Breathing His Air (31 page)

“Try to fight now, little sister.” He snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrist.

She jerked, hiding her other hand behind her back, trying to keep at least one arm free. “Please. Don’t. I won’t cause any trouble.”

“There once was a girl who was spoiled.” His voice took on a singsong quality. “She screamed and screamed as she got boiled.”

She recoiled against the seat, trying to get away from him. “You’re sick.”

“I’m sick?” he screamed. “You’re just like your father.”

She recoiled away from the spittle spraying out of his mouth. With her eyes closed, she wasn’t prepared for the punch that hit her right temple. A flash of pain and an attempt to yell for Rain, and the blackness took over.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Tired and fighting a headache, Rain parked his motorcycle behind the house and walked around to the front. Staying to confront Sanchez and Crystal at the party had failed.

Sanchez had disappeared, and because everyone in town had attended the Summer-Palooza, no one had seen where he went. He rolled the stiffness out of his shoulders. Jedman had also vanished with Crystal and wasn’t answering his phone, and that worried him.

Standing in his driveway, his chest tightened. He lifted his gaze, and his whole body seized.
Fuck.

The front door hung wide open. Panic pushed him forward. He ran inside, yelling Tori’s name, flipping light switches on, and at the same time dialing Slade’s number.

Slade answered, and before he could say anything, Rain announced, “They’ve got Tori. Put the word out, and front riders come to my house.”

He never waited for a reply, but disconnected and called 911. He hung up as he entered the living room and found a broken lamp and a chair pushed over. “Where are you, babe?” he mumbled.

“Hello, 911. What is your emergency?”

“Someone broke into my house and kidnapped my girlfriend.” He cradled the phone against his ear, and sunk his other hand into his hair.

“Do you know where she’s at or who has her, sir?”

“How the fuck should I know?” He swung his arm. “Get the damn police over here, and find her. 7349 Honeybrook Lane. Send someone now.”

“I’ve already dispatched two officers, sir. If you’ll stay on the line — ”

He disconnected the call and shoved his phone in his pocket. The tightness in his chest he’d dealt with since the night the cabin was set on fire intensified, along with a rage unlike any he’d ever experienced.

He’d come home to apologize. The situation with Crystal and Sanchez had blown up before he could check himself. He’d acted out instead of being a man and making sure her world was still spinning. She’d gone through unnecessary pain because he let his fear take over. This was all his fault.

He stepped over the broken glass into the kitchen. The picture she’d taken of them last week and printed out hung on the fridge. He ran his finger over her upturned face on the photo. Without him knowing it, she’d become his everything.

She’d brought more into his life than he gave her. Even the evidence she’d left around the house. The napkin holder, the pink cups, the note on the counter. All the pictures …

They’d spent God knows how long figuring out how to preset the camera to automatically take pictures, and a helluva long time posing out on the deck overlooking the river until Tori captured the moment. He swallowed hard, letting his hand fall away from the photo. This was his favorite picture.

Tori leaned against his side, curled under his arm, her hand on his stomach. He gazed into her face, smiling at how goofy she acted, and how at that moment, she completed him. She wore her skimpy shorts and one of his T-shirts, the hem tied in a knot on her hip. One of her legs, slightly bent, hugged his thigh.

His arm lay over her shoulder, down her back, and the camera had caught him palming her ass. He was smiling in a way he hadn’t known he was capable of — open, pure, his emotions written all over his face. As if there were only the two of them in this world.

But it was the soft expression on her lips that made his heart skip a beat. He could almost swear she was inhaling his air.

The roar of motorcycles snapped him into action. He jogged to the door, holding his riders away from the crime scene until the police came.

Slade bounded up the steps first. “Boss?”

“I want the second group of riders out looking for Sanchez.” He held up his hand. “They call immediately if they find him. Tell ’em not to let him out of his sight, and if he has Tori don’t do a damn thing until I can get there. I don’t trust him, and he could be a couple of hours out toward Mexico by now.”

Slade nodded. “Ren, you got it?”

“On the phone now.” Renny lowered his head and continued speaking into the phone.

“Where’s Jedman?” He looked out at the twenty bikers.

“Here.” Jedman stepped up. “Name it.”

“I want you riding with me when we get word about Sanchez’s location.” He motioned toward the house. “Go in the house without disturbing the crime scene, and bring back enough ammo for both of us. Hurry before the cops come, and make sure you stay out of the living room. I don’t want anyone fucking this up.”

“Right.” Jedman jumped the steps and disappeared into the house.

Two minutes later, Jedman returned with two pistols in holsters, extra clips, and Rain’s leather jacket. He stripped out of his vest, slipped the holster over his head, and let Torque secure the strap around his ribs. Then he braced his boot on the railing, pulled up the leg of his jeans, and fastened the strap onto his lower leg. One clip went in his back pocket, and three went in the pocket of his jacket.

His boot hit the porch at the same time two police rigs pulled behind the bikes in the driveway. He straightened, ready to let the officers do their job. The more time they wasted at the house, the longer Tori’s life was in danger.

Officer Bob Corbin led the way to the porch, followed by Keith Stellor. The members of Bantorus parted into two groups and let the officers approach the house. Rain zipped up his jacket. The less they knew about what he was going to do, the more they’d concentrate on where Tori had gone and who had taken her.

“Sent out an APB on Ms. Baldwin already.” Corbin stepped up on the porch. “Show me what we have.”

Rain took Corbin and Stellor into the living room. “Came home about twenty minutes ago to the door open and found this and Tori missing.”

Corbin glanced at him. “Was the alarm going off?”

“No.” He retraced his steps into the entryway. “The light’s red. It’s been shut off.”

“She knew the perpetrator and let him inside the house.” Stellor took a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket. “Nobody touch the door. I’ll get prints.”

“Do you know who she’d feel safe enough with to open the door?” Corbin studied the room. “Anyone who has taken a special interest in her lately, or you’ve seen around but has stayed back from making contact with her?”

He rubbed his chest through the opening of his jacket. “Raul Sanchez.”

“Rain.” Corbin inhaled through his nose. “Put aside your feelings for the guy right now. He’s stayed clean for the last month, and with your eyes and ours on him, he hasn’t crossed any lines. We couldn’t tie him to the fire, the note, or the drive-by.”

“Bullshit. We both know he’s here because he has a reason. Tori’s caught his eye. I caught them talking earlier this evening. He played himself off as one of her customers who went by the name Raul. Never gave her his last name, and she wasn’t able to connect him to the same man I’ve been telling her to stay away from for weeks,” he said.

“Did you have an argument with him? Corbin asked.

“Hell, yeah. He was with my woman.”

Corbin stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Did you argue with Ms. Baldwin?”

“Yeah.” He looked Corbin in the eye. “We had words, but settled things between us. I sent her home with two of my riders behind her. She called when she was safe in the house.”

“Could she have left because of the argument?” Corbin held his hand up when Rain tensed. “I need to know the whole story, son.”

Tori always ran when she was upset. She’d made him promise never to let her go, and he’d given his world. He wanted to believe everything was fine between them, but he couldn’t say if something had happened here at the house that made her second guess her decision and take off running.

He shook his head. No way. Tori wouldn’t run. Not from him. “Someone took her, and when I find him, he’s going to pay.”

“After we’re done inspecting the house, I’ll take a ride over to the hotel and have a talk with Sanchez myself.” Corbin studied Rain. “I want you to let me do my job, and to watch what you say in front of me.”

“I’m riding out the second you don’t need me here anymore.” Rain lowered his chin. “You do what you gotta do, and I’ll do it my way.”

“Rain. Let — ”

“She’s my woman.” He turned when Jedman entered the room.

Jedman handed him the phone. “Torque’s on the line, boss.”

“Where the hell are you?” Rain walked out of the room with the cell.

“Took Crystal to the bus station over in Kelso. She gave me a sob story about how she had to leave town before something bad happened to her. For a change, I believed her. I gave her money, saw her walk on the bus, and stayed until I had proof she was in the bus when it rolled away before I left. Must not have had cell coverage there, because I just rode past the railroad tracks and my phone went shit crazy. Didn’t even take time to get the messages, and I pulled over to call Slade,” Torque said.

“Tori was taken from the house earlier.” Rain sat down the porch steps. “Jedman and I are waiting to find out where Sanchez is, and then we’re riding out. I wanted to question Crystal. She flat-out lied to me tonight, plus her showing up at all when I’ve sent her out of Bantorus territory — it doesn’t add up. I think she knows who took Tori, and I can bet my life it’s Sanchez.”

“Shit.” Torque’s voice grew low. Rain couldn’t hear what else he said.

“Come again?”

“Hang on.” He paused. “Had to get a piece of paper out of my pocket. Crystal gave me a message for you. A name. I didn’t know what she meant by it, but I wrote it down while I was waiting for the bus to pull away.”

“What?”

“She said to tell you ‘It’s Ethan’.”

“What the hell is that? Who’s Ethan?” He grimaced, rubbing his forehead.

“Never heard the name before, and that’s all she’d say. I have to say, boss, Crystal’s usually cockier than shit, but the girl was scared. She kept looking over her shoulder and couldn’t wait to hightail it out of town.”

“Come back and hook up with the first riders. I’m hanging up.” He disconnected the call, and the phone rang again in his hand. “Yeah?”

“Slade?” Pete asked.

“No, it’s Rain.”

“Good. We located Sanchez. He’s sitting pretty in his hotel room. I had one of the gals from room service knock on his door to check the room out. No sign of Tori. We’re hanging back off the block to keep him stupid.”

“I’m fifteen minutes out. Do not let him leave.” He tossed the phone to Slade, hurried into the living room, and spoke low to Corbin. “I’m riding out.”

“Don’t tell me that shit.” Corbin looked away. “I’m just doing my job and dispatching more men on patrol. I do not want to know where you are or what you’re doing. I did not see you.”

Rain slapped Corbin on the shoulder, turned, and connected his gaze with Jedman’s. “Let’s roll.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Inside a cheap, rundown motel room, Tori stood chained to a Formica table. The weight of the chain locked onto the handcuffs and wrapped around the leg of the table pulled her shoulders down at an uncomfortable angle. She squatted, taking the pressure off her back, not understanding why Ethan held so much animosity toward her.

She’d suffered, too. He wasn’t there the night her dad took everything away from her, when she’d suffered the gunshot wound that still caused her leg to ache on occasion.

Until she’d met Rain, her life was all about where she’d run to next to escape what she’d lived through. Rain not only stood beside her, he’d supported her emotionally as she fought the doubts that crept up daily. He’d pushed away the fear that her dad was right, and love would ruin everyone she got close to. She clamped her teeth together to keep from crying. Rain held her every night, keeping her safe. She wanted his arms around her now, taking her weight, taking the pain from her body, and taking her home.

“Stand up.” Ethan pointed the pistol at her from his position on the faded, plaid couch.

She groaned as her muscles protested the effort it took to straighten her limbs into a new position. She bit her lip, raw from the backhanded slaps Ethan had given her to keep her from fighting. The tears she’d shed were now sticky on her face. Her hair half covered her vision.

Afraid to take her eye off Ethan, in case he came back over and gave her another beating, she kept careful watch. Her body rebelled, and it was a constant fight to stay awake and alert.

Ethan put the pistol beside him and removed a pipe out of his pocket. He hunched over, half blocking her view. Every few minutes, he lit a lighter and inhaled whatever he was smoking. She hoped he passed out, or forgot about her.

With him unconscious, she could try to lie on the floor and use her legs to lift the table. She’d already tried lifting with her hands, but the motel must’ve bolted the furniture down, afraid someone would walk off with the ugly piece of crap.

“You look like her,” said Ethan.

He’d talked to her for the last hour, off and on, but she never replied. She wrapped her fingers around the chain, holding the weight off her wrists. Rain must be home by now, and wondering where she went. He’d come looking for her, she was sure of it.

She’d bide her time and do whatever possible not to antagonize Ethan. And she’d keep breathing. Hurry, honey …

• • •

Rain kicked in the door of Room 212, his pistol leveled at Sanchez asleep on the bed. With his free hand, he hit the light switch, temporary blinding the other man.

Sanchez squinted, holding his hand in front of his face. “What the fu — ”