by Erin Osborne
“How are you today?” the young girl asks as she begins to ring my purchase up.
“I’m good, thank you. How are you?” I ask her with a smile on my face.
“I’m okay, thank you,” she responds.
I look over my shoulder to find out why I feel as though I’m being watched and don’t spot anyone, or anything, out of the ordinary. Just a few people from town in here shopping and nothing else. They’re going about their own business and not looking at anyone in particular. Shrugging my shoulders, I tell myself it’s all in my mind.
The cashier tells me the total and puts the bags in the cart for me. I pull out the money and hand it over to her. While she’s getting my change, I can’t help but continue to look around to find out who is looking at me and where they are. The feeling is only getting worse and not any better. Maybe this isn’t only in my mind.
“Here’s your change,” the cashier tells me as I zone out again.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Thank you,” I respond, tossing my change in my purse and pushing the cart out of the store.
I’m about halfway to my car when I feel the presence of someone behind me. I try to walk faster, but it’s not easy considering I’m as big as a house and more likely to trip and fall on my face than to get to my car before anyone captures me. Though, I don’t think I’m going to be successful in this instance.
As I reach the side of my car to put the groceries in, I’m turned and slammed against the door. My head whips back and slams against the edge of my car and I see stars in my vision. An instant headache builds and makes my vision blurry.
A hand is wrapped around my throat and before I can blink, I’m punched in my face. What the fuck is happening right now?
“Do I have your attention now?” the man asks, his sour breath filling my senses.
“Y-y-yes,” I stutter out.
My eyes rake down the man. He’s wearing a cut, but I can’t tell what club it is. The patch on the front tells me his road name is Rancor and he’s the Sargent at Arms of the club. His hair is greasy and longer than even Killer’s hair is and his eyes are a dull and lifeless brown. The other thing I notice is he’s not fit at all for a man who’s in charge of protecting the club and anyone associated with it, he’s fat with a huge stomach that hangs down below the top of his jeans. I can’t even see his belt in the front.
The other thing I notice is his clothes are dirty, they’re stained, and his cut isn’t taken care of the way I usually see them. Instead of being aged from everyday wear, it’s stained and covered in the same grease which coats his hair. Plus, he smells as if he hasn’t showered in months. I almost get sick from the body odor emitting from the man as he chokes me out.
“You’re gonna go back to those bunch of pussies you fuck and let them know a new club is in town and we’re gonna take everything from them. Starting with the sluts who warm their beds. I can’t wait to get a taste of you. Though we may have to do something about that baby in your belly,” the man gnarls out. “You make sure you tell them, or I’ll pay you another visit. And I’d hate for an accident to happen when you least expect it.”
Just when I believe the man is going to leave me alone, he leans in close, pressing a knife against my stomach and I gasp at the thought of something happening to my babies. Next, he licks up the side of my face and I throw up on him. I can’t do anything to stop it from happening.
“You fucking bitch!” he yells at me, pressing the knife in a little deeper to the point I feel a burning sensation before punching me once again in the face. “I’m gonna take my time killing you. Too bad you need to deliver a message or you’d be mine now.”
Before I can utter a single word, the man rushes off from me. The back of his cut has a symbol I’ve never seen before. There’s a devil holding a scythe. Devil’s Rule is on the top rocker of the cut and there is no bottom rocker. I’ve never seen a cut with no bottom rocker but there was once one because I can see the cut looks newer in that spot. They must be waiting on the new ones claiming Benton Falls as their territory.
I want to sink to the ground and catch my breath, but I know I can’t. The thing I have to focus on doing right now is getting ahold of someone at the club. I’m not sure how much damage has been done. Plus, there’s no way I can drive back there now.
Instead of calling Playboy, I pull out my phone and squint my eyes until I can focus on Slim’s number. Hopefully, he’ll answer and I won’t have to try to call anyone else. I click on his name and hold the phone to my ear as it begins to ring.
“Yeah?” he asks, answering the phone.
“Slim, are you alone?” I ask him.
“Yeah. What’s wrong, Sam?” he asks, instantly alert.
“I’ve just been attacked in the parking lot of the store. Can you come get me? I don’t know what’s been done to me and I don’t want Playboy to see me yet,” I ask him.
“Do you need to go to the hospital?” he asks, as I hear a shuffling noise in the background.
“I don’t think so. He punched me a few times and choked me. I have a cut in the side of my stomach, but I don’t know how deep it is,” I inform him.
“Fuck! Killer, you’re with me,” I hear him yell out before a door slams shut closely followed by another one.
“Slim, I think I need to go now,” I tell him, my head feeling like it’s going to explode.
“Not happenin’, Sam,” he tells me. “We’ll be there in just a few minutes. Killer, get Doc here. Now!”
“I don’t know, Slim. I’m tired,” I tell him.
“Don’t go to sleep, darlin’. Why are you in town alone?” he asks, trying to keep me talking to him.
“I just had a few things to pick up with Maddie, Tank, and the kids staying with us,” I answer him.
I can hear Killer talking in the background and I’m guessing he’s on the phone with Doc. I’ve seen him before and I’m honestly not sure if it’s better to see him or go to the hospital. Slim and he can make the decision when they see me, though. Right now, I don’t know anything I should be doing.
Pain and fear are starting to settle in my bones and I know it’s a delayed reaction to what the monster did to me. Now, my adrenaline is crashing and everything is starting to hurt more. Especially my head.
“Darlin’, you there?” Slim asks me. “Where are you at the store?”
“I’m sitting on the ground next to my car. There’s a shopping cart right next to me too. I didn’t even get a chance to put the groceries in the car,” I tell him.
“I see you, darlin’,” he tells me as I slowly turn my head to see his big truck pulling up to behind my car.
Slim and Killer quickly get out of the truck and help me off the ground. They put me in the back of Slim’s truck, so I can lay across the backseat. With the door still open, I watch as Killer puts the groceries in the back of my car and shoves the cart in the corral next to where I parked.
“We’ll have you back at the clubhouse in no time at all,” Slim tells me as he shuts the door.
I know he’s going to have to call Playboy and fill him in on what happened to me. It’s the last thing I want to happen because he’ll never let me out of his sight if he finds out. It’s going to be impossible to hide the damage done to me from the maniac, though. Just like I know I’m going to have to fill Slim and the rest of the club in on what I was told and what I saw about the man.
Right now, I close my eyes and let the rumble of the truck’s engine and Slim’s voice lull me to sleep. It’s not a deep sleep, but it’s enough to let me relax some so I can try to get rid of this headache that’s behind my eyes and throbbing where my head met the side of the car.
“Sam, you have to get up now,” Slim suddenly says to me.
Killer and him once again help me up and I look around to see we’re at the clubhouse already. I guess I dozed off a little harder than I thought I did. That’s not what I meant to do, but it happened. Slim has a worried look on his face and I know the damage is worse than I thou
ght it was in the beginning.
They walk me into the clubhouse and I hear a shocked gasp from the side, but I don’t have the energy to see who it is.
“Not now,” Slim says, continuing to move me toward the back of the clubhouse.
There’s a room here for medical purposes and I’ve never had to be in it; until now. I let them lead me in there and see Doc waiting on us. They get me settled onto the bed and I know what Slim’s about to do without him even telling me.
“Darlin’, I need to go get Playboy and let him know what’s goin’ on. He’ll want to see you with his own eyes,” Slim tells me as Doc begins poking and prodding at my face.
“I know. I’ll be right here,” I say, trying to ease some of the tension in the room.
“Killer ain’t leavin’ until Playboy gets here to be with you,” Slim says before turning and walking from the room.
“Nothin’ is broken in your face. It will be tender and bruised for a while, though. Don’t try to force your eyes open if the swelling gets worse,” Doc tells me. “Where else are you injured. Besides the obvious cut on your side.”
“The back of my head,” I answer him. “It was slammed into the edge of my car.”
Doc steps behind me and begins to exam the back of my head.
“There’s a big goose egg there. No bleedin’, though,” he tells me.
Before he can move to the cut on my side, I hear a ton of commotion from outside this room. Playboy has arrived. Killer looks at me and a grin appears on his face. He’s going to enjoy watching Playboy go out of his mind when he sees me. I flip him off, which makes him start laughing his ass off just before the door to the room slams open.
“What the fuck?” Playboy yells out. “What happened, baby? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I knew this is how you’d react. I didn’t want you to be this way at the store when I was already feeling like shit,” I respond to him.
“Can I finish examin’ her?” Doc asks before Playboy can rant anymore.
“Yeah,” he answers him.
Doc asks me to relax back against the bed and he lifts my shirt up so he can clean and then exam the cut. Playboy brings a chair over to me from somewhere in the room and sits down next to my head. He holds my hand and looks at what Doc is doing. He’s like an animal staring down its prey with the way he’s watching the man work on me.
“It doesn’t need any stitches. I’m goin’ to finish cleanin’ it out and put a few butterflies on it. I’ll give you an antibiotic just to be on the safe side. You should call your doctor and get an appointment to make sure no damage was done inside. If you have anythin’ else happen like bleedin’ or anythin’ get to the hospital immediately,” Doc tells me.
“I will. Thank you,” I respond.
Once Doc leaves the room, Slim, Stryker, Fox, and Tank make their way into the room with us. I know now is the time for me to let them know what happened so they can have church about it. Playboy is not going to be happy.
I look at Slim as he stands in the room by the door. He nods his head and makes his way over to his son’s side. Slim knows Playboy is going to need him to keep him calm and not trash the medical room. Just like every man in this room knows the same. Tank walks to Playboy’s other side and silently stands in case he’s needed.
“What happened today, darlin’?” Slim finally asks me.
“I went to the store to get a few groceries. As I was standing in the checkout line, I felt like someone was watching me. I looked around and couldn’t see anyone standing out. There were just a few customers in the store shopping while I was there,” I begin. “Nothing happened until I walked out to the car. Suddenly there was someone following me. It’s not like I could run to get away.
“Anyway, I went to open the back door of the car and that’s when I was turned around and the guy slammed my head against the edge of the car. The guy punched me and then put his hand around my throat. He told me to deliver a message to you that a new club was in town and they want everything you have. Starting with the women.”
I can feel the anger radiating from the men in the room. They’re pissed for several reasons, I’m sure. Slim is looking at me with questions in his eyes.
“Did you see anythin’ about the man?” Slim asks me.
“Yeah. His name is Rancor and the club name I saw when he turned around was Devils Rule on the top of the cut. There wasn’t a bottom rocker, but there had been. He’s the Sargent at Arms for the club,” I answer him.
“If you saw him again, you’d know him?” Killer asks me.
“Yeah. I’ll never forget the man who did this to me,” I reply.
“He was the only one there?” Playboy asks me, gritting his teeth and tightening his hand on mine.
“As far as I know, he was the only man there. If there were more, I didn’t see them,” I tell him, wanting to comfort my man.
Playboy gives me a kiss on the top of my head and stands up so fast the chair he was sitting in goes flying backward. It barely misses both Slim and Tank. He storms from the room and slams the door shut behind him. Tank and Stryker silently follow him out of the room.
“Is there anythin’ else you remember?” Slim asks me.
“I threw up on him, which made him tell me he would enjoy taking his time with me before taking his time to kill me,” I tell him, glad Playboy isn’t in the room to hear this part.
“Alright, darlin’. I’m gonna send Shy to the house with you. I want you in bed and restin’. Let Shy and Maddie take care of Caleb and anythin’ else that needs to be done,” Slim tells me. “Killer, you and Valor get her to the house and I want Valor to stay there until Playboy and Tank get there.”
“On it, Prez,” Killer answers as the rest of the men start to leave the room.
“Proud of you, darlin’,” Slim tells me. “Killer, we’ll just go over what Sam told us until you get to church. Tell Valor to keep his phone on him in case we need his vote.”
Killer nods his head and waits for Valor to enter the room so we can head to the house. I lay back and close my eyes, not as tired this time, as we wait for him to come into the room. This is definitely not how I expected today to go when I got up this morning.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Playboy
WHEN MY DAD showed up at the house, I knew something was wrong. Not only is Sam not back yet, she’s not answering her phone. I’ve called more than a dozen times panic is beginning to set in. I’m trying not to show it as the kids are all in the house with us.
“Playboy, need to come to the clubhouse,” he says.
“What’s goin’ on?” I ask him.
“Not answerin’ in here,” he tells me, his tone leaving no room for arguments.
Nodding my head, I follow him out of the house with Tank walking out behind us. If something is going on, he’s going to be here for us as a part of the family if nothing else. Tank may be a member of the Wild Kings MC, but he’s also the son-in-law to the President of the Phantom Bastards MC and brother-in-law to the Vice President. Tank can sit in on whatever is going on right now since my dad isn’t saying a word about it.
We get in my dad’s truck, which is also weird. I sit in front while Tank slides in the backseat to ride to the clubhouse.
“Son, you need to prepare yourself. Sam was attacked at the grocery store. Doc is in with her now,” he tells me.
“What the fuck? How did you know?” I ask him, my level of rage boiling in my body.
“She didn’t want you to freak out at the store and lose your cool. She needs you to be calm right now,” he tells me. “Don’t go in there and lose your shit in the room with her. She’s exhausted and I know she’s tryin’ to hold her shit together right now.”
“I’ll be fine. I just want to see her. I need to see her, dad,” I tell him, almost pleading with him.
As soon as he pulls up to the clubhouse, I jump out of the truck and rush to get to Sam’s side. Stryker tries to slow me down, not sure what’s going on
right now. I start yelling at him.
“Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Way,” I yell at him.
“Playboy, what’s goin’ on?” he asks me, not moving.
“I need to get to my woman. You’re stoppin’ me,” I answer, picking up the nearest chair to throw if Stryker doesn’t move out of my way.
“Playboy, calm down,” my dad barks out, coming in the clubhouse.
“Tell him to get the fuck outta my way then,” I tell him, not turning around or moving at all.
“Stryker, let him go,” my dad finally says after what seems like hours but is only seconds.
I push past Stryker and make my way down the hallway to get to the medical room. Nothing is going to stop me from laying eyes on my woman. I’m not angry she didn’t call me, I’m upset she called my dad instead, but I get the reason why. I would’ve taken off and gone in search of the fuckers responsible for this if I’d been the one to show up.
Pushing the door to the makeshift exam room open harder than necessary, it slams against the wall. I see Killer standing in the room with a smirk on his face. Yeah, he’s waiting for me to lose my shit.
Sam is lying in the bed we have in here and she looks like shit. Her eye and cheek is already bruised a darker purple. There’s a small cut under her eye and her hair looks as if it’s a tangled mess. Looking further down her body, I see blood soaking into her shirt. It takes me seconds to catalog what my woman looks like.
“What the fuck?” I yell out. “What happened, baby? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I knew this is how you’d react. I didn’t want you to be this way at the store when I was already feeling like shit,” she responds to me.
“Can I finish examin’ her?” Doc asks before I can rant anymore.
“Yeah,” I answer him.
Grabbing a chair from the side of the room, I pull it close to the bed and hold her hand. My eyes never once leave what Doc’s doing to my girl. He cleans out the cut on the side of her stomach and then exams it to decide if she needs stitches or not. After he puts a few butterflies on it, he gives her instructions and I let my mind wander.