Valiant
My entire world stops moving.
That voice. I haven’t heard that voice for so long. It sends familiar shivers up my spine, and, for a single moment, I can’t move. I can’t even breathe. My entire body prickles, and my legs start shaking. A reaction I’m all too familiar with.
“Where’s Rae?” I finally ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
How the hell did he get Rae’s phone?
“She’s right here with me. You didn’t think you could escape from me that easily, did you, Maddie?”
Maddie.
I tremble.
Rae was here a not long ago. He’s bluffing. He must be. How could he have gotten hold of her so quickly? The bikers wouldn’t have let her leave, would they?
“You’re lying. Rae is here.”
York laughs, and my spine straightens at the sound.
“Rae, say hello for me.”
A strangled, broken scream can be heard through the phone. Oh. Oh. God.
“Baylee, help me,” she screams. “Please!”
No.
“Let her go,” I say frantically, standing up, preparing to run inside.
“I’ll let her go when you come here and get her yourself. You for her.”
No.
“No,” I say, my voice shaking. “No.”
“I guess I’ll just keep calling you as I slowly torture her then, won’t I? And imagine that poor innocent baby she’s carrying ...”
My stomach twists. He’ll hurt her and that baby. I know it as surely as I breathe. I couldn’t live with that. I just couldn’t. There is no way I’d ever forgive myself if I didn’t help her. And he knows it.
“What do you want?” I say, my hands balling into fists.
“You, Maddie. Find a way out of that compound. Rae got out without a problem, I’m sure you’ll get out easily, too. I’ll be waiting down the road. If you so much as alert anyone that I’ve made contact, or tell the where you’re going, or try to have me followed, I’ll kill her in front of you, then I’ll kill that baby. Do you understand me?”
With vomit rising in my throat, I whisper, “I understand.”
“Ten minutes, Maddie. I look forward to seeing you.”
He hangs up the phone, and it slips from my hand as tears run down my cheeks. If I don’t do as he asks, he’ll take not one but two lives. If I do as he asks, I might buy enough time to get the help we need. I glance down at the phone on the ground, and I decide to leave it there, but not before reaching down and sending a text to Shania. By the time she gets to Jack, I’ll be long enough gone that York won’t get suspicious. It’s the only thing I can do. I can’t alert the bikers; he’ll know because they’d never let me leave.
Baylee – Shania, I need help. York has Rae and I. Find Jack. Tell him. I love you.
I drop the phone back to the ground.
I have to get to Rae.
I have to protect her and her baby. No matter what she’s done.
I move quickly after the message is sent. I glance at the front entrance. One biker is standing by the gate. He’s not familiar with me, but he knows I’m staying here. Pulling my best casual face, and hoping I can pull this off, I walk towards him with a smile. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, because inside it quite literally feels like I’m dying.
“Hi,” I greet the man, who has just lit up a smoke.
He looks to me. “Hey, kid.”
“Maddox just sent me out here to let you know they’re having a meeting about my protection, and he wanted you to join in.”
The man studies me, then takes a long drag of his cigarette before shrugging and dropping it, putting it out. “Don’t you be worryin’, we’ll make sure that dick doesn’t get in here.”
I smile gratefully, still dying inside, and say, “Yeah, I’m a little afraid.”
His face softens. I bet he’s a father. I bet he has children. I can see it in his eyes. Kindness. Warmth. And I’m about to escape and put myself in danger, which no doubt he’ll get into serious trouble over, not to mention if something happens to me because they don’t make it in time ...
I feel sick.
“Don’t you stress, darlin’. You’re safe here.”
“Thank you,” I say. “I’m going to go back inside, but Maddox said the meeting is in the shed.”
He nods, and I turn, acting as if I’m walking back towards the house. The man doesn’t pay much attention to me as he strides towards the sheds. I turn as soon as he’s a good few meters away and rush towards the gate. I glance back as I curl my finger around the chain, latching the gate closed. The man has reached the shed and is opening the door. I have seconds.
I pull the chain off as quietly as I can and slip out of the gate.
Then I run.
I run towards the road as quickly as my feet will carry me. I dart to the left as soon as I reach it, and I see a car pulled over on the side of the road. I stop running, my feet practically gluing themselves to the ground. He’s in that car. I know he is. The second I get in, I know I may never get back out.
The door opens, and a familiar shade of reddish-brown hair appears before the man I once adored steps out. Shock takes me for a second, because ... Oh, my god. Gone is the well-muscled, handsome man I knew. In his place is a skinny, gaunt looking man with dull hair and sunken eyes. York is so far gone, I’d barely recognize him on a street.
He pulls his jacket back to reveal a gun.
My heart starts pounding so hard I can’t think.
“Get in the car,” he hisses.
My feet move, like heavy weights, one by one, towards the monster who ruined my life. The second I’m close enough, his hand lashes out and curls around my arm, and he hauls me closer and pins me with eyes that are so cold, and so dead, it sends chills right to my bones. “Good to see you again, Maddie.”
God.
Help me.
Please.
CHAPTER 27
NOW – BAYLEE
I stare down at Rae, and my heart breaks open. It breaks wide open. Her face is battered, her arms lined with faint bruises, and her fingers are swelling from what I can only assume is an attempt to fight back. My nostrils burn and tears well up under my eyes. I shouldn’t have let this happen.
Dammit.
I can’t do this right now. I can’t go over what I shouldn’t have let happen. I’m here, and I need to do whatever I can to protect Rae. I didn’t do that the first time, I’m sure as hell not going to go down easily this time. Even if it means I get hurt. There is a young, innocent baby growing inside her. At the very least, I have to fight for that.