Devil May Care: Boxed Set (45 page)

Maybe Rome will save me.

The thought was more from desperation than anything else. After my screaming match at him, I didn’t think Rome would want anything to do with me. Sure, he’d come after me when I’d run off, but that could have been some residual manly pride preventing him from doing otherwise. Or maybe it was the need to get the last word in, to tell me off.

Or maybe he really does care.

I frowned at the idea. I didn’t think Rome was the kind of guy who liked to stick with women over a long period of time. He seemed definitely like the love ’em and leave ’em type, but we’d been through a lot recently and it made me wonder if maybe he didn’t have a soft spot for me.

It made me wonder if maybe I hadn’t overreacted about the phone thing.

Then I wondered if I wasn’t just rationalizing because Rome was probably my only hope, and if he didn’t come for me, I was dead. But even if Rome was controlling, I had the feeling that, at least in this case, it was better to deal with the devil you knew.

I didn’t know how long we drove. It was impossible to tell time or even judge by the changing light or scenery outside thanks to my blindfold, but I knew that my wrists and ankles were sore, and my limbs ached from being held forcibly in a single position for so long. I worried that we’d spend the whole night in the car. Then I worried that they’d kill me once we stopped. Then I convinced myself that they wouldn’t if only because they had gone through this much trouble so far, so clearly they wanted me alive.

My hammering heart keeping me just on the edge of perpetual panic kept me from passing the time by sleeping, and I definitely wasn’t going to join in on their conversation, so I listened on and off. Sometimes I would zone out when I was tired of hearing them talk about dinner—it was down to either Chinese or pizza, but they couldn’t seem to agree—and tried to listen to what else was going on. Were the bumps in the road increasing or was it smoother? Did it sound like there was less traffic now? Did we come to stops a lot and then start off again, or was it smooth sailing?

These pretty much went unanswered as I decided there was no point in trying to figure out where I was without looking out the window. It wasn’t a skill I had, and now wasn’t the time to try to develop it. Or maybe it was, but I couldn’t manage to focus on it enough to make any headway, and even if I could, I couldn’t exactly check to see if I was on the right track with any of it.

After what felt like forever, but could have been only forty-five minutes, the car finally slowed. I rolled and shifted in my seat as we must have turned a corner before slowing further. There was a cranking sound, maybe a garage door opening? Then finally we crawled forward a few feet and the next stop was final. The car turned off and I heard doors opening. I had hoped that maybe they would take off the blindfold after reaching our destination, instead I felt the door on my side open, warm air wafting through the backseat and sliding over my body. I jerked away from it instinctively, but someone must have reached through, because a second later I felt a hand wrap around my upper arm and jerk me forward. I was pulled, half stumbling, out of the car. I was still tied up, so when I tried to stand, I nearly faceplanted, but whoever had a hold of me must have known that. He braced me and I felt my body lift up as I was thrown over someone’s shoulder, carried away easily. I got a strong whiff of male cologne that wasn’t bad, but was too strong to be pleasant, and coughed a little in response.

I wanted to know where we were, what was happening, but I didn’t dare open my mouth. Now that I was out of the car and probably in some underground garage or something, there was a bigger chance that someone was going to decide I wasn’t worth all of this trouble.

Doing my best to remain calm and still, lying limply over the guy’s shoulders, I waited with a pounding heart until the man put me down. He did eventually, throwing me casually into a hard backed chair. I couldn’t tell if it was old and rickety or hand carved and beautiful, but it really didn’t matter. At first, I felt elated that they undid my bindings until I felt someone hold my hand down to the armrest of the chair and felt the rope slide back over my already sore wrists. I let out a little cry that was half sob, but when a quick backhand across my face came directly after that, I made a point of being quiet.

I flinched when he tied the other arm, still feeling the sting of that backhand, my cheek throbbing and probably going to bruise. He then tied my feet so that my legs were slightly parted. I was relieved that I’d worn jeans at least, but I didn’t feel in the least bit comfortable with my position. In fact, I was terrified by it. Too vulnerable. It took everything I had to ignore the things they could do to me and hope instead for the best.

I heard voices talking—two belonged to the men from the car, but the other I didn’t recognize, telling me a new man had joined them—one of them telling another to watch her me. I heard someone groan, then the two voices still talking got farther and farther away.

“Why do I always get the shitty jobs?” complained the man who had stayed to watch me. I was pretty sure it was the man who had been driving, the cabbie who wasn’t a cabbie.

“Are you…are you really a cabbie?” I asked, because I couldn’t think of anything else to ask besides, “Why are you guys such assholes?” and I really needed to get him talking if I wanted to get out of here.

I heard him snort, but otherwise he didn’t say anything.

“I mean, that must be a hard job, right?” I tried again.

When I was once more met with silence, I decided the cabbie avenue wasn’t working, so I tried to switch gears.

“Can you take off my blindfold?” Still silence. “Or tell me what’s going on?” Still nothing. “Can you…oh, can’t you help me?”

That last question came out half a sob and I heard a chair move, sliding against hardwood floor. I thought maybe I’d gotten to him—maybe he felt pity for me and my situation—but then he said, “If she gets all mouthy, can I hit her?”

I froze, my breath held tightly in my chest. An answer came, but I didn’t catch it, too low and too far away. But the guy must have, because he directed his next words at me.

“Hear that, bitch? So long as I don’t kill you, you’re fair game. So keep talking, baby, keep talking.”

I shut up after that and hoped desperately that, despite everything that had happened between us, Rome was somehow coming after me.

Rome

I got out of there as quickly as I could. There was blood on me, Dagger’s blood, and I did my best to hide it just in case any nosy neighbors were looking out of windows from behind lace curtains. Not that there’d be a lot of lace in this neighborhood. I paused to stare at the picture, the one with Dagger and the woman, reminding me not so subtly of myself and Olivia.

Where was Dagger’s woman? Dead somewhere? His fault?

Probably. And now Olivia was missing, taken by Jacob’s men, and there was no question in my mind now that they’d do whatever they had to in order to keep me in line. But what did that mean? Did it mean that they expected me to take the fall for ratting out Axel without so much as a fight?

“That sounds like the gist,” I muttered to myself as I slid into the car. I sat there for several long minutes, just sitting behind the wheel, the car not started. I knew that I had to get out of there. It wouldn’t be long now until the cops showed up due to some sort of complaint—I doubted that whoever had shot Dagger had used a silencer or anything fancy like that—and I definitely didn’t want to be here when they arrived. But I didn’t know where to go. I had to find Olivia, but Dagger hadn’t been as helpful as I’d hoped. I needed leverage against Jacob before I could go after Olivia, but all Dagger had given me was a name.

Lucifer.

Some big shot here in California, from what Dagger had told me earlier, but why did Jacob care about another gang in another state? Was he switching over? Giving up life as a Renegade to join whoever this Lucifer was?

It was the only thing I could come up with, but something didn’t quite seem right about it. Even if Jacob was turning to a new gang, which would be irksome but not unheard of, what was all this crap about Axel, then? After all, if Jacob was leaving the club, then he wouldn’t really care about Axel’s situation, much less who had been responsible for the whole fiasco.

I needed more information, but I had no idea where to get it.

Starting the car finally—I’d sat there for too long and was pushing my luck with every additional second I wasted—I made a U-turn at the end of the road, heading back the way I came. I still didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had gotten it into my head that I had only two options: drive around until I found Olivia or drive around until I found Lucifer.

Neither of these options sounded like particularly good plans, but they were all I had.

Just as I was pulling out of the neighborhood and onto the main road, my cell phone went off. Digging in my pocket for it, I jerked it out and caught it on the last ring. As soon as I heard the message, I knew who was calling.

“This call is from Clark County Corrections Facility. You are free to hang up at any time. To accept this call, please press—”

I jammed my finger into the number.

“Axel,” was all I said by way of greeting. I wasn’t sure exactly what this call was about, but it seemed like odd timing in my opinion. Where was the call when Jacob first went and visited Axel? Where was the interest in a conversation then?

“Why are you running, Rome?”

I actually laughed into the phone, unable to stop myself. “Why am I
running
?” I repeated, incredulous. “Probably because you sent Jacob and his goons after my—” I hesitated and couldn’t bring myself to say “wife” to Axel, though I didn’t know why. He probably already knew the whole deal as far as that was concerned. “—Olivia. They tried to fucking rape her, man. I couldn’t let her get dragged down like that.”

There was a long pause and I heard a clang in the background, speaking. I worried that his time was up already and I wouldn’t get any more information about what was going on, but then he said in a low, angry voice, “They
what
? Jacob did that?”

“Him and his boys. I don’t think it was him in the alley, but I know it was a couple of his.” I frowned, wondering why Axel would be asking me this. After all, hadn’t
he
given the order? Unless Jacob was operating on his own. The thought struck me suddenly and it made a lot more sense than everything else I’d heard lately. Axel didn’t know what Jacob was doing because Jacob was pushing things too fast and Axel liked to think things through.

“I see,” Axel answered, his voice low and dangerous. “So you took your girl for safekeeping?”

I nodded though he couldn’t hear me. Not seeing the point in driving and talking on the phone—I wasn’t sure if it was illegal in this state and didn’t want to risk getting pulled over, not now—I took the next right and pulled into the gas station on the corner so that I could continue the conversation with Axel. “Yeah. I did. I thought you gave the order. You and Jacob seemed awfully chummy when I left.”

There was a long pause, then, “He came to see me. We talked. We talked a
lot
, Rome, and he had some interesting things to say. You know what he told me?”

“I can guess.”

“He told me you’re why I’m locked up right now.” Pause. “Is that true?”

I wondered if there was any point to being honest. Would Axel believe me? But I knew there wasn’t any point in lying, so I just told him my side of it. “No, it’s not. I’m a lot of things, most of them not good qualities to have in a person, but I ain’t a rat. Never have been, if only because I hate the cops more than most.”

There was a sigh and I realized that Axel wasn’t considering my words. Not because he didn’t believe me, but because he already knew what I was saying. He’d known all along and didn’t want to believe Jacob.

At least that was what I hoped.

“Jacob’s always been hot headed, too impulsive.” Axel paused, thinking something over. “I’ll call him next. Tell him to pull back and—”

I made a frustrated sound. Was Axel really so stupid as to think that was an option at this point? Jacob would finish me—and Olivia, I thought with dread—and when Axel pushed him as to why, he’d claim that we were dead before he got the order to fall back. Then he’d plant evidence, all fake, making all roads lead to me. Well, fuck that. I wasn’t having it. I wouldn’t be anyone’s scapegoat and I didn’t grow up in shitty home after shitty home just so that I could let some asshole punk tell me that I needed to play by some imaginary rules that didn’t seem to apply to anyone else.

“Don’t bother,” I snapped at him. “You know he won’t listen. And he’ll have a reason or a story, and then he’ll have proof, because he’s got it in for me. You give the order, but don’t be stupid enough to think he’ll follow it.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line and I knew that calling him stupid was a dangerous risk, even in the way I tried it. It might go very badly for me, but I couldn’t muster up enough worry to care. After all, things were already pretty hellish, so what did I care? Wouldn’t be any worse off than I had been before this damn phone call.

“Alright,” Axel finally said, sounding calm, though it was tense. “What do you need?”

“I got a name, but it doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“What’s the name?”

“Lucifer.”

“Lucifer?” Axel repeated, sounded slightly bewildered. “You mean Jacob?”

I froze.
Jacob?
“What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, Jacob. Back in the day, a
long
time ago, before you came around, Jacob used to go by another name. He said it was ’cause he didn’t want to be caught by the cops and a fake name made it easier to slide under the radar, but I never did buy that. He just liked scaring people, always has. Made quite a reputation for himself. That was why he switched back. When I became leader, I told him that we weren’t playing those kinds of bullshit games anymore. He needed to retire the handle.”

I could imagine what the bullshit games were and I knew instinctively I didn’t like them. We dealt with drugs, guns, and boosting cars. Which meant that there wasn’t a lot left that we
didn’t
deal with, and judging by what Jacob had ordered his goons to do to Olivia, I had a pretty good idea of just what that was.

“He was doing that and you still let him stay?” I demanded, disbelief clear in my voice.

I could almost hear Axel shrugging on the other end. “It wasn’t so simple. A lot of people liked Jacob. A lot of ’em still do. Kicking him out meant half the club disbanded and suddenly we were left with a rival club full of a bunch of pissed off, meaner than hell, asshole bikers who had it in for us. If I let him stay, then they would stay, and if he
chose
to leave later, well, that would be his thing, wouldn’t it? People wouldn’t be angry enough with me to leave with him.”

It made sense. With the dynamics of the group and the people within it, it made sense, but that didn’t make me like it any more.

“You could have just killed him,” I said darkly.

Axel laughed, full and throaty, amused by my brash statement. “Yes, I could have, and I’m starting to think I
should
have. But hindsight’s always twenty-twenty, isn’t it?”

“I think Jacob—
Lucifer—
is the one who set you up,” I told Axel finally, bluntly. “Dagger’s dead and that was the only name he’d give me when I asked.”

“Damnit. I should have known,” Axel admitted after a minute. “Jacob’s always been power hungry. He’s not the kind of man who does well sitting sidesaddle, you know? I should have assumed he was up to something, he was so sure that it was you.”

“You think he’s been trying to take over this whole time?”

Axel snorted in derision. “Probably. What’s your plan, Rome?”

I hesitated. Right that moment, I didn’t really have one. Knowing that Jacob was Lucifer was a big part of the puzzle and it potentially gave me leverage, but it didn’t tell me where they were. I needed more if I was going to save Olivia.

“What do you need?” Axel asked me again, his tone grave.

“Where would he go?”

Axel thought about it for a moment, then finally came to some kind of answer. “Here in Nevada, he’d go to Vegas. He’s got a place there, says it’s for some mistress, but I think he’s doing some dirty shit there.”

Vegas. That was a long way from here and Olivia had gotten into a cab. It was unlikely that she’d gotten out of the cab and been picked up by them since her destination was probably LAX. Which meant she had to have been grabbed
in the cab
. Which meant they probably hadn’t driven across state lines.

I shook my head. No, they were still in California. “I don’t think he went home. I think they’re in California.”

“Cali? Well, shit, why didn’t you say so? He’s had family up in Malibu for forever. Bunch of rotten bastards.”

“Don’t call the others. I need to use what leverage I have if I’m going to save Olivia.”

Axel didn’t argue with me. All he said was, “Go get your girl and put that son of a bitch in his place.”

We hung up then, and I tore out of the gas station, headed for Malibu in search of Olivia.