His arms dropped away. She stumbled backward in shock.
"You can tell me it wasn't you who is responsible for hiring me, but it is you keeping me here. It isn't someone else locking me in the house." She trembled. It's you."
His eye twitched, only fueling her temper. How dare he care if she yelled at him. She wasn't going to be nice because kidnapping her was his fault.
"I don't even care why I'm here. I only want to go home, and you are the only one standing between me and the door. So, you can blame this situation on whoever you want. I don't care about your life or what is going on with you. I don't want to be a part of your sick game anymore," she shouted.
He grabbed her upper arms and dragged her against him. "You'll care if they get their hands on you."
He shook with warning. Staring into his eyes, she wanted to find out what he knew. He wasn't telling her everything. He knew why she was here.
"Who are you talking about?" She glared furiously. "That man from the other night? You killed him."
His eyes hardened. She couldn't let herself forget Keenan was more than capable of murder.
"There are more men besides that one." He pushed his wild hair back off his face.
"More?" She blinked, trying to read between the lines. He wasn't telling her enough. She needed all the details to keep herself safe. "Why do they want to kill me?"
He stepped away and stood at the sink, looking out the window to the backyard. "I'm not sure they do."
"Great." She scoffed. "They prefer to torture women, and what? Beat them up?"
Keenan refrained from commenting or giving her any more insight. She touched his back, needing to see his face, needing to push the subject.
He slowly turned. The unemotional mask he often wore back on his face.
"Why me?" she asked. "I'm not even from here."
"I don't know." His breath hissed through his teeth. "But for whatever reason, they brought you here because of me."
"How do you know that?"
"Because for the last eighteen years of my life, they've had complete control of everything I do," he said, ending hoarsely as if pained.
She grabbed his arms. "The motorcycle club?"
"No, the AFMC is...was the only thing keeping me sane," he whispered. "I'm dealing with something more powerful, more dangerous, and even sicker than me."
She gulped at the ominous acceptance coming off Keenan. While she had no reason to trust him, he was the only one she had.
Chapter Eighteen
"For now, I will address any problems at four o'clock each day. Until then, I expect everyone to follow the rules set forth at the campground." Keenan stood on top of the picnic table at the RV Park. "Please, do not overstay. I expect you to pull out on the day you were scheduled to leave by ten o'clock in the morning. Other campers have reservations and have pre-paid for their spot. Let's show some courtesy to those, like you, who enjoy recreating in Avery Falls."
"The restrooms need toilet paper," shouted a woman in the crowd of campers.
"I'll get right on that." He looked over the frustrated faces. "Is there anything else?"
Several of them turned away, walking back to their recreational vehicles. He jumped down to the ground and walked to the storage shed. There wasn't much he could do to pacify those frustrated with the amount of service they were getting. The Avery Falls Motorcycle Club members were in no condition to be around others, much less be seen in public.
He unlocked the door to the supply shed. Inside, he grabbed two big containers of toilet paper. The way he threw supplies toward the tourists, gave away free rentals, and ignored the rules that were broken, it wouldn't take long for everything they'd built in the recreational hub to implode.
Dropping off the paper products in the men's side of the restroom, he walked to the women's side and set it beside the door without going inside. Done with the task, he jogged to escape those milling around, looking to complain to him.
Once he checked in at the clubhouse, he needed to get back to Grace at home. He hated leaving her alone for too long. If one of the others got to her before he could get back, they'd kill her.
He hopped on his motorcycle and slowly rode across the gravel, glancing at Hank's motorhome, knowing his MC brother was holed up in the clubhouse with the others. Sometime in the next couple of days, he needed to take the ATV, ride up to the cabin, and check on Trip and Speeder.
But he wanted to find his president first. Yesterday, when he checked in at the clubhouse, Prez was nowhere around. He was glad Prez had taken his advice and found somewhere safe. He needed to make sure the president of AFMC held strong throughout the switch.
Stopping at the gate to the clubhouse, he parked. It was faster to keep his Harley outside than take the extra time to man the gate by himself.
"Keenan?"
He turned around, searching the area for the soft voice. Not seeing anyone, he said, "Yeah?"
"It's me. Trina."
He moved away from the gate. "Where are you?"
Speeder's daughter stepped out from behind a tree at the fence line, twenty feet away. He stilled, letting her approach. She was supposed to stay with Bonnie and her sons while Speeder was gone.
"What're you doing here?" He lowered his brows. "You're not supposed to be hanging around the clubhouse while your dad is gone."
She kept walking toward him and only stopped when she was close enough to touch him. "I need to ask you something."
He nodded. "Go ahead."
"I went to the cave." She leaned closer. "Can you tell me where the man is?"
His skin prickled. "What cave?"
Only members of AFMC knew about the cave and what happened inside under the direction of the Alpha Bio Project. Speeder would never allow his daughter to know what happened there.
Trina moistened her lips. "I meet the controller every week, but I don't know how to find him now that I can't get in the cave. I don't want to get in trouble."
His pulse pounded in alertness. Trina couldn't know the controller. It was impossible.
"The controller?" He inhaled deeply. "Why do you see him?"
She glanced behind her before whispering again. "I always answer his questions."
"What kind of questions?" His body hardened, not liking the direction of the conversation.
She shook her head. "I can't tell you."
He changed his approach, not wanting her to clam up. "Where's the cave, Trina?"
"In Sether mountain. The tunnel is gone. It's filled with rocks. I tried to find a way in, but it's blocked. Can you help me?" Trina chewed on her fingernail.
He shook his head, unprepared for what he was learning. If Trina knew about the program, how many others outside the club knew?
Trina's chin trembled. "Is my dad in the cave?"
"No." He paused, seeing the fear she carried. "Speeder's safe."
It wasn't exactly a lie. The last time he talked to Speeder, he was alive. Though by now, he was going through his own personal hell with the switch. He couldn't guarantee Speeder would make it out of the changes alive.