by Debra Kayn
Afraid to tear her gaze off her sister, she muffled her scream at her clumsiness. Her fingers refused to work on the lock.
"Rachel?" she yelled. "Hold on. Don't go. I'm trying—"
"Erikka?" said her sister, knocking again.
"Yes. Yes. It's me." She stomped her foot in frustration. "I'm here. I'll help you."
Her fingers finally found purchase on the deadbolt, and she turned the lock. In her panic, she fell out of the house and grabbed onto Rachel. Her overwhelmed muscles weakened, but her resolve and relief squeezed Rachel to her. She was never going to let her sister go again.
"Are you okay?" She patted her sister's back. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm tired but fine." Rachel groaned. "Though I can't breathe with you hanging on me."
Erikka raised her head, scanning the driveway, and pulled her sister inside and locked the door. "We need to call the police."
"Erik—"
"Oh, my God. I can't believe this. You're here." She rubbed Rachel's arms. "Did he hurt you, sis?"
"He—"
"I'll take care of you. The police will have you go to the hospital and get checked out, but I'm not letting you out of my sight." She pulled Rachel over to the couch. "I won't let him get you again."
"Erikka, stop. I came back because I need your help. We need your help." Rachel pulled on Erikka's hand, forcing her to sit. "Listen to me. I don't have much time."
A cold chill passed through her. She stared at Rachel, taking a hard look. Only with the proof of the ordeal they'd lived through all summer sitting beside her could she see the truth, and fear took hold.
Chapter 30
The mid-thirty-year-old woman standing in front of her apartment door balanced a toddler on her hip and gazed up at Chuck, blinking overly long eyelashes. He forced a grin to get answers out of her. Answers she held on to as a bargaining chip.
If he gave her one sign, she'd toss her kid to the side and take him into the apartment for a round of sex that would fail to arouse him.
He'd bet his Harley on that fact.
"I'd really like to find my buddy. Tony Stoddard." He leaned his shoulder against the outside of the apartment. "He's been out of a job for about two months, and this morning my boss let me know we could hire one more framer for this construction job we've got coming up in downtown Portland. I instantly thought of Tony cause of his mom's medical bills. He's trying to help her out with some money. But, last time I was here to see him, I was lit and blitzed. You know how that is, sweetheart. I just wanted to have some fun and relax, you can't fault a guy for that. The problem is I can't remember which apartment he lives in."
"I don't recognize the name." She jiggled the child which meant she jiggled her breasts. "Let me think about it for a while. I might come up with the right apartment."
"That'd be great, sweetheart." He gritted his teeth, not planning on standing out here much longer and bullshitting his way only to find out she had no idea where Stoddard was staying.
Since Stoddard's car wasn't anywhere around when they'd arrived, the only option was to ask people who lived in the apartment complex and hope someone felt like talking.
"I could put Tina down for a nap and make you a drink if you'd like." She stepped back into her apartment. "I have a nice couch you could relax on."
Jesus Christ. Hell, no.
"Sorry, I can't. I got to get back to work." He pulled a picture of Stoddard out of his vest pocket. "Maybe you recognize Tony."
She set the toddler on the ground, patted her diapered rear, and sent her to go play inside the apartment. Then, the woman pressed against him, pretending to study the photo. "Oh, him. Yeah, he's been hanging out around here. Matt, over in the C unit said the guy is freeloading off the manager of the complex and has changed apartments several times, only staying in ones that come up empty in exchange for cleaning the places."
"You wouldn't happen to know which apartments are empty, would you?"
She giggled, gazing up at him. "Honey, even I don't have time for that."
He slipped the picture into his pocket and stepped away from her. "Thanks for your time."
"Hey, it won't take long to have a drink before you go..."
He waved over his shoulder and jogged over to the group of Notus members standing at the first apartment coming off the parking lot. It'd taken him a good half hour to get a positive I.D on Stoddard staying here. He was losing his touch. Most of the women he'd stopped wouldn't even talk to him.
"Anything?" asked Wayne.
"He's staying here. Apparently, he changes apartments often, staying in the vacant ones, and is friends with the manager." Chuck looked up to the double-decked apartments. There were three units with at least fifty apartments in each one. It'd take them all fucking day to knock on each door.
"We could always wait. Stoddard will likely return, and then we can nail him." Glen spit a sunflower shell on the ground.
The chance of Stoddard running around during the day, on the weekend, with Rachel was slim. Chuck's gut tightened. That meant Rachel was somewhere in the apartment complex alone. It also meant the likelihood of Stoddard keeping Rachel hidden while unguarded meant he would've had to tie her up or drug her, or worse.
"We need to start knocking. We'll make it quick. If someone answers, apologize for disturbing them and move on to the next one. If no one answers, we break in." Chuck took out his gloves.
"That ain't going to fucking work." Thad shoved his hands in his pockets. "We'll be busting into apartments where the renters are only gone because they're working today."
"What's your suggestion?" asked Chuck.
His phone vibrated before Thad came up with a better plan. He pulled out his cell. It was Gomez.
He answered. "Yeah?"
"I wanted to double check that Erikka knew I was coming to your house at eleven o'clock," said Lieutenant Gomez.
"Yeah." He ran his hand over his head and held the phone to his ear. "Erikka's home and knows to open the house to you."
"Chuck, it's eleven-twenty. She's not answering the door."
"What the hell do you mean?" His body hardened. "Go bang on the door."
"I have been for the last twenty minutes."
"Is her car in the garage?" He started walking through the parking lot. "Go to the side of the garage, you can look through the window."
Chuck glanced over his shoulder and motioned the other Notus members to follow him. There could be a lot of reasons why Erikka wouldn't answer the door. She could be in the bathroom or running the washer and dryer and not able to hear a knock. Even upstairs, if she turned on the television, it was sometimes hard to hear the doorbell, much less a knock.
"Her car is in the garage," said Lieutenant Gomez.
He exhaled. She hadn't gone anywhere.
"Do you have a hidden key?" asked Gomez.
"No." He crossed the broken part of the fence and continued walking in the abandoned store's parking lot. "Scale the fence and break the glass out of the door at the back of the garage."
"You don't want me to wait until you get here?" Lieutenant huffed into the phone. "Six-foot fence, man. You couldn't have picked one shorter?"
"Just break the damn window. Once you're in the garage, you'll have access to the house." He stopped at his motorcycle and sat down. "Announce yourself. Erikka has a CWP and will have a pistol. Don't spook her."
"Hang on."
Chuck looked up at the others ready to ride and said, "Erikka isn't answering the door. Gomez is breaking in."
Wayne frowned. "We're ready to ride when you give the signal."
Several minutes passed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. How long could it take to break a fucking window?
A pop followed by glass tinkling came over the phone. Several seconds later, Gomez said, "I'm in."
"Hurry the fuck up," muttered Chuck.
He overheard the lieutenant announce himself. Over the silence, he could hear the thrumming echo of his heart beating. Had Erikka passed
out? He rubbed his eyes. She had a habit of not eating when she was upset. He couldn't even remember if she'd eaten some toast or had coffee that morning.
"The house is clear, Chuck," said Lieutenant Gomez.
"Jesus Christ." He started his motorcycle and shouted, "I'm on my way. Stay there."
He circled his finger in the air, signaling the others to ride out. It'd take him fifteen minutes to get home if traffic was light. He wasn't planning on shifting down once he got out on the road. He'd make it in ten.
To concentrate, he kept chanting the whole way. She went on a walk. She picked up her mail. She needed more clothes at her house. There were reasons she'd be gone. Stupid ass reasons that he'd spank her ass for doing because he told her to fucking stay home.
He flew through the stop sign at the end of his street and opened the throttle. Leaving rubber in his driveway, he popped the clutch, toed the kickstand, and jumped off his Harley. He pulled out his phone on the way up to the house and connected a call to her cell as he used his key to open the door.
In the living room, ringing greeted him. His gaze zeroed in on the cell phone sitting on the coffee table. If she'd gone anywhere, she always took her phone.
Gomez walked over to him. "I put an APB out to all patrolmen to look for her."
Chuck marched upstairs, opened his closet, and removed another pistol from his collection. Adding one to an ankle holster, he stretched and latched the Velcro around the top of his boot, leaving his jeans secured underneath. Once he found Erikka, he'd empty both weapons on whoever took her. Nobody fucked with his woman.
Bounding down the stairs, he skidded to a stop. Wayne, Thad, Glen blocked the front door. He stared them down. "I'm going to get her back."
"You need to take a breather, Chuck. Think through where she could be and if you want to go running off, we'll entertain that idea, too. But, I want to know you're thinking first." Wayne widened his stance.
Lieutenant Gomez stepped forward. "Now would be a good time to fill me in on what you plan to do."
"We got a positive I.D. this morning that Stoddard is staying at the Three Rivers complex. He's been there for a while, staying in the empty apartments and moving from unit to unit. There are three units there, so it's going to take some time." Wayne tapped on his phone as he continued. "If he has Rachel, it's more than likely that she's being held in one of the apartments."
"I'm getting the feeling you all think Stoddard took Erikka, too. How do you know she's even missing?" Gomez looked at each man. "She could've run to the store or went for a walk."
"She left her phone. She never leaves it," said Chuck.
Thad nodded. "Stoddard's car was absent from the parking lot behind the apartments when we checked it out this morning. He could've been here taking Erikka."
"We could be looking at a serial killer with a fascination for sisters." Glen's gaze narrowed.
Chuck lifted his chin, knowing what his MC brothers were doing. They wanted Gomez thinking outside the box to distract him. They needed to make sure every effort was put forth to find Erikka. They had twenty-three hours left to find her.
"With or without you, I'm going back to Three Rivers." Chuck looked at the lieutenant.
Gomez held up his hand. "If you came from the apartments before arriving here, and Stoddard wasn't there, I'll send two patrolmen there in case he comes back. There's no sense wasting your time waiting and watching when he couldn't have gotten Erikka far. When did you leave her this morning?"
"Nine o'clock, maybe a quarter after." Chuck stepped over to his MC brothers.
"Are you okay to ride?" asked Gomez.
Chuck grunted. "Have the police cover the apartments. We're taking off to do a ground search within a two-mile radius of the house."
"Call 911 if you find Stoddard's car," Gomez walked into the kitchen holding up the mic attached to his shoulder and speaking loudly to dispatch.
Chuck turned to the others and motioned them outside. As he walked to his motorcycle, he pointed down the street. "I'll take the first two blocks. Wayne, take three and four. Thad, go ahead and take five and six. Glen, do seven and eight. I'll then go to nine and ten while everyone makes a new lap. We'll meet off Lombard Street and widen our circle if we don't find her."
He slid onto his bike. The roar of everyone's motorcycles could probably be heard two blocks away. He hoped like hell Erikka heard and knew he was coming for her.
He turned left out of his driveway. The others turned right to start their lap on the assigned streets. They'd ridden hundreds of searches together over the years, and ground searches were routine. The back and forth on the streets, always looking left to right, to make sure every inch was covered.
Gazing at houses that were as familiar as his own, the oddities stuck out. The riding lawn mower at the side of a house. Two garbage cans still out at the curb. Christmas lights hung but not turned on even though it was the middle of summer.
He turned and spotted Rachel's house. The overgrown lawn was turning brown without any regular watering. His pulse thundered in his head, and he forced himself to look on the other side of the street, take his time, not miss out on anything. An open garage. Closed drapes. A flashing porch light.
Looking to the other side, he viewed Erikka's house. Identical to his, except for the screen door and color of the siding. He slowed down, studying the exterior. Something was off. He looped in the middle of the street and rode slowly in front of the house again and almost popped the clutch when it hit him what was wrong.
The screen door handle was down.
Last time he'd come over with Erikka to get her clothes, he'd locked the outer door himself and told her she needed to invest in a better lock. Not the kind where the handle had to be horizontal to latch and using a key only popped out an aluminum extension anyone could pull and break.
He pulled into the driveway, keeping his eye on the front window he'd need to pass to get to the door. The curtains were drawn. He pulled on the screen door. It wasn't even latched.
Taking out his pistol, he put his free hand on the doorknob of the front door. It turned in his hand setting off a rush of adrenaline and hope that Erikka had been the last person to walk into her house. He swung the door open, keeping his pistol handy, and stepped inside.
"Put the gun down," said a male voice.
Chuck made eye contact with the man in the middle of the living room. Stoddard.
Not daring to take his gaze off the pistol in Stoddard's hand, Chuck kept his weapon aimed at the man. Standoff.
Out of his peripheral vision, Chuck saw Erikka jump to her feet and hurry toward him from the dining room. He leaned over and put his pistol on the floor and raised up with his hands in the air.
"I'm unarmed. Don't hurt her." He caught Erikka as she landed against him. "Just don't hurt her."
Chapter 31
Stoddard aimed his pistol at Chuck's chest. He tugged Erikka behind him and widened his stance to protect her from any bullets. All his concentration centered on the finger curled around the trigger, putting Erikka in danger.
"Tony, put the gun away, it's okay." Erikka pulled on Chuck's vest. "This is Chuck, who I was telling you about."
Stoddard looked away. Chuck followed his gaze and found a woman standing at the edge of the room cupping her elbows and biting her lower lip. He recognized the brown hair, lighter than Erikka's, the straight nose, and serious expression. The woman was a few inches taller than Erikka, but definitely her sister, Rachel.
Rachel nodded at Stoddard, who tucked the gun in the back of his jeans. Erikka grabbed Chuck's hand and pulled. He braced, refusing to move from his spot or let Erikka walk between him and Stoddard's pistol.
"It's okay. Trust me." Erikka raised his hand and kissed his knuckles. He continued looking at Stoddard, keeping his eye on the man who'd kidnapped not only Rachel but Erikka, too.
"He needs to put down his weapon before I make him," said Chuck, facing off with Stoddard.
The man slowly set
the pistol on the end table and stepped away. Chuck gritted his teeth. He had to get both women out of the house.
"You have to meet my sister." Erikka squeezed his hand.
He ignored Rachel and faced Stoddard. Something wasn't right. The man appeared embarrassed for having pulled a weapon. Stoddard fidgeted as if unsure of him.
"Rachel, come here. This is Chuck. He's a member of Notus Motorcycle Club, who I've been telling you has been trying to find you," said Erikka.
"Erikka?" Chuck said softly. "You need to tell me what the fuck is going on here."
"Rachel came to the house—"
"Love, tell me if Stoddard kidnapped you." His fingers itched to reach down and take his spare pistol out of his ankle holster.
"No. That's what I'm telling you. Rachel wasn't kidnapped." Erikka inhaled deeply. "I found out she was helping Tony."
"Honest, man." Tony held up his palms toward Chuck. "Today is the first I've heard that I'm wanted for kidnapping Rachel, and I sure in the hell haven't kidnapped Erikka. I have no beef with you."
"Then, who do you have a beef with?" Chuck said, between his gritted teeth.
"There are men after me," said Tony. "I ran, and Rachel came with me."
"I did. I'm not ashamed of helping you. All of the news we're just now hearing is not what happened. I left a note for Erikka on her desk at work to explain I was going to be gone until I could prove that Tony was innocent," said Rachel.
"I didn't get a note." Erikka stepped in front of Chuck. "Can we all just take a deep breath, so we can get everything sorted out and help Tony. Rachel has explained everything to me, and it makes sense once you hear what she has to say."
"Stoddard can explain it to the police." Chuck took three steps toward Stoddard, pulled back his arm, and decked him, laying him out on the floor. He shook the pain out of his fist, rolled Stoddard over, and grabbed his pistol. Patting him down to make sure there were no weapons, he said, "Someone better start explaining."
"Stop. Don't hurt him." Rachel ran across the room and kneeled on the floor beside the fallen man. "You didn't have to hit him. He's not going to run anymore."