She heard a door open and stilled, attempting not to draw attention to herself. “I see our Sleeping Beauty has awoken from her nap,” the voice was deep, slightly familiar, and she tried to place it as he spoke. “If I can’t have the Kings, well, then you’re the next best thing.”
It was then that she knew who was on the other side of the dark material. She tried her best attempt at bravery as she yelled at toward him, “Knox is going to kill you! He’s going to cut you apart piece by piece.” She jumped as she felt a hand grab her arm and turn her over forcefully to her back.
“I don’t think he is. You see, I was just over at Knox’s and we had a little chat. Looks like he doesn’t want you after all.” She squirmed as his finger ran down her neck and to her cleavage.
“You’re a fucking liar!” she screamed.
“Oh no, he said he doesn’t care what I do to you. We considered you a decent trade.” His words cut through to her heart, causing her stomach to churn.
She could feel the bile rising in her throat at the poison he spoke. She questioned the weight of truth behind his words. She knew that Knox loved her, but she also knew he loved his M.C. more. Would he put her up to trade for the safety of his own club, like a piece of swine at the town auction? She blinked back the tears as Chief’s fingers slid further down, slightly rubbing against her nipple. There was no way she was going to let this man touch her, even if Knox didn’t want her; she wasn’t going to let him defile her body.
She attempted to kick, but her legs were bound together just as tightly as her hands. She squirmed, trying to get away from his touch but it was useless. “Don’t touch me!” She screamed over at him, fighting even harder as he climbed on top of her. She could just see the shadow of his head through the material and brought her head up, butting into his as hard as she could.
“Son of a bitch!” he shouted out as his hand fell down hard against the side of her face, “Stop fucking moving!”
The room spun as the metallic taste of blood came into her mouth. She blinked as the tears rolled down her face and Chief ripped her shirt open. She prayed that he’d stop, but he didn’t. He continued his assault against her as she bucked and squirmed. Rolling him off of her and onto the ground.
“I like my women feisty,” he let out an eerie chuckle as the door to the room came back open.
“Chief, need you out here,” a voice drifted into the room.
“Gimme a minute,” Chief spat toward the door.
“Need you now,” the man said. She could hear movement beside her as Chief picked himself up off the floor and made his way to the door.
“Ain’t finished with you, baby,” he said to Ani. “Take her to my room and tie her up,” he said to the man and then the door closed.
Ani’s heart was racing, she felt as if the room was closing in around her. She could barely breath as the sobs came wracking through her body. She rolled to her side as she thought about Knox. Could he really have not cared enough about her to keep her safe? But if he had used her as a trade to the Renegades, why was she bound and masked in a spare bedroom? She didn’t know what to think as the door came open and a flurry of footsteps came in around her.
She flinched as their hands grabbed her, picking her up from the floor and taking her out of the room. She squinted through the fabric, trying to see something as they carried her down a long hallway, but it was useless. The hallway they were taking her down was too dark to make out anything. But as they carried her down further and past a room, she heard the faint sound of a familiar voice; Butcher. His deep Irish accent drifted into her ear as they carried her past, fracturing her heart into a thousand pieces. It was true.
She felt them lay her down onto a bed, first cutting the tie at her feet. She breathed a sigh of relief, they were going to untie her. That was until she felt them each grab a foot and bind it to the end of the bed. She squirmed in an attempt to free her feet but they held on too tightly for her to kick free. “Don’t! No!” she pleaded as they tied her to the bed. “Please let me go!” It was as if they hadn’t heard a word she’d said as they tied off her hands too.
One of the men pulled the bag around her face, letting it loose and pulling it off completely. “You keep that shit up and I’m gonna gag you. You hear me?” the man said.
She didn’t answer, only nodded in agreement. She watched as the two men left from the room, locking the door and shutting it behind them. She glanced around the mostly bare room in an effort to find a way to get free. There was a pair of scissors laying at the farthest end of the side table from her. She tried to pull her hand free but it was useless. She couldn’t move. She closed her eyes, picturing Knox’s face, feeling his soul. She tried to block out the things Chief had said. There was no way that Knox would have willingly given her up. She clung to that hope, praying that he would find her soon. Praying he’d find her before Chief had the chance to hurt her.
Knox
“What the fuck do you mean they took her? From where? They were supposed to be on lockdown! What the fuck is going on?” he shouted at Jameson. His heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to rupture out of his chest at any moment.
“Doc and Ani went to the store to get groceries. He said they were checking out when she went to the bathroom, never came back out. He went in looking for her, but she was gone. Only thing left was one of her earrings,” Jameson explained. “Listen, man, I know you’re worried, but we gotta get our heads together on this. Let’s get to the clubhouse, have everyone meet us at the chapel and come up with a strategy.”
Knox bent over, grabbing his knees in an effort to breath. The air in his lungs was heavy and dense as he gasped for breath. The fury flamed throughout him as he let out a blood curdling growl and mounted his bike. Taking off toward the clubhouse. Shortly after he pulled up, the yard was again full of motorcycles; including Cash’s Bronco. He stormed into the clubhouse and into the chapel, slamming the door behind him. He leaned against the large cedar table, staring at the Celtic designs that were carved into it. He didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to approach this. They usually went in guns blazing, bringing the chaos, but in this case that might get Ani hurt further.
He closed his eyes, willing out toward her, trying to let her know that he was coming. That he was going to come and get her. A shudder tore through his body as he thought of what they might have done to her. If one thing was for sure, once he got his hands on Chief, he’d pay. And, this time he’d pay in blood. No more games. No more fucking around. Chief had already had enough chances to make an alliance with them, call a truce, but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d not only gone after Knox’s club, but also his woman.
The door opened behind him and he turned quickly, taking in the somber look on Cash’s face. “Tell the guys to come in, please,” Knox said quietly.
Jameson, Repo, Charon, and Doc came in through the door, taking their seats around the large table. Knox took his seat at the head of the table and thumbed at the gavel that sat before him. He looked up as the rest of the room filled with patched members, watching as Cash turned to walk out. “Cop, you can stay. But you need to know that I don’t answer to you. I respect your badge. But now; now I’m out for blood,” Knox said through gritted teeth.
“Alright,” Cash contemplated a moment before he came in, leaning against the back of the door.
“I called us together today because one of our own has been taken,” Knox swallowed at the burn in his throat. “Everyone is aware of what happened last night. We were coming back from our run up to Kentucky when we got ambushed by the Renegades. Soon as we came through Gatlinburg, they opened up on us. Chased us all the way to the warehouse before campin’ out the rest of the night.”
“We know why they’re retaliating, Prez?” Odessa asked.
“The only thing I can think of is the incident at the nightclub. Chief wanted to take me out then, but he couldn’t. They’ve already caused too much bloodshed and now they have Ani.” He looked ar
ound as a few unknowing members shifted in their seats, now sharing the same anger that course through his veins. “This time the retaliation is from us. This time we wipe the Gatlinburg chapter out. I don’t care if we take every last one of them down.” He paused, trying to calm his nerves. “All in favor of bringin’ the chaos to the Renegades.”
The members sounded off in order, all agreeing with him. “Aye. Let’s bring the fuckers down.” Charon said to his left.
Just before he slammed the gavel down he looked up at Cash who nodded his head in agreement. He may not be a part of this club, but he was a part of Ani’s life. Knox slammed the gavel down, “Alright, we bring the chaos.”
He stood as the room emptied. “Charon, Rage, we need to come up with a way to do this. I don’t want to go in there breakin’ down doors. They might,” he cleared his throat, trying to not think about what was about to come out of his mouth. “They might kill her.”
“Aye, I agree. I tried following those bastards back to their clubhouse but they lost me. Lost our tail just outside of Gatlinburg,” Rage said.
“Aye. Cash, can you get the address to their club?” Knox asked.
“I could, but I’d need to know who I was looking for. Can’t really type the name Chief into the computer. I assume they don’t have their address listed under Renegade?” Cash asked, turning as the door pushed open behind him.
“Kate, I’ll be out in a minute, babe,” Rage said to her.
“A.L. Construction,” she said, sniffing back the tears that were falling down her cheeks.
“What’s that, babe?” Rage pulled her to him, brushing the hair from her face in an attempt to comfort her.
“Search A.L. Construction; Ani mentioned that he made deposits for that company. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“It’s ok,” Knox said toward her. He could see that she was hurting, her face red and blotchy from the tears she’d shed.
“Ok, I’ll go pull it up now.” Cash took off toward his truck.
“You think we’re going to find her?” Kate sniffed.
“I promise you we will.” Rage leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Go see that her pops is ok, would ya?” Rage said gently to her.
Knox watched as she made her way up the stairs, “What do we do, brother?”
“We need to surround the fucker. If it’s wooded bring about ten guys to the door and leave the rest in the woods as back-up. We can get in there and get it done quickly enough that they won’t have a chance to hurt her. But we gotta get in there and get the shit done. No fuckin’ around. No hesitating,” Rage answered him, he lived for this shit. He loved the chaos of the anarchy back in Ireland.
“Aye. Make sure everyone is well equipped,” he patted Rage on the back as they walked out of the room.
“We’re gonna find her, brother. I promise you,” Rage said looking back at him as he walked toward the door.
Knox made his way up the stairs, each foot feeling heavier than the last as he walked down to Repo’s room. He stood just outside the door, trying to come up with the words to say when Kate came walking swiftly out, smacking into him. “Sorry, Knox.” She swerved around him as she wiped the tears from her face.
“Mr. Forrest?” Knox knocked lightly on the door as he pushed it the rest of the way open.
“Any news?” Mr. Forrest asked.
“Not yet,” Knox made his way into the room, taking a seat in the wooden chair across from where Mr. Forrest sat. “We’re about to head out.” Knox looked up at him, taking in his empty eyes. This was a man who’d seen things, experienced things none of them had. But the weight of his daughter missing was ripping a fear through his eyes that sent shivers up Knox’s spine. “Mr. Forrest, I am so sorry.” Knox dropped his head into his hands.
“It’s not your fault, son.” Mr. Forrest’s words were shaking as he spoke.
“Aye, it is. I brought this on her. If she hadn’t been with me, they would’ve never touched her.” He looked back up at Mr. Forrest.
“Son, you can’t help who you love,” he looked out the window as he continued, “First time I saw Ani after she’d spent the weekend with you I knew. I knew she’d met her soul mate. Know how I knew?” he looked back over at Knox.
“How?” Knox asked, pushing down the lump in his throat.
“Because she came home with the same look I used to see in her mama’s eyes. She smiled like I’d never seen her smile before; for the first time in years she was happy. Happier than I’d ever seen.”
“I don’t know if they’ve hurt her…” Knox’s voice trailed off. He didn’t want to think about that, if she died his world would come to an end.
“You still feel whole?” he asked, “You can feel her can’t you?” Mr. Forrest smiled over at him. “I know you can, because I used to be able to feel her mother’s spirit. Knew when something was wrong, when she was sad, happy. Never knew how she did it. She’d tell me all the time it was because of her heritage; that she’d chosen to give me half her spirit and because of that I could feel her. Ani did the same to you. When that feeling dims out, when that feeling goes away, you’ll know she’s gone.” He turned back to the window. “I know, because I’ve felt empty every day since her mother passed.”
Knox rubbed his hand across his face, taking in the words that Mr. Forrest spoke. He closed his eyes and tried to feel her, tried to reach out to her. He could feel her, he could feel how scared she was. His eyes came open with a frenzy of emotion as he looked over to Ani’s dad.
“Make ‘em pay for what they did,” Mr. Forrest glared over at him.
“Aye, bring the chaos.” Knox stood and made his way downstairs, finding Rage and Charon at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him.
He walked past them toward the yard, taking in the thirty or so members that had convened to help. The devotion of his members coursed through his veins, fueling the fire that was now raging inside of him. The flame of revenge. It seared through every fiber of his body. He didn’t know what to expect, but he knew that whatever it took, whatever he had to do, he would get Ani back safe. He put his helmet on as he revved the engine of his bike. He glanced over watching Rage kiss Kate’s temple as he instructed her to go back inside. They were soldiers, soldiers going to war. As the women made their way back under the covered porch, the pack’s engines began to growl as they all came to life. Knox pulled out first followed by Rage and the rest of the pack; and Cash’s patrol car filed in behind them. They took off toward the Renegades’ clubhouse, this time with a vengeance that could only be quenched with satisfaction.
Ani
Ani laid helpless on the bed. She didn’t know how much time had passed since the men had left the room, but she was grateful that they hadn’t come back in. A small thought in the back of her mind blossomed into the hope that they had forgotten her. She closed her eyes for a moment, she was exhausted and with the anxiety and adrenaline now gone, she could feel the tiredness coming over her. She had only nodded off for a second, when the creak from the door caused her to jump. She eyed over at a gangly dark haired girl as she came in the door with a bottle of water. She looked to be in her twenties, but her body eaten away by drugs.
She came up next to Ani and held out the water to her, “You thirsty?” Ani eyed the girl suspiciously. “It’s not poisonous,” the girl said sarcastically and let out a vile laugh.
Ani tilted her head up and opened her mouth, trying to take as much of the water into her dry throat as she could. She swallowed it down as the girl smiled coyly at her. She swallowed the last mouthful that she could and laid her head back down onto the hard pillow. She watched the girl walk back toward the door. “Please, help me,” Ani pleaded.
“I can’t.” The girl turned back to her, “I owe them a lot of money. I’m sorry, but I can’t. If I don’t do what they tell me to, they will kill me.” Her eyes were frightened as she looked over at Ani.
“My club can help you. Let me help you please,” Ani urged, hoping the g
irl would consider it.
“You don’t have a club,” the girls words were icy as she quickly left the room and slammed the door behind her.
Ani swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall, she thrashed as hard as she could against her restraints in an attempt to free herself, but it did no good as they bit into her skin even further. As she stilled, she felt her head begin to swirl; the room began spinning as she tried to focus her eyed on the large dresser. Her vision went in and out as the door to the room came open and Chief walked in. He walked to her side as she stared up at him blankly, trying to comprehend what was going on.
“A little calmer this time aren’t you?” He leaned down to her ear, “I had Jessie give you something to help you relax.” He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. His face was stone as he grabbed her throat and pushed her down into the bed. She tried to struggle, but found her arms and legs useless. They felt as if someone had filled them with sand, unable to lift them each time she tried. “Ah, that’s better.”
She tried to focus on her breathing; breathe in, breathe out. She felt as though her lungs would fail her at any moment as they became as heavy as the rest of her body. She gasped for breath as she tried to speak, “Please, stop.” She felt his hand travel up her stomach, toying at the bottom of her bra. His hands felt unnatural and strange as they touched her.
“You see I can’t do that. You belong to me now and since you wouldn’t do what you were told earlier, I had to make sure you were in a state where you would.” He climbed on top of her and ripped the rest of her shirt from her torso. “You see, Ani. Can I call you Ani?” He looked down at her sarcastically. “You see, I’ve had a hard on for you since the moment I stepped foot in your office.” His lips found her neck and gently made his way down to her breast. She held her breath as his unfamiliar smell came drifting into her nose, snatching her head to the side to ward him off. “That fiery attitude, just made my cock stand at attention. But then you show up in my town on the arm of a King.
Wild Heart (The Wild Heart Series) Page 18