Smolder: A Devil Chaser's MC Romance

by Wilder, L

  Chapter 22

  Taylor

  This was not how I expected my day to go when I got up this morning. I still didn’t understand what I was doing here. I don’t know what kind of information they expected to get from me, but there was no way I was going to tell them anything. Besides, I don’t really even know anything to tell them. I’ve never known what goes on in the Devil Chaser’s club. To me, they’re just part of my family.

  I was clueless, and I was trying not to let my panic overtake me. I knew Ren would be there soon. I didn’t know how I was so sure of that, but I was. I just needed to keep a clear head until then.

  Gage locked me in his room over an hour ago. I hadn’t heard much talking outside the door, so I was thinking there must not be many people around right then. I decided I needed to figure a way out of that damn room. Waiting for Ren was all well and good, but I’d been around Gage’s MC enough to know that I didn’t want to be there when they came looking for me.

  I started searching around the room, hoping to find something to help me unlock the door. I found an old gift card in his bottom drawer, and I tried to shove it through the door frame. I had broken into my own apartment several times that way, but this lock wouldn’t budge.

  I kept looking, but I could feel my fear bubbling up inside. I couldn’t find a way out, and I had no idea what they’d do to me when they found out I couldn’t help them. I might have recovered physically from Gage’s beating, but I wasn’t sure I could handle another one… or worse. I closed my eyes and tried to will my mind to rest. I couldn’t go there.

  I decided to check the bathroom, praying I could find something there to pick the lock. I went through all the drawers and cabinets and couldn’t find one thing to help. I did find a couple of razor blades and hid those in my pockets. I didn’t want to try and fight them, figuring that would just piss them off more, but I felt better having something- anything that might help me survive.

  I finally caught a break when I pulled back the curtain in the shower. There was a small window just above the shower, close to the ceiling. It was really small, but I thought I’d be able to wedge myself through it. I just had to get up there.

  I went back into the bedroom and found a small metal trashcan that would give me enough height to reach the base of the window. I turned the trashcan upside down, placing it in the center of the tub. I held the curtain rod to balance myself. The window was difficult to get open, but I finally got it. My heart was beating out of my chest. After some major tugging, I finally pulled myself up enough to see that no one was outside. I kept wiggling my way through, and I was almost home free when I lost my footing and fell face first. It hurt like hell, but I couldn’t let it slow me down.

  I pulled myself together and sprinted towards the field behind the clubhouse. My mind was running everywhere. I silently cursed to myself; I was in my dress pants. Too bad I didn’t wear my I’m-going-to-be-kidnapped-and-have-to-run-for-my-life-outfit today. I needed to make sure I had one of those… if I survived this. There was a large fence surrounding the entire area, so I had to find a way to climb over it. I slowly pulled myself up the fence by putting the tips of my shoes in the small holes and using my upper body strength to climb. This stuff was much easier when I was younger, but I managed to scale all the way up to the top without falling. There was a row of barbed wire attached to the top fence post, but I had to take my chances. The barbed wire pierced the flesh of my hands, causing me to lose my grip. When I threw my leg over the top, the wire caught my pants and ripped them. I felt the burn of pain, and I knew the wire had jabbed deep into my leg. It was a pretty bad cut, but I had to keep moving. I dropped to the ground on the other side, limping and bleeding, but I’d made it. That was all that mattered.

  I looked over my shoulder quickly just to make sure I was free. I noticed someone coming out of the back door, so I took off running into the cornfield. I wasn’t sure if he saw me, but I wasn’t waiting to find out.

  Chapter 23

  Renegade

  Bishop made arrangements for us to meet the President of the Red Dragons at Fat Moe’s Bar and Grill. Since it was the middle of the week, it was fairly quiet. We needed a place where we wouldn’t attract too much attention. Bishop and I walked into the bar, and I felt anxious. We had no way of knowing how this meeting would go. It could go either way. Bishop had the other guys waiting close by in case things turned ugly. Still, I knew if the roles were reversed, Bishop would be ready to destroy the other club for messing with the Devil Chasers.

  The President was already sitting at a table in the corner with his Sergeant of Arms when we walked into the bar. The lights were dimmed, and there was soft music playing. There were a couple of men sitting at the bar, but no one else was really around. I followed Bishop over to their table.

  “You must be Bishop,” the Red Dragon’s president said, not bothering to stand up. He jerked his chin in the direction of the chair, wordlessly telling Bishop to have a seat.

  “Yeah, and this is Renegade. Thanks for agreeing to meet with us,” Bishop said, pulling out a chair to sit.

  “You can call me Snake, and this is Bones, my Sergeant of Arms.” Snake reminded me of a pissed off Hulk Hogan with his handle bar mustache and thick build. He was tall and had a snake tattoo that wrapped around his neck and up the back of his bald head. Bones had a similar build, so I wasn’t sure where he got his road name. He had long black hair that was braided down his back and a cold stare that didn’t flinch. I could tell by looking at them that they weren’t the kind of guys you wanted to piss off. I didn’t give a fuck though. They’d messed with what was mine.

  Snake continued, “I’m not finding myself fucking happy about meeting you. I don’t take kindly to people screwing with my club.”

  “Understandable, but the girl in question is one of ours. You’d do the same,” Bishop said firmly.

  Snake didn’t answer one way or the other. He just stared at Bishop waiting. He was a hard ass motherfucker, but Bishop didn’t give one inch. Finally, Bishop nodded as if he’d seen what he wanted in Snake’s eyes. I didn’t see shit, but all I could think about was my girl.

  “I think you’ll feel better about things once we talk. I believe we each understand where the other is coming from, and once you hear what I have to say, I’m pretty sure we can end this tonight,” Bishop said firmly.

  “You better hope so. My patience is already running thin. I think it’s time you started explaining,” he snapped.

  “Let me,” I said turning to Bishop. We wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t had Bobby install those cameras. I needed to be the one to explain things.

  “Go ahead,” Bishop said with a nod.

  “A couple of weeks back, I came here to check on a… on my girl. She was in pretty bad shape. Beat all to shit and in the hospital with a broken arm and a concussion. I found out Tank was the fucker that hurt her.” I took a deep breath and clenched my fists, concentrating before I went on. “So, I decided to keep an eye on him. I hadn’t claimed her yet, but I couldn’t leave her vulnerable. I delivered a personal message to your man Tank, but I couldn’t have him thinking he could even get around her. She’s mine, and I protect what’s mine. It was my idea to install the cameras. Bishop agreed because Taylor is part of our family, even without my claim. Her brother was a member of our club.” I stopped to make sure he was taking all this in and to gauge his response.

  “This is the first I’ve heard about it,” Snake said, crossing his arms. “She’s a hot little number though. They seemed to get along, and I figured she’d be his old lady soon. If not, one of the other men was itching to have a go. What-the-fuck-ever, I don’t get involved with my men’s bitches.”

  “The Devil Chasers have no interest in what’s going on with your club. I just need to make sure your man doesn’t fuck with what’s mine. I delivered that message personally. He brought this shit to your club,” I continued. “Besides, you’d do the same if it was one of your own,” I added, hoping to
drive my point home.

  “I can understand that, but you’ve put me in a tough spot. My guys aren’t happy about this. They aren’t gonna want to let this go,” Snake explained.

  Bishop cleared his throat and decided it was time to step in, “There’s more. Something you should be aware of. Before I tell you though, I need your word that Taylor will be returned safely to us immediately.”

  “I’m not giving you shit, until I know what your information is,” Snake huffed.

  “We have some information about your club that you’re gonna want to know. We have everything we’ve collected over the past few weeks and plan to hand it over as soon as we know Taylor is okay,” Bishop told him.

  “I’m getting fucking tired of this shit. It better be good, or you’ll regret it.”

  “I have your word?” Bishop asked.

  “Fine. How the fuck do you know I won’t just do what I want anyway?” Snake growled.

  “If you do, you’ll regret it, and that I can promise you,” Bishop said, and for the first time I felt myself relax a little. Snake stared at him for a minute and must have realized that our club was all in, because he nodded. “Fine, tell me what you have.”

  Bishop leaned back, “Dissention in the ranks. Tank and your VP have been making moves. They have plans to take you out during your next delivery.”

  Snakes eyes widened in shock as he pushed up towards Bishop like he was going to grab him. I moved to my president’s side.

  Snake banged his fist on the table. “You’d better have some strong fucking proof you son of a bitch, or there’ll be pieces of your ass all the way back to Tennessee.”

  Bishop nodded to me, and I reached in my jacket and pulled out my phone. I sat it on the table in front of Snake. He reached out and hit the button on the screen to play the video.

  Bones leaned in closer so he could watch with him. The blood drained from their faces as they watched the truth unfold before them. The expressions on their faces showed how disturbing the information was to them. It was hard to believe that your own brothers would plan to not only take over your club, but kill you in the process. When the video was over, Snake slowly pushed the phone over to me.

  “I want them fucking all. You don’t have to worry about this pansy-assed son of a bitch no more. Just give me those fucking tapes!” he shouted.

  “Everything is on this flash drive. You get that now. We will delete everything from our computer as soon as we have Taylor back,” I told him.

  “She’s at the clubhouse. Tank brought her there earlier today. I’ll have one of my guys bring her here. Just give me a minute to let him know.”

  He took out his phone and began texting someone. I was glad it worked out as well as it did. We were lucky. Things could’ve, should’ve, gone a lot worse. Snake looked over at me with a disgusted look on his face. Fuck. What could be wrong now?

  “She’s not there,” he said with surprise.

  “What do you mean she’s not there? Where the hell is she?” I bellowed.

  “The door was still locked, but she wasn’t inside. He thinks she crawled through the bathroom window. I don’t know how she could have gotten over that fence, though. It’s 10 feet tall and covered in barbed wire,” he said.

  “There’s nothing out there but cornfields. Where could she have gone?” I asked.

  “She’s gotta be out there somewhere,” Snake replied.

  “I’ll call the guys. We’ll head over there and see if we can find her,” Bishop said, trying to calm me down.

  As we were walking out the door, Sheppard pulled up in the SUV. They followed us over to the Red Dragon’s clubhouse. Snake took us around back to where Taylor had climbed out of the window. We went to the fence, and I saw a piece of clothing stuck in the barbed wire at the top. I climbed up a few steps and pulled the fabric free. My heart stopped when I saw the blood stains on it.

  “Shit! Hold on, Tay. I’m coming. I’ll find you,” I vowed.

  Chapter 24

  Taylor

  I could hear voices coming towards me, so I ran farther into the field. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I couldn’t let them find me. The moon wasn’t giving me much light, but I was able to make out an old barn in the distance. I tried to keep running, but my leg was killing me. I ran my hand over the cut, and blood covered the tips of my fingers. My pants were soaked through, and I was beginning to feel weak.

  I finally made my way over to the old abandoned tobacco barn. I pulled the wooden doors open and looked inside. There were a few hay bales lining the walls, but other than that, it was empty. I wedged myself behind one of the bales of hay and tried to hide in case they came there to look for me. I was feeling really tired, and I was freezing. The temperature had really dropped over the past few days. I would have given anything to have my coat or some kind of blanket.

  I was trying to stay awake, but I could feel my eyelids getting heavier by the minute. I was losing a lot of blood, I thought maybe too much blood for just a cut with barbwire… maybe I had cut an artery? I needed to do something about the gash on my leg. I didn’t have many options, so I took off my sweater and removed my bra. I quickly put my sweater back on and did my best to wrap the bra around my leg. I needed to make some sort of tourniquet, and it was the only thing I could think of.

  I leaned back against the hay bale and waited. I felt myself drifting off, but I just couldn’t stop it. If I got some rest, maybe I could get out of there when the sun came up. I just needed to wait until I could see where I was going. I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep.

  My eyes popped open when I heard a strange noise outside the barn. I was still in a haze, and it was difficult for me to figure out what was going on. I thought I heard footsteps outside, but I was too afraid to go look. Someone was calling my name, but I didn’t recognize the voice. They were looking for me, and I didn’t know what to do. I pulled one of the hay bales closer to me, so I could keep them from seeing me. If I could just stay quiet, maybe they would go away. My heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest, and I felt like crying. I had made it that far, and now they were just going to take me back.

  “Taylor!” someone shouted. I thought I recognized the voice, but I couldn’t be sure. They weren’t close enough for me to hear clearly.

  “Tay! Are you here?” they shouted again. There was only one person who called me Tay. Could he really be here?

  I had to take the chance, so I pushed the hay out of my way and called back, “Noah?” I tried to shout louder, “Noah?”

  He came charging in the barn with a look of desperation on his face. He rushed over to me and pulled me into his arms.

  “Thank God! You had me worried out of my mind!” he said, kissing me on my neck as he hugged me tighter.

  “Noah. I knew you’d find me. I knew it,” I cried, holding onto him and letting his heat warm me. I felt so tired. I needed to tell him something before I went back under. I felt like my body was weighed down with lead. “I hurt my leg when I climbed over that fence. I think I need to go to the hospital,” I said, but my voice sounded far away.

  “I’ll call Bishop and tell him where we are. We’ll get you checked out.” He lifted my chin up so that I was looking directly into his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything,” he said, kissing my forehead gently and dialing his phone with one hand while he held me up with the other.

  “We need to talk, Noah. I mean really talk. Once I get this leg thing checked out, I have some things I need to tell you.”

  Sheppard and Bulldog walked into the barn carrying flashlights with bright smiles on their faces. Sheppard asked, “You ready to get out of here, or do you wanna stand around here all night?”

  “She’s hurt her leg. We need Bishop to pull the truck around.”

  “I’ll go flag him down. You did good tonight, Taylor. It was a brave thing you did getting away like that,” Sheppard said before he left the barn.

  Renegade took off his leather ja
cket and placed it around my shoulders. He slipped his hand under the back of my knees and lifted me up into his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he carried me out of the barn.

  Bishop was already waiting in the SUV when we made it outside. Sheppard opened the back door, and Renegade sat me inside. They all looked relieved to find me in one piece, and I realized how lucky I was to have them looking after me.

  “Thanks for coming to find me,” I told them.

  “You’re one of us, Taylor. We’ll always come for you if you need us. We’ve been searching for you for the past two hours. I’m just sorry we didn’t find you sooner,” Bishop told me.

  I smiled and then laid my head on Renegade’s shoulder. “I knew you’d come for me, but I didn’t want you to get hurt trying to get to me. I figured I’d get to you first. I didn’t expect to hurt my leg.” I was warming up and starting to feel a little better. Ren was there with me. I knew everything would be okay then.

  “You’re always surprising me. You’re amazing. You know that?” Renegade whispered as he leaned in and kissed me softly. It was like the entire day slipped away the moment his mouth met mine. I loved him, and soon, he was going to know exactly how I felt.

  Chapter 25

  Renegade

  We took Taylor to the hospital so she could get stitches in her leg. The cut was deep, and she’d lost a lot of blood, but her quick thinking helped save her life. After stitches and a tetanus shot she was done, and I took her back to her place for the night. It was late, but we needed to talk, and after we finished, I hoped that she would come back home with me. I didn’t want to be away from her any longer.

  On the way back to her apartment, Taylor was quiet. I knew she had to be exhausted from everything she’d been through. She was so damn beautiful, and she continued to amaze me. I hoped she would understand about my past and give me a chance to make things right with her. I needed to make sure she was by my side where I could keep her safe. I carefully lifted her out of the car and carried her up to her room.