Keys To My Cuffs (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 4) (22 page)

“I’ve been following your fucking life for years because your stepfather’s so goddamned proud of you. Saw you around town when you were visiting your mom. Took me two days to figure out why you were there, and suddenly it clicked.
Me
and Varian became a match made in heaven!” He leered. “Then, last week, your mother came in and told the whole goddamned station about how she was getting a new grandbaby by the one and only Bryce Rector, and that only made the pot all the more sweeter.”

“I don’t have any beef against you, man. Just let us go. I won’t say a thing,” I told Mick.

Goddamn, but I’d never thought this was all tied to my past.

Out of all the people I’d considered to be helping Varian, Mick, the old gang leader and upstanding police officer, was never even in the same ballpark.

“No, I don’t think I will. I do have Varian on speed dial though. Want to see how your baby momma’s doing?” Mick asked.

My gut dropped, but I refused to show him any emotion. If he knew what he was doing to me, he’d be proud. And I sure as fuck wasn’t giving him the satisfaction.

Then the phone call connected, and I could hear Channing screaming.

That was when I lost it.

I don’t want to let it go. I want to beat you over the head with a nine iron while Let it Go plays in the background.

-Channing to her attacker

Channing

“Hello?” I said into Andrea’s phone.

I’d tried my cell phone, but it wasn’t working, and I had the creepiest dream about that dead mother.

I’d woken to my heart beating so hard that I could feel it through the comforter covering my chest.

I’d looked all over the house, sans Zeth and Andrea’s room, for Loki, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.

I’d even gone down to the dock, but the only thing I’d found down there was a fishing boat just a short mile off shore, getting their fishing started early.

It was five in the morning, but that wasn’t an unusual time for Loki. He normally got up around this time to get his workouts in. It was just my bad luck that he chose to do it on the morning I had a dream about a dead woman.

I was in the process of hanging up the phone when I had the sensation that I was being watched.

The hair on my arms stood on end, and the skin at the back of my neck started to tingle.

I turned, or at least tried to, but I got shoved down to the ground where I landed on my hands and knees.

Then a vicious kick to the back of my thigh had me gasping in pain before I collapsed to my belly.

“He really thought he could take me down, didn’t he?” Varian Strong said from above and behind me.

I whimpered when Varian’s foot went to my armpit, collapsing my arm until my chest was flush with the ground.

He leaned in, keeping his weight on the back of my arm until I was screaming in pain.

“Do you think he’ll like hearing you scream? Let’s call him and find out,” he hissed.

I could hear the phone dialing, and then it was ringing.

Varian turned the volume up high, placing it on speaker phone to allow me to hear Loki’s panicked voice when he finally answered. “Loki’s phone, Mick speaking.”

Varian’s laugh was dark and bloodthirsty. “Hiya, Mick! Guess who I have on the phone!”

Varian pressed down on the back of my arm again, making my elbow scream in protest as he nearly pressed his full weight on it.

I knew it was only a matter of seconds before the bones in my upper arm and forearm snapped from the pressure.

What I also knew was that I wouldn’t be able to hold back the scream. I was barely able to do it now, and he hadn’t even done anything yet.

I closed my eyes, wishing that I was sitting out on the dock with Loki again, letting my feet dangle off the side.

“Can you put Loki on speaker phone?” Varian asked.

He waited a few moments before saying, “Ohh, how about a little Facetime, old friend?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Andrea, wide eyed and wielding what looked to be a rifle, big enough to take down an elephant, stop just shy of the kitchen doorway.

She looked torn, looking from me to Varian, and was just about to step in when I shook my head frantically.

“Ohh, it’ll be okay, Chan-Chan. It’ll all be over soon,” Varian said. “Ahh, there we go. Hi there, Loki. You look a bit tied up.”

Loki didn’t reply, and I wondered what he was doing.

He had to have been detained by someone, because I knew it would take nothing short of a miracle to keep him away from me right then.

“Get on with it, V. I’ve got some business to address with this pretty boy, and I can’t do that
with you yacking in our ears,” the man, Varian called Mick earlier, snapped.

“Alright, alright. I’ll get on with it. Show him the phone, let him see what I’m about to do,” Varian instructed just as his weight, which had been lessening on my arm, pressed down twice as hard.

I could almost feel my bones bending, straining with the effort.

“You stupid fuck,” Loki hissed, and a scuffle could be heard from the phone.

“Uh, uh, uh,” Mick said. “Watch, so we can get back to business.”

That’s when Varian stopped fucking around, and stomped on my arm.

I’m not really sure what happened next, because I was seeing nothing but white, as I experienced pain like nothing I’d ever felt before.

Then, blessedly, I passed out only to be rudely awakened by somebody torturing me.

I felt my body moving across the floor as pain started to awaken me from the blissful place where nothing mattered.

“Oh, dear God,” I heard Andrea cry hoarsely. “Please.”

My eyes opened to slits, and then further to half-mast as I took in my surroundings.

Andrea was dragging me towards the garage, and being none too gentle about it.

One particular bump had me turning my head to the side and puking over and over again from the pain.

“Oh, dear God,” Andrea said again.

It was around the time she dragged me into the car that I lost the battle with consciousness, and went back to that place that allowed me to feel no pain.

“Yes, it’s my daughter in law,” Andrea’s voice said from far away.

My eyes strained to open as I listened to the conversation going on around me.

“She’s very lucky, ma’am. The bones aren’t broken, but they’re going to need a lot of rest for the next few weeks. I’m almost tempted to go ahead and cast her arm, but I think that’s a little overboard. I’d be more comfortable with an orthopedic specialist checking it out tomorrow,” I heard a man’s voice say.

“Okay, we can do that. And what about the baby?” Andrea asked, worry lacing her voice.

I perked up at that, too.

I’d really like to know about the baby.

“Baby boy Rector is doing perfect. He looks big and hearty. A perfect twenty four and a half
weeker,” the man said encouragingly.

“Thank you, Dr. Royce,” Andrea said, followed shortly by the door to the room closing.

Andrea’s weight shifted to the side of the bed, and I finally managed to open my eyes to find her staring at me, tears steadily dripping down her cheeks.

The only thought that I kept thinking about, though, was that it shouldn’t be Andrea sitting on my bed right now. It should be Loki.

Where was he?

“Where’s Loki?” I rasped.

Andrea shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Then it all came back to me, and I wished I hadn’t woken up to this nightmare.

Loki

“You son of a fucking bitch!” I snarled, launching myself up from the chair only to be stopped short by the chains that Mick conveniently took from the equipment room.

One end was connected to the table, while the other was connected to my ankle.

He hadn’t bothered to restrain me any other way.

The son of a bitch was too cocky.

“Oh,” Mick grinned. “Temper, temper!”

I wanted to shove Mick’s smile through his throat by way of my fist. Stupid fucking arrogant bastard.

The metal of the cuff cut into my ankle, but the pain didn’t lessen the ache inside my heart each time I replayed Channing’s agonizing scream over and over again in my head.

I closed my eyes as the scream reverberated through my head once more, making my skin go clammy; although, part of that might’ve been the after effects of the percussion grenade.

I was still nauseated, but now I couldn’t tell if it was because of my terror for Channing, or the goddamn grenade exploding in front of my face.

“Got the two of them in the cage, boss,” a man said as he came in the room.

He was dressed nearly identical to what I used to wear all those years ago.

Black leather pants, cut off black t-shirt, and a leather cut that declared him a member of The Crimson Horde, the gang I’d used to belong to. The man didn’t look familiar, though. What he did look like was a dirt bag, and the picturesque version of what everyone in America considered a common criminal.

Long hair. Greasy and unkempt. Soiled, ripped jeans.

The red bandana was even wrapped around his head exactly like every low-life thug in the business sporting their ‘colors.’

Then what the man said finally struck home. He’d only put two in the cage. Not five.

My guess was that Sterling and Parker were out, and most likely Cleo. They were the furthest away from the exploding grenade, and the most likely to be able to orient themselves the fastest. Their training was extensive.

Mine hadn’t been anything to sneeze at either, but ours was nothing like the parajumpers and the SEALs.

“Did you search them?” Mick asked.

The man nodded. “Took their guns. They had one each.”

Rookie mistake.

I knew for a fact that my stepfather carried one gun on his hip, and one on his ankle. I’d learned a lot from the man in that way, which was why I still had the gun at my own ankle, too.

I was just waiting for more information on how many more men there were; however, now that I knew that three of us weren’t locked up and/or being contained, I had a little more wiggle room.

That was good, too, because I couldn’t stay here much longer without getting to Channing.

I wasn’t stupid though. There could be a hundred men outside. If I were to take out Mick, they could all pour through the door, and I’d never make it to her.

I waited.

He’d make a mistake here soon, and I’d take advantage. Take him down quietly.

No fuss meant no men checking up on it.

“What’s that look for, Rector?” Mick asked uncertainly.

I hadn’t realized I’d been smiling, but I quickly wiped the smile off my face and stared at him blankly.

It wouldn’t do to give away my hand just yet.

I had to find out where the other three men were.

Then all bets were off.

Or they would’ve been, if Channing’s stupid brother hadn’t come in guns blazing.

“You stupid fuck! You said you wouldn’t hurt my sister!” Andrew yelled.

He’d obviously never handled a gun before, either.

Because he was holding it like the old school gangsters on TV with the barrel turned sideways and held above his head.

He kept jabbing the gun in Mick’s direction, slinging insults all the while Mick stared at him drolly.

“You done?” Mick asked once Andrew paused to take a breath.

His gun hand was shaking, showing his obvious discomfort with the situation.

I knew where this was heading, but the two of them were advancing on each other, booking no room for arguments or interruptions.

“No, you stupid prick. You said if I brought Varian here, you’d leave my sister alone.
You said you only wanted him,” he gestured towards me with the gun.

I froze, afraid if I made any sudden moves it’d set Andrew off, and then he’d start shooting.

“You knew what you were signing up for. Don’t act all emotional now. You know,” Mick said turning his back on Andrew. “Bryce, did you know that Andrew was the one who set up your precious little woman all those years ago?”

I looked at him, confused.

“What?” I asked.

“No!” Andrew screamed.

Spit flew out of his mouth, and his eyes, which had already looked squirrely, turned positively manic.

Mick smile.

I saw it happen. I knew it was about to happen, and there wasn’t one damn thing I could do about it. Not if I wanted to live. Not if I wanted Channing to live.

Mick pulled his gun out from his holster, calmly aimed, and fired.

“No!” I yelled, but it didn’t matter.

The gun barked. Mick’s hand jumped with the reverberation of the gun, and I stared in horror as Andrew’s lifeless body dropped down to the ground.

One clean hole in the space where his nose had recently occupied.

The smell of gunpowder filled the air, and I watched the blood spread across the black tiled floor in fascinated horror.

My hands went to my hair, and I breathed in deep. This was going to kill Channing. Absolutely kill her.

“Piece of shit,” Mick growled, before turning back to me, gun still in hand.

“Want to know what this’ll play out as? A cop killing a madman who had two cops and a civilian held captive. Too bad the mad man killed the hostages before I could save y’all, right?” He provoked.

Then he leveled his gun into the air, took aim, and my eyes closed. Not wanting to see it coming.

“Don’t get up,” I heard Parker say from behind me just as a gunshot rent the air.

I stared, heart pounding wildly as Mick fell back to his back, clutching his chest.

“He’s got a vest on,” I managed to get out.

Mick started laughing. “Oh, Peter Parker Penn. This is rich. Does Bryce here know who you are?” Mick coughed.

Parker stripped him of his weapon, found the keys to my cuffs, and tossed them to me.

I quickly unlatched the cuffs, pocketed the keys, and withdrew my gun in one swift move, leveling it on Parker.

“What the fuck is he talking about?” I snapped.

Parker’s eyes went from me back to Mick who was laughing and groaning in one seemingly long expel of breath.