“Why risk it?” Cole asked, speaking for the first time. His tone wasn’t skeptical but curious, as I was sure we all were.
“I have my reasons.” She shrugged, her gaze sliding to the side.
Gunner set his laptop aside, his gaze locking with mine. “I think I might have something.”
I was grabbing my keys before he’d even finished the sentence. I looked to Sal; if he wanted to ride out with us, I’d never deny him that.
He wrapped an arm around Kat, his eyes on me. “Go get our girl.”
Chapter 32
WREN
It had been a hellish night. When night fell, the small amount of light that had been coming in through the small basement window disappeared, leaving me to suffer the night in pitch black. Sleeping in a cell with a dead body slumped next to it, my stomach growling and calf burning, was a waking nightmare. My mind had gone to some outlandish places as the night stretched.
At one point, I’d sworn I heard music, and in another, Jared breathing—that had been the scariest of all. But as day break allowed a small sliver of sun to light my surroundings, Jared was still slumped in the same position, his face a ghoulish gray.
I shivered at the very sight of him.
Lying back down on my small bed and curling into the fetal position, I conjured an image of Max in my mind as I had tried to do throughout the night. I pictured that slow smile of his that I loved so much, those warm brown eyes. I imagined his arms around me now, pulling me close, kissing my temple as he liked to do.
A noise overhead woke me from a light sleep. At first, I dismissed it as my mind playing tricks on me. Then I heard it again, louder this time.
I sprang out of bed, wincing at the pain in my leg. “Hello?” I shouted, my voice hoarse from lack of sleep and thirst. I hadn’t gotten desperate enough to drink out of the toilet yet. “I’m down here!” I hollered as loud as I could.
I tried yelling throughout the night, hoping a neighbor would hear me, to no avail. I was scared to hope this would be different.
The heavy tread of feet on the stairs sounded a moment before Max came into view. I’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
Relieved tears filled my eyes as I clung to the bars, trying to hold myself up.
His gaze swung from me to Jared’s corpse before returning to me. “Baby.” His tone was guttural. “Gonna get you out of there,” he swore as Gunner and Cash appeared in the room.
“Do you know where the key is?” he asked me, and despite the urgency in his gaze, his tone was calm. I knew the effort it must have taken him.
“He has them.” I pointed to Jared with a grimace.
Cash didn’t hesitate, and as Max stood in front of me, holding my hands through the bars, he dug through a dead man’s jeans. “Found ’em,” he replied a moment later, dangling them from his fingers.
“Damn, remind me not to kidnap you, Wren. Everyone who tries ends up dead.” Gunner shot me a wry grin. He was trying to put me at ease, and to the degree that it was possible, it worked.
Max’s growl of discontent proved he didn’t appreciate the gesture.
After they tried a few keys, finally the sound of the lock snicking open sounded, and a heartbeat later, Max had me in his arms.
He lifted me bridal style. “Close your eyes. I don’t want you looking at this fuckin’ place a second longer,” he grunted as he headed for the stairs.
I didn’t argue, eager to erase the dungeon from my mind—though I didn’t think that would actually ever be possible.
I only opened them when we were outside, the fresh air of the morning calming my frazzled nerves. Max placed me in the passenger seat of his truck, leaning toward me, his forehead pressed to mine. “Jesus fuck, fuck,” he chanted. When I pressed my hands to his shoulders, they were coiled tight. He took a few deep breaths before he stepped back a pace to peer down at me. “Do you have any other injuries?”
He wanted to know if Jared touched me.
I shook my head. “He died yesterday, almost immediately after he locked me in that cell.” I shivered, knowing how much worse it could have been.
Some of the tightness in his body eased at that news.
“We have to get that leg seen to. I’d be more comfortable taking you to Tag’s. Laurie can take care of you there. I just… I need to keep you close. I need to know I can get to you.” His voice was pained as he struggled to explain himself.
I placed my hand on the side of his neck, relishing the feel of his pulse thumping under my skin. “That’s fine.”
I looked over Max’s shoulder at the quaint little house that had been my own personal house of horrors. “What are you going to do about him?” I asked quietly.
“Don’t worry about it,” Max was quick to assure me. “All you need to focus on is that he’s gone. It’s over. Finally.” He exhaled.
“Finally,” I agreed as a look passed over his face that I couldn’t place. It almost looked like regret.
“Just wish I could’ve put that asshole down myself,” he explained. “Was lookin’ forward to that. Let’s get you out of here.” He gently guided me further into the truck, closing the door for me.
“I don’t get it,” I murmured in confusion as we pulled away from the curb. “He barely even talked to me. He asked me out a few times in high school, but it’s not like he even really tried to date me.” I shook my head in bafflement. “Aside from hiring that guy to attack me in the parking lot and wanting to look like a savior or something, he kept his distance.”
Max’s forearm tensed on the wheel as he glanced over at me briefly. “He was fucking twisted, babe. Who knows how his mind worked? Probably better to try not to think about it.”
That was easier said than done, and we both knew it.
“Are my parents okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “Your pop was way calmer than me,” he admitted. “The entire club rallied. No one slept, barely ate. We weren’t going to quit until we found you.” He glanced at me again, his eyes flashing. “I would have never quit, Wren.”
“I know.” And I did. I’d never doubted it. “How did you find me?”
“Mad has a source,” he replied simply, and I sensed he didn’t want to get into it now. That was fine by me. Now that I was safe, exhaustion was setting in with full force.
When we pulled up in front of Tag and Laurie’s two-story home, I was somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. Max had me in his arms before I was even aware he’d stopped the truck.
I opened my eyes, blearily noting Laurie’s petite form peeking out from behind her massive husband.
“Oh dear,” she greeted with concern when she got a look at me. “Let’s get you inside.”
“Holy shit, that’s a lot of blood!” a young voice cried from the couch when we entered the living room. Seated beside his sisters, Talon was staring at us with an open mouth.
“Mouth, Talon,” Laurie chastised.
“Sorry, Ma,” he muttered, turning his eyes back to the TV as the girls giggled.
“Don’t let your brother give you any ideas.” Tag looked pointedly at the girls as he followed us into the kitchen where Laurie sat me in a chair.