by Levine, Nina
“Hi Lisa,” I answered, trying to project an upbeat attitude.
“Hi Harlow,” she said in her timid voice.
“What’s up, honey?”
She started crying and my heart hurt listening to her. “Where are you?” I asked. It wasn’t quite three o’clock so I figured she was probably still at school.
She sniffed. “I’m in the toilets at school. Can you come and get me?” she begged.
“Yes, I’ll be there soon. Just wait where you are; I’ll find you.”
Just under ten minutes later, I pulled up at her school and followed the directions she’d sent in her text as to where she was. When I found the toilets, I entered and called out to her. A door opened and she stepped out; her face was a mess from crying, and her hair was an uneven mess. Someone had cut her hair and screwed it up completely.
I waited for her to say something but she didn’t so I went to her and simply took her in my arms and hugged her. She slowly wrapped her arms around me and then squeezed tighter until she was practically clinging to me; her body wracked with sobs.
We held each other for nearly ten minutes while I waited for her crying to subside. Eventually she pulled away from me and I asked, “What happened?”
“They cut my hair and hit me.”
“Who did that?” I wanted to throttle whoever did this to Lisa.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Can you just take me home?”
I wanted to talk about it; I needed to know the names of these little shits. But I put Lisa’s needs first. “Of course I can do that,” I said and indicated for us to leave. “Come on, let’s go.”
She already had her schoolbag with her; she must have been planning her escape. I got her into my car and started driving towards my house. “Do you mind if we just drop by my house first because I think I left windows open. It’s sort of on the way to your house.”
“Sure,” she agreed.
When we arrived at my house, I made Lisa wait in the car while I quickly ducked inside to shut the windows. I figured that Scott would be annoyed if he knew I’d left them open. As I entered the house, I smelt a smell that I’d never smelt there before. It was a putrid, sweat smell and I quickly covered my nose. I kept walking to the kitchen and came to a stop when I saw what was waiting for me there. My heart froze and panic spread throughout my body.
“Well, hello there, sweetheart,” the biggest guy said with a smile that scared the shit out of me. His eyes flicked over me and he licked his lips He was sweaty and filthy looking and I prayed to God that he wasn’t left alone with me because I wasn’t sure I’d survive anything he did to me.
My legs turned to jelly and I threw out a hand to steady myself against the wall.
“Cat got your tongue?” he leered at me and started walking my way.
I tried to back up but another guy came up behind me and grabbed me, roughly shoving me forward towards the scary guy. Hands reached out and gripped my neck, and in one clean movement, he reefed me forward and turned me before planting me on the seat that was waiting for me.
My heart was beating rapidly now and my arms felt tingly from the fear I was experiencing. Why had I decided to come home and close the freaking windows?
“So, you’re Scott Cole’s woman? Never known him to have a broad.”
“We just met,” I answered him, desperately hoping that it would make a difference to him that I hadn’t known Scott for very long.
His evil laugh sent chills up my spine. “What bad timing for you then, darlin’.”
My mind was racing frantically trying to come up with a way to escape but I just couldn’t see a way out. There were three of them and one of me. Where the hell was Stoney? Tears pricked my eyes; I was sure I was about to die at the hands of these assholes.
“What do you want from me?” I begged.
“We’re actually here to teach Scott a lesson. He’s fucked with us and we don’t appreciate it. Unlucky for you, especially if you’ve just met the motherfucker.”
Another man entered the room and he was even scarier looking than any of these men. His eyes were void of any emotion and his body was tense; he looked like what I always imagined a cold hearted killer would look like. He threw rope at the scary guy. “Tie her hands and legs. I’ve got some calls I’m waiting for and after those we’ll get the party started.” He was standing right next to me now and he ran a finger down my cheek. “Scott’s got good taste. I can’t wait to hear you scream.”
Chapter 28
Scott
Nash settled into the couch in the office. “So, Blade’s going to let us know the plan soon?”
“Tonight, and then tomorrow it’ll be done,” I said, distracted by the fact that Stoney wasn’t answering his phone. I’d been trying to call him for ten minutes with no luck. “Have you heard from Stoney today?”
“No, why?”
“He’s watching Harlow but he’s not answering his phone.”
“You want me to go and check that everything’s alright?”
“No, I’ll go,” I said as I stood up.
I was halfway down the hall when Lisa called me. “Hey darlin’, you okay?”
“Scott, I’m outside Harlow’s house because she picked me up from school but had to come home to close windows. She’s been inside for ages and I saw a man just come out to have a smoke. I don’t think he’s from your club. Can you come here and see if she’s okay?”
Fuck!
“On my way, darlin’. Stay where you are and hide if you can. Do not go inside, Lisa. Okay?”
“Okay,” she answered me and we hung up.
“Nash!” I bellowed down the hallway. When he appeared at the door, I yelled, “Black Deeds have Harlow at her house.”
“Fuck!” He followed me outside.
There was going to be fucking hell to pay for this.
***
We pulled our bikes up a couple of houses down from Harlow’s and ran the rest of the way. There were four bikes parked further down the street; I felt ill thinking about what we were going to find inside. Harlow’s car was parked in the driveway and I tapped on the window to get Lisa’s attention.
“I want you to run that way,” I said, pointing down the street, “Keep going until you hit the shopping centre and wait there. I’ll either come get you or I’ll send someone.”
She nodded fearfully, but did as I said. It would be safer for her there than here.
Nash was already at the front door. He eyed me. “I sent a message to J to round the boys up. Hopefully they’ll be here soon but we’re going in regardless, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I pulled out my piece and looked at him, “Ready?”
When he nodded, I lifted my foot and with as much force as I could muster, kicked the door in. We entered and were soon greeted by three Black Deeds members. Nash lived for this shit and charged them. They obviously hadn’t been expecting either of us to do that and he managed to catch them unprepared. He knocked the first motherfucker out and then took aim at the next one. While he took those two on, I punched the third one hard on the jaw, knocking his face to the side. He stumbled from the impact, and hit the wall. I shoved him to try and get him off balance and then followed as he lurched backwards, punching him again on the other side of his face. He tried to regain his balance but I’d managed to put him off, and he fell to the ground. I hovered over him and punched him repeatedly in the face until he passed out.
Nash was still fighting with the second guy who was giving him a good run for his money. Fighting was in Nash’s blood and I’d never seen anyone get the better of him. Whenever I had something that needed to be taken care of with violence, Nash was my man. It was like he zoned out into another state of consciousness, and the punches just kept flying. However, the guy he was fighting was holding his own so I got in there and threw a couple of punches too. After a couple of minutes, I decided to try another tack. I lifted my leg and kicked him fair in the balls. He doubled over and this gave Nash the perfect oppo
rtunity to pistol whip him on the head. When the guy finally collapsed face first onto the ground, Nash reefed him up and turned him onto his back. He was semi-conscious and Nash wanted him knocked the fuck out so he kicked him hard in the head. He kicked him a few times and would have kept going except the first guy we knocked down, sat up and took aim, shooting Nash in the arm. The bullet grazed him and slowed him down but didn’t bring him to a complete halt; he had too much adrenaline pumping through him for that. Instead, he turned his attention to the guy that shot him, knocked the gun out of his hand and lunged at him; wielding a punch as he went.
“You motherfucking asshole,” he roared as he finally knocked him unconscious. Turning to me, he asked, “You want me to put a bullet in these assholes?”
I shook my head. “No, they’re out for the count and Blade wants to deal with them himself.”
Stopping to listen for sounds in the house, I realised that I could hear a whimpering sound coming from down the hall; from the direction of Harlow’s bedroom. Fear mixed with adrenaline and I took off in that direction. I was blinded by desperation; nothing would have stopped me from reaching my destination at that moment. When we hit her bedroom, I was sickened by the sight we found. Harlow was gagged, and laid out naked on her bed, her hands tied to the bed above her head, and her feet tied to the bedposts. She was conscious and her terrified eyes locked onto mine, silently begging me to save her. Bullet was straddling her, holding a knife to her neck.
“Fuck,” Nash thundered, and Bullet turned feral eyes on us. In that moment, I fully grasped what a madman he was. I started to move into the room, mentally calculating how the fuck I was going to get Harlow out of this alive.
“Don’t take another fucking step, or I’ll slash her throat quicker than you can blink,” Bullet threatened, pressing the knife harder against her neck. He pressed it hard enough to draw blood, and Harlow whimpered. Her cheeks were damp from her tears and I experienced a pain in my chest that I’d never felt before; like it would fucking explode and my heart would shatter to a million pieces if I didn’t get her out of there.
“Let her go, Bullet, and the coke is all yours again,” came a deathly calm voice from behind me.
Blade.
Bullet madly jabbed his finger in my direction. “Get him the fuck out of here, and we’ll talk.”
“Not fucking happening, motherfucker,” I roared.
“Scott,” Blade urged, “Would be best if you did as he said.” As he said this, he jerked his head at one of his men who had also turned up. The communication between Blade and his man was flawless even without words, and the guy grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from the room. Harlow’s eyes turned wild and her body began violently jerking as she watched me go. I fought it but the guy had a strong hold on me and another one helped him so between them, I had no hope.
The last I saw of Harlow was her fucking terrified for her life; I just hoped that Blade knew what he was doing. If anything happened to Harlow, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill every last fucking man involved.
Chapter 29
Harlow
My father.
That’s what I was thinking of as I was lying naked and tied to a bed, with a psycho on top of me and a knife to my neck. My life flashed before my eyes and the only good thing I could think of was that I would get to see my father in heaven after this asshole murdered me.
When they dragged Scott away, I felt like my life truly was over. They’d taken Nash at the same time so I was left with Blade. I had no idea how he’d gotten mixed up in all of this. All I knew about Blade was that he was Madison’s half brother and seemed okay whenever I’d made him coffee and chatted to him. But whether he had it in him to save my life? I had no clue. And that scared the ever loving shit out of me.
Blade moved into the room, and his presence filled the room. “You need to get the fuck off her, Bullet, if you want me to back off the coke.” His voice was commanding and there was a tone there that screamed authority. I made eye contact with him; his eyes were cold but when they hit mine, they softened and I saw the warmth there. The fear and uncertainty swirling in my gut eased in that moment.
Bullet pulled the knife away from my neck and moved off me. Facing Blade, he snarled, “And why the fuck would I believe anything you say?”
Blade shrugged. He was so cold and calm, and I decided that I’d never want to get on his wrong side; I’d be more afraid of him than Bullet, and that was saying something. “Scott’s my brother, and she’s his woman. I don’t need the coke to survive; I think you’re aware of that fact. So, if I have to choose between the two, I choose her life.”
Bullet thought about it and settled it in his mind. “I’ll take that fucking deal but if you break your word, I’ll go on a killing rampage like you’ve never seen before, and you’ll be my first port of call. Right after I fuck her and make sure her death is a long and painful one.”
I flinched at his threat. Fear sliced through me and I prayed to God that Blade would keep his end of the bargain.
Blade nodded once. “Good. Now, get the fuck out of here,” he commanded in that deep, frightening voice he had.
I watched frantically while Bullet left the room. When he’d finally exited and I could no longer see him, I let go of the control I’d employed throughout the ordeal. I wanted to scream, kick and punch all in one go but I couldn’t. Instead, I started shaking and sobbing, and struggled to catch my breath as my breathing became erratic.
Blade moved towards me and pulled a knife out. He cut the ropes that had bound me to the bed and removed the gag from my mouth. Then he took the sheet and covered my body. His movements were all gentle and deliberate. He was safe; I knew it in that instant. He would never hurt me.
He sat on the bed beside me. “You need to know that everything’s going to be okay. The threats that Bullet made towards you will never eventuate because he will be taken care of. He won’t be walking this earth long enough to carry those threats out. Do you understand?”
Words failed me so I nodded.
“Good.” He stood back up and moved to leave the room. He turned at the door and said, “Scott will be in in a minute.”
And then he was gone. I took a long deep breath and attempted to get my breathing and shaking under control. Right now, I needed Scott more than I’d ever needed anything.
Chapter 30
Scott
I found her huddled under the sheet, her tear stained face was all that was visible. Thank fuck Blade had covered her up. She slid her eyes to mine and what I saw there nearly fucking killed me.
A moment later, I sat on the bed next to her, and just after that she was in my arms; clinging to me and crying. “He touch you?” I asked; I needed to know, because if he had, there was no way I was letting Blade be the only one to fuck him up.
She shook her head vigorously. “No.”
“Thank fuck,” I muttered, although it was a small mercy considering everything else he’d put her through.
“Scott, Lisa’s outside waiting in the car. You need to go and make sure she’s alright.”
Fuck. This was why I was falling for Harlow; in a moment where most women would buckle from what they’d just been through, she was more concerned for someone else’s safety.
“No, she’s safe. I’ve got someone with her.”
“Thank God,” she said, the concern washing off her face.
I reached up and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m so sorry, baby. This is all my fault.”
She nodded and then asked, “Remember when I said that I could handle your shit?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, if you feel the need to hurt those assholes, and when I say hurt, I mean so that they can never threaten another woman with that, you need to know that I can handle that shit, baby.”
Fuck me. Blessed. That’s what I was.
“Good to know. Because I’ll be making damn sure that they’ll never hurt another person. Now sweetheart, we need to get you
cleaned up.”
She nodded in agreement, and I helped her into the shower. The deep burning hatred I had for Bullet was consuming my thoughts, and I hoped to hell that Blade was making him suffer.
***
Six hours later, Harlow was asleep in my bed. She hadn’t wanted to stay at her mum’s house that night so I’d brought her to mine. I’d spent all afternoon and night with her; I hadn’t called J or Nash to find out what had happened. This was the first time in my life that I’d put Storm second. I never wanted to let Harlow out of my sight ever again. Knowing her, though, that would never happen.
I stood in the doorway and watched her sleep. She’d had trouble getting to sleep so I’d found a sleeping pill of mine to give her that had eventually done the trick. My phone vibrated with a message.
Blade: You want in on this?
Me: Yes, but not tonight. Tomorrow.
Blade: Call me when you’re ready.
I watched Harlow for a little while longer and then I went outside to call Dad.
“Scott, thought I would have heard from you by now,” he said, not even a hello to greet me.
I ignored him. “You hear from Blade?”
“Yeah, he’s got the men he wanted. They were the four at Harlow’s house. The VP of Black Deeds stepped up and took over; he’s made sure there’s no blowback on Storm for this. But those fuckers killed Stoney to get to Harlow.”
“Fuck!” In my gut I’d known that; it was the only explanation for everything. Stoney wouldn’t have gone down without a fight so they would have had to kill him.
“How’s Harlow?”
“She’s fine but I didn’t call to chat; I just needed to know that everything had been taken care of and it has, so I’ll talk to you later.”
I disconnected the call without waiting for him to say anything else. My patience for my father was growing less and less every day.