Chapter 29
Rebel
"Holy shit!" We had just come upon the accident scene. It was a hard, cold fact that if you went head-on with a tractor trailer, the tractor trailer would win every time. I wasn't sure why or how it had happened, but the mangled, twisted, smoking metal that had once been a Camaro was all I needed to see to know that anyone inside that vehicle had been killed on impact, and by the looks of it, the occupants in the car hadn't been wearing seat belts. One of them had smashed through the windshield and been decapitated.
"Jesus," Ace commented low, shaking his head.
He'd been the one to get the call about the accident from one of his brothers. Several of them were here with us, along with a small crowd of lookie loos who'd either gotten out of their vehicles because the road was now blocked and they couldn't get through, or they'd come from one of the nearby houses.
"These the guys you looking for?" one of the Sentinel's asked.
"Hard to tell without a head." I wasn't trying to be funny, it was the truth. There was more than one black Camaro on the roads. I got off my bike and moved closer to the scene. Cops and firemen were everywhere. Someone had already covered up the head. I ran my hand over my lower jaw, trying to see the other body inside the car.
"I heard the trucker tell someone that right before the collision the driver of the Camaro swerved directly in front of him. Said he looked like he was slumped over the wheel."
The speaker was an elderly man, and it looked as if he'd been walking his dog when the accident had occurred, an overweight Lab sitting quietly at his feet. He was talking to another guy.
"He say anything else?"
Thank fuck for nosey old men.
The man with the Lab shook his head. "Nope, said the road was quiet except for some bikers who passed him a few minutes before the accident."
The second man snorted. "Good thing they weren't involved, there wouldn't have been anything left to bury."
"It's a shame they weren't," Lab man said, surprising me. "Those boys cause nothing but trouble when they come around."
I was done listening, coming to my own conclusion as to what had happened. I just needed proof that I was on the right track. I glanced back at the Camaro and the driver inside. He was slumped forward, so fucking bloody that it was hard to get a good look at his features. If my hunch was right, he would have a bullet hole somewhere in his head. Shit, I couldn't tell.
"Tell me it's the assholes we've been looking for," Ace said hopefully, joining me.
I glanced up at the sound of bikers pulling away from the scene, watching as his brothers rode off. "If what I just heard those two old coots saying is true, I'm ninety-nine percent sure it's them." The coroner opened the driver's side door and appeared to check to make sure that the driver was dead before stepping back so the body could be removed from the car.
"You can't tell if that's Daryl?"
I snorted. "Could you? Can you tell if the other one is Jack?"
He grinned.
"Wait a minute!" I heard the coroner order sharply.
We turned our attention back to them. By now the driver's body had been loaded onto a gurney and they were just about to cover him up when they were stopped. The coroner leaned over the dead man, examining him closely, and then I had the proof that I'd tried to find myself.
"Smith!" he called out, looking at one of the cops. "You need to see this!" The cop rushed over and the coroner pointed at something directly at the right temple.
Right away I knew what he was pointing at. I looked at Ace, who'd been observing quietly. "The trucker was heard saying some bikers passed him right before the accident,” I told Ace. “He also noticed that the driver of the Camaro was slumped over his steering wheel before they collided."
"You think one of the bikers shot Daryl on the way by?"
I nodded. "We know the Kings were looking for him."
"They shot him, the truck did the rest."
"Yep."
"I have an idea," Ace said, walking away from me.
I watched him walk up to the cop and coroner, interrupting their conversation. He did all the talking, and after about two minutes the cop called for another officer to come over, telling him to bring the evidence bag. He pulled out a wallet, opened it up, and said something to Ace. Ace dipped his head, as if he was saying thanks, and then he was walking back to me.
"It's Daryl," he confirmed when he reached me.
Fuck! I should have been glad that it was over, but I'd wanted to be the one to end him. I'd wanted to gut him and watch the life drain out of him. "What did you say?"
"That my cousin drove a black Camaro. I'd heard about the accident and just wanted to make sure that it wasn't him."
I was sure that the cop’s recognition that Ace was with the Sentinels had helped, too. I took a deep breath and released it. "They got what they deserved."
"Yep."
We began to walk back to our bikes. "Thanks for your help today, brother."
"Anytime," Ace responded, mounting his Harley, which was huge and solid black but for the Sentinels logo on the tank. "I'll let Tanner know."
We headed out together, but at some point we parted, going our separate ways. I headed toward the hospital, anxious to see Ginger and tell her that it was over.
I never made it to the hospital.
****
Ginger
"We gonna take her to the Kings clubhouse?" The man who asked was around my age, and the only one of the three men who hadn't shaved his head. His hair was buzzed close to his scalp, leaving just enough to show that it was red.
"Naw, too many people around their piss-poor excuse of a clubhouse. I don't want any chance of there being a witness to the screams," Rocky grinned sickly, giving me a long look. "Or any shootings. Remember the abandoned house on Tomoka Lake? It’s the perfect place for what I have in mind."
"How we gonna lure Rebel there?"
Rocky wasn't the only one who laughed at that question. "No luring, asshole. Once he knows we have his woman he'll come. Give Wicked a heads up and tell him to meet us there. He wants in on this, too. Then take off her fucking boots in case she gets any ideas about escaping."
The redhead made the call. As he waited for someone to pick up on the other end, he glanced over at me and gave me a wink. I quickly looked away, trying to hold it together. All I could hold on to was the thought that Stevie had seen them take me, and that someone knew. She'd got a look at the van, maybe she'd been savvy enough to get the license plate number.
More importantly to me was that what was happening now had nothing to do with Della. She was safe from this.
How had my life become such a mess?
I couldn't help feeling relieved that they didn't already have Rebel tied up somewhere.
"Yeah, hey, man, we have her and are headin' to the house on Tomoka Lake now." The redheaded man paused while the person on the other end of the line spoke. Then he began to laugh. "From what Deezer said, Daryl didn't know what hit him."
Daryl? It sounded as if they'd done something to him.
"Yep. Payback is a mother, brother," he laughed. Rocky and the driver laughed as well.
"Tell him to bring some beer and shit. We'll have a real party."
"Hey, Rocky said to‒" He stopped abruptly. "He heard you," he said to Rocky after a second. "Ok, man, see you there." He pinned his gaze on me once the call was over."Get that pussy ready, baby! It's gonna get a workout tonight." He grabbed the front of his pants. Then, as if just remembering, he came over and roughly tugged off my boots, laughing.
If they thought my bare feet was going to prevent me from trying to run when the chance presented itself they were in for a surprise. Once he was done I turned away and focused my eyes on a bolt on the floor, watching it roll around from the movement of the van. I was frozen with fear inside, but determined not to let them see it. Some people got off on the fear of others, and as Red Devils, I knew what they were capable of. They'd been a cruel, sadistic bunch, and they'd mistreated their women. I tightened my arms around my knees. I had to come up with an escape plan, but all I could think about was whether or not Rebel and I would survive the night.
I didn't see how we could.
It would be all of them against the two of us.
We turned off the main road onto a dirt road. I couldn't see it, but judging from the shaking of the van, the road was definitely not paved. Looking toward the front of the window, I was able to see that we were in the woods, and the road was so narrow that branches scraped along the sides. Pot holes kept the vehicle bouncing from side to side, and one particular hole brought us to a jarring stop.
"Fuck!" the driver swore as he looked over at Rocky. "We're stuck."
"Really, asshole?" Rocky smirked. He opened his door, shooting a glance back at the redhead. "Come on, Todd, let's push this bitch out."
Left alone with just the driver, I felt a momentary excitement. The other two men would be busy at the back of the van. Maybe I could slide the door open, jump out, and run fast enough to get away. Could I outrun them? We were in the woods. All I'd have to do was get far enough ahead of them to find a tree and hide. But there were three of them, and no doubt they'd all be on my tail once I made my move.
"Go!" someone yelled from outside.
The driver floored the pedal and revved the engine, but other than the van filling up with gas fumes, nothing happened. He cursed, "Fucking push harder!" The driver continued revving the engine. The van struggled, but remained firmly in the hole, rocking back and forth. "Harder!" he yelled louder, as if that would make a difference.
"You get your fat ass out here and fucking push!" Rocky hollered in an angry tone. "Todd will drive!"
I swallowed. Todd replacing the heavier, older driver might work in my favor. Todd was more like a boy, and he was gangly. He had no muscle that I could see. I feigned disinterest as the door opened and the two men made the switch. Todd barely gave me a look when he settled himself into the driver's seat, totally focused on the task at hand. I searched around the van for something that I could use as a weapon. Relief flooded me when I spied a lug wrench lying on the floor next to the spare tire. Smiling to myself, I relaxed and waited breathlessly for the right time.
"Go!" Todd yelled out the window.
While he was focused on getting the van out of the ditch, I scooted over and snatched up the lug wrench, and then quickly sat back down in my spot. He never looked behind him.
"Almost there!" Rocky yelled. "One more push should do it!"
I knew I had to move. I jumped up and hit Todd on the back of the head. Not too hard, I didn't want to kill him, but hard enough for him to grunt and fall forward. In the next heartbeat I jumped to the sliding door.
"Floor it, asshole!" My hand was on the handle to slide the side door open.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I could tell that Rocky was getting closer to the driver's door from the tone of his pissed-off voice.
I slide the door open and jumped to the ground, knowing that as soon as Rocky saw Todd slumped over the steering wheel he would look in the back and find me gone. I hit the ground running, straight into the trees, and didn't look back. I debated on tossing the lug wrench, but decided that I may need it.
"She's fucking gone!" I heard Rocky scream, just as I disappeared into the woods. "Goddamnit!" he swore again. "Find her, Carl!"
They sounded closer than they actually were. I ran blindly through the woods, hearing the heavy sound of my breathing and realizing that I was making enough noise to wake the dead. I couldn't help it. I would be dead at the end of the night if I didn't get away. I ran and ran, as if the ground was soft grass and not the stones and branches that carpeted it, cutting into my feet. I ran until the blood had rushed to my ears, turning them hot, until I was covered in scratches, and my clothes were torn.
Eventually I stopped feeling it. My feet were bruised and bleeding, but the more distance I put between me and them, the less it mattered. I was going to win or die trying. I could hear them crashing behind me from different directions and realized that they'd split up. They called out to one another, too stupid to realize that it gave their location away and enabled me to change directions. I had no idea where I was going, where I'd end up, but none of that mattered. I could find my way home later, after I'd lost them.
Oh, God, I kept on running, but ultimately I had to stop to catch my breath. I doubled over and clutched my legs above my knees, the lug wrench still in my hand, panting and sucking in air. I was so close to throwing up, so close to keeling over. I knew that I had to keep going, but I couldn't do that with empty lungs or the sharp stitch in my side. And then I heard it, the snapping of a twig. It was too loud to be an animal, and I froze, holding what little breath I had left. I did the only thing I could think of and dropped to the ground, lying as flat as I could among the tall grass.
I slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound of my heavy breathing. Please, God, I prayed, my heart racing so fast that I was sure they would be able to hear it. I heard another twig break and closed my eyes tightly, feeling the sweat dripping down my face.
"I don't fucking hear her anymore!" the man named Carl panted.
"She has to be here somewhere! We have to find her!"
"She kill Todd? I'm gonna fucking kill her if she killed my boy!"
"I think he was just knocked out," Rocky responded. He was out of breath, too. "It’s his own damn fault, I told him to make sure there was nothing in the back of the van that she could turn on us." I heard him hock up a goober and spit it out. "You might as well come out, little pussy!" he shouted. "We'll find you sooner or later, and we ain't gonna be nice!"
I remained still and quiet, praying that they didn't discover where I was hiding. I could hear them moving around.
"She must have made it further than we thought," I heard Carl say. "She's gotta' be beyond those trees. What are we gonna do if we don't find her before dark?"
"We'll find her," Rocky said confidently. "I've waited four years for revenge. I'm gonna fuck the life out of her, right in front of Rebel, and then I'm going to put a bullet in his head. He'll pay for selling us out and getting everyone killed."
I could hear the grass moving with their foot falls. The need to get up and start running again was so strong that my muscles quivered, but I remained where I was, trying to wiggle myself deeper into the ground.
"What makes you so sure we're gonna find the bitch?" Carl asked exasperatedly. “She could be anywhere now. We need to keep moving."
"No. She's around here somewhere." And then I heard him laugh softly.
Carl grumbled, "What's so fuckin' funny?"
It was over. I knew what I was going to see when I opened my eyes, and I dared to glance up. Rocky was standing above me, his ugly expression full of smug triumph. He gave me a wink. I let the tears come.
"Hi there, pretty pussy." He reached down, clutching my hair brutally as he yanked me to my feet.
I brought the lug wrench up and swung it around to clobber him, but he anticipated my move and caught my wrist in mid-air. "Oh, no you don't!" He twisted my wrist mercilessly until I cried out and dropped it. "I'm not a weak boy like Todd."
Before I could brace myself, he backhanded me hard. My head snapped to the side, and when I turned back to face him tears of rage burned in my eyes. I tasted blood where my teeth had cut into my lip. I wanted to spit in his laughing face. "You're a fucking coward, just like all the Red Devils were," I hissed.
He laughed harder, twisting his hand in my hair until I winced in pain. "In case you haven’t guessed, we're with the Kings now." He jerked me against him. "I can hardly wait to fuck you."
"You look like a little boy playing hospital dress up."
He snarled. "This shit was necessary so I could get close to you before you recognized me."
"You're not worth remembering," I hissed back.
"I'm so gonna enjoy making you bleed, bitch." He grinned like the sicko that he was. He lowered his face as if to kiss me, and I quickly turned away. He yanked my hair harder and then pushed me in front of him. "Now move!"
I put one bloody foot in front of the other, knowing that I had failed at my one and only chance of escape.