Old Ghosts: Gypsy Riders MC (20 page)

I picked up the phone again and dialed Daisy’s number.  It rang three times before going to voice mail, and the sound of her sweet voice filled my bruised heart with happiness.  She was like a sweet, healing salve for my soul.

“Hey baby, just checking in on my two favorite girls.  Call me.”  I said after her voice mail beeped.

I knew Reaper was going to be okay.  And as long as I had Reaper and Rosie and Daisy in my life, I knew that I would be okay, too.  

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Todd and Rosie sat at the breakfast table, plates of pancakes in front of them, with Todd’s gun sitting next to his plate.

“Daisy, sit, sit!  I love pancakes, don’t you Rosie?  I’m sorry I interrupted your breakfast.  You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don’t you Rosie?  Have you learned that in school yet?”

I sat down at the table, my mind racing as I tried to figure out a way out of this.

Todd reached over and grabbed both of our hands, startling us both.

“Let’s pray,” he said, before bowing his head, his hand gripping mine tightly.  “Heavenly father, thank you for this food.  Thank you so much for guiding me here and showing me the light of your pure love.  Amen!”

He raised his head and I watched him with disgust as he let go of our hands and began digging into the pancakes in front of him.  He slathered them with butter and syrup, and ate sloppily.  His table manners had always disgusted me, and he knew it.  He had defended himself more than once by saying that as long as you said Grace before eating, how neatly you ate didn’t matter at all to God.

I looked over at Rosie, and saw her eyes were glued to his gun on the table.  Regret filled my heart.  I should have known Todd would show up, and I should have kept my distance from both Rosie and Mike.  We never would be sitting here if I had done that.

“These are great, Daisy!  You always were good at breakfast!” 

I scoffed at him.  

“Yeah, because you threw a hissy fit if something wasn’t cooked exactly to your specifications,”  I said.  I looked at his gun, fantasizing about grabbing it and blowing his head off, but Rosie was sitting mere inches from him, and I just couldn’t risk it.

“Oh, don’t be so nasty, Daisy!  It’s important to know how to cook properly.”

I responded with silence.  The last thing I wanted to do was get into some ridiculous conversation with him about the past.  I needed to get him out of here, or get us out of here, whichever was safest, fastest and easiest.  If Rosie wasn’t here, I would have had two bullets in his head before he knew what was happening.

“What’s your plan here, Todd?”  I asked finally, after he had eaten the last of the pancakes on his plate.

He looked over at me and met my eyes.  Evil shined from his soul as he replied eerily.

“I already told you, babe. You. You’re my plan. Together, we are God’s grand plan!”

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Sam walked towards me as I sat at the clubhouse bar, waiting impatiently for any news of Reaper.  I was grateful to see her.  Sitting at the bar and not hearing some awful jokes being thrown around by Reaper was completely foreign to me.  He was always there.  He had always been my side.

“How’s he doing, doc?” I asked hopefully, unable to read the expression her face.

“Not good.  It’s very touch and go.  I had to give him a blood transfusion and at this point, we just wait and see.  There’s not much more I can do. It’s up to him to fight at this point.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry I don’t have better news, Mike.  I know how close you two are.”

“Yeah.  Thanks, doc,”  I said, putting my head down on the bar.  The waiting was the most frustrating part, and she just told me I had to wait some more.

“I’ll stay here with him.  I’ll let you know if there’s any change, okay?”  She patted my back, and when I didn’t look up, she turned and walked away.

“You’re the best, Sam.  Thank you so much,”  I said to her as she walked back into Reaper’s room.

Sandman was sitting beside me and heard the whole exchange.

“Boss, if there’s anything I can do let me know, okay?”

“Sure, man, thanks.  All we can do is wait, I guess.”

“Yeah.  Want another drink?” he asked.

“No, I’m going to go take a nap in my office.  Wake me up if you hear anything.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

I walked back to my office and pulled my phone out to call Daisy again.  When she didn’t answer, I frowned and put the phone down.  I had called Daisy’s cell twice in the last few hours and still hadn’t been able to reach her.  The last thing I wanted to do was bug her, and she would probably call me back at any moment.  I laid down on the couch in my office, put the phone on my chest, and drifted off to sleep.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“Todd, this is not going to end well.  You need to leave.  Let us go.  Please.”  I was trembling at this point, the ropes digging into my wrists.  

Todd had tied us both up after breakfast.  He pulled the kitchen chairs into the living room, tying us up with some rope he had stashed by the back door. Rosie and I struggled against our bonds.  She was crying loudly, calling for her Daddy, and yelling for Sonny outside.  She didn’t know Sonny couldn’t help us.  

After a few moments of her constant crying, Todd put a strip of duct tape over her mouth.

“Children should be seen, and not heard, sweetheart.  You talk too much,” he said, before taping her mouth shut as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You monster! Let her go! She has nothing to do with this, with us.  Please, Todd?  It’s me you want, not her!”

“You’re right, my angel.  But unfortunately, you have chosen to get yourself all mixed up with a bunch of sinful outlaws.” His lips stretched across his teeth in a sickly sneer as he leaned in to me.  “You’re dirty now, Daisy.  You’ve been soiled by these people.  I saw what you did with him.  And all night long, too!  What kind of whore have you become?”

He reached up, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear and then trailing his fingers down to caress my cheek.

“Todd, please,” I begged.  “I’ll do anything you want, just let her go.”

“No, way.  She’s part of my plan now that you’ve so selfishly inserted her into our life.  It’s all your fault, Daisy,” he said, standing up and walking away from me.  He had forced me to lock lil’ Mike in Rosie’s bedroom before he ate the pancakes, and I could hear him growling and scratching on the door down the hall.

“Todd, no.  This is just between us.  She’s just a student that I’m looking after, that’s all.”

“Oh, now come on, Daisy.  You underestimate me.  You should know I’ve done my research.  I’ve been watching you for months, sweetheart.  And you were doing so good on your own!  You found yourself a place to live and a job, started going to the gym, too, huh?  I was so proud of you, Daisy.  To see you venturing out, moving away from our small town, and having adventures of your own?  I felt like my little bird was leaving the nest.  It was so awesome to see you fly, my little dove.”

He was walking in circles around our chairs.  

“But then, you took the wheel from Jesus, didn’t you?  You steered down a dark road, and now look where you are! See what’s happened?  All because of your sinful heart, Daisy!”

His voice was rising, filling me with dread.

“And now!  Now, I have to clean up your mess.  Just like always, huh, Daisy?  It’s up to me to make you clean again, to make you pure again. You can’t do it yourself, I can see that.  You’re blinded by the false promises of lust and wanton debauchery!  Do you really think you’d have a good life with a bunch of criminals? A bunch of dirty thugs?”

He shook his head, his eyes clouding over with anger as he looked at me.

“No.  I can’t let you be dirtied.  I can’t let you ruin yourself like this.”

He kneeled down in front of me, his hand cupping my chin and raising my face, before trailing his fingers down to my chest, and then wrapping his fingers around my neck.

“It just fucking kills me, Daisy,” he said, tightening his grip on my neck.  “It kills me to know that he touched you.”

“When I saw him walking next to you, holding your hand, touching your back and your arm, wrapping his arm around you…and…and kissing you?  Oh, Daisy.  I’ve never felt such pain, baby.  How could you let him touch my flesh like that?” His hand gripped my neck even tighter and I gasped for breath.  He let go abruptly, walking away from me.

“It’s my flesh, Todd.”

“No, baby.  It’s not.  God told me you were mine.”

He turned back, and once again kneeled down to look directly into my eyes.

“God’s always right, Daisy, you know that.  You can’t fight the word of God, sweetheart.”

He reached out, his fingers lightly touching my face as he spoke.

“These eyes,” he said, his thumb running over my eyelid.

“These adorable chubby cheeks,” he said, his hand cupping the side of my face.

“These lips.  These beautiful lips…,” he said, shaking his head, his voice trailing off as he rubbed my lips roughly with his thumb.  “They’re all mine.  And now, because of that filthy biker, they’re all soiled.”

I turned my head away from his touch, but he gripped my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him.

“But it’s okay, baby.  There’s still time.  I’m your savior, Daisy.  I’ll make everything right again.”