by M Dauphin
What the fuck is it with the bad guys going after the women, anyway? They only do it to hurt us… why the hell don’t they just come for us in the first place?!
“I know,” Tatum huffs. “I think it’s about time I took over what’s rightfully mine. I can’t have my family in danger because I’m not doing everything I can to keep them safe.”
“How’s Molly feel about you being the head of the Savage empire?”
“She’s not too happy about it.”
“Don’t fucking blame her. You got a fuck ton of issues to fix, Tatum.”
“Right. Baby steps. First things first, though. We need to find your girl and get her home to her family.”
“On it.” I end the call and plug my phone in before setting out my mind-numbing excursion online to try and find out any links to men that would want me to pay, and Mac and Jase. That’s all I have to go on right now. I know in my gut they have some part in Red’s disappearance. I just don’t know what yet.
***
I emerge from my office right before dinner to the smell of lasagna that brings back memories I’d rather not re-live. A time when I was just a boy living in a house with the devil himself.
“Mom’s recipe,” I say, walking towards the fridge. I thought I was over that time of my life. I thought Red helped get me past the memories that haunted me, but seeing my sister, an almost spitting fucking image of my mother, standing at the island cooking my mom’s lasagna is unnerving.
“It’s my comfort food. John loves it so I have the recipe memorized. Ya’ll didn’t have much for ingredients here but I’m making it work. I think you need to go grocery shopping tomorrow, though, Eddie. Dax is almost out of formula.” She gives me this pity smile and I want to punch a hole in the wall.
Don’t fucking pity me. Be sad with me, be angry with me, but don’t goddamned pity me. I will get my Red back.
“Yea, cool.” I take a seat at the table next to Angel and start playing with her hair, the one thing she hates most in this world. She doesn’t pull away from me like she normally does, though. She just looks at me with those sad eyes and shrugs.
“It’s ok if you want to do that tonight, Daddy.” She smiles, then crawls into my lap while we wait for Sarah to finish up dinner.
Fuck me, I can’t keep up a life like this. Seven mother fucking days. I’m tired, I’m depressed, I’m angry for myself and for my kids, I’m a nervous fucking wreck… I feel like I’m losing my goddamned mind!
At least dinner is a hit, and by the time everyone is full, I have a sleeping baby in the bouncy seat and a toddler asleep on my lap. Sarah smiles at me and gives me that look like she did earlier.
Fucking pity.
“Thanks for dinner, sis,” I say, standing with Angel in my arms. “I’m going to take her to bed then get to work some more. You got him?” I nod to Dax and she smiles.
“Yea, I got him.” She stands and starts cleaning up as I put my baby girl to bed then go back to the office.
Again. Trying to pull an all-nighter to find out who the hell took my wife.
The next day, it’s 9am before I crack my eyes open. I finally brought myself to bed around six. I kept hitting the same road block and there was nothing more I could do at that time of day. I have some contacts that I’ll be calling today, calling in favors I wish I didn’t have to, but I’m desperate. The bed in the basement isn’t the most comfortable thing, but it’s the only bed in this house Red and I haven’t shared, so it’s the only place I will sleep. I wake to a light flashing on my phone.
I grumble and roll over, unplugging it from the charger and unlocking the screen.
One lonely text message.
And not from my Red.
Sarah: The kids and I are heading to Molly and Tatum’s. I’ll text when we get there. Tatum’s men are following me per his orders so we’re safe, promise. You need to rest and we need to talk about getting the police involved, Eddie. I’ll be home later. REST.
Fuck to the no am I getting the police involved. They don’t understand what the Savage family does… what I’ve helped them do. It’s more of a vigilante service than anything but they don’t see it that way. I’d rather not get mixed up with the Fed’s unless I absolutely have to. That’s just a major fucking shit show waiting to happen. I’m a little peeved she let my kids leave this house with everything going on around us, really. That’s just one more fucking thing to worry about today.
Great.
I roll out of bed and walk up the stairs to hot coffee in the coffee pot.
Thanks, sis.
As soon as one cup is down, I pour my second and head for the shower. Letting the hot water run down my body, I can’t shake the feeling something bad’s happening to my Red.
No kids in the house, this is fucking prime time to rub one off, but I can’t. I have no fucking sex drive with her gone… at all. Not even for my dick’s first friend; my hand.
Her being gone has completely broken me.
And I have to put everything back together before I shatter even more.
On my way to the office I hear my phone ringing from the kitchen. Jogging to get it, in case something new has been found, I answer without looking at the name on the screen.
“Yo,” I say, rubbing the towel over my hand.
“We’re swamped, Eddie,” Ash’s voice carries over the line. “Cammy won’t get out of bed until Gwynn is back, Alex isn’t here today, and I had five new potential clients just walk in from the street. I need you, man.”
“I have shit I need to do, Ash. She’s not coming back without me finding her,” I growl. He, of all people, should know how important it is to be able to find the one you love.
“Eddie, fuck… you want her to come back to a run down gym that’s on the brink of closing because we couldn’t keep it running?”
Shit. He’s right.
“I’ll be there soon. But only for an hour.”
He thanks me and hangs up, leaving me standing naked in my kitchen, completely out of my element. I can’t fucking run a gym in person. I’ve aided Red in the business side of it, but I’ve never actually been there helping people!
“Shit!” I kick the chair, stubbing my toe immediately. “Fuck, Jesus fucking Christ!” I hop down the hallway and straight to my office.
Fuck clothes right now. I need to talk to Tatum. I wrap the towel around myself and start a Facetime call with him. He’s going to need to see a few things as I walk him through them today so this is easier than a phone call.
“Tatum,” I say into the camera when it connects, sitting in the chair rubbing my small toe. Why’s it always gotta be the baby toe that gets hurt?! Fuck, man!
“Where’s your fucking shirt man?” he grumbles, his bed head prevalent.
“I could say the same thing,” I raise an eyebrow at him, obviously still in bed when I called. He chuckles and smooths down his hair and groans.
“Jesus, man. Get the fuck up. I have shit to go over with you before I have to leave for a bit. I need your eyes and ears on the streets today. Got a pen?”
He rushes to his office, the video showing a blur of their hallways until he sits in his desk.
“Shoot.”
“Ok, here are the cameras you need to follow. Here’s my login and program codes to get into the system. Follow them from 5pm last night. That’s the time I stopped watching.”
“Ok,” he mumbles, his hand jotting down the codes as I read them off to him. Five minutes later, he’s logged in and ready to go.
“I’m trusting you to find something, man.”
“I’ll do my best, Eddie. We’ll find her. Where you going today?”
“They need help at the gym. Someone’s gotta step up with that place or it’s gonna go under with her being gone.
“We’ll find her, man. I promise you. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m getting your girl back.” He ends the call and I huff, rubbing my hands over my head to calm my nerves.
Looks like it’s time to get to
the gym.
***
When I finally leave, it’s almost dinner time. I haven’t talked to my sister all day, but I hit the punching bag pretty hard, per Ash’s instructions, and I fucking loved it. I worked out hard when Red and I first got together, and I’ve kept it up somewhat, but hitting that bag today was so fucking amazing. Each hit to the bag took a little more weight off my shoulders. Each time the bag swung back at me I was able to square and swing harder than the first.
I’ve never had so much fun beating the living shit out of an inanimate object before.
When I get in my truck and start it up my phone dings, probably my sister texting about the kids. I pull it out and look at the screen and my heart drops at the words on the screen.
“Your girl is one hell of a fighter.”
No.
The next ding that comes through is a picture of my Red. Well… half of her. The picture cuts off half of her swollen face, but the tattoos on her arm give her away… even though she’s swollen and covered in blood. My blood starts to boil as I stare at the screen.
My fucking girl.
“FUCK!” I scream, beating the steering wheel. “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!”
I screenshot the number just incase I lose it, my hands shaking so hard I can barely click the right buttons, and throw the truck into drive.
Mother fucker. When I find you, you’ll be so fucking sorry you messed with Eddie Fucking Roe.
Gwynn
They told me if I fought I’d make it back to my family. They just needed me to earn them some money.
I called bullshit the minute the words came out of their mouths.
It’s been two weeks and six fights and I see no end in sight, but I’m not giving up.
The first fight was just a few nights ago. Mac waltzed back into my ‘training’ life like he thought he knew what was best for me. The first time he tried grabbing my arm like he used to, to yank me around, I threw an uppercut right into his chin and smiled way too hard when he stumbled back, blood seeping from his mouth.
I also got held back and hit in the stomach a handful of times for it.
Mother fuckers.
One of these days I’ll have my chance, but I learned that day that there’s no fighting back when there’s a crowd. I have to figure out how to get one of them alone in a room at a time.
“Come on, speed your shit up,” Jase grumbles in front of me.
He’s so different than when I first met him. It’s almost disheartening seeing him in such a negative light. He used to be my world. Hell, I beat people up for him all the time because I thought he was too weak to do it himself. The way he punched me the other day, though, shows me it was really all a ploy.
When Jase caused Eddie’s accident years ago, I was convinced that he had been brainwashed. I knew he was a bad guy, but I didn’t want to believe that he’d do something so terrible.
Now, there’s not a doubt in my mind this fucker needs to go down in flames with the rest of the assholes running this shit show.
“In,” he barks, opening the back door to the van. I pause and look at him, searching his eyes for something… someone that I used to know, but I see nothing. There’s nothing there that’s even remotely the old Jase. I narrow my eyes at him and huff, then climb into the van before he gets the wild idea to hit me again.
I’m not a fucking pansy, but he hits really hard. I have the bruises on my ribs to prove it.
“A win for the books,” a voice says from the front seat. A voice that belongs to a man whose name I still don’t know.
“A win for the books,” I mock, starting to unwrap my hands. The only thing that’s saved me this time around in the ring, is my recent training for my upcoming fight. The people they’re fighting me against are dirty fighters. Grappling with knives in their gloves, kicking with cleated shoes. I waltzed in there after turning those things down when Mac offered them to me, thinking it was just a normal fight. I immediately regretted it. There was so much blood pouring from my forehead, Mac and Jase thought they were going to have to take me to the hospital.
That is, until the man that stole me from my life spoke up. “She’ll stand and fight or I’ll take care of one of those offspring of hers,” he said in his thick accent. It was enough for me to push aside the pain and stand, then beat the ever-loving shit out of my opponent.
No one fucking threatens my kids.
I glance out the window, not bothering to ask where we’re going. I’ve learned quickly this week not to ask questions… they won’t get answered.
Here’s what I do know; I know I’m not in the United States anymore. When I woke up on day four, I was severely hung-over and on a plane. My neck was sore where they most likely stuck me with the needle that made me pass out to get on this death trap. A private jet… no way they would have traveled commercial with a passed out chick. The minute I stepped off the plane things weren’t at all typical USA. The language change, the weather… I knew I was far from home the instant I walked off that plane. Now, here I am, ten days after stepping off that plane, in a van on my way to God knows where. We haven’t been back to the same spot once yet. We go somewhere, they pit me against Jase and we grapple until it’s time for me to fight, I fight, I win, then we leave. Meals and sleep are few and far between but I’ve kept going so far.
For my kids.
For my Eddie.
For me.
“Take a left,” Mac says from the seat in front of me.
“No,” the man that took me growls.
“Fuck, Z, I think I know where I’m going. Take a mother fucking left!” Mac bellows.
The man in the front seat, Z… interesting… taps on the driver’s elbow and nods to the left. I hear Mac huff and see him lean back in his seat.
We drive for a good ten minutes before the van slows to a halt. I make a move to get out but Jase’s hand comes around my elbow.
“Right here with me, Gwynn.”
I lock eyes with him and for the second time today, try to find something in them that I should know by now I’m never going to find.
I just want to see some type of regret there… something that tells me he feels bad for doing this to me, but there’s not. The van door slams and it’s just Jase and I in the cab.
“Why are you doing this?” I whisper, attempting to sound frail and fragile. Maybe if I show him that I’m breaking he’ll show some sort of remorse.
He narrows his eyes at me and sets his jaw.
Ok then.
“Jase, what the fuck? You don’t fucking do this. This isn’t you!” I scream, angry that his silence only irritates me more. I swing to hit him in the shoulder out of pure rage, but his hand comes around my wrist, hard. My eyes fly to his hand then back to his eyes. I try to pull away from him but it just makes him squeeze tighter. He leans towards me, forcing me to back up until I’m pinned between him and the door.
Fuck.
“You think you’ve got it all figured out, Gwynn,” he growls, leaning close enough for me to feel his stubble on my cheek. “You’re about to realize just how wrong you were.” His voice a whisper as his hot breath hits my ear. I keep trying to buck him off of me but it’s to no avail. His hand starts to snake its way between my legs and something inside me switches and I lose my shit.
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I buck him off of me and kick him straight in the jaw, sending blood flying onto the van window just as Z and Mac open the back door.
“I’ll fucking fight for you, but I will NOT be fucking raped!” I scream, panting. The smile Z is wearing throws me off.
The last time I hurt one of his men I ended up with bruises that still haven’t gone away.
“You’re a fucking idiot, kid,” he says to Jase as he helps him out of the van.
“She fucking attacked me!” he whines, spitting blood on the ground.
“You deserved it,” I growl.
“Get out of the van and shut your mouth,” Z says as he rolls his eyes. His hand goes to my el
bow but I yank it away.
“I can fucking walk,” I grumble. “All ya’ll have guns on me at all times. You really think I’m so stupid to try to run?” I huff and start walking alongside Z, trying to distance myself from Mac and Jase right now.
From what I can tell, Mac and Jase are just in this as Z’s helpers. They don’t really hold any real power over anyone but me. I still don’t know why I’m here other than because of Eddie, but even that is foggy to me.
I can’t focus on the why, though. I need to focus on the how. How the hell am I going to get out of this?
“You can walk, yes. You can also fight. There’s only one of us carrying tonight.” He raises an eyebrow at me. “I’m not going to tell you which one that is, but all of my men have orders to shoot to kill if you try to make the wrong move.” He leans in closer to me and whispers, “You don’t want your kids growing up without a mommy now, do you?”
My fists tighten at my sides and I have to remember to breathe. I want so badly to beat the shit out of this man that keeps threatening my kids but I know the minute I attack him my life is over. He’s given me shots in the past… hell he didn’t care that I attacked Jase tonight, but something tells me we’re getting to the point where he allows no shit from me.
I need to get out of here before that happens.
We walk in the dark towards a brick building with one lone light near a small black door. When we arrive I stop a few feet behind Jase so I don’t get too close. Mac knocks on the door and we wait in the silence. I jump when a hand comes to rest on my lower back, glaring at the man I only know as Z. He looks down and winks at me and it takes everything I have not to take off in a full-speed run.
Fuck being in a different country, I’m not about to let these men use me.
“Ah, boys,” the woman that opens the door croons. She eyes me then nods her head. “She’ll do.” She opens the door wide and Mac and Jase enter but I don’t. I can’t. I don’t know what’s behind that door but I know it’s not something I want to be a part of. Not when the woman answered the door in what she did.