Rook's Control

by Rook's Control [Evernight] (mobi)

  She was freaking out, though.

  She loved Rook, trusted him, and knew he wouldn’t put himself in danger unnecessarily. But something just felt off. She didn’t like how this whole situation had been set up, how that asshole—who still hadn’t been named—had cornered her and used her as the messenger.

  “Are you okay?” Sarah, one of the younger baristas at the coffee shop, asked. She was behind the counter restocking the cups, but the look on her face told Bobbie she was genuine in her question. The worry was clear on her face.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’ve seemed out of it all day.”

  Bobbie nodded and walked toward the counter. She set the rag in the sink and washed off her hands. “I just have things on my mind.”

  “It must me something pretty heavy. I’ve never seen you so … consumed before.” Sarah smiled. “I hope everything is okay.”

  Sarah was only nineteen, and although Bobbie was in her early twenties, and not much older than Sarah, her life experiences made Bobbie feel decades older.

  “Everything’s fine.” She smiled, feigning that everything really was okay. The truth was it wasn’t, and she didn’t know how the outcome would play out. But one of the first rules about being involved in the club, was she wasn’t to talk about anything regarding it, no matter what.

  Looking at the clock, she only had about twenty minutes left before her shift ended. Outside, waiting by the curb, was one of the prospects. Liam was fairly new, only a few months in, but she knew from talk that he’d been proving himself at the club.

  She walked around the counter, toward the front door, and when she pushed it open Liam looked up at her. “Meet me in the back. That’s where I parked.”

  Liam gave a sharp nod.

  “I should be out in about twenty.” When she shut the door and turned back around, it was to see Sarah eyeing the biker prospect. Bobbie wanted to tell the young woman that a guy like Liam, one that was hardcore enough to be a prospect in an MC, probably wasn’t what she was going for, but she kept her mouth shut. Bobbie had no room to tell anyone how to live their lives. She’d always been after the bad boys, feeling the appeal for them s strongly as if being in their presence made her intoxicated. Maybe that’s why she’d wanted to be part of the MC so bad, at least in some small way.

  The sound of Liam’s motorcycle blaring to life as he pulled it around back came through the small coffee shop. For the next twenty minutes Bobbie busied herself, but it was like time was moving at a snail’s pace for how turbulent her thoughts were.

  When her shift was over she grabbed her bag that held a set of overnight clothes, and said goodbye to Sarah. She didn’t know how long she was going to be at the club, because even if Rook was “handling” this situation tonight, she’d known from past club experience that sometimes when things went down they weren’t easily resolved.

  She pushed the back door open, and one of the streetlights right across from her momentarily blinded her. Lifting her hand to block the glare, she heard the door slam behind her. After blinking a few times and having her vision adjust to the sudden brightness, she spotted her car parked off to the side, and saw Liam’s bike beside it. But what she didn’t see was the prospect.

  “Liam?” Bobbie called out and looked around the large back alley. It was used as a shipment loading and receiving area, but there were parking spots for employees since the coffee shop was right at the street’s edge.

  This might not be an unusual circumstance, especially since he could have just gone to grab something to eat or drink, but he’d been parked in front of the coffee shop for the last four hours, which had been her entire shift. He’d also had strict orders not to leave her, and she knew when the club gave an order a prospect would be a dumb shit to go against them.

  “Liam?” she called out again, feeling a little worried, given the circumstances. She walked toward her car, her hand in her purse, her keys tucked between her fingers in case she needed to use them as a weapon. Her bottle of pepper spray was attached to her key ring, so if she needed more than just jabbing someone she’d go for the eyes.

  She walked closer to the car, but instinct kicked in and she stopped. Searching the parking lot again, the entire place was still, eerily silent. She looked down in her purse, searched for her cell, and was about to turn and head back inside to call Rook when she slammed into someone.

  Bobbie cried out from shock, thinking for one second it might be Sarah, but when she stared into the grungy, weathered face of the man from the bar and bathroom, her breathing stopped. She kicked into gear, moved away from him, but as she was going to make her escape, not about to be cornered by this psychopath, she tripped backward over something and fell on her ass.

  Looking over to the side she felt her eyes widen and her mouth part as she saw Liam out cold on the other side of the car. Blood pooled around his head, and she didn’t know if he was alive or dead.

  Bobbie pulled out her keys and phone. Her cell dropped to the asphalt, and she went for her pepper spray, but before she could stand and get away from this asshole, he had his fingers wrapped around her wrist, and hauled her up.

  She wanted to scream, to lash out, but as she stared into his dark, soulless eyes, she couldn’t move, couldn’t even find her voice. She felt frozen, shocked by what was happening right now. All she needed, prayed, was for Sarah to come back here, and then she’d see what was going on. Sarah could call the cops, or hell, the club could be called. But she knew that nothing like that was going to happen.

  He smiled this nasty, stained, toothy grin at her, one that told her things were not going to be right, and that she might very well end up dead when this was all said and done.

  And that was the last thing she saw before she was hit on the side of her head hard enough she was knocked out instantly.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Rook sat in his truck, and looked at the Grove. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that far from River Run, just a few miles outside of town. The building was on its last leg, and knew that tonight there would be a death. Rook got his gun out of the glove box, checked the chamber, made sure it was ready to go, then shifted on the seat to shove it at the small of his back.

  He grabbed his cell and dialed the club. He’d tried to call Liam and Bobbie, but neither answered. They should be at the club by now, and the fact they hadn’t called or picked up, worried the shit out of him.

  “Yeah,” Tank’s deep voice came through the line.

  “Are Liam and Bobbie there?” Rook asked.

  “Not yet.” Shit.

  The club knew Bobbie was coming by, and that Liam had followed her back from her job, but he hadn’t told anyone why she was going there with Liam.

  “Want to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

  Rook rubbed his eyes, knowing he should have told the club. But he’d figured he could handle this, take care of this shit since it was obviously personal and aimed only at him. “It’s just some of my past that’s come up.

  “You know the club’s here for you, that any one of us will have your back.”“Yeah, I know.”

  “Listen, we’re here. I don’t know what shit you’re going through, but the club should know so we can go to you if you need it.”

  Tank was right, and Rook was regretting not telling the club. “I was being a hard ass and thought I could handle this on my own.” And he was sure he could.

  “I’ll send some of the guys out looking for them since we can’t get a hold of either of them. They might not have reception, or there’s traffic. Bobbie works on the outskirts of town—”

  “Nah, something’s not right, and I’m about to lose my shit right now.” Rook shouldn’t be here. He should have been the one taking Bobbie back to the clubhouse, and then come here. If anything happened to her it was his fucking fault. “I’m coming back.”

  Fuck, he shouldn’t have left her alone, not when this psycho was out with some screwed up agenda.

  “Well, tell me what the hell
is up so I let the club know and we can be there.”

  “I’m on my way back, and when I get Bobbie I’ll tell the club everything.”

  God, he hoped he found Bobbie, because God help anyone, even Liam, if she got hurt.

  He disconnected the call and stared at the Grove. Fuck this, and fuck this place. That motherfucker could come to him if he wanted to. Just as he started his vehicle his cell went off again. When he saw Bobbie’s number flash along the screen he breathed out in relief.

  “Baby—” Her sobbing through the line had him freezing, had everything in him still and about to explode outward. “Bobbie?” he raised his voice.

  The sound of heavy breathing, of deep, male respirations had Rook curling his hand on the steering wheel tight enough that the leather creaked.

  “You want to see your woman again, I want you to come inside, Thayer.”

  Rook hadn’t been called by his first name since he was in his early twenties—over a decade ago.

  “Who the fuck is this?” Bobbie’s scream told him it didn’t matter who the hell this guy was, because he had his woman. “You keep your fucking hands off of her.”

  “I just wanted you to understand the pain of having something out of your control. Come inside and be a man.”

  And then the line went dead, and Rook couldn’t do anything but shut the car off and go into the Grove. He’d put Bobbie in this, and the fucker that had her was going to pay with his life for touching her.

  ****

  It was the pain that had had Bobbie black out, and the feel of cold water being thrown on her face that had her awakening. She groaned at the stinging sensation because of the sweat and blood that had gotten into her eyes, because of the sudden coldness of the water in her cuts.

  “Wake the fuck up.”

  She lifted her head and stared at the man that had taken her. He hadn’t said more than a few words at a time, and when he did talk it was as if he spoke to himself.

  “It was foolish for him to leave you alone with that weak asshole, but he’s on his way now, so he must care about you. Which was what I was counting on.” He turned his back to her, and through the grungy white shirt she could see a jagged scar that snaked up to the back of his neck.

  “Why are you doing this?” This had to be the fourth time she’d asked the question, but aside from grunts that he’d heard her, he never responded.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  She tried pulling at the rope he had tied around her wrists and hands. She sat in a chair with her feet bound to the legs of it, her hands tied behind her. The rope dug into her skin because of the tightness with which he’d bound her, but because she was pulling on the restraints so hard they tore open her flesh.

  “You don’t have to do this,” she pleaded, partly because she was scared out of her mind, and another part because she hoped there was a little bit of humanity in him and he’d see this was wrong on every level.

  As it was, Bobbie didn’t see herself making out of this alive, even if Rook got here and was able to take him out. She knew this fucker would probably get to her in the easiest, fastest way he could to make his message known to Rook, and that was by killing her.

  He turned and faced her, the gun in his hand pointed at the ground, his hold relaxed. The butt of it was covered in blood—her blood—from when he’d slammed it against her head when he’d called Rook. That’s when she’d passed out, the pain being far too great.

  He looked dirty, like he hadn’t bathed in at least a week, but it wasn’t his appearance, or lack of cleanliness that bothered her. It was the fact that this man looked at her like he wanted to do unspeakable things to her, all in the name of getting back at Rook for whatever had happened between them.

  Maybe if she tried to speak with him, to reach him on a human level, or try to get him to be empathetic with her he’d realize that this was wrong.

  You’re an idiot if you think that.

  She had to try, though.

  “What’s your name?” She swallowed, her mouth and throat dry, her lip split and throbbing from when he’d hit her. Hell, the side of her face hurt something fierce, and the ever-present flavor of blood filled her mouth.

  “My name, and anything about me, isn’t your concern. You’re here because I wanted to make sure I got Thayer’s attention.”

  Her throat tightened further. This man clearly knew Rook well enough he knew his legal name.

  “I’m sure as time has passed things are different with both of you. You’re both different men. I’m sure you could work things out without resorting to violence.” Bobbie already knew that Rook wouldn’t work things out with this guy. He’d already put his hands on her, already threatened Rook, and she knew her man well enough to realize he’d kill this asshole. She couldn’t say she was sorry over that. What she was worried about was that Rook would get hurt in the process of taking him out, and that she wouldn’t be around to be with the man she loved.

  “It’s quite funny that you think Thayer is some fucking saint.”

  She shook her head. “I know the man I’m with, know who he really is.”

  The guy stood a few feet from her and grinned, but it was nothing but a slash of anger and sadism.

  “The fucker you’re with, the biker in an MC, may be hard and unforgiving, but before he was patched in he was a regular motherfucker. He took something from me that can’t be returned, and I’ve spent nearly two decades waiting for this moment, watching him, hoping for a chance that I could make him feel the kind of pain he made me feel.” The guy closed his eyes for a second and exhaled. She lowered her gaze to his hand that held the gun, saw his finger twitching on the trigger, and knew that this was escalating fast.

  “What did he do?” she asked on a hoarse whisper, knowing it had to be something truly horrible for this man to resort to this.

  He opened his eyes, those pools of darkness, and emotionless evil stared right back at her. “He killed the woman I loved, and it took this long for me to have the opening I need.” He stepped closer to her, placed the barrel of the gun right between her eyes, and everything in her started shaking. She strained on the bonds and pleaded with her eyes because her voice had suddenly left her.

  “He fucked my wife, and when he dismissed her like she was a piece of shit, she killed herself.”

  God.

  “I’m sure he’s different, and I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Bobbie could barely speak, but her eyes were watering from her emotions, and she hated that she was going to break down in front of this man.

  He cocked the gun, stared at her right in the eyes, and shook his head slowly. “People don’t change, not men like Thayer. Thayer might love you, but is he willing to die for you?” He smirked. “We’ll see how far he’s willing to go to make sure you’re safe.” He leaned down, and the scent of his cigarette smoke laced breath moved along her face. She started crying harder as the barrel of the gun was being pressed harder into her head. “But here’s a little secret that only you and I will know.”

  She shook, the rope digging into her skin hard enough her flesh opened up painfully and she felt blood drip down her fingers.

  “He won’t be able to save you. I’ll make sure of that.”

  The sound of something banging in the distance had her heart beating faster.

  “Looks like Thayer’s here. Now the real fun can begin.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Rook had his gun at the ready. His blood pumped hard through his veins, his adrenaline was heavy in his body, and all he could think about was making sure Bobbie was okay. Fuck, this was his fault, and if she died because of him he didn’t know what he’d do.

  The Grove smelled of age and rot, and the building was falling apart around him. Hell, he was a little nervous even setting foot in this piece of shit building, afraid the roof would collapse if he breathed too hard. But he’d walk through a fiery field to get to Bobbie, and that was the fucking truth.

  His phone went
off again with another call, and then a text, but he didn’t have time for that shit. He had to make sure he stayed focused, made sure he didn’t lose track of his surroundings.

  The deeper he went into the building the more the memories assaulted him of when he was younger. Damn, he’d done a lot of shit back in the day at the Grove, shit that, at the time, had been fun and exciting, but as he looked back at those times he realized they were just reckless.

  He’d been a fucked up person, only thinking about himself, and didn’t care who got hurt in his path.

  Hell, he didn’t even have a clue who this asshole was that had taken Bobbie, and wanted to get at Rook. It could be anyone from his past. That’s how messed up he’d been back in the day.

  He continued moving through the warehouse, making sure to keep clear of the debris all around. The stench and decay were intense. His body was sweating from the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and he was trying to stay calm and focused. Bobbie’s life was on the line, and that was what mattered. He didn’t give a shit about himself, not when his old lady was in the picture. She was what was important.

  The sound of Bobbie whimpering had Rook moving faster through the building. When he got to a partially open door he kicked the fucker open. It slammed against the opposite wall, and the sound echoed in the small room. It looked like maybe this had been used, decades ago, as an office, given the fact there was a turned over, rusted desk, a chair that looked like it had been through a shredder, and other items that were weathered and outdated.

  But it was the fact that Bobbie was tied to a chair in the center of the room, the only light coming from the few oversized camping lanterns around her, and a gun pointed to her head, that had his entire body freezing.

  “Put the gun down, Thayer.”

  Instinct told Rook to just shoot the prick between the eyes, but he had a gun pointed right at Bobbie’s head, and he couldn’t risk the asshole getting a shot in. He lowered his gun to his side, and for a second just stared at the fucker. He couldn’t place him right away. The guy had a beard and was fucking filthy.