by Erin Osborne
Putting Shelby in her car seat, I fasten her in tightly and make my way to the passenger side of the car. Tammy tells me that I’m driving and to move my fat ass over to the driver’s side of the car. I do as she asks and hasten my movements so we can get on the road. The sooner we’re out of here, the better I’ll feel. Looking in my rearview mirror, I see Darcy’s car pulling up as soon as I get down the street a little way. Within minutes, my cell phone starts vibrating against my flushed skin. Thankfully Tammy is messing with the radio and can’t hear it.
We’ve been on the road for what feels like forever, in reality it’s only been a few hours. Tammy has been on shit about how fast, or slow, I’m driving, if I make a mistake, or anything else that I do she doesn’t like. If she’s such a stupendous driver, then she should take the fucking wheel and do it herself. I’m already nervous and that’s adding to the shit way I’m driving. If my daughter wasn’t in the car right now with us, I’d be tempted to purposely cause an accident and try to hurt her. But, I can’t do that.
“In the next town over we’re going to stop for the night. I’m going to let you have your own room, but they will be connected with a door. That door will stay open all night long,” Tammy tells me, still clenching the gun in her hand. “You can feed the brat and let her get some rest out of her car seat. I’ll get food ordered in to my room and then we’re going to bed. I want to be up first thing in the morning and back on the road.”
“Okay,” I murmur, inside I’m doing a happy dance but don’t let it show in my voice or features.
“No funny business, Riley,” she repeats again. It’s been the same thing since she took me this morning. “If I even get wind that your little lover boy is after us, I’ll kill the baby and make you watch. When he shows up, I’ll kill you in front of him and make him watch. I’ll walk away free and clear without a trace.”
I believe this woman with all my heart. She truly has no qualms about killing Shelby or me. Gage will be made to watch and so won’t I. Hell, she’d probably put a non-life-threatening bullet in him just to prove a point and make me watch that too. Now, I wish that I had more time with him, to get to know him, love him, and see what the future held for us. I’m sure it would’ve been amazing, and Shelby and I would’ve had the family I always dreamed we’d have.
We drive for another hour or so before she tells me to pull over. Once I find a spot by the office, she tells me to wait in the car while she gets the keys. Apparently, she already made the reservation and that’s all she has to do now. So, like a good little hostage, I do as I’m told and wait in the car with my daughter. She’s been getting fussy and I know it’s because she’s hungry. Tammy only let me feed her a few snacks at a gas station earlier and Shelby’s had nothing since then.
Tammy walks back out of the office and tells me where to park. As soon as I find a spot and get the car parked, she tells me just to grab as little as possible. She wants to be able to run out of the room as quick as possible if necessary I’m guessing. The whole time we’re in the parking lot, she’s looking around and has a nervous twitch about her. I’m not sure if she’s wondering if one of the Wild Kings will be after us, or if she’s waiting for someone to meet us. At this point, nothing would surprise me. I have no clue what she’s going to do from one second to another.
True to her word, there’s a door that separates our rooms and the first thing she does is make sure that they’re both open. She makes sure to tell me that they need to stay open, again, before telling me that she’s going out to get us dinner from across the street. She’ll keep her eyes on the road and will know if I try something. Then, she goes as far as to tell me that she has other people helping her keep an eye on me and they’ll chase me down without mercy if they have to. I know in my head that Tammy is just trying to scare me, but my heart isn’t willing to take that chance. Maybe later tonight when I know she’s sleeping I’ll take a chance and leave this place, but not now. Regardless of what I decide to do, I know that I’m never going to be able to go back to Dander Falls. She’ll be watching for me there if I do escape.
I watch her walk away before pulling the phone out of my shirt. I’m standing in the window facing across the street, so I know if she happens to turn around and make her way back here. Looking down, I make sure that I’m on Gage’s name before I hit the call button. He answers on the second ring and I can tell that he’s pissed the fuck off right now.
“Riley, please tell me this is you beautiful,” he says, anger lacing his voice.
“It’s me. I don’t have much time,” I tell him, needing to get the information I have to him as quickly as possible. “Listen, that bitch pretending to be my sister took Shelby and me this morning. She says she has people watching to make sure that I don’t leave. If any of you show up, she’s going to kill Shelby and then kill me in front of you. Please, don’t do anything to make her kill my daughter,” I plead with him.
“Beautiful, I am goin’ to come after you. That bitch won’t even know when we get there,” Gage tells me, letting relief start to fill his voice. “Is it just her with you?”
“Yes. She’s the only one I’ve seen, but she’s been messaging on her phone the entire trip. Gage, I’m going to have to say goodbye to you. I don’t want you or my daughter to get hurt. Or worse. Please just know that I’m sorry for everything,” I tell him getting ready to hang up the phone as Tammy walks out the door of the diner across the street.
“I’m comin’ for you Riles. Please have faith in me enough to know that I’ll protect both my girls,” he tells me, making me believe that he thinks he’ll be bringing us home with him.
“I’m going to try to get away when she falls asleep tonight. If I do, I’ll let you know when I settle down again. I won’t be coming back to Dander Falls, Gage. There’s no way that I’m going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder again. Shelby won’t know what it’s like to live like that,” I tell him, needing him to understand where I’m coming from. “Please give everyone my love and tell Darcy that I’ll always be thankful of her friendship. I could’ve loved you.”
As soon as I’ve said my peace, I hang up the phone so I don’t hear Gage’s response. There’s no way in hell that I can listen to him plead with me not to do something stupid or to wait for him to get here and rescue me himself. I’ve got to do this my way. To prove to myself that I’m strong enough to do this on my own. I need to know for myself that I can overcome everything that I’ve been through in the past.
Just as I’m turning from putting the phone back in my bra, Tammy comes through the door between our rooms. She hands me a bag that has two takeout containers in it. At least she was thoughtful enough to get Shelby something to eat along with me. Begrudgingly I thank her for the food and watch her walk back through to her room. She pulls out her own food and looks at her phone. A smile breaks out on her face as she replies to the text before looking over in my room. Tammy quickly walks into her bathroom and tells me that she’s going to take a quick shower.
This would be the perfect opportunity to get away from her. So, I quickly pick our things up and run out to the car with Shelby in my arms. I fasten her into her seat and run to the driver’s side of the car. Gently shutting my door, I turn the key and peel out of the parking lot. The entire time I’m praying that Tammy won’t get out of the bathroom, or her room, in the time it takes to figure out which way I’m heading. Continuously looking in my mirrors, I check to see if she comes out and if anyone starts following me. There’s only one place that comes to mind to go right now. Hopefully they take us in and help us.
Tammy
I have put so much effort into getting this Riley bitch away from the people that have taken her in. Yeah, I have help from ‘friends’ and people that owe me favors. But I’ve done all the grunt work myself. Tyler, the main one helping me get my revenge for Sam, has been texting me and telling me the life that we’re gonna have once we get Riley out of the picture. Shelby will be my daughter and Tyler w
ill be her new daddy.
This whole thing came to mind once I learned that the man that had started out taking the place of my father and becoming my lover was killed by the Wild Kings MC. Riley is the one that led him there for her friend. For that he paid the ultimate price with his life. Now, Riley has the only piece of him that’s left, and her daughter will be mine. No, I don’t really want the little brat, but she’s part of Sam and I will take her because of that. As long as she’s clean and clothed properly, no one will ever turn me in or ask any questions.
Walking back into my room from my shower, I look into the adjoining room and don’t see anyone in there. I glance at the bathroom door and see that it’s wide open and Riley isn’t in there. What the fuck? Running to the door, I fling it open to see the car gone and it not in sight in either direction down the road.
“Tyler, that fucking bitch took off while I was in the shower!” I yell as soon as he picks the phone up.
“What the fuck are you talking about? She didn’t drive by me and I’m about a mile down the road,” he roars out at me like this is only my fault.
“We need to get her back. If we want that money from the fucking club president he’s going to want her in exchange. How the fuck are we supposed to do this when we have no clue where the fuck she went?” I yell back at him, pacing outside in front of the rooms I reserved.
“I’ll be right there. Calm the fuck down before you draw unwanted attention to yourself,” he roars out and I hear him starting his truck and roaring down the road toward me.
Hanging up, I continue to pace until Tyler skids into the parking lot. He parks the truck in about three parking spots after squealing to a stop. I laugh at him telling me not to draw attention to myself, but it’s apparently okay for him to. This causes me to laugh hysterically. I’m sure it’s just because I’m so pissed off right now and there’s nothing I can do to find the bitch I’ve been so careful in tracking and finding out about to begin with. I used what Sam told me while we were fucking to my advantage.
Yeah, there’s been other women Sam fucked, but he always came back to me. Even when he continued to bring on girl after girl, he always found his way back to my bed. Telling me how much he loved me, and that the other girls were just to scratch an itch he had every now and then. I was to make sure they stayed at the house when he left and teach them what to do on a daily basis. Sam even let me start to dole out the punishments. All until Keegan got away and he met Riley to help him get a hold of her. That’s when everything started to change, and he forgot who I was. Now, I’m the only one that mourned his death and I’ll be the one to seek revenge for his brutal murder.
“What are we gonna do now?” Tyler asks, slamming the door to his truck and stalking toward me.
“I have no fucking clue! Do you think she’d be dumb enough to head back to Dander Falls?” I ask, letting my mind start to wander over possible places she’d run to.
“You’re the one that’s been following her and getting her routines down pat and shit. Where would she go?” he asks me, letting me have a minute or two to think about what Riley would do.
Going back is the last thing that Riley would do. She knows that’s the first place I’d look for her. The same with her parent’s place. It’s too obvious of a place to go. There’s always the club that is friends or whatever with the Wild Kings. Oh, and the club that had Shelby all along. Now, how to be in two places at the same time. I know how to get to the place they picked the brat up at, Tyler doesn’t have a clue. I’ve already been to that town and know my way around a little bit. I’ll go there, and he can go to the other place.
I motion for him to follow me into my room and we take a seat on the bed and eat the now cold food I bought earlier. The two of us come up with a game plan and decide in the morning that we’ll go our separate ways. The only thing we have left to do is get me a car so I can make my way there. Even though I want to be on the road now, I know that we’re not going to be able to rent a car anywhere. Plus, I want a piece of the man that does a little bit to solve the itch I get on occasion. No one will ever fuck me the way that Sam did, but Tyler’s a close second.
Tomorrow is going to be a long day, so I push the food to the floor and practically pounce on the man sitting on my bed. Tyler is stunned for all of a few seconds before he gets his game back. I let him take the lead while my mind drifts to the time that I was with the only man I’ll ever love. Hell, I’m a few years younger than Riley and know that the only reason he fucked her is revenge for her betrayal. Now, all I have left are the memories and it will never be enough for me.
Chapter Nine
Gage
THE LAST TWO AND A HALF DAYS have been pure torture. Riley is missing, and I finally have a lead on her. Today is the day that we’re heading out to find her. When she called me, she didn’t realize that there’s a tracker on her phone. I added it when this bitch started coming around. It was for peace of mind in case this very scenario happened.
In the meantime, I have torn this clubhouse apart. After going to the house and seeing the prospect still knocked out and laying on the ground, I approached the house carefully. When I saw the open door, I picked up my pace and tore through the house trying to find my girls. They were nowhere to be found and I lost my shit. I was still sane enough to not tear the house apart, but the clubhouse is another story entirely. Especially when Tina decided it meant she could be all over me to ‘calm me down.’ That bitch got thrown the fuck out of here and isn’t allowed to come back anytime soon. She’s lucky she still has a job at the Kitty Kat.
Currently, we know that she’s on the move. Unfortunately, we don’t know where Nicolette, the girl pretending to be her sister, is. If she’s still with Riley, or following her, we don’t want her to know we’re chasing them down. So, I’m only taking a few guys with me. Crash, Shadow, and Steel will be coming with me. Everyone else will be staying put. I’m not anticipating being gone for very long, so I call a soft lockdown unless things progress and a full one needs to be put on.
Slim and Grim have been on alert to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious to show up. I’ve also called them again to let them know to be on the lookout for Riley and Shelby to make an appearance on their doorstep. I’m not sure where she’s going, but I will find her. Tech has linked the tracker on her phone to mine so I’ll be able to pull up the map whenever I want to. If that’s a million times a day, like it has been, no one can tell me not to.
Riley and Shelby are the only two on my mind. Getting them back is my top priority and I will do anything in my power to make sure that it happens. In the meantime, I am constantly playing a loop of questions in my mind. Are they both okay? Is Shelby being a good girl for her mama? Is this Nicolette bitch hurting my girls? Where are they headin’? There’s a ton more questions plaguing me, and I can’t stop them. Not until I lay eyes on the two girls that have come to mean more to me than almost anything else. The only thing I’d ever put before them is my club and the business we conduct.
“Prez, the tracker stopped. I don’t know if she’s pulled over, but it’s stopped at a mall about an hour from where she stopped yesterday,” Tech tells me, coming out of his war room as he calls it.
“Okay. We’re gonna head out now. Let me know if it starts movin’ again,” I tell him, motioning for the guys heading out with me that it’s time to roll. I want to get to my girls as fast as possible. Right now, they’re about five hours away from us.
Darcy walks up to me as I throw my leg over my bike and I wait for her to say what she needs to get off her chest. Through the tears flowing freely down her face, she says “Bring her back to us, Gage. Please bring my sister from another mister home. I need her and Shelby back with us.”
Emotions are threatening to overtake me as I watch Crash and Trojan comfort their girl. I should have mine here with me so that I can take away all of her pain and sorrow. But, she’s doing what she thinks she needs to do for her, Shelby, and the good of the club. It’s not what�
�s right, but it’s the decision that she’s made. So, I’m going to try to respect it, but make sure that she comes home where she belongs at the same time.
Steel is putting his phone away as we pull it. I swear he’s glued to the damn thing these days. And most of the time when he gets off a call or anything, he’s more pissed off than usual. Yeah, he can a fucking dick, but he wears his heart on his sleeve and does what he can to help out those that need it. There’s something going on that he’s involved himself in and no one else knows what that is. I’ve seen an argument or two between him and Harley at the Kitty Kat, but it’s not my business until he makes it my business. Steel has a good head on his shoulders and knows when to ask for help. If it’s not his problem to ask about then, he’ll get the person to come to one of us. Or all of us if that’s what the situation warrants.
I place my helmet on my head and let the guys know that it’s time to roll out. My girl could be in trouble and I’m not letting anything else happen to her if I can help it. So, we speed out of the clubhouse parking lot and make our way in the direction that Riley was at last. I’ve got pictures on my phone of my girls and that bitch Nicolette. Hopefully they get us somewhere and on their tails before too much more time passes.
We pull up to this sleazy looking motel and I can’t believe this is the address that Tech gave me. I wouldn’t put my worst enemy in this place, yet this is where Nicolette chose to stop with a baby and my girl with her. Fuck! I hope nothing happened to her. This place seriously looks like it rents rooms out by the hour if you know what I mean.
Parking our bikes, we get off and make our way into the office area of this place. There’s a younger girl standing behind the counter and I can already tell that she’s about to piss herself. One of us alone is intimidating to some. Put four of us together when we’re trying to find someone we care about and it’s a damn scary sight.