As the minutes ticked away, her skin prickled and the hairs on the nape of her neck rose. The wind had picked up a bit and it groaned through the trees as leaves swept across the pavement. It was so damn dark that the shadows of the buildings melted into blackness. She shuddered and yanked her jacket tighter around her.
“I don’t think he’s coming,” Nicholas said in a low voice.
“Let’s wait a little longer,” she whispered back.
Time passed slowly. Breanna stayed hidden within the darkness, feeling every beat of her heart pounding against her hand, her pulse throbbing in her ears. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached, and she held her breath. Nicholas looked up from his phone. Enshrouded in the shadows, she could only see the outline of the man’s form. He looked like a dark smudge against a slightly lighter background. She strained her ears to pick up the conversation.
“I didn’t think you were coming,” Nicholas said as he slid his phone in his jacket.
“You got the money? I wasn’t sure you were serious, but I’m a greedy bastard, so I thought I’d give you the benefit of the doubt.” The cackle of his laugh assaulted Breanna’s ears.
“Uh… yeah… about that. Some fucker robbed me when I was shooting up at the warehouse. I’ve been searching for him for the last couple of hours.” He scratched his neck.
Stay cool, Nicholas.
“What the fuck? I came over here for nothing? What fuckin’ game are you playing?”
“No game, honest. I only got forty bucks, but I do want to buy a bag.”
“I dragged my ass over here for fuckin’ forty bucks. I oughta beat your ass.”
I need to get a better view. Something seems familiar with this guy. She took a few steps, but because of the darkness, she didn’t see the raised tree root. She stumbled and fell. “Shit” escaped her instinctively.
“Who’s there?” She saw the man turn toward her; her stomach dropped.
“She’s with me. She wants a hit but she’s shy. First time, you know.” Nicholas shoved his hands in his pocket. “So what about that baggie? I need a hit, man.”
“Come out of the shadows. Don’t be shy.”
Breanna’s leg muscles tightened as if readying her body to run. Cold sweat broke out over her forehead and under her arms. Her heartbeat racing, she fought the urge to flee and stepped out from behind the tree. She swallowed hard and walked toward Nicholas and Candyman. She had a hundred dollars in her purse, so if she handed it to him for smack, it would look believable that she was there for a buy.
“How much you got?” he whispered.
She pulled out the hundred-dollar bill from her purse. From her side view, she saw Nicholas’s eyes bulge at the money. Candyman took out a cellophane bag and stepped toward her, out of the shadows. A flush of adrenaline tingled through her body as she gasped, “It’s you!”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled. “You playing detective, bitch?”
“You know Candyman, Breanna?” Nicholas asked.
She started to back away from him, but he grabbed her like a vise.
“Nicholas, help me!”
The man covered her mouth as she tried to scream. Her watery eyes locked on to Nicholas. He bent down and picked up the hundred-dollar bill.
Candyman threw a baggie at him. “Get the fuck outta here!”
He picked up the packet from the pavement and looked at her. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, and then he ran away, disappearing into the darkness.
Her body went limp from the shock of his abandonment. Then something hard and heavy crashed down on her head and blackness engulfed her.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Steel looked out the window at Breanna’s house to the dark, empty street. Where the fuck is she?
He called her for the umpteenth time but, once again, it went to her voicemail. The wall clock in her living room said nine thirty. She’s an hour late. Fuck. Something’s not right here. Her car and purse were gone, so when he’d first arrived at her house, he figured she ran to the grocery store, or had gone to pick up some food. Then he tried calling her but there was no answer, and worry crept through him.
When he went into the kitchen, he smiled when he saw all the packed boxes. He couldn’t wait for her to be with him all the time. He’d wanted her there since he rented the place, but she’d thought it better that he and Chenoa had some time together. A familiar pain tore through him when he thought of Chenoa. He shook his head, dispelling any memories; he had to focus on where the fuck Breanna was.
Deciding to ride around town and see if he could find her, he killed the light and walked toward the living room, then stopped dead in his tracks. The scraping and jiggling at the front door told him someone was trying to break in. He stepped to the side and hid himself against the wall.
The door swung open and a tall, skinny man walked in. Steel recognized him as the man he’d seen Breanna hugging on the porch that night a couple of months back. It’s her fucking brother. Why the hell is he breaking into her place? He saw him go over to the TV set and pull on the wires. He’s fucking stealing from his own sister. What a dirtbag. Then he remembered Breanna had told him her brother was a heroin addict.
He came out of the shadows and tackled him, the younger man yelling, “What the fuck? Get off me!”
Steel flipped him over and straddled his chest. “Where the fuck is Breanna?”
Nicholas shook his head. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
He smacked him in the face a couple of times. “I don’t have time for this bullshit. I know you’re her brother. Where the fuck is she?”
“Get off me and I’ll tell you.”
Steel got up and lifted Nicholas by the front of his shirt. “Talk.”
The man scratched at his arms and neck. “Uh… she’s in trouble.”
His insides went taut and he narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“Candyman has her. I tried to tell her it wasn’t gonna work, but she made me set up the buy. I don’t know. I tried to help her, but I couldn’t. I wanted—”
“Where the fuck was the buy?”
“Fifth and Grape. Behind O’Riley’s. I tried to help her.”
Why the fuck she’d do something so stupid, he had no clue. All he knew was that he had to get to her. He’d already lost Chenoa; he wouldn’t survive if he lost her too. “Give me the fucker’s phone number. Now!”
Nicholas took out his phone and fumbled with it as Steel pulled his out, calling Paco.
“Tell Goldie, Diablo, Crow, Skull, Rooster, and Chains to get to Breanna’s house stat. Tell ’em to come loaded.”
“Will do. Hey, Hawk called. He said he was finally able to crack the fuckin’ code the Demon Riders had in their computer. He said he knows who the distributor is in Alina.”
His ears pounded. “Who?”
“Richard Raley. Hawk said he’s a crooked cop. FBI fucker.”
Steel’s face stiffened as liquid fire coursed through his veins. “I know the sonofabitch.”
“The brothers are on their way.”
Steel hung up and paced as he waited for the screaming cams of six Harleys. He had to cool his rage way down; he had a job to do. Later, when he had the motherfucker strung up, he could let the rage flow through him, but now he had to be cold and calculating.
It was time to take care of business.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Breanna’s eyes fluttered open. Her head felt like she had a freight train running through it. She tugged at her arms and realized that they were handcuffed behind her. She sat on a straight-backed wooden chair in a windowless room. She looked around, her foggy mind slowly clearing. I’m in the storage room at work. Fuck, that’s right. Special Agent Raley’s Candyman. How the hell is that possible? She heard the click of the doorknob and she held her breath. Heavy footsteps approached.
“I see you’ve come to.” Agent Raley stood in front of her.
She scowled at him. “
You’re Candyman?”
“I’m disappointed in you. You should’ve kept your nose out of this. You’ve caused a lot of problems. I’m going to have to kill you and your brother. Why the fuck did you get involved in this?”
“Me? What about you? You’re a cop and you’re selling this shit to people? And all the meetings we had, you seemed so concerned. You fucking asshole!”
Her head flung back when he hit her hard across the face.
“Watch it, Breanna. I’m still your superior.” He chuckled. “I had to bring you to the office to buy some time. I couldn’t very well take you to my hotel room.”
“Is Agent Powers involved in this too?”
“Jim? Christ, no. He’s as straightlaced as they come.”
“What the hell do the food stamps have to do with this?”
“It’s my side business. You know food stamp trafficking is a multimillion-dollar business. I just wanted a piece of the pie. The fuckin’ government wastes taxpayers’ money left and right. Do you realize that there are only about four investigators to handle all of Colorado and Kansas? Fuckin’ insane. A definite loophole, and one that’s quite lucrative.”
“So you sell the EBT cards?”
“Yeah. I had a business going with Roy at Roy’s Market. You were right to suspect him. After Jim finds all the paperwork on him, he’ll make the arrest. I bought the cards real cheap and sold them to Roy for a 30 percent markup. He used them to buy cheap-quality shit, then sold that to the poor. See how the cycle works?”
“Was Roy involved in selling the drugs?”
“Nah. That was all me. Dustin, Shack, and I go way back to when they had a clubhouse in Nebraska. They used to be part of the Insurgents MC but got their asses kicked out. When I was stationed in Nebraska, I ran across them when we did a raid at one of their strip clubs. They had underage women stripping and giving favors to the men. When I went to their clubhouse, I found a lot of underage women, so they offered me a shitload of cash if I’d look the other way. Fuckin’ easy money. I’ve been on their payroll ever since. I can retire with full benefits from Uncle Sam in two years. I already have the beach picked out in the Caribbean where I plan to spend my time.”
Bile rose in her throat and she fought to push it down. Her head was reeling from his confession. And she also knew that it meant the end of her. I have to get out of this. I hope Nicholas at least called the sheriff and told him what happened. But she seriously doubted it. Addiction did that; the drug took priority over everything in life. Heroin was a potent elixir, and she could never compete with it.
“So when I was sent to investigate the food stamp fraud, I let Dustin know, and we set up shop here. I didn’t know he and Shack were such dumbasses. They didn’t tell me your boyfriend’s club held this whole territory and had a tacit agreement with the sheriff about hard drugs in the county. Their mistake cost them big.” He wiped his hands on his pants. “Don’t look so surprised. We all knew you were fuckin’ biker trash.”
“Do you really think you’re going to get away with this? You can’t think Roy will roll over when he’s faced with felony fraud charges.”
He shrugged. “Who are they gonna believe? Me, an agent for eighteen years with an exemplary record, or some lowlife who’s too cheap to pay for his own housing? Think, Breanna.” He smiled.
“Steel will make sure you pay for what you did to his daughter.”
“Steel? Oh yeah, your biker. I was pissed they sold to his daughter. I didn’t need an outlaw on my ass, but by the time he finds out, I’ll be gone. I’m planning to leave Colorado soon for another state. I got it all figured out. Except for you. You fuckin’ threw a kink in my plans. And the bad thing is I liked you. You were always smiling and friendly to me. You gave me respect at work. I want you to know I appreciated it. I just wish you would’ve kept your fuckin’ nose out of this.” He rose to his feet. “I have some business I have to attend to. I’ll be back for you.” He tugged on her handcuffs. “Nice and secure.”
The click of the door behind her made her body stiffen. I have to get out of here. She pulled on the cuffs, but they wouldn’t budge. Looking around the room, she spotted an air vent. She sized it up and thought she may just fit. All she needed to do was crawl to the office next door, and then she could go out the window or the front door.
She tried to stand, but it was too hard. The pounding in her head was driving her crazy. Okay, Breanna. Calm down. Just calm the fuck down. Take deep breaths. Focus. You can do this. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body from her toes to the top of her head. She visualized herself slipping out of the handcuffs and kept breathing. When she felt ready, she took a deep breath.
Being double-jointed, she was able to collapse her thumb joint into her palm and make her hand smaller. She then folded her hand so that the ball of it touched just below the base of her small finger, her thumb tucked inside. This made her hand slightly smaller than her wrist, and the thumb bone was resting in her palm. She slid her hand out of the cuff and repeated the process with her other wrist, freeing it of the restraint.
She leapt up and searched around for her purse or phone. Nothing. Frantic, she looked up at the air vent and down at her body; she had no choice but to try it. Since she was familiar with the room, she knew there was a ladder in the closet, so she dragged it out and placed it under the vent, then pulled out a screwdriver from the toolbox in the closet. She was glad Raley had locked her in here rather than the conference room, where there was nothing but a table and chairs.
She undid the grill and pulled herself into the vent, thanking God that she only had to go a short way to the next offices where there was a window. She could escape from there.
She crawled through, her heart in her throat. “Fuck!” she yelled as a sharp edge from the sheet metal lacerated her forearm. The blood was warm as it gushed down her elbow. “Shit. Fuck you, Raley!” She drew in a breath and pushed on.
Some of the lights in the offices were on, but it wasn’t enough for her to see clearly inside the vent; she had to feel her way through, and the dangerously sharp edges created a challenging obstacle course. As she crawled, the noise reverberated against the metal walls, making a lot of racket. This definitely isn’t a piece of cake like they show in the movies.
Another sharp edge nicked her leg, stopping her in her tracks. She lowered her head and cried. Her arm was killing her; there was so much blood she was positive she’d have to get stiches. Black spots floated before her eyes and dizziness assaulted her like she was on a whirling ride at an amusement park. Please don’t let me pass out. She took a deep breath and inched along, concentrating on getting out and having Steel’s arms wrapped around her.
I should’ve just waited for Steel to come back. What the fuck was I thinking?
Chapter Thirty-Five
Special Agent Raley fumbled with the radio, trying to find a station that didn’t play country music. He couldn’t wait to leave the reservation and that cow town, Alina. The only thing that made his stay worth it was the money he received from selling drugs and EBT cards. He smiled widely; he’d made a shit ton of money. The residents in the county were hungry for smack, and Roy was a greedy sonofabitch, so it had worked out better than he’d imagined. He was even able to set up shop months before he’d arrived, thanks to the stupidest MC he had the displeasure of knowing, the Skull Crushers.
He snapped off the radio in frustration. “I can’t wait to get the fuck back to D.C.,” he said aloud. The only kink—and it was a big one—in his otherwise flawless plan was Breanna. Why the fuck did she get involved? I ought to kill that sonofabitch junkie brother of hers for setting all this up. A small part of him felt bad that he had to kill her; he thought she was a nice woman except for her lousy taste in men.
He slowed the car down. Did I lock the door from the outside when I left? Damn. I can’t remember. He was positive there was no way she could get out of the handcuffs, but he was the type of man who liked to make sure all his bases were covered. I’m
only a half mile from the reservation. What the hell. There weren’t any cars on the road, so he hung a U-turn and headed back to the office.
He parked in front of the building and jumped out. When he put his key in the top lock and turned, it locked. I forgot to lock it. He smiled and took his key out, but as he was ready to go back to the car, he heard a loud clanging noise inside the building.
It’s probably that damn AC. The fucking moron obviously didn’t fix it right.
He unlocked the door and entered the building. The clanging was coming from the air vent. The idiot was just here. It sounds awful. I’ll just shut the damn thing off and call the jackass in the morning. He walked over to the control switch and slid it to Off. Since he was there, he decided to check on Breanna.
He unlocked the door and swung it open. What the fuck? He stared at the empty chair and the pair of handcuffs on the floor. How the hell did she get out of them? The clanging noise started up again and he looked at the air vent, then saw the ladder under it and the grill on the floor. An evil smile broke out across his face. She’s in the air vent. I don’t know how the fuck she did it, but she gets points for gumption. But the little bitch is causing way more trouble than she’s worth.
He walked out of the storeroom and followed the sound to the front part of the office. The repairman told him the day before that the vent to the office next to the storeroom was blocked, so he figured the little cunt had found that out and was making her way to the next vent, which was in the reception area. Well, I’ll just wait for her and give her the welcome she deserves. He dragged a chair from behind a desk, withdrew his Glock pistol, and sat down to wait.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Breanna dragged herself further, hope springing in her when she saw the glimmer of light in the distance. She’d had a setback when she ran into that damn blocked vent, but she swallowed her anger and the beginnings of despair and pushed onward. Seeing an end in sight, she caught a new burst of energy and spurred herself on. I just have a little bit more to go, and then I can call Steel. And a paramedic. Her legs were covered in blood, and she kept slipping in it as she crawled along.
STEEL: Night Rebels Motorcycle Club (Night Rebels MC Romance Book 1) Page 27