CHAPTER 20

Mac

Fury radiated from me as I paced around Marie’s. The first fucking day I’m not by her side all day and she’s snatched. Again. I glanced over at the prospect who was currently being laid out over two tables that had been pushed together as Taz pawed through a first aid kit beside him. I wanted to be mad at the kid, but he didn’t deserve my anger. He’d honestly done his best. After taking a bullet to his shoulder, he still managed to knock out the piece of shit whore who’d helped them take my woman, and got three shots off into their vehicle. Pity he hadn’t hit a tire or two. He better have not hit Zara. Then I’d be more than angry with him.

With a growl, I turned my focus back to Keys, who’d set up on the opposite side of the cafe with his laptop.

“Hurry the fuck up, man. It’s been over an hour already.”

Keys flipped me the bird before he went back to taping away. “Fuck you, Mac. I’m going as fast as I can here.”

Marie had closed the place down, shutting the blinds and locking the door, so I couldn’t see anything out the windows. Which was infuriating, as I had nothing to focus on outside the people in this room, none of whom deserved my fury.

I needed to be moving, searching for my girl. With a snarl I threw a punch at the wall, feeling the sting as the skin on my knuckles split while the sheetrock gave out.

“Calm your shit down, Mac. You need to be calm and with a clear head, or I’ll lock your ass down while we go out and get your woman. Understand?”

My vision turned red for a few moments. “No way in hell will you, or anyone, stop me from finding her. Just try it and see how that shit goes for you.”

Scout let out a string of curses before he got up in my grill. “As president it’s my fucking job to keep all of you safe. Which includes stopping a brother, who’s being a stupid bastard, from getting himself killed. Zara’s your old lady. That makes her one of us. Which means the whole fucking club will be behind you to get her back. But I won’t let you join them if you’re running purely on emotion. Because that means you’re not using your fucking head, which will get you–and possibly Zara–killed.”

I clenched my jaw and stayed silent as I seethed. I knew he was right. I needed to get my emotions in check. Dropping my head down, with my eyes closed, I took a few deep breaths and tried to gain control.

When I looked back up, Scout had moved away from me and over toward Marie, who was looking like she was having some kind of meltdown. She wasn’t saying anything, but she had that special, wild look in her eyes that indicated she was battling some kind of internal war. Scout was slow in approaching her, speaking in a low voice that I couldn’t quite hear well enough to make out the words. Not that it mattered, she wasn’t hearing him. I frowned when Scout crowded in close against her, cupping her face in his large palms. Yeah, there was definitely something going on between those two. Although, I had no idea if they’d once been a couple and it had ended, or if they’d just danced around each other for years.

Marie shuddered, then slid her arms around the man’s waist, as she leaned her head against his shoulder. The way Scout returned the embrace, holding the woman like she was made of glass, left me thinking we’d be seeing a lot more of Marie around at the clubhouse in the future.

“Right. Got her. Mac? Give me your phone.”

I rushed to hand over the device to Keys as I looked at the laptop screen. While Keys screwed around with my phone, I leaned in and moved the map around to work out where the flashing dot was located.

“They didn’t go very far.”

How stupid were they? In their shoes, I’d be running as far and fast as possible. But these fuckers appeared to have stopped just north of Angleton.

“They might not be there. I’m tracking her phone, not her. But it’s the only lead we have.” He handed my phone back. “I’ve got it set to follow that signal, just in case it moves again.”

“Great. I’m going after her. Who’s coming?”

Scout moved toward me. “I’m going with you. Keys? You and Nitro gather the rest of the brothers and ride out to join us as soon as you can. Leave three brothers at the clubhouse and get all the women locked down there, including Marie.” He eyed off the still-unconscious woman on the floor. “Take that bitch down to a cell. We’ll deal with her later.”

Taz peeled off the gloves he’d worn to work on Bash. “I’m good to leave now. Bash’ll be fine. The bullet missed everything important and he’s all sewn up.”

I relaxed a little, knowing Taz and Scout were with me all the way. And damn, but it was fucking nice to know I had an entire club at my back. I glanced over to see one of the prospects that had been on guard duty out in front of Marie’s help Bash sit up.

“Thanks.”

My voice cracked a little and I headed for the door before anyone could say another fucking word. I made it all the way to my bike before Taz grabbed my arm.

“Whoa, Mac. Hold up. You armed?”

“Of course. Got my knife and my piece.” I patted my palm over the gun concealed under my cut. I’d been wearing my under-arm harness all week, just in case that fucker turned up.

“Perfect.”

With that, Taz jogged over to his ride. I clipped my helmet on and started mine up in record time.

Hold on, Zara. I’m coming for you.

And this time I’d make sure to eliminate all threats to her, even if I had to chase that fucker Sledge all the way to Mexico. I would see him dead by the end of the day.

Zara

As I slowly surfaced through the drug-induced haze, it took me a few minutes to get my mind to clear. What the fuck did they give me? An ear-piercing scream made me jerk awake, my eyes opening to see I was in a dim, dirty barn. Charming. I’d been propped against the wall with my arms bound above my head. I tugged on them a few times, but they didn’t budge at all. Just fucking great. At least my legs were free.

“Fucking hell. Hold him down already.”

I looked over toward the gruff voice to see Sledge and the driver leaning over the man who’d been with me in the rear of the SUV. I recalled hearing him say he’d been shot. Sledge was digging something into his thigh while the driver did his best to pin the man to the table. I couldn’t help but wince when the man let out another scream of agony.

The sound cut off when the man went limp.

“Thank fuck. About fucking time.”

Sledge kept mumbling under his breath as he worked on the man. But I stopped paying attention when the driver looked up and caught my gaze. Pain and fury blazed strong enough I shuddered in response.

“She’s awake.”

“Good. Go vent your anger on her and give me some fucking peace to deal with this shit.”

The driver shook his head. “No way. I’m staying with him.”

“Whip, he’s fucking unconscious. And it’s her damn fault your boy got shot in the first place. Go vent your frustrations on her rather than hovering over me like some kinda fucked-up mother hen.”

What the fuck? It was my fault Sledge decided to risk everything to capture me. Again. I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat when the big man stepped toward where I sat on the floor. I was sure the evil glint in his dark eyes didn’t bode well for me.

“He’s wrong, it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t pull that trigger.”

He lunged for me and backhanded me hard enough I went a little dizzy.

“Shut up, bitch.”

While my head was still foggy, he undid my hands and dragged me up off the floor. I stumbled as I tried to get my feet under me, my movements slow and clumsy. Obviously, whatever drug they gave me was still in my system. Before I could muster the energy to fight, he took my hands and used a thick metal chain to bind them together in front of me.

When he shoved them up, my gaze followed and my blood ran cold. A hook was slipped between my bound wrists before he went to wind a lever that raised the hook, and my wrists. The chain twisted against the still-healing skin of my wrists as it went higher. I rose up on my toes to try to relieve the pressure but the bastard just chuckled and cranked the lever again. Then I crashed, cataplexy leaving me hanging from that damn hook.

“Fucking weak bitch.”

I wanted to sigh in relief when I was lowered enough my feet were flat on the floor. I was just starting to get control of my muscles when a crack filled the air. I tensed as Sledge’s laugh floated over from where he was still working on the other man.

“Little girl’s about to find out why we call you Whip.”

Whip growled. “Don’t you worry about what I’m doing. You need to focus on what’s in front of you.”

“Don’t forget who I am, boy. I could end you both in a heartbeat. Take her fucking shirt off before you start, give me something pretty to look at while I try to save your boy here.”

A shudder ran through me, strong enough to make my teeth rattle. Desperation fueling me, I started to tug on my arms while Whip dropped his nasty looking whip on a chair before coming to stand in front of me. My hands were going numb, my wrists screaming in pain as I continued to tug and twist them. When he reached for my shirt, I pulled my leg back and thrust it up with all my strength. The bastard turned to the side so I caught his thigh, not his groin like I was aiming for. Bastard.

“Fucking bitch. You’ll pay for that.”

In a flash he gripped each side of my shirt and ripped it open, sending the buttons flying. I tried to back up when he pulled a knife from a sheath on his belt. Standing to my side, so I couldn’t reach to kick him, he cut my shirt off, then my bra. But he didn’t touch me. With a frown, I ran my gaze over him. It wasn’t like I wanted to be raped, but his actions were not what I expected. Surely he’d at least cop a feel? Not like I could do shit about it.

“Such pretty tits, nice and lush. I want my turn with them later, Whip. So work over her back. I want her front intact for me to destroy.”

With a grunt, Whip snatched up his bullwhip before disappearing behind me. I licked my dry lips and tried to think of something I could do to get out of this. I could turn around, but that would just get me lashed on my front. I’d never been whipped before, but I could only guess it would hurt less on my back than my front. I sure as fuck regretted putting my hair in a bun this morning. That might have given my skin a little cushioning.

I jerked and yelped when fire licked across my upper back. As I panted through the pain, another lash landed just below the first. Once again, I went limp as I lost control over my body, but the pain kept coming. In what felt like a crisscross pattern, the fucker worked his way down my back and then over my ass before heading up again. The thin material of my work pants quickly gave way to the whip, offering me no protection. I’d never felt agony like that and when I started to fade in and out of awareness I knew it wasn’t my illnesses causing it.

A wet hand gripped my jaw, forcing my face up as a coppery smell filled my nose.

“Wake the fuck up, bitch. We ain’t done with you yet.”

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out, but as I raised my gaze it caught on the scene behind Sledge. Whip was hunched over the table, his shoulders bunched tight. One of his hands was wrapped in the hair of the man who lay still on the table.

“Yeah, he died. Because of you he’s now lost his lover.”

That explained the lack of interest Whip had in my body. There was a note to Sledge’s voice that made me think he didn’t think much of the fact that the two men had been lovers. My focus shifted back to Sledge and I recoiled. His grip slipped off my face as his hands were slippery. Oh fuck. I gagged. His hands were covered in blood. A dead man’s blood was now smeared all over my face. Suddenly my head was ripped back, extending my throat in a way that forced me to swallow down the bile or choke on it.

“Oh, no you fucking don’t. You ain’t puking on me again, bitch.”

He kept his grip on my hair tight as his other hand went for the front of my pants. He pulled and tugged at them, each movement causing what was left of the material on my ass to slide over the raw wounds. Tears burned, then fell down my cheeks as the pain fired up again.

With a curse he released my hair and pulling his own knife, he cut through my pants, slicing them away from me until I was naked. My body shook and sobs tore from my throat.

“Please, don’t do this.”

He laughed at my begging before wrapping his fist in my hair once again.

“I can, and will, do whatever the fuck I want with you. Your daddy and his buddies cost me a fucking fortune before we took them out. Now, thanks to you, I’ve lost my fucking club. You have one hell of a fucking debt to repay, bitch. And when you’re done paying, I’m gonna sell you to my friends over the border. They’ll have fun with such a pretty thing down there. Of course, you might not be so pretty by the time I’m through with you but they won’t give a fuck. They’ll just give you to the sadistic ones. Those fuckers don’t care if you’re scarred because they’ll want to add their own to your collection.”

My heart was racing, and my lungs burned with the effort to breathe through the nightmare playing through my mind. The picture Sledge painted was graphic and horrific and more than I could take. My brain started to spin and Sledge’s words became distorted, cutting in and out. I vaguely heard the sound of a heavy belt buckle chunking open before Sledge was standing up close to me. He ran his hand over my hip and reached back to grip my ass. Pain flared from the open whip marks he was pulling at, but it didn’t hurt like before. My body was becoming numb, sensations muted, as my thoughts floated in the murky fog that now filled my mind.