BENT AT THE ALTAR

by Claire St. Rose

  “I want to know why you set me up. Why’d you get involved? This had nothing to do with you.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t, I swear!”

  “Don’t lie to me!” he barked softly. “Why’d you do it?”

  “You stole their money, Tony. Why? They won’t let it rest. But Gabriel promised me if you give the money back, they won’t kill you. I was trying to help you! I did it to protect you!”

  “Don’t give me that shit! I would have taken care of you, but then you had to go and fuck everything up.”

  “I did, I swear! He promised if you gave the money back he wouldn’t kill you. Give them the money back, Tony! Please!”

  “I’m in too deep for that.”

  “No! I’m trying to help you! You can trust Gabriel! Just give the money back!”

  “You want to help me? I think you can.”

  She jerked on her arm, trying to free it from his grasp. “Let go of me!”

  “Get in the truck,” he said, pushing her along.”

  “No! Let go of me!” she cried. Nobody was in the parking lot, but there were plenty of cars around. If she could stall him for a moment longer, someone would step out of the store and she could shout for help.

  “Don’t make me hurt you,” he said and she felt something hard press into her side. “I don’t want to make your little girl an orphan, but don’t press me, Stella.”

  Her knees went weak with fear as he hustled her to his truck. The front was bent and the grill was knocked out, as if he’d hit something. “You said you loved me,” she whimpered, fear clouding her thoughts.

  “That was before you fucked me. But now I see it. Gabriel came to you and you just rolled onto your back for him. It wasn’t enough to fuck me, to tear my heart out, you had to twist the knife. Did you volunteer to help them of did he have to ask first? Get in!” he said, opening his door and shoving her inside.

  “I did it for you, Tony!” she cried, tears streaming down her face. “I did it for you! I made them promise not to hurt you! Please, Tony, don’t hurt me! I have Katrina! Please!”

  He looked over at her as he started the truck. “Shut up! If you behave yourself I won’t hurt you. But you’re going to have to call off the dogs.”

  “Yes! Anything you say!” she agreed, willing to say anything so he wouldn’t hurt her and would turn her loose. “Where are we going?”

  “I have some business in High Point. You get them to let me leave with the money and I’ll turn you loose without laying a finger on you. If you don’t…” He looked at her and shrugged.

  ***

  They were forty minutes outside of Greenfield when her phone rang. “Don’t answer it,” he ordered. He held his hand out. “Give me your phone.” She pouted as she dug pulled her phone out and handed it to him. He turned it off then dropped it into his shirt pocket.

  “Why, Tony? Tell me why you did it.”

  “Why do you care. It’s done, and you obviously never cared about me.”

  “I never lied to you,” she protested.

  “No, you never did.” He looked at her and sagged slightly. “I’m about to lose everything. I’m over extended and the bank is going to take my business, my house, everything. The Kings brought in this safe full of money. I decided to take the chance. Of course, if I knew you were fucking one of the members behind my back, I wouldn’t have called you. Which one is he? What’s his name?”

  “Gabriel Prince.”

  “No, his nickname, club name, whatever.”

  “Oh. Uh, Royal, I think.”

  He nodded. “I should have guessed.”

  They rode in silence for a time.

  “They’ll never stop looking for you, you know that?”

  “I know, and that’s where you come in,” he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT “Goddamnit!” Royal snarled as his call went to Stella’s voice mail again. It was almost nine and she wasn’t home yet and he was becoming increasingly worried. He would call Connie and ask her if Stella was there, but he didn’t have her number.

  He was trying to not be the overprotective asshole who had to keep track of his old lady, but after the third time she didn’t answer her phone he couldn’t stand it anymore. He trotted down the steps, helmet in hand, to his hog. He paused as he put his helmet on, wondering how Stella would react to him checking up on her, then decided he didn’t care. He had to know.

  He almost sagged in relief when he saw her car in the parking lot. He thought about turning around and returning home and pretending he never left, but decided since he was here, he would stop in and find out when she would be home.

  He walked into the store and felt a rush of impending doom when he saw the lights were out in the working part of the bakery. He pivoted and walked through the store until he found a woman straightening cereal boxes.

  “Excuse me,” he said, getting her attention. “Is Stella here?”

  “I don’t know. She normally leaves at eight.”

  “Can you find out?”

  The woman paused. “I’m not supposed to be away from the registers.”

  Royal grit his teeth in annoyance. “Then call a manager.”

  The woman nodded and returned to the only open register. “Kelly to the front. Customer assistance,” she said, her voice echoing through the store. A moment later heavy set man wearing a tie appeared.

  “Yes, sir? I’m the assistant manager. How may I help you?”

  “Is Stella here? I saw her car in the parking lot.”

  He frowned. “She was scheduled to leave an hour ago. Are you sure it’s her car?”

  “I’m sure. She hasn’t come home yet.”

  Kelly nodded. “I know she works a second job. Maybe she’s there.”

  Royal shook his head. “She’s not there anymore, and her car is outside, in your parking lot. Can you check the store? Make sure she’s not here?”

  He nodded at the woman. “Page her, then check the women’s bathroom and make sure she’s not in there. I’ll check the back.”

  “Stella to the front. Stella to the front,” the woman said then scurried away to do as she was told. Five minutes later they were back.

  “She’s not here,” Kelly said.

  Royal pursed his lips. “Thank you,” he said as he spun on his heels and walked away, pulling his phone and trying her number again. When she didn’t answer, he mounted up and thumbed his ride to life.

  ***

  Connie opened the door. “Gabriel? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” he said pushing his way into the kitchen and closed the door. “Have you heard from Stella?”

  He saw Connie turn pale. “I thought she was with you.”

  “She didn’t call or anything?”

  “No. Is she all right?”

  “I don’t know. Her car is still at the On A Roll but she’s not there.”

  Connie’s hand covered her mouth as Katrina appeared. “Can we go to the zoo?”

  Gabriel’s heart leapt into his throat. “It’s too late to go tonight, squirt. Listen, do you want to spend the night with Connie…Grammy?”

  “Okay. Where’s Mommy?”

  “Mommy’s busy and can’t come get you right now. But I’m going to help her and we’re going to come get you as soon as we can, okay?”

  “Okay. Zoo tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.

  “I certainly hope so,” Gabriel said, forcing a smile. “Can you go play for a little while so I can talk to Grammy?”

  Katrina held her hands up and he picked her up. She gave him a hug then squirmed to be put down. It took everything he had to not cry in front of her.

  “What could have happened to her?” Connie asked softly.

  “I don’t know. Hopefully nothing. Can you take care of Katrina for a few days?”

  “Yes, of course. What are you going to do?”

  He set his jaw. “Whatever it takes.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and diale
d. “Doc! We have a problem.”

  “What problem?”

  “Stella has gone missing.”

  There was a pause. “That’s your ex, right?”

  “Not ex anymore, but yeah. She left the store on time but never came home. Her car is where she left it. I think it’s Tony.”

  “Tony! Why?”

  “Leverage.”

  There was a pause. “Maybe. What do you need?”

  “Hang on,” Royal said into the phone the turned to Connie. “You have a gun?”

  “No!”

  “I need a brother on my daughter and her grandmother in case he tries to take Katrina. I need that now.”

  “I’ll get someone over there. Anything else?”

  “No, not at the moment. I need to think.”

  “Okay,” Doc said. “Hang in there. I’ll get a brother rolling. I need an address.”

  He knew where Connie lived, but didn’t know her house number, and wasn’t sure of the street name. “What’s your address?” he asked, and then repeated it into the phone.

  “Give us an hour.”

  “I’ll be here.” He ended the call and turned to face Connie. “Somebody is coming to watch you and Katrina. They won’t let anything happen to you.” He pulled a roll of cash out of his pocket and peeled off three bills. “Here’s three hundred to cover food and whatever else you may need while the brother—”

  “I don’t want your money.”

  He forced it into her hand. “Take it,” he insisted. “It may be a few days before I can get Stella back.” She took the money, but he could tell she wasn’t happy.

  “I don’t want some thug in my house.”

  “Let me tell you something about this thug, ” he growled. “He’ll take a bullet for you. He’ll give his life to protect you and Katrina, so a little respect would be in order here.”

  Connie’s eyes widened as Gabriel spoke, the tone and hardness of his voice making her realize Gabriel was probably someone you didn’t want to trifle with.

  “What’s going on, Gabriel?”

  “What has Stella told you?”

  “Nothing. Only you two were seeing each other again.”

  “Tony Daniels stole a lot of money from us. We’re going to get it back. I think he took Stella to try to get us to back off.”

  “Tony?”

  “You know him?”

  “I never met him, but she mentioned him a few times.” Her eyes hardened. “None of his would have happened if she hadn’t gotten involved with you again.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I didn’t steal anyone’s money, Tony did. I didn’t kidnap anyone, Tony did…probably. So if you are going to get pissy about it, make sure you’re blaming the right person.”

  “And if she hadn’t gotten involved with you, Tony wouldn’t have kidnapped her,” she snapped.

  “If she hadn’t become involved with me, she wouldn’t have me turning the entire fucking country inside out until I find her either. Make no mistake, Connie, I’ll find her and I’ll get her back, and I’ll make whoever took her pay.”

  Connie glared at him a moment the softened slightly. He was right. It wasn’t his fault, not directly anyway, and she hadn’t seen Stella this happy in years. “Get her back, Gabriel. Get her back.”

  He gave his head a firm nod. “You have my word. Take care of my daughter.”

  She nodded in return. “I will.”

  ***

  Forty minutes later, Gabriel heard the rumble of a Harley as it pulled to a stop and fell silent in the drive. He peered between the sheers. “Hot Rod is here,” he said then stepped out into the carport.

  “Good to see you, brother,” Royal said, taking Hot Rod into a back slapping hug.

  “That Daniels asshole doesn’t know when to stop digging, does he?”

  Royal gave him a ghost of a smile. “No, and I’m going to bury him in the hole.” He opened the door and led Hot Rod inside. “Connie Hayes, Rodney Guerrero, but he goes by Hot Rod.”

  Hot Rod extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Connie.”

  “Nice to meet you, uh, Hot Rod,” she said, extending her hand.

  Hot Rod was huge, less than an inch shorter than Royal but much more heavily built. While his shirt strained to contain him, his handshake was surprisingly gentle. “You can call me Rod if you prefer,” Hot Rod grinned as her hand disappeared into his paw.

  “We call him Hot Rod because he likes fast bikes,” Royal said, giving Connie the clean version of his club name. Hot Rod really got his name because in his younger years he was a walking erection and would fuck anything that moved.

  Katrina appeared, stopping at the door to stare at Hot Rod. “That’s Katrina,” Royal said. “She’s shy. You want to come say hello to Mr. Rod?”

  Katrina shook her head, her eyes big.

  “That’s your daughter?” Hot Rod asked.

  “That’s her.”

  Hot Rod knelt but made no move toward her. “Royal, she’s beautiful.” He smiled at her. “I won’t hurt you, Katrina, I promise,” he said, giving her a smile, then stood.

  “These people are important to me,” Royal said softly.

  Hot Rod nodded. “I’ve got this. You worry about what you need to do and let me worry about what I need to do.”

  Royal nodded and gave him a slap on the back. “Connie, do what he says, okay? He’ll keep you and Katrina safe.” He turned his attention back to Hot Rod. “If Tony shows up here, don’t kill him. We still need to find the safe.”

  Hot Rod grinned. “Well, shit! There goes all my fun!” He glanced at Katrina then grimaced. “Sorry.”

  Royal saw the stricken look on Connie’s face. “He’s kidding. I have to go. Keep them safe.”

  “Like they were my own.”

  Gabriel knelt in front of Katrina. “Katrina, I’m sorry, but I can’t take you to zoo tomorrow. Mommy can’t go and I need to help her with something. We’ll go as soon as Mommy and I get back, okay? I promise.”

  “Where’s Mommy?”

  “She’s not here right now. She had to go on a trip and she doesn’t have a way to get home. I’m going to go get her, okay?”

  “Where’d she go?”

  “She went to see a friend.”

  Katrina watched him a moment. “Okay. When Mommy and you get back we can go to the zoo?”

  “You bet. Give me a hug.”

  Katrina stepped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stayed low, holding her a moment, then let her go. He stood and nodded to Hot Rod. When he stepped out Hot Rod followed.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bullshit. I wouldn’t be okay. Stay frosty, brother. We’ll get her back.”

  ***

  Royal returned Stella’s apartment and opened his laptop. April, he typed. I need that information as soon as possible. If you can get it to me before Monday morning there’s another $500 in it for you. This is super urgent. Gabriel. He read the email a couple of times then pressed send. Tony had just upped the stakes of the game. Now it was personal.

  While he waited for April to respond, he looked up Antonio Daniels and Daniels Construction, getting their addresses from one of several databases he was a member of. There were three Antonio Daniels’s in and around Greenfield. He didn’t think Tony was stupid enough to go home, but he was going to check them out just the same.

  He started with Daniels Construction, but as expected, the office located on the end of a small strip mall was dark. The second Antonio Daniels residence was probably Tony’s. Unlike the first place he cruised slowly by, this house was dark. He checked out the third residence. Like the first house, the home was brightly lit, and this family even had a truck in the drive, though it was the wrong make and color to be Tony’s.

  When he stopped at the stop sign, he pulled his phone. April had finally responded. He opened the email and read. Sorry for the delay in answering. I would like to help, but I can’t. If I show up on my day off and access the system, the
re will be questions I can’t answer. I wish I could help you, but it’s too much risk. I’ll do it first thing Monday morning. Sorry. April.

  He deleted the email. It was the answer he expected, but he had to try.

  ***