could to keep her from falling. “You’re going to hurt yourself. Think of the baby.”
Those words stopped her cold. Disgust left her face in a flash as pure fear and horror replaced it. Her hands flew to her stomach, defeat slumped her shoulders as her head fell forward in shame.
“What am I going to do?” She shook her head. “I was a fool to think I could handle this and be a mother. I’m so screwed up. I can’t take care of a baby when I can’t even take care of myself.”
For the first time in his long life, Duncan was at a loss. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. To tell her she was fine would be a lie, and he would never lie to her. Because anyone with eyes could tell she wasn’t fine. One thing he did know for a fact was he would be by her side through it all, no matter what.
“I’m not going to stand here and tell you that everything is going to be fine, but I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to help you make it fine.” Duncan knelt down slightly so he could be on her level. “I do know that you are one hell of a woman, who will be a wonderful, protective mother. Never doubt that. You have time to work things out, and you have good people behind you ready to help, wanting to help.”
Pam sniffed and nodded. “I know that.” Her chin crumbled. “I really do. I hate being like this. This is not who I am. I hate him!”
“Then don’t let him win,” Duncan said, wondering where that Oprah moment came from, but from the look on her face, he knew he’d hit a homerun. “You know I’m right.”
Her trembling hand reached up to cup his jaw. “Thank you.” A single tear slid down her pale cheek. “For everything.”
“Honey, I’m not done yet.” Duncan grinned, winking at her. “We will get through this. Just take it one step at a time, one battle at a time and you’ll be fine. When you’re not fine, I’ll be here, no matter what.”
“I don’t deserve you.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek.
“If I hear you say that again, I’ll take you over my knee and blister that sweet ass,” Duncan replied without thinking, the horror of what he said hit him hard. “Jesus…I didn’t mean…”
She placed one finger across his lips to silence him. “It’s my past that scares me, not you. I know you would never hurt me, Duncan Roark.”
Duncan leaned in, placing a light kiss on her lips. “Not one hair on that beautiful head.” He winked at her before leaning in for one more kiss.
*****
Jared and Sid quietly worked jerking the chains from the bed and ripping the soiled sheet away, disposing of it all. Standing there they both stared at the stripped bed, a sadness in their gaze.
“I know Duncan has dibs on the son of a bitch, but I swear as I stand here, I will kill the bastard a second time,” Sid growled, his eyes still black from what they had just had to do.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Jared said, regret evident in his voice.
“I don’t care,” Sid growled. �
�The motherfucker deserves ten times the pain he inflicted on Pam, and if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make sure he is sent to hell where it will feel like a fucking vacation compared to what I put him through.”
“As much as your lips flap bullshit, that made perfect sense, and I’m ready to see it happen.” Jared nodded, then cleared his throat when Pam and Duncan walked back in the room.
Pam purposely ignored the bed area, but glanced at Sid and Jared. “Thank you.” She whispered, embarrassed that they knew what had happened to her and wondered if they would look at her differently.
Neither man spoke, just gave a short nod and took a step back to let her pass.
Walking to the side of the bed, she stopped and looked up. “Can you get me a chair please?”
Sid walked out of the room to get one, but Duncan walked up behind her. “Let me.”
Thinking about it for a second, she finally nodded. Deep down she was afraid of what was up there, but if Duncan cared for her as he said, it wouldn’t matter what he found. Pam swallowed her pride and fear, and let him take control, which actually felt good. She pointed toward the corner of the ceiling. “It’s that tile. Just push up.”
Duncan took the chair from Sid. Placing it under the tile, he was tall enough to push it up and over. Fitting his head in, he looked, but stepped down immediately. “There’s nothing there.”
Disappointment lit her face. “Are you sure? There aren’t vials up there? Nothing?”
“No, babe.” Duncan hated her disappointment. “Is there anywhere else he might have put them?”
Her eyes flittered back to the ceiling as she shook her head. “No, he wasn’t careless. If it’s here, that’s where it would have been.” With a sigh, she shrugged her shoulders. “I guess that’s it. Can we get out of here?”
“Do you want to take any of your personal belongings?” Jared asked.
Pam looked around, her eyes landing on Duncan. “No,” she replied, grabbing Duncan’s hand. “I want nothing from this place.”
Jared followed them out, noticing pictures on the small dining table. Stopping, he picked them up, rage choking him. Flipping through the pictures, he stopped at one of Tessa with a red dot on her temple. There were pictures of them all with a red dot from a rifle laser scope on different parts of their heads. Rolling the pictures, he stuck them in his back pocket. If he found out these were legit pictures, Kenny Lawrence wouldn’t be able to run far enough from his rage. No one put a target on his mate.
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