“Come on, Rebel,” I whispered, my throat too sore to speak at a normal level. Had they hit me there? I couldn’t remember.
As soon as I had Rebel’s hand in mine, I looked at my dad. “I love you, Dad.”
“You too, princess.”
I stared into his eyes and I knew that was the last time I would. The grief was there, like someone tapping on my shoulder, but I didn’t feel it then. I couldn’t. I had to get my baby out of that house. It was the only thing I could focus on. Not the blood dripping down my neck, not the throbbing arm, not my dad’s mangled face. No, the only thing I could think of was getting Rebel as far away as I possibly could. It was like I had tunnel vision. The only thing I could see was Rebel away from those monsters.
I walked her out of the house as quickly as I could, but it still wasn’t very fast. She moved slow as a snail on a regular day, especially when I wasn’t pulling her along behind me telling her to hurry up a little. We shuffled out the front door and I heard the short man’s voice calling out, but I didn’t stop. Not for one second.
I held Rebel back at the top of the stairs, then used my good arm to lift her when I reached the bottom. I realized somewhat vaguely that she’d dropped her Kindle as I stumbled to the car. Gripping the handle of her door, I moaned as I used the hand on my bad arm to pull it open. My stomach rolled.
“In,” I said frantically, awkwardly shoving Reb into her seat. My hand wasn’t working properly, so it took me three attempts to get her seatbelt buckled.
As I finally slammed her door shut, the big man that had held me came out onto the porch and I yelped as I threw my door open, falling into the seat even as I rushed to close it behind me. A wave of dizziness rolled over me as I turned the key in the ignition.
I shouldn’t be driving. I could barely even see without my glasses, and I was bleary-eyed with pain.
I slammed the car into drive and braced my left arm against my chest as I spun the car around, spitting gravel at the man climbing into the car I hadn’t recognized when I’d pulled up earlier. A quick glance in the mirror told me that he was following me, and I sobbed as I raced down the driveway, each pot hole jostling my small car so much that little whimpers left my mouth.
When I got to the road, I turned right. I didn’t think it over or debate about it. I just hit the accelerator and tore down the road in the opposite direction of town. It would take me too long to get there and the man was right behind me. There was no one at my house. If I went to the police station, he’d kill me before I even got inside.
There was only one place that I knew people would greet me the minute I pulled up.
Less than five minutes later, I was at the Aces MC gates.
I didn’t stop the car until my front bumper had hit the chain link.
“What the fuck?” one of the men standing on the other side of the fence yelled.
I looked in my rearview mirror to see the man race past my car, not even slowing.
“You lost, lady?” the other guy at the gate asked.
I shook my head, and reached across myself to open my door.
“Stay in your car,” the kid called again. He seemed young.
Then I realized it was Tommy Hawthorne.
“Tommy,” I rasped, practically falling out of my car. “Men—”
I couldn’t catch my breath.
“Molly?” he asked dubiously, rushing for the center of the gate where a large chain held it closed.
“My dad’s house. Russian men.”
“Holy fuck!” he blurted as he got the gate open. “Go get help!”
The other guy went running as Tommy finally opened up the gate.
“Where’s the baby?” he asked, lifting his arms like he wasn’t sure where to touch me, or if he should.
“Backseat,” I answered, just as I started sobbing in relief.
Chapter 14
Will
My mother was a pain in my ass. She irritated the hell out of me, but I loved her so I could never tell her no. Even when she asked me to climb up on the makeshift stage at her birthday barbeque and jam with Leo and Trix like we were the fucking Partridge family.
Which was what I was doing at that moment.
It wasn’t the first time she’d asked me to do it, and it probably wouldn’t be the last time—but I wasn’t in the mood. Trix and Leo were insanely good. The brother and sister came by their talent naturally. I’d seen their mom, Brenna, wail on the drums more than once and I’d heard that she could play a shit load of other instruments by ear. Her kids seemed to have followed in her footsteps. Both could play the drums, guitar and who knew what other instruments like they were born to do it, but I just barely got by on my bass, which made me feel like an even bigger asshole when I played with them.