But, fuck, she was wet for me.
That was something I stayed up awake thinking about for hours. Those thin yoga pants did nothing to hide how much she wanted me.
Then she was screaming again. The sound was something that sunk into my skin, that lodged itself in my brain, a sound I was worried I would always hear. Even when she was gone. When she was safe and happy and away from me. I was pretty sure her screams would keep me awake at night.
I had to go out and get her. I couldn't just let her lay there alone, working through some shit memory because she wanted her space. She shouldn't have had to deal with any of that, least of all alone.
So I brought her to my bed, tucked her into my side. And there was no more screaming.I got up early, making coffee, trying to get away from her. Her scent was all over me. That lotion that Cash had bought for her. The shampoo in her hair. It was covering me. All over my skin. I needed to get the hell away from her before she woke up to me groping her all over.
“Hey,” she said, her voice a sleep-filled whisper as she padded out toward me.
“You alright?”
Her head cocked to the side, her brows drawing together. “Yeah. Why?”
“Nightmares,” I said, shrugging, throwing cream and sugar into a cup for her.
“Oh,” she said, biting into her lip.
“Wanna talk about it?”
She shrugged her shoulders, taking her coffee, careful to not let her fingers touch mine. “Just the same old stuff,” she said, trying to brush it off, but I could see the pain lingering there behind her eyes. “The dreams will fade eventually.”
No they wouldn't. But I didn't want to tell her that. Instead, I reached into my pocket, grabbing the burner I had pulled out of the safe and charged. “Here,” I said, holding it out to her.
She gave me a smile, reaching for it, her brow lifted. “Big bag biker guys don't spring for smart phones?”
“It's a burner. Call your father.”
Her eyes widened. “What? You sure that's a good idea? I mean won't that like... put us or him at risk or something?”
“If his phones are tapped, yeah. Which is why you're going to keep it short and sweet. Say hi. Tell him you're safe. That he should not give into V's demands because he doesn't have you anymore. Tell him you'll be in touch when you can. Then hang up. Got it?”
She nodded, putting down her coffee cup, opening the phone and typing in a number. “Are you just going to stand there?” she asked, looking uncomfortable.
“Yep,” I said, watching her hit the send and bring the phone to her ear.
There was a long pause, her face seeming to crumple more and more as each ring went unanswered. “Dad?” she asked, finally, her voice a weird whisper. “No. Dad. Stop. I'm fine. Dad. Dad!” she said, almost yelling. Trying to talk over him, I imagined. “I got out. I got away. Yeah. I can't...” she said, looking over at me. “I can't tell you that but I'm okay. So don't agree to the deal, okay? No matter what. I, ah, I have to go. Yeah. I know. No, I have to go. I'll be in touch when I can. Okay. Love you too. Bye Daddy.”
I held out my hand and she gave me the phone, tears clinging to her lashes, but not spilling down her cheeks. I took the phone, removing the battery and SIM card and tossing them. “Good reunion?”
“He was confused and kinda... frantic. But he said he wouldn't do anything until he heard from me again.”
“You did...” I started, then the rumbling caused me to cut off and look toward the door. Because I wasn't expecting Cash. And while, on occasion, he would drop by, it was never after a Friday night at church without some kind of communication about it. Two seconds later, he slammed through the front door and I knew something was wrong. “Fuck is it?” I asked, moving away from Summer.
Cash looked pointedly over at Summer. “It's a full-on fucking manhunt, man. There are men everywhere. Talking to everyone. Putting up a quarter mill for word on her.”
“Two-hundred fifty thousand for me?” Summer croaked, looking pale.
“You'd be worth five times that in just over a year if your father went through with the deal,” I supplied.
“And you were right,” Cash went on, ignoring Summer which was so unlike him that I felt unease settling in. If he was ignoring a woman, his mind must be on more important things. And there was only one thing more important than women for him. “He's got the cops. They're all over with posters of her, claiming some missing person bullshit. They were at the club early this morning, starting shit.”
I felt my back straighten. “What kind of shit?”
“Wanting to look around kind of shit. No warrant so they didn't get to see shit. But still. Not normal. We don't get heat from them. Why are they snooping?”
That was a good question. And there was no good answer. Unless someone saw me driving that night. Someone saw me with some bitch on my bike. Unless V had some clue. And if he had some clue, it wouldn't be long before he figured out I had a house. And that my house had very little to no protection.
“Fuck,” I growled, running a hand down my face.
“Gonna have to move her,” Cash said, watching me.
“Tell me some shit I don't already know, man.”
“It's time to bring in the club on this.”
“We ain't telling them, Cash. Understand me? We'll bring her. She's just a bitch I'm fucking with. That's it.”
“Fine. But... do it now man,” Cash said, his tone firm.
“It's that bad?” I asked, feeling too cut off from everything. Not liking it. Not liking Cash having to be my eyes and ears.
“Not yet. But it could be if they somehow have something to go on,” he said with a nod.