by Ana Rosso
I took a well-deserved hot shower and got dressed in a tank top and shorts. I was so wired, I couldn’t go to sleep, so I grabbed a book and started reading. I got lost in a world where bikers were heroes.
Suddenly I heard a commotion in the hallway. I put my ear to the door and listened, trying to decipher what was going on. Apparently Gina was talking to her minions and she was very upset. According to her, she was going to get rid of me and my daughter as soon as she could. Somebody I didn’t recognize told her Damon wasn’t going to allow her to. Anybody could see how much he loved his daughter already.
Oh my God, that really pissed her off. She started yelling profanities and hitting the walls. I swear that woman is crazy. Out of the blue she started laughing and told her friends it was okay. That now she understands Damon’s real intentions. She was completely sure he was going to take Leslie away from me and after that, he was going to ask her to marry him. What the fuck? He wouldn’t do that. Right?
When I was completely sure they left, I moved to open the door with the intention to go and confront Damon, when my phone started ringing. I looked at the screen and didn’t recognize the number so I let it go to voice mail. After five minutes, it started ringing again. When I realized whoever was calling wasn’t going to stop, I decided to answer it.
I couldn’t believe my ears. It was Kevin calling to let me know he missed me and offered to come and get me. God, this was creepy in a very stalkerish kind of way. I told him I was okay and my mother was waiting for me to go out. He told me he knew that I was lying. He started getting more and more agitated and said if I didn’t want to do it out of my own free will that he knew a way that was going to make me go with him. Then he changed his tone completely. With a very sweet voice he started saying he knew how much I missed him and that we were going to be together very soon, just the two of us. Not understanding anything he was saying and feeling sick to my stomach, I hung up. How could I have misjudged him so badly? He called four more times. I was scared shitless and called Ani on her cell phone. It went directly to her voice mail.
I tried to slow down my heart rate knowing as long I was here, I was safe. I spent hours staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out a way to leave this place and stay safe at the same time. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find a solution to my dilemma. My mind was trying to convince me to stay put, but my heart was aching so much. At the end guess who won? Stupid heart.
The sun came out and I was still trying to figure it out. I heard Damon’s door open and close. I waited to see if I could hear Gina’s voice but instead, I heard a knock at my door.
I jumped out of bed and opened it. There, in my doorway, was Damon, in all his glory.
“Is Leslie awake?” He looked over my shoulder and found his answer. “I have church in half an hour and then we are going to talk. It’s long overdue, so while I’m at it, I’d recommend you get your thoughts straight because when the moment comes and we finish talking, everything's going to change.” With that and without allowing me to say anything, he left the room.
Talk? About what? About how he was going to keep my daughter, toss me to the street and marry whorezilla? No way in hell I was staying put for that conversation, so in an act of desperation, I put all of our clothes in bags and woke Leslie up. When she saw the bags, she looked at me with curiosity in her eyes.
“Momma, we go? I don’t want to. I want my Papa Pwetty." She started crying.
“Baby, look at me. We are going to a hotel and as soon as your Papa Pretty is done with his meeting, he is going to join us.” I hated to lie to my girl but I needed time and space to think and that was impossible to do being here in the clubhouse.
After getting her dressed, I called a cab. We walked out through the kitchen and before anyone could see us, we jumped in the taxi. An hour and a half later we were having breakfast in a diner across from the hotel in the next town over.
My phone started ringing and I picked it up without thinking. It was Kevin again to let me know he was sorry about his outburst from last night and that he had everything ready for us. I tried to reason with him but it was impossible. He ended the conversation letting me know he was certain I was going to be the one that would go to him, and he was going to be waiting for me with open arms.
Shit, I was so freaked out that for a moment I thought about calling Damon or his dad, but then realized I was in this situation all alone and decided to grab my girl and go back to the room. The room was outdated and had a moldy smell. The sheets looked clean so I decided to put Leslie to bed for her nap and take a long, hot bath. Inside the room I felt safe. I put on my earphones and turned on my iPod. I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes the water was already cold.
I got out of the tub and towel dried my hair. After getting dressed I went to wake up Leslie. To my surprise she wasn’t in bed. Thinking maybe she went outside by herself and knowing that as soon as I got her I was going to tan her little ass, I opened the door. After fifteen minutes of running around the place without being able to find her, I went back to the room and called Lucas.
He answered the phone and when I finished ranting and yelling, he told me to sit tight, that he was on his way.
For the following hour, while I waited for him, a lot of scenarios went through my mind. Each and every one worse than the one before. I was almost hysterical when I finally heard the roar of what sounded like a million bikes.
Suddenly I heard banging on my door followed by Damon’s voice, “Lyra, open up!”
I ran to the door and as soon as I opened it, I jumped into his arms. I started crying and shaking like a leaf. I clung to his cut and put my head on his shoulder. When I inhaled his smell it calmed me a little. He smelled like the first time, only this time he smelled like home.
He hugged me tight and kissed the top of my head. Then he sat me in the chair closest to the closet and went to his knees in front of me.
“Lyra, take a deep breath and try to calm down. I need you to tell me what’s going on from the beginning.”
His dad was behind him looking so worried that I couldn’t stop crying.
After I explained everything to him, he turned around and put his fist through the wall. I started shaking harder. Then he looked at me, kissed my forehead, and went outside to talk to his brothers. Lucas sat by my side and grabbed my hand. When Damon came back to the room, he started packing my things.
I jumped from the bed and started yelling. “What are you doing? I can’t move from here. I need to be here when Leslie comes back. If I leave how is she going to find me? She must be so scared. We have to find her!” I was sobbing.
“Lyra, look at me. A couple of the guys are going to stay here but I need to go back to the clubhouse and see James. There are cameras on the outside of the diner. He is great at what he does, so if anyone can find something it’s him.” He looked me directly in the eyes. “And no fucking way am I leaving you here. We’ll find her, baby, I promise.”
A couple of minutes later I found myself on the back of Damon’s bike leaving Leslie behind.
Damon
Funny how your day can go to shit in a moment. I woke up this morning with a plan, but everything ended up backwards. First, I went to get some love from my baby girl and found out she was sleeping. When Lyra opened the door in her sexy pajamas, I almost came in my pants like a teenager. She looked so hot and smelled so good, the only thing I wanted to do was drag her like a caveman to my room and fuck her ten ways to Sunday. After I adjusted myself and told my dick to calm down, I let her know we had to have a long overdue conversation and walked away. As soon as I sat in church, all the brothers started coming into the room. Leigh came to me and without being asked, he gave me a piece of his mind.
“Brother, if you are thinking for a moment to claim your baby mama, I would talk to Gina first. Put her in her place and break all ties.” He rolled a joint and lit it up. “That fucking bitch is insane. I don’t know how it happened but last nig
ht I was buried in Marla’s pussy and out of nowhere she started saying she wanted to be my old lady. When I started laughing, she got mad at me because according to her, if Gina could be yours, then she could be mine.”
Okay, so I would have to fix this before I can claim my woman. After we finished with the meeting, I went on my way to find Gina. The fucking bitch was nowhere to be found. Of course she is like my shadow when I don’t want to see her but when I need her she disappears. According to the prospect, she went out shopping with Marla. I guess I was going to have to wait. I decided to go see my daughter and ask Lyra about the dancing fiasco from last night. I knocked on her door but nothing. When I turned the knob the door opened and to my surprise the room was empty—completely empty.
I went directly to my dad’s office, and without knocking I entered. He was checking something on his computer and with his eyes still on the monitor he asked, “Did we raise you in a barn? Since when do you think it’s okay to come into my office without knocking?”
At the exact moment that I was going to ask him about Lyra, his cell phone went off. He raised his finger while he answered it. The color drained from his face immediately. Then he said to whoever was on the other side of the line to give him five minutes and that he was on his way.
“Damon, I need you to control your temper and listen very carefully,” he said as he stood up and came to my side. “That was Lyra—Leslie is missing.”
“What the fuck? What are you talking about?” My body went cold and I started to sweat.
“Don’t know the details. Get the brothers and let’s go. I got to talk to your ma for a minute and then we’re on our way.”
It took us forty-five minutes to get to the hotel where Lyra was staying. Those were the longest forty-five minutes of my life. I couldn’t believe that I just found my daughter and then lost her in a couple of days. As soon as I knocked on the door a crazed Lyra opened it. When she saw me she jumped into my arms and started crying and shaking. She was holding onto me for dear life. When I felt her warm body against mine, I knew then this woman and our child were my life. I will move hell and earth to keep them safe. I will kill any mother fucker that just dares to look at them cross-eyed.
She explained everything the best she could. In the meantime, Alex was trying to get as much information as possible from the people that were around the place. After finding out about the security cameras at the diner, he came back to let us know he got the DVDs for the past ten hours. We decided to go back to the clubhouse so James could work his magic. When I told Lyra our plans, she went bat-shit crazy. I forced her to go with me but she was getting more agitated by the minute. As soon as we got there I went and talked to Doc and he gave her something to calm her down.
Twenty minutes later, James came to my dad’s office and let us know he could see on the recording the moment that Leslie was put inside a dark sedan. In that moment, I knew that it had to be the same asshole we met in Spokane a couple of days ago. That son of a bitch.
We spent the rest of the afternoon waiting to see if the mother fucker’s credit card was used so we could trace him. My nerves were through the roof. I could only imagine how scared my baby girl was. I never felt this way before. I tried to breathe but not enough air was getting to my lungs. I wouldn’t put a bullet through his head. I was going to kill him with my fucking bare hands. No mother fucker puts his dirty hands on my daughter and lives another day. He was good as dead.
We were looking at all the possible scenarios when the door to the office opened and Lyra came in. Her eyes were swollen and she looked like a semi-truck just hit her. I opened my arms and she came directly to me. She sat on my lap and buried her face in my neck. If the situation was different, I would have been in heaven but right now, even though I have my angel in my arms, I was in hell.
Suddenly her phone started ringing and she reached in the back pocket of her jeans for it. When she looked at the screen her face changed completely and looking at me she said, “It’s him. What do you want me to say?” Her hands were shaking so badly that I thought she was going to drop it.
“Answer it and try to keep him on the phone as long as you can. We'll do the rest.” I looked at James and he nodded.
She did as she was told and even though I couldn’t hear what he was saying, I could tell it wasn’t good by her face. When he hung up on her she started crying.
“Lyra, talk to me, please.” I knew it was hard for her but we couldn’t lose more time. I needed to find my girl and bring her home.
“He said I had two hours to go to him if I wanted to say goodbye to my girl. Then after Leslie’s new parents picked her up, the two of us were going to go and be happy like he knew I wanted to be. That he will have the money to get us out of the country. He said he was calling back with the details in one hour.” She stood up. “Let’s hurry up, I need to get ready.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? You're not moving your ass from here.” I was ready to tie her ass up if I needed to.
“I don’t know what your plan is but I’m definitely going and after we get our daughter safe, I’m killing that mother fucker with my own hands.”
If this situation wasn't so fucked up, I would have been hard as stone just listening to my badass girl being so blood thirsty.
“You’re staying here with my mom even if I have to tie you up. I’m not risking you too and if I have to worry about your safety I’m not going to be a hundred percent in my game.” Looking directly in her eyes I told her, “I won’t lie to you. I’m going to kill that mother fucker. I promise I’ll bring her back home.” I was waiting for her to freak out on me but instead she looked at me with fire in her eyes and said, “You better!” With that she left the room.
James was able to trace the call to an address close to the outskirts of town. After we made the plans, we jumped on our bikes and left.
It was late when we got there. The abandoned house was falling apart. There was a light on in the front and one in the back. We split up and decided to check if he was alone. Through the back window, I saw Kevin talking on the phone. I got as close as I could and tried to hear what he was saying. He was pacing the floor while telling the person on the phone that as soon as his woman got there, he was going to deliver the little girl. He said the girl was sleeping because he drugged her. That he better have all the money he asked for or he was going to have to sell her to the other person that was interested in the deal.
When he hung up, he started talking to himself about how he was also going to collect the money from the person who wanted to get rid of Lyra.
This asshole is crazy. He was going to die but not before I found out who the person was that he was talking about.
I was telling dad everything I heard when I got a text from Alex letting me know that he located Leslie. She was sleeping in the back room.
We decided the best course of action was to enter through the front door. I kicked the door in and entered with my gun pointing directly at Kevin. He tried to get to his gun but I shot him in the leg. I wanted him dead but not before I got the name of the person who wanted Lyra gone. After that, he was going to suffer a very slow and painful death. The fucker was meeting the reaper tonight.
My dad was behind me and while he restrained Kevin, I went in search of my baby girl. She was lying on a dirty mattress on the floor. I tried to wake her up but couldn’t. For a moment I was afraid she wasn’t alive. I searched for a pulse but it was very faint. I scooped her up and went outside. On my way to the van I told my dad, “I tried to wake her up but she’s not responding. I’m going to take her to the hospital. Call mom and tell her to take Lyra to Wenatchee Medical and wait for us. I want him alive for now. He’s fucking mine.” With that I told the prospect to hurry up. I didn’t know what I was going to tell them at the hospital or the police. As soon as the hospital notified them they were going to be on us like flies on shit. This was not our town, so they were not in our pockets but in that moment I really didn’t care. I
needed to see my baby girl awake again. Needed to hear her goofy laugh. I would've done anything for her in that moment but I ended up doing something I haven’t done in a long time.
I closed my eyes and prayed.
Lyra
Imagine that feeling you get when you’re having a nightmare and try to wake up but you can’t. Then take that feeling and multiply it by a million. Well guess what, you still wouldn’t feel a fraction of what I was feeling now. I tried to think of all the things I was going to do with my girl as soon as she was back but nothing could calm the storm that was in my heart. I was kicking myself in the ass a thousand times for following my heart instead of my brain. I should have stayed at the clubhouse. It would’ve been better to see the whore rubbing herself up and down Damon than living what I was living now.
It has only been an hour but it feels like an eternity. Please God, don’t take her away from me.
I was sitting at the kitchen table in Cora’s house, when her daughter Kat arrived. It was the first time I’ve seen her since I was back and she was still as beautiful as I remembered her. I knew she was sick but didn’t know what it was. As soon as I saw how difficult it was for her to stand straight, I realized whatever she was going through was serious. She looked tired but most of all she looked as worried as the rest of us.
Cora was trying to get me to eat something but I couldn’t eat anything at all. When the phone rang, I almost fell from the chair. I stood up and waited for Cora to answer it. Her face changed and I held my breath waiting for the worst news. When she hung up she grabbed her car keys and told me, “They found her. I don’t know much. We need to get to Wenatchee Medical now!” With that she started to walk to the door.
“How far is that? Please tell me that she’s okay.” I couldn’t help it, I started crying.