“Nope,” Riot said.
“Doc’s not answering my texts, but I did just get one from Diana,” Slade said. “She said something was going down at the hospital in Seaside. Just came through on the scanner.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“She’s on her way there, said it wasn’t clear but there’s a shit load of cops there already.”
“Alright,” I said. “I guess we’re going to the hospital then. Tell her to keep us posted.”
“Will do,” Slade said.
“I don’t like the fact that Doc isn’t picking up,” Riot said.
“You and me both, brother, you and me both…”
***
We’d driven in silence another half hour when my phone rang. I looked down at it and picked it up right away.
“It’s the clubhouse,” I said. “Hello?”
“Ryder, it’s Cherry,” she said.
“Hey, darlin,’ what’s going on?”
“I need you here right away, Ryder,” she answered, her voice quivering.
“What’s wrong, babe?” I asked.
“Wreck’s here. He just came from the hospital, Ryder. It’s bad, Ryder, it’s bad, just get here now.”
“Fuck! I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Wait for me!”
“Hurry, Ryder!”
I threw the phone down and stepped on the gas, wishing like hell I wasn’t driving this slow ass van. I needed the speed of my fucking bike now, more than ever.
“What’s wrong?” Riot said.
“I don’t know man. It was Cherry. She said Wreck’s there, she said we gotta hurry. She said it was bad.”
“Fuck!” Slade yelled.
“Hold on tight, boys,” I said, pressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor. “Let’s see how fast this bitch goes.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Wreck
I sat on Vanessa’s bed with my head in my hands. Everything had gone terribly fucking wrong and I had no idea what to do. As soon I told Ryder about Doc, he broke down crying. A man should never have to feel pain like that. I’d never seen someone so fucking strong, so fucking tough, break down like that.
It was all my fucking fault. I traced my actions all the way back to the fucking beach and if I hadn’t let her stand in that goddamned water, she wouldn’t have gone under, she wouldn’t be at the hospital and Doc would still fucking be alive.
I was going to kill Randolph and it was going to be the best thing I ever did in my life.
But I couldn’t do it alone. The cops were swarming the hospital and I couldn’t get anywhere close to her room. Besides, I heard what they said. She was gone.
Royce had killed Doc and taken her. But where?
That’s what I didn’t know. I didn’t know the first fucking place to look for her. I’d have just gone out looking anywhere, everywhere, but what good would that have done? I was lost. I needed the Gods. I needed Ryder.
But I didn’t know if that was going to be possible anytime soon.
He was wrecked by the news of Doc’s death and I had no idea when he would recover enough to even talk. He’d insisted on being alone and retreated to his cabin to wait for Grace. Nobody knew how long she was going to be because she was helping the girls we’d saved at the safe house. There was so much to do. Lacey was with her, thankfully.
Which had left me with Riot and Slade at the clubhouse. Slade was enraged, his body tightened into a thick ball of tension that was threatening to explode at any second. He wanted revenge, just like the rest of us. But we had to wait.
At least until we could come up with a plan.
Riot retreated to his room, saying he always felt better when he was working.
I didn’t know what to do with this tornado churning around inside me, so I had come into Vanessa’s room. Not that it was really her room, but it was the only place I could go to be close to her. I shoved my face into her pillow, trying desperately to pick up her scent.
I couldn’t let myself think about what she might be going through. Fuck, she hadn’t even woken up yet, as far as I knew. And if she had, and she was with Royce, she must be terrified out of her mind.
It was too much to think about.
I laid down in her bed, pulling the blanket over me and something fell to the floor. I reached over to pick it up and saw it was the journal Grace had given her. I stared at it in my hands, contemplating if I should open it.
But then I thought of Frankie, of Vanessa telling me she was Frankie, and I couldn’t help myself. I had so many fucking questions and maybe some of my answers were in there.
As soon as I saw the handwriting I knew.
I remembered it. As distinctive as her laugh, Frankie’s handwriting was unique. She’d written me dozens of love letters and poems and I still had them all. They were worn and faded by now, but it was the same writing that was staring back at me now. I flipped through the pages and stopped when I saw my name.
Wreck doesn’t see me. Do I look that different? Sound that different?
I was hoping he’d notice on his own, but maybe I should tell him soon. He looks at me like he’s never seen me before and part of me doesn’t want to tell him, I want him to figure it out on his own. But maybe he never will…
And what if he doesn’t believe me?
What if he doesn’t want me anymore?
I have no proof. My father’s dead. I don’t even have a birth certificate! There’s nothing left to prove to anyone who I used to be. Unfortunately, I’m falling for him all over again, or maybe it’s just all those old feelings reigniting, but whatever it is, I want more of it.
I wish we could just go back. I wish none of this ever happened. If I could wish for anything in the world, it’s that I could go back to that night before the explosion, if I could go back and lie in his arms in the back of his truck and stare up at the stars with him. I’d give anything to listen to him talk, to tell me the story about his father’s Christmas tree again.
But I can’t.
I’ve just got to tell him, to convince him somehow that it’s really me.
If I had any twinge of a doubt left, it was gone. And with that knowledge, a surge of adrenaline rushed through my veins. Ryder may be in mourning, but I had to move now. There was no time to waste. I couldn’t wait any longer. There had to be a way to find out where Royce had taken her. There had to be something we could do.
I put the journal back down on her bed and walked back outside to find Slade. He was near the front porch, punching on a torn up punching bag that was barely hanging on.
“I can’t fucking wait,” I said. “We’ve gotta do something.”
“I agree. What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Fuck, I don’t know. Have you heard anything else from Diana?”
“Nope, the fucking cops are shutting the media out completely. My guess is Royce has friends who helped him escape and they aren’t talking.”
“Yeah, probably,” I said, kicking the dirt. I was anxious, I was jittery and I was about to jump out of my fucking skin. “We’ve gotta figure out something. We don’t need Ryder.”
“We always need Ryder, dude,” Slade said, shaking his head. “I can’t fucking believe Doc’s dead.” He turned away and punched the bag so hard it fell to the ground. “Fuck!” he yelled, kicking it.
Riot walked out onto the porch and strode over to us.
“You alright?” Slade asked, pulling him in for a hug.
“Yeah, man,” he said, as he pulled away. “I think I found something.”
“Yeah, what?”
“What?” I asked. “Do you know where they went?”
“No, unfortunately, but…well, after you told me Vanessa said she was Frankie, I started digging around a little. Francesca Maria Moretti’s death certificate was filed ten years ago.”
“Yeah?”
“Her father’s was never filed.”
“What?” I asked. “That’s weird. Wouldn’t they be filed at the same time?”
&n
bsp; “That’s what you would think. So I dug some more.”
“And?” I asked, growing inpatient. What was he trying to say?
“This is going to sound weird, but I don’t think her dad died, Wreck. Frank Moretti has been living in Cannon Beach for the last ten years.”
“Are you shitting me?” I asked.
“Nah man, I’m not.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Vanessa
“Where are you taking me?” I asked Royce, or rather tried to - instead I erupted into a horrible coughing fit. My lungs felt like they were filled with razor blades.
“I’m taking the princess to her castle,” he said, his eyes flashing with pure insanity.
“No!” I croaked, trying to get up but he had me strapped to a gurney in the back of an ambulance that was speeding through the streets. I had no idea where we were, or how I got there. The last thing I remember was standing in the ocean and watching Wreck walk away from me. And then the wave hit and I was under the water. That was all.
Now here I was back in some horrible nightmare that I couldn’t blink away. The ropes digging into my wrists told me this wasn’t a dream at all.
“Just sit tight, Vanessa,” he said, reaching over and caressing my cheek. I cringed, recoiling in disgust at his touch. My heart sank in disappointment and my entire soul seemed to fill with anguish.
I thought I’d gotten away. I thought I’d finally escaped his torturous imprisonment. I thought I’d finally found a way to have a life of my own. I thought about Wreck, how upset and confused he must be. Once I told him the truth about who I was, he’d become so upset. I knew he wouldn’t believe me at first. But I also knew I just needed more time to convince him. I let him walk away from me because I figured he needed a minute or two, some space alone, before he’d come back and I’d explain myself.
Instead, everything had gone so terribly wrong.
And now here I was again, under Royce’s control, and I had no idea how I’d gotten there. Had he been at the beach? Nothing made sense.
“How did you find me?” I asked, my voice a weak, faint sound.
“You don’t know?” he asked, smiling down at me. “I just assumed you’d woken up in the hospital.”
“I was in the hospital?”
“Yes, darling. But don’t worry. They did all they could for you. Too bad about your bodyguard, though. Tsk, tsk,” he said, clicking his tongue. “Old man like that? He should have been more alert. That’s what you get for sleeping on the job.” He reached up with a grisly smile and slid his fingertip across his throat. I shuddered when I realized what he was saying.
“Doc?” I cried.
“Is that what he’s called? Ancient old guy,” he shrugged. “It was time for him to go anyway.”
“Royce, how could you?” The words ripped through me.
“Darling,” he said, leaning close to my face. “Nothing is going to get in the way of me and my wife. What did you think, Vanessa? That I wouldn’t search for you? That you could get away? Surely, you didn’t underestimate me. You know me better than that.”
“You’re sick, Royce,” I said, tears streaming down my face. Had he really killed Doc? Where was Wreck? I wanted to ask him, but I was terrified of the answer.
“Why can’t you just let me go?” I asked. “You don’t even love me.”
“Love?!” he scoffed. “What does love have to do with anything? Vanessa, don’t you see? It’s simple. You’re mine. Nobody takes anything away from me, and that includes you. Nothing will ever change that, no matter what. I’d go to the ends of the Earth to find you. Of course, you won’t be escaping again, so I won’t have to do that.”
“Where are you taking me?” I asked again.
“You’ll be living on island now,” he said. “That way, nobody can get to you and you’ll be locked away safe and sound, just the way I want you.”
My heart sank. I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t let him do this to me, not again.
“No,” I shook my head, fear gripping my heart as I looked around for a way out. I was tied up and the ambulance was tearing down the freeway. Jumping out wasn’t an option.
Not yet, anyway.
I had to figure something out. I had to fight back. But I was as weak as a kitten and completely at his mercy.
Again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Wreck
I walked up to the modern brick and glass house to the sound of waves crashing on Cannon Beach. I’d gotten quite a few second glances as I rode up on my bike, my cut drawing the attention it always did. I never quite got used to be stared at so much, but it was getting easier every day. Today, I barely noticed.
My stomach was in knots and I was bewildered and pissed off, and to be perfectly honest, still in a sense of complete disbelief.
I kept thinking on the way over that Riot must have made some mistake. Frank Moretti was a fairly uncommon name, especially on the West Coast, but it was possible there was another one, right?
I took a deep breath before knocking on the front door.
Within seconds, the door opened and I was staring face-to-face with a ghost.
My mouth dropped and before I could speak, he smiled and nodded.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, pulling me in for a hug. I was frozen stiff - in body and mind. “It’s good to see you, Jesse.”
“Dr. Moretti? I don’t understand…” my words trailed off as I searched his face for answers.
“Come in, son. I’ll explain everything,” he looked past me, scanning the horizon behind me. “You weren’t followed were you?”
“No…” I said, walking in slowly. He closed the door behind me and led me down a long, narrow hallway and into a cozy, sunken living room that had a view of the ocean that spanned an entire wall. I couldn’t look at it though. It only reminded me of Vanessa.
I mean, Frankie. She was Frankie, I knew that now. I had a million questions, but I at least had that one answer.
“I’m sure you have a million questions,” he said, walking over to a glimmering glass bar in the corner and pouring two shots of whiskey.
“Dr. Moretti, Vanessa - I mean, Frankie -,” I began.
“I know, son. I know. I know everything,” he said.
“But she’s —,”
“— missing, I know. Don’t worry, I know where she is.”
“You do? We gotta find her now!” I walked towards him, my voice trembling with urgency.
“She’s gone.”
“What?” I asked, the color draining from my face.
“No, wait!” he said. “Not gone. Not dead,” he said. “I’m sorry to scare you,” he said, handing me the glass of whiskey. I downed it in one quick second, welcoming the numbing burn. “And I’m so sorry about Doc, Jesse.”
“You know about Doc, too?”
“Yes, like I said. I know everything,” he flashed me a reassuring smile. “Here, sit down and I’ll explain.”
Numbly, I sat down on the couch, my mouth dry despite the whiskey.
“First of all, I’m so sorry everything turned out the way it did. I know you and Frankie were close. I hated that I was forced to tear her away from you, away from her life, but it was the only option I had at the time.”
“I don’t understand…”
“I know you don’t, but you will. Where should I start?” he said, scratching his chin. He looked exactly the same, with just a little grey added around his temples. “Okay, so we’ll start at the beginning. That’s the only way it’ll make sense.”
“Actually, maybe we should find Frankie first?”
“I have an arrangement in place, don’t worry, son. There’s nothing we can do right this second, so let me explain now and maybe by the time I’m finished, you won’t hate me as much. Alright, let’s start with Royce, shall we? He’s a bastard, isn’t he? Before he came to me, he was already an evil prick. He used people and spat them out as fast as he could chew them. As you know by now, that inclu
ded kids. Two particularly strong girls he’d hurt decided to seek revenge. They set him on fire while he slept, but unfortunately, he survived. Not without serious damage to his precious face, of course.”
“Look, I already know this,” I said, impatiently. I just wanted to find Frankie, not listen to his fucking story-time hour.
“I’m getting to the rest,” he said, waving me off. “Randolph came to me, while I was working alone one night in my office. He insisted I restore his face, but I said no, of course. He became more persistent, until he found my one weakness. Frankie,” he shook his head, his voice haunted by memories of the past. “she was everything to me. You know that. You know I loved her, right, Jesse? You could see that, I know you could. Anyway, Royce told me if I didn’t do it, he’d kill Frankie. What else could I do? I’d researched him, I knew what he was capable of, I’d heard the rumors. So I did it. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I should have gone to the cops right away. But I was scared. I wasn’t a fighter. I was a fucking doctor, for fuck’s sake.
“So I did it. By the time he woke up, I was just relieved it was over. I wanted him out of my life and I planned to keep my mouth shut and just carry on with raising Frankie.
“Fortunately, someone took pity on me and tipped me off. It was another doctor I’d been a resident with at OHSU. He was Royce’s doctor and Royce had been blackmailing him for years to get the prescription painkillers Royce was addicted to because he had photos of him with a prostitute. Royce threatened to give them to his wife, so to avoid that, he kept Royce doped up on his drug of choice. He’d gone by Royce’s house one day and saw that he’d had surgery on his face. On his way out, he heard Royce talking to Travis about killing me, just to make sure I never talked.”
“Obviously, that didn’t happen,” I said.
“No, it didn’t. But he tried. Royce sent his men to do the job the night Frankie and I disappeared, but I was ready for them. I knew he’d hunt me down afterwards and I just wanted to get away from him. I wanted to protect Frankie. I wanted to give her the best life possible.”
WRECKED: GODS OF CHAOS MC, BOOK FOUR Page 18