The men all laughed and Marty was hauled into the man’s lap. His hand landed on her thigh and crept up.
“Do you want ole Dax to eat your cherry darlin’?”
“Get your fucking hands off her.” Harper stood and pulled Marty away from the disgusting man that had held her. “You don’t touch her Dax. You gave your word on that. If I can’t trust you to keep your fucking hands off with me right here why the fuck would I risk…”
“Shut the fuck up Harper.” Dax spat and Harper fell quiet.
Marty looked up to find Mike tense. The muscle in his jaw jerked and his eyes were like shards of ice. He wasn’t looking at Dax though, his eyes were on Harper.
Marty didn’t know what to do so she just stood behind Harper and prayed that the men would just leave.
Tommy finally heard the commotion and leaned out of the kitchen. “If you boys want something hot you better order it soon. I’m shutting off the grill in ten minutes.”
“Oh I’ve got my eye on something hot alright.” Dax said in a voice that made Marty shiver. Then louder. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. I don’t care much for the way they treat their customers around here.”
Dax stood and Deek followed him out.
“I’ll be there in a minute. I want my fucking milkshake.” Mike said and walked over to the bar.
Harper turned to Marty. “I’m sorry Marty.” He ran his hands over his hair. “I’m neck deep in shit right now. I’m sorry I got you mixed up in it. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
He kissed her then and pressed a small box into her hand. She gripped it as she watched him walk out the door.
“Well, what about my shake?”
Marty looked up and found Mike studying her. She saw anger simmering just below the surface and she didn’t understand it, but she couldn’t seem to focus on it at the moment either. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and her hands shook. She walked to the bar and started making the shake.
“What did lover boy give you anyway?” He kept his voice unconcerned, but Marty saw the intensity in his eyes and it scared her. She knew to play the part, but he was reminding her just the same.
Marty placed the box on the counter and Mike opened it. She looked at him when he grunted. He pressed his finger to his lips then pointed to the box and his ear. Apparently there was a bug in it just like the one that had been in the bracelet Harper had given her the week before. She closed her eyes for a moment. It was a reminder of how dangerous things were getting. There would be no words of encouragement from Mike with the Devils listening. She went about making his milkshake and met his eyes when she sat it in front of him.
“What do I owe you?” He asked as he reached for the pen in her apron pocket.
“Nothing, it’s on the house as long as you don’t come back.” She begged him with her eyes to stay. Tried to tell him how dangerous it was for him to be with those men, but he only winked at her.
“Well darlin’ if I come back I’ll be sure to pay you back for this.”
He laid her pen down on the bar, took his milkshake, and walked away. When she reached to pick up her pen she saw the napkin. He had written her a note.
“I’ve got you,” was written in handwriting that looked like what she envisioned a chicken would scratch in the dirt, but it warmed her heart. She carefully tucked the note into her pocket. Just having it made her feel safer.
She turned the sine to “closed” and locked the door as soon as Mike was outside. She didn’t watch him leave, although she wanted to. She had to play the part. She turned from the door, but she listened for him to drive away. She took a deep breath and forced herself to finish up.
She sighed when everything was refilled and ready for the next morning. She was supposed to wait for Tommy to walk her home, but when she stepped into the kitchen she heard some very distinctive sounds coming from the store room and decided not to wait around. She carefully locked the door and looked across the street. Janice had left the porch light on as always.
A chill ran up Marty’s spine as she looked around her. There was no moon at all and the darkness seemed more menacing than usual. She stepped off the curb and jumped when she heard a noise. She froze and listened, straining to hear even the slightest sound. No noise other than the sounds of the night.
She let out a little laugh. “You are jumping at shadows Marty. Grow up.”
“You look plenty grown up to me.”
That voice.
A man grabbed Marty and covered her mouth as he pulled her against his rock hard body. She bit down on his gloved finger and the second his hand moved she screamed.
Three
Mike stepped from the shadows near Marty’s house when he saw her walking from the diner, alone. He had wanted to give her the encouragement she had almost begged for in the diner. He wanted to tell her everything would be alright, but mostly he wanted to hold her and kiss her to get the thought of Harper doing those thing out of his head.
He studied her as she stepped off the curb and froze. What the hell were they doing leaving her alone? Even if she wasn’t working for the club she wouldn’t be safe now that Dax had an eye for her.
He started to sneak toward her when he saw a figure loom large behind her. He had no time to warn her before she was caught. Her scream of terror pulled at his heart and he was ready to throw all he had work for away in that moment to get to her.
Lights came on in the house and three more nearby. Mike heard cursing as the black van screeched to a stop. He ran, but Marty was thrown into the van and it was gone before he could get to her. He jerked his burner phone from his pocket and dialed as he turned to run for his bike, but it was parked two blocks from the house and he had already lost sight of the damned van. He walked slowly toward the diner.
“Why the fuck wasn’t she being watched?” He demanded in a menacing voice.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Preach sounded sleepy.
“Why was Marty left alone? They snatched her like it was nothing. I had your word that she would be protected.”
Mike heard preach getting dressed and Mrs mumbling in the background. He waited until the man could talk.
“Marty is being watched. Spec is with her twenty-four hours a day. He had something big come up today. He left her with Tommy. Said he would be back by morning.”
“Morning is too-fucking-late. They have her.”
Mike listened to Preach curse and was slightly impressed at the vocabulary the man possessed.
“Do you think they’ve figured out who she is?”
Mike tried to calm down. He walked to the diner and sat down on the curb, out of sight. “I don’t think so. That girl is a fucking trouble magnet. They want her to get to Harper. They had her bugged. I guess to see if they could get anything on her or some shit.”
“If they don’t know her connection they might not hurt her too bad.”
“She shouldn’t be hurt at all. She wasn’t getting anything anyway. There was no need to put her at risk!”
“Leverage is a funny thing…”
“Fuck you Preach. Fuck you for that. I did what you wanted me to. There was no reason to put her in the middle. This shit will kill Ace. That’s on your fucking head too old man. I hope it’s worth it.”
“To bring down the Devils? You’re goddamned right its worth it.” Preach screamed. “You do your fucking job or those bastards may find out who you really are.”
“And what then? Another brother’s blood on your hands? What’s one more though right? Don’t fucking push me Preach.”
“Or what? You gonna sell us out to those fuckers?”
“You should know I wouldn’t do that.”
Mike didn’t wait for a response. He disconnected the call. Preach had something up his ass lately. The brothers were on edge. Mike wondered if it was just Ace being sick or if something was brewing. Right that minute he decided he didn’t care. He just wanted this job done and Marty safe. He couldn’t do that if he
was dead.
He dialed another number. He thought about calling Shadow, but decided to let Preach handle it with Shad. Mike respected the man, but he was never sure how Shad felt about him. Shad had a respect for him, even a gratefulness, but he never got too close.
The phone rang and Mike was about to hang up when he heard the groggy voice.
“Hey old man.”
Mike almost grinned as he heard Fox grumble about the time.
“Everything alright kid?”
“As good as it can be I guess. They snatched Marty tonight. Right out from under my nose too.”
The cursing he heard from Fox wasn’t as inventive as what he’d heard from Preach, but it somehow expressed more outrage. It gave Mike a sense that he wasn’t alone in his anger.
“Did anybody get hurt?”
“No one was with her.” Fox got real quiet. “I don’t know what’s going on Fox and I don’t like it. Preach has something going that I don’t know about and I don’t like the risks.”
“What’s he told you?”
“Not one damned thing.”
The silence was deafening. Fox knew something too.
“All I can say is this… you’re right. This shit got real and we are scrambling. I can’t say this shit over the phone, not even these, but take care of your own ass right now. Get to Marty if you can and get her out. I’m not sure how much help the brothers are going to be able to give you if shit gets real.”
“Fuck! So I’m on my own?”
“You’re never on your own. Just use your head.”
“Yeah. Fuck this is bad.”
“Just keep your cool. Remember the job and get it done.”
Mike felt himself tremble and tightened his muscles to stop it. Marty was counting on him right now.
The front door to the diner burst open and Tommy Rich stumbled out.
“Fucking stupid bitch.” The man grumbled as he righted his belt.
“Gotta go Fox. I just found an outlet.”
“Poor bastard,” Fox mumbled as Mike switched off the phone. He wasn’t sure if Fox had meant him or Tommy, but the words probably fit them both, or would after Mike finished with Tommy.
Mike cursed as he slammed his fist into Tommy’s face one more time. The Devils had Marty and it was all his fault. Spec should have known better than to leave while Marty was at the diner, but something had come up. He had left Tommy to watch Marty and the man had gotten distracted.
It was probably a good thing or the distraction, a pretty red haired waitress, may have been snatched too. He took a deep breath to try and clear his head.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Marty has been a bitch for the past couple of weeks…”
Mike held up his hand. “I know you climbed in her fucking window. I know she wouldn’t let you fuck her and I know what you said to her. Don’t blame any of this shit on her. It was your fucking job to watch her.”
Tommy paled. “Fuck, I just wanted to see if she’d give a shit. She didn’t so it pissed me off. She knew she wasn’t supposed to leave without me so I figured she’d get an eyeful of me fucking Hannah. Thought they might even fight or something.”
Mike closed his eyes. This guy was an idiot. “Well you’re an idiot.”
“I’ve seen some of the oldladies do shit like that. It’s sexy as hell too. I want a woman who’ll fight if she needs to.”
“Marty’s different.” That was the only way he knew to say it without giving anything away. “A woman like Marty shouldn’t have to fight to keep a man, he should fight to keep her.”
“What are we gonna do? Those bastards have Marty.” Tommy was white with fear and for the first time Spec realized how much the man must care for Marty, even if his dick was part of the reason she’d been grabbed. In his own sort of fucked up way he liked her.
“We are gonna get her back.” Mike said with a certainty that helped him believe it. He stood and stretched. His eyes searched the darkness.
“How man? They knew. They fucked us good and snatched her. They will know we’ll be comin’ for her. They will be ready for us.”
Mike closed his eyes. “Then we will have to wait a little while and see what they know.” He opened his eyes again. “We aren’t sure they knew anything. It’s just as likely Dax grabbed her for smarting off to him. They just waited for the diner to be clear. There was no mention of us. If they don’t know her connection to us then she could survive this.”
Tommy was silent until Mike met his eyes. “Fuck you man. You know what they’ll do to her. We need to go right fucking now.”
Mike slammed his hands against Tommy’s chest so hard the man fell back against the diner wall. “It’s already done you fucking idiot. That was an hour ago. Whatever you are thinking you can save her from has been done more times than you can count, already while you were getting your rocks off with that fucking waitress! There’s no need in running off and getting killed to prevent it now. We have to be smart and Marty has to be tough enough to survive.”
Mike had told himself the same thing over the past hour. If he rushed off to find Marty he would likely put them both in more danger and he wouldn’t be saving her from anything. He had to trust her to be strong right now.
Tommy turned and smashed his hand into the wall. Spec wanted to do the same, but he knew he didn’t deserve the release the pain would bring him. He needed the rage that boiled inside him. He needed it to fuel him through what he had to do now.
Four
Marty opened her eyes and wished she hadn’t. She was sitting in a chair in the middle of a dank concrete room. She felt something securing her to the chair and was almost thankful since she was sure she would fall out without the help. There was only a sliver of watery light in the room coming from a grimy window above the heavy looking door, but it was enough to send pain shooting through her eyeballs to rattle around in her brain. Nothing moved in the room, but Marty was certain she wasn’t alone. She could feel something evil lurking in the shadows and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
She tried to think back to the last thing she remembered and she saw a flash in her mind. Harper. Harper had betrayed her. Ace had been right all along.
Ace…
Marty let a tear leak from her eye at the thought of her father. The stress of this would kill him for certain and it would all be her fault. How could she have been so stupid? She had promised him that she wouldn’t do this, but she had listened to the others. She had wanted to make him proud of her so bad that she would end up killing him.
“Tears won’t do you any good here little girl.”
A man stepped into the dim light. The flare of a lighter helped Marty see him, but the flame made him feel more sinister than she liked. He was impossible broad across the shoulders and had a scar that ran from his ear to disappear under his shirt. The red pitchfork on his throat gave her a clue to where she was. She forced her emotions into her core. She wouldn’t give this monster her fear.
He tilted his head.
“Nothing to say?”
Marty stayed quiet.
“Good. I hate noisy bitches. Need to piss?”
Marty nodded. He walked to her and removed her restraints and gripped her arms hard enough to bruise. He really was huge. He hadn’t seemed so big at the diner, but he had been with other men almost as big. Now he was alone, alone with her. She forced her mind away from her fear and tried to look at him. He stood at least a head taller than Marty and probably outweighed her by a hundred pounds.
“Try anything and I will fuck you up. I don’t give a damn about what I promised my brother. I will do anything I want to you and you will never say a word about it to anyone. Do you understand?”
Marty nodded. For some reason it was more terrifying to know this man would do just that and that it would be kept a secret. For some reason that scared her more than if he had said he would fuck her in the open for all to see. This way the terror would be confined to her own mind. Ther
e would be no release from talking it out and for some reason she believed that he would know if she talked. This man scared her to the bone and she knew it was more than just being big and mean, he was something more.
She walked meekly where he led her and wasn’t surprised when he left the door open, but he did turn his back to her. He knew his threat would keep her from trying anything.
“I don’t know why the fuck my brother is so attached to you. You ain’t nothing special from what I can see.”
Marty didn’t say anything.
“Just some little mouse. You ain’t got no idea what this life will be like and he thinks he can train you up right.” He snorted out a laugh. “You will be another broken doll left on the side of the road in a month, if it takes that long.”
Was it possible this man didn’t know who she was? That would be the only thing that could save her. She finished her business and washed her hands. She took the time to wash her face and drink some water. She normally wouldn’t have touched the filthy sink, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t get the chance to drink for a while. The water ran brown for a few seconds, but then seemed clean. It had a metallic taste to it, but Marty figured if she survived a doctor could treat her for anything she picked up here in this shithole. She had to survive first and she had to be smart.
“Where is Harper?”
He looked back at her. “She can speak.” He let his eyes run over her body slowly and Marty wanted to shiver, but she wouldn’t show this man her weakness. She somehow knew that he wanted her to cower, that he would find pleasure in hurting her more if she showed fear.
“Little brother has to prove himself to me. He has to put his trust in his brothers and show that we can trust him. He will do a little job for me and I will keep you safe for him. He’ll be back in a week and all this will be over.”
Marty nodded. A week. She could do this. She could do anything for a week. She knew better than to ever trust Harper again, but he wouldn’t hurt her and she would find a way out of this if she could survive a week.
MIKE: Defenders MC Page 2