by Lane Hart
The other old ladies come in to join me, looks like I’m not the only one who needs to keep their minds occupied. “Where are the kids?” I ask the women.
“They’re in the media room watching cartoons. Some of them have laid back down to go to sleep. It was a hard morning for them.” For all of us I think.
“Who’s guarding them?” I panic, not wanting Kobe to be alone.
“Prowler stayed behind and is sitting with them,” Shey, Blaze’s old lady says. I sag in relief, I cannot lose another child.
“Is it okay do you think with only him watching over them?”
“Prowler may be the club’s tech, but he’s a badass. I’ve seen him in action several times,” his old lady, Jessa, says. I can see the admiration for her man on her face, but it doesn’t calm or erase my fears. “Don’t worry, Miracle, he won’t let anything happen to those kids. Our kid is in that room too.”
“I know, it’s just I couldn’t bear it if something happened to him. My life feels like it’s moving at a slow motion, I’m here, but I’m so lost.” Libby, Morgan, Jessa and Layla all come and wrap me in their embrace.
“Me too, Miracle. Until Britney is back in my arms again, I don’t know which way I’m turning,” Morgan says, tears streaming down her face. I’m trying really hard to remember that I’m not the only one who’s suffering right now.
“Libby? What did you do differently than the rest of us? Why is it that Sasha and Shelby are still safe and here? Why didn’t they get taken like our girls did?” I need to know what she did differently than the rest of us so I can make sure to do the same when Milly comes back home. I need to make sure nothing like this ever happens to another one of my kids.
“Sasha had a nightmare last night,” she begins, “it woke Shelby up and they both crawled into bed with me since Knuckles wasn’t home. It may have been the only thing that saved my girls. At least, that’s what he and I concluded,” she says, and the guilty expression on her face makes me feel bad for asking the question in the first place.
“Next time the men leave, I say all the old women join forces, grab the kids and make it a sleepover in the media room. That way, we have each other’s backs and can help watch over each other’s children,” Shey pipes up. I think of what she said.
“Where’s Amberly?” I question her, because she wasn’t mentioned as one of the kids taken.
“She left yesterday to go on vacation with my parents. I called them this morning and she’s safe and sound and they made it to Georgia with them. They’re visiting my sister, her husband and their kids. My parents take her every year with them when they go.” Fuck, I feel stupid now, because I specifically remember her telling us about the trip a couple of weeks ago. “I know this sounds selfish of me, but I’ve been thinking about how she’d have been taken too if she was home. I’m thankful that she’s a long way away from here right now.”
“It’s not selfish to feel that way, it’s a parent’s worst nightmare the rest of us are living. I’m happy that she’s not here to experience what the other girls are right now.” I once again break down into sobs and uncontrollable tears fall down my face. “All I’m doing right now is trying to survive and stay strong until Milly is home. I need to keep my head held high and stay as sane as I can, because she’s going to need that from me when she gets home...if she comes home.”
That last sentence is my breaking point, I lose all control of my limbs and fall to the floor. I sit there for what feels like hours but is likely only minutes, as the old ladies and I huddle on the floor, lost in tears and holding each other tight on the kitchen floor.
Chapter Nine
Jasper
“Grab my blowtorch,” I order Dawg.
“Happily, let’s see if we can get these fuckers dancing,” he replies as he goes over to my table, turns on the propane and oxygen, then fires it up. I watch as he adjusts the level of heat coming off the end of the nozzle. Stewart pisses his pants when the flame comes out at the end of the pipe, which causes the men to bow over in laughter.
“What a pussy,” Reaper announces, causing another round of laughter.
“Looks like Stewart is really excited to be the first one to play with us. Remove his clothing, let’s see if his skin likes the kiss of fire.”
“Fuck you, asshole, my uncle will kill every one of you and your daughters if you so much as touch one of us,” Jason spits out. Now, this ballgame just got more interesting.
“Who’s your uncle, Jason?” I ask him, walking towards him.
“Valdez is my uncle and Stewart is Lorenzo’s nephew. We’re family, you touch us, and your daughters are as good as dead,” he spits out.
“Is that so?” I question, another idea coming to my mind. Lorenzo doesn't know we have them in our custody. I wonder if he’d be willing to do a trade, my family for his. “Strip them both, but put the torch away for now.” Dawg looks at me as if I took his favorite bone away. “For now,” I say, as Cobra and Bowie begin to remove their clothing. Once they’re done, I motion with my head towards the far right corner of the room. All of my men follow me without any questions.
“What’s up, Pres?” Malice asks when we’re securely out of hearing range of the pussies who are tied up.
“I think we have a card here to play with,” I announce, “Lorenzo doesn't know that we have them in the ice house. Let’s see how much he cares for his and Valdez’s nephew.” I pull out my phone and walk over to the two traitors and take pictures of them strung up and naked as the day they were born.
I send them to the number I have for Lorenzo, along with the message: See what we have? Didn’t think we’d figure it out, did you? Give me my girls back and we’ll return yours and Valdez’s nephews. You have ten minutes to reply before I begin torturing them, and sending them to play with the Grim Reaper.
I go back to the corner, lean against the wall and light a cigarette. I begin my stopwatch on my phone and set it for ten minutes. I can let each brother take a shot at hitting them once for every minute I don’t hear back from him. Reaper comes up next to me and lights up. “We aren’t going to let them go without punishment, right? We’re owed some payback.”
“All I’m gonna promise Lorenzo is that they’ll make it back to him alive and in once piece. I’m not going to tell them how they’ll make it back that way.”
He gets a gleam in his eyes when I tell him this. “Right on,” he says, blowing smoke out of his nose. “I’m going to make them hurt, and teach them an unforgettable lesson as to why you don’t betray the Crossroad Soldiers.”
The door opens and I notice Doc helping Knuckles in. “Doc, you’re not supposed to be in here. It’s for members only,” I infuriatingly say to him. He knows better, we pay him well to clean our guys up and stay out of club business. He’s been with us for years, but he’s not club which means he isn’t supposed to enter certain places, this being one of them.
“I know, Jasper and I’m truly sorry. But this pig-headed asshole was determined to get here. I couldn’t let him walk by himself without inflicting more injury on himself. My eyes are closed, I don’t see a damn thing,” he says, giving a malicious look to the prospects. He’s birthed all of our children and has a bond with them.
“As long as it stays that way,” I say to him as Reaper and Blaze walk over, put one of Knuckles’ arms around their own shoulders and walk him to the chair in the room.
Doc nods my way, but surprises me when he doesn't walk out of the room and instead walks over to Jason and Stewart. I watch to see what he’s going to do, hoping he’s not going to betray us and try to help them. “I see you’re both in one piece,” he states. “A shame, I was hoping I’d see you bleeding.” Then Doc surprises the shit out of me when he rears back and punches Jason right in the mouth, then gives Stewart a kidney shot. “I’m a doctor, I can tell these men how to hurt you for life without taking yours.” He turns around and walks past the group of us. “Gentlemen,” he nods to us as he walks out the door and slams it shut
.
“Well,” Knuckles clears his throat, “I have to say, I never in a million years saw that one coming.”
“Truth,” I say, still surprised that the good ole Doc made sure he got a shot in. He’s so...lawful, and took an oath to save people, and do no harm. I crack up in laughter, which I seem to be doing a lot of, even though I shouldn’t be. The guilt hits me like a sledgehammer. “Fuck,” I whisper to myself.
My phone pings with an incoming message, it’s from Lorenzo, one minute before the timer was due to go off.
Lorenzo: Don’t really care what you do to them, they’re expendable which is why we chose them. But, I have another deal for you.
Me: Which is?
“What’s he saying?” Knuckles asks me. I turn around and show him my phone.
Lorenzo: Seems your club made a grave mistake not going into business with us. We will give you one more chance to change your mind. You have one hour to discuss it with your men, then get back with me. If you choose to work with us, your children will be returned to you unharmed...if not, well let’s just say they’re all beautiful girls and would bring in a generous amount of money. Once they’re gone, you’ll never find them again. The clock is ticking...tick tock. One hour.
“Listen up,” I call out, “we need to have a quick church, make sure everyone attends.” I march out of the ice house, knowing that they’ll do as instructed and briskly walk in the clubhouse door, bypassing the women who’ve congregated on the kitchen floor and walk into the media room. “Prowler, emergency church, get Trent and Gavin in here to watch the kids.”
“You’ve got it,” he says, his standard reply whenever I request something of him. I walk over to the bar, grab a bottle of whiskey and head into our church room. I take my seat, open the top of the bottle and chug a good gulp. The burn reminds me I’m alive and helps me clear my head.
A few minutes later the room is filled and everyone takes their seats. Knuckles is helped in the room by Reaper. He’s heavily leaning on him, making me feel lousy for the fact that he took the brunt of the impact when the wall caved in on us. I lean forward, placing my elbows on the table and running my fingers through my hair.
The decision that must be made will tie the MC to the Valdez organization and Lorenzo being our point of contact. We’ll need to remember that our children and the future of CRSMC will be forever bound if we agree to the terms.
“Listen up!” I call out, banging my gavel on the table to get everyone’s attention. “We have an opportunity to get our daughters back today. But we need to vote on this because the MC will never be the same again if we agree to this.”
“Who cares, I want my girl back,” Dawg states.
“I understand that, but we have to agree to it, every member…”
“But…”
“Do not interrupt me again, Dawg,” I point my finger in his direction, banging my hand on the table for emphasis. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, we have a chance to get our girls back, but it means we will be in the Valdez’s clutches for God only knows how long. We have to agree to their terms of securing their merchandise indefinitely. What I propose is that we agree to work for them until the time comes that we have a plan in place to get ourselves free from them. It could be years, to the point to where our grandchildren will be the ones who finally get us out from under Lorenzo and Valdez’s thumb. It’s either do this, or try to find our girls ourselves and hope that they haven’t been sold on the black market.”
I hear a bunch of muttering and cursing, but what other choice do we have? If we don’t go along with this, we may never find our kids on our own. I can’t let Milly stay in their clutches forever. Not when I have the chance to get her home.
“Let that sink in for a minute, think about it and then we’ll vote.” I grab the whiskey bottle and take another chug of it. I pass it around the table and let those who need it take a drink. I look at the clock on the wall and notice five minutes have gone by. This should be a sufficient amount of time for them to come up with an answer. “Let’s vote.” Everyone becomes alert at my words. I go around the table and get all aye’s and no nay’s.
“Question, Pres,” Blaze raises up his hand to grab my attention.
“What’s that?”
“What about the prospects, do we have to turn them back over or are we taking our justice?”
“Lorenzo tried to convince me they’re expendable. Not sure how much of that horseshit I believe. I’ll make sure we’re good to seek our revenge out on them before we act. One way or another, we will make them pay for their betrayal. All I’m willing to agree to is them leaving alive.”
“So they could be missing a limb or two and all will be solid?” Reaper asks. I can see the inner turmoil he’s struggling with. He’s our Enforcer so he’s used to doling out punishment, and settling for minimal payback is not sitting right with him.
“Seems fair enough to me,” I reply.
I pick up my phone and send Lorenzo a text: We have terms of our own if we’re going to do this deal. We’ll work with you if our children are returned today. Also, the men want vengeance on the two who betrayed us. You give us that, and we’ll agree to work alongside you.
A few seconds later I receive an incoming reply: I’ll agree to these terms. Like I’ve previously stated, they are expendable at the end of the day. Your children will be returned to you. I’ll message you with a drop off point, but you’ll need to hurry because they won’t have guards protecting them once they’re dropped off.
This fucking dickhead is going to just drop our girls and run like a pussy on crack? What a motherfucking coward! How many strikes is he trying to accumulate?
I send a response: Since the kids are so young, I’d like the drop off to be at the old steel warehouse on Meadow View Road. I’d like to position one prospect inside to guarantee the girls’ safety.
I tell the men about the conversation Lorenzo and I are having and they’re anxious to get their daughters back and make the two men in the ice house pay for their transgressions against them and the club.
I hear my notification go off on my phone: One prospect, if I feel as if you’ve broken this promise to me, the instruction will be to kill every one of them in the vehicle before you or your men have the chance to intercept them. Are we in agreement?
I respond: We are, one prospect to just sit with them until after you drop them off to ensure their safety. We will have him text us once the girls have arrived and your men have driven away. Only then will we leave to come and pick them up.
I grind my teeth while biting my tongue. I hate making the deal with this devil, but what other options do I have? I’ll dance with him, for now, but one day, he will burn in hell for what he’s done to our families...I’ll bet my life on it.
Chapter Ten
Miracle
The men congregated nearly an hour ago. I need to know what they’ve learned and if they’re going to get our girls back home. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet and I already feel like I’m holding on by a thin thread. It won’t be much longer until I reach my breaking point.
“Do you think they know anything yet?” Morgan asks all of us women.
“For our sanity, I surely hope so,” Shey responds.
“I want to kill someone!” I shout, “I’m not sure how much more I can take without hearing anything. I just want my Milly home.”
“I’m with you, sister, I would give anything to have Britney home,” Morgan inputs.
“Where’s Libby?” Carson asks, I can see how lost she is without her girls, we could be mirror images of each other.
“She said something about getting home. Knuckles insisted on being released from Doc and she took the girls and left.”
“Aren’t we on lockdown?” Shey asks.
“Last I heard we are, and it isn’t a soft lockdown either.”
“Did she at least take a prospect with her?” I inquire.
“I saw Gavin leave with her. He was ca
rrying Shelby,” Sunny states.
“Maybe Knuckles didn’t want the girls thrown in our faces so he told her to head home while he met with the guys,” Sissy says.
“If that’s the case, I feel like an ass. Libby and her girls need to be just as much protected as us and the boys,” I say to the women, feeling like a bitch for even bringing up her not being here in the first place.
“At least they’re protected by Gavin,” Morgan states, but she has this faraway look in her eyes. We hear the church door open and every one of us stands waiting to see if they’ll clue us in on what’s happening.
Jasper peeks his head out the door and calls for Trent, who immediately comes out from behind the bar and rushes to follow Jasper as he heads into his office.
“What’s going on? Do you have any news on the girls?” Carson stops Dawg from leaving the room as she asks.
“We have a lead, that’s all I can share with you until Knuckles and Jasper decide what all to share,” Dawg says, and I can see it written all over his face that he regrets the fact that he can’t share anything about their daughter with her.
“That’s ridiculous! Josie and Hope aren’t just your daughters! Hope would be missing too if she hadn’t decided to stay the night with your parents! This is bullshit,” she cries out.
“Do not sit here and disrespect me in front of my brothers, there are consequences for those actions and you know it!” he hollers at her. We all know to not do this in front of the others when it comes to our men, but this is a completely different situation than any other we’ve ever come across.
How are we supposed to as mothers hold our tongues and not let it out? If we keep it held in, we’ll likely explode and that won’t be as respectful to our men as we are currently being.