Pepper
After a shitty night of sleep, I give up and roll out of bed before seven. I get dressed and pack my things up. I'm getting out of here after the meeting. When I'm ready, I call Hannah and don't get an answer.
My stomach is growling and I really don't want to wait another hour to eat, so I go ahead and text Hannah that I'm leaving earlier, then I call down to the front desk for them to get me a cab, so I don’t have to use my car. Through this, I find out there's a back way out of the hotel. I call Decker and don't get an answer. When a couple minutes go by, I decide to go ahead and leave. He knows where I'm going, and I'll be careful.
When I get down the elevator, Hannah is sitting in the hotel lobby with a coffee in her hand. She smiles when she sees me. "Hey! I wasn't expecting you down this early, but I got here sooner than I thought and just realized my phone died. I guess I didn't have it plugged in like I thought."
"Oh! No problem. I did call and text you a few minutes ago. I'm starving and decided to go on and eat, then head to the meeting. Are you hungry?" I check my surroundings and there's only me, Hannah, an older couple, and a few workers. "Not hotel food though."
I don't want to stick around too long. It looks like no one is watching me right now, so we can get out without them knowing.
"I could eat a little. Let's go. The driver is already waiting." She heads toward the front door lobby.
At first, I hesitate, and then figure—what's the difference? They could be anywhere at this point and I have my burner if something happens. We both get in the back of the car and I realize when it's too late that I'm wrong about being seen.
I'm shoved further over onto the seat until I'm in sitting in between Bobby and Hannah. The gasp out of Hannah's mouth at least tells me she isn't in on the kidnapping, but I feel like shit that I dragged her into the mess. My hands are shaking, so I try taking deep breaths. Panic won't help the situation at all.
"Please, let her go. I won't cause a scene if you just let her out." I look into the big lug’s eyes and don't see a bit of compassion in them. Actually, I feel a strong need to vomit at the look he's giving me and Hannah.
"Nah. I think I'll keep her too. She's already a witness and we're gone." He smiles with a set of pearly whites.
As sick as he's making me feel, I could be looking at a mouthful of rotten teeth and smelling fish gone bad for days. "She isn't a part of this."
"Why the fuck do I care?" He laughs when we both jump at his outburst.
"Shut up and get their phones," the driver snarls over his shoulder.
Bobby smirks at me and begins reaching in my pockets, searching way too hard when it's obvious I don't have my phone in my pocket. "It's in my purse."
He grabs it out and Hannah is shaking beside me. "I don't have mine. I left it at home."
"I'll have to make sure." He reaches over me and paws Hannah until he's overly sure she's telling the truth.
"Where are you taking us?" When he rolls his eyes, I know I'm going to piss him off easily. I can't help talking when I'm nervous.
It's not long before he's pointing a finger in my face and I'm forced to quiet down or be hurt. He doesn't answer any of my questions. When the two idiots go into a loud, obnoxious conversation about football or whatever, I pat Hannah's leg and lean in close. "Don't worry. We'll be okay."
I couldn't bring myself to say ‘I promise’. Even as much as I trust Wolf and his brothers, I can't promise her it'll all be all right. If it isn't, then I'll end up breaking my promise and I don't do that. She actually seems pretty calm considering two linebacker sized men have kidnapped us.
We drive for about thirty minutes if the clock on the car is correct. When they drag us out of the vehicle, we’ve arrived at some rickety house that looks like it should be surrounded by caution tape and have a condemned sign out front. There are boards on the windows.
Bobby has me by the arm and I hide my pain from the vise-like grip of his giant hand. I don't want to make him think he's causing me pain, even though I can feel the tears forming. I know there's going to be a bruise there, maybe even a fracture.
I hope the other douche isn't as rough on Hannah. When I look back, she isn't showing anything more than fear. He's not even holding her either, just walking directly behind her.
They make us sit against a wall in what used to be a living room, our hands behind our backs and our wrists tied with ropes. They go outside, and I scoot until I'm facing Hannah. "I'm so sorry. I'll get us out of this."
"Why are you sorry? This isn't your fault." Her voice quivers when she speaks.
"Yes, it is. Well, it isn't, but this is because of my boyfriend. He'll come for us." I glance toward the door and listen. When I don't hear them outside, I continue whispering. "I have another phone.”
Her eyes widen. "What? Wait, why?"
"It's a long story, so the short version is I knew someone was going to try this and I had that phone as a communication between me and the guy who's watching over me." She's quiet; maybe from shock, I don't know. "He doesn't know I left the hotel early though. I have to get my phone out of my sock. I wore these pants with long socks to hide the phone in."
Funny that I didn't do that yesterday. Good thing it came in handy today.
"How are you going to get it?" She moves her arms like she's trying to get to her feet with no progress.
I think for a moment and then start scooting around with a whole lot of wiggling. "I need you to reach in and grab it."
She does it and luckily, we get it out easily, then I wiggle some more until I can grab the phone with my hand. Now, I just need to figure out how to dial a number when I can't see the phone.
Wolf
The pain in my fist isn't as bad as the look of the hotel lobby's wall. I get all the way here and the clerk tells me she checked out this morning and I can't get an answer on her cell. Not even the burner Decker gave her. Decker is trying to get a location on her now, but I'm fucking going insane without knowing where she is or if she's safe.
My phone rings and I nearly drop it when I see it's Pepper's burner number. "Baby? Are you okay? Where are you?"
"Wolf. They have us and took my other phone. They don't know about this one. Tell Decker I have my earrings in," she whispers with a struggle in her voice.
"Okay, baby. We're going to find you, I promise. Have they hurt you?" I’m almost scared to ask.
"No, I'll have a bruise on my arm, but nothing life threatening or traumatic."
I feel my whole body relax a little. She knows what I'm worried about.
"Hannah's with me, too. She's the assistant my publisher sent to me. Please hurry." She sounds more worried for the girl.
That's my woman. Always more concerned with everyone else's well-being. It's honorable, but I don't care for her putting herself in harm's way.
"I got it." Decker jumps up from where he’s sitting on the sidewalk outside the hotel.
"Baby, we're coming for you." I look at the distance on Decker's laptop. "You need to hide your phone and be careful. We'll be there soon." I won't lie to her. She needs to take heed because she’s far from safe.
We make it to the rundown house in twenty minutes. The sound of our motorcycles is not going to hide the fact that we're here. Jumping off the bike, I grab my gun and go for it. Knowing they heard us coming, I'm not giving them time to hurt the girls. The men follow suit behind me. I kick the door open and hear the squeals coming from the right. Pepper and another woman are sitting there, eyes wide, until Pepper realizes it's me and tears fall down her cheeks.
When I don't see anyone else around, I run to Pepper and fall to my knees in front of her. "Thank God!"
"They ran out the back door when y'all pulled in. Go get them."
The others run out the back, except for Bear and me. Bear crouches down in front of the other girl. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
We both start working to get the ties off the women, eventually resorting to using a knife as they are so tight. When I finally get Pepper's hands released, I curse at the bright red marks on her wrists. "I'm going to kill those fuckers."
She throws her arms around my shoulders and kisses my neck. "I'm okay," she reassures me.
"Yes, you are and always will be." I'll never let anyone this close to harming her again. She pulls back and her gorgeous eyes stare into mine. This is home now. As long as she's with me, I'll always be home.