Something was bothering him. In the back of his mind he could almost see something he should be focusing on, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think of what it was. Shit, he thought and stood. As he walked to the fridge, he stopped and then looked back at the computer. He forgot something, which seemed impossible since he remembered every single second he spent with Anya like it was yesterday. He remembered so he wouldn’t make a mistake again if he ever decided to get into another relationship, which right now, he didn’t.
He grabbed a beer and then turned and looked at the computer as he leaned against the counter. He took a deep pull on the bottle and closed his eyes.
“Yay,” Anya yelled and clapped her hands. “You’re coming to see us! I can’t wait!”
Max had smiled as he stared at his woman. She was happy, and when she smiled like this, she lit up the whole room. It was the reason he tried so hard to make her smile; he liked seeing her like this.
“Yes,” Anya cheered. “Max is taking a week off so we can hang out! I am so excited about this, I wish it weren’t so far away, but I get it. Yeah, the next three months will go by fast. I miss you!”
Anya hung up the phone and raised her arms and ran at him, jumping about three feet from him right into his arms. Thank God he had good reflexes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly before saying, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!”
Max chuckled and then said, “I didn’t really do anything; I just took a week off when your friend was visiting.”
“Okay, you don’t get this, so I have to tell you. Coco Love is like no one you have ever met, and because of that, taking a week off to hang with her is awesome, but it also means you’re going to get a good dose of Coco Love. I’m not trying to scare you, but she is a little high maintenance and protective. And because she is a celebrity you’re going to have to understand when I say high maintenance, I don’t mean she is drama filled, she hates to be in the limelight, so she uses disguises when she goes out, and she never warns you what she is dressing up as. One time she showed up dressed like an old lady. Just go with the flow,” Anya said.
Max laughed. “Well, at least it won’t be dull.”
“No, it won’t, and also, when she’s here we don’t call her Coco Love.”
Max grinned big. “We don’t?”
“No, while she is here we use her alias, it’s legal by the way, her father legally registered her alias,” Anya warned.
“Lay it on me,” Max said.
“Penny Tayshaun,” Anya said without smiling. It took him a minute as he repeated her name in his head, moving the words together. When he got it, Max burst out laughing. Who wouldn’t?
Chapter Six
“I know where she is,” Torch yelled loudly.
Loki rolled off the couch onto the floor and grumbled, “Ya think maybe you could announce that a little quieter, asshole. Had like two hours of sleep, man.”
Torch growled and threw Loki’s pants at him and said, “Get your ass up; we need to get there before they move again.”
Ox walked out of the bedroom already dressed and ready to go and said, “Where are we going?”
“They are staying at The Wedgewood,” Torch said, and Ox whistled loudly.
“Swanky, not sure rolling up on the Harleys is gonna get anyone to open up the doors wide and let us in the lobby. In fact, I would bet the cops will be called before we use the kickstand.”
Torch shook his head. “I’m not going to wait.”
“I didn’t say that; I said maybe we should take the Charger and not the bikes. And possibly leave the cuts off,” Ox said, and Torch narrowed his eyes.
“Brother, I don’t take my cut off for anyone,” Loki snapped, and Torch nodded in agreement.
Ox rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say burn it or something, I said take it off for now. Geez, do you guys ever change your clothes when you’re undercover? I could have sworn Fling said something about a new wardrobe.”
Loki snorted. “Keep dreaming, and yeah we have undercover clothes but, asshole, we’re in Canada, not the Taj Mal.”
Torch sighed and then slid off his cut and folded it over his arm; he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, it would have to do. Ox rolled his eyes again and then grabbed his keys and walked out the door. Loki was following, saying, “Hey, you think they have a McDonalds in the lobby like some of the hotels do. I need an Egg McMuffin.”
Ox said, “The more I’m with you guys, the more I miss the club, well, at least the normal side of the club.”
Loki laughed. “Brother, there is no normal side of the Furies. Boomer has an old lady who talks to herself, and Ridge has an old lady called ‘Sandshrew,’ and she has a monkey.”
Ox paused and looked at Torch over the roof of his car and said, “Is he serious?”
“Unfortunately,” Torch grunted.
He had no problem sending his men to go get Anya Franklin and her daughter. She could ruin everything he had worked for. His men were handpicked for this operation, sent with instructions to bring the woman and her kid in for their protection. Each of the men had been in Special Forces, each had done their four years, and was offered a position in the civilian world working for the Justice Department. He was just lucky he still had friends in high places.
“Sir,” Bjorn ‘Ironside’ Falcon said briskly. “We just landed and will be making our way to the hotel. We will have her in an hour, and be back in the air.”
“Good, better not approach in public, though, she may be skittish,” he said briskly.
“Already have a plan, sir, don’t worry, we will have her safe soon,” Bjorn said, and he nodded to no one.
He knew calling in a favor or two would, in the end, guarantee that he would have the woman before those pricks knew what hit them. Just his fucking luck, before he could contain the situation someone asked those damn motorcycle assholes to find her. Of course, Merlin had joined those degenerates, none of them had a damn bit of pride for the uniform they used to wear, none of them. Just like no one would understand he did what he did because he did have pride.
Striking a deal with those terrorists may be construed as treason, but was it? The country had become so soft, so compliant, it was now vulnerable, and the only way to make sure it wouldn’t be was to aid someone in planning an attack. Of course, he wouldn’t have allowed it to happen. Before then he would have killed those fuckers, but it was all about smoke and mirrors. He was playing a game to make his country stronger. But no one would thank him if they knew. Hell, he wasn’t that crazy to think they would.
Instead, he knew they would make an example out of him; they would lock him up and throw away the key if they found out. That was a big if, because Anya hadn’t known the specifics of what she saw and she never would; however, someone may catch on if they heard her story, and damned if he was going to let that happen.
“Make sure you call me before you leave, I will be waiting for you.”
“Yes, sir,” Falcon said.
“Wakey, wakey, eggs and baby,” Coco whispered in her ear, and she moaned and rolled over.
“Oh my God, what time is it?” Anya groaned.
Her daughter jumped on the bed yelling, “ZOO, ZOO, ZOO!”
Anya opened one eye and saw her excited daughter who was already dressed and ready to go, although as she looked closer, she was mismatched wearing a pair of orange sweat pants and a pink shirt. Her hair was a mess and in a ponytail. But she was dressed.
Anya laughed and smiled at her daughter as she sat up in bed. “Well, I think before we hit the zoo, we are going to need to do a little touch-up.”
Maci tilted her head and frowned. “What’s a touch-up?”
Coco yelled. “OMG, you have failed as a mother. You’re lucky, Maci, your fabulous godmother is here to teach you everything you need to know to be a woman.”
“Everything I need to know?” Maci whispered reverently, and Anya groaned and put her hands over her face.
“No, no, no,
” she said. “Maci, don’t listen to your crazy auntie; she doesn’t know what she is talking about. She told me the same thing years ago, and I ended up with blue hair.”
“Blue hair! YAY!” Maci said, waving her arms and bouncing on the bed. “Blue hair! I want blue hair!”
“No way, baby, you are not getting blue hair until you’re a teenager and going through your angst phase and hating me.” Anya laughed.
Maci frowned and said, “What is angst?”
Coco laughed and said, “Come on, honey, let’s get you sorted while your mommy gets herself ready for the day.”
It took an hour, but they were ready. Coco had ordered breakfast while they were waiting and Anya heard a knock on the door, figuring it was room service delivering the food. She walked out into the main room and heard Coco and Maci in the bathroom. Moving to the door, she looked through the peephole and saw it was a man dressed in the waiter’s uniform.
She opened the door and smiled at the young man, damn everyone who worked here was gorgeous, like off the charts gorgeous, which was ridiculous but it really seemed like it was true. He smiled as he rolled the cart in, Maci and Coco both came out of the bedroom to eat. Anya wasn’t paying attention; she should have, really there was no excuse for it. She should have stayed by the door with it open; she should have made sure one of the bodyguards that was assigned to them was still standing in the hallway at their post. Dammit, she should have felt the danger coming into her room, but she didn’t. Anya and Coco didn’t understand the danger they were in until Maci grabbed one of the plate covers and pulled it off.
“Hey, there is no…” Maci yelled, and Coco was moving, so was Anya. Coco grabbed Maci and pulled her sharply out of the room, the little girl screaming in surprise but not from pain. Anya grabbed a lamp and held it over her head, and the young man was reaching for something, but she didn’t give him a chance. Anya took the opportunity that was given to her and hit him over the head with the base of the lamp. She wasn’t big, but she was a mother protecting her child. He turned and reached for her, but Anya yelled loudly, it was a war cry, and it came from deep down. She swung the lamp again this time, hitting him harder and on the side of his head. It only pissed him off; she could see him reaching behind his back and knew this was the last try. Swinging again, she hit him in the same place a second time.
“Mother fucker!” she yelled when the man crashed backward and fell onto the cart knocking everything all over the living room. She hit him again.
“Mommy’s saying bad words,” she heard Maci whisper, and she closed her eyes. “And she hurt the man.”
“No, baby,” Coco said softly. “She and the man are playing a game; you know like the men on the television last night.”
“OHHHH,” Maci said and then went to say something else, but Coco put her hand over her mouth.
“Anya?” Coco said quietly. “We need to find the security guards.”
Anya was holding the lamp above her head still, hopping back and forth on her feet while she watched the man closely for movement. There was none, and finally, Coco put Maci on the bed and told her to stay while she came to Anya’s side and touched her softly and hesitantly.
“Honey?” she whispered, and Anya turned her eyes toward her, they were glassy and panicked. She was in shock, Coco could see it, so she reached up for the lamp while her friend still had a hold of it. “Let go, honey, I got it. You did good; you protected your girl and me.”
“I did,” Anya whispered and said, “I protected her.”
“You did, now, honey, gimme the lamp so we can keep protecting her and get her outta here. We need to find the security we have,” Coco said calmly, and Anya nodded and let go of the lamp.
“Okay,” Anya said and looked around. “MACI!” she yelled, and the little girl jumped from the bed and ran to her.
“Mommy! I okay,” she yelled. “I okay.”
Anya closed her eyes as she swung her daughter up and around, so she was away from the man lying on the floor. “I got you,” she whispered. “I got you.”
“Come on,” Coco said quickly.
Anya nodded and then moved toward the door with Coco following. They stepped out into the corridor and saw one of the guards on the floor.
“Downstairs to the lobby where there are a lot of people,” Coco said, and Anya nodded, jogging while holding her daughter safe. She wasn’t gonna breath normally until they were finally safe—if they were ever safe.
Chapter Seven
Loki sat in the back of the car eating his third Egg McMuffin. “You know, these fucking things are like heaven, I mean, whoever thought to make these is a fucking genius. And the hash browns, they so don’t taste like anyone else’s, they have to put something in them, I don’t know what that something is, but they are addictive.”
“Yeah, we know, you’ve eaten three of those,” Torch snapped.
“You wouldn’t be so grumpy if you had eaten an Egg McMuffin,” Loki said smoothly as he saw them pull into the hotel parking lot. “Okay, what is the plan, I mean, I was gonna stay in the car and all, but you know, I’m in a much better mood. I feel like fucking with rich people would be entertaining.”
Ox growled, “Asshole, what the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know; my mom asked my dad once that same question. He said I was the milkman’s; I tend to believe him, our milkman was a freaky fucker, one eye went one way, and the other went an entirely different direction. Scared the crap out of all the kids in the neighborhood, but not me, no, not me.” Loki laughed.
Ox parked the Charger, and then the three of them got out. “Okay, we know what floor they are on. Ox, take the lobby; Loki; the elevators. I will go up the stairs. If things work, we will be outta here in thirty.”
The three men nodded, and they walked to the front lobby door. As they went all three men scanned the parking lot. Loki whispered, “Someone has security.”
Ox snorted. “Hell, look around, the whole parking lot is full of security for one rich asshole or another. We won’t know whose is theirs until we come back out.”
They hit the lobby and saw all the people milling around. Loki and Ox moved away from Torch as he walked to the stairs and went up. The two men stood back to back as they each watched their area. It was Loki who saw him first, and he frowned, shook his head and then looked closer. Then he leaned to the side and said to Ox, “Brother, did you put something in my Egg McMuffin?” and Ox chuckled softly.
“What the fuck are you talking about now?”
“Seriously!” Loki snapped and closed his eyes and opened them again, looking at the man who was standing by the elevators waiting for it to come down. “Don’t fuck with me, did you do something to my food.”
Ox frowned and turned and looked at his brother who was staring intently at the elevators, and his face had gone pale. “Dude, what the fuck?”
“‘Cause if you didn’t, I’m seeing a dead man walking,” Loki snapped and grabbed Ox and pulled him to the elevators as they were opening up.
Loki saw the man wait and then step inside, no one was with him, so Loki lunged and stuck his arm out to stop the doors from closing. The man looked up surprised. “Sorry,” he said, and Ox got his first good look at him.
“Fuck me.”
The doors closed and the man pointed to the panel and said, “What floor?”
Loki shook his head and then pulled back and yelled, “You mother fucker, you’re not dead, you played us, you played us all.” Then he punched the man hard and fast, knocking him back but not out.
“Loki,” Ox said quickly. “It is not.”
“The fuck it isn’t,” Loki roared and went to punch him again. The man was ready this time, he blocked it, and then the two men were scrabbling with each other, trying to get a punch in while contained in the small box. Ox just stood there watching, mostly because he was in shock, but also because he couldn’t get in to separate them right now. He looked up. They were almost to the floor Torch was going to.
Torch ran up the stairs, almost there. He hadn’t planned any of this out. The entire time they were driving to the hotel, he didn’t think about what was coming, if he had, it would have driven him nuts. So instead he thought about how they were going to get home. They couldn’t chance the border, Anya had to be flagged by now. They had a few choices, none of them were completely safe. Which meant Torch was going to need to get creative.
He rounded the steps to the floor that held his daughter, and he almost froze. Shit, get your head in the game, worry about that shit later. He opened the door and turned. There she was, right there in front of him, holding a little girl, with a tall woman next to her and they were running away from him.
“Anya!” he yelled, but she kept running, they all did.
Torch began to chase them down one hallway and then halfway down another; they had a head start, he heard the ding on the elevator as the taller woman hit the button repeatedly. When the doors opened, both women screamed, and two men fell out of the door.
Torch frowned and as he saw Loki with a stranger and Ox standing there shaking his head. Anya looked around, probably for a way to escape when she saw him. Her friend was pulling her arm back, but she was frozen, staring right at him. He saw her mouth move and heard her say, “Max?”
“You stupid fucker, how could you do that to us? How in the fuck could you do that to us?” Loki yelled, punching the man in the face.
That was when he heard his daughter for the first time, granted it wasn’t the words he thought he would hear, but how could he argue.
“Look, Mommy, it is MPA or WEN fighting, auntie and I watched it last night! You have to say! Kick him in the nuts! Kick him in the nuts!” the little girl yelled, and Anya snapped her head to her daughter.
Coco put a hand over her mouth and whispered, “No, baby, remember you weren’t supposed to repeat that.”
Scorched (Furies MC Book 3) Page 5