by Erin Osborne
“Where did you go?” Darcy asks, as I make my way back in to find her standing at the register talking to Wilma.
“I had to take care of somethin’. Trust me, I didn’t leave you alone, I was just outback,” I answer, striding behind the counter and wrap my arms around her.
I need to have her in my embrace to ensure that she’s not anywhere other than right here with me. At the blink of an eye, anything can happen, and the people you love the most can be taken from you. Ma is the perfect example of that happening. Not a single one of us had an inkling that anything remotely like that was going to happen. With her in my arms, she feels real, alive, safe, and I feel like I’m home. Darcy in my line of sight keeps me grounded.
“Everything okay, babe?” she asks, calling me babe for the first time. I’m floored and can’t respond a few minutes.
“Yeah. I’m perfect.” I reply, kissing the top of her head and going back to sit on the couch at the front of the salon so she can finish up with Wilma and take the walk-in.
Pulling out my phone, I text Gage and let him know of the newest threat against Darcy. And read the message that he sent as soon as Shadow delivered the card from earlier. He’s got Tech doing his thing and is looking into the florist to see if he can pull the records to see when the flowers were bought. If he finds out that the person was a dumbass and used a credit card to pay, we can hopefully figure out who he is. Then, it’s just a matter of getting our hands on him and torturing the fuck out of this douche canoe before finding him a new home. One that’s six feet under.
Gage immediately responds and tells me that he’s going to have someone come pick the newest package up immediately. I’m glad I put it in a bag before setting it behind the dumpster out back. The door, that you would miss since it’s designed to look exactly like part of the wall of the building is locked and I’ve triple checked that shit. I pocket my phone and sit back to watch Darcy do her thing. Just before she’s finished up with her current client, Riley comes breezing in the door winded and looking flustered.
“Is everything okay here?” she asks, sitting down next to me and whispering her question.
“Yeah, why?” I ask, not sure how much she knows and not wanting to give her any more information than she already has.
“I was in Gage’s office talking to him about something personal when Shadow came running in,” she tells me, getting up and heading toward the back to take care of her things.
“It’s gettin’ handled,” I tell her retreating back.
Sitting back and relaxing as much as I can right now, I watch the girls and keep an eye on the traffic outside of the salon. It’s just a matter of time before we leave for lunch and I plan on keeping her safe surrounded by a group of us. Before I can begin figuring out a plan, Gage plops his ass down next to me and looks at me for a few minutes. I know he can tell that I’m on edge and ready to jump at anything.
“You good?” he asks, giving me quiet reassurance that everything is being taken care of regarding this.
“As good as I can be. Especially with Crash bein’ gone right now. It’s like this guy knows that he’s not here and is steppin’ up his game or some shit,” I answer, finally giving a voice to my fears without scaring Darcy in the process.
“I get the same feelin’. You looked deep in thought when I sat down, what’s up?” he asks, moving a little bit closer so no one can overhear us.
“Well, Darcy is goin’ to want to go to lunch and I don’t want her out there without guys on her. I’m not goin’ to be able to protect her on my own if we walk to the diner,” I tell him, wanting to know what he thinks. “Granted, I can protect my girl, but there’s too many unknowns out there.”
“I’ll still be here. And, I’ll have Shadow and Steel go with us. We’ll close the salon up for the hour and take both girls with us,” he tells me, letting me know what’s going to happen.
We’re all on red alert now and he wants to protect Riley as much as I want to shelter Darcy from anything bad happening to her. Now that the lunch situation is taken care of, I let myself relax just a tiny bit, but keep my guard up. Riley, Darcy, and the client’s in their chairs are talking and making the day go by faster for themselves. Gage and I spend the rest of the morning talking about business and how we’re going to proceed when we finally catch the scum we’re trying so hard to locate right now.
Darcy
My nerves are absolutely shot after seeing the card that was attached to the flowers this morning. I know that Trojan got another delivery from this insane person, but I’m not asking anything about it. Honestly, I don’t want to know anything about it right now. Eventually I know that my curiosity will win out, but all I want to focus on is getting through the rest of the day. Everything about it seems off right now and I’m not sure why.
When Wilma came in this morning, she laughed and talked to me, but she didn’t raise her normal amount of hell. On a weekly basis she gives the guys hell and today she didn’t even ask why Crash wasn’t here. We were both putting up fronts to make sure that the other one thought we were okay, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth in either case. I’m not going to pry into her personal life though. I will, however, mention it to Trojan and see what he says.
Riley is in the middle of a perm and there’s no one else in here right now. Knowing that I need a few minutes to myself, I make my way out back and through the door. No one will know that I’m out here since we don’t even park out back. We’re always on the street. I did knock on the door to the bathroom and let my man know where I’d be. Gage had to step out for a few minutes and I don’t know if a prospect or other member is out there.
Leaning against the wall, I take a few deep breaths of the fresh air. It does nothing to help the tension ease from my body, but it does give me a second of peace. I’m just sorry that I didn’t know that I would come to regret my decision. Within a matter of seconds, I feel a hand cover my mouth at the same time a needle pinches the skin in my neck. My body starts to feel heavy and I can’t seem to keep my eyes open as whatever was injected into me takes over my entire body from my head to my toes.
Just before I pass completely out, I can faintly hear a few things. The first one is Trojan screaming at the top of his lungs moments before a bullet whizzes past us. Then I hear that I’m going to pay for my man shooting whoever has me and the bullet grazing his arm. It was intentional to hit him there because I know my men are both excellent shots. I’ve been to the range with them and they don’t miss their intended target. I’m thrown into some sort of vehicle as my eyes close.
Starting to stir, my head feels fuzzy and I’m disoriented. As I slowly sit up on the bed, I try to open my eyes enough to take in my surroundings. At this point, I’m not sure what the hell is going on, I don’t remember anything, but once my eyes open enough to get a quick glance around, everything comes rushing back to me. The drugs being shot into my neck, being kidnapped, Trojan’s pained screams filled with agony and defeat, him shooting whoever had me, and being told I was going to pay.
Almost immediately I become alert and take in my surroundings. Shock is the biggest feeling consuming me right now. Wherever I am is designed to look just like my bedroom before my house was blown up. Right down to the furniture and bedding. Everything is in the same place as where I had it in my old room. There’s a few doors lining the walls and I can almost guarantee that I know what each one is without moving off the bed. The door directly across from the bed I’m currently occupying will be a closet. To the left of the dresser is another door that will lead to the hallway, and the door to the left of the bed will be a bathroom.
I stand on shaky legs and test my theory out. Opening the door, I believe is a closet proves my instincts to be right. Remembering that all of my panties were stolen, I take a chance and open the top drawer of the dresser and almost cry out seeing all my panties. Not knowing where this sick bastard is has me remaining silent and not falling in a heap on the floor. I would try opening the door, b
ut there are a few things holding me back. The first one is being pretty sure that it’s going to be locked. If it’s not locked, I don’t have the first clue as to who has me right now. So, I don’t want to run into them any sooner than I absolutely have to. Maybe I’ll check door number three before coming back to door number two. Walking over to what I assume is the bathroom, I fling the door open and peer around the doorway. Inside is the exact replica of my old bathroom, including my toiletries. Why I’m surprised I honestly don’t know. Everything else in here is a version of my old life. The life I led before my men came into my life and swept me off my feet.
Thinking of Trojan going crazy and Crash not even being home stills my body and fills me with heartbreak and an overwhelming urge to do whatever I have to in order to get back to them. They are the ones that fill my life with meaning and give me a purpose for getting out of my shell and adapting to the new lifestyle that I’ll be living. Trojan’s scream is on a loop in my head and I know that he’s going to be filled with rage and that he let me down by not protecting me. Well, I’m the one that chose to go outside alone instead of waiting two minutes for him to get done in the bathroom. Crash is going to be in the same exact boat when he finally finds out what happened to me. I don’t want him to leave what he’s doing just to come home, but if I know one thing about my man is that I am always going to be his number one priority. The same goes for Trojan. Let’s just hope that I can find a way to survive until they find me.
These thoughts are what lead to my decision to try to open the door that I know will lead to a hallway. If this room is anything to go by, I wonder if this psycho fuck designed the entire house to mirror mine. I’m not sure who would do something like that, but this room fills me with dread and a desire to puke. Well, I’m not sure if that’s the drugs wearing off, this room, or something else. I’ve been feeling like shit for the past two weeks. This morning and yesterday morning were the first time I actually threw up.
Anyway, back to the task at hand. Slowly inching my way over to the door, I have yet to try, I put my ear against it and listen for a few minutes. My heart is racing and beating so hard, I’m sure that whoever else is here will be able to hear it from wherever in the house they are. When I’m positive I don’t hear anything, I raise my shaking hand and grab onto the handle. Turning it as slowly as I can, I meet resistance and know without a doubt that it’s locked. Fuck!
With no other choice, and a huge feeling of being tired consuming me, I make my way back to the bed and lay down. I’m sure there are worse places I could be right now, but I’m still leery and going to try to stay awake for as long as I can. The last thing I need is to fall asleep and have the devil himself haunt me when I’m awake. That’s what’s been happening since this shit started. Now, it’s reached the peak and I can only hope that I’m found before irreparable damage is done to me.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been in this room, but I must have fallen asleep at some point without meaning to. The bed being kicked is what eventually wakes me up. I almost jump up out of bed, but I suddenly remember that I’m not at home with my men, I’m in some unknown location with some unknown asswipe that wants to do who knows what to me. Looking up into the eyes that have haunted me for many years, I gasp and try to scramble away as fast as I can. How can this be?
“Gene! What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, the terror I’m feeling in this moment causes my voice to raise to the highest pitch ever. Goosebumps break out on my skin and I’m literally trembling from fear.
“Miss me sweetheart?” he asks, venom dripping from his voice.
Gene is my ex-boyfriend that tried to kill me. Taking in his appearance now, I can see that he’s definitely taking something. Before he was built, had a good complexion and color, was put together, and clean. Now, he’s nothing but skin and bones, his long hair is now oily and the odor emanating from him is the worst that I’ve ever smelled in my entire life.
“I would never miss you!” I scream at him, making myself as small as I possibly can in the corner farthest away from him on the bed.
“That’s no way to talk to your future husband,” he tells me, climbing on the bed toward me. “We will be married as soon as possible!”
“No, we won’t. There’s no way that I would ever marry you and I’d make that abundantly clear to whoever you tried to get to marry us,” I tell him, vehemently.
“You’ll whore yourself out to some biker scum, but you won’t marry someone that you loved once upon a time? That just proves how much of a biker slut you are, and I should’ve taken what was mine when I had the chance,” he tells me, ripping my hair and bringing my head closer to his.
“I’m not whoring myself out to anyone! And why do you want to marry me so bad anyway?” I ask, trying to keep him talking so that he’ll forget whatever he has planned for me.
“I’ll be taking your money from the salon that has become so profitable. That won’t be your money anymore, it’s all mine. See, I know how much you make and how much you have saved up. It’s all going to be transferred to me,” he spits out at me, practically in my face. “You’re going to marry me, pop out a kid, and then I’m going to kill you.”
Gene has a demonic look on his face and I know that arguing will only get me hurt, but there’s no way that any of that pipe dream of his is going to happen. I’m going to fight for all I’m worth, so I can get back home to my men. We’re building a life together and I’ve never told them that I love them. I really do, I just haven’t given voice to my feelings with the fear running through my body at the thought they won’t return the feelings.
“Yeah, um, that’s not going to happen. My men will find me before anything can happen to me,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest and plastering a smug smirk on my face.
Like I said, I know better than to poke the bear, but I can’t help it. I want to piss Gene off, I want to make sure he’s as pissed the fuck off as I currently am. Unfortunately for me, he likes to hit when he gets mad. So, it’s really no surprise when he reaches out and punches me dead in my face. I’m not sure if he broke my nose, but I know I am not bleeding and the pain radiating through my head is absolutely horrible. At this point, I know there’s no pleading with him to stop. He’s reached a level of insane that he can’t be talked to, it’s like he’s gone inside his own head and no one can reach him when he’s in there.
Gene lands two more solid hits to my head before I can blink. The last one hits me directly in the temple and I’m out for the count.
Waking up once again, I go to sit up and I can’t move. Panic immediately overtakes my body and I begin to struggle against the ropes that have me tied to the bed. My wrists and ankles are tied to the bed, looking down I see that I’m almost completely naked. The only thing covering me right now is my bra. Now, I’m past panic and I can feel myself starting to retreat into my head. Memories of my friends, family, and Crash and Trojan play on a constant loop. This is the only way that I’m going to be able to get through anything that this sick fuck does to me.
An overwhelming pain consumes me from between my thighs and I don’t even want to begin to contemplate why. I want to break down and cry, scream, hit something, and kill this fucker. With the pain I’m feeling, I can only imagine that Gene took something that I wasn’t willing to give him. And he chose to do it when I was knocked out because he knew I would always fight him. Before, there was always a reason as to why I didn’t want him touching me. Now, he’s chosen to take it from me without my consent. Crash and Trojan will never want anything to do with me now.
I close my eyes as wave of nausea overwhelms me. There’s no way I can get up to make it to the toilet the only thing I can do it turn my head when I get sick. This is what my life is boiling down to. I’m going to die alone in this room with a bed covered in whatever happens. If I get sick, raped, have to go to the bathroom, it doesn’t matter I guess. Gene is pulling me down to his level and I can’t do anything about it.
“I see you’re
awake again,” Gene says, walking into my room wearing nothing but boxers. “I knew you’d be a good fuck and I was right. I’ll make sure you never remember the assholes taking advantage of you.”
“It will never happen! You raped me, and I will never follow through with your plan. My men are looking for me as we speak!” I scream at him, not being able to hold back any longer.
“They’ll never find you. No one even knows who was after you. You’re mine just like I told you,” Gene tells me, getting in my face once again. Unfortunately, he’s found the spot that I got sick in. “You dumb bitch! How dare you!”
“What do you want me to do Gene? You have me tied to the fucking bed,” I yell back.
Gene yells and screams but I can’t understand a single word he’s saying. The look in his eyes is one that tells me he’s on something and he’s gone way past his breaking point. I really don’t want to provoke him right now, but another wave of nausea rolls through my body and I can’t stop from being sick. He just happens to be on the side of the bed as I get sick. This makes him completely lose his shit and I’m the one suffering for it. Once again, I’m knocked the fuck out.
Chapter Ten
Crash
I HAVE BEEN CHASING THIS STUPID FUCK for days now. Every time I get right on his ass, he seems to slip right through my fingertips. Not today though. I know where he’s going to be in about a half hour and I’m already sitting here waiting. The one ace I have up my sleeve is that no one ever knows what I look like. This is why Jim always calls me to help him on these missions.
The waiting is killing me, but I am down to less than five minutes before he gets here. I look up as another customer comes strolling into the bakery, and see my target. He’s acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world and that no one is on his ass right now. Too bad for him that I’m already here and he’s about to go down.