Chapter Seventeen
Reaper
Reaper left the clubhouse, not knowing where he was going. Two weeks. He had been gone for two weeks. Sledge had called him the first night wondering where he was. He was never gone this long. Just taking off was out of character for him. But his head was all fucked up and he needed space.
He knew the man was worried about him, but he needed time to think, to clear his head. After the first phone call, Sledge kept sending him text messages, just to check on him. How was he supposed to get his shit together if the man was always bugging him? When did this group of Retired-Military, Elite Special Forces, turn into a bunches of mother hens? Reaper wondered…
Laying in a ratty bed, in a shitty hotel, Reaper looked at the gun in his lap. He wasn’t suicidal, it was nothing like that. He just sat there contemplating life.
What did he want out of it? He thought he always knew but after meeting Amber, talking to her for hours, spending time with her, he didn’t know anymore.
He closed his eyes and tried to picture his future, but all he could see was her face. The look of pleasure in her eyes when she came undone beneath him. But, that look quickly morphed into the look of hurt that flashed in her eyes when she walked into the kitchen. There one second, then gone the next.
Frustrated, he got out of bed and headed for the shower. Stripping off his clothes, he climbed in under the hot spray. Images of Amber laying in his bed came flying into his mind. In a matter of seconds, he was hard as steel.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” he said to his dick in frustration. Great...now he was talking to his cock! He was losing his mind.
It was past time for him to go home, but there was no way he could ride back across town like this. Taking himself in his hand, he thought back to his night with Amber.
He remembered the feel of her in his arms. What it felt like to slide inside of her tight, wet heat. He remembered the sounds of her moans, and when she flew apart in his arms, he remembered the sound of his name screamed from her lips.
He felt the tingle start to move down his spine, the tightening in his balls. Then he was done for. In minutes, he was shooting his load all over the shower wall. And all it took was the reminder of a woman who had already started to weave herself around his heart and broken soul.
But could he really keep her? Could he allow her in? Could she handle the broken pieces he had left? So many questions, and Reaper still had no answers.
Climbing out of the shower, he got dressed and headed for his bike. He needed to get back to the clubhouse. He’d been gone long enough. He climbed on his bike, but the chiming of his phone stopped him from starting it.
“Amber has been taken! Get back here NOW!” Sledge texted.
Reaper froze. She was supposed to be watched. She wasn’t supposed to be alone, ever.
“What the fuck do you mean taken? Who was on her?” he replied back starting his bike, still staring at his phone.
“She was leaving Lighthouse with Diesel. They were shot at. Diesel was hit and Amber was taken. GET. BACK. HERE. NOW!” came the reply.
He knew her leaving the compound was a bad idea. He understood her need to be able to get back some normalcy, but at the expense of getting kidnapped?
“Ratchet. That piece of shit has her. I’m on my way! Have my team ready. Be there in twenty” Reaper sent back before tearing out of the parking lot.
His vision was clouded with red. Ratchet had his girl and for that, the motherfucker would die a slow and painful death at Reaper’s hand. Nobody touched what was his, and Amber, whether he realized it before or not, was definitely his! Now, he just had to get her back, and hope she would forgive him for being such an ass.
Eighteen minutes later, Reaper’s bike was screaming into the club parking lot.
Storming into the main building, it was total chaos but he didn’t pay attention. He only had two destinations in mind - the gear room and the meeting room, where he knew his team would be waiting.
On his way to get his weapons, Sledge called his name.
“Reaper, your weapons are already in here waiting on you,” Sledge called.
Changing directions, he walked into the meeting room and began loading up. His favorite GLOCKs went to his sides. A .22 pistol strapped to his ankle, his last resort weapon, and a Taurus Judge went to his thigh. All that was left was his AR-15, which he would sling over his back when he walked out of the door.
Turning to Sledge, he asked for the specifics. He needed to know what happened. He hated going into any mission blind, but to save Amber, he would go into the depths of hell with only his bare hands.
“According to Lo and K, Amber was leaving the studio, when a black SUV pulled up front. The back door opened and two shot were fired, one hitting Diesel,” Sledge reported.
Reaper turned his eyes to Sledge, knowing he could easily read the question in them. “He’s alive. He’s in surgery to remove the bullet now. Another inch to the right and it would have pierced his heart. Lucky bastard,” Sledge answered.
Reaper was relieved, but it was short-lived. If two shots were fired, and only one hit Diesel, where was the other shot? He sent up a silent prayer that Amber wasn’t hit, but he had to know. “Was Amber hit?”
“At this point, we don’t know,” Sledge relayed.
“What has Banjo found out? Any video surveillance from traffic cams?” Reaper asked. He needed answers and wished everyone would talk faster. The sooner he knew what he was up against, the sooner he could go get Amber.
“Traffic cams show them leaving Lighthouse Martial Arts Academy and following this route,” Banjo replied, bringing several cameras and a map up on the projection screen.
Reaper hadn’t even noticed him in the room. That showed how messed up his head was right now. He needed to calm down. He’d never be able to do his job if he couldn’t focus.
“We lose the SUV in this area,” Banjo pointed out. “Which means she has to be somewhere around here,” he circled an area on the projection map. Reaper and Sledge both walked closer to the map, examining the area. Reaper knew the area.
“I was just fucking there!” he fumed. “A goddamn block away. I must have passed the fuckers on the way here!” Reaper roared. And just then, one of the traffic cams showed Reaper’s bike soaring past a kidnapped Amber, in the opposite direction. His heart shattered. So close.... he thought.
“It looks like an industrial zone. From what I have been able to find on the city’s zoning contracts, it’s mostly abandoned buildings and the old saw mill,” Banjo relayed quickly.
“Does Ratchet own any of the buildings?” Reaper asked, turning to look at Banjo as the man started typing into his laptop.
A quiet ‘fuck’ fell from his lips, bringing the eyes of every person in the room straight to him.
“Several, including the saw mill,” he said.
Reaper’s blood ran cold. He knew, they all did, that if Ratchet couldn’t have Amber - nobody would. Reaper ran from the room, snatching his rifle off the table on the way out, not waiting for Sledge or his team. They would just have to catch up or he would do this without them.