BEAR: A Hellbound Lovers MC Novella, page 10
I cried out, tears spilling down my cheeks as he grabbed me and yanked me into his chest. His hands cradled me softly, slowly soothing me. I cried for the first time since it happened, and the desperation had finally caught up with me. I clung to him as my body was wracked to the floor.
“He ruined me, Derek. My whole life I’ve been running away from him. I thought…maybe this time. Maybe now I could finally lose him. I could finally have my life back.”
Cradling my cheeks, he turned my face up to his. “Tell me.”
I looked up at him and those emotions were right there, on the surface, and my words automatically spilled out. The events of the nights that lead up to that fateful moment. What he’d done to me. I blurted it all out in one intense wave. Revealing, for the first time, how broken I really was.
“I swear he was going to rape me that night, Derek. And his intention was to hurt me. His eyes….” I looked up into Derek’s bright blue ones. Tracing his brow, I whispered. “His eyes were gone. He wasn’t there anymore.”
The tears flowed as I spoke. “If it wasn’t for the gun you left me, I probably would have died that night. Instead, he threatened your life. He threatened to ruin you, to kill you if I didn’t come to him.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, Derek slowly exhaled. When he opened them, I could see the anger flaring in them. “I just don’t get it, Meg. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t have come to me.”
“You don’t know Jebediah like I do. He’s pure evil!”
“I’ve fucking witnessed what he can do. He’s a goddamn murderer who deserved to go to jail and I regret every fucking minute that I didn’t put him behind bars.”
“When I didn’t hear from you, I got worried. I waited a couple days and then Jebediah also disappeared, and I took that as my chance. I packed up my things and took the next train out of Bucks County.”
“I tried calling.”
“It was too late,” I grabbed at his hands, squeezing him tight. “I was so scared, Derek. I was so scared something could happen to you. He frightened me. I knew he’d come after me eventually, I just didn’t think he’d try to come after you too.”
Stroking my cheek he gazed down at me, his eyes filled with apprehension. “Why didn’t you find me? Why didn’t you come back? Ten years, Meg.”
“I lost you, Derek. I knew you were with the Royal Bastards MC, so I approached one of them. I asked for you, but they said you were dead. Someone else said you’d disappeared, and that the cops had been looking for you. I had so many stories I didn’t know what to believe and I lost you.”
There was a long pause before he answered. “I’m going to destroy him.”
“No! N-no,” I reached up to cradle his cheeks, forcing his gaze back to me. “Don’t you dare. He’ll kill us both. I can’t have that Derek. I left to save you. I left to save you.”
I said those last few words with such urgency that it startled him. He stared back at me, shock reflecting in his eyes. I could see the turmoil in his expression. He hadn’t expected that. He pushed me back and left me on my knees as he pulled away from me. Denial ran through him and for a second, and I thought, that was it. He was done with me. But then he reached out to me, gently cradling my face. The anguish in his voice made me speechless.
“Why would you do that? Give your life away like that for a piece of shit like me? I didn’t deserve that, baby girl. I don’t deserve it.”
He yanked me to him and rocked me while he sobbed quietly. Silent tears dropped onto my cheek and I closed my eyes and held him tight. I’m not sure how long we stayed that way. Hours, maybe minutes, but it didn’t matter. All we did lately was wait. Wait for life to come after us, wait for the past to destroy us, for others to meddle into our lives just to ruin the little happiness that we were able to find in one another’s embrace.
“I love you,” I breathed in the silence and his arms squeezed me tight.
“You shouldn’t love a man like me, Meg. I’m not worth that much love.”
“You’re worth every second of it. I knew that from that fateful day you walked into Linny’s. Sherry said it best, I’d never seen a man look at a woman the way he looks at you. I knew it then as much as I know it now, Bear. You’re my person. And I did everything I could to protect you.”
He pulled me away and looked at me. “I swear to God he’s going to pay for every second of my life he took from us. Every second you weren’t with me.”
I shook my head in earnest, my hands trembling as they stroked his face. “He’s always had a way to find me, Derek. I don’t know how he does it, but he finds me, and he scares me.”
“You’ve been going through this for ten years. Alone. I can’t let you do this to yourself anymore. To us. You’re here with me now. You’re safe. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“J-just, let’s go away together. Let’s just go somewhere else. Somewhere far from here.”
“No, baby girl. Running away is not the way I deal with things. Far from it. I’m going to break every bone in his body, one for every year he tormented you. For every year he took from us. If he’s lucky I’ll let him live. Besides, he’s done some people wrong, and his life belongs in their hands now.”
He lifted me up to my feet and brushed away the tears from my cheeks. “I need you to be strong for me, baby girl. I need you to fight alongside me, there’s no cowering or running away while you’re with me. If he dares to show his face, I’ll be ready, the men will be ready to protect you. But I need you to know that he cannot harm you anymore.”
“What if he does?”
“He won’t.”
He was firm in his stance, but I still had my doubts. “Derek…”
He pulled me into his arms, soothing me with the rumble of his voice. “That’s enough now, Meg. I’m here now. I should have never left you that night. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But he will pay for everything. I promise you that. I won’t let another day go by with him hurting you.”
“I can’t lose you, Derek. I want you safe.”
“I’ve never been safe, Meg. My life’s never been easy. But I know what you mean, and I’m just glad you’re alive and you’re here.”
His eyes met mine and they were full of unspoken emotions. “I’m not good at this mushy shit and you know it. But fuck, I love you. I love you so hard it hurts.”
“I know, baby,” I stroked his cheek and he pressed a kiss to the palm of my hand.
“I will do everything in my will to protect you. You won’t ever have to run again.”
“I love you.”
He pulled me into his arms again and I sighed. “Yeah, you keep saying that. I don’t know why you love me so much, baby girl. I don’t deserve you.”
“Yeah you do, you just don’t know it.”
Pressing my chin to his chest, I stared up at him. “My sweet bear, he deserves all the love I can give him.”
His lips pressed down to mine and I forgot to breathe. It wasn’t one of those raw passionate kisses he gave so well. This kiss was slow, easy, full of a deeper, more powerful emotion. It held an overwhelming sense of loss, of sadness, and in its recesses, there was hope and desire. And a deep, unconditional love that no one could take away from us.
Fifteen
Meg
I was alone in the bar, well, not entirely alone. Hail was supposed to be on watch tonight, but the man was nowhere to be found. He was good at hiding in the shadows and had already scared me once as he snuck up on me during the day.
“Hail?” I whispered out into the darkness, but I heard nothing. I slowly crept down the stairs, I had made sure to wear a robe this time. If not, bear was going to punish me again. My sex throbbed thinking of the man and his rough hands on me. There wasn’t anything better in this world than the feeling of being at his mercy.
Barefoot, all you could hear was the pads of my feet thumping along the hardwood floor as I made my way to the kitchen. I’d forgotten to eat earlier, and my tummy had stirred me awake with all the rumbling it was doing. Opening the refrigerator, I shuffled through the leftover food. Ryder’s girl, Regina, had come by and cooked for them since I wasn’t feeling well. Even though they could fend for themselves and they knew it, they still liked it when one of us cooked.
I turned to my right and set the containers on the counter when I noticed a dark shadow out of the corner of my eye. I froze, realizing instantly that I wasn’t alone, and my gut told me something was very wrong. I slowly made my way around the counter to encounter a lone black boot. I followed the stream of light as it lit up a pair of legs, a black leather jacket, and then Hail’s long hair strewn across his face.
“Hail!” I instantly ran to him to try to help him, but before I could reach him a hand swiped me around the waist, and I was being dragged back into the dark corridors of the bar. I kicked and screamed as I watched Hail twitch.
“Hail!” I screamed as I was flung to the side. I didn’t have a chance as I was thrown down a set of stairs. Tumbling forward I tried to reach what I could to keep from falling but it was of no use. My head hit something hard, and I shouted in pain. Such wretched pain that coursed through my bones. My body beaten down. I was then grabbed by my hair, screaming as I was dragged down a long corridor. I couldn’t see much but it looked like an old boiler room down in the basement.
He threw me across the floor, the switch of a bulb light was turned on, and then a dim light lit up the dingy room. Heavy footsteps came closer until a pair of black boots appeared. He crouched down over me, and I placed my hands in front of me to shield me away. He chuckled and brushed them away as he stroked my blood drenched hair. I flinched, true fear running its course through me.
“Well, look what you made me do. You’re bleeding.”
“J-Jebediah?”
“That’s right, Darlin’. Now, did you think I wouldn’t find you? That you could run from me forever?”
“Jebediah, please,” I sobbed as he gripped my hair yanking me up towards him. He pressed down on my head wound causing me to simper in pain.
“Aren’t you still the prettiest thing I ever did lay my eyes on?”
“J-Jebediah, y-you, you’re on Hellbound Lovers p-property.”
He looked around, absentmindedly stroking my hair. “Ain’t that the truth. Won’t it be perfect to know I had you right under their noses and they didn’t even know it. And guess what?”
He didn’t wait for an answer as he continued his disturbed monologue. “You see this place? Isn’t it perfect? It was made for you.”
He looked down on me, my eyes already blurring. “Scream all you want Darlin’. They can’t hear you.”
My eyes fell closed as an overwhelming need to sleep took me over. The last thing I could manage was a soft plead and the echo of his dark laughter as I drifted off.
Sixteen
Bear
I was stressed the fuck out. Worried about the bar, about the members, about Meg. We’d ridden for the last hour, coming back from the Devil’s Syndicate’s clubhouse. I rubbed at my neck, easing the tension that had built up. As we walked up to the front door of the bar, the lights were off, and the place seemed empty. Entering, I assumed Meg was upstairs sleeping and Hail had locked down.
We’d closed up early tonight since we needed to go talk to Walker Thorn. He was more than happy to offer us any help. Ryder had saved his life a few months back and he’d quickly won over his future father in law. I always told him it had been a stupid move to mess with the enemy’s daughter, he could have gotten himself killed, but there was no stopping Ryder when he wanted something. And Regina was a wildcat who wasn’t playing by the rules either. In the end, it had all turned out alright, and Regina and Ryder were already planning to say their vows in a few months. Those two were meant for each other.
Turning on the lights, Nick and Ryder joined me by the bar. We needed to discuss how we were going to go about bringing down Jebediah Crawford. The plan was slowly coming around, but we needed to be careful he wouldn’t find out. Walker let us know he’d seen a Sheriff roaming around Los Perdidos territory and it made all the sense in the world. Why wouldn’t he be partnering up with the enemy?
As I served us some drink, there was a clattering in the kitchen that caught our attention. “Hey Hail, if you’re back there, why not get some food out here? And get out here we need to fill you in on some stuff!” I turned back to Ryder and we both continued the conversation when that same shuffling came from the back.
“Shh, shh,” Nick waved at us and we sat there quietly, the place held a heaviness in the air.
“Something’s wrong,” Ryder took his gun out first, I followed. Something was definitely wrong.
That same clattering came from the back, followed by a gurgling sound. “I’ll check it out, you go see if Meg is upstairs.” I sent Ryder off while I focused on the kitchen door, Nick at my back.
“Hail? You back here, Brother?”
I pushed through the swinging doors, pointing my gun in the darkness. “Hail?”
The clattering was persistent and as I rounded a corner the light from the refrigerator highlighted Hail trying to crawl along the floor. A metal spoon held in his shaking hand as he banged it against the floor. Nick ran up to him, turning him around. He’d been stabbed in the gut, blood was smeared everywhere. The gurgling sound coming from his throat as he coughed up blood.
“Fuck, we need an ambulance!”
I cleared the kitchen quickly and as I stepped out, I ran into Ryder. Both are guns up, we looked at each other and then he slowly brought his down first. “Meg’s not upstairs.”
“What do you mean…”
“I mean, she’s not here. I’ve already searched. The place is empty. She’s not here.”
I ran back into the kitchen and Nick stared up at me from the floor. “Call an ambulance!” I yelled at Ryder as I threw a rag at Nick. “Keep pressure to the wound, do not remove the fucking knife.”
I shook in anger and along with it came fear, the fear of not knowing what the hell had gone down. The fear that something bad happened to my woman, and I, once again, wasn’t around to protect her.
* * *
We had ridden for the last three days. Hours on the road looking for any sign of her, anybody who could help us. We figured if we knew where he was, then maybe she was with him, but Jebediah Crawford had disappeared as well. Couldn’t find him anywhere, and the more the days past, the more scared I became. My brothers knew he’d taken her, but they didn’t want to say anything. But in my gut, I knew she was alive. I don’t know how, but I could still feel her around me.
I was sitting at the bar after my shift, staring at the bottle of liquor I had taken down. I took my fifth shot of vodka, knowing it was a bad idea, but I needed something to numb the pain. I felt we were wasting time, we needed more men, we needed help. I had gone into Sacramento and placed a missing person’s report, but they’d told me I needed to wait forty-eight hours. Forty-eight fucking hours! I took another shot and in that deep silence, that’s when I heard it. A soft shriek that emanated along the walls, but it was too low to make out. It sounded so far away, but for some reason, it pierced my soul.
“Meg!” My voice was broken, and I was already feeling the effects of the liquor. It was probably my imagination playing tricks on me. It had for some days now. Drinking was the only way to fight this restlessness inside of me. I was seeing her everywhere, shadows that kept me up at night. This need to find her was overpowering me. The mere thought that something horrible could happen, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I went on full alert as that same sound echoed around me. So low that I could barely make it out. I stood up, slightly swaying. The shots had hit me harder than I thought. I made my way towards the back when that shrill scream came closer.
“Meg!”
It couldn’t be, I must be going crazy. But what if it was. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but that unease had me on edge. I leaned against the hallway wall, standing in the darkness of the corridor. That’s when I heard it again, it was a distinct sound now, a woman’s voice. I slowly made my way down towards the back of the building, I’d never been back this far before.
There was a door at the end of the hallway, hidden behind boxes of new items Meg had ordered for the bar. I stared at it, the silence engulfing me. Something was telling me I needed to find out what was on the other side of the door. I looked to my left and it was pitch black. There was no one else in the bar, the clubhouse was empty since everyone was out. I took my gun out and reached for the door knob. My whole body was now on alert, waiting to hear that scream again. Swinging the door open, I was plunged into a thick blackness. It took me a second, but then I heard it. Sobs were emanating from below.
“Meg?” I whispered, afraid whatever was in there would hear me.
I took a step forward but didn’t make it much farther than that before a blow to the head sent me tumbling down a set of stairs. My head hit something hard and I groaned. Then suddenly, I was being dragged by my feet further down a dark hallway.
I tried breaking free, but I felt so heavy, too weak to move. I was thrown into a room, a door slammed, and although I fought it, my eyes fell shut, sealing me from the world.
Seventeen
Meg
“Please, Jeb. I’ll do whatever you say, go wherever you want, but please don’t hurt him.”
“Oh, please Jeb. Please don’t hurt him,” he mimicked in a high pitched tone, his face distorted as he jabbed at Derek with his foot.
“Don’t hurt him!”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” He came at me, pointing a finger in my face. “You’re just like your friend Sherry. Why didn’t I see it before? You’re all loud nags that bring a decent man to want to rip you throats out.
“Sherry?”
“She was a good enough lay, but she couldn’t handle a man like me. I warned her before she spread her legs for me, but the bitch didn’t listen. Her little girl on the other hand. Now that pussy was made just for me.”
“He ruined me, Derek. My whole life I’ve been running away from him. I thought…maybe this time. Maybe now I could finally lose him. I could finally have my life back.”
Cradling my cheeks, he turned my face up to his. “Tell me.”
I looked up at him and those emotions were right there, on the surface, and my words automatically spilled out. The events of the nights that lead up to that fateful moment. What he’d done to me. I blurted it all out in one intense wave. Revealing, for the first time, how broken I really was.
“I swear he was going to rape me that night, Derek. And his intention was to hurt me. His eyes….” I looked up into Derek’s bright blue ones. Tracing his brow, I whispered. “His eyes were gone. He wasn’t there anymore.”
The tears flowed as I spoke. “If it wasn’t for the gun you left me, I probably would have died that night. Instead, he threatened your life. He threatened to ruin you, to kill you if I didn’t come to him.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, Derek slowly exhaled. When he opened them, I could see the anger flaring in them. “I just don’t get it, Meg. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t have come to me.”
“You don’t know Jebediah like I do. He’s pure evil!”
“I’ve fucking witnessed what he can do. He’s a goddamn murderer who deserved to go to jail and I regret every fucking minute that I didn’t put him behind bars.”
“When I didn’t hear from you, I got worried. I waited a couple days and then Jebediah also disappeared, and I took that as my chance. I packed up my things and took the next train out of Bucks County.”
“I tried calling.”
“It was too late,” I grabbed at his hands, squeezing him tight. “I was so scared, Derek. I was so scared something could happen to you. He frightened me. I knew he’d come after me eventually, I just didn’t think he’d try to come after you too.”
Stroking my cheek he gazed down at me, his eyes filled with apprehension. “Why didn’t you find me? Why didn’t you come back? Ten years, Meg.”
“I lost you, Derek. I knew you were with the Royal Bastards MC, so I approached one of them. I asked for you, but they said you were dead. Someone else said you’d disappeared, and that the cops had been looking for you. I had so many stories I didn’t know what to believe and I lost you.”
There was a long pause before he answered. “I’m going to destroy him.”
“No! N-no,” I reached up to cradle his cheeks, forcing his gaze back to me. “Don’t you dare. He’ll kill us both. I can’t have that Derek. I left to save you. I left to save you.”
I said those last few words with such urgency that it startled him. He stared back at me, shock reflecting in his eyes. I could see the turmoil in his expression. He hadn’t expected that. He pushed me back and left me on my knees as he pulled away from me. Denial ran through him and for a second, and I thought, that was it. He was done with me. But then he reached out to me, gently cradling my face. The anguish in his voice made me speechless.
“Why would you do that? Give your life away like that for a piece of shit like me? I didn’t deserve that, baby girl. I don’t deserve it.”
He yanked me to him and rocked me while he sobbed quietly. Silent tears dropped onto my cheek and I closed my eyes and held him tight. I’m not sure how long we stayed that way. Hours, maybe minutes, but it didn’t matter. All we did lately was wait. Wait for life to come after us, wait for the past to destroy us, for others to meddle into our lives just to ruin the little happiness that we were able to find in one another’s embrace.
“I love you,” I breathed in the silence and his arms squeezed me tight.
“You shouldn’t love a man like me, Meg. I’m not worth that much love.”
“You’re worth every second of it. I knew that from that fateful day you walked into Linny’s. Sherry said it best, I’d never seen a man look at a woman the way he looks at you. I knew it then as much as I know it now, Bear. You’re my person. And I did everything I could to protect you.”
He pulled me away and looked at me. “I swear to God he’s going to pay for every second of my life he took from us. Every second you weren’t with me.”
I shook my head in earnest, my hands trembling as they stroked his face. “He’s always had a way to find me, Derek. I don’t know how he does it, but he finds me, and he scares me.”
“You’ve been going through this for ten years. Alone. I can’t let you do this to yourself anymore. To us. You’re here with me now. You’re safe. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“J-just, let’s go away together. Let’s just go somewhere else. Somewhere far from here.”
“No, baby girl. Running away is not the way I deal with things. Far from it. I’m going to break every bone in his body, one for every year he tormented you. For every year he took from us. If he’s lucky I’ll let him live. Besides, he’s done some people wrong, and his life belongs in their hands now.”
He lifted me up to my feet and brushed away the tears from my cheeks. “I need you to be strong for me, baby girl. I need you to fight alongside me, there’s no cowering or running away while you’re with me. If he dares to show his face, I’ll be ready, the men will be ready to protect you. But I need you to know that he cannot harm you anymore.”
“What if he does?”
“He won’t.”
He was firm in his stance, but I still had my doubts. “Derek…”
He pulled me into his arms, soothing me with the rumble of his voice. “That’s enough now, Meg. I’m here now. I should have never left you that night. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But he will pay for everything. I promise you that. I won’t let another day go by with him hurting you.”
“I can’t lose you, Derek. I want you safe.”
“I’ve never been safe, Meg. My life’s never been easy. But I know what you mean, and I’m just glad you’re alive and you’re here.”
His eyes met mine and they were full of unspoken emotions. “I’m not good at this mushy shit and you know it. But fuck, I love you. I love you so hard it hurts.”
“I know, baby,” I stroked his cheek and he pressed a kiss to the palm of my hand.
“I will do everything in my will to protect you. You won’t ever have to run again.”
“I love you.”
He pulled me into his arms again and I sighed. “Yeah, you keep saying that. I don’t know why you love me so much, baby girl. I don’t deserve you.”
“Yeah you do, you just don’t know it.”
Pressing my chin to his chest, I stared up at him. “My sweet bear, he deserves all the love I can give him.”
His lips pressed down to mine and I forgot to breathe. It wasn’t one of those raw passionate kisses he gave so well. This kiss was slow, easy, full of a deeper, more powerful emotion. It held an overwhelming sense of loss, of sadness, and in its recesses, there was hope and desire. And a deep, unconditional love that no one could take away from us.
Fifteen
Meg
I was alone in the bar, well, not entirely alone. Hail was supposed to be on watch tonight, but the man was nowhere to be found. He was good at hiding in the shadows and had already scared me once as he snuck up on me during the day.
“Hail?” I whispered out into the darkness, but I heard nothing. I slowly crept down the stairs, I had made sure to wear a robe this time. If not, bear was going to punish me again. My sex throbbed thinking of the man and his rough hands on me. There wasn’t anything better in this world than the feeling of being at his mercy.
Barefoot, all you could hear was the pads of my feet thumping along the hardwood floor as I made my way to the kitchen. I’d forgotten to eat earlier, and my tummy had stirred me awake with all the rumbling it was doing. Opening the refrigerator, I shuffled through the leftover food. Ryder’s girl, Regina, had come by and cooked for them since I wasn’t feeling well. Even though they could fend for themselves and they knew it, they still liked it when one of us cooked.
I turned to my right and set the containers on the counter when I noticed a dark shadow out of the corner of my eye. I froze, realizing instantly that I wasn’t alone, and my gut told me something was very wrong. I slowly made my way around the counter to encounter a lone black boot. I followed the stream of light as it lit up a pair of legs, a black leather jacket, and then Hail’s long hair strewn across his face.
“Hail!” I instantly ran to him to try to help him, but before I could reach him a hand swiped me around the waist, and I was being dragged back into the dark corridors of the bar. I kicked and screamed as I watched Hail twitch.
“Hail!” I screamed as I was flung to the side. I didn’t have a chance as I was thrown down a set of stairs. Tumbling forward I tried to reach what I could to keep from falling but it was of no use. My head hit something hard, and I shouted in pain. Such wretched pain that coursed through my bones. My body beaten down. I was then grabbed by my hair, screaming as I was dragged down a long corridor. I couldn’t see much but it looked like an old boiler room down in the basement.
He threw me across the floor, the switch of a bulb light was turned on, and then a dim light lit up the dingy room. Heavy footsteps came closer until a pair of black boots appeared. He crouched down over me, and I placed my hands in front of me to shield me away. He chuckled and brushed them away as he stroked my blood drenched hair. I flinched, true fear running its course through me.
“Well, look what you made me do. You’re bleeding.”
“J-Jebediah?”
“That’s right, Darlin’. Now, did you think I wouldn’t find you? That you could run from me forever?”
“Jebediah, please,” I sobbed as he gripped my hair yanking me up towards him. He pressed down on my head wound causing me to simper in pain.
“Aren’t you still the prettiest thing I ever did lay my eyes on?”
“J-Jebediah, y-you, you’re on Hellbound Lovers p-property.”
He looked around, absentmindedly stroking my hair. “Ain’t that the truth. Won’t it be perfect to know I had you right under their noses and they didn’t even know it. And guess what?”
He didn’t wait for an answer as he continued his disturbed monologue. “You see this place? Isn’t it perfect? It was made for you.”
He looked down on me, my eyes already blurring. “Scream all you want Darlin’. They can’t hear you.”
My eyes fell closed as an overwhelming need to sleep took me over. The last thing I could manage was a soft plead and the echo of his dark laughter as I drifted off.
Sixteen
Bear
I was stressed the fuck out. Worried about the bar, about the members, about Meg. We’d ridden for the last hour, coming back from the Devil’s Syndicate’s clubhouse. I rubbed at my neck, easing the tension that had built up. As we walked up to the front door of the bar, the lights were off, and the place seemed empty. Entering, I assumed Meg was upstairs sleeping and Hail had locked down.
We’d closed up early tonight since we needed to go talk to Walker Thorn. He was more than happy to offer us any help. Ryder had saved his life a few months back and he’d quickly won over his future father in law. I always told him it had been a stupid move to mess with the enemy’s daughter, he could have gotten himself killed, but there was no stopping Ryder when he wanted something. And Regina was a wildcat who wasn’t playing by the rules either. In the end, it had all turned out alright, and Regina and Ryder were already planning to say their vows in a few months. Those two were meant for each other.
Turning on the lights, Nick and Ryder joined me by the bar. We needed to discuss how we were going to go about bringing down Jebediah Crawford. The plan was slowly coming around, but we needed to be careful he wouldn’t find out. Walker let us know he’d seen a Sheriff roaming around Los Perdidos territory and it made all the sense in the world. Why wouldn’t he be partnering up with the enemy?
As I served us some drink, there was a clattering in the kitchen that caught our attention. “Hey Hail, if you’re back there, why not get some food out here? And get out here we need to fill you in on some stuff!” I turned back to Ryder and we both continued the conversation when that same shuffling came from the back.
“Shh, shh,” Nick waved at us and we sat there quietly, the place held a heaviness in the air.
“Something’s wrong,” Ryder took his gun out first, I followed. Something was definitely wrong.
That same clattering came from the back, followed by a gurgling sound. “I’ll check it out, you go see if Meg is upstairs.” I sent Ryder off while I focused on the kitchen door, Nick at my back.
“Hail? You back here, Brother?”
I pushed through the swinging doors, pointing my gun in the darkness. “Hail?”
The clattering was persistent and as I rounded a corner the light from the refrigerator highlighted Hail trying to crawl along the floor. A metal spoon held in his shaking hand as he banged it against the floor. Nick ran up to him, turning him around. He’d been stabbed in the gut, blood was smeared everywhere. The gurgling sound coming from his throat as he coughed up blood.
“Fuck, we need an ambulance!”
I cleared the kitchen quickly and as I stepped out, I ran into Ryder. Both are guns up, we looked at each other and then he slowly brought his down first. “Meg’s not upstairs.”
“What do you mean…”
“I mean, she’s not here. I’ve already searched. The place is empty. She’s not here.”
I ran back into the kitchen and Nick stared up at me from the floor. “Call an ambulance!” I yelled at Ryder as I threw a rag at Nick. “Keep pressure to the wound, do not remove the fucking knife.”
I shook in anger and along with it came fear, the fear of not knowing what the hell had gone down. The fear that something bad happened to my woman, and I, once again, wasn’t around to protect her.
* * *
We had ridden for the last three days. Hours on the road looking for any sign of her, anybody who could help us. We figured if we knew where he was, then maybe she was with him, but Jebediah Crawford had disappeared as well. Couldn’t find him anywhere, and the more the days past, the more scared I became. My brothers knew he’d taken her, but they didn’t want to say anything. But in my gut, I knew she was alive. I don’t know how, but I could still feel her around me.
I was sitting at the bar after my shift, staring at the bottle of liquor I had taken down. I took my fifth shot of vodka, knowing it was a bad idea, but I needed something to numb the pain. I felt we were wasting time, we needed more men, we needed help. I had gone into Sacramento and placed a missing person’s report, but they’d told me I needed to wait forty-eight hours. Forty-eight fucking hours! I took another shot and in that deep silence, that’s when I heard it. A soft shriek that emanated along the walls, but it was too low to make out. It sounded so far away, but for some reason, it pierced my soul.
“Meg!” My voice was broken, and I was already feeling the effects of the liquor. It was probably my imagination playing tricks on me. It had for some days now. Drinking was the only way to fight this restlessness inside of me. I was seeing her everywhere, shadows that kept me up at night. This need to find her was overpowering me. The mere thought that something horrible could happen, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I went on full alert as that same sound echoed around me. So low that I could barely make it out. I stood up, slightly swaying. The shots had hit me harder than I thought. I made my way towards the back when that shrill scream came closer.
“Meg!”
It couldn’t be, I must be going crazy. But what if it was. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but that unease had me on edge. I leaned against the hallway wall, standing in the darkness of the corridor. That’s when I heard it again, it was a distinct sound now, a woman’s voice. I slowly made my way down towards the back of the building, I’d never been back this far before.
There was a door at the end of the hallway, hidden behind boxes of new items Meg had ordered for the bar. I stared at it, the silence engulfing me. Something was telling me I needed to find out what was on the other side of the door. I looked to my left and it was pitch black. There was no one else in the bar, the clubhouse was empty since everyone was out. I took my gun out and reached for the door knob. My whole body was now on alert, waiting to hear that scream again. Swinging the door open, I was plunged into a thick blackness. It took me a second, but then I heard it. Sobs were emanating from below.
“Meg?” I whispered, afraid whatever was in there would hear me.
I took a step forward but didn’t make it much farther than that before a blow to the head sent me tumbling down a set of stairs. My head hit something hard and I groaned. Then suddenly, I was being dragged by my feet further down a dark hallway.
I tried breaking free, but I felt so heavy, too weak to move. I was thrown into a room, a door slammed, and although I fought it, my eyes fell shut, sealing me from the world.
Seventeen
Meg
“Please, Jeb. I’ll do whatever you say, go wherever you want, but please don’t hurt him.”
“Oh, please Jeb. Please don’t hurt him,” he mimicked in a high pitched tone, his face distorted as he jabbed at Derek with his foot.
“Don’t hurt him!”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” He came at me, pointing a finger in my face. “You’re just like your friend Sherry. Why didn’t I see it before? You’re all loud nags that bring a decent man to want to rip you throats out.
“Sherry?”
“She was a good enough lay, but she couldn’t handle a man like me. I warned her before she spread her legs for me, but the bitch didn’t listen. Her little girl on the other hand. Now that pussy was made just for me.”
