I was completely at their fucking mercy.
All I had was myself, and that wasn’t much.
You killed Monty, the voice sounded in my head.
Well, yeah, there was that. Which is no doubt why these guys want to kill me. Or did they? He had said they wanted me alive. Why? What good was I to anyone alive? Especially Monty’s people.
Maybe I could get out of this somehow. Maybe Riot had heard me, but I doubted it.
Maybe a fucking miracle will happen, I thought sarcastically. Because miracles so frequently happened to Lacey Hope Carrington.
Fuck!
I cursed myself once again for leaving the room. I had been so ridiculously blissed out from spending the night with Riot that I simply had not thought it through. I should have known I was in danger.
I did know! I just…forgot for a minute. I don’t know. Of course people were looking for me. I had murdered a goddamned Mayor, for fuck’s sake. And I knew the names of all his fucked up, perverted friends, several of whom would be very upset if I revealed those names to anyone.
It didn’t matter that I had changed my appearance, had left town. I knew they would stop at nothing to find me. I didn’t know I was going to be the one that made it so impossibly easy for them.
Riot is going to be so pissed off at me…
“Here we go,” the driver said, as the car slowed and turned right.
“Get down!” The man holding me pushed me down to the floorboard roughly.
“I’m going to pull up to the door, I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.” The front door opened. Slammed shut. Footsteps.
Seemed like we waited forever, the seconds ticking by with only the sound of my panting in stereo in the sack over my head.
The man shifted in the seat, then pulled the cloth from my head. I looked up at him, his beady crow like eyes staring back at me angrily.
“I’m not going to forget that kick, bitch,” he snarled. “Now, we’re going to get out slowly. No funny business, or I swear to you I will rip your fucking brains out of your pretty little head, and then go back for that pretty boyfriend of yours, you got me?"
I nodded, silently, my blood pumping so hard through my veins I was sure they would burst.
“Good. Let’s go,” he said, opening the door, and pulling me out of the car. I winced as the sun hit my eyes. Swiftly, he ushered me past the car, and up to a door. Quickly, I turned my head and saw we were at a motel off a fairly busy road. I scanned the road, and saw no sign of Riot.
Of course not. You’re fucked, remember? You killed Monty. Time to pay the price now…the voice had learned a few new words.
The man shoved me over the threshold and I stumbled to the floor as he slammed the door behind me.
I smelled her before I saw her.
Chanel number five.
My eyes adjusted and I saw the black velvet stilettos right in front of my face. Slowly, my eyes trailed up black-stockinged legs, the leopard print dress a vivid reminder of my past.
She always loved leopard print.
By the time I reached her face, I was almost curious. Years had passed, and time was, as predicted, not kind to her.
“Hey, baby,” she whispered, a sick, blood-red smile spreading across her weathered face, tightening the corners of her evil, dead eyes.
“Hey, Mom.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Riot
I threw all our shit into the reporter’s car, and we hauled ass down the street. I called Ryder on the way.
I took a few deep breaths as the phone rang, trying to figure out what to say. Hell, trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened.
How could Lacey be gone? How the fuck could I have let that happen? I had fallen asleep on the job, naively thinking she was safe if we were in bed together. How the fuck did she get outside?
I knew that was going to be the first thing Ryder asked me, and I didn’t have an answer.
I was right.
I had barely gotten the words out that Lacey was taken and he asked exactly that.
“What the fuck? Why did you let her out of your sight, Riot?”
“I don’t know, man. We - we - I was asleep. I don’t know, she must have gotten up before me or something. Pancakes, I think…I - fuck I don’t fucking know!”
“Pancakes? What the fuck are you talking about, goddammit?” Ryder growled at me through the phone, and it took all my strength not to growl back. There was nobody on this fucking Earth more angry than me right now, not even Ryder.
“Look, I think she went for breakfast,” I said, taking a deep breath, trying to explain myself better. “I heard a scream, I woke up, and she wasn’t there. When I ran outside, she had been shoved in the back of a car and driven away. I saw some fucking pancakes on the ground, I don’t know. Look, there’s more - that reporter, from the news the other day?”
“Reporter? What the fuck, Riot?”
“I know - look, she was there - she saw everything, she said she had been following us. She knows where the guys who took Lacey are staying.”
“What the fuck?” Ryder asked.
“I know, dude, listen, I’m in the car with her right now. She’s taking me to their hotel.”
I looked over at her, trying to remember her name.
“What’s your fucking name?” I asked.
“I - I - gave you my card,” she replied. She looked terrified, her hands shaking on the wheel.
I glared at her.
“Diana. D-Diana T-T-Trudeau…” she said, finally.
“Her name is Diana Trudeau,” I continued, turning my attention back to Ryder. “She’s taking me there now. Where are we going?” I asked her.
“Oh…um…the Travelodge on Barbur Boulevard.”
“Brother, we’re headed to the Travelodge on Barbur Boulevard. I can fix this. I’ll get Lacey, I’ll save —,”
“— you’ll do no such thing, goddammit, Riot!” Ryder interrupted. “You fucking stay right there until the Gods get there. We’ll be there in an hour. You just fucking wait, you understand me? You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
“Ryder, look, I understand, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to wait an hour.”
“You’ll fucking do what I say, Riot, or so help me god I will have your patch ripped away so fast your head will spin, you fucking understand me? We’re a team. I should have never let you go off by yourself. You go in there, your dick half-cocked and your brain all full of some fucked-up sense of bravado and you’ll get your head blown off. You’re outnumbered. Just fucking wait, you understand me, goddammit?”
He was right. I knew it. I fucking hated it, but I knew it.
“Alright. Fucking hurry, brother,” my voice cracked, my heart swelling with pain and worry and pure anxiety.
“Please.”
“Sit tight, brother. We’re gonna get your girl.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Lacey
Slowly, I stood up, bringing myself to my full height, which wasn’t much, but it still allowed me to tower over her, even as she stood in her four-inch heels.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” I said, my voice calm, my heart exploding into painful pieces in my chest, as I looked down on the pathetic sack of flesh that brought me into this world.
“Oh, baby, you didn’t really think that, did you?”
“Fuck yes I did,” I said, resisting the urge to spit in her face.
She looked smaller than I remembered. Frail, almost.
I used to be so afraid of her, I thought. Now, she looks like I could knock her over with one finger.
“You changed your hair. It’s not your color, you should change it back,” she said, her hand reaching up to touch my hair.
I pushed her hand away before she made contact.
“I never abandoned you, Lacey.”
“Like hell you didn’t!” I said, my voice rising in anger. “Are you fucking delusional?”
“No, baby. I’ve
been watching you the whole time, I was just staying out of the way.”
My skin crawled.
“What the fuck do you mean? You sold me to Monty,” I said, staring down at her.
“I didn’t sell you to Monty. I just..well…rented…you to him.”
“I don’t understand. Do you even know what Monty did to me? He beat me. He raped me. Do you even care? He sold me to his fucking perverted friends, Mom. He traded me for money, power, used me as a pawn in whatever fucked up deal he had going on at the time.”
“I know, baby,” she said, shaking her head in disappointment. I was so confused.
“What do you mean you know?”
“I mean, I saw, like I said. I’ve been watching you. Trust me, Monty didn’t make a move without consulting me first. I had him by the balls, and oh - nevermind!” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “We can talk about that later. Look - come! I have a present for you!”
She gestured to the bed, and I looked over at the clothes laid out on it. A short, red satin dress was spread across the orange flowered bedspread, the colors clashing so violently it was hard to look at. A pair of patent-leather red pumps sat to the right of the dress, with a set of black lace bra and panties laid out on the right.
“Do you like them?” she asked, her high-pitched, nasally voice raking across my brain. I walked over to the bed to get a closer look, looking for some clue of sanity in an undeniably insane situation. “You need to be dressed up for this.”
“For this? For what? Seeing you?” I turned back to her, my eyes meeting hers angrily. “I hoped I’d never have to see you again. How did you even find me?” I asked.
“I never lost you. I knew you got arrested, so I waited at the police station to talk to Monty. He never showed up, but you came out, and I followed you. I already knew where you lived. So, I just waited to see what would happen. But Monty didn’t come out for a long time, and when I saw you being whisked away by a bunch of strangers, I knew something was up. I followed you to where they turned off the road, and then I spent some time digging around the town. You’d be surprised what a washed up old lady can learn in a sleepy old town. Especially one that only has one nearby bar. People talk, baby.”
“Whatever. You’re fucking pathetic.”
“Oh, baby, I know you’re angry. I know you don’t understand, but that’s okay. You’ve always been a little stubborn, haven’t you? I think you get that from me.” She reached down, and picked up the dress from the bed. She outstretched her arms, and held it in front of my body. “I think it’ll just fit. Your boobs have gotten bigger, haven’t they? That’s good, though, you were always a little too flat-chested. Men like a curvy woman, you know.”
I snatched the dress from her hands, and threw it on the ground.
“You’re fucking crazy, you know that? What kind of person does what you did to me? Not just the Monty shit, but all the shit before that, too? The pageants, the commercials, the endless auditions! I was just a kid! You never let me be a kid at all! Do you know how much shit I missed out on? Everything! Every fucking thing! All because of you! Because of your fucked up dreams that you pushed onto me when you couldn’t reach them yourself. And then, when I got old enough and strong enough to say no to you, you dealt me the strongest blow! How could you sell me like that?”
“I didn’t fucking sell you! I told you that - I —,”
“—you rented me? What the fuck does even mean?” I screamed.
“Look, you really think you want the truth? You think you’re old enough now that you can just escape and start over? You’re nothing without me, Lacey! Nothing, you understand?!” she was in my face, as much as she could be as I towered over her.
The two men were standing by the door, blocking any escape I might attempt, watching our fucked up scene play out in front of them, a look of shock on their faces.
“You want the truth, you little bitch?” she continued. “I gave you to Monty because I knew he could make more money off your sorry ass than I could. He had rich friends, I didn’t. He lent you out to them, and he split the fee with me. Sure, he thought he was buying you fair and square, but after the first time, I went back to him, and…renegotiated…our agreement.” She paused, her eyes peering into mine searchingly. “I blackmailed him. He gave me a cut of the profits, or I’d leak it to the press. He was about to run for Mayor, it was the last thing he could afford getting out about him, and he caved. It was quite easy, actually. I should have done it from the beginning, but it all worked out in the end.”
“Oh, did it?” I asked, sarcastically. “For who? You? Monty? You certainly weren’t concerned about me. Fuck you!”
“Oh, but, baby, don’t you see? Everything I’ve ever done was for you! I only wanted the best for you, that’s why I pushed you so hard. I knew you could be successful with Monty, that’s why I sent you to live with him. I wanted you to be comfortable and live a life of luxury…the life I never had. I didn’t want to see you struggle the way you made me struggle.”
“Life of luxury? I made you struggle?! Are you out of your fucking mind? You turned me into a whore, Mom! A fucking whore!”
“Oh, baby, you are just looking at everything wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a woman using her body to help her get through life.”
My blood ran cold, and my fists clenched at my sides, the words scraping from my throat like they were clawing their way through the depths of all the pain I had stuffed away.
“I wasn’t using my body, Mom. I was forced. I was raped! They took it all from me, Mom. You took it all from me.”
“No, baby, you took it from me! Before I got pregnant with you, I was beautiful, I had a future. But no, your loser father knocked me up and left me and what was I stuck with? A crying baby, and a ruined body! My future flew out the window when you were born. You were my only hope, Lacey, don’t you see? If I couldn’t succeed with you, then I couldn’t succeed. And then what did you do? You ungrateful little bitch, you just decide you can refuse to follow our dreams, just turn your back and decide you didn’t want to do it anymore? You couldn’t play by the rules, could you?”
“What rules, Mom? The rules of you constantly high on coke and blowing the judges to fix the pageants?”
“I was just trying to help. You threw it all away, Lacey. So, no, I didn’t take anything from you - I did no such thing. I helped you. Just like I’m going to help you now, baby.”
“You aren’t doing a fucking thing to help me now, and you never have.” My eyes trailed down to her throat, and the urge to wrap my fingers around it overwhelmed me.
“Oh, baby, yes I can! Monty’s dead now! Well, of course you know that, don’t you? I must admit, baby, I was a little surprised to learn you killed him. So violently, too! But the bastard deserved it, didn’t he? He was a bit of prick, wasn’t he? Waste of good pair of shoes, though,” she said, her voice slicing through me. “Anyway, that’s all water under the bridge, isn’t it? The thing is…Monty and I had an agreement. If anything ever happened to him, you belong to me again.”
I shook my head, the full realization of just how fucking crazy she really was finally dawning on me.
“You’re insane,” I whispered. “I’m free now. Free from you. Free from Monty…free from that fucking awful life that you condemned me to.”
“No, baby, no….you see, that’s not how this is going to work. I gave birth to you, Lacey. That counts. That counts big time. You can’t just walk away from me. I own you. I'm your mother. I’ve always owned you. Not Monty. Me,” she reached up to touch my face again, and I slapped her hand away harder this time.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” I screamed, stepping away from her, my voice high and panicked.
“Lacey! You fucking listen to me, you little bitch!”
“Why should I?” I said, stepping back to her, leaning down, my face mere inches from hers. “You’re a fucking pathetic mess. I’m not afraid of you anymore. I used to be, sure, but I’m bigger than you now. I’m ol
der, I’m smarter. I don’t have to put up with your shit…with anyone’s shit. You have no fucking hold on me anymore, Mom.” I shook my head. “Not Mom. Never Mom. I’m fucking out of here.”
I turned toward the door, the two goons staring at us, both of them looking even more shocked at the ugly mother-daughter reunion.
“Lacey, you aren’t going anywhere. Not yet.” I heard the gun cock, and I turned back to see her pointing it straight at me. “Not till you put this dress on and then we are both going to present you with your new owner.”
Her words stopped me in my tracks. I shook my head slowly, her intentions slowly sinking in.
“You were planning to sell me again?” I whispered incredulously.
“Well, like I said, not sell - just…rent,” she winked playfully, the gun still pointed straight at me. She was so fucking lost in her own world, so far away from any normal sense of reality, that it was almost laughable. If it wasn’t my fucking life we were talking about, that is. “I have a very wealthy man waiting at the Hilton that’s shown some interest. But you have to look your best! Hey, remember when we put your hair up in a French braid for the Miss Teen Oregon pageant, and you had those little tendrils left hanging around your face? That was so classy, we should do that again.”
She rambled on aimlessly, and the world began spinning around me.
Was this really happening? I looked at the door, still blocked by her men, whoever they were. Bodyguards? Pimps? Were they planning on taking a turn with me, too?
“No. I don’t think so,” I replied, shaking my head as I turned my gaze on the bed.
“Lacey, you will do as I say, or else!”
“Or else what? You’re going to shoot me? You’d be destroying your meal ticket, if you did that, wouldn’t you?” I asked, realizing she wouldn’t dare shoot me, as I picked up the pair of red stilettos off the bed, and turned back to her.
“You’ll do as I say, Lacey, or Ronnie and Eddie here will make you.”
RAW: THE ULTIMATE MC COLLECTION Page 24