“On night shift at the hospital.”
I feel easier now I have a gun in my hand. I don’t like anyone pointing a gun at my pr… Wizard for too long. Fingers can get twitchy on triggers. My eyes find Wizard’s and I blink twice.
“What the fuck you doing here, Eli?” Wizard gives himself an excuse to stare at me. “You turned traitor now?”
“Something like that,” I respond, giving myself the excuse to come alongside Archangel.
Then, fast as a flash, I whip my hand around his wrist, twisting and turning so his gun drops out of his hand.
“Nice work,” Marvel says admiringly from behind me.
Wizard stands, already dressed in the jeans and boots he’d been wearing under the covers. “Tie him up,” he instructs as he pulls on a t-shirt and his cut. He pauses and cocks his head at the sound of distant gunfire. That will be Archangel’s distraction at the gate.
“That’s my men,” Archangel says, now from a prone position on the floor. It’s hard to stand up when you’re hog-tied. “You’re surrounded.”
Wizard shakes his head. “I think you’ll find it’s us who’ve got the upper hand.” He tilts his head to one side. “Good job, Marv,” he says. “And while I admire your handiwork with knots, I’d kinda like him to be able to walk.”
With an exaggerated sigh, Marvel reties the knots and pulls the man now with just his hands bound behind him to his feet.
“One wrong move, shoot him,” Wizard states, then steps over the man still lying across the threshold of the room. He shakes his head as he sees all the blood from the cutthroat soaking into the wooden floor. “Amy’s going to have my fuckin’ nuts,” he complains.
“You’re dead,” Archangel tells me, his tone cold. “And so is your wife.”
Wizard hears and throws me his keys. “Take my bike. It’s outside.”
“I can—”
“Go get your wife.”
The concern in his eyes mirrors mine. It’s possible Archangel left orders in the case that he didn’t return. Orders that would ensure his depravity continued after his death.
I follow the others outside. From the rest of the houses, the brothers are all in various stages of bringing injured and captive men out. Glancing around, I see all of Archangel’s men were taken by surprise, and all captured without one gunshot.
Even the shooting by the gate has ceased now.
“Olivia okay?” Wraith asks fast.
“When I left her,” I tell him. “Unharmed, but scared.”
“Go get her.” Drummer catches my eye as he pushes his captive so hard he crashes to his knees on the ground.
Wraith’s eyes narrow. “What are you fuckin’ doing?” he asks as I go to Wizard’s bike. “She’s fuckin’ pregnant, you moron. Take Sophie’s car.”
I raise my chin at him, acknowledging his point. I exchange the keys, then slide into the driver’s seat, having to push it back as far as it will go. The passenger door opens, then one at the back. I glance to the side, then behind me. Drummer and Wraith. I’m not in the least surprised.
The scene is bloody down by the gate, but none of it ours, theirs. Fuck, I don’t know what to call the Devils anymore. Fighting alongside them tonight, leading Archangel into the trap, well, it was like slipping on some old familiar boots. A role that was comfortable, soothing, even.
It might not be my life anymore, but everything inside me makes it wish it were. I left under false pretences, things I was pretending to myself. Now I wish I could turn back time and cry out for help rather than bottling everything up.
“You did well, Eli. Your plan worked like fuckin’ clockwork,” Wraith tells me.
“Anyone hurt?” Drummer asks.
“Lady got a scratch, but it’s only superficial,” Wraith responds. “I don’t think anyone else was injured.”
“We had the element of surprise,” I remind them.
“Thanks to you, Eli.” That comes from Wraith. “You thought fast.”
“Luckily,” I tell them. “Archangel came for me as soon as I ended the call.”
“Luck didn’t have anything to do with it,” Dad states firmly. “You had a plan. Like you always do.”
I sigh. “That’s pressure, Dad. The expectation that I’ll always know what to do.”
I can sense Wraith’s head shaking. “Sometimes you won’t. That’s why the club isn’t about one man. That’s why we vote. Wizard brought your proposal back to the table and we all said yes. Could have said no, Brother. Could have come up with something else. You know that’s the way we roll.”
He’s right. I know that. It’s just got all back to front in my head. The weight on my shoulders hadn’t been just mine, it belonged to the whole club. He doesn’t know it, but he’s given me something else to think about.
Thank fuck Archangel hadn’t blindfolded me when he’d taken me from my house. I suspect if things had gone his way, neither I nor Liv would still be alive. It makes me worry whether Archangel had pre-empted things. I’m banking on him keeping her safe in case he had a use for either of us later.
I make my way directly to where she’s being held captive, trying to push down the fear inside of me. I slip back into biker mode as I start to brake. “House is up that driveway. We’ll walk from here. There’ll be at least one guard on her. Maybe more.”
“Where’s she held?”
I notice neither man objects to me issuing instructions. “First door on the right. I didn’t see much more than Archangel’s office and where Liv is being held. I did notice a kitchen and a back door.”
“You take the back seeing as you know the lay of the land better, we’ll go in the front and take out the guard,” Drummer suggests.
I’d rather it was me being the first to get to Liv, but I can feel my way around the house better, having taken at least some of the layout in when I’d scanned where I’d been brought. I’m mentally picturing rooms to check in case there are more guards lurking.
Once again my adrenaline rises as we approach the house. Light is streaming out of the windows, including the room where I know Liv is being held. My heart is in my mouth as I creep up close, staying in the darkness, then let my breath out as I see her restlessly sleeping, curled up on the couch. As I watch she jerks awake, as if she can sense I’m there. She looks exhausted as her eyes close again.
I give a thumbs-up to Wraith, and make a circle with my finger and thumb, then I crouch down. Moving below window level, I make my way around the back of the house.
I’m counting down in my head. When I get to zero, I kick the back door in, simultaneously hearing a shot from the front of the house.
Drummer’s voice sounds, “Clear.”
I kick another door open. “Clear.”
Four bedrooms all empty. Two baths, one empty and one… well, to say I caught a man with his pants down would be exactly right. A laugh is startled out of me when I see his face. He’s half hovering over the toilet. Seems like I haven’t quite scared the crap out of him.
Drummer appears. “Just the one… Oh.”
A loud farting sound, the man’s face reddens, he groans then there’s a plop.
“Please, man.”
“Do we let him finish, or kill him now?”
“Please,” the man begs again. “Not like this.”
“Dead’s dead,” says my dad, raising his gun, and shooting him in the head. “What?” He turns at my snort. “I did him a favour. He was clearly constipated. Now that’s one less worry he has.”
“No,” I reply drily. “I think you cured that.”
It seems death has loosened his bowels, and it’s past time for me to leave. The stench is overpowering.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Olivia…
I know Eli won’t betray the club whatever they did. It’s our family, by blood and friendship. The answer is he must have a plan. I have to hang on to that.
I’m going to get you out of here, soon.
But that’s just my hope. However muc
h I try to keep calm and soothe the baby growing inside me, I’m scared, terrified that however Eli thinks this is going to play out, there’s a chance it could go wrong and not the way he expects.
Eli wasn’t made VP because of his relationship to Drummer, he got it on his own merits. Old ladies aren’t involved in club business, but we’ve got ears and eyes. So many times I’ve seen Eli being slapped on the back and congratulated as the club had gotten out of a fix, or made money, due to him being on the ball and coming up with ideas.
But will his lack of confidence in himself lately, the reason behind him leaving the club, make him overcautious? Will he pull back when he should move on? Will he second-guess himself?
Have faith in your man.
I would have. If he were the Eli I’ve known all my life, not the one I’ve lived with these past months.
The house is silent except for the slight whirr of the air conditioning, and creaks as the wood expands or contracts. Has everyone gone? Could I escape on my own?
I could try.
Going to the door, I rattle the knob. It’s locked, of course. I’d hoped my guard would have left with Archangel and Eli, but no such luck. The door opens.
“What do you want?”
“Bathroom,” I tell him.
“Again?”
I glare at him. “You try having a baby use your bladder as a trampoline. Yes, I do need the bathroom, again.”
He shakes his head, but steps back and gestures in the direction I now know. “Don’t try anything,” he warns.
My eyes catch sight of a second man. I suppose it does take two to stop a waddling heavily pregnant lady escaping. But I do what isn’t absolutely necessary, flush and clean up, then allow myself to be escorted back to my room.
No escape. All I can do is sit and wait. I think about Eli. When I’d seen him earlier, there had been flashes of the man he’d been before we were married. Was it possible that the shock of Archangel taking me forced him back to himself? Or, at least, started the recovery process? I realise I hadn’t seen him since his hospital visit and wonder how that went. Had seeing a therapist helped?
Whatever plan he’s working on now has to work. Not just because of me and our baby, but it has to succeed for Eli to start to trust himself again.
There’s no bed, just a couch. I lie on my side and make myself as comfortable as I can. I’m tired, as I always seem to be nowadays. My head though, it won’t switch off. But while I think sleep will evade me, my mind at last shuts down, taking advantage of that for now, my baby, too, is sleeping.
I wake with a start to what sounds like doors being kicked in and gunshots. I roll and awkwardly get to my feet and do an ungraceful dive behind the sofa. What protection it will afford me, I have no idea, but hopefully it will at least impede the progress of a stray bullet heading my way.
Now it’s the door to the room that I’m in that’s being broken down. Friend? Or foe?
Hating myself, I whimper slightly. I just want to be safe and go home.
“Olivia?” a familiar voice shouts, his voice panicked.
“Dad?” In disbelief, I pull myself to my feet, using the couch for leverage. “Dad?” I ask again, half thinking I’m still asleep and I’ve conjured up an apparition.
But when he crosses the room in two long strides and his arms come around me so tightly it’s almost painful, I know I’m awake.
“You’re safe, baby. Safe. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
I haven’t cried once since Archangel took me, but now the tears flow and don’t stop. It’s Dad, he’s here.
“Eli?” I sob.
“With Drummer, taking out the trash.” He jerks his head over his shoulder.
“He’s here?”
Another gunshot sounds. Dad puts me behind him, but then the empty doorway is filled with the sight of the man I most want to see. I twist around my father and run to him.
“Eli!”
“Shush,” he murmurs against my hair as I breathe him in, his arms surrounding me and our baby. “It’s over, darlin’. Archangel won’t be bothering anyone again.”
“He’s dead?” I ask, hopefully. A man as evil as him shouldn’t be breathing the same air as me.
Drummer chuckles behind Eli. “As good as.”
I’m a Satan’s Devil’s daughter. I don’t ask for clarification. Something tells me Archangel won’t be let off lightly or be able to escape.
“Come on, darlin’. Let’s go home.”
“The compound,” Dad clarifies. “Need you close to me.”
“Need them both close,” Drummer agrees.
“Er,” I pull at Eli’s arm when he turns and starts to head toward the front door. “I need to pee.”
“Wait until you get back to the compound,” Drummer says mysteriously, and Eli snorts.
“The bathroom’s in use,” he tells me at my questioning look.
“Yup,” Drummer agrees. “Wouldn’t advise going in there.”
I start shifting from foot to foot. “Can we get a move on then?”
It’s very early in the morning so luckily there’s not much traffic about. I cuddle up to Eli in the back of the car, snuggled against his chest. One arm grips me tightly, the other gently rests on my swollen belly.
“Never, ever, losing you again, Liv. I couldn’t live without you.”
“Or I you, Eli.”
“Are you okay? Is the baby good? Did he touch you, hurt you? Christ, I should have asked before.”
“I’m fine, Eli.” Well if the baby would stop jumping on my bladder I am. “Eli, I’m sorry. I should have told you about the man I met.” Apart from surviving, this is what I’ve been worrying about. “Gabe, Archangel, whatever he calls himself, well, we kept bumping into each other, and I thought it was coincidence. There was nothing in it.”
“He set you up, Liv.” Eli sounds understanding, not angry. “I suspect he went on a charm offensive.”
“He did,” I agree. “He was easy to talk to, and…”
“And I wasn’t listening to you.” Eli’s arms tighten slightly. “Liv, I’m going to be a better man for you.” I hear his breath catch. “Christ, Liv. Being so up my ass meant I nearly lost you.”
“Think we’ve all been up our asses,” Drummer’s voice comes from the driving seat. “Eli and Liv should never have left the compound. Fuck knows that Archangel was right, taking Liv, even taking Eli alone would have destroyed the club.”
“Too fuckin’ right,” Dad agrees.
“What about Zane?” I ask. “He’s off compound more than he’s on. And what about my sisters? What if they marry civilian men? If we want to live outside the club, we should be able to.”
Dad sighs deeply. “It’s a difficult question to answer. I don’t want to let any of my girls go. But Eli’s come up with a plan for that now. If we know someone might be heading our way, we’ll tell all the women who to watch out for.”
Eli suggested that? It sounds like common sense. If I’d have known who Gabe really was right from the start, I’d have told Eli and never met him again. I’d have changed my shopping habits and stayed away, but their secretive club business had kept that from me. Hopefully it won’t again. I snuggle against my man, trusting him now, only wishing he’d come up with that bright idea earlier.
“Now Archangel’s gone,” Eli says, his tone reassuring, “there’s no one else with a current grudge against the club. Should that change in the future, then we widen protection for anyone connected with the club. Bring them in for safety, if necessary, or protect them where they are.”
“Spreads us thin.” Drummer voices an objection.
“We put together a workable plan. Keep it in our back pocket just in case. Have it as a church agenda item and revisit every few months to keep it current.”
“That, right there,” Dad says, tilting his head toward Drummer, “is why Eli became the VP.”
Eli tenses beside me. “I used the wrong pronoun, sorry. I should have said you, not we.”
<
br /> There’s silence from the front seats, and I don’t know what’s being left unsaid.
We pull up at the gates of the compound and wait a few seconds for them to open, then, Drummer’s driving through, bypassing the clubhouse and continuing up the track to the homes where everyone lives. Well, everyone but us now.
As soon as the car stops, I throw open the door and start sliding out. Eli runs around to help me.
At the sound of our arrival, people start coming out. I notice they’re all dressed, and no one seems to have been asleep. Mom runs toward me.
“Later!” I call out desperately. “I gotta pee.”
After four pregnancies herself, Mom understands the urgency, and she clears a path through everyone waiting to greet me, shouting in typical Mom fashion, “Preggers lady needs the loo.”
When I come out of the bathroom, she’s waiting for me. Her eyes now examining me head to toe. “Are you alright, Olivia?”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“Baby moving okay? No pains?”
“Yes and no.” I smile at her. “I was scared, but I’m okay. Though, he gave me Rohypnol…”
“We’ll get you checked out.” Eli and Dad have come in.
“Look, I’m good. I’m sure it won’t have done any harm. Junior here is kicking just like normal.” I really don’t want to go off compound again. I want to relax, sleep and lie next to Eli.
“Livvy!” Hilda appears, quickly followed by Zoey and Eliza, my other sisters. “You alright?”
“Hey.” Eli steps in front of me. “Liv’s tired, she’s been through an ordeal. She needs to unwind and get some rest. Can you hold your horses until the morning?”
“We only just found out she disappeared.” Zoey stomps her foot, just like she used to when she was a child.
“And now she’s back,” Sophie says calmly. “Eli’s right. You can catch up with her tomorrow.”
“We’ve been planning your baby shower,” Hilda says, her eyes gleaming. Then she turns her teenage eyes on Mom accusingly. “Of course we didn’t know you were missing at the time.”
Mom shrugs and looks at me. “Had to keep them amused somehow. And that was supposed to be a secret.” She mock slaps Hilda on the ass.
Hawk's Cry : Satan's Devils MC Second Generation #2 Page 23