OFF LIMITS: Grim Angels MC

by Evelyn Glass

  She had barely finished her sentence when Jake and Neil rushed past Val and grabbed her, man-handling her back to her door as the groceries fell to the ground. She tried to scream, tried to fight back, but the two men were far too strong for her to escape and one had his hand across her mouth, muffling her scream to almost inaudibility.

  Val sighed. “Why do you make everything so fucking difficult?” He took her keys and unlocked the door, the two men shoving her inside as Jason gathered up the spilled produce.

  “What are you going to do to me?” she demanded as she whirled to face Val, her heart thudding in her chest. Two months ago she would have bet her life that her Uncle Val would never hurt her, but she wasn’t so sure any more.

  “Nothing. We’re just taking you home. You cooperate and it will be a pleasant drive. The less you cooperate, the less pleasant the drive will be. It’s up to you.”

  “This is my home now!”

  “No, your home is in Detroit, with your mother.”

  “I don’t want to fucking live with my mother!”

  “Fine. Get yourself an apartment then. But either way, you’re coming back to Detroit. I promised your old man I would take care of you, and that’s just what I’m going to do, whether you like it or not.”

  “If you really wanted to take care of me, you would want what’s best for me.”

  “I do. What’s best for you is to come back to Detroit. That way I can make sure nothing else happens to you. You’ll be safe there.”

  “I was safe here!”

  Val snorted. “Yeah, really safe. Where’s Scott? I don’t see him around here protecting you.”

  “Fucking loser,” Jason McGinnis, the rising President of the Detroit chapter muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

  “If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t need protecting,” she snapped at Val, her voice dripping venom. “And you, Jason, this is all your fault, you little shit. I’m going to watch Scott kill you and I’m going to spit in your face as you die.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Val said waving his hand as he turned toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  “Can’t I at least pack a few things?”

  “What are you going to pack? All your clothes are still in Detroit.”

  “I need a few female…necessities, okay? Is that all right with you or do you want me bleeding all over your…how are we getting back to Detroit? I’m damn sure not riding a motorcycle the entire way again.”

  “We came in the club Suburban. Go pack,” Val rumbled.

  Jess thought frantically and then pulled her phone from her pocket.

  “No phone calls!” Val barked.

  “I’m not calling anybody! Jesus, do you mind if I change out of my uniform first?”

  “Go with her,” Val ordered Jake. “Make sure she doesn’t do something stupid. Jason, put that stuff away while she packs.”

  As they moved toward the bedroom, Jess punched at her phone, hiding what she was doing from the man following. She quickly unlocked it and started the voice recorder, setting the phone on the dresser as she walked into the bedroom. “Get out. I’m going to change.”

  “Not going to happen,” Jake replied.

  “I’m damn sure not going to Detroit dressed in my McDonald’s uniform, so get out!” she said loudly, praying the app on the phone was picking up her voice.

  “Not happening. If you want to change, you’re going to have to do it in front of me. You heard Val.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Yeah? You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Jake said with a leer and then laughed when she gave him the middle finger.

  “Fine. Stand there then. I’ll change in the bathroom. I’ll leave the door open.” She rummaged in the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a top before marching into the bathroom. When she stepped out, Jake was watching the door, but had the decency to not move to where he could peek in and watch her change.

  “Look, Jake, you don’t want to do this,” she said when she returned. “I know Val is the president, but this is kidnapping. You don’t want to force me to leave for Detroit. Please, Jake, please don’t do this.” She could feel herself tearing up and she let them come.

  “You can turn off the water works, Jess. I’m immune. I like to make women cry. It turns me on.”

  “Asshole,” Jess sneered as she stomped past him while he laughed.

  ***

  “Jess? I’m home,” Scott said as he stepped into the apartment. She wasn’t visible in the combined living room, dining room, kitchen, so he moved to the back of the apartment, hoping to find her sleeping again. Two weeks ago he had found her napping when he got home, and when he woke her up with soft kisses, they had gone at it like bunnies. “Jess?” he said as he stepped into their bedroom, then looking in their bathroom, picking up her uniform from the floor and putting it in the hamper. His brow furrowing, he opened the blinds with his fingers as he checked to make sure the truck was parked outside.

  I bet she’s at the pool, driving all the guys wild. He smiled as he thought of her poured into her black one piece bathing suit, and decided he wanted to see that himself. He strode out of the apartment, grinning as he thought of her laying on a chase, her skin the color of well-creamed coffee and glistening with lotion, the suit fitting her in all the right places. When I get there, if I can sneak up on her, I’m going to get her attention by spreading more lotion on her. Pleased with his plan, he slowly opened the gate to the pool, looking around for Jess, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  A lump formed in his stomach as he pulled his phone and dialed her number, listening to the ringing while walking back to their apartment. When his call went to voicemail, he pocketed his phone and quickened his pace.

  “Jess?” he called again as he reentered the apartment, glancing around the big room before moving back to the bedroom, praying they had just missed each other, looking on the floor between the bed and the wall, and then checking the bath, making sure she hadn’t fallen in the tub. Other than her uniform being left in the floor of the bathroom, the apartment looked just like he left it this morning.

  The lump in his stomach grew colder as he moved back to the front of the apartment, pulling out his phone to call her again. When heard her phone playing No One, he lowered his phone and followed the sound to their bedroom. He had first heard the ringtone not long after they had moved in when he had dialed her number to help her locate her misplaced phone. He had smiled then, but hearing it now filled him with dread.

  He killed the call and picked up her phone. Jess never went anyplace without her phone and his blood began to run cold. He unlocked it and squinting at the open voice recorder app that she used for reminders. He pushed the Stop button then pushed Play.

  “Get out. I’m going to change,” Jess said from the phone.

  “Not going to happen,” a man’s voice replied.

  “I’m damn sure not going to Detroit dressed in my McDonalds uniform, so get out!” Jess said, her voice loud.

  “Not happening. If you want to change, you’re going to have to do it in front of me. You heard Val.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Yeah? You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” the man said then laughed.

  Scott listened to the rest of the recording, his hand gripping the phone tighter and tighter as it played. When it ended, he played it again, unable to believe what he heard. How had they found us, and so soon? It didn’t matter how, the fact was they had, and now they had taken Jess. There was no time stamp on the message, but he had to assume they had at least a three-hour head start.

  He went cold with rage. Without a second thought or moment’s hesitation, he moved to the closet and pulled down the plastic container where he kept his extra ammunition, pulling two boxes of ammo from the container and then sliding the rest back into place. He paused at the dresser for a moment and then dropped his Harley keys into the glass tray and picked up his truck keys. Easier to haul the dead bodies, he growled to himself as he turned and
headed for the door.

  The Grim Angels were about to meet the angel of death. They were going to pay…and pay dearly.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “How did you find us?” Jess demanded from the middle set of seats of the Grim Angels’ SUV.

  “You should have known you couldn’t hide from me,” Val said from the front passenger seat.

  “I shouldn’t have to,” she countered, “but you didn’t answer the question.”

  “We looked at Kat’s phone bill. That told us, more or less, where you were. Then we greased a few palms to find out which cell tower the calls were coming from. Then it was just a matter of poking around. We found Scott’s bike in the parking lot yesterday.”

  Jess fumed. She should have known better than to call from home, but it never occurred to her that they could track her back to Greensboro, much less what part of town. “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

  “Because, he’s not right for you. I want you out of the life.”

  “I was out of the life! Scott turned in his colors.”

  “You’re never out of the Angels, you know that. Once a Grim Angel, always a Grim Angel.”

  “You know he’s going to come for me.”

  “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

  “He’ll kill you.”

  Val smiled and lit another cigarette. “He can try. Oh, sure, he will probably guess what happened, but what’s he going to do? He doesn’t know the area, and we’ll pick him up the moment he arrives in Detroit, not to mention that you’ll be under guard until he’s dealt with. He may be a badass—according to Jason he is a badass—but nobody is badass enough to take on the entire club.”

  “You’re using me as bait!” Jess squawked.

  “No. I’m taking you home where you will be safe. But if he comes for you…” Val smiled, a nasty smile that didn’t touch his eyes, “We’ll be ready for him. Killing him is just a bonus.”

  Jess stared at him until he turned his attention back to the road, trying to fry his brain with her malice as she clammed up and refused to say another word. By the time they hit the West Virginia border, she was nodding, despite the stench of the men’s cigarettes. When they reached Charleston, West Virginia, she woke up, groggy and hung over from her fitful sleep, and having to pee in the worst way.

  “I have to pee…bad,” she said.

  “Fucking women and their tiny little bladders,” Neil muttered from the driver’s seat.

  “Fine. I’ll just piss in the seat then,” she threatened.

  “Keep your panties up,” Val chuckled. “We need to stop for dinner anyway, and I’m out of cigarettes.”

  They found a McDonald’s attached to a convenience store just off the interstate where they could gas the SUV, eat and buy road food and cigarettes. Jess bailed out of the SUV, intent on getting to the restroom, but Neil caught her by the arm before she made it three steps.

  “Ah, ah, ah…” he clucked as he jerked her to a stop.

  “Look, I’m about to piss myself! So either let me go or come on!”

  “Go with her,” Val said. “Make sure she’s alone.”

  Neil guided her into the restaurant and to the restrooms. He walked into the women’s side without pause, dragging her in behind him. “Out!” he growled at a woman changing the diaper of her infant son.

  Jess couldn’t wait and jerked her arm free and hurried into a stall, barely getting her pants down and settled onto the toilet before the water began to flow. After peeing for what felt like hours, she finally finished. She was alone but she knew the inside of a McDonalds’ restroom well and knew there was nothing useful at hand. Her hands washed, she exited the bathroom to find Neil, his arms crossed over his chest, standing in front of the door with two women waiting to enter.

  “You’re such a prick,” she muttered as she stepped out from behind him. “Sorry…sorry,” she mumbled as she walked past the glaring women, her head down in embarrassment.

  ***

  Scott kept the hammer down on the Ford. He had no illusions about catching Jess and the Angels that had taken her and, even if he did, he would probably blow right past them without even noticing, but he kept pushing just the same. The truck was nearly full of gas when he left Greensboro, and he intended to make as much time as possible.

  He was doing over ninety when he passed a Virginia state cop going the other way on the interstate. He saw the brake lights illuminate in the rear view as the officer began to slow to turn and give chase. He didn’t have time to be stopped by some Dudley Doright, so he buried the throttle, the truck surging ahead. He kept the pedal on the floor, the truck vibrating slightly as it bludgeoned a massive hole in the air. He could see the blue lights flashing behind him, but they were well back and it would take a while for the cop to run him down with the lead he had. He passed the first exit, but took the second, not touching the brakes until the very last moment, braking as hard as possible, but then running the stop sign at the bottom of the ramp and accelerating hard away from the interstate. He didn’t know where this road led, but he would worry about that after he shook the cop.

  ***

  Jess sat alone in the way-back seat of the Suburban. She felt like crying in anger and frustration, but she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her tears. As they continued north in the growing darkness she wondered if Scott had found her phone, and more importantly, if the phone recorded their voices. She was confident he would come for her, if he knew what had happened. As the hour grew late she began to feel drowsy again and eventually leaned her head against the window and slept.

  ***

  Scott pulled into a service station, weary but still only half way into the ten-hour drive. He had finally navigated his way back to the interstate, but he had lost valuable time on backroads. He swiped his card in the pump to start the gas flowing and then, as the truck filled, he dashed into the attached mini-mart to empty his bladder. On the way back to the truck he grabbed a Gatorade and a nasty-looking sandwich from the cooler. He wasn’t hungry but he still had a long way to go and eating would help keep him awake. Items paid for, he hurried to the truck, hung up the nozzle, and turned back toward the interstate, the truck roaring up the onramp at full throttle.

  ***

  Jess started awake as the SUV rocked and bumped as it turned onto a gravel drive. It took her a moment to wake up enough to realize where they were: Val’s farm. She yawned and stretched, trying to work the kinks out. As the truck eased to a stop, her mother stepped out of the house into a pool of light cast by one of the floods mounted on the house.

  “Val! What the hell are you doing?” Kat snapped.

  “Good to see you, too, Kat,” Val deadpanned as Jess climbed out of the truck.

  “Jessica! Are you okay? Val! How could you? You kidnapped your own niece? What’s the matter with you? Are you fucking stupid? You want the cops crawling all over this place?”

  “Just shut the fuck up,” Val snarled at his sister. “I’m in no mood for your shit. She never should have run off in the first place. All I did was bring her home.”

  Kat glanced between her brother and her daughter. “Val, for god’s sake! She’s a grown woman! You can’t just kidnap her!”

  Val waved a dismissive hand at Kat and stomped away toward his house as Kat turned toward Jess. “Jess…I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “I’m fine, but I’m not staying here,” Jess said. She would have said more but Jake took her by the arm and started her walking toward the house.

  “Come on. You two can have your reunion after we get some sleep.”

  “Where are you taking her?” Kat demanded.

  “Don’t worry about it, Kat. Nobody is going to hurt her. She’s going to have the basement all to herself.”

  “No! Let her say at my place! Please! I’ll make sure she stays there. Come on, Jake, you know you can trust me!”

  “Can’t do it, Kat. Val’s orders. She is to stay he
re until he says otherwise. Go home, Kat, and get some sleep. You look like shit and I feel like shit. She’ll be fine until tomorrow.”

  Kat fumed, but she knew this was a battle she couldn’t win, not tonight. “Okay, fine. But I’ll be back later this morning, and if she has so much as a scratch on her…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know…” Jake said not even slowing.

  ***

  “’lo…Jess?” Ron Nebbles’ sleepy voice came from Jess’s phone.

  “Mr. Nebbles, this is Scott Murphy. I met you about a month ago, with Jess. Remember me?”

  “What? Yeah…hang on a minute while I get myself together.”