Reinventing Mel: A Hellion MC Novel

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  She went quiet and I wondered if she was thinking about what I'd said or if she was zeroing on her next topic.

  "I'm so hungry, Lulu."

  "I know, pretty girl. So am I."

  She had already fallen asleep and I trying to in spite of being in so much pain when I heard a door thud upstairs. I jiggled my little friend awake and held a finger in front of my mouth asking her to be quiet as the boots thundered over our heads. I heard another door creak open before the heavy steps seemed to be coming down a set of stairs and our door was thrown open.

  I saw the silhouette of a fat man outlined in the doorway but the light of the bulb over the door never revealed his face above the mangy beard that went halfway down his chest.

  He threw a fast food bag that hit the air mattress and then a bottle of water which bounced off my chest before he closed the door and banged out of whatever building we were in.

  In the entire time, Julie and I didn't say a word and neither had the man.

  She opened the bag and took out two regular hamburgers and one large carton of fries. "It's food but it's cold," she advised, raising her eyes to mine.

  I sighed and picked up one of the burgers. "At least its food."

  My golden-haired companion nodded as she bit into her burger. I, however, wasn't able to open my mouth wide enough to get the hamburger inside. Grabbing a fry instead I found even chewing was torture. Every time I put my teeth together I felt a horribly painful grinding in my the bone of my jaw. Leaving me to surmise it was either broken or had been cracked when I was hit.

  I needed food, needed the energy it could give me. But how was I going to eat?

  Obviously, Julie had been watching my efforts because I saw her take one of my buns and tear it in half and then in half again. Using the water bottle, she wet the bun just enough so it was mushy. Mushy enough so she could poke a small lump between my teeth without me having to open my lips too far or to have to chew in order to swallow.

  "When my grandma was so sick, this was the only way my mom could feed her," she explained, poking another lump between my lips. When she'd helped me eat a quarter of the bun, I sent her back to her own meal as I tried to do it myself. Although it hurt like aytch-ee-double-hockey sticks to use my left arm because it pulled on my neck. And my right wrist was weighted by the manacle and chain. But still I muddled through and got enough inside my stomach so that it no longer hurt.

  When we were done and had put our trash in the small bag, I curled myself around her warm sweetness and soon both of us found sleep. Even though we both did it with tears pouring and the quietest of sobs.

  *.*.*.*.*

  "…said we need more money. Ain't turning the females over until he gets what we was first offered," a voice said, jerking me from my sleep and causing my neck and jaw to scream. There were lots of scuffling coming from above us as well as the loud voice.

  "What if the fucker won't pay it, huh? Then what the fuck are we supposed to do?" This speaker's voice was higher than the first, more in the tenor range.

  "E said if it don't work out then each brother can have a turn on 'em. When we get done, we send 'em to the Milosevics. Says they'll ship 'em off to a stable or something." I didn't like the authority in the deep voice.

  "That little girl's what? Eight, nine? I don't think I can fuck little girl pussy, man." The man who spoke sounded both scared and disgusted.

  "I'll take his slot!" The tenor voice giggled.

  "I fuckin' hope the fucker don't pay. That pinky gets my dick hard just thinkin' about her. Wouldn't mind takin' a couple of romps on that," I hadn't recognized any of the voices but the use of the word 'pinky' made me think the man might be Lucky, the biker from Boots.

  We were being held by the Ghosts?

  The Ghosts were at war with the Hellions!

  From the talk about money, I was starting to put two and two together but wasn't clear on the facts. Were they trying to ransom us to the Hellions? Something just didn't make sense.

  But when I caught on that they meant to gang rape not only me but little Julie as well, I began to lose it. Even as my mind screamed, "no!", my body began gasping for air while my heartbeat thrashed in my ears and I began to shake violently.

  There was no way, absolutely no freaking way in heck those men would do something so horrific to my girl. I didn't care what I had to do to prevent it but I swore, darn-well swore on my very life they'd never get their hands on her. That they would never, ever destroy her sweet innocence even if I had to kill them with my bare hands.

  My mind raced to try and think of anything I could do to get us out of the mess we were in, but I couldn't think straight.

  "…got about half but I'm thinkin' some of our boys run off." Sounded like Lucky spoke again.

  "Saw Metro and Trade packing their bikes for a long ride. Think that's what they was doin'? Gettin' out?" It sounded like the scared man was even more frightened at the thought of other Ghosts leaving.

  "Bunch of pussies. We know we can take out the Hellions! You heard E. If we hunker down and pick 'em off one at a time, they ain't gonna know what hit 'em." The more I heard this voice the more I was sure it was that mangy piece of crap from Boot's.

  The one with the authority in his voice spoke up. "… all offered weapons training … five showed up. … blame E if the Ghosts …follow the program." The man was pacing and his footsteps overrode his words.

  Who was this E the men were referring to?

  A plan was starting to come together in my mind but in order to pull it off I was going to need to speak with whoever was in charge. It obviously had to be Authority guy and somebody named E that I needed to deal with.

  So freaking be it.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  "I don't mean no disrespect but all y'all have told me is where they aren't. Not where they fucking are." Mel's face showed no emotion as he addressed the council. But there wasn't a man at the table that couldn't hear the frustration and dissatisfaction in his tone. "This is my little sister and my girl that we're talking about here. Part of the Hellion family y'all have been shoving up my ass for a while now. If all that shit is true then I want to know what the fuck the Hellions are doing to find them and get them back home!"

  Mel glared at the other men around the table and received glares right back. He knew he'd overstepped his bounds as a recruit but he didn't give a fuck. They could give him a beating later even though he saw a couple sets of fists were clenched already. Which mimicked his own on the tabletop.

  Brand, who was sitting to his left, placed a large hand on his shoulder and offered a quiet but firm, "steady, Mel."

  Steady, my ass, the young man thought but wisely didn't say.

  There was a commotion at the door and he saw So Cal and Mile bringing in a tall man with zip ties on his hands and feet. But it was the strip of duct tape over the man's eyes that had Mel glancing back to the men sitting near him. What the fuck was going on?

  Mile held the unknown man while So Cal yanked a chair closer to the council table.

  "Says he's heard of them," Mile barked, practically throwing his prisoner in the seat.

  Trey was up and out of his chair fast. Standing in front of the captive, the pres didn't waste either time or words. "Spill, motherfucker!"

  "I heard Lucky sayin' somethin' about a woman with pink in her hair 'n' a little girl picked up at some Hellions fucker's house earlier," the man said on a shaky voice.

  Mel stood at his words, knocking his chair back onto the floor creating a clatter in the deadly silent room.

  "Where they'd take them?" Trey's tone threatened certain pain if not answered.

  "Ghost cabin up in Arlee," the man said, his entire body was shaking now not just his voice.

  "Where in fucking Arlee, motherfucker?" Trey's voice was lethal in its tightness.

  "Off Pistol Creek Road somewheres," the obviously terrified man spewed.

  Trey turned his eyes to Bishop who'd brought his laptop into the clubhouse. Me
l watched as the man's fingers flew over the keyboard.

  "Take him away, boys," Trey said. No one in the building spoke until their ever-so-helpful hostage was wrestled out the clubhouse door.

  "Okay, I can see eight fuckin' cabins on the map but there may be more because satellite can't see through trees and shit." Bishop began pushing even more keys. "I'm trying to determine ownership to see if we can fuckin' narrow it down."

  Mel heard Silo's cellphone ring and the big man quickly moved off to take the call.

  "Where's Arlee?" Mel finally asked, almost afraid to hope that the fucker who willingly gave up the info was telling the truth.

  "North. A distance, but not too far," Trey mumbled, moving back to his chair.

  "Okay, Pagan just fuckin' reported seeing Ghosts heading east on the 90 at a good clip and on rides with full saddlebags. Says his team counted seven fuckers just today," Silo growled, his face creased in a smile.

  "Which fuckin' brings the count down," Huff added with a smirk.

  "Fucking A! We don't have to throw their asses out of town, they're fuckin' doing it themselves!" Dare crowed with a chuckle although it was offered on a different note than his others. Smaller somehow.

  "Three. I was able to get ownership info of the damn cabins 'cept for three!" Bishop advised, excitement clear in his voice.

  "I want the Hum-Vee ready and supplied with med kits," Trey instructed. "We don't know what shape our girls are going to be in when we get to them."

  "On it," Brand confirmed, standing and brushing by the still standing Mel.

  "Need three teams of ten. Want these brothers to be Hellion's best and I want them carrying. We don't know what the fuck we'll be facing so plan for the worst." Mel didn't realize he was seeing Trey in full general mode where the skills he'd acquired throughout the years with the club had forged him into the respected leader he was. "Hardwood, you ride with me."

  *.*.*.*.*

  "Hey!" I yelled after waking up Julie and cautioning her to stay quiet. But I didn't have the volume to be heard over the noise the men were making. I dragged in a deep lungful of air and tried again.

  "Hey! I can get you more money!" I screamed. I just hoped the ones upstairs could make out my words since I was only able to move my mouth a little without intense pain.

  "Did you hear that?"

  "They're awake? I thought you said they'd be out for hours yet."

  I had thought it out and came up with a plan that I was sure would get us free. It would mean that the life I'd made for myself would be over, but it was the only thing I could come up with that was viable and would ensure both mine and Julie's safety. Mel's belief that I could keep her safe, away from harm needed to be realized.

  The boots above us pounded until I heard the creak of a door and the thud of boots hit the stairs. As the door was thrown open I saw four large, disheveled men crowd the doorway.

  Each and every eye was zeroed in on me and Julie.

  I shoved her little form until she was behind my back, pressed up between me and the wall.

  "I can get you more money," I repeated and saw one man, the man in front, step towards me at my words. "If you get me a phone, I can make a call and you'll get whatever amount you name."

  "You better not be yanking my chain," Authority guy growled, his brutish face twisted into a deep scowl.

  "I-I'm not."

  I watched him warily as he pulled out his phone and placed a call. "The pink lady says she can get us more money, however fuckin' much we want. Yeah. Don't know. You wanna talk to her?"

  The man came towards me and I got a whiff of the sour smell that surrounded him as he handed me the phone.

  "Hel-hello?" I hated that my words came out with a quaver.

  "Miss Palmer. You believe you can get us the funds that we require?" Whoever I was on the phone with already knew my name and spoke in very educated tones. Both facts added to my terror. How did he know of me? The man's voice was so distinctive I would've recognized it if I'd heard it before. A former professor? Someone on the company payroll I hadn't yet met?

  My hands were shaking so badly the chain rattled and I couldn't keep the phone steady or completely against my ears as my fingers clutched at it.

  "Yes, s-sir. I can call my family and I know they'll pay whatever amount in order to get me b-back," I assured him trying to inject confidence in my voice.

  "Your family?"

  "Y-yes. One call to my father and he'll give you the m-money you need to let us go."

  I heard a laugh, a deep derisive laugh come through the line and wondered what I'd said that was so funny.

  "You are a delight, Miss Palmer. And I would've loved to have met you under different circumstances." Was the asshat flirting with me? "I can see that you are unaware of your situation simply by your offer."

  "Wh-what do you mean?"

  "Who do you think required our services in the first place? Hmm? Who would want you returned to New Mexico so much that they would require a motorcycle club's assistance?" The timbre of voice had changed and was now a teasing challenge especially when he uttered the name of my former state of residence.

  The gasp that came out of me was completely involuntary when I realized what he was alluding to. "My dad?"

  "That's right. Your father originally contacted my organization to ask for help in your return to the family fold. When I politely declined, we were then approached by another party who demanded your retrieval but for half of the money your father had offered. It was only the other, shall we say, influence that persuaded us to become involved."

  My world tilted as I listened to his words and absorbed them. My dad had engineered this mess? I could only guess at the group the man was referring to…the Milosevics. The ones that had my dad and the business so involved my family could lose everything. It was the Milosevics that were the ones that had brought us into the wrong side of investments, a fact I'd discovered and confronted my father with. Leaving him shaken and demanding my silence about.

  "I do not do well with stipulations or threats, Miss Palmer. Nor would I expect payment for less than what was originally offered. So, at the moment, negotiations have stalled regarding your safe return. In fact, by my watch, there are only forty-seven minutes remaining for the decision to be reached by your family in order to prevent…unfortunate repercussions from occurring," the oily voice explained.

  ohgodohgodohgodohgod

  "And, should it come to that, you can be confident in the fact that your father will receive a call during those repercussions in order to hear what his perfidy has wrought."

  awgeezawgeezawgeezawgeez

  "Isn't there any other way?" I offered my question in the softest of whispers.

  "I'm sorry but no," came the firm reply. "Mr. Palmer has made it very clear that he is not willing to negotiate and does not care who is involved. Nor does he seem to be concerned about the condition you are returned in. So it is out of my hands, Miss Palmer, much to my regret."

  I hated, hated, both his words and his insincere solicitous tone.

  "Wh-what about Julie?" I didn't want to ask, but I needed to know even though I could almost guarantee his answer.

  "She is of no value in the discussions between your father and my organization. The young one will remain with us even if the money is paid."

  I had known the answer even before oily voice had spoken. My dad didn't have a compassionate bone in his body and outside of a few charities the company donated to, never concerned himself with others outside of his family or business.

  Shoving the phone at Authority guy, I realized there was no hope, no way out.

  But I also knew I wasn't leaving without Julie no matter what my father or the Ghosts said.

  No way in flipping heck.

  *.*.*.*.*

  Mel was surprised when they turned off the highway and began taking a road that led up into the mountains after only thirty minutes of clearing Missoula city limits. But then the cars and trucks on the road shift
ed to make a path for the ribbon of bikes as they traveled. Twenty-eight big-ass machines and one bright yellow Hum-Vee was a sight that couldn't be ignored or challenged.

  Another turn, left this time, and the motorcycles came out of formation as the Hum-Vee held back. Three groups of nine began to take shape and Mel saw Trey giving hand signals to Brand and Silo who led the other two sets. As the bikers peeled off, gunning their motors to move up and away, Trey steered his group down the first long driveway only slowing fifty yards from a cabin that was festooned with planters and hanging flower baskets.