by Claire Adams
I just stared at him in response.
“I’m going to teach you a lesson,” Walter continued. “And then… then I’m going to punish you.”
“Punish me?” I repeated, in disgust. “Punish me for leaving you?”
“You were mine,” he said. “My possession and my property.”
“You are insane,” I said, shaking my head at him.
“I was good to you,” Walter said. “I treated you well, and all I expected in return was loyalty.”
He was definitely insane. I knew that much now, and I was floored that I hadn’t seen this side of him before. Had I actually thought this man was charming once?
“You were good to me?” I asked incredulously. “Have you forgotten the part where you tried to kill me?”
“Kill you?” Walter repeated, frowning as though he really didn’t remember.
I was gobsmacked for a moment. “You put your hands around my neck and tried to choke me.”
“Oh,” Walter said. “I wasn’t trying to kill you.”
“I couldn’t breathe.”
He chuckled under his breath, and then his face got deadly very suddenly. “You were asking for it.”
“What are—”
“You refused to fuck me.”
“So you decided to try and choke the life out of me?”
“It was just another lesson that needed to be learned,” Walter said with a shrug. “No one says no to me… I had been patient for far too long.”
I shook my head at him. “You’re insane.”
He reached out and touched the side of my face. I cringed back from him in disgust, and he withdrew his hand. “The Angels are scurrying all over town trying to find you.”
“Zack will find me,” I said immediately. “He’ll come after you.”
“Zack,” Walter repeated. “Yes, he seems to be the most determined of the lot.”
Suddenly, Walter leaned in and sniffed me like a dog. I tried to lean as far away from him as my cuffs would allow, but I caught a whiff of his musky scent, and I felt instantly nauseous. One hand was still free, and I thought about slapping him for a moment, but I repressed the urge. I would pay dearly if I slapped him. I had to be smart, just like Steven had told me to be.
“I can smell him on you,” Walter said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You fucked him… but not me?”
I thought about denying it, but the more rebellious part of me that had been born out of my months with the Angels surfaced suddenly. “He’s twice the man you are.”
Walter stared at me for a moment, and then he smiled. For a second, I thought he was going to get off the bed, but then his arm slashed through the air and slapped me so hard my neck snapped back, and my eyes began to water.
“Don’t worry now,” Walter said, getting off the bed and heading towards the door. “Before long, you’ll learn how to be a good possession. You’ll learn to be my faithful and obedient bitch.”
I fought back my tears and willed my voice to keep steady when I spoke. “What are you planning on doing with me?”
“Oh, you’ll see,” he replied. “We’re going on a little trip tomorrow… just you and me. I think it’s going to be a bonding experience.”
With that, he turned and left the room. The door slammed a second later, and I felt the tears fall freely. I was unable to keep control of my calm façade any longer. I had pinned all my hopes on Devon and Zack, but I had to face the facts now. It had been three days already. If they’d known where I was, they’d have come for me by now.
Now Walter was taking me somewhere else to teach me a lesson, to punish me. He had all the power, and I had none. He was the hungry, vengeful wolf, and I was nothing more than the lamb he was taking to slaughter.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Zack
“Zack?”
I rushed downstairs, sensing the urgency in Justin’s tone. “What is it?” I asked. “Did you guys find out anything?”
“No,” Justin replied. “But there’s someone here to see you.”
Frowning, I looked towards the door and saw the tall, willowy waitress that I’d spoken to the other day. She was dressed less conspicuously today. She was wearing jeans and an oversized shirt, and I noticed there was a hat in her hand too.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I asked around and found out where you lived,” she replied. “You came to my bar asking questioning about someone named Walter Black?”
“Yes?”
“Well… I came across some information and… I knew I needed to tell you.”
“What have you found out?” I asked urgently.
She took a step into the house and looked around wearily. Apart from me, Justin, Lonny, and Bones were the only ones in the living room, but she looked distinctly uncomfortable, and I knew that she hadn’t wanted to involve herself in all this, but her conscience hadn’t been able to keep her away.
“Last night… two guys came into the bar,” she said. “They were dressed normally, and they weren’t wearing MC jackets or anything… but I’ve lived in this town long enough to recognize an MC member when I see one. They’d never come in before, and I think they were just trying to avoid being seen. They were talking about a woman being held captive… they said she was being locked in a room and that someone called Ghost was going to make her regret the day she left him.”
I leaned in. “What else did they say?”
“One of the guys mentioned a Walter Black, and I knew it had to be the same one you had told me about… I think it’s an alias though.”
“It is,” I nodded impatiently.
“From what I heard both men seem to feel that this guy… Walter Black is deranged. They were only concerned with getting out of town…”
“They were planning to leave?”
“In a few days,” she nodded. “I wanted to tell you before they left… They didn’t mention where Walter Black was keeping this woman. But if you were to track them down before they left town…”
“We can find Mila,” I finished the sentence.
She nodded. “I’ve been in an abusive relationship myself. I wasn’t about to sit on that information.”
“Can you tell me anything about the two men that came in last night?”
“I heard both their names… Bryan and Clint. They both looked like they were in their early thirties. Bryan has a scar on his left cheek, tattoos down his right arm and he was missing a tooth. Clint was blue-eyed and blond… he had a beard and a tattoo on his neck that looked like some sort of bird.”
“They must be Knights,” Justin piped up. “Who else could they be?”
“Of course they’re Knights,” Lonny nodded. “I recognize the descriptions.”
“You do?” I asked optimistically.
“Particularly the one with the scar on his face,” Lonny replied. “He was part of the group that came here to abduct Mila.”
“Can you give us anything more?” I asked, clenching my jaw as I turned back to her.
“That’s all I know,” she replied. “I should be going.”
I walked her out of the house and towards the gate. She didn’t make eye contact with me, nor did she attempt conversation. She just seemed keen to get out as fast as she could. Just before she left, she turned to me.
“I hope you find your girl,” she said to me.
“Thank you for helping me,” I said.
She gave me a short nod and headed off towards the car that was parked to the side. She was almost at her car when I realized I didn’t even know her name.
“Hey,” I called out. “What’s your name?”
“Sarah,” she replied.
“I’m Zack,” I told her.
She smiled. “I know.”
“If you ever need help with anything, Sarah… you can count on the Angels,” I said.
Her smiled deepened slightly. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she nodded.
The mome
nt her car had disappeared around the bend, I ran back and got on my motorbike. The boys were there too, and all three jumped on their bikes as well.
“What’s the plan?” Justin asked.
“If they’re planning on skipping town, they’d not be going to go back to their clubhouse,” I said. “This is a small enough town. We’ll be able to find them if we split up. I want one of you to send an alert to all the boys. We’re going to scour this town until we find either Bryan or Clint.”
“Understood,” Justin nodded.
“I’m going to start the search at the pub stretch. Bones, you take the other part of town. Lonny and Justin, make sure the other men are out there searching too. The moment one of you strike gold, let me know immediately.”
With my instructions given, I headed towards the pub stretch to look for one or both of the men fitting Sarah’s description. I went into every single place that men like me might decide to visit, but I got nothing. Two hours later, and I was still searching and starting to get frustrated and angry when I got a call.
I almost dropped my phone I was in such a rush to answer the call. It was Red.
“Red?”
“We found one,” he said.
“Fuck yes!” I said, punching the air with joy. “Where are you?”
“East end of Lake and Pine. There’s a broad alleyway between two of the apartment buildings.”
“I know the one,” I said. “I’ll be there in five.”
I hung up and sped towards the location Red had mentioned. I got there in four minutes, parked my bike next to Red’s and headed towards the alleyway. Red was there with Vincent and Michael, and they surrounded a man with a noticeable scar on his face and a missing front tooth.
“Jackpot,” I said, walking over to them.
“What the fuck do you motherfuckers want?” he yelled.
He was bleeding from the nose and from a wound just above his left eyebrow. He was also on the floor, leaning against the wall, while the boys surrounded him casually, without a care in the world. They moved aside so that I could pass. I knelt down right in front of Bryan and gave him a friendly smile.
“You must be Bryan?”
“How do you know my name?”
“This is a small town, Bryan, and people notice things.”
“What do you want?” he asked again.
“Oh, I think you know,” I said as my tone turned deadly. “You crashed my house the other day, and you took something from me.”
Bryan’s face turned pale, and he realized he couldn’t claim not to have been there. “I was… I was just following orders.”
“By Ghost?”
“I… yes,” he said.
“And why aren’t you with the boss now?” I asked.
Bryan spat out a little blood and turned to me. “The man’s not right in the head. The Knights have never run from a fight, but we don’t go looking for one either. Ghost told us that the Angels were planning an attack. He said that you were trying to instigate another war.”
“What did Mila have to do with anything?” I demanded.
“He said that you had taken his woman and he needed to get her back to assert his dominance to gain control,” Bryan replied. “He said that when you came looking for her, we could take you out.”
“So that was the plan?”
“The plan changed,” Bryan said, and he looked sick suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
“He was going to leave clues so that he could lead you to the girl and then ambush you lot,” Bryan continued. “Then he decided it would be more fun to send you back the girl… in parts.”
My hands balled into fists. “And what did you cowardly motherfuckers do?”
“Joel told him that he wasn’t going to be involved in a civilian murder; if this was about club-on-club dominance, that was a different thing. If we needed to protect our interests or our land or our businesses, then that was understood. But murdering for sport was not what we did. Ghost walked up to Joel, punched him in the face, and then when he was down, he kept punching until there was nothing left of Joel’s face but blood and bone and skin. He didn’t even look like a person anymore…”
I could tell that this incident had been the deciding factor for Bryan and probably a few other Knights who had joined Ghost too. There was a line that had been crossed. Some men would stay with Ghost out of respect, others would stay out of fear, but there were a few who would try and get out before this escalated into a full-scale bloodbath.
Even the Knights knew that if they continued on this route, the cops would have to get involved, and then it would be a whole different ballgame.
“You know where he’s keeping her?” I asked.
“I… he’ll kill me if he knows I told you anything,” Bryan said desperately.
“I’m not going to give you away,” I said.
“How do I know that?”
“Because the Fallen Angels keep their fucking word,” I spat. “And because if you don’t tell me right now, I will do to you what Ghost did to your friend Joel…. understood?”
Bryan swallowed hard. “It’s too late…”
“What is too late?” I demanded.
“He was planning on taking her away… to Gordon’s Run—”
“The field half an hour from here?”
“Yes,” Bryan nodded. “It’s miles from anything… No one will hear her scream.”
I wanted to scream and roar, but I willed myself to keep calm. “When is he planning on taking her there?”
“He’s already gone,” Bryan said fearfully. “This morning at seven. I left shortly after he left with her.”
I looked down at the time. It was almost noon. Five fucking hours. It had been five fucking hours since he’d taken her. He could have killed her a thousand times over. I felt my stomach fall, but I knew I had to try.
I jumped to my feet. “I’m heading over there,” I shouted orders to the boys remaining. “Get some answers out of him,” I told Red, who followed me to my bike. “Get him to tell you where Ghost was keeping Mila all this time.”
“I’ll come with you—”
“Send back up,” I told him. “You know where to come… Make sure you get the answers first.”
I whirled my bike around, revved the engine, and headed down the road. I was conscious of Red still talking, but I was done talking. It was time for action. I was probably already too late, but I wasn’t going to give up until I saw a body.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Mila
The door opened, and I felt my heart jump in my chest. It was almost painful, like something heavy had just fallen right on top of me. Walter walked into the room and gave me a smile full of promise and excitement. I could see that he was looking forward to this so-called trip he had planned. It was just another exercise in mental torture, so I was determined not to let my fear break through my calm exterior.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” I replied, giving him a condescending glance that did not betray my fast beating heart.
“One of you get in here and un-cuff her,” Walter ordered.
One of the bigger men walked into the room with the tiny key and released me from the cuffs. For a giddy moment, I wanted to sing out loud. Having my hands free from the painful grip of the restraints was so beautiful that for a moment, I actually felt lucky. I had cuts all around my wrists. The skin there was red and throbbing, revealing little pockets of flesh where the skin had been rubbed away by the cuffs.
Before I could really examine them, the big man grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off the bed. My legs gave way, and I sunk to the floor, but he lifted me as easily as though I weighed a couple of pounds.
“Come now, Mila,” Walter said as his smile grew wider. “Do you want to walk out of here or be carried out of here?”
I didn’t let his tone or his expression get to me. Let him think I was weak… that suited me just fine. I actua
lly wanted him to think I was weak; maybe that would work to my advantage.
I was dragged out of the room, and I made sure to pay attention to where I was. I had been right all along. I had been kept in a basement. We had to walk up a short flight of stairs before reaching the first floor of the house, which turned out to be a pretty ordinary one. It almost looked like a happy family might have lived here at one time. I wondered how Walter had gained control of it. There was no sign of Steven, and I felt sad that I couldn’t say goodbye to him. There was a very good possibility that I wasn’t coming back.
I didn’t let myself think about what that really meant. I had to stay calm, and I had to stay focused. Otherwise, there was no point. I might as well just lie down now and let Walter kill me. But I had spent the last few hours thinking hard, and I had decided that since there was no guarantee about how this was going to turn out, the only thing I could do was try my best to fight back.
Even if I didn’t get myself out of this mess, then at least I died trying. I added ‘literally’ to the end of that sentence, and it almost made me laugh.
There were a few men standing outside where a car had been parked. Everyone looked towards me as I appeared at the entrance, but I didn’t make eye contact. What was the point? They were the ones that had kidnapped me; they weren’t about to offer me help now. I turned my attention to my surroundings, and I felt my breath catch when I realized that we were still in the heart of town, surrounded by suburban homes with well-kept lawns and minivans parked in the drive.
This particular house was hidden behind a red brick wall that had vines growing on it so that no one could see inside very clearly, and Walter’s men could come and go without people getting too suspicious about what they were up to. He had been hiding in plain sight this whole time. I had to admit; it had been a smart move.
I looked towards his men standing to the side, and then I turned to Walter. “Quite the entourage you’ve got there,” I said. “Are they all coming?”
“I like an audience when I play,” Walter smirked at me.
I felt panic choking me, but I had promised myself to try and manipulate the situation to my advantage. I needed to get my way without allowing Walter to know what I was up to. “Of course you do,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Typical.”