Father Michael wasn’t really a priest. Michael wasn’t even his real name. I didn’t know what his real name was, but it wasn’t Michael. He was an undercover agent working for the FBI... for what purpose, I wasn’t sure, but Summer and I (along with Annie and Taylor, the other two material witnesses) had been “read-in” so to speak when we were brought here. Should we have issues, he was our go-between.
“Anything I can do for you ladies, I mean “sisters,” tonight?”
“Do you have another bottle hidden somewhere?” I asked.
“There’s a reason I only kept one back there,” he said.
“So people like me can only steal one at a time?” I challenged.
“Something like that. Thanks to you, I have to find a new hiding place.”
“It wasn’t a very good one anyway,” I challenged. “We found it, didn’t we? Plus, what if someone accidentally uses it on Sunday?”
“I figured I’d hide it in plain sight. Kind of like you good sisters.”
Michael let us take the wine and we headed to the kitchen, grabbed glasses, then headed back to my room to wait out the night. I wanted to tell Michael everything about Paisley’s abduction, but Sadie was right, I needed to trust Reese. Plus, the kidnappers had said not to contact law enforcement and I had already taken a big enough risk telling Reese.
Reese
WE PULLED UP to the non-descript industrial park just before three in the morning. I cut the van’s engine and headlights and coasted silently to a stop about fifty yards shy of the location where Paisley was being held. This location was once used as the Spider’s base of operation. Several buildings, which mostly appeared abandoned, made up the compound. The Spiders still owned the property, and even though they had moved their clubhouse to a more secure location a while back, from my phone call with Frogger, I knew this place was a hotbed of activity of newcomers and Russian mob types.
“Okay, according to Booker, it looks like Paisley’s phone is in that building to the south west,” Hawk said, pointing to what had once been a machine shop.
“I’m going to go take a look around and try to see how many assholes they have inside. You guys stay here and I’ll be right back.” I grabbed one of the sawed-off shotguns Ryder brought, quietly got out of the van, and walked toward the machine shop. The cover of the morning’s darkness concealed my movements, which was my only protection at this point. The one advantage we had was the element of surprise and we needed to keep it that way.
I was dead silent as I approached the building, which is more than I could say for whoever was now following me. I could hear faint footsteps behind me, and I quickened my pace, but not enough to tip off whoever was following me. As he closed the distance between us, I spun around on my heels and pointed the scatter gun toward my would-be attacker.
He stopped dead in his tracks before raising his hands and whispering, “Reese, it’s me Frogger. Don’t shoot me, man.”
I lowered the gun... slightly. “Frogger, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“I figured there was no way you were just gonna call me in the middle of the night, ask a bunch of questions about club business and this place, without coming down here yourself.”
I was happy to see Frogger hadn’t changed one bit. He got his name when he was a recruit. He was a couple years older than me and was lookin’ for somethin’ to belong to, which made him a prime target for the Spiders. Brick had insisted I check out the process, even though I had no intention of patching in, but I had to play the game until I could figure a way out, so I did what I was told.
As a candidate, the first week is hell, and every week after that just gets harder. For the first three weeks, Erik and I were mostly stationed at a house that we dealt arms out of. It was right across the way from a twenty-four-hour liquor store, which was great news for a bunch of bikers. What wasn’t great, was eight lanes of busy freeway that divided our house and that shitty liquor store. It became Erik’s job to take the member’s orders and run across the freeway to get to the store as fast as possible. The OGs said he was so good at it, he reminded them of the old video game Frogger, and that was that. Erik was Frogger.
“Thanks, but I don’t need your help,” I said.
“I’m not here to help you,” he retorted. “I’m here to stop you from doing whatever the fuck it is you’re doing.”
“I appreciate it, but like I said—”
“Whatever stunt you’re trying to pull off is gonna get you killed. I checked and there are two big-ass Russians in there, along with at least three club members. There may even be more, so marching in there alone is suicide.”
“Who said I was alone?” I challenged. I wasn’t sure if Frogger was being straight with me or setting me up, but figured he wouldn’t move on me if he knew I had backup.
“You’d better get them the hell outta here too, then. I’m telling you, man, the club is brutal these days. Worse than before even.”
I stood a little straighter. “Help me get in there.”
“Are you fucking insane?” he snapped. “Didn’t you listen to a word I just said?”
“Listen, there’s a woman inside and I’ve gotta get her out. She’s gonna die if I don’t. Do you hear me? An innocent woman is gonna die if we can’t get to her. I can’t call the cops and I can’t do this alone. I’ve got guys with me, but in order for this to work, I need to get in that shop undetected.”
“Why the fuck would I help you, Reese? Why would I risk my life in order to help you ambush my brothers?”
“Because they’re not your brothers and you know it. You hate this club almost as much as I do, but you stayed in order to survive. I get it, but now you’ve gotta make a choice once again. Leave the club and join me, or know that you’re helping to kill, torture, and rape countless women. You know I’m right or you wouldn’t have showed up here, too.”
Frogger stood silently for a few seconds, barely able to make eye contact.
“Who the fuck is this?” Hawk growled, still being careful to whisper. He and Ryder were now flanking Frogger, with their guns drawn.
“Frogger,” Ryder said.
“It’s okay guys, put your guns down, he’s with me,” I stared at Frogger and raised an eyebrow. Right?
“Goddammit,” he finally said. “There’s a side door that’s always locked, but I have a key. It leads directly to the shipping and receiving area, which is now used as old bike storage. There shouldn’t be anyone in that room, so you can slip in without anyone seeing you.” He took the key off his ring and handed it to me.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “You’re gonna get you and your friends killed. Once the guys in there spot you, they’ll mow you all down.”
“Don’t you worry about us,” I said. “You worry about you.”
“Come on man,” he said with a weird chuckle. “You know I’m just the crazy sonofabitch for the job. Good luck, Reese.”
“I don’t need luck. I’ve got a pack of nuns on my side.”
Frogger cocked his head.
I shook my head. “Long story, I’ll explain later.”
We went back to the van, collected what we needed, and silently headed toward the shop. Once outside our entry point, we took a moment to go over the plan. We’d only have one shot at this and our timing had to be perfect. I unlocked and opened the side door and Hawk, Ryder, and I quietly slipped inside, while Frogger made his way to the front door.
Once inside, I heard activity and voices coming from several rooms. Before we could make our move, however, we needed to figure out exactly where Paisley was, and we needed to do it fast.
Just then, a knock at the front door sent the building’s occupants into a frenzy of activity. I used this opportunity to crack open the door into the hallway, and from my viewpoint I could see a sliver into the front room.
“Who the fuck is that?” I heard one man ask. I could also hear several men with heavy Russian accents shouting to one ano
ther.
The front door was opened and I could now clearly hear Frogger’s voice. “Hey guys, Prez asked me to come by to see if you needed anything.”
“Who is this and what the fuck is he doing here?” One of the Russian men asked.
“Relax, he’s one of us,” another man responded, before adding, “But I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing here either.”
“I just told you, Tiny,” Frogger said. “Rusty sent me to check up on you. You guys need me to do a beer run or anything?”
“A beer run? It’s four in the fucking morning,” Tiny replied, and pulled out his cell phone. “You shouldn’t even be here. I’m calling Rusty to find out what the fuck is going on.”
“Sure, no problem, you do that, and I’m just gonna use the head real quick,” Frogger said and started down the hallway toward the back rooms.
“Hey, don’t go down there,” Tiny’s booming voice protested, as his massive frame lumbered after him, but Frogger was five steps ahead. I heard him open several of the office doors, stopping after the third.
“Oh, excuse me!” Frogger exclaimed loudly.
I could hear the muffled sounds of a woman’s voice, as if she was gagged or her mouth was taped shut.
“Oh, sorry man, I didn’t realize you were entertaining company in here, I was just looking for the john,” Frogger said, making sure he was loud enough for us to hear.
“I said, get the fuck out of there,” Tiny shouted as he rushed Frogger.
“Masks on,” I mouthed to Hawk and Ryder. This was the moment I had been waiting for. I knew where Paisley was, and our enemy was distracted. I cracked the door open a little more, pulled the pin on one flash grenade, and made sure the safety was off on my riot gun. We had our masks on and it was show time. I pulled the pin and rolled the flash grenade down the hall. As soon as it detonated, I swung the door open and fired a tear gas canister toward the front room. Hawk was right behind me and tackled Tiny in the hallway just as we pushed through.
At least he tried to tackle him. Hawk is no small man by any means, but this was kind of a Thor vs. Hulk kind of moment here. Hawk slammed into Tiny, who barely seemed to move. He punched Hawk in the gut, winding him instantly, and causing his mask to fog up. He loaded up his right hand for a skull crushing blow and I let loose both barrels of my sawed-off shotgun. It was impossible to miss his center mass, and he flew backward, having taken the full impact of the blast.
My stunned party looked at me, then to Tiny, and then back to me again.
“Fucker’s lucky it was loaded with rock salt,” I ground out, and pushed open the door holding Paisley.
“Yeah,” Ryder agreed.
“Get Paisley!” I yelled to Ryder as I shot a second canister down the hall.
She was coughing violently as Ryder picked her up and carried her out into the hall. Her hands, feet and mouth were duct taped, and her eyes were bloodshot and streaming with tears.
“Let’s get the fuck outta here!” Hawk yelled as he helped Frogger to his feet.
Frogger was doubled over, blinded by the gas and barely able to breathe. The four of us made it out of the side door we’d entered through, and began running toward the van. Ryder was still carrying Paisley, and Hawk was with Frogger a few steps behind me. I looked behind us and could see one of the Russians just outside the doorway we had fled through. He raised his gun toward our group and began firing. I turned around and fired my last canister toward the building, which connected with his skull just after he got off a final shot. He fell to the ground and lay motionless.
I began running again and caught up with the others at the van. We piled in, Ryder cranked the engine, and sped off into the blackness. My ears were ringing from the gunfire. Paisley looked okay from what I could see but was coughing furiously from the tear gas. Her eyes were swollen and the skin around her mouth was red from the duct tape.
Ryder had cut her bindings off and she was reaching for her eyes.
“Don’t rub them, babe,” I warned. “It’ll make it worse.”
“It burns so bad.” She squinted at me, her legs bobbing up and down as though to distract herself.
“I know. I’m so sorry,” I said. “We had no other way of getting you out of there. Frogger, can you get her bottled water? Frogger... Frogger!”
“Reese!”
I turned to see Hawk on the floor of the van, holding Frogger, who was passed out and bleeding profusely from the stomach. “He’s been shot, Reese. That big Russian fucker got him before you took him out.”
I opened a water bottle and handed it to Paisley who poured it over her eyes while I crawled to Frogger. “How bad is it, Hawk?”
Hawk pulled off his shirt and used it to soak up the blood while pressing on the wound. “It looks like he was shot through and through. I don’t think he hit the spine, but he’s bleeding pretty bad man, we’ve gotta get him to a hospital.”
“Keep pressure on it.” I pulled out my phone and dialed Cameron.
“Reese?”
“Hey, man, I’ve got a situation.”
“Is Lex okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, but Paisley was taken and in the middle of getting her back, one of our guys got shot. Don’t want to take him into the hospital without cover... they’ll ask questions.”
“Why didn’t you call me first?” he ground out.
“No cops.”
He sighed. “I’m gonna have to make a call. I’m still not in town.”
“Shit!”
“Give me a few.”
He hung up and I pulled my shirt off, replacing Hawk’s with mine. My phone rang again a few minutes later and Hawk took over putting pressure on Frogger. It was Cam.
“Hey, man,” I said.
“Hey. Head over to Legacy... Dallas Stone will meet you there. His brother’s the ER doc on duty and Dallas’s wife, Macey’s on shift. She’s an RN.”
“Okay, thanks, man.”
“What’d he say?” Hawk asked.
“Legacy... Dallas’ll meet us there.”
Hawk nodded. “Is Macey on?”
I nodded.
“Good, she’s Pay’s best friend. She’ll keep this under wraps.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
We headed off to the hospital, Ryder driving while Hawk and I took care of Frogger.
* * *
Alexa
About three hours later, my phone rang and I answered immediately. “Did you find her?”
“Yeah, baby, we got her,” Reese said. He sounded wrecked.
I burst into tears. “Is she okay?”
“You can see for yourself. We’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Are you coming through the tunnels?”
“Yeah.”
I swallowed. “Okay, I’ll meet you at the entrance.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
I hung up and left my room, heading for the tunnel entrance. Sadie followed.
“Is she okay?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I think so.”
It took a lot longer than five minutes, but Reese walked in with a battered and bruised Paisley and I pulled her in for a gentle hug. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Lex,” she said, but sounded pissed. Her face was puffy and red and she looked like she’d been through hell. “God damn it, my eyes are still burning.”
“You need to rinse them more,” Reese said.
“You think so, asshole?”
“What’s going on?” I asked Reese.
“Oh, you want to know what’s going on?” Paisley hissed, and glared up at Reese before looking back at me. “I am now a nun.”
I gasped. “What?”
“She’s on the Russians’ radar now,” Reese explained. “So, she’s here until she’s not.”
“Ohmigod, dickhead,” Paisley snapped. “I have a job! I can’t just disappear.”
“Cameron Shane’s gonna take care of that part.”
“Why are you w
ith him, Lex?” Paisley seethed.
I smiled. “Because I love him... even if he’s a pain in the ass.”
“Hey,” Reese countered.
Paisley fished her phone out of her pocket. “I need to call—”
“No calls,” Reese interrupted.
Paisley stomped her foot and then whimpered in pain.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“It’s a sprain,” Paisley said. “Courtesy of the Rockford Spiders and tear gas burns to my eyes, thanks to your ‘man.’”
“Macey checked her out and there’s no damage to her eyes,” Reese explained. “She might need to continue to rinse her eyes for the next few hours, though.”
“Thanks for man-splaining that to her and talking about me as though I’m not here,” Paisley hissed.
“How about we get you off that leg and get you some water to flush your eyes?” I suggested. “Anything broken?”
“Nothing broken, just bruises. Doc sent home pain meds.” Reese handed me a paper bag.
Paisley huffed. “Who’s going to grab my stuff? Water my plants? Feed my cat?”
“You don’t have a cat,” I retorted.
“Alexa,” she hissed.
“Someone’ll take care of your place, Paisley, but this is not up for discussion.” Reese leaned down to kiss me quickly, before facing Sadie. “Sadie, you need to come with me. I’m takin’ you back to your place.”
“Um, okay,” she said.
Reese leaned down and kissed me again. “I’ll call you later, baby.”
“But...” I started, but he and Sadie walked away and left me and Paisley standing in the hallway. I sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Let’s get you settled. You can bunk with me until we know everything that’s going on.”
We hobbled back to my room where I wrapped her ankle again and she filled me in on her horrific night.
“Are you in pain?” I asked.
“A little.”
“When can you have pain meds?”
“Now, probably,” she said.
I smiled and grabbed her a glass of water. “Here.”
She took the water and downed a pill, then dropped her head back against the wall. “They don’t know about you.”
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