Fiona watched the asshat sleep. His mouth hung open and a slim line of drool inched down his chin. Disgusting. Plus, the bastard hadn’t moved away from his post guarding the door and trying to get past him would be near impossible, but she couldn’t just sit here and wait for whatever was supposed to happen next. She had to get the baby to safety then figure out how to call Grier. She scooted toward the pipe where he’d tied the rope. If she could get it off of there and… he shifted, and she sat straight, only a few inches closer than she had been.
Another few feet and she’d have it. Her heart punched her ribs and her stomach flipped and flopped with what she would never admit to being fear. She swallowed a gulp of air and looked down at the baby across her lap as she edged closer to the pipe. Since asshat had tied a knot Houdini couldn’t undo, she would have to do all of this, untie the rope, make it to her feet and run with the baby held as tightly as her binding would allow, but damned if she could see another way.
She moved the last few feet and slid the rope over the pipe, never taking her eyes off the buffoon by the door. Wiggling and writhing, she made it to her feet with London against her chest. Her heels were quiet against the dirt floor, but no way could she run with the baby in her arms and her balance off-kilter thanks to her bindings. Of course, no telling what was outside this damned cabin. Forest? Beach? She had no idea and kept the shoes on.
Now or never. She tiptoed to the door and took a long breath. Asshat had turned his head to his opposite shoulder, so as long as she was careful, and London stayed sleeping there was a fair chance, probably her only one, that she could get out of the door without him waking her up. She twisted the knob and pulled. Nice and slow. A small scrap of wood against dirt and freedom.
“Well, hello, Princess. Leaving so soon?” Tyler Sedotal towered over her in the doorway and Fiona’s guts dropped. She should’ve known.
“Thought I’d get some fresh air. Your watchdog kind of stinks.”
Tyler threw his head back and laughed then cocked an eyebrow. “But we have so much to talk about. So much to do.” He took a step forward and Fiona took one back. “Calls to make. Husbands to lure.” His eyes narrowed but his sick smile never wavered. She moved his name up a few spots on her mental list of people to kill. “I would have been here sooner, but I had some business to take care of back in Pine Hill.”
Two more men walked in behind him and asshat stood in the cluster of stupid fucks who thought she was nothing but a little woman who couldn’t defend herself. This time, she would show him, show them all. But first, she needed to know something, the wheres and whys. She turned to go back to her spot, the end of the rope still in her hand so Tyler or one of his goons couldn’t grab it. While it wasn’t much, it was the only weapon she had, one they could just as well use against her.
She laid the baby in her seat and remained standing. Sedotal crossed to her and yanked her against his chest. “We are going to have some fun, you and me.”
“Why are you doing this? The Demons are going to kill you.” That wasn’t quite true. She was going to kill him. But not yet.
He laughed again and she caught a whiff of whiskey and cigarettes. “You think so? Because once I take their money and their action, I think the pendulum is gonna start swinging my way.”
“Pendulum? Big word.”
He yanked her head back with a handful of hair and put his mouth against her ear. “I’ve always admired your spirit. I can’t wait to break it.”
Yeah. She needed him to underestimate her. It would make him let his guard down. Or no way would she have let herself look afraid, would never have widened her eyes and chewed her lip. And damned sure that whimper wasn’t a sound she ever made. For now, until she could see a way out, she’d give him what he wanted.
He shoved and she hit the wall behind her. For that, she’d take an eye. It would’ve made more sense to take the hand, but she didn’t like the way he looked at her any more than she liked the way he pushed her. Oh, what the hell. She’d take the eye and the hand. But she kept it to herself as he pulled a phone out of his pocket and checked the time. “We have a couple of hours before we have to make a very important call, so come, sit. Let’s have a talk, shall we?”
He grabbed ahold of the rope and jerked so that she landed on her knees in front of him. She considered using her head as a weapon since she was just about at the right height to drop him, but there were three of his cronies in the cabin, and she didn’t have a plan for them. Yet.
He pulled her head and tilted his hips toward her. “Anxious. I like it.” To her credit, she didn’t vomit at the thought. Instead, she went with her scared look again. “You’re not so tough, are you?”
“Why are you doing this?” She even made her voice weak.
“Because I can. Because once I deliver the goods, he’ll let me kill your man.” He winked and sat across from where she still knelt in front of him. “Now, let’s talk.”
Grier stared down into his glass. Still numb. Still holding it together enough to sit upright. That was something, at least. The clubhouse was silent. No chatter. No banter. No TV in the background. They’d toasted Jez then slipped silently into grief. She’d been theirs, a part of the very essence of the Demons and her absence—he couldn’t bring himself to say death—wasn’t something any of them knew how to handle.
He sat between One-eye and Sage unable to speak or think. Right now, all he could do was thank God he’d gotten Fiona out of there. That she was safe with Kye. If he lost Fiona, on top of everything else, he wouldn’t survive. Even if every day of his life had been a picnic filled with happiness and joy, losing Fiona would kill him.
His phone vibrated across the counter and he only looked at the screen because he thought it could be her. When Kye’s name and number appeared, he breathed a sigh. He would have to tell her. And she’d want to come home. Stir the boys into action. Get results. Which was what he should’ve been doing, but he didn’t have quite the heart for it yet. But God he wanted to hear her voice.
“Hey, babe.”
Instead of Fiona, Kye answered. “Hi, honey.”
Maybe if he practiced on Kye… “Jez is—” his voice cracked, and he closed his eyes, “dead.”
“Oh, God, man. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
Grier gave him the bare facts - the compound, the stolen stuff, the rival gang. He left out the condition of Jez’s body, that she was more to him than just a Hell Kat at the club who’d saved his life.
“Oh man. Goddamn.”
Grier nodded. “Yeah.”
“I wondered why Fiona never showed.”
“Yeah.” He’d answered automatically and it took a second before the words registered. “What?” He shoved his barstool back and stood, bracing his free hand against the bar. Fiona was supposed to be with Kye, safe and sound on a secluded island. If she wasn’t… “Sage put her on a plane last night.”
“No planes in since yesterday afternoon. I’ve been at the airstrip all day.”
When the feelings came, they came as rage, a fury so powerful his grief evaporated, and Grier yelled and threw his glass of whiskey at the wall. “Fuck!” The glass exploded and the silence of a moment ago shattered with it. Chairs moved. Men stood. Glasses clanged against the table. And Grier tuned it all out to focus on the news he’d just received. “Fiona isn’t with you?”