Ride With The Devil (Devil's Riders 2)

"She's in her room. But she’s not coming out any time soon.”

“Her room? You are locking her up like a criminal?”

He looked ashamed for a moment.

“Sorry Kaylie."

He closed the door in her face. Kaylie stood there wondering what the heck was going on. Then she squared her shoulders.

She knew where Janet's room was. No one could stop her from peeking in the window.

She snuck along the side of the house and stared aghast at the hastily nailed shut window frame. They really were treating Janet like a criminal. Kaylie shuddered, sympathy twisting her guts.

She might have lost her dad early on, but he'd loved and protected her. So had her mom.

Growing up she'd thought her well off friend had the best life. The big house, two parents… Kaylie had figured out that it wasn’t so simple a long time ago.

Now she realized just how wrong she had been all those years.

She knocked tentatively on the window. She tried to see into the room but it was hard without any lights on inside. Janet's face appeared in the window. There were circles under her pretty blue eyes.

She looked awful.

Janet held a finger to her lips signaling silence. Kaylie nodded and waited while Jan disappeared from the window. She was back after a few moments, holding up a piece of paper with hastily scribbled words.

Three days.

“You’ve been in there for three days?”

Janet nodded and wrote something on the back of the page.

Scared. No food or water.

Kaylie covered her mouth with her hand, horrified. Janet's head disappeared from sight for a moment. She reappeared in the window with a fresh piece of paper.

'I need to get out of here.'

Kaylie nodded and mouthed 'I'll be back later! Let me talk to Dev.'

She wasn't sure if her friend understood her. She ran across the lawn, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. Dev would help her figure out what to do.

They had to help her. They had to save Janet.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jack

Misery. Pure misery.

He stared at the beer in his hand. He’d been drinking it like water. Trying to fight the urge to go to her.

Janet had not answered his texts or come out of her house when he slowly drove down her street.

He finished the beer and grabbed another.

He would not ride past her house again. It was stupid. It was something a fucking teenager would do.

Just leave the girl alone.

But he couldn’t.

He felt like he was tearing up inside. The look on her face when he’d pushed her away… he’d hurt her.

She’d cared enough that he had hurt her.

At the same time he hurt himself.

He’d thought that she’d be confused and that was all. No good girl in her right mind would want to be with him, for real. She was just sowing her wild oats, and he was trying to keep her from getting hurt.

From getting dirty, just by being near him.

It was the hardest damn thing he’d ever done, and it had backfired. He was still tied up in knots, wanting her more than ever.

And now she hated him. Thought he was only using her. Thought he wanted somebody else more.

What a cruel joke.

Nothing could be further from the truth. She was the only one he wanted. The only one he’d ever wanted like this.

It felt like he was being twisted into two halves. The smart Jack who should be glad that she hated him. And the Jack that wanted to tear the world apart, just to get to her.

Didn’t matter that she was too good for him.

He wanted her anyway.

And now, it was too late.

He threw his beer against the wall. It smashed, spraying his tools with foamy white beer.

He stared at it, breathing hard.

Then he walked to the fridge in his studio and pulled out another one.

Maybe if he kept drinking, this ache inside him would fade.

Just a little.

Maybe it would be enough.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Janet

This is a very, very bad idea.

Janet closed her eyes and tensed her body, ready to leap out of the way. She was holding her desk chair in the air, barely able to keep it up with her trembling arms. She was already so weak from lack of food but she could do this.

She had to do this.

Her parents had left her in there for almost four days now. Four days with out food or water. Janet was starting to think they weren't ever going to let her out.

Tears stung her eyes.

She'd always known her mother didn't really love her, but to do this to her? And her father, weak as he was, he'd cared a little bit. She'd thought he had anyway. Apparently she'd been wrong.

Just like she'd been wrong about Jack.

She'd thought he cared about her. More than just wanting to take her to bed. He'd acted so protective of her when those guys had stepped to her at the mall.