“I guess this is the only way out,” Marley said, looking down into the darkness.
“Flashlight app,” Dakota said, pulling on her phone and shining the light on the ground in front of her as Marley did the same. “We are not afraid of the dark. We are two adult women who can handle this.”
“Yes,” Marley agreed, taking Dakota’s hand in hers and together they walked down the ramp, into the darkness. They walked for a few feet and heard nothing, and like all dark and scary places, once they were inside of it, it wasn’t so bad. There were a few cars, and even better, bright red exit signs to guide their path. And then they heard it, footsteps, soft footsteps walking on the ramp behind them.
“Someone else is up here!” Dakota whispered, grabbing Marley and pulling her down behind a cement partition.
“Maybe it’s someone else who came for the party.”
“Marley, there is no party. No one is here.”
“Well, someone else is here. What are we going to do? Let’s call the cops.”
“And tell them what? That we’re trespassing and then it got scary?!”
“Fine, then let’s call Adam.”
“No,” Dakota said.
“Dakota please. Someone else is here. This is officially scary. I think someone lured us here. Please just call him, Scarred Angels isn’t far away.”
Dakota opened her mouth to say something, she was going to protest more, say they didn’t need him. And then, the clear sound of a bullet leaving a gun filled the air around them. The sound was so loud and jarring that it destroyed the silence and the two women jumped and then held each other, both frozen still as their baser fight or flight instincts kicked in.
“Oh my God, it is a trap,” Marley whispered, her voice so quiet even Dakota who was less than a foot away, could barely hear her. “They have a gun. They’re trying to kill us.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It had been a strange night at the club. It was only eleven thirty and they had already broken up four fights in the line outside and three in the club itself. Adam wondered if there was a full moon out. It happened like this sometimes; there would be string of easy nights and then one where everyone seemed to lose their minds. Up in the office Adam stared through a one-way glass at the revelers below. Everything was okay at the moment, the DJ had been instructed to play some lighter fare, and it was helping, people were dancing more and fighting less.
He heard his phone buzzing from his desk and sighed. He was tired and his ribs hurt; he wanted to go home. But Adam knew he could never ignore a ringing phone so we slowly went over and lifted the buzzing phone from his desk, and then almost dropped it.
Dakota Kane, the phone told him. Dakota Kane was calling him at eleven thirty on a Saturday night. His heart stopped in his chest and he felt nauseous. The last time a girl calling him had stressed him out this much he had been a clueless high schooler. He took a deep breath and picked up the phone, clearing his throat as he waiting for whatever came next.
“Adam?” Dakota’s voice was a terrified whisper.
“Dakota, where are you?”
“I’m in a parking garage, about six blocks from you, 115 North Delaware Ave. Adam please, can you come and get us? There was supposed to be a party, but now someone’s here with a gun,” she stopped when her voice broke into a sob.
“I’m coming. Don’t move. Stay down and make sure whoever is there doesn’t see the light from your phone.” Adam’s movements were confident and assured. He keyed in the code to the gun locker and opened the door. He grabbed two shotguns, a box of ammo, two bright flashlights and locked the door. “Where exactly in the building are you?”
“We went up to the roof in the elevator and then when we went to go back down it didn’t work. So we started walking down the ramp, but we only got down one floor before we heard someone behind us, and there was a gun blast and I didn’t know who else to call.”
“You did the right thing. Who’s with you?”
“Marley.”
“Do you have any mace or a gun?”
“No,”
Just then, the door opened and Joey walked into the office. He took a step back when he saw the guns on the table in front of Adam. “What the hell, man?” he asked.
“Dakota and her friend are six blocks away. Someone’s trapped them on the roof of the garage. Whoever it is has a gun. I need to go and get her.”
“Then I’m coming, too,” Joey said, picking up the shotgun and loading it.
Adam nodded, grateful for the help, and knowing that he never needed to say so. Both men slipped the guns under their jackets and raced down the stairs and out into the night.
“Dakota,” Adam said into his phone. “I’m getting on my bike, so I won’t be able to hear you, but it won’t take me longer than three minutes to get to the garage. Just stay on the line, okay?”
“Okay,” Dakota whispered.
“I’ll be there so soon. Just stay hidden and silent. If you try to sneak out, he’ll see you. Right now the best thing to do is stay silent and still and we’ll get there before he finds you.” Adam’s heart was pounding in his chest and his hands were shaking. But he refused to be slowed down; he put the still active phone in his pocket and straddled his bike, revving the engine and taking off with Joey right behind him.
The beauty of motorcycles is they don’t need roads. Adam knew exactly where Dakota was and he worked out the quickest way to get there. Jumping curbs, cutting through parking lots, riding down the sidewalk, Adam and Joey were at the lot in under three minutes.
“Are you still there?” Adam asked into the phone. Three minutes had felt like an eternity. He couldn't hear Dakota over the roar of his bike and in those three minutes Adam had envisioned every awful and terrible thing that could happen to two women cornered by a man with a gun. In his mind, he had seen Dakota die a thousand times in those three minutes; he had watched himself be unable to save her. He had lived through her death a thousand times in those three minutes, and now that he was here, he was going to protect her, no matter what.
“Still here,” she whispered. “I don’t know where the guy with the gun is. We haven't heard anything. Maybe we should try to keep going-”
“No!” Adam cut her off. “He’s couldn’t find you, so now he’s waiting for you to make a move, so don’t. I’m here. I’m on my way. Stay hidden.”
“Stairs!” Joey called out and Adam ran over to the emergency exit, which was locked from the outside.
“Kick it in,” Adam said and, without hesitation, Joey brought up his strong leg and kicked at the door. The metal squealed as it was pushed and bent. Joey kicked it again, and the door rattled. He kicked it a third time and the lock broke, the door swinging open to welcome them.
Armed with shotguns and bright lanterns, the two men raced up the stairs, taking the steps two at the time. Adam felt his chest begin to scream out in pain as his tightly-wrapped ribs were stretched. But he used that pain as fuel to push himself forward. Every stab of pain was more fuel to his legs, pushing him farther and farther up the stairs.
Breathing heavily, the two men came to the sixth floor, where they suspected Marley and Dakota were hiding. Their guns were armed, but put away; instead they both pulled out their flashlights. Silently, Adam held up one finger, then two, and then three, before slamming open the door and flooding the garage with bright lights.
“Head’s up! Scarred Angels is here, so I suggest you start running!” Joey yelled into the garage, his voice echoing around them. The two men ran out into the darkness their lights illuminating cars and cement pillars.
“This doesn’t end well if we find you,” Adam added, sweeping his light around the lot. Come out, Adam thought to himself. Come out so I can question you myself. No lawyers, no cops, just me, him and a basement where no one can hear him. Footsteps, someone running, but just one person. Adam and Joey both ran towards the sound, but they knew they were too late as they heard the door on the other side open and slam close.
>
“Go,” Adam ordered and Joey took off, running after the gunman, following him down the stairs.
As Joey’s footsteps receded into the distance, Adam continued to look around the garage, his senses on full alert. The bright light in his hand flowed over cars, revealing every dent and crack, but no movement. Was the gunman alone? Was he gone? Adam waited one full minute, but still no one appeared, still there was no movement.
“Dakota,” Adam said clearly, his voice carrying over the garage. “Come out slowly.” He saw her to his left, her hands appearing first and then her head as she stood. Her phone was in her hand, the call still active and he watched as she ended it. She was alive, she was alive and unharmed; she looked pale and scared, but alive.
Adam didn’t let his guard down. He continued to sweep the garage with his light, waiting to see if another killer was hiding somewhere. Slowly Dakota and Marley made their way over to him. Adam met them halfway, taking Dakota by the arm, and putting Marley first, he led them to the stairway. Dakota’s arm was shaking in his hand – her whole body was shaking – and he could hear Marley crying softly.
“It’s all right,” he said quietly as they continued down the stairs. “I think there was just one of them.”
“One of whom?” Marley asked.
“Soul Stealers,” Adam said, but he offered no other explanation.
They finally emerged out of the broken door and into the night. The streets around them were silent, no cars, the only person they could see was Joey, jogging over to them.
“Well?” Adam asked, his hand still holding Dakota’s arm.
“Gone, out the door into an old car. Looked like 2010 Honda to me, green in color, too dark to get the plates.”
“Did you get a look at him?”
“Short guy, young, brown hair, but I didn’t get a good look at his face. He was fast, I’ll tell you that.”
“What were you two doing here?” Adam asked, turning to face the two women, both pale and afraid with tear tracks down their cheeks.
“It’s my fault,” Marley blurted out. “This guy I knew, or thought I knew, told me about this party. Dakota didn’t even want to come, but I didn’t think anything bad would happen. I’m so sorry,” she stopped as she broke down into sobs, her small body shaking as her hands came up to hide her face.
“Don’t cry, Marley,” Dakota said, taking her in a hug. “No one had any idea this would happen. It was totally crazy.”
“We should go talk to Detective Evans,” Adam said. “Something is still going on with your family. I don’t think we’re past the danger yet.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Wait,” Dakota said, “are we sure about this?” Everyone turned and stared at her and Dakota felt compelled to continue. “I mean, maybe that guy wasn’t going to hurt us. He could have just been another person who came expecting a party.”
“Are you kidding me?” Adam yelled, throwing up his hands, his voice echoing off the buildings around them.
“Calm down,” Joey said. “You guys said you came here for a party. Who told you about it?”
“This guy I used to know DMd me on Twitter,” Marley answered.
“Are you sure that was really him? You can impersonate anyone on Twitter; all you need is a picture and you’re good to go. Was his account new?” Joey asked.
“Yes,” Marley said, as tears appeared again on her face. “He said he had just started the account; that’s why he didn’t have any followers or anything. I never should have believed him.”
“You were led here,” Adam said to Dakota. “Someone brought you to this garage so they could kill you, leave no witnesses, clean up the mess, and take your body God knows where. Someone is trying to kill you, Dakota. This is the second time that you’ve been attacked and you want to chalk it all up to what, coincidence?” He didn’t know what else to say. He was kicking himself, he had heard the news from Andre last night and didn’t do anything about it. Too vague, he thought. Not worth telling anyone, and as a result Dakota had almost died in a parking garage six blocks from him. And now she was questioning the attack? Did she really think it was just another confused partygoer – one with a gun who was hunting them and who ran when discovered?
Didn’t she understand how precious she was, how easy it would be for something to happen to her? She was so delicate and kind and generous, but there were bad people out there, awful, selfish, murderous people who had set their sights on the Kane family. People who didn’t care who died or what the cost would be, all they cared about was getting what they wanted. He needed to protect her; it was his fault this had happened at all. If he had done anything with the information from Andre, this all could have been prevented, but Adam had hesitated and now this was the punishment. He needed to convince Dakota that the threat was real.
“Should we call the police?” Marley asked.
“And tell them what?” Dakota responded softly, “that we were trespassing when we were surprised by a man with a gun? People will think we’re either making it up, or stupid. Besides, they caught the man who attacked me and my father.”
“But they haven't caught the man who paid him,” Adam said.
“What do you mean? No one paid him; he was a man with a grudge.”
“Was he? According to witness testimony and paperwork from the time, your father and Michael Martin ended on good terms, and then, suddenly, years later he’s back and trying to kill the both of you? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“But that’s what the police said. Why would they lie?”
“They’re not necessarily lying,” Joey said. “But the police have quotas that need to be filled. It looks good that they’ve caught the killer; re-opening the investigation looks bad.”
“I talked to someone last night,” Adam said quietly, “someone in the game, and he said that this goes deeper than Michael Martin. I didn’t say anything because he didn’t have any names to give me, but, after tonight. I don’t think he was wrong.
“If we’re not going to the police then can we at least go home?” Marley said. Her very look evoked pity, her hands and knees dirty from hiding in the parking lot, and there were tear stains on her face.
“I’ll call you a cab,” Joey said. “Do you have somewhere safe to go?”
“I can go to my mom’s. She’s super paranoid, lots of security. Dakota, you can come, too.” Marley said.
Adam felt a pain in his stomach. He didn’t want Dakota out of his sight. He didn’t want her to be at some strange woman’s house. He wanted to her next to him. He wanted to always be in a place where he could reach out and touch her. “You should stay with me,” he blurted out before he had time to think about it. “We thought the house was safe before, but you were attacked and your apartment is no good. There’s only one exit, so you’re basically trapped in there. We can figure something more permanent out tomorrow.” What would he do if she said no? If she just callously rejected him, or laughed at him? But she didn’t, she looked up into his dark eyes, and he could see tears were forming in hers. Wet drops were hanging from her perfect lashes and all he wanted to do was wipe them away.
“That would be nice,” Dakota said, nodding her head. A weight lifted from Adam’s shoulder, a burden he didn’t know he was carrying was suddenly gone. But burden wasn’t the right word; it wasn’t a burden, but an emptiness where something should be. Dakota had burrowed into his heart and planted herself there in the weeks he had protected her, in the night they had spent together. When he had been separated from her, she had been pulled from him and he had been longing for her every day. But now she was back. He only wished that it wasn’t the threat of death that had brought her to him.
A cab pulled up for Marley. Adam and Joey assured her they knew the driver and she would be safe. They told her to lock all the doors and close the blinds on her windows when she got home, to keep a lookout and make sure no one was following her.
“Call me,” Marley said as she pulled Dakota into a strong hug.
“I will, and you text me the second you’re home.”
“I will,” Marley said, stepping into the cab, which quickly took off.
“I should go back to the club,” Joey said. “I can take the guns and the lights, lock them back up.”
“Yeah, I’ll take Dakota home,” Adam said handing the shotgun and light to Joey who straddled his bike and quickly took off, leaving them alone in the dark parking lot. “We can take a car home,” Adam said, turning to Dakota, “I can call the club and have one sent over.”
“What about your bike?” Dakota asked.
HANDS OFF MY WOMAN: Padre Knights MC Page 56