“Hatchet, is that really you?” Elsie forced out the words, repeating her question as her fingers tightened around a small, rusty garden shovel she’d found and hidden behind her back.
“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here,” the figure, more shadow than man, replied gruffly.
Elsie felt her whole body collapse with relief when she heard his familiar voice. The fear that had flooded her when the warehouse door squeaked open faded, but the coppery taste of terror in her mouth remained. She had to swallow hard to speak again.
“Wh–What are you doing here? I thought…”
“Listen, darling, plan’s changed, okay?” Hatchet said softly, not looking at her as he came closer to inspect the length of chain that still held her bound. “What is it that people say? Don’t look a gift hippo in the mouth?”
Elsie let out a soft laugh. “It’s a horse. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Hatchet was close enough for her to make out his achingly handsome features. She drank in his visage, from the sharp angular lines of his face to the smile curving up one side of his mouth.
“Yeah, I knew that,” he replied.
There was a still, sweet moment between them. But, by the next, Hatchet was cursing again.
“Damn it, we gotta figure out a way to get this chain off.” He was talking more to himself than to her. Elsie shrugged, reluctantly pulling out small gardening shovel and holding it out for him.
“Will this help?”
“What is that?” Hatchet said as he lifted it from her palm, holding it close to his face to inspect it before handing it back. “Planning on shoveling someone to death?”
“It was the only thing I could find, okay?” Elsie huffed, fighting the smile that threatened to break out across her face.
“Really, though, what were you going to do with this little thing?”
Elsie just shrugged. “Whatever I had to.”
“You surprise me, Elsie,” Hatchet said softly, his tone growing serious and his dark eyes burning through the darkness into hers. “For someone who looks like a porcelain doll… well, let’s just say you’re stronger than you look.”
She suddenly found herself fighting past a lump of emotion that had lodged itself in her throat and would have to swallow down again before it made her say something really stupid. Like that she cared about him. Like that, despite everything that had happened, she was terrified she was falling for him. Instead, she cleared her throat, blinking away the tiny drop of moisture from the corner of her eye.
“Thank you. That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” she finally said, her voice still quivering with emotion.
“Right, you just stay put. I’m going to look for something we can use to get this thing off of you,” Hatchet said, his voice laced with urgency.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Elsie threw a glance at the chain.
Hatchet nodded before melting away into the shadows to become nothing more than an indistinct blob of darkness. Elsie could hear him as he moved around the warehouse, cursing under his breath. Something about it had that damned smile creeping back on her face, despite the fact that she was chained up and should be terrified. Instead, she just felt… safe. Like, as long as he was there, everything would be just fine.
You’re being ridiculous. Don’t lose your head over this guy. He kidnapped you! Old Elsie shouted silently. She shook her head, arguing with herself. He’s also saving me.
You’re kidding yourself if you think he actually cares about you. He’s a biker, a criminal, and a troublemaker.
And for the moment he’s my troublemaker, Elsie shot back, quieting the other voice. And I’ll take him for as long as I can get him.
You know it will never last. You know men like him. They never stay. They never will.
Shut up! Elsie finally forced the other voice away, cramming it into the farthest corner of her mind. Shut up! Shut up!
She was sick and tired of always living her life afraid of the ‘what ifs’. Sure, it had gotten her into this mess, but she’d never felt more alive than she had done in the past twenty-four hours. She’d never felt more free, which she knew shouldn’t make sense, but it did. And she was damned if she going to let her own fears order her around. Not anymore.
Hatchet crouched in front of her again, interrupting her inner argument and she gasped as his sudden appearance.
“Don’t go all hysterical on my now, sweetheart,” he murmured as he grabbed the lock that was keeping the chain connected to her ankle. His thumb brushed against her bare skin and sent a surge of heat shooting through her body.
“I don’t get hysterical,” Elsie finally said, peering at him in the darkness. She could see he had something long clutched in one hand, but she couldn’t make out much more than that. “What did you find? That doesn’t look like a key.”
“No, it’s not exactly a key, but it’ll get you out of here, so it works for me.” Hatchet moved a little closer, placing the lock so that it rested only against the big metal cuff gripping her ankle. “Just hold still, alright?”
“Hatchet, what is that?” Elsie hissed, a little worried now. She leaned forward, squinting in the darkness, and gasped when she finally made out the shape. “An ax? You are not chopping my foot off!”
“Of course I’m not. This isn’t ‘Saw’,” Hatchet said calmly. “I’m going to use it to break the lock. Now, can I get on with it or do you want to sit here and argue about it until someone comes looking for us?”
“Oh, okay,” she said softly, taking a deep breath to still her nerves. “Go ahead.”
“Thanks so much for your permission,” he said with an edge of sarcasm, but she was too busy imagining what that dull, rusty blade would do to her if he missed. Tetanus, at the very least. And at the worst? Well, she shuddered and pushed that thought away as quickly as it came.
She watched wide eyed as he took a few practice swings, but she had to squeeze them shut tight when he raised it over the lock, the same lock that was attached to her ankle. He took a swing and she gasped out in fear despite herself.
“Alright, I’m going to go for it. You have to stay quiet now, okay?”
“Okay, okay. Just… Just do it already.”
“On the count of three,” he muttered, “One, two…’ He swung on two and she nearly jumped out of her skin at the feeling of the blunt end of the ax making contact with the lock. She tried to force her eyes open to see if it had worked but couldn’t.
“Well?” she finally said after a long moment. But then she could hear him fumbling with the padlock and a moment after that, he was taking her hand in his.
“Come on, Els. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
She almost cried in relief when her eyes flew open to find the lock gone and freedom within reach. Hatchet helped her to her feet, still unsteady after being chained up for hours. The next thing she knew, they were hurrying out of the warehouse.
Hatchet paused at the warehouse door shut and locked it once more before he pulled his arm back and threw the key as far into the tree line as he could.
“That ought to slow them down a bit,” Hatchet said softly, then he took her hand again, wordlessly telling her to stay low and to stay quiet as they sneaked across the darkened parking lot. Elsie followed blind with her heart pounding hard in her chest. Freedom was so close she could taste it, so close that she was practically drooling for it. Or maybe that was just Hatchet, crouched next to her behind a truck, the heat of his body rising so intimately against her own.
Focus Elsie! We’re trying to get out of here, remember? She shook it off, forcing herself to pay attention only to what was going on around them rather than too distracting man pressed up against the side of her body. But that was nearly impossible.
“Come on. Coast is clear,” Hatchet whispered in her ear. His breath sent warm shivers tickling down her back. But she barely had time to savor the sensation before he was tugging on her hand again, leading her further and further away from the warehouse but precariously closer to the other building. It looked like an abandoned office-building from the outside. The windows were all barred and boarded up. But there was a muffled ruckus coming from inside and she could see light streaming through the gaps in the boards.
“What is this place?” she whispered.
Hatchet threw a look over his shoulder before answering. “It’s the Roadburner’s clubhouse. Now, no more talking. We have to be quiet,” he said shortly, forestalling her next question.
They were halfway through the large parking lot when the front door of the clubhouse suddenly swung open, letting light and noise out into the darkness. Hatchet pulled her down behind a cluster of parked bikes.
She looked over at him wide-eyed and he put a single finger to her lips, telling her without words to remain silent. She nodded, trying to hold her breath as the sound of drunken bikers came closer to her.
It seemed like an eternity, as they laughed roughly over some vulgar joke and then finally turned to disappear back inside. Even still, Hatchet waited another few long heartbeats to make sure the coast was clear before pulling her forward again.
After the close call, her legs felt like jelly and they nearly gave out altogether when they reached a familiar, jet-black motorcycle parked at the other end of the lot.
“Hurry up, get on,” Hatchet whispered sharply, tossing a helmet her way. She gratefully complied, more than happy to have something else supporting her trembling weight. A moment later he was climbing on the bike in front of her and she didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his leather jacket clad waist, melting against his hard body. He’d become the only thing that felt real to her in a world that had been flipped upside down. Elsie let her eyes slide shut in relief as Hatchet revved the engine and tore out of the parking lot in a shower of rocks and gravel.
She didn’t turn around. She didn’t look back as they fled. It was all she could do to hold on, her eyes squeezed shut as the wind whipped against her face. The thrumming of the bike between her thighs had her holding on to Hatchet tighter than she ever had before.
They rode in a whole different direction from the one that had brought them there, but Elsie couldn’t register anything besides the fact that she was free and that it was Hatchet who had rescued her.
It was Hatchet who kidnapped you in the first place too, that voice of old Elsie snapped in, and she just nodded her head slightly. That voice was true. And it was something she’d have to deal with.
But not now.
Now, all she could do was marvel at the fact that for the first time since that awful moment this morning, when Mad Dog had burst through the bedroom door, she felt like she could breathe again.
And for the moment, that was enough for her.