Game Changer (Hell's Saints Motorcycle Club) (28 page)

Claire had seen it in a movie. With that and her well-honed instinct for noticing her surroundings she was keeping track of the turns they were taking and things she was hearing. Trying to get a fix on their location if at all possible. Not sure why, but she thought if she could somehow control this she could keep it from happening.

But the moment she felt Raine waking up from where she had her head cushioned on her lap all that went right out the window. Thank God, she was beginning to moan and toss her head from side to side. Claire had had her hand over her sister’s stomach partly instinctually and partly to make sure the baby was moving.

It was. Thank heavens.

Reno had dropped Claire off at Dr. Gideon’s office. Raine had booked the last appointment of the day and Claire had plans to meet her there to go out after for a leisurely dinner and some baby shopping. She had used the spare key to open the door to Raine’s car and was going to sit in it and wait. It had been a long day waitressing at Reds and she was bone tired. Just as she was about to hop into the car she was dragged from behind, hit over the head and pushed into a van. When Ellie had turned Claire over she screamed at Manny.

“I don’t know who the fuck this is but it ain’t that fucking bitch.” Ellie had foam at the corners of her mouth.

“Well what the fuck? She fits the description, she was getting in the car, and at the doctor’s office.” Manny sniveled.

Jesus, he was Lucius Rieldo’s nephew. A prospect of one of the most feared MC clubs in the country and the son of Luisa Sivas, and this bitch had him sniveling. What was wrong with him?

Manny had seen Ellie when she had walked into the Los Rojos club house. Wearing practically nothing but a big bright smile she honed right in on him. Made him feel special, like he was not just a prospect but the president, vice president and sergeant at arms rolled into one. She was on her knees for him a half hour after they met and had been ever since. She let him do anything he wanted to do to her and even had a couple of suggestions. She had a mouth like a pro and sucked him off like nothing he had ever had.

When she told him the story of how this chick named Raine had double crossed her only brother, a veteran from Iraq, who shot himself after learning she was knocked up by his best friend, he knew he had to help her get vengeance. He agreed to take the chick and have a good talking to her, put a good scare into her. Much as he loved Ellie, Manny could never hurt a pregnant woman. Not so it mattered anyway.

“Does this bitch look fucking pregnant to you?” Ellie had hissed.

“Jesus, you didn’t say how pregnant. Look the fuck where we are Ellie. Doctor’s office, fits your goddamn description, and getting into the shit heap of car you described.” Manny was getting pissed.

Ellie knew she needed to be careful. Manny was dumb, really dumb, but maybe not that dumb. And he had a trigger temper. She better be careful and play this right until the end. If Ellie wanted to end up with Diego, she needed to play this right.

“Alright, alright. I’ll stay in the back of the van with her. Must be a sister or something. Jesus, they look so much alike. Cunt must still be in the office. Go in there and see.” Ellie was furious but maybe this could be salvaged. She was just getting ready to tie Claire up when Manny came running out with a very pregnant knocked out woman in his arms. He practically threw her in the service van and yelled to Ellie to get in the front.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS DIEGO MONTESALTO DOING IN THAT OFFICE ELLIE? Manny was barrel assing it out of the parking lot.

“Who?” Ellie’s voice did not reflect the fear she felt in her heart. Only for a minute. She felt that fear only for a second, then thought to herself
; Good! Let him know what it feels to lose someone like I lost him. He wanted that half breed over me? Well, he’s not getting her now. Soon as we put her to ground, he’ll see what a mistake he made and then he’ll come crawling back to me. We can pick up right where we left off, and Manny? Well, I’ll just have to make that look good. He’ll be dead, she’ll be dead. No one will ever know. It will look like some old vendetta crap. Bikers are big on that
.

“Montesalto, Prosper’s boy. One of the kingpins of the Saints. You know he was gonna be there El?” Manny was driving fast and freaking out.

“Aw, baby, of course not. Breed whore must playing him like she played my brother. That must be it.” Ellie rubbed one of her tits on his arm and Manny immediately got hard. Seeing that, Ellie decided that it just might be a good time to show Manny again just how grateful she was.

When they heard the moaning and hushed voices behind the metal mesh in the cargo van neither one of them bothered to look back.

Claire was feeling nauseous but didn’t think she had gotten hit as hard as Raine did She didn’t think she was out that long. She was trying to listen to the conversation in the front but things were too muffled. Then, god help her, she saw that skank, whoever she was go down in the guy’s lap face first. Van careened a little after that. Gross. Yuck. Yuck. Claire wondered for the millionth time who they were and what they wanted with Raine and her.

Claire was looking at Raine, she was pale but her pupils looked okay. Claire was no nurse though. And she was scared, more scared than she had ever been in her life. Claire hushed Raine as her moans became louder and her eyes became more focused. She didn’t know why, but instinct told her that it would be better for Raine if the two fellatio enjoying fools in the front were not aware that her sister had regained consciousness. She tried to keep Raine as comfortable as possible while trying to keep the terrifying numbness from taking over her body, and her mind. Claire had to
think
. Raine had always been the hero in Claire’s story, now it was time for Claire to step up and save the day.

Save the Day.

Yep, she just hoped she was up to it.

They stopped much later and the door to the van opened. A small wiry Mexican wearing the prospect cut of an MC called Los Rojos Diablos stood there with a gun on them. Next to him was a skanky looking white girl. Young. Could have been pretty once, but the life she had chosen had put hard lines around her mouth and eyes. Her hair was a brash, bottle blonde and her red finger nail polish was all chipped and the nails under the polish were dirty.

The two were obviously together. But what didn’t make sense was what they wanted with the two of them. Claire had no idea.

“Get her on her feet.” Yelled the crazy white chick.

“You realize my sister is eight months pregnant?” Claire was still cradling Raines head in her lap.

“Eight months?” The prospect was looking at the skank. “I thought you said…….”

“Never mind that.” The white bitch said. “Get her the fuck up.”

Claire was looking at the prospect. “You realize who we are?”

“Don’t know who
you
are. Don’t give a shit either, but your sister here. She’s got blood on her hands. My girl’s brother fucking offed himself because your sis got knocked up by his best friend” Manny replied.

“What? What? What are you talking about? My name is Claire Win…..”

Claire heard the blast before she saw it. The skank had grabbed the gun out of the prospect’s hand and fired a shot right near Claire’s head. It pinged off the side of the metal wall and Claire moved quickly over her sister to protect her from what might be a ricochet.

“JESUS CHRIST!” Claire screamed.

“Shut the fuck up. Just shut the fuck up bitch.” Elli was pushing the gun at them.

Then she looked at her man, “You gonna listen to these skanks trying to talk their way out of this, Manny?”

Things were not going the way Ellie had planned them. Not at all.

“Get her up and get her in that car over there.” Ellie was saying.

Every instinct,
every instinct
Claire had, told her to stall. To keep her and Raine from getting in that car at all costs. She didn’t know why, but she knew if they allowed themselves to be taken into that car, they were going to die much sooner than later. Claire needed time. Most of all, she needed time. Prosper and the brothers must be going balls to the wall looking for them right about now.

She just needed to figure out how to separate these two fuck buddies and to wind up with the prospect instead of the crazy whore. They stood absolutely no chance of getting out of this once alone in the hands of crazy pants. Of that, Claire had no doubt.

In the few minutes since the two hombres opened the van door she figured that for whatever reason, either mistaken or for some personal vendetta, the blonde was feeding the outlaw in training a boat load of shit. When she had tried to make it clear, the bitch had almost blown Claire’s head off, so she figured the deception was intentional. But what did this have to do with Raine?

Unless…there are few things in this world that would cause a woman’s eyes go to crazy like that. And one is the loss of a man to another woman. Jealousy. Jesus, were their lives at risk because this skank wanted Diego? Back when Raine had come to get her from rehab she had mentioned a run in with some club whore. The girl had not only called Raine out, but her sister had said that there was something crazy, something wild and irrational going on behind the eyes of the woman. Claire was thinking hard. She seemed to remember that Raine said Diego had run her off. But Raine had been sure that they had not seen the last of her.

Oh my god.

Was this her?

Jesus, what was her name? Eileen? Ellen? Shit. Not that it mattered. Was this what this was?

A random car pulled into the rest area and the door was shut quickly again keeping the two sisters out of sight. Claire thought about screaming but before the door had closed, she caught sight of a baby car seat and two small children in the back. She didn’t want to put the family’s life at risk.

Putting her ear to the door she heard the two bastards arguing in muffled voices. Then she heard a car door slam. Claire prayed it was the crazy one getting in the car, and that the prospect would be driving the van. Not sure why, but Claire felt sure she might have a better chance talking the duped fool into reason.

*****

Crazy Ellie.

Raine had been feigning sleep and had recognized her voice.

Really over a man? They had been kidnapped and hit over the head and a life that had not even had a chance to begin yet had been put at risk? Over a man?

Once they were on the road again, Claire eased Raine into a sitting position and grabbed some blankets that were in the van to support her back against the cold hard fiberglass interior. Then Claire took a minute to assess her situation. The van looked like it might be a carpenter’s or mason’s rig. There were some tools bungee corded on peg board. A claw hammer and a nail gun stood out like beacons of light against a few other items that were of no interest to the girls.

Claire looked at them, then at Raine and nodded. Then Claire got up and plastered herself against the mesh barrier and began trying to talk to Manny. He turned up the radio to drown her out. Asshole move on his part, but the sisters used the noise to shield the sound of them prying the tools from the pegboard.

Claire slipped the hammer in the back of her jeans waistband and Raine hid the nail up the elastic sleeve band of her voluminous shirt. She felt momentarily for the baby moving and gave Claire a thumbs up.

They were armed.

Once she had Raine comfortably wedged against the van wall, Claire took advantage of her small stature and crawled over to right under the mesh rigging. She was trying to hear what Manny was saying to whomever he was talking to on his cell.

He had turned the radio back down and seemed to be trying to talk his way out of the trouble he had gotten himself in. Whoever was on the other end of the phone was not pleased.

Claire started shouting from the back. “Let Prosper Worthington of the Hell’s Saints know where we are. Tell him Claire and Raine are with this ass wipe.”

Manny elbowed the mesh and caught Claire on the lip through it. “SHUT UP BITCH.”

Then he was back on the phone. He shouted something back to whomever was shouting at him. He shut off the cell and threw it on the seat next to him.

“Who the fuck are you?” Manny yelled back into the compartment at Claire.

Now they were getting somewhere.

“I’m Claire and that’s my sister Raine. We are Prosper’s family. Raine is Diego Montesalto’s woman and that’s his baby she’s carrying. That woman you have been banging is cat lady crazy. Diego sent her packing months ago. This is about her getting him back.” Claire was talking with her mouth back up against the metal mesh.

“She told me……” Manny began.

“Yeah, I heard what she told you. It’s not true. You know it’s not true. Whoever was on that phone knows it’s not true. You take us wherever you taking us, that bat shit crazy bitch is going to kill us and then probably kill you too. And if she doesn’t kill you after what you have done here, there will be no place, no place you will be able to hide. Prosper will never ever let you get away with this. If we die, you die. Ellie dies. Your family, they all die. You know it.” Claire knew every word she said was true, and Manny knew it too.

“Motherfucker!” Manny screamed.

Then he swerved the van hard to the side of the road and shut off the engine.

Claire looked at Raine and whispered, “It’s now or never. You ready?”

Raine nodded.

Manny pulled the van door open, he was waving his gun at them and shouting.

“Get out! Get the fuck out of the van right now.” He was sweating and his eyes were black. The hand that held the gun was shaking. He had powder residue on his nose and the side of his mouth.

Shit. He was jacked to his core. Claire hadn’t counted on him being coked up.

Claire looked at Raine.

Raine nodded, “Yeah, I see it.”

The two of them were calm as cucumbers. Years of self-preservation and instinct taking over.

Claire moved in front of Raine and once again shielded her sister and her baby from the madman.

Manny moved aside as the girls got down from the van.

As Raine passed in front of Manny she bent over and held her belly groaning. Pretending to lean against him for support, she moved into him and reached for the nail gun under her sleeve. Not being at all careful where she aimed she pumped three nails into Manny’s groin area.

His face spasmed in unbearable pain and he let go of the gun. Then a rush of adrenalin coursed through his veins and he roared.

Claire hit him over the head with the hammer. Hard.

The two women looked at Manny slumped on the ground a stain of blood beginning to pool the front of his pants.

Raine looked at Claire and grinned, “Ouch.”

“Yeah.” Claire grinned back.