CHARLOTTE
I looked into the back seat and saw Shiloh had her noise-cancelling headphones on. Her favourite show Tour of Duty was on, and her eyes were glued to the screen. She loved the war show about the Vietnam War. She and Darth both did.
We had been on the road for about fifty minutes or so, following the route Creed created for us on the GPS. He took us off the main highway and put us on the back roads. It would add about another hour to our travel time, but the men of the Wounded Souls were still very concerned about the rogue soldier, which was why, every time I looked into the side mirror, I saw Dundee following close behind us.
Settling back, I took a deep breath. I wanted to catch Stella off guard when I asked what I was about to ask, and I really didn’t want Shiloh to hear.
“Who has been hitting you, Stella?” I asked softly. I kept my eyes on the road ahead and waited for the answer to my question.
“Wh-what are you talking about?’ Stella stumbled over her words, and her grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“Sweetheart, my mother used to hit me in my younger teenage years. I know what a bruise looks like.”
“You got hit?”
Nodding my head sadly, I decided to tell her what I hadn’t even told Deck yet.
“My mother hated me, still does, in fact. She wanted boys only, and when I came along, and she found out she couldn’t have any more babies after my birth, she was furious that I’d ruined her plans. I have two brothers who are controlled by her and her money, but she wanted more.” I stopped and shrugged my shoulders. “Her dream for a male empire was in tatters with my arrival into the world,” I joked.
Normally, I didn’t like speaking of my mother. There was nothing maternal about her in any way, at least not towards me, but I thought Stella needed to hear my story. Then, hopefully, that would give her the courage to tell me who was hurting her so then the club could go find them and hurt them.
“Did she do it often?”
“No, not really. Just a few times a year, I suppose. Her main weapon was her evil tongue. She would yell and scream at me all the time. Hateful words, nastiness constantly. I could never do anything right. My childhood wasn’t fun.”
Stella was looking everywhere, but at me, I could see the tears gathering at the sides of her eyes, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was being abused. Badly.
“Sweetie,” I prompted.
Looking nervously in the rear-view mirror, Stella looked at Shiloh. Her face was torn between relief that I knew and fear of telling me more.
“Not yet, Charlotte. Please,” she pleaded, looking again at Shiloh.
“Okay, Stella, I understand. But I can’t keep this from Deck for too long. Those men are part lie detector. I swear, I can’t hide anything from him,” I joked again. But I wasn’t really joking. He could read me like a book. At the compound, he knew I was upset, and he even knew why without me saying a thing. Either I had a major tell or that man had magical skills.
“Why were you upset before we left? Deck seemed desperate to get you to smile. Did he do something to hurt you?” Stella asked, changing the subject away from her, and I didn’t mind. She needed to gather herself and wasn’t comfortable talking about any kind of violence in front of Shiloh despite Shiloh’s headphones.
“He didn’t hurt me. We were talking about marriage and stuff, kidding around with each other, then I mentioned about him getting me pregnant, and he pretty much insinuated he is happy with just having one child.” I took another quick peek at my girl again. Her raven curls fell about her face as she started to nod off to sleep. I was surprised it took her that long. After last night’s performances and this morning’s early rise to get off at a reasonable time, my girl needed to catch up on her rest.
“Oh, I see. So you want to have your own babies?” Stella asked, not taking her eyes off the road for the sweeping bends that were coming up.
“Yes, I would love to carry a child one day,” I answered honestly. There had always been a desire in me to have a child of my own and raise him or her better than I had been. To shower a daughter with love or to teach a son what it was to be a true gentleman. And Deck more or less admitting he didn’t want more sort of took the wind out of my sails a bit. Getting engaged, then married, and then babies were steps I had been intent on following.
But loving Deck and being with him was something I didn’t want to give up. So I agreed with him that we needed to talk when I got home. I also needed to make a stop at a chemist.
“If Shiloh is all I can have, then I will deal with that. She didn’t come from my body, but she is mine, make no mistake about that,” I said firmly. And I believed my words. The pain of not carrying my own child would lessen with time, and he hadn’t actually said no outright, so there was still some hope. And this whole worry may be a moot point, anyway, I thought as my hand automatically went to my stomach. Again.
“Of course, you are—— What on earth is that man doing?” Stella stopped what she was saying to me and looked in the rear-view mirror, but this time, she was looking at the prospect following us.
I took a look myself in my own side mirror, and I saw him weaving all around the road with his headlight on high beam and his horn sounding. Just as I was about to question the man’s sanity, I saw a dark blue SUV sitting close behind Dundee’s bike, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end all at once.
It looked like the same SUV that had followed Shiloh and me at the park a few weeks ago. As I took a closer look, I saw there was one of those flashing lights that sat on the roof of the cab.
“Should I slow down?” Stella asked me, looking from the road to the mirror over and over again.
I felt the car slow down just a bit, but just as she did, I heard the horn of Dundee’s bike honking madly.
“What does he mean?” Stella cried as she started to panic. And truth be told, so was I. I had my daughter in the car with us, so panicking was not an option. Deck trusted me with her life, and there was no way I was going to let him down.
I looked in the mirror and saw the prospect making a go motion with his hand.
“Go, Stella. Don’t stop. Speed up,” I urged, trying to keep my voice calm and quiet so I didn’t call attention to myself. Shiloh was still asleep in her seat, and I wanted her to stay that way.
Stella did exactly as I said and pushed down on the accelerator, the powerful motor roaring as it picked up speed.
My adrenaline was rushing at such a fast rate that I felt a little nauseous, but I kept my eyes on the side mirror. Dundee had moved his bike over more towards my side of the car so I could see him. He was doing his best to keep himself between the car and us.
“Oh, God, Charlotte, I’m scared.”
“Me too, sweetie, but we have to stay calm. Okay?”
Stella didn’t answer me, but I knew she was trying to gather herself.
“Oh, my God, Charlotte, look!” Stella suddenly screamed, and my eyes immediately looked back to the mirror just in time to see the blue SUV speed up and hit Dundee’s back tyre. The impact sent him into a tank slap—I knew that one after Deck explained it when we saw it on television, and Deck was very impressed the rider had righted himself and stayed on the bike.
“Oh, my God.”
I watched in horror as Dundee was thrown from his bike. He slid along the road, and his leather vest didn’t do much to protect his bare arms. The blood drained from my face when I saw the SUV hit Dundee square in the back. A scream left my throat as I watched his lifeless body tumble off to the side of the rode as his bike still skidded to a stop.
Oh, my God. I’d just watched a man die.
Turning around, I saw Shiloh was awake. Her eyes were wide with shock from my screams.
“Mummy, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, baby girl, Mummy is fine, but I need you to be a good girl and stay in your seat, okay? Things might get a bit scary, but Aunt Stella is doing everything she can to be safe, okay, honey?”
I didn’t know how I was keeping my voice so calm right then.
“Um, Charlotte, we have a big problem.”
Oh, you think? But I didn’t say it. Instead, I looked at Stella and gave her a questioning look.
She pointed towards the windscreen, and ahead were the mountain pass and the switchbacks Creed told us to take no faster than eighty kilometres an hour.
“What speed are you doing?”
“Oh, fuck. We are doing one hundred.”
That was way too fast for those bends, but the SUV behind us kept gaining speed, sitting on our back bumper then slowing back a bit. He was toying with us.
Without any warning, the SUV sped up and hit us from behind. It bumped us so hard Stella’s hand lost purchase on the wheel and caused the car to lurch violently to the left, taking out a mile marker on the side of the road. Had it been to the right, it might have been into another car.
“Oh, dear God, Stella. Call Booth,” I said loudly over Shiloh’s frightened screams.