Notch: The Lost Boys MC #4

by Rylan, Savannah

  With one fell swoop, she collapsed into my arms. Tears flowed and her sobs shook her body as I held her closely. My eyes darted around her bedroom, casing the shadowed corners and wondering if someone was with her.

  Or if someone was coming back.

  “It’s okay. Hey, hey. I’ve got you. I’m here,” I said softly.

  “I couldn’t—I’m sorry,” she choked out.

  I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

  “You promised me, Maya,” I said.

  “I know. I know I—I—I di—I—”

  “Take some breaths. Here. Let’s sit down.”

  I moved us both to the bed and we sat, her small form crawling into my lap. I held her closely, taking in how she shuddered against me. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't speak. I held her as I kissed the top of her head, feeling her tears and snot soak the shoulder of my shirt. I rocked us side to side. I whispered and shushed her softly in her ear. My heart hammered in my chest at the thought of what could have possibly happened.

  If that man had touched her or threatened her in any way, he was a dead man walking.

  “He called,” she whispered.

  Maya slowly pulled away from me and looked up into my eyes.

  “He called not too long after you left the shop, and I knew it meant they were watching. If I said no, they’d just come back. And I didn’t know if you were coming back, and—”

  “What happened when you went to go see him?” I asked.

  I rose my knuckles to her skin, brushing away her tears. Then, her eyes fell to my chest. To my arms. To my tattoos.

  “You need more vaseline on these,” she said softly.

  “I’m not worried about my tattoos right now,” I said.

  “Where’s your leather jacket.”

  I stiffened. “That isn’t important. The only thing that’s important to me right now is you.”

  Her dark brown eyes fluttered up to mine, and even in her emotional state, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. My heart seized in my chest. The world stopped existing as she sat there in my lap. Straddling me with her long, slim legs and gracing me with the warmth of her body. I wanted to kiss her. Lay her down on this bed and take her in all the ways I’d dreamt of. All the ways I knew she wanted me to.

  The only thing that was more important than making love to this woman was making sure she was alive long enough for me to love her the way she deserved.

  If she’d have me.

  “Where’s your brother?” I asked.

  She grimaced. “He’s not my brother any longer. Hasn’t been for a long fucking time.”

  “Maya—”

  “I just didn’t realize how badly he’d sunken into this lifestyle until today.”

  “I know. I know. But it’s important that you tell me where he is.”

  “The restaurant. Where he always is. With his armed goons and bullshit drinks and wry smile.”

  “What happened when you got there? When you went to see him?” I asked.

  She sighed. “He asked about you. Practically confirmed the fact that I was being watched after they left, though I told him I didn’t need any sort of protection like that.”

  My stomach fell, because that meant she was probably being watched right now. Which meant I’d walked right into a fucking trap.

  “You're not being watched for protective purposes,” I said.

  “You can’t be here. He’s going to know you’re here and he’s going to take us,” Maya said.

  I grinned. “I’d really enjoy seeing them try.”

  “My brother isn’t someone to be messed with. He deals in human trafficking, too.”

  I paused. “How do you know that?”

  Her bottom lip began quivering. “Because he threatened to sell me off to someone who would buy me if the information I gave him was false.”

  I had no idea where the fuck to even begin unpacking that statement. But whatever amount of unpacking we did, we couldn't do it here. She was right to be packing. She needed to get the hell out of this place.

  And there was only one place I could take her where I knew she’d be safe.

  “Are you done packing?” I asked.

  Maya sniffled. “Almost.”

  “Well, almost is now. We need to get out of here. Grab what you already have and let’s get going.”

  “Wait, what?”

  I stood from the bed, holding her in my arms as she reached for her purse. She scooped it off the bed just as we walked out of the room, and I carried her back out to the kitchen. I set her down on her feet and grabbed one of her closed suitcases. She dragged the other one off the counter, zipping it closed with her purse inside. She slipped her cell phone into her back pocket, then she followed me to the front door.

  “I’m going to get you somewhere safe, and then we’ll talk about our next move,” I said.

  We locked all the doors we went through on the slim chance we weren’t actually being watched. Locked doors would slow them down, at least a little bit, if they came looking for Maya. And I knew they would. We locked the front door and went out the back, making our way toward my bike. Thank fuck I’d been smart enough to park it in the alley. I strapped all of her shit to the back of my bike, then helped her on. No helmets this time. Just the two of us, clinging to one another as we raced through San Diego.

  I knew Stone would never turn away a woman in need. No matter how infuriated he was with me.

  “Come on. Hang on tight, and don’t ask questions,” I said.

  I struck up my bike and navigated the back alleys. We needed to get as far away from this place before we hit the main roads. I went as far as I could before having to pull out onto the highway, and I sped down the road as quickly as I could. With the ocean to our left and the city to our right, we made our way north.

  Until the squealing of tires caught my ear behind us.

  I looked in my mirrors and saw black cars coming for us. Tinted windows. Double-walled tires. Fuck. We were being followed. Or had been found. One of the two.

  “What’s going on?” Maya asked.

  I pulled off the road without a turn signal and picked up the pace.

  “Just hang on. Okay?” I asked.

  I darted down alleyways, taking sharp turns as Maya yelped and clung tightly to me. Turns where my knees were almost touching the fucking road. She had herself wrapped around me. Arms around my chest and legs locked around my hips. She buried her face into the crook of my neck, crying unlike anything I’d ever felt before. My heart broke for her. My veins welled with anger. I wanted to pull my gun and start shooting at their tires so I could wear them down further. But I didn’t want to spook Maya any more than I already had.

  But before I knew it, cars surrounded us.

  One of the cars blocked off the only exit for the alleyway we had found. One car had gotten trapped against the brick walls, and I heard them bashing out the windshield. With every alley I passed, cars came down them. Blocking other ways out as we careened toward the black car in front of us.

  I tried to find anything I could bank. Anything I could use to launch myself over the fucking thing.

  However, there was nothing.

  “Fuck,” I murmured.

  I skidded to a stop, kicking up a rubbery cloud of smoke along with my motions. My bike came to a perpendicular stop to the car, and I drew in a deep breath. I watched the passenger door open. A shining shoe stepped out. And when Maya gasped, I knew exactly who it was before my eyes got to his face.

  “Hello, Notch,” Harry said.

  I wanted to rip that man’s fucking throat out.

  “Notch!” Maya exclaimed.

  “No!” I roared.

  I reached back for Maya, but someone pressed a gun to my temple. My nostrils flared as a man yanked her off my bike, holding her by her shirt as the stitches rip. She stumbled over her feet as he pushed and dragged her toward her brother. I watched with wide eyes as the man holding the gun to my
head cocked the weapon. Threatening me with a good time as the man holding Maya shoved her into the back of Harry’s car.

  I’ll kill you, too, for putting your hands on her.

  “I’m sorry, Notch!” Maya exclaimed.

  The words hit my ears just before the car door shut.

  “You’ve been such a big help,” Harry said, grinning.

  “If you hurt one hair on that woman’s head—”

  “Hurt my sister? Oh, no. I would never do anything like that. She’s my sister,” he said.

  “That what you said about your parents?” I growled.

  His face fell and his eyes grew dark as he nodded at the man next to me. I looked over and watched him raise the butt of his gun, but I held my hands up to stop the attack. I got off my bike and put the man into the brick wall, punching him across the face with my fucking fist.

  “Leave him barely breathing,” Harry said.

  And as a foot came crashing into the small of my back, I heard Maya screaming as Harry’s car pulled away.

  20

  Maya

  “Notch, no!” I exclaimed.

  I saw those men beating him up on the ground as the car pulled away from the alleyway. I reached for the doorknob to try and get to him, but my brother wrapped his arm around my waist. I threw my elbow back into his face. His nose broke as a massive groan fell from his lips. I didn’t give a shit what happened to him. He could torch in Hell for all I cared.

  All I wanted was to get to Notch.

  “Let me g—Harry! Quit it!” I shrieked.

  “You stupid little bitch. All of the shit I’ve tried doing for you. Taking care of you. Watching over—stop struggling, Maya!”

  “Let me go! Notch!” I roared.

  Then, a hood came down over my head.

  My brother wrestled me to the back seat and zip tied my wrists together behind my back. He pressed my head between his legs, squeezing my neck with his thighs. I could hear the kicks and punches echoing in my mind. Notch roared in pain as we drove away. I soaked the fabric of the hood as my brother tied me up like a rabid animal, and every last shred of love I might have had for the asshole went flying out the window.

  “There. That’ll hold you,” Harry said breathlessly.

  He sat me back up in my seat and I sniffled. I knew there was no reason to try and rationalize this. I knew it would be fruitless to reason with my brother. I’d crossed a threshold in his mind I wasn’t ever coming back from.

  For all I knew, he was selling me off tonight.

  Still, I decided to beg. Hoping that I could touch a part of him inside that still had a light that hadn’t been swallowed up by the darkness my father tried getting us away from.

  “Harry, please. You don’t have to do this. You don’t even have to let me go. Just don’t kill him. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Whatever interactions we’ve had. Harold!”

  A fist came down against my head and I blacked out. I slumped forward and didn’t come to until I was tossed into a room. Large hands were all over my body. Gripping my breasts. Prying open my thighs. Forcing me down into a chair as the world spun around me. The darkness from the hood was all-consuming. And while I fought back as best as I could, my ankles were tied down to something.

  A chair.

  I was sitting in a chair when they ripped the hood off my head.

  My breasts ached from the rough-housing. My thighs felt like they were on fire. The only thing that gave me solace was the fact that my clothes weren’t completely torn off. Tears dripped down my face as my eyes attempted to adjust. But they couldn't before a door slammed in front of me. I wiggled around in the chair. I tugged at the restraints. And try as I might have to get away, I couldn't do it.

  I was zip-tied down to a chair in a darkened room. With nowhere to go.

  I didn’t even know if Notch was okay.

  “Harry!” I yelled.

  I heard the shuffling of feet in the distance, but no one approached my door.

  “Harry! I’m your fucking sister. Let me out of here now!” I roared.

  And still, there was nothing.

  “Harry!” I shrieked.

  A loud bang came down onto the door and I jumped.

  “One more word out of you, and I’ll gladly touch your body again,” a man said gruffly.

  I gasped for air as I slumped back into the chair. I needed to pee. It felt like I couldn't breathe. I held my bladder like I was hanging on to the last bit of dignity in my life. It felt like I had been sitting there for hours already. I sniffled as feet shuffled around outside. Shadows exchanged with shadows as I counted down the seconds. The minutes. The hours I was in there.

  The entire world had gone black, and no one was coming for me.

  “Notch,” I whispered.

  His groans of pain echoed off the corners of my mind. The image of that man kicking him in his ribs with his steel-toed boots was forever seared into my memory. I felt sick to my stomach. Bile crept up the back of my throat. I turned my aching head off to the side and vomited onto the floor, filling the small room I was in with the stench of fear. Of anger. Of resentment.

  “Bitch, if you dirty up that room, you’re cleaning it up with your tongue,” a man grumbled.

  “I want to see my brother. Now,” I said, spitting onto the floor.

  “Did you just—”

  “Harry! I want to see Harry now!” I exclaimed.

  “You have no brother here, woman. Learn your place now so it’s easier on you in the future.”

  I screamed out all sorts of obscenities at the man. I lost all control of my body as I urinated myself in frustration. The door flung open and the man wrinkled his nose in horror. He took one step toward me and cocked back his hand, bringing it down across my face. My head fell off to the other side. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I turned it back on him and spat at him. Covered whatever part of him I could reach in the blood that leaked into my mouth.

  He brought his foot down into my knee, dislocating it as I screamed out in pain.

  “Settle the fuck down before you get killed,” the man demanded.

  Then, he closed the door back in my face.

  I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t know which way was up or down. Images of Notch bombarded my mind before bile worked its way up my throat again. I felt dizzy. Lightheaded. I was almost certain I had a concussion. And if that was the case, I wouldn't make it to the evening where Harry could make good on his threat of selling me off.

  “Daddy,” I said, whimpering.

  I hung my head and cried silently to myself. Images of my family bombarded my mind. Running around with Mom in the backyard and visiting the koi ponds in the gardens with my father. Swinging on the front porch swing with a shared lemonade smoothie fresh from Mom’s kitchen while Dad told me stories of his own childhood.

  I was officially alone.

  And waiting for my death.

  “The cop is ready.”

  My head slowly rose at the sound of the voice.

  “Harry?” I whispered.

  “You sure he’s ready?”

  I grimaced at the voice of the man that had slapped me across the face.

  “Yes. I just got in contact with him. He’s ready to try this again,” my brother said.

  “He didn’t deliver last time,” the man said.

  “He most certainly did. The video recordings from the surveillance equipment showed us that. They simply knew we were coming,” Harry said.

  “How do you know the detective didn’t tip them off or something? What if we’re being played?”

  A gunshot rang out before something massive hit the floor. And it took everything I had in my power not to cry out.

  Though, I did piss myself again out of sheer fear.

  “Anyone else have any issues?” my brother asked.

  An eerie silence fell over the entire place, and I finally came to rationalize my death. I’d kill myself before I let another man put his hands on me. I’d
hang myself from the ceiling with my own hair before I let my brother sell me into whatever disgusting excuse for a trade he had found himself in.

  Most likely sexual.

  And it made me nauseous to think about.

  “Good. Now that I have everyone’s attention, this is how it’s going to go down. The detective has once agreed to help us get to The Lost Boys. Once we have everything in place, the detective will pay for his blunders the first time. And once he’s out of the way, we waste The Lost Boys for good,” Harry said.

  “Someone want to clean up the bitch in the closet?” a foreign voice asked.

  There was a beat of silence before my brother cleared his throat.

  “She’s fine. Let her sit in her in it. She needs to get used to the punishment anyway. Especially with where she’s going,” Harry said.

  Then, as if my mind had found the smallest shred of dignity left in my life, I began running down scenarios on how to get a gun in my hands. Not so I could escape, but so I could finish this. By killing my brother before he ruined anyone else’s lives.

  Including my own.

  21

  Notch

  I still have no fucking clue how I made it back to the clubhouse. Those assholes beat me until I could barely see. And my only recompense was that I had enough sense not to go for my weapon. I knew I was outnumbered. And while I could have taken those idiots full force, the second the wind was knocked out of me, I was done for. I couldn't see out of one of my eyes. My ribcage was on fire. Every single part of my body was crying out for pain medication. For a doctor’s attention. For someone to scoop me up and get me to a fucking hospital.

  But… Maya.

  I had to get to Maya before it was too late.

  I stumbled up the steps of the safehouse and wiped at my nose. My mouth. My eyes. There was blood everywhere against my skin as my hand fell to the doorknob. I leaned against it, jarring the door open before I fell into the safehouse and onto the floor.

  And the first thing I heard was Ella screaming.

  “Notch!”

  “Holy fuck.”

  “Get the first aid kit. Now.”