Christian swept his hands through his hair, leaving it even more tousled and knotted than it had been, as he paced the too-small motel room. He glanced at the time on his phone for the hundredth time, but with every minute that ticked by the bad feeling in his gut tightened like a noose.
Worry and fear ate at him. Melody should have been back by now, damn it. She’d been gone for nearly an hour. She was just going to the diner to pick up a few plates of food. It shouldn’t be taking this long.
He turned on his heel, spearing Craig with a wild look.
“Can you keep an eye on my father while I go see what’s holding Mel up with the food?”
He was proud of himself, at how calm the question had come out, instead of railing and screaming it like he’d wanted to.
Christian glanced over at his dad, who was still sleeping fitfully on one of the motel beds. Hub had lost more blood than he’d thought at first, and Christian had given him some painkillers that had knocked him out for a short time. It wouldn’t keep him under for much longer, but the man needed to rest. Even though he had fought with Christian the whole way.
“Yeah, of course, man,” Craig agreed immediately, forcing a nonchalant grin.
But Christian knew him too well. He could see that his friend was starting to get just as worried he was.
“Tell her to hurry up. I’m starving over here.”
Christian nodded, checked his father over one more time to make sure that he would stay asleep while he was gone, and then headed for the door.
He practically sprinted across the parking lot. He had barely been able to wait to get out of the door, but he didn’t want Craig to see just how worried he truly was.
Christian didn’t let himself slow down until he was yanking open the scratched glass door of the diner. He was out of breath, but it was more from worry and panic than exertion. As he’d ran there, the worst sort of thoughts ran through his head. He kept telling himself it was fine, that he was being ridiculous. But when he walked into the diner, his panic spiked again. He didn’t see Melody anywhere.
Christian’s gaze went wide as he scanned the busy restaurant. He looked at every table, at every booth. But she was nowhere to be found. His heart told him that she wasn’t there, long before his eyes finally believed it.
Where the hell was she? Had something happened to her? Christian tried to slow his racing thoughts, but all those worst-case scenarios came back to him in a tidal wave of fear for Melody and his child.
His hands clenched into fists, and for a long moment all he could do was stand there, frozen, staring in shock at the room full of people. But none of them were her. None of them were Melody.
“Um, excuse me, sir. Can I help you?”
The voice drew him out of his state of shock, and he turned to look at the hostess who was staring at him in concern.
“I’m looking for someone. My wife,” he added hurriedly, cursing himself that he didn’t have a picture of her on his phone to show her. “She is short, curvy, long dark hair. Dark eyes. She was in here maybe forty-five minutes or a half hour ago. She should still be here.”
The last was nearly a plea as it was torn from his throat, but the hostess just shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember anyone like that,” she answered with a shrug. “We get a lot of new faces through here all the time.”
She turned away with one last sympathetic shrug as an older couple came up to the front desk with their bill, ready to pay. As the hostess checked the couple out, Christian scanned the restaurant one more time, even though he knew it was useless.
Where the hell was Melody?
Desperate, he turned back to the door, prepared to tear the motel apart looking for her, hoping against hope that she had found her way back but gotten lost on the way. He knew how farfetched that hope was, though. Christian grit his teeth as pain flooded him, his thoughts swirling with images of Melody lost. Melody hurt. And their baby…
Despair was starting to swallow him whole when a shy tap on his arm stopped him. Christian turned towards the shy, young waitress that was standing behind him.
“I remember her,” the young woman said, her fingers fiddling nervously with the worn laminate of the stack of menus clutched in her arms like a shield. “I was waiting on a table, they were total jackasses and were giving me a hard time. That woman you were looking for, your wife? She came over and just yelled at them, told them all to stop and leave me alone.”
The waitress shook her head in awe as she spoke.
“It was something to see, that’s for sure. But then she stopped, kind of froze. Then she turned around and left all of a sudden.”
The young woman paused, biting nervously at her lower lip.
“A few minutes later, the table of guys got up and left too. I think… I think maybe they were following her.”
“Did you see them leave? Do you know who they are? Do you know which direction they went? Did they take her?”
Christian pelted the questions at her so fast that she didn’t even have time to answer one before he was tossing another one at her.
She shrugged helplessly.
“I think they run with a drug-dealer from around here. I’ve worked here for a couple of years now, and I’ve seen them come in with him before. Tall guy, not very big, but muscular, like a runner. And handsome. Dark eyes. Always ordering the others around.” She shook her head after a minute. “They always act like bastards when they’re in here, messing with the waitresses. Harassing us. No one ever wants to wait on their table, even if he does tip well.”
“Did you see anything else? Did you see which direction she went?” Christian demanded.
All the pieces of the puzzle that the waitress had just given him were coming together to form an awful picture in his mind.
“I’m sorry, that’s all I saw.”
The waitress turned away, but after a step she hesitated, turning back to face him.
“I hope she’s alright. She was… kind to me. Most people around here can’t be bothered.” She shook her head again, “This whole place was packed when those assholes were harassing me, but she was the only one who stepped in and said something.”
Christian nodded. He couldn’t speak. Pride and fear warred inside him. That sounded just exactly like something Melody would do. She wouldn’t be able to stand by and let some other young girl get bullied and harassed.
Terror choked him, and he couldn’t say another word. All he could do was turn away and rush back to the motel room.
Christian was shaking so badly by the time he got back through the doorway that he could barely hold himself up. He dropped into the one lumpy chair, and his head fell into his hands.
He was beside himself as he tried to explain to Craig about what had happened. It took him three tries to get the words out, and even then he had to force the hateful sounds from his mouth.
“Melody. He has Melody. He has her, Craig,” Christian stuttered, his mind reeling with how this could have happened.
“What are you talking about? Who has Melody?” Craig came over and knelt next to the chair, forcing Christian to confront the truth. “What the hell happened, Chris?”
Christian forced his head up, forced himself to meet his friend’s questioning gaze.
“Enrique. He has her.”
“WHAT?!” Craig exploded to his feet. “What the fuck do you mean, Enrique has her! She just went across the parking lot!”
Christian speared his fingers through his hair. It was impossibly untamed now, making him look as wild as he felt.
“There was a table of guys harassing one of the waitresses, and Melody stepped in and told them to stop.” The words fell out of his suddenly numb lips, “The waitress told me they followed her outside. She recognized them as Enrique’s men. She described him to me. It couldn’t be anyone else.”
“Are you… are you, sure Christian? Did the waitress see them take her?”
“No. She just saw Melody leave. And then a few minutes later, the table of Enrique’s men left.” Christian turned abruptly back towards the door. “I have to go. I have to go find her. The baby…”
“Did she say his name?” Craig demanded. “Did she say Enrique’s name? The waitress, she was sure it was him?”
“No. She didn’t see… I know it’s him. I know that bastard has my Melody. I have to get her back.”
Christian didn’t turn around as he spoke, moving to open the door and rush out, but suddenly Craig had a hold of him and was pulling him back into the middle of the motel room.
“You’re not fucking going anywhere until we figure out what really happened.”
“What happened!?” Christian was shouting. He didn’t care. There wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it anyway. “Enrique has my wife. That’s what fucking happened! He has my baby!”
Christian shoved at Craig, wanting nothing more than to land his fist in the middle of the other man’s resolved features, but Craig wouldn’t budge.
“Just slow down and think this through before you do anything stupid!” his friend pleaded.
Both of them were shouting now.
“I can’t think! That son of bitch has my wife! Do you know what he could be doing to her? What she could be going through right now!”
“Who’s making all that noise!”
Their raised voices had woken up Hub, who uttered his question again, this time even more demanding, as he pushed himself unsteadily into a sitting position on the bed.
Christian shot a wincing look over his shoulder at his father, his stomach twisting in on itself as he had to explain the situation all over again.
“It’s Melody, dad,” Christian said softly. “She’s missing. I think… I think Enrique’s men have her.”
“What?!”
Hub’s reaction was nearly identical to Craig’s, and Christian flinched again, feeling in his gut that he’d failed her. He’d failed the woman that he loved. He failed his unborn child.
It was his job to protect them. He never should have let them out of his sight. He never should have left them unprotected. And now they were gone. Taken. And he didn’t know what the fuck he was going to do.
“Does anyone know where Enrique is? How we can find him? Track him down?”
Christian spat out the questions one right after the other, demanding answers, but the other two men just stared at him wide-eyed, shaking their heads.
“Wait just a god-damned minute, son,” Hub growled, wincing as he swung his injured leg over the side of the bed. “What the fuck do you mean Enrique’s men have her? Did you see them take her? Was there a fight or…or...?”
“I don’t know!” Christian covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know. Mel was supposed to go to the diner and bring us back some food, but it’s been over an hour since she left. The waitress said she saw some guys follow Melody out and that she thinks they might belong to Enrique’s crew.”
“‘Might’. ‘Maybe’. Bah!” Hub snorted, glaring at his son. “Facts, Christian. What are the facts.”
It was Christian’s turn to growl as he spun on his father.
“Fact number one, Melody is missing. That’s the only fact that matters.”
They were all still arguing about what had happened and what the hell they were going to do about it when a sharp knock at the motel room door interrupted.
Christian shared a long, cautious look around the room, staring at the other men and telling them silently not to make a sound or say anything that might give them or Melody’s situation away. He had no idea who the hell was on the other side of the door. No one knew they were stopping there.
His thoughts raced for a minute as he hesitated. Maybe he should just ignore it, leave it unanswered. More than likely it was just a house cleaning from the motel, but it could be anyone.
The knock sounded again, followed by a high-pitched feminine voice.
“Ch–Christian? It’s Amanda. I have news for you,” she said through the door, and then her voice lowered. “It’s about Melody.”
With a bit-off curse, Christian rushed to the door and jerked it open, not even bothering with any niceties as he grabbed her and dragged her into the room.
He looked down the hallway to make sure no one else was with her before slamming the door and throwing the lock once more.
With a furious glare, he turned on the woman who was Enrique’s cousin, the woman who had already tried to betray Melody and the Devil’s Martyrs once.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Christian growled the words, barely hanging on to his temper by a fingernail. “And you better have a good reason or so help me god...”
“Christian,” Hub warned from the bed, sending a scolding look at his son, but Christian ignored it.
“Where the hell is Melody?” Christian demanded, stalking closer to the other woman, whose eyes widened in fear. “What the fuck are you waiting for. Tell me where she is! What happened to her!”
“Back off, Christian.”
Craig was suddenly right in front of him, shoving him away, so that a few feet of space opened up between him and Enrique’s cousin. Craig turned a much kinder look on the other woman.
“It’s okay. Ignore him. He’s a bear when he’s worried. He’s just afraid for Melody, that’s all.”
“H…He has a reason to be,” Amanda finally stuttered.
She drew herself up with a deep breath, and then shot Christian a sympathetic look.
“I know y’all have no reason to trust me.”
“You’re god-damned right about that,” Christian muttered but fell silent at Craig’s hard look.
With a shrug, he gestured for her to continue.
“Enrique is holding Melody hostage at his property just south-west of the city. He…He threatened to kill the baby.”
Christian saw red at her words, and it took everything in him to remain still. To not fly into a rage then and there. He knew it wouldn’t matter. The real target of his anger was miles and miles away, threatening his wife and child.
“Where?” It took almost more will power than Christian possessed to force the single word from his mouth, and it was all he could manage. He was afraid of what else might come out if he opened it again.
“Here’s the address,” Amanda said, handing a slip of paper to Craig. She was smart enough not to want to come any closer to Christian. “Enrique is going to be gone in a few hours. He’s overseeing a deal that’s going down on the outskirts of the desert. That will be your only chance to get her. But if he catches you…”
She trailed off, leaving the rest unspoken, but it was easy for Christian to imagine by her horrified shudder.
Without another word, he grabbed the address from Craig and strode towards the door.
“Wait, son. Let me call Bones. He can handle this,” Hub pleaded, struggling to get his feet under him as he stood. “The Devil’s will back you on this. Melody is one of ours now.”
But Christian knew there was no waiting. There was no way in hell that he could just sit around, waiting for someone else to save his woman and child. He cast one last look over his shoulder at Hub so that he would understand.
He didn’t speak at all as he shoved the door open and rushed out into the night. He was going to get Melody back, no matter what he had to do.