Don't Take My Baby (Twisted Ghosts MC)

by Zoey Parker

  “Quit moving, bitch,” he said under his breath. “You’re a lot heavier than you look, you know that?”

  When he started to lower me into the trunk I kicked and struggled as hard as I could. My hands were numb from the horrendous zip ties binding them together and I could feel the edges of the duct tape peeling off my face from perspiration.

  The man frowned at me. He reached down and ripped the tape off.

  I spat out the handkerchief sodden from my spit, and gagged. “I’m pregnant,” I said.

  He stared at me. Then he laughed. “Hey, Rico, get a load of this.”

  Another man — he was short, burly, and angry-looking — walked over. I guessed he’d been sitting in the driver’s seat of the car the whole time. “What the fuck, man?”

  “This bitch says she’s pregnant.” The first man laughed.

  “Oh, Jake, you really done us good this time,” Rico said.

  Jake. The man who kidnapped me was Jake. I knew I’d heard that name before, but I couldn’t remember where. Maybe something Zane had mentioned…

  “You’re Jake?” I looked at him with my eyes wide. “Can you please release my wrists?” I held up my hands. They were turning purple from lack of blood. “This is really tight, and it hurts.”

  Jake smirked at me. Then he lifted his hand and before I knew it, a stinging blow landed on my cheek.

  “You’re a cunt,” he said smugly. “And you’re lying about being knocked up.”

  I shook my head, feeling damp tendrils of blonde hair sticking to my neck. “I’m not lying,” I said. “I swear. It’s Zane’s baby. He married me so the baby would be protected.” I was shaking with fear. Under any other circumstances, I never would have admitted my condition to either one of the men. But now, I was worried. I was worried they were going to kill me. If I told them about the baby, though, they might want to spare my life. They must have known Zane would go ballistic if they hurt his unborn child.

  “I don’t know, Jake,” Rico said with a smirk. He reached forward, between my bound arms, and caressed my lower belly. I shivered at his touch — his hand was rough and scratchy, and I hated the feel of his hands on me. “I don’t think she’s kidding. She seems pretty fat down here.”

  “She’s fucking lying,” Jake said. “I can smell it.” He leaned down and twisted his lips into a cruel smirk. “She’s not fucking pregnant. She’s worried we’re gonna hurt her!”

  Jake and Rico craned their necks and threw their heads back in fierce laughter. I began to cry uncontrollably. The tears flowed freely down my face and snot dribbled from my nose into my mouth.

  “Please help me,” I begged. “I don’t know anything!”

  Rico eyed me. “Jake, I don’t think she’s lying,” he said in a softer voice.

  Jake shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “What makes you say that?”

  Rico glanced at me. He looked more cautious than he had before. He looked almost wary. “I don’t know, man. My sister, she was pregnant. And she…looked the same. Something similar about them.”

  Jake snorted. “Your sister is a fucking slut,” he said. “This girl looks real high class, like she don’t take no shit from no one.”

  “Her lips are all puffy,” Rico said. “And look at her tits!” His eyes practically bulged out of his head. I felt a red flush covering my cheeks and I screwed my eyes closed, desperate to be away from Rico’s prying eyes. “They’re huge!”

  “She is pretty fuckin’ chesty,” Jake said with a laugh. “But Zane likes his girls to have real big tits. That don’t mean nothing.”

  Rico shook his head. “I really don’t think she’s putting you on, man. I think she’s fuckin’ knocked up. And if that’s Zane’s kid…” He trailed off, giving me a nervous look. “Come over here, man.”

  Jake gave me a long, hard look. I could tell he was reluctant to leave me, even though I was tipped over on my back, in a car truck, with my hands bound at the wrist. There was no way I’d be able to wriggle out of that situation and he knew it. Finally, Rico and Jake walked a few feet away. I could hear their muttering, hushed voices but I couldn’t tell what they were talking about. I couldn’t even make out the words. Finally, I realized they were speaking Italian. After a few moments, Jake walked back to the car.

  “All right, we believe you,” he said, shifting his eyes downwards. “This changes the bargain, though,” he added, giving me a wicked grin.

  Jake disappeared and Rico stood there, towering over me. He looked at me with a smirk on his face, then reached into the trunk and grabbed my swollen, painful hands. I cried out in pain but Rico snipped through the tight plastic with a pair of wire cutters.

  “Get up,” Rico said. When I didn’t move, a look of anger flashed across his face. “I said get the fuck up!”

  “I can’t move,” I mumbled. “My arms hurt too much.” Rico grabbed me and hauled me out of the trunk until I was standing shakily on both feet. I looked up at him and whimpered as I tried to rub my hands together, desperate for more blood in both of them. The feeling of pins and needles was hurting me and tears leaked out of my eyes as we stood there.

  “Are you fucking psycho?” Jake walked back over and smacked Rico on the back of the head. “What the fuck is she doing out of the trunk?”

  “She’s pregnant,” Rico said with a shrug. “She can’t be in the fuckin’ trunk like that, man.”

  I almost laughed when I realized that we were still standing in the middle of Zane’s driveway. Zane had a big house in a nice neighborhood, but that didn’t mean people weren’t watching us. I shuddered as I looked around, craning my neck to see if one of his neighbors was outdoors. If I could only get away, if I could only shout for help.

  Jake and Rico had their heads bent over something that was inside the car. From where I stood, it looked like a planner or some notes or something. They were speaking in Italian again, and I couldn’t hear any of their words from where I stood.

  My heart jumped into my throat when I saw one of Zane’s neighbors slowly walking down the street. She was an old woman who I’d seen before a few times, and I waved and jumped up and down, trying to get her to notice me. The woman slowly lifted her head up and it seemed for a moment like she was staring straight at me.

  Please let her see me, please let her see me, please let her see me, I begged silently as I jumped, trying to shake and wave my arms in the air.

  Finally, the woman frowned. “Dearie?” she called in a small, elderly voice. “Are you all right?”

  “No!” I exploded, breaking into a run and bolting down the driveway. When I whipped my head back, Rico and Jake were still crouched in the back seat of the car. “I need help! Please! Please help me!”

  The old woman looked at me again and frowned. “You shouldn’t be outside without a coat,” she said. But she made no move towards me.

  My heart sank when I heard Rico and Jake’s footsteps pounding the pavement behind me.

  “Hey, bitch! Get back here!” Jake grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the woman who could have saved me. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

  I twisted as viciously as I could in his arms. “Away from you!” I yelled. “Help! Help! This man is trying to kill me! Help!”

  The old woman stared at me, incredulous. I wanted to run up and shake her by the shoulders, yell in her face to make her help me! But when I heard the soft pop I knew she hadn’t been staring at me. Her frame crumpled to the ground and blood trickled out of a single wound to the head. She hadn’t been staring at me; she’d been staring at Jake.

  Jake grabbed my arm and yanked so hard that I thought it was going to come out of the socket. “You’re a cunt,” he whispered in my ear. “I ought to slice you apart, limb from limb, just for trying to run away from me. You ain’t going nowhere, honey. You’re mine,” he added in a nasty growl. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “Boss,” Rico called. “We better get going!” He glared at me. “So, you thought you could
take yourself a little walk, did you?”

  My chin quivered and I felt a fresh wave of tears start in my eyes. I wasn’t going to apologize to those fucks, but I didn’t want them to hurt me or the baby.

  “We’re gonna have to put you away,” Jake said. He gave me a nasty grin. “We’re gonna have to put you away real good, girl.”

  “Yeah,” Rico echoed.

  From what I could gather, Jake was definitely the brains of this operation. He seemed smarter, more streetwise than Rico. I could tell he wanted me dead, but he was afraid of Zane.

  I knew if I could figure out a way to threaten them, they’d leave me alone. “You know Zane will kill you when he finds out what you’ve done, right?” I tried to make my voice sound casual. “He’s going to hunt you down like dogs and kill you.”

  Rico shook a little. I could tell he was afraid. But Jake took a step forward and gave me a powerful backhand across the face. He hit me so hard I saw stars. For a moment, the world around me was fuzzy and I thought I was going to pass out.

  “Bitch, you think we don’t know that?” Jake smirked at me. “Why the fuck do you think we’re hiding you away?”

  I blinked, my eyes filling with salty tears. “Please don’t hurt me,” I begged. “Please. I’ll do anything.”

  “Anything?” Rico leered at me. “What does that mean?”

  I shuddered, immediately regretting what I’d just said.

  “Anything, eh?” Jake laughed. “I got an idea, Rico.”

  Rico grinned at him and I felt my stomach twist into knots. “And what would that be, boss?” He winked at me and I glared.

  “Oh, she doesn’t have to do anything,” Jake said. “How boring. Don’t be so fucking nasty, Rico. You aren’t going to rape Zane’s wife.”

  I felt an odd sense of relief wash over me. But I had the feeling Jake wasn’t finished tormenting me yet. “What are you going to do?” I asked softly.

  Jake reached forward and stroked my chin, letting a finger linger on my neck. I shuddered and shivered and tried to move away but it was futile. He could do whatever he wanted to me, and he knew it.

  “Yeah, boss, what are you gonna do?” Rico hopped from one foot to the other, looking like some kind of demented puppy.

  Jake glared at him. “Don’t be so fucking stupid,” he said dismissively to Rico. To me, he said, “You think Zane will save you?”

  I didn’t know. I had no idea whether or not Zane would save me. I knew I was just a burden to him, just a mere annoyance. Just a distraction from the things he really wanted in life.

  “I think he will,” I said, trying to keep my voice strong and steady. “I definitely think he’ll save me.”

  Jake smiled, showing all of his teeth. I dared myself to look into his dark eyes and hold his stare for as long as I could.

  “You really think Zane will save you?” He looked at me, up and down, letting his eyes linger on my chest.

  I shuddered again. “I hope so,” I said. “After all, you need your money, right?”

  “Damn straight,” Jake replied. “Rico, this one ain’t so dumb after all!” He let out sound that sounded like a cry of joy. “Hold on a second,” he said to me in an oddly formal tone, as if I was just waiting for him to do me a favor. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed a number and held it up to his ear.

  “Yo, Zane,” Jake said. He winked at me and I felt my heart plummet to the bottom of my ribcage. “Deal’s changed. That’s gonna be double the money. I just found out Blondie here is carrying a special load.”

  I set my lips in a thin line, determined to look as strong as possible. In reality, the situation was absurd. We were standing in Zane’s driveway, with a dead body on the sidewalk not twenty feet away. My heart went out to that little old lady. She probably had a family; she probably had grandchildren. And now they wouldn’t get to grow up knowing her. Jake had ended her life in less than a minute.

  “And, Zane?” Jake grinned, keeping his wolfish eyes locked on my face. “You gotta call off that deal. I ain’t gonna help you now, and I think you know that.”

  I stared. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but judging by the tinny, murderous reply I could hear spewing from Jake’s cellphone, I knew it must be bad.

  Chapter 28

  Zane

  When Jake hung up the phone, I was shaking with anger and grief. I was still standing on the front porch of Lionel’s house, staring at the street and the other houses. It looked like a normal day: cold, chilly, no one outside. It looked completely innocuous. I had a hard time believing that just behind me lay two dead bodies.

  I’d given myself a few minutes to wallow in the shame of having my father and his girlfriend killed by my supposed brother. Jake and I had grown up together, and this was how he’d repaid my family. He didn’t give a shit about my father. He didn’t give a shit about me. He only cared about himself, that rat-faced bastard.

  “Jake, you are fuckin’ dead,” I mumbled under my breath. I could just see him now: conniving and sneaky, the same asshole he’d always been. Secretly, I should have known better. I should have seen this coming. I should have been able to tell his motives were far from pure.

  But all I could think about was Isabella. Was she okay? Was she hurt? I shivered. Jake wasn’t good to women. He didn’t like them, and as evidenced by Terry, he didn’t give a shit for their dignity. I shuddered, remembering she’d been naked when I found her. Even though Terry loved parading around in skimpy outfits, I didn’t think she would have been naked when Jake found her. My mouth went dry as I thought about him raping her, hurting her until she couldn’t move, then stabbing her just like he’d stabbed my old man.

  I didn’t want to think about it anymore, but I couldn’t help it. I imagined Jake slipping into the house. Terry would have been prancing around in a bikini or a short skirt, maybe planning something for Lionel’s lunch. Jake would have acted friendly, then attacked Terry when her guard was down. I shook with anger as I thought about the screams and cries she must have made.

  Jake had killed Terry first. I just knew it instinctively. Terry was a relatively young, athletic girl. She easily could have run away if she smelled the faintest whiff of trouble. But she also wasn’t very bright. I easily saw her letting Jake in, making him a cocktail or some coffee, bantering with him about whatever. But then he killed her.

  And Lionel must have heard everything. Lionel had been upstairs, warm in bed, cranky and waiting for lunch. And then the doorbell rang, and he probably yelled for Terry to hurry up, probably told her his blood sugar was low. As Lionel listened to Jake and Terry flirting downstairs, he probably got mad. He was probably shaking with anger, jealous and mad. When they went quiet, I bet he was thinking about Terry getting on her knees and sucking Jake off. I bet Lionel was even thinking it was getting to be time to replace Terry soon, that she’d been living off the goodness of his heart for a long time.

  But Jake had struck first. He’d killed Terry and shoved her body in a cupboard. When he went upstairs to see the old man, I bet he did a great job of acting like nothing had happened.

  I shook my head in disgust and rage. Whatever sadness I’d felt about my father’s death was slowly draining out of my body, leaving me angry and powerful. I wanted to find Jake and rip his head off, or put his feet in cement and force him off the end of a boat. I hated him.

  Lionel had always told me that working in the family business meant working with people you couldn’t stand. It sounded naïve, but I’d never believed him until now. He’d always said we were different because we had to do “close” work together, like disposing of bodies and shit. Well, Jake and I had never done that together but I hated him just the same.

  When Isabella had told me about her family, I’d wanted to laugh. It sounded ridiculous — a single mom taking care of a little Italian girl, clueless to her husband’s real identity. I’d always thought the way I’d grown up was best: spare time filled with Italian family get-togethers, lots of meetings in
the basement. I’d always felt cool, at least I had ever since Lionel had included me that one fateful night. It sounded stupid, but I thought I was better than a lot of people. My family wasn’t like everyone else’s family. We didn’t pay taxes or hold stupid, shitty jobs that wore us down year after year.

  But now I was almost envious. I wondered what it would have been like to grow up with a family who loved me, who wanted to take care of me. I wondered what it would have been like to have a father who came home and played action figures with me instead of a father who disappeared into the basement with a cigar and a fifth of brandy. I wondered what it would have been like to grow up without seeing a gun, or hearing someone shriek before they died, or having to scrub blood of my school uniforms.