Sadie
MONDAY MORNING, I walked into school, the glow of our love bubble trip still resonating in my heart.
“Good morning, Sadie,” Lynn said, as I checked my mailbox in the office. “How was your weekend?”
“It was great, Lynn. Ryder proposed.”
“Congratulations!”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“May I see the ring?”
I held out my left hand and she oohed and aahed over it. “It’s beautiful, Sadie.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m going to get some coffee before I head in.”
“Sounds good.”
I grabbed my caffeine and went to the classroom. My kids (particularly the girls) got a kick out of my ring and the pending nuptials, asking for details I didn’t really have. But I shared what I could and when the final bell rang, I realized the day had flown by.
I couldn’t wait to get home, especially since Ryder would be there when I arrived. I had him most of the week, which was rare.
After climbing into the car, I headed out towards Felida. My phone rang as I turned on Lakeshore, and I pressed the button on the steering wheel. “Hello.”
“Hey, honey, you close?”
“Less than ten minutes,” I said, and grunted as my car jerked forward.
“Sadie?”
“Someone just hit me,” I said, and checked my rearview. A black SUV was a few car lengths behind me.
“Talk to me, Sadie. What do you see?”
“I think someone just came up too fast.” I frowned. “I should probably pull over and get their information.”
“First, I need you to tell me what hit you.”
“Black SUV. I can’t tell what it is.”
Before Ryder could ask more, the SUV slammed into me again. This time, it threw me into the ditch. I screamed as I hit my brakes.
“Sadie!” Ryder yelled. “Tell me what you see.”
“I... I don’t know, Ryder.”
“Baby, focus. It’s important.”
I rattled off everything I could see. Shape of the truck, license plate, everything... even if I didn’t think it was important.
“Where are you?”
“North of McCann.”
“I’m comin’,” Ryder said. “Stay on the phone with me. Don’t get out of the car.”
“Okay, honey.”
* * *
Ryder
Ryder arrived to find his Bimmer empty. No sign of Sadie or the SUV. The Bimmer’s driver’s window was shattered and there was blood on the steering wheel. After a quick search of the car for Sadie’s cell, he pulled out his phone.
“You got her?” Reese asked.
“No, she’s gone.” Ryder dragged a hand down his face. “But she took her phone.”
“Good girl,” Reese said. “Ollie’s workin’ on the trace.”
“Shit, Reese, I need to find her.”
“We will, brother.”
“Get one of the crew to pick up my car.” He rattled off the address as he popped the trunk.
“Okay,” Reese said, and Ryder hung up. He did a sweep of the car, found Sadie’s book bag and purse in the trunk, and then noticed the sun hitting something on the floor of the car. When he looked closer he saw it was Sadie’s ring. He snatched it up and slid it into his pocket, then with a shaky hand, he called Cameron. “Cameron Shane.”
“He’s got her.”
“Sadie?”
“Yeah,” Ryder bit out.
Cameron swore. “Okay, buddy, we’ll get her. Any idea where they’d take her?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“I’m not tellin’ you that, Cam. I’m taking care of this myself.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, Ride. Tell me where and I’ll take your back.”
“I gotta go, Cam.” Ryder hung up and rushed for his truck. His phone rang as he climbed up into the cab. It was Sadie. “Honey, where are you?”
“She’s safe for now,” Hatch said.
“If you hurt her, I will kill you, Hatch, and it’ll be slow and painful.” Ryder started up the truck. “Where is she?”
“Where are the girls, son?”
“Not your son,” he hissed. “Where’s Sadie?”
“I feel like we’re headin’ for an impasse here.”
“I swear to Chri—” He took a deep breath. “Where is she, Hatch?”
“How about we make a swap? The girls for your pretty little woman. You’ve got one hour, Ride, then I let Brick at her.”
“Proof of life, asshole.”
“Sadie, honey? Ryder wants to know you’re alive.”
“Don’t tell him anything, Ryder!” she screamed in the background.
“One hour.”
Hatch hung up and Ryder slammed his hand against the steering wheel, releasing every curse word he knew. If Hatch hurt her, Ryder didn’t know what he’d do. He had to find her. After taking a second to breathe, he called Ollie.
“Hey, man, I tracked her phone.”
“Hatch has her.”
“Shit!” Ollie snapped.
“He gave me proof of life, which means, not only is she alive, he’s with her and her phone. But he wants the girls and has given me an hour.”
“Right. So we get the crew out to Gresham.”
“Seriously? He’s there?”
The Spiders had a couple of warehouses on the seedier side of Gresham where they took folks they needed to “teach a lesson,” or just mess with. Anyone who was or used to be a Spider (or related to one) knew their location. Hatch had no intention of keeping Sadie any longer than he had to. This was both a good thing and a bad thing.
“Yeah,” Ollie said.
“Dumbass.”
“Or trap,” Ollie pointed out.
“Both I’d imagine,” Ryder agreed.
“You might want Cameron in on this.”
“If I get Cameron in on this, I can’t kill my father.”
“This is true.” Ollie sighed. “But think about what Sadie would want you to do. You can’t erase it if you kill him. If you’re in prison, she’s alone.”
Ryder swore.
“Okay, said my piece,” Ollie said. “I’m heading out.”
He hung up and Ryder headed to Gresham. Forty minutes later, he pulled into a parking lot a block away from the warehouses. Ryder jumped out of the cab and joined Ollie and Reese who were already there. He wasn’t happy to find Cameron with them as well.
“What the hell?” Ryder snapped.
“We’re gonna get her brother,” Reese said. “But we’re gonna do it right. Without you losing your shit.”
A burn hit Ryder’s chest and he laid a hand over his heart and took a deep breath.
“I got your back, brother,” Cameron said. “You know I do.”
“Off the record,” Ryder said.
“As much as I can keep off the record, I’ll keep off the record,” Cameron said.
Ryder heard pipes and turned to see Blake and Axel, along with six others, riding into the lot. For the first time in his life he hated the noise of the Harleys. He wanted nothing that would tip Hatch off to their presence.
Cameron opened the back of his SUV and started throwing Kevlar vests to everyone. “Put these on, then stick behind me.”
“Like hell,” Ryder snapped, although he did don the vest.
“Plausible deniability, Ride,” Cameron said.
“I’m getting her out.”
“I hear you, but if this goes south, I need to tell my superiors we did everything by the book.”
“Screw the book!” Ryder snapped, and started toward the warehouse.
He heard Cameron swear, but it wasn’t lost on him that each of his brothers took his back and stayed silent as they rushed toward the warehouse.
“You brought back-up?” Ryder accused in a whisper when he saw two men in black approaching.
“You got your crew, I got mine. They won’t get in the way,” Cameron promised.
“Six inside,” the taller of the two men informed Cameron. “Including the woman.”
“She’s alive?”
“Seems to be. She’s in the northwest corner of the room. No exits or entrances near her.”
“Thanks, Hunter,” Cameron said, and turned to Ryder. “Equally matched. Take it slow.”
“There are only two entrances to the building,” Ryder said. “The rollup door will be locked from the inside, so it’s the street entrance we’ll have the best luck getting in through.”
“We’ll be exposed though,” Reese challenged.
“There’s always the skylights,” Ollie countered. “Remember we used to sneak in when we were kids?”
“Little harder now that we’re twice the size,” Ryder said.
“I’m game if you are.”
“We can watch the doors while you try,” Cameron said. “If it means you can get to the rollup and unlock it, we’ll have both areas covered.”
Ryder nodded. “Okay.”
He followed Ollie and Reese up onto the roof of the building and over to the skylights that covered the ledge wrapping the warehouse. It was a shorter drop than the ones in the middle, which they’d discovered all too quickly when they were kids and Reese had nearly fallen to his death. Ryder had grabbed him just in time, but it took both him and Ollie to pull him back up to safety.
Slipping virtually silently through the windows, Ryder led the men to the stairs over the makeshift office. As they approached the first stair, he heard Sadie scream and then all hell broke loose. He ran toward the sound, Reese at his back, Ollie heading for the rollup door, and then men were running and shouting as gunplay exploded in the cavernous building.
Ryder shot at a man running toward him, gun raised. The guy fell and Ryder kicked in the door that kept him from Sadie. Brick stood over her, her hands and feet bound and blood pooling from her head. Brick swore as he faced Ryder and raised his gun. Ryder didn’t think, just reacted, pulling the trigger and rushing for Sadie.
Brick fell in a weird position, his arm covering Sadie’s face. Ryder shoved him away from her, checked her pulse, and began a sweep for injuries.
The blood was from a nasty gash on her head, but it had clotted, so he untied her and lifted her, cradling against his chest. Her left eye was swollen and bruised and he had to bite back the panic seeing her so beat up. “Baby? I’m here. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’ve got you.”
Reese cleared the debris from the shattered door and stood back for Ryder to pass him. The shooting had stopped almost as quickly as it had begun. Reese checked Brick. “He’s still alive.”
“More’s the pity,” Ryder grumbled.
“Cameron’s got ambulances on the way.”
Ryder heard the sirens and carried Sadie toward the sound.
“Is she okay?” Cameron asked, jogging toward him.
“Out cold. I don’t know the extent of her injuries.”
“I’ll meet the paramedic’s,” Cam offered, and stepped outside.
“Someone call for an ambulance?” a female voice asked from the door a few minutes later.
“Here,” Ryder answered, and settled Sadie on the gurney. “She has a gash on her head. I don’t know what else.”
“Okay, sir, we have it from here.”
“I’m coming with you.”
The paramedic cocked her head. “You family?”
“Fiancé.”
“Okay, follow me. We’ve got another bus comin’.”
“Ryder, keys!” Reese called, and Ryder threw his to him, then stepped into the ambulance.
“Give me some space, sir.”
Ryder did as she demanded, but he slid his hand to Sadie’s and held it. She didn’t respond. No movement, no words, nothing. He felt the burn in his chest again and he forced himself to stay calm. “Sadie, baby, wake up for me, honey.”
The ambulance moved forward as the paramedic hooked Sadie up to an IV and bandaged her head. As the needle went into her arm, she came up swinging. Her scream didn’t seem to faze the paramedic, which was good, because it freaked Ryder the hell out.
“Baby, it’s okay. I’m here.”
“Ryder?” she whispered. “Where am I?”
“Just stay still, ma’am. I’m going to give you something for the pain.”
Ryder stood as best he could and leaned over Sadie, pushing her gently back onto the gurney. “You’re in an ambulance, honey.”
“My head hurts,” she rasped.
“How about now?” the paramedic asked.
Sadie started to answer, but passed out again. Ryder swore, squeezing her hand again.
“She’s okay, sir. Just resting now. Her pulse is strong, and I think her wounds are superficial. Doc’ll take good care of her when we get to Legacy.”
When they arrived at Legacy Mt. Hood, Ryder followed Sadie out of the ambulance, refusing to relinquish her hand until he was forced away from her by the emergency doctor.
A hand on his shoulder squeezed and he found Cameron and Reese behind him.
“Let’s talk,” Cameron said.
“I need to find out what’s happening with Sadie.”
“We won’t go far, but I need to tell you something.”
Ryder nodded and they moved to an isolated area still within sight of the emergency room doors.
“We know why Hatch wants the girls. Well, four of them, to be exact.”
“Why?” Ryder asked.
“They’re material witnesses in the Abrankovich trial.”
“Shit, seriously?” Reese asked.
Cameron nodded. “Yeah. The trafficking was the cover. They would have gotten a decent amount of money for the rest of them, but the witnesses would have been killed before they could testify.”
“Which girls are the witnesses?” Ryder asked.
Cameron shook his head. “Can’t tell you that. Honestly shouldn’t be telling you this much, but I figure you need to know a little more than you do, so I’m sharing.”
“Damn. What the hell did Hatch get himself into?”
“Who the hell cares?” Reese snapped. “We just gotta make sure he doesn’t find those girls.”
Ryder nodded. Cameron had to report back, so he left. Reese stayed with Ryder until he had to take care of business at the club, giving Ryder the chance to focus on Sadie.
* * *
Sadie
Someone was jack-hammering in my skull and I was none too happy about it. Almost as though I wasn’t attached to my body, I heard myself groan and then a strong hand was gripping mine and fingers were stroking my cheek. “Hey, baby.”
I forced my eyes open and winced, closing them again. I snuggled a little closer to Ryder who was stretched out beside me. “My head.”
Ryder shifted on the bed and then I was suddenly relieved of all my pain. I smiled. “That’s nice.”
“Baby, don’t go back to sleep. I’m gonna get the nurse.”
I grabbed for his hand. “No, don’t go.”
“I’m not going, baby, just getting the nurse.”
I put my hand to my head and something sharp caught me. “Ouch. Oh! My ring. You found it,” I rasped. He must have slid it back on my finger while I was unconscious.
“Yeah, baby, it was on the car floor.”
“I didn’t know if I was going to be robbed, so I dropped it there in case.”
“Next time just worry about you, honey, okay? I can replace a ring.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead and I sighed.
Then he went and got a nurse.