I had been raped.
With tears streaming down my face, I pull into my parking spot and turn off the car, trying desperately not to think of that time in my life but it’s no use. The floodgate has been opened and I’m drowning in horrors I would do anything to forget. My phone buzzes from the cup holder and I glance over at it, sighing when I see it’s a text from Chance instead of Aunt Dottie. I know she didn’t mean to upset me, but I can’t talk to her right now.
Chance:
Something came up.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Sobbing harder, I toss the phone aside and rest my forehead on the wheel, trying to ignore how upset I am by the fact that he’s not here to wrap his arms around me and tell me it’s all going to be okay.
Chapter Thirteen
Chance
“Dude,” I say as soon as Storm walks into the clubhouse, a dumbass smile on his face. “You’re not even trying to hide how whipped you are anymore.”
“Shut the fuck up, Chance,” he growls, shoving me and I laugh but I’ve got to admit, I’m a little jealous of the asshole. All I want is what he seems to have found but I never know where I stand with Carly. One minute, she’s letting me see behind the façade and then a minute later, she’s closed off again and treating me like we’re nothing more than fuck buddies. Going into this, I knew it would be tough, but I also knew it would never be enough. I want all of her, all the time. Releasing a heavy sigh, I pull my phone out and check for a message from her. I haven’t heard from her since I bailed on our plans to take care of Camilla and Riley and my texts today have gone unanswered.
“Church,” Blaze barks from the doorway, looking pissed as hell, before turning and disappearing back into the room. Everyone looks around in shock for a moment before jumping up and following him. Storm glances in my direction, shooting me a questioning look and I shrug. I’m in the dark like everyone else. Blaze is seated at the head of the table and he looks impatient as we slowly file into the room and take our respective seats around the table. His expression is grim and a sense of foreboding washes over the room. When everyone is seated, he bangs the gavel on the table and clears his throat.
“First up, I got word from Camilla that she and Riley made it to Colorado safe and sound. We’ve got them set up with a friend of mine there who will look out for them while Camilla gets back on her feet and works on divorcing her husband.”
I nod, tapping my knuckles against the table. “That’s good news, Boss.”
He glances in my direction before turning back to everyone else. Is he mad at me for something?
“We’ve got two jobs coming up this week and they are both at the end of the week, so I want extra surveillance leading up to the transfer. We don’t need another Mitch situation. Storm’s eye is just starting to go back to normal.”
“Yeah, fuck you,” Storm shoots back, a smile teasing his lips and soft chuckles fill the air, but Blaze barely cracks a smile. So, it’s not just me. I shift in my seat, feeling the mounting tension in the room. We can all tell something is off and the longer Blaze takes to fill us in, the worse it gets.
“The plan right now is to take both of them over to Nix and Emma’s, so I want two of you to go out there tomorrow and beef up security. The last thing we need right now is trouble at their place.”
“What exactly are you wantin’ out there?” Smith asks.
“Lights, cameras, and motion detectors, at least. Maybe an electric fence along the front and sides, too.”
Smith’s eyebrows shoot up and he glances over at Storm, who shrugs and glances around the table before focusing back on Blaze.
“Thursday is the first job. Her name is Sammy and she’s Biche’s girl.”
“Shit,” I curse under my breath, my eyes growing wide and the men around the table echo my sentiments.
“As I’m sure you all remember, Biche is the piece of shit that got Henn locked up and while I’m sure you would like retribution, it cannot be at the expense of the poor girl who needs our help. Am I clear?”
“Yeah,” I say as several other guys mutter the same. Back in the day, Biche was a small-time dealer – annoying but not really dangerous. He made a major play though when he sold Henn out to the cops and took over his territory. Henn was sent to prison and when the club left all that shit behind, it allowed Biche the room to really make a name for himself. Henn lost everything because of that little snake and this isn’t the first time that the idea of seeking revenge has come up but with Henn getting out soon, we always decided to wait and let him do it himself.
“He’s a major player now and he has the money and power to make this rescue difficult. Our number one priority is getting the girl out of there safe and sound, which is going to be difficult enough without egos getting in the way. Sammy is one hundred percent on board and eager to leave but she doesn’t have access to a phone or computer so her best friend is the one who contacted us. We’ve got to figure out who’s watching her without being seen ourselves so we can develop a safe plan to get her out of there.”
“Understood, Prez,” Moose says, nodding at Blaze. Blaze just nods in response, looking down at the sheet of paper on the table in front of him.
“The other one is on Saturday. Her name is Nadia, and she’s got a three-month-old baby girl with her. Husband is a shrimper, so he’ll be gone all day, and it should be fairly easy.”
“You know better than to say that, Blaze,” Streak says, and Blaze sighs as he nods. His face falls even more as he looks down at the paper in front of him and runs his hand through his hair.
“This morning, I got a call from Kelly, the nurse that helped Dina out when she came into the ER.”
“She got a new girl that needs help?” Red asks from the back, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans back in his chair. Blaze shakes his head.
“Dina was brought back into the ER last night with a serious brain injury, five broken ribs, and a lot of internal bleeding. They were able to stop the bleeding but when they examined her, it became clear that there was no brain function, and her mother made the decision to turn off life support.”
A hush falls over the room and I stare up at Blaze, blinking like I somehow didn’t understand what he just said. There’s no way…
“We had a plan to get her to her parents safely but it’s unclear right now what happened. She may have gone back to him or he may have found her. All we know is that no one can find Mitch, but Rodriguez is looking for him.”
“She wouldn’t have gone back,” I proclaim, looking Blaze dead in the eye. There is no way in hell Dina would have gone back to him. It’s not even a possibility.
“You don’t know that, Chance. We’ve been doing this long enough to know better,” Blaze says.
My fist slams onto the table and everyone turns to look at me with wide eyes. “No. She wouldn’t have gone back. He was right there when we were picking her up. He begged her to come back, and if she didn’t fold then, she wouldn’t have gone back to him.”
“Look, Chance,” Fuzz says, slapping a hand on my shoulder, “we all want to believe that she wouldn’t put herself in that position again, but we just don’t know.”