by Erin Osborne
I haven’t shared that part of my life with Harley because I was afraid it would dredge up the memories of her parent’s car accident. The last thing I wanted to do was cause her anymore pain than what she’s already suffered through. So, I’ve kept my pain as hidden as I could and made excuses when I couldn’t seem to hide it from Harley or the outside world. That’s why I landed in Savage Bend. No one knows who I am, who my dad is, and what I’ve suffered through since my birth. Honestly, I’m surprised that I didn’t suffer the same fate as so many I’ve heard about when it comes to my dad.
Anyway, seeing a store as I enter Dander Falls, I decide to stop and pick up some things. I’ve talked to steel once since hearing the news and I know that Harley isn’t doing good at all. He told me that he’s hoping I’ll be able to snap her out of the dark place she’s now calling home. I hope I can, but I know that it’s not likely. The only thing that’s going to bring her back to everyone that’s coming to love her is going to be holding her precious little girl in her arms again.
Pulling into the parking lot, I get a weird feeling. It’s not like someone’s watching me or anything like that. It’s that something monumental is about to happen. I’ve had these feelings a few times in my life and the outcome hasn’t always been very good. So, I take in my surroundings as I limp my way into the store and grab a cart. I go up and down the aisles, throwing things in the cart that I think Harley, Quinn, and Steel will need. When I come to the baby aisle, the sight before me makes me stop and hold my breath. I’m not seeing things, in front of the diapers sits a cart being pushed by a disgusting looking man. The baby in the cart is Quinn. I’d know that precious baby anywhere. It’s the color of her eyes, such a piercing blue that it pulls you in and doesn’t want to let you go. I hesitantly make my way toward the cart so that I can try to pick up any more details.
“Excuse me,” the man pushing her says, as he stands up and bumps into me.
“You have a gorgeous baby there, sir. Her eyes are so captivating,” I say, reaching out to run my finger down her cheek.
“Um, thank you. It’s my niece. I’m babysitting for my sister,” he says, grabbing hold of the cart and making a fast getaway.
As closely as I dare, I follow him toward the front of the store and pretend I’m interested in the end of an aisle containing baby toys and bath stuff. Out of the corner of my eye I watch as he checks out and loads the few bags up in the cart before leaving the store. I leave the cart where it sits and apologize to the cashier on my way out the door. Standing back, I watch as he puts the car seat in the car before tossing the bags in the front seat with him. If this is Harley’s brother, I can see why she was so cautious and paranoid when she lived next to me. He’s something else.
I run to my car as he slams his door shut and begins to leave the parking lot. If I don’t play this right, I’m going to fucking lose him and Quinn. So, I let several cars in between us, but make sure to pay attention to where he’s going. We drive for a few minutes before he turns down a side road and I know this just got a whole lot trickier. Parking close to the beginning of the road we turned down, I make sure to leave the car in drive, so I can quickly pull away if he turns at the end of the road. The man pulls into a parking lot and I creep closer as I pull my cell phone out of my bag. Once I’m sure that he’s made his way into the building, I dial Steel’s number and wait for him to answer.
“Hello?” he asks, not sure who’s calling him right now.
“Steel, it’s Kim. I found Quinn,” I manage to get out before I’m interrupted.
“What! You found our baby girl? Where? How?” Steel fires out at me before I hear a commotion and a muffled sound. The voice that takes over the call is one I’ve never heard before, which isn’t surprising.
“Who is this?” the deep male voice asks.
“This is Kim. I know Harley and Steel. I’m calling because I’ve found Quinn. I just got in town and stopped at the store to pick a few things up for them. There was a man pushing a cart and Quinn was sitting in her car seat. I’ve followed him back to an apartment building and he hasn’t come back outside,” I get out, not sure how much danger I’ve actually put myself in right now.
“Okay. How do you know it was Quinn?” the deep voice rumbles again sending a shiver through my body.
“I watched her for Harley when she was at work. Her eyes are the same color as Steel’s. I’d know those eyes anywhere because I’ve never seen such a piercing blue color before,” I tell the man while making sure to continuously check my surroundings.
“That’s good. Can you tell me where you’re at now, so we can meet you there and you can show us what buildin’ they went in?” he asks, more muffled noises in the background make it hard to concentrate.
“I know we’re not far from the store. Maybe five- or ten-minutes tops. Give me a second and I’ll see if I can find out what street we’re on. I don’t want to get out of my car,” I respond, craning my neck to see if I can find any road sign or other indicator to let me know where I’m at. “Um, there’s a sign that says I’m on the corner of Main Street and Second Street.”
“Perfect, I think I know exactly where you are. I’m Fox, by the way and we’ll be there in a little bit. Stay in your car and keep an eye out for the guy you saw. If he leaves the house again, call Steel’s phone and he’ll tell you what to do. Thank you for followin’ this asshole for us,” he tells me, hanging up the phone before I can manage a response. Damn, that voice does something to me.
As I sit in the car, I make sure the doors are locked and the car is still in gear. If this guy noticed me following him, I want to be ready to take off if he creeps up on me. I’m guessing this is the same person that put my friend in the hospital and I’m not going to survive going up against him. So, I sit and wait with my phone in my lap until Steel and whoever he’s bringing with him shows up.
Steel
The past twenty-four hours have been among the hardest since Quinn was taken. I’m losing all hope and faith that we’re ever going to get her back. That I’m going to get Harley back. We got Jennifer all set up in one of our houses with her son and a few guys are standing guard. The thought that we can use her for bait to lure Alan out hasn’t escaped my attention. But, I don’t want to do that just yet. Yes, I want to do everything in my power to bring my daughter home. I’m just not ready to put a girl in jeopardy or make a little boy an orphan. We know that Alan is still in town, we just have to find someone else willing to rat him out.
The call from Kim a minute ago is a blessing and means I won’t have to put anyone else in harm’s way. I can’t believe that she found our daughter. She wasn’t supposed to be here until late tonight or tomorrow sometime. Fuck! Kim has really stepped up to make sure that I could get Quinn back and take her to Harley. While Fox was on the phone with her, Gage was giving out orders and calling Shadow so that he could call Renee to be on standby. I want her checked over before Harley ever lays eyes on her. It may be selfish, but I have to make sure that nothing is wrong with her before I take her home. This woman I only met a little while ago may have saved my daughter and my girl with one phone call.
“Steel, you good to ride?” Gage asks, bringing me out of my thoughts as hope rises in me like it hasn’t done in the past five days.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m headin’ out now,” I respond, turning to head out the door without caring if anyone is following me.
For the first time since Quinn was taken from us, Gage doesn’t try to stop me or make me stop and rest. As I throw my leg over my bike, I see Fox, Trojan, Crash, and almost every single guy here following me. They all know that this is the moment we’ve been waiting for and I can’t wait to see if Kim really found the baby. The rumble of at least forty bikes can heard far and wide. Alan isn’t going to miss hearing us come for him, but that doesn’t concern me. What concerns me is keeping Quinn safe when we go in to get her out and take Alan back to the clubhouse. Thoughts of Sally briefly enter my mind, but I can’t be concer
ned about her just yet.
Pulling up, I see a lone car sitting on the side of the road. The brake lights are shining as if it’s a beacon directing us directly toward Kim. As we get closer to her, I see the brake lights shift off and I’m guessing that she put the car in park since she’s not here alone anymore. I park my bike directly behind her while the rest of the guys park along the rest of the road. A few go up and park in the parking lot of the apartment building I used to live in. Son-of-a-bitch! He’s been in that fucking building all along and I didn’t once think to go there and see if he was there. I can’t believe this shit right now.
Kim gets out of her car as Fox and I make our way to her. She’s nervous and I see that she’s got a heavy limp today. This girl pushed herself when she should have been taking it easy. That’s how much my girls mean to this woman. As I get closer to her, I can see that she’s nervous as hell right now. I saw it when just the four of us showed up at her apartment. Today, she’s almost shaking out of her boots. Part of it is more than likely the fact that she saw Quinn and couldn’t do anything to go in and get her.
“Kim, thank you so much. If anyone else was goin’ to recognize my baby girl, it would be you. I can’t believe the luck that you ran into them and he actually had Quinn with him. You don’t know what this means to us,” I tell her, holding out my hand so I can pull her gently in for a hug.
Once I step back, I introduce Fox to her and tell him to stay with her while the rest of us make our way in the building. I run down the road to the apartments and see Gage, Grim, and Slim standing in the center of a large group of men. They’re coming up with a game plan so that we can get in, get Quinn and Sally, and get out with no one getting hurt. Hopefully Alan is fucked up and won’t have a quick reaction time so we can get any weapons he may have away from him before a gun goes off and shoots someone innocent. I barely listen as my thoughts turn to Quinn and getting her out of here in one piece and back to the clubhouse so that Renee can look her over.
The next few minutes go by in a blur of activity. Those guys that aren’t going in the building surround the entire outside so that Alan won’t be able to get past them if he manages to escape. I have Trojan, Gage, Wood, Wayne, and Joker with me. There’s another group that’s going to stay in the hallway in case something happens. They’ll make sure that no one comes out of the other apartments on the floor. My gut is telling me that he’s in the same place I once rented and I’m going to follow that feeling as we all make our way upstairs.
I stand outside the door and listen for any sounds coming from inside. There’s a TV playing and I can smell the scents of recent drug use breeching the doorway. Not a single other sound is coming from inside. I try the door knob and find the door unlocked. Pushing it slowly open, I hold my gun in front of me as I look around the door. Alan is lying down on the couch. The band he tied around his arm is still in place as his arm falls over the side of the couch. He must’ve just injected shit into his veins before we got here. Motioning to the men behind me, I creep inside and look around him for a weapon. Since I don’t see one, I point to him on the dingy couch while I make my way down the short hallway to the only bedroom in the place.
There’s no time to waste as I hear a struggle begin out in the living room. Even with the drugs flowing through his veins, Alan’s fight or flight instinct is kicking in. That means he just took enough of the drug to not get sick and start feeling the effects of withdrawal. I force the door open so hard that it slams against the wall behind it, startling my precious baby girl who is in Sally’s arms. Tears begin to flow down my face freely and my heart begins to beat again as I take in my daughter and realize that Sally had no part in this and she’s been the one taking care of my girl. I nod to her as she hands Quinn over to me. For a few minutes I do nothing but hold her in my arms and breathe in her clean, sweet, baby smell. Quinn is pulling on the necklace that I wear, and I let her do any-fucking-thing she wants to in this moment. I can finally breathe again. Harley will finally be able to breathe again. God! I never thought we’d have this back. It’s now time to haul ass and get her to the clubhouse so that she can be looked over before I take her home to Harley.
Harley
I’m sitting in the same chair, in the same clothes, and in the darkness, that’s enveloped me since Quinn was taken by my scum-sucking, motherfucking, junkie of a brother. Nothing can take the overwhelming pain away as I let the despair, pain, and immense sadness pull me under and keep me there. Darcy, Riley, Shadow, and Steel when he was here, have all tried to reach me without any luck. They even called Karen in to try to help me and nothing has worked. I don’t want to talk, breathe, or feel if Quinn isn’t a part of our lives. Steel blames himself for this happening, but there was honestly nothing stopping me from taking her with us while we went shopping.
As I stare at Quinn’s crib that has sat empty for so many days, I see Darcy and Riley rushing into the room. They’ve been slow around me, not wanting to startle me up until this point. So, I turn my attention to them for the first time in days.
“We’ve gotta go Harley!” Darcy says, trying to pull me up out of the rocking chair.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her, sinking back into the chair and memories of holding my sweet girl.
“Steel just called, and he has Quinn! We need to get to the clubhouse right now!” Riley says, reaching for me once again as I look in her eyes to see the truth of her words.
“Are you serious? My baby girl is coming home?” I ask, the words slowly starting to make sense to me as I fly out of the chair and run out of the nursery and down the stairs.
Shadow is standing at the door, holding it open so I don’t try to run straight through it in my attempt to get to Quinn and Steel. I see Kim’s car sitting at the end of the driveway and run right to her. Looking back at the house as she peels away from the driveway and toward the clubhouse, Darcy and Riley are locking up and running to the SUV that’s been parked for them since they came to my house. Those two, along with Shadow, haven’t left since Steel broke my heart with the news that Alan had taken our baby girl.
“Have you seen her? Is she okay?” I rapidly fire the questions at Kim, who’s driving as fast as she can.
“She’s okay. Some lady is there looking her over right now. Steel wanted to make sure nothing was wrong while I came to get you. He didn’t want to come straight there and scare the shit out of you,” Kim tells me, not bothering to take her eyes off the road as she breaks rule after rule of driving.
I’m silent the rest of the drive to the clubhouse. It doesn’t take us long to get there and I don’t even think Kim has the car stopped all the way before I jump out and sprint to the door and inside. So many people are standing around, sitting at tables, and filling the bar. I don’t give a shit about them, not right now. Steel and Quinn are the only ones I want to see. Gage sees me frantically searching the common room and reaches out his hand for me. I run to him and he leads me back toward the room that I know is Steel’s when we’re here. Slamming the door open, I startle everyone inside. As soon as I enter, my eyes land on Quinn resting on the bed, Renee checking her over while Steel sits on the other side of her. Renee steps back and lets me in to my baby girl. I scoop her up in my arms and turn toward the woman that was just looking her over.
“She’s fine. The other girl was taken to care for her. Your brother never once touched a hair on her head other than to hold her or take her out shopping today. Sally explained in great detail what happened before Steel burst in and found them. There isn’t a single scratch, bruise, or other mark on her body,” Renee tells me as I bury my face in Quinn’s little neck to snuggle her as close to me as possible.
Steel stands up and looks so out of place and unsure of himself right now. He’s still blaming himself for this happening. So, I take the choice out of his hands and walk straight into his strong body. After a second, he wraps his arms around us and the two of us stand, tears running down our faces as we hold our entire world between
us. It’s going to be a very long time before either one of us let’s go of this event or let’s Quinn out of our sights. But, I need to know one thing now that I can breathe again and have our baby back.
“Do you have him? Is he here?” I ask, not needing to explain exactly who I’m talking about.
“He’s here. I wanted to make sure you and Quinn were together before I go and take care of him,” he replies, looking down at me with guilt, defeat, and vengeance flashing through his eyes.
“I want to see him. Before anyone else touches him, I want to tell him what I think of him, of what he’s done to me, and what he put us through by taking our daughter,” I tell him, needing to get this shit out of me before my brother is put to ground. There’s no doubt in my mind that Steel’s going to kill him, and I feel nothing about that fact.
Steel can see the determination in my mind and I know he’s going to give me this. It’s the only way I’m truly going to get the closure that we all need to start putting this behind us. Darcy and Riley come in the room after he calls for them. Telling them that we’ll be right back, they sit with our daughter, so I can go confront the man that has ruined my life so many times. Any love I felt for my brother was killed a long time ago. Now, I just want to scream and holler at him so that I can put him and his warped way of thinking behind me.
We walk down into the basement and I look in the different rooms as we go to the very last room at the end of the hall. There’s whimpering and I know that Alan is suffering in that room. Before, I would’ve have been doing whatever was necessary to ensure that my brother wasn’t in pain, wasn’t feeling the effects of withdraw starting to set in. Now, I relish his pain and suffering. I want to hear those pained moans escaping him and add more to them.