I don’t wait for anyone, running through the clubhouse and charging through the door as I head for my bike. Firing it up, I peel out of the parking lot and race toward the gas station, my heart pounding. The guys may be content to sit around and throw out theories. I’m not. I can’t explain it, but I just know something is wrong.
When I finally spot the gas station down the road, I speed up with a pit of rocks in my stomach and my heart racing. As soon as I pull into the lot, pain blooms in my chest and my heart feels like it might explode. My truck is sitting abandoned with my keys and a bag of food on the ground next to it. I jump off my bike, letting it fall to the ground with a crunch as I race over to the truck and peek inside.
“Fuck,” I hiss, stepping back and running my hands through my hair as the world blurs around me. No. This can’t be happening. I finally had everything I’ve ever wanted and it’s all gone in the blink of an eye. She’s gone.
“Kodi, drive his truck back,” Smith instructs and I turn to look at them, blinking. Smith’s truck is behind mine, doors wide open as Kodiak jogs over to me and picks my keys up off the ground. When the fuck did they get here? “Let’s get back to the clubhouse. Blaze already called Rodriguez.”
He tries to turn me in the direction of Smith’s truck but I turn away, looking up at the gas station before shaking him off and running up to the door. I jerk it open and the cashier’s head snaps up, eyes wide.
“There was a woman in here a while ago, blonde hair, gray eyes. She was driving that truck,” I say, pointing to my truck in the parking lot. He nods.
“What about her?”
“Where the fuck did she go?” I scream, slamming my fist on the counter as my breath punches out of me and my hand shakes.
“I don’t know, dude.”
My eyes narrow and I jump over the counter without thinking, grabbing the little punk by his shirt and shoving him back against a wall. He trembles under my grip and holds his hands up.
“She was taken from your parking lot, so I know you saw something. Tell me what happened,” I whisper, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of my face.
The cashier shakes his head, whimpering, and the sweet smell of weed hits my nose. “I swear, I didn’t see anything. I was in the back, smoking a joint.”
“Chance!” Smith yells from behind me and I glare at him over my shoulder before releasing the cashier and jumping over the counter. I storm out of the gas station and stop. My truck and bike are already gone and I scream, balling my fists as I kick the trash can next to the door.
“Get your shit together, brother,” Smith growls as he steps up next to me. “Your woman needs you.”
His words stop me in my tracks and I blink before walking over to Smith’s truck, feeling numb. She needs me. Carly needs me and I’m over here losing my goddamn mind. The panic is all consuming, eating up every available space in my brain until it’s all I can focus on, except for one single thought that manages to break free.
I have to find her.
It plays on repeat, again and again, as I try to get a grip on my fear. Smith is right. Carly needs me right now and I’m fucking useless like this. As he pulls out of the lot and turns back toward the clubhouse, I rest my elbows on my knees and cover my face with my hands. Replaying the day in my head, my throat constricts. Why did I leave her this morning? Someone else could have gone with Smith if I had asked so why didn’t I?
“Chance!” Blaze yells and my head jerks up as I realize that the truck has stopped. He snaps his fingers in my face and I turn to him. “Rodriguez is on his way.”
I nod, releasing a breath as some of the fear abates. Okay, this is good. Between Rodriguez and the club, we will figure this out and get Carly home safe. Climbing out of the truck, I rub my hand over my face as I walk back into the clubhouse and stop. Smith, Kodiak, and Moose are all huddled in a circle, whispering and my heart hammers. Kodiak turns to look at me, revealing Ivy with tears running down her face.
“What is it?” I ask, my voice scratchy and barely audible.
“Chance,” Kodiak starts, his gaze cutting to Moose and my jaw clenches.
“What is it?!” I yell again and Smith steps forward, handing me an envelope with my name on it. “Where did you get this?”
“It was taped to the front door when we got back,” Smith whispers and my brow furrows as I tear into it. As I scan the words on the page, my fucking heart stops.
I have your girl.
You get her back when mine is home
where she belongs.
J.H.
Chapter Thirty-One
Carly
My mouth is painfully dry as I peel my eyes open, squinting at the harsh light above me. My shoulders scream with a searing pain and tingles shoot down my arms and into my hands. Where am I? I try to turn but my body stays rooted to the spot and I look up, fear spiking my heart. My hands are tied above my head, strung up in the air with a thick rope. It’s thrown over a bar before disappearing behind me and my legs are tied to the legs of the wooden chair I’m seated in. It squeaks as I wiggle and I start to tremble as my head pounds. This is all too familiar. The dry mouth and pounding head remind me of that night, or more specifically, the morning after when I woke up in my bed, covered in bruises.
No.
This can’t be happening again.
“Look who finally decided to rejoin the land of the living,” a familiar voice says and I gulp in air as I scan the room, searching the concrete walls for the source of the voice. The damp, stagnant air stings my nose and my stomach rolls as my heart thunders in my ears. “Those drugs knocked you out longer than I thought they would. I’ve been getting impatient over here.”
“What the fuck do you want?”
The voice laughs, a truly evil sound that sends goose bumps racing across my flesh, and Julian steps out of the shadows. The mask is gone; showing the monster I always knew was underneath. “Oh, I think you know what I want, Carly.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I shake my head as a bead of sweat rolls down the side of my face and the hair on my arms stands on end. When I open my eyes again, I pray this will all just be a bad dream. I’ll be at the clubhouse with Chance, safe in his arms, and not trapped in this hell with a demon I know all too well. But my prayers go answered. I open my eyes and Julian smiles at me. I bite my tongue to hold the cry that desperately wants to break free.
This can’t be happening.
“What are you going to do? Hold me hostage until she comes back to you?” I ask. He nods, wagging his finger at me.
“You are a smart girl, I’ll give you that.”
I shake my head, a deep hatred burning away some of my fear. “It won’t work. She won’t ever come back to you.”
A smile curves his lips and I break out in a cold sweat. “See, that’s where you’re wrong.”
He stalks over to me and holds his hand up between us, letting it hover over my skin for a moment and my jaw clenches as I watch him. He leans in closer and trails his fingers over my cheek, his eyes darkening as he bites his lip.
“Once your sister realizes I have you, she’ll come running home because she knows what I’ll do to you if she doesn’t.”