Kiki watched in horror as Jazz was tackled by the Warrior that had been waiting in the van. She tumbled to the ground, the weight of the biker on top of her. She turned into a whirlwind as she screamed and scratched, her hands and feet flying.
Then Kiki saw the Warrior who had her pinned to the ground backhand her twice, and as if in slow motion, watched him pull his elbow back and slug her in the face. Her body went limp and Kiki cried out her name.
Holy shit, now would be a great time for Hawk to show up.
The first Warrior squatted in front of her, grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head up. “Takin’ you with me, bitch. You gonna fight?”
Kiki spit in his face. “Fuck you!”
With his free hand he wiped the spit off his cheek and he dropped her head. She struggled to get back onto her hands and knees. She needed to get up. She needed to get to Jazz. They needed to get away.
That plan quickly went south as the Warrior stood up, a wicked smile on his face, and drop kicked her in the ribs. Kiki gasped, once again losing all her breath as she fell to her side.
Then he kicked her again on the other side. Shards of pain shot through her. Her ribs had to be broken. Her head was spinning and she couldn’t breathe.
She had enough energy to lift her hand and give him the finger. He laughed. “Fuckin’ feisty bitch. Like feisty. Can’t wait to get a piece of you.” He looked over his shoulder at the other Warrior.
“Throw her in the van. This one, too.”
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
She and Jazz were done if those assholes took them. No one would be able to find them. Hawk had explained that the Shadow Warriors were nomads. No permanent clubhouse, no home base. Nowhere for the Dirty Angels, or even the cops, to look.
With a groan, she tried to roll to a seat. She couldn’t let them take them.
“Jazz,” she tried to call out, but it ended up sounding more like a cough. Her hand immediately went to the pain shooting through her ribs. She gasped.
“Leave... us... get... cash...”
“Fuck the cash. This car will bring us good scratch. An’ after we’re done with you, you bitches might, too.”
Kiki pushed through the pain to roll to her knees.
“Think you’re gonna get away? Think again, bitch.”
She never saw what hit her.
Chapter Fourteen
Hawk roared into the driveway, rolled to a stop and dropped his boots to the pavement.
“What the fuck,” he muttered.
Kiki’s car wasn’t in the driveway and he couldn’t imagine her parking in Jazz’s spot in the garage.
He crab-walked the bike closer to the garage and kicked the stand down. After flinging a leg over his sled, he went over to punch in the code on the keypad to activate the garage door opener.
He blinked as the double door lifted. His truck sat in its normal spot and so did Jazz’s old Honda.
He glanced over his shoulder at the house. Downstairs was lit up, so Jazz was definitely home. Maybe she had talked to Kiki. Maybe Kiki needed to run to get something at a twenty-four-hour store.
Maybe. Or she thought better of coming over to his house and hooking up with him again.
He should head over to her condo, bang on her door and wake up all her fucking neighbors.
He wanted an explanation. And he needed his keys back if she hadn’t dropped them off with Jazz.
Didn’t make sense, though, why she’d show up at the bar acting like she wanted some dick, and then change her mind immediately.
Unless, again, she came to her senses.
Fuck if he didn’t leave the bar early tonight to hurry home to settle himself between her sweet thighs.
Fuck.
Maybe she was playing some sort of game with him.
Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.
He fucking hated it.
The more he thought about it the hotter he became as he strode down the driveway and then up the front walk.
Why was the front door wide open? He frowned and walked faster. At least until he stepped on something that crunched beneath his boot.
He hopped off whatever it was and looked down. Even in the dark he could see it was a cell phone. He snagged the crushed phone off the concrete.
Jazz’s.
What the fuck.
Cold dread ran through him and turned his stomach as his gaze rose from the broken phone in his hand to the open door.
“Fuck,” he barked and ran the rest of the way, up the porch and through the doorway.
The large flat-screen TV was showing some late-night talk show with the sound muted.
“Jazz!” he bellowed. He snagged the remote off the couch and hit the power button.
The only thing that greeted him was his heart pounding in his chest.
“Yo, Jazz!”
His eyes landed on the plate of nachos on the coffee table. The melted cheese had congealed. He touched it anyway just to confirm his suspicion. Cold.
As thin as Jazz was, she had a bottomless pit for a stomach, there would be no way she’d leave a plate of nachos untouched.
No way.
“Jazz!” he bellowed again as he rushed down the hall to her room. Empty. Bathroom. Empty. His gaze swept the kitchen. Empty.
“Jazz! You better answer!”
The silence crept over him creating a blanket of fear. He rushed back to the front of the house and took the steps to his bedroom two at a time.
He let out a curse when he got to the top and saw just what he expected: nothing. Neither Kiki nor Jazz were in the house.
He swallowed hard as his blood started to rush in his ears. His rapid heartbeat rose into his throat.
He pulled his phone out of his back pocket as he hurried back down the steps. He hit the switch for the porch light as well as the floodlight that would shine on the driveway. Kiki’s cell phone rang three times then the voicemail picked up.
He hung up and hit redial. Again, no answer. This time at the beep he barked into the phone, struggling to keep his shit together. “Call me as soon as you get this. Got me?”
He jogged back down the porch steps as he dialed Diesel’s cell.
“Yo,” his brother answered, his voice gruff. “What the fuck? Busy, brother.”
“Gotta problem.”
Silence for a moment. “What?”
He stopped at the location where he had stepped on Jazz’s phone. Now with the light on, he could see a dark discoloration on the concrete. “Hang on.”
He squatted down and tilted the screen of his cell phone toward the dark area. He quickly put the phone back to his ear. “Definitely gotta fuckin’ problem.”
“What!” his brother barked, now sounding way more awake than he had when he first picked up.
“Think Jazz was snagged.”
“What!”
“Jazz. Not at the house. Car’s here. Found her phone on the sidewalk. Door wide open. TV on. Food cold on the table. Dark spot on the concrete. Blood.”
More silence on the other end of the phone.
“D,” Hawk said, trying not to panic.
“Gettin’ dressed.”
Really trying not to panic. “Yeah. Gotta move on this.”
“Yeah, brother, hear you. Gonna make some calls.”
He dropped his head back to stare up at the night sky. “Right. Brother,” he began but his throat closed up.
“Yeah?”
He forced the words out. “Keeks was supposed to be here. She ain’t. Car ain’t. Not answerin’ her fuckin’ phone.”
“Fuck,” Diesel muttered.
Hawk strode over to the driveway and looked around where Kiki normally parked her Vette.
“Brother,” Hawk breathed.
“Fuck,” Diesel muttered again.
“Dark spot on the driveway, too. Nothin’ else. No other sign. Can’t tell for sure.”
“Warriors,” Diesel grumbled.
�
�If so, they’re all fuckin’ dead.”
“All of them,” D agreed. “Hangin’ up. Gonna get my crew on this.”
“Can’t move fast enough.”
“Hear ya, brother. Her cell phone anywhere?”
“Haven’t seen it.”
“Could be a good thing. Gonna get a guy to ping it. Owes me a favor.”
Hawk blew out a breath.
“Hawk,” Diesel started, his voice tight.
“Yeah.”
“Gonna find her. Jazz, too. Got me?”
Hawk couldn’t answer. He was too busy struggling to suck air into his empty lungs.
“Hawk!” Diesel yelled into the phone.
“Yeah, D. Find her. Your guy gets a bead, gimme the address.”
There was no mistaking the reason for the long hesitation on Diesel’s end.
“Right, brother,” D finally said.
The phone went dead.
* * *
Kiki groaned. Unable to stop herself, she rolled forward and hit something solid but soft. With the way the floor vibrated under her, it seemed that they were in a vehicle and it was moving at a high rate of speed. That’s all she knew. She blinked her eyes open but the back of the van was dark. Whatever road they were on didn’t have any street lights to help illuminate the interior. She slid her hand out to the object she hit. Flesh and hair.
Jazz.
As she twisted toward the girl, she bit back a sharp cry as pain not only shot through her ribs but rocketed through her head, making her vision spotty and her head spin. Her brain felt like scrambled eggs and her head throbbed.
Unfortunately, she didn’t think Jazz had regained consciousness.
Holy shit.
They needed to get out of this vehicle or they...
A loud impact sound came from nearby. Metal crunched, glass shattered, an engine raced.
“What d’fuck? You asshole! Why’d you do that for?” The driver screamed, then slammed on the brakes, sending Kiki rolling into Jazz again.
Oh shit.
Her hands weren’t tied. Her ankles weren’t either. They had just thrown them into the cargo area at the back of the van. She reached out to Jazz and found her hand in the dark. She squeezed it but didn’t get a response. Jazz’s hand was limp. At least it was warm, which meant she was still alive.
Kiki winced as more pain shot through her brain when the passenger door of the van was ripped open and someone jumped in.
“Fuck!”
“What the fuck! Just trashed that fuckin’ car! That was the whole point of this. Now what?”
“Fuck the car.”
“Coulda got good money for it.”
“Shut the fuck up. We got them. May be worth more than the car.”
The driver put the van into gear and the tires chirped as he hit the gas.
Kiki groaned as the movement caused more pain to shoot through her body.
“Hear that?”
“What?”
“One of ‘em’s awake.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, pull over for a sec.”
The van jerked to the side of the road and before Kiki could react, the passenger was climbing between the seats to the back.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
She squeezed her eyes shut and pretended she was still out. But when the Warrior toed her ribs with his boot, she couldn’t hold back her cry.
“Fuckin’ bitch is awake.”
“Need to tie ‘em up.”
“Don’t got no rope. Wasn’t plannin’ on takin’ nothin’ but the car.”
“No shit. Which you just fucked up.”
“Shut the fuck up. I got this.”
Kiki released her grip on Jazz’s fingers when the world went black again.
* * *
“Go,” Hawk barked into his phone. He paced restlessly, scrubbing his hand over his mohawk repeatedly.
“Found her car.”
He tamped down the rush of anxiety. D didn’t sound hopeful. Hawk knew by his voice alone that Kiki wasn’t with her car. He didn’t even have to ask.
“Good news, cell ain’t in the car. Hopefully it’s on her. Bad news, brother... Car landed hard in a drainage ditch. Gotta be totaled. Bunch of blood on the driver’s side. Not sure if it’s hers.”
“Your guy got a bead?”
“Yeah. Headed that way. How I found the car. Got a few of my Shadows with.”
Got a few of his Shadows with him. Jesus.
Diesel had some guys working for him for In the Shadows Security that could be questionable. But Hawk knew they’d take care of business. One way or the other.
But for fuck’s sake, he needed to be there, too.
“Location, D.”
Diesel grunted into the phone.
“Location, D,” Hawk yelled.
“Got it covered.”
“Fuck!”
“Yep.”
Phone went dead.
Hawk threw his head back and roared. Then he collapsed to his knees and heaved until his guts had nothing left to give.
Chapter Fifteen
Male voices. Scuffling. A distant whimper. A stale, putrid smell that made her scrunch up her nose and her stomach lurch.
Kiki groaned. She mentally did a body check and couldn’t find one part that didn’t ache or hurt in some way. She could’ve been hit by a tractor trailer and felt the same. Propped up into a seated position on the floor, she was leaning back against something hard—a wall maybe—but she listed to one side. She tried to shift, to straighten, but when she went to put her hand down for leverage, she couldn’t move it.
They must have found rope or something similar since her hands were now bound behind her back. She tried to wiggle her fingers, but couldn’t feel them.
Something warm rolled down her cheek. A tear?
She didn’t have time to cry and feel sorry for herself and the situation they were in. She needed to think. She needed to figure a way out of it.
She forced her swollen eyes open. It took an effort and the moment her eyelids opened to partial slits, the dim light caused pain to shoot through her temple.
Her legs were folded beneath her so she tried to shift again. Shit, her ankles were tied together, too. Her boots were gone. She glanced down as best as she could through her hazy vision. Her white blouse was in tatters and stained. So were her jeans.
Her tears weren’t dripping onto the floor. That was blood. Her blood. She had at least one head wound from the way her head throbbed and her scalp stung.
She painfully swallowed back the bile that threatened to bubble up.
With care, she turned her pounding head and surveyed the room. It appeared the Warriors had taken them to a house, but it was in such rough condition that there was no way anyone lived there. The drywall had holes, the wood framing was exposed, what wallpaper remained was peeling away in large chunks. The floors were filthy and consisted of exposed stained plywood. Not one stick of furniture could be seen. And, of course, being uninhabitable there would be no phone. No way to call for help. No way to let anyone, even Hawk, know where they were.
Kiki wouldn’t doubt the abandoned house sat in the middle of nowhere, too. Somewhere where no one would hear her scream.
She couldn’t even muster up any hope of being found. Not one single hope.
They were going to die here. And before she did, she was sure whatever these outlaw bikers had planned wouldn’t be pleasant.
Unless... they planned on ransoming her and Jazz to the club?
Her heart pounded with the possibility. That would be smart on their part. But then... Kiki couldn’t imagine either of them being intelligent.
She closed her eyes again as heavy footsteps approached. No, two sets of boots.
Grunting. Cursing under their breath. Then something hit the bare wood floor hard. Her eyes opened to barely slits again. She sucked in a breath.
Jazz.
She wasn’t tied up. Even better, she was coming to. Her head rocked back an
d forth, small mews escaping her lips.
“Just in time. Wakin’ up for the fun.” The taller, older one said, kicking at Jazz’s bare foot.
Oh shit.
A piercing scream filled the air, making all the hair on Kiki’s body stand on end. Jazz was now fully conscious and struggled to sit up. Her arms and legs floundered in different directions as she attempted to get her body to cooperate.
She was truly in fight or flight mode. As one of the Warriors dropped to his knees to grab her ankles, she kicked at him, making contact with his shoulder once and his gut another time. He grunted in pain and cursed at his partner in crime.
Kiki rooted her on silently. Fight, Jazz. Fight!
“Hold her still, goddamn it.”
The prospect dropped to his knees at her head, but instead of planting them on the floor he drilled his knees into her wrists, effectively pinning her down.
Her eyes wild, Jazz cursed at them. “They’re gonna fucking kill you! Kill you all!”
“Shut up, bitch.”
“Skin you a-fucking-live. Making the biggest mistake of your fucking life!”
“Shut the fuck up!” the one at her feet shouted, then looked at the prospect, who remained by her head. “Need to gag the bitch.”
The prospect pulled a black bandana from around his neck, nodding in agreement.
“Don’t!” Jazz screamed as the prospect balled the bandana up and jammed it into her mouth.
Jazz coughed and thrashed, but it did no good. Kiki had to do something.
“Stop!” Kiki screamed. “Don’t! Don’t hurt her!”
Their heads swung her direction. “You shut up, too. You’re next.”
“No! No! Take me instead. Leave her alone. Take me, you assholes. Or ransom us. They’ll pay good money to get us back unharmed.”
“Right. Probably dead either way. Might as well enjoy some sweet pussy an’ die happy.”
A muffled scream came from Jazz, her eyes wide as she continued to struggle against the prospect pinning her wrists to the floor.
“Get her shirt off. Wanna see her tits,” the older Warrior barked.
The prospect took two handfuls of Jazz’s baby doll T-shirt and tore it clean in half causing Jazz’s torso to jerk in response.
Down & Dirty: Books 1-3: Dirty Angels MC Series Box Set Page 54