Reaper

by B E Kelly

  Reaper nodded, “There’s one glitch with your plan, Dave,” he said. “That asshole now has my girl.”

  “Oh, you mean Miss Sibyl?” Dave asked.

  “Yeah, but she’s not Miss Sibyl anymore. She’s my wife now and I plan on getting her back—in one piece, unharmed.”

  “Of course,” Dave said. “We will take every precaution to make sure that happens.”

  “I trust that you will, Dave, because I’ll be with you every step of the way,” Reaper said.

  “I’m sorry, Reaper but that can’t happen. This is now a government investigation and you can’t be involved. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that any crime against your government would be considered an act of treason, right?”

  Tank stood and towered over poor Dave and Reaper shot him a look, telling him to stand down. He didn’t need his friend fighting his battles for him. “How do we know that when this is all over you won’t come after some of my guys that have had trouble with the government?” Tank growled.

  “I’ll make you a deal, Tank is it? You and your men stay out of my way and I’ll wipe the slate clean. You won’t have to worry about ever having to see my face again after this is all over. You have my word,” Dave said, once again holding his hand out. This time, Tank took it and from the expression on Dave’s face, Reaper could tell his friend squeezed a little too hard.

  “Deal,” Tank agreed. “But if anything happens to Beth, you’ll have me to contend with.” Dave nodded and stood to leave.

  “I’m sorry your wife is caught up in this mess, Reaper. Beth is a lovely girl.” Dave left the office, shutting the door behind him and Reaper felt about ready to punch someone.

  “We need a plan and we need it fast,” Tank said. “If we are going to get Beth out of there before Dave’s raid, we need to be quick about it.”

  “But you just heard the guy,” Reaper said. “I can’t let the club be involved in getting Lizzy out of there. If Anthony Sr. has her in that warehouse, I’ll be the one going in to get her out.”

  “Problem is, how do we know that’s where she’s being held?” Tex asked.

  “You guys aren’t listening to me,” Reaper yelled. “I can’t jeopardize everyone in the club by letting you help. This is something I need to do on my own.”

  “And, I don’t think you get it, man,” Tank’s big voice boomed through his office. “We are a team and that hasn’t changed. We voted to help you and there was no immunity on the table then. Fuck Dave and his deal. We are brothers and now, Seer is our sister. We find her and we get her out. Got it?” Tank stared Reaper down and he knew that there would be no way of protesting his decision.

  Reaper nodded, “Thanks, Tank,” he said.

  “Well, now that the pissing match is over, will someone please tell me how we are going to find out where Seer is being held?” Gunner said.

  “That’s exactly how we’re going to do it,” Reaper said. “She’s a seer and we just have to connect. She said she’ll see me in my dreams and if I know my Lizzy, she’s already asleep and waiting for me.” Reaper started from the office and Tank called after him.

  “Where are you going, man?” he asked.

  “To find a sleeping pill. I have a date with my wife.” Reaper took the steps, two at a time, to the top floor where the bedrooms were. Tank was hot on his heels.

  “I have some,” Tank almost whispered. “They help me to sleep when I’m having flashback nightmares,” he said. Reaper knew about Tank’s time in the Army, but he had no idea that things had gotten that bad for him.

  “Thanks, man,” he said. “I just need something to help me wind down—maybe just a half a pill?” Tank nodded and went to his room to retrieve the bottle, handing it to Reaper.

  “I’ll see you on the other side, brother. Hopefully with some clue as to where Lizzy is,” Reaper said.

  Elizabeth

  Beth was chained to a fucking wall and she had just about lost most of the feeling in her arms. Anthony Sr.’s goons had taken her back to what she assumed to be his residence and chained her up in the basement that reminded her of a jail cell. Beth wondered who else the scumbag had used the cell for and the thought made her sick.

  She knew that the only way Reaper was going to find her was if she could actually fall asleep and go into the dream state where she always found him. But being chained to a wall was making sleeping less and less possible, even with her exhaustion from being up half the night with her husband and then being abducted by gunpoint. She felt about ready to drop and then she could find Reaper and give him every detail she remembered after she was taken.

  The guard that was left to watch her sat just down the hall and she knew that despite his earbuds, she would be able to get his attention. If she could get him to release her hands, Beth stood a fighting chance to sleep.

  “Excuse me,” she shouted and he didn’t even turn around. “Hey,” she screamed and he pulled out his left earbud and turned.

  “Can I do something for you, toots?” he asked.

  I’d really appreciate my hands being released, so I can sleep,” she said. He eyed her suspiciously and she gave him her best smile. “Listen, I’m dog -tired and there’s a cot right there.” She nodded over to the corner where the tiny one man cot sat. “I promise to behave—I just need a few hours shuteye, please,” she begged. Because she was not above begging to get what she needed and right now, she needed to see her husband.

  “Alright,” the guard said. “But, as soon as you’re awake, I’m chaining you back to the wall.”

  “Of course,” Beth agreed. “Thank you,” she said. God, she wanted to choke on those fucking words and how sweet she had to pretend to be, but for now, she’d do whatever it took to fall asleep. The guard unlocked her cell and then unchained her hands, holding a gun to her back as if she was strong enough to overpower him. She was weak and exhausted and no amount of adrenaline was going to give her a surge of strength to deal with the guard. He led her over to the cot and told her to sit down and then backed out of her cell, keeping his gun trained on her.

  “Go to sleep,” he ordered, locking her back into the cage.

  “That’s the plan,” she said around a yawn. Beth curled up and rubbed the feeling back into her arms and sleep came quickly. Before she knew it, she was sitting on a bench, in a place she recognized. It was the center of town, down by the courthouse where she and Reaper were married the day before.

  “It’s about time,” he said, sitting down next to her on the bench.

  “Oh Reaper—you’re here,” she said, sliding over to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and for just a minute, she could forget that she was locked in a cell and being held captive. She could forget that the man she loved was nowhere near her and that this was all an illusion.

  “Of course I’m here,” he said. “Where else would I be? I love you so much, baby and I’m working to find you. Can you give me any details about where you are? Does it look like an old warehouse?”

  “No,” she said, confused by his question. “I think Anthony Sr. had me taken to his residence. It looks like a house but he has me in the basement, that could double as a dungeon. It’s awful. He had me chained to the concrete wall. I had to beg them to let me loose so I could lie down and sleep to find you,” she said.

  “Baby,” he soothed, “I’m here now and I won’t let them touch you.”

  “That’s just it, Reaper,” she said. “You’re not here, not really and I need to figure out how to get out of this cell. As soon as I wake up, I’ll try to get the keys away from the guard.”

  “No,” he growled. “I’m on my way, Lizzy. Don’t do anything stupid. I need you to stay safe until I can get to you. Do you understand?” Reaper asked.

  “Yes,” she promised.

  “How many guards are in the basement with you?” he asked.

  “Just one,” she said.

  “Good girl. Now, how many guards were around the house? Did you notice?”

 
“Um,” Lizzy tried to think back to her trip into the house. “I think about a half dozen,” she said. “And, there were two other guards with me in the car.”

  “Where is Anthony Sr.?” Reaper asked. “Is he at the house too?”

  “I—I don’t know” she sobbed.

  “No, baby,” he said. “Don’t cry. We only have a short time together until we both have to wake up but I want you to know that I’m on my way. I’m going to find you, honey.”

  “Okay,” she sniffled.

  “We met with Dave tonight. His agency is going to raid the textile warehouse where Anthony Sr. is holding the women.”

  Lizzy gasped, “Your warehouse?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “He’s turned it into a makeshift prison. That’s why I had to find you tonight. I needed to know that you weren’t going to be ambushed by his raid and caught in the middle of this war.”

  “Now it all makes sense,” she whispered.

  “What does, honey?” Reaper asked.

  “On the drive to his house, Anthony Sr. was on the phone with someone. I pretended to be too distraught to eavesdrop, but he was talking about moving a shipment in the morning. I’m assuming he meant the women in that warehouse,” she said.

  “Fuck,” Reaper shouted.

  “You need to wake up, Reaper,” she insisted. “Tell Dave that he needs to go in now. Those women’s lives depend on it.”

  “How do I explain how I know what I know?” Reaper asked.

  “I don’t know—tell him you had a phone call from Ringer and he got the intel from one of his contacts,” she offered.

  Reaper gave her lips a quick, hard kiss. “You’re brilliant, honey,” he said. “That’s one of the many reasons I married you. Can you cook?” he questioned.

  “Yes,” she said and giggled.

  “You really are the perfect woman,” he said. He gave her another kiss and stood. “What will you do?” The look of concern was back on his handsome face and she wished she could take that away for him.

  “I will be sleeping,” she said. “Once I wake up, they will chain me back to the wall.”

  “Shit—don’t let that happen,” he ordered. “Even if you have to fake sleeping, don’t let them shackle you back to the wall. I will need to get in and out with you. Dave can never know that me or the guys interfered with his mission.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she promised. “Hurry, Reaper,” she said. He gave her another quick kiss and turned to leave and as he disappeared, she could hear him whisper the words, “I love you.”

  Reaper

  Reaper woke up as soon as he left his dream with Lizzy and found both Gunner and Tank sitting in his room watching him. “Shit, guys,” he grumbled. “You scared the fuck out of me.”

  “Sorry, man,” Tank said. “You were out for a while and we wanted to make sure you were okay, since you took one of my pills.” Reaper laughed and tossed the pill bottle back to Tank.

  “Nope,” he said. “As soon as my head hit my pillow, I was out. The idea of seeing my girl was enough incentive to fall asleep fast.”

  “So, you saw her then?” Gunner asked.

  “Yep,” Reaper admitted. “What time is it?” He remembered that Lizzy said Anthony Sr. was moving the women in the morning and he hoped he wasn’t too late.

  “It’s four in the morning,” Tank said. “What did she say?”

  “Lizzy said that I need to tell Dave that they are moving those women sometime this morning. She told me that my asshole business partner has her chained to a fucking concrete wall in his basement, out at his house.”

  “You know where this house is?” Gunner asked.

  “Yeah,” Reaper admitted. His family used to go there on Christmas to spend the day with his dad’s best friend. How his father got along with the likes of Anthony Sr. was beyond him. But he guessed that could be chalked up to the fact that people change.

  “Good,” Tank said. “You call Dave and get him up to speed and I’ll grab about a dozen guys and make sure everyone has a weapon. We leave in an hour to go get your girl.” Reaper nodded.

  “Thanks, man,” he said. “I promised her I’d find her.”

  “And you’ll keep that promise, Reap,” Tank said. “Meet me down in my office in thirty to debrief the guys,” he ordered. Reaper smiled at his friend. Sometimes he forgot that half the guys in the club were ex-military—even their president. And, from what he had heard, Tank was one of the best and he was damn lucky to have him on his side for this.

  ****

  Reaper showered, changed and made it down to Tank’s office in twenty minutes. What he really wanted to do was get on his fucking bike and go over to Anthony Sr.’s house and get his girl back but that would be a suicide mission. That house would be guarded like Fort Knox and there was no way he’d take a chance with Lizzy’s life at stake.

  “You look like a caged feral animal, Reap,” Gunner said as he walked into the office.

  “That about sums up my current mood. Tell me Dave showed up,” Reaper demanded.

  “I’m here,” Dave said. He walked into Tank’s office wearing his brown suit and carrying that damn briefcase and Reaper was beginning to wonder if that getup was a part of him.

  “You sleep in that, man?” Gunner asked, laughing at his own bad joke.

  Dave straightened his jacket. “I just like to be prepared for anything and a smart suit goes a long way in my world. So, you want to tell me why you called me in before the sun’s up?”

  Reaper ran his hands through his hair, making it stand on end. He wasn’t sure how to explain the connection that he and Lizzy had or how he came up with his new Intel. He needed to remember that Dave was part of the government and if they found out about his wife’s abilities, things might end badly. His only choice was to stick with Lizzy’s plan and hope that Dave hadn’t had contact with Ringer in the past few days.

  “Ringer called in the middle of the night to say he was tipped off that his father was going to be moving a shipment of women from the warehouse this morning. If he does that, they might never be found again,” Reaper said.

  “Ringer has my direct number,” Dave said. “I wonder why he didn’t contact me with the news.”

  “Yeah, he said something about trying you but he couldn’t get through. He panicked and called me, worried he wouldn’t be able to save those women in time. Listen—does it matter who he called when so many lives are at stake?” Reaper challenged.

  “Of course, you are right,” Dave said, clearing his throat. “It doesn’t matter how you got your Intel. I’ll have my team prepped and ready to move into position within the hour. We’ll get those women out and if your wife is in that warehouse, we’ll get her.” Reaper didn’t share the fact that he knew Lizzy wouldn’t be found in that warehouse with the other captives. In fact, he was also keeping the information of him taking his own team to Anthony Sr.’s house, after Dave and his guys left, to himself. That was where his Lizzy was being held, but that was just another thing he couldn’t explain knowing about.

  “Thanks, Dave,” Reaper said. He stood to show Dave out, not wanting to waste any more time or chance him being there when the rest of the guys showed up to be briefed about Lizzy.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Dave said. Reaper nodded and slapped him on the back.

  Reaper turned to find Tank smirking at him from his big chair behind his desk. “Damn man, you couldn’t seem to push him out the door fast enough.”

  “Yeah well, I was worried he was going to push the whole Ringer story and he’d realize I was lying,” Reaper admitted.

  “Well, it seemed to work and it was a brilliant idea. I’m guessing it was your girl’s plan,” Tank teased. Reaper grabbed a clean coffee mug and poured himself a cup of coffee. He was going to need an entire pot to get through the morning with as little sleep as he got. Right now, he was running on pure adrenaline and the need to hold his wife in his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

  “You have that wo
rried look again, man,” Tank said.

  “Well, my business partner has my wife chained to a fucking wall and all I want to do is go and get her. Tell me I shouldn’t worry, Tank. Shit, tell me she’s going to be alright,” Reaper pleaded.

  “We are going to do everything we can do to make that happen for you, man,” Tank said.

  “I know that,” Reaper said. “I just want to get this show on the road.”

  “Well, you’re in luck,” Texas said. He had come into the office with about a dozen guys that Tank had handpicked—men who he knew weren’t the rats who had talked to Anthony Sr. and sold out his girl.

  “Everyone’s here and knows the plan, Tank,” Gunner said. “We head out in five.” Reaper nodded his thanks. It wouldn’t be long now and he’d be able to hold his wife in his arms again and that was the only think keeping him grounded.

  Elizabeth

  Beth wasn’t sure what time it was or how long she had been asleep. Time seemed nonexistent in the musty basement prison cell. She just wished she could get her bearings to figure out her next move. She peeped an eye open and saw that the same guard sat outside her cell, watching videos on his phone. Beth didn’t dare stir or change her breathing, still trying to give the ruse of being asleep. She promised Reaper she’d pretend as long as possible to keep from being chained back on the wall, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to be able to keep up the deception.

  “I know you’re awake, little mouse,” the guard said. He didn’t bother to look back at her, just sat on his chair, watching his video. “You snore—you know?”

  Beth sat up, knowing that she was caught and pretending not to hear him might only piss him off. She was just going to have to stall for as long as possible. Her grandmother used to say that she could talk down a politician and this was her time to use her gift of gab.

  “I don’t snore,” she protested, even though she knew better. Lyra used to always complain about having to share a room with her because she snored so badly.