Soothing His Madness (15 page)

Chapter Twenty Eight

Pain speared
through Taylor's head. The gunshots, Torque, and falling to the ground came
back to her, making the ache throb behind her temples. She pulled her head up
from her laying position, and then doubled over and groaned. Her stomach
rolled, and she gagged. She covered the back of her neck, sure that all the
pressure came from having her head blown off.

Inside, she
screamed for Slade to help her.

"Don't move
and it won't hurt so much," a man's higher pitched voice said.

She opened her
eyes, and the room danced in her vision. She squinted, making out a man in the
corner, sitting on a chair.

His greasy dark
hair hung around his face, cut blunt below his ears. His mouth, slightly open,
had spittle at the corners. She dragged her gaze down and shirked away, until
her back hit the wall. She didn't recognize the man.

"W-who are you?"
She swallowed the nausea and slumped forward, positive she was going to lose
the contents of her stomach if the room continued swaying. "What did you
do to me?"

"Full of
questions. I like that." He rocked back and forth, almost giddy over her
questions.

His constant moving
made it hard to focus. She could see a tattoo on his arm, but couldn't make out
what it was. She lowered her chin and continued to look around the room for a
way to get away from him, but all she found was a closed door and two boards
covered a small window. The walls, yellowed from age or cigarette smoke, were
not familiar to her. She inhaled through her nose to keep the bile in her
stomach. A must scent gagged her. Her skin crawled, and she shivered. The smell
probably came from the bed she sat on, since it was the only thing in the room
besides the wooden chair the man claimed.

"Where am I?"
She grimaced, because even talking hurt.

A thousand
questions bounced in her head, and she couldn't grasp them. Where was Slade?
The kids? Was that really blood on Torque? Why would someone hurt her?

"I'm Toma'.
Don't you remember?" Toma' fiddled with a ripped spot on the thigh of his
jeans. "You liked me."

She shook her head
and stilled the movement. "No. Shit. My head hurts."

Toma' stood and
paced the room. Taylor covered her mouth and gagged. Why wouldn't he stay
still?

"Please,"
she mumbled through her hand. "I need a bathroom."

Her head slammed
against the wall. Her vision narrowed and the bile from her stomach burned her
throat. He'd moved fast, she hadn't even seen him cross the room to the bed.
She struggled against the hand at her throat, fighting for oxygen.

"Shut up,
Bitch. Ain't gonna put up with a mouthy woman." His breath fanned her
face. "Now, you're going to be quiet, while I explain what's going to
happen to you."

She recoiled from
the pungent odor coming off him and forced her head to nod against the powerful
force of his hold. She wanted out of here. She wanted Slade.

He let go of her
with a shove. She sucked in air down her dry throat, and tears of frustration,
pain, and humiliation burned her eyes. There was no hope.

Torque was probably
dead, and no one knew she'd walked outside to talk with Ray. She squeezed her
eyes closed. Slade would never be able to find her. He wouldn't even know she
was missing until he came back from his run, and then what would happen?

He'd blame himself,
and it wasn't his fault. She groaned. All she did was try to protect him, give
them a normal chance at life.

"Look at
me." Toma' stood in front of her.

She looked forward,
his crotch directly in her sight. She gasped, terror paralyzing her. Underneath
his zipper, a hard ridge stood at attention.

"You remember
me now, don't you?" he said. "I knew you noticed me. You tried to
fool me, didn't you, bitch?"

She dragged her
gaze up his chest, stopping at his neck. Underneath his shirt collar, a Los Li insignia
curled to the side under his hair. She remembered the tattoo. She remembered
the warnings about the men from Los Li. She remembered what Slade told her
about a man infatuated with her.

Panic numbed the
pain. She flew off the bed toward her capture, scratching his face, hitting his
arms, screaming for Slade. His hand caught her hair. She tugged, kicking out,
and ripped herself out of his grasp. She fell, scrambled to her feet, and hit
the door. Hope soared through her when the handle turned and she pushed herself
into a hallway.

Whipping her gaze
back and forth throughout the house, she found stairs, and hoped she was on the
second floor and they led to the main floor of the house. If the steps headed
into the basement, she was in more trouble. There'd be no escaping.

The stomp of boots
against the wood floor followed her or maybe it was the pounding of pain in her
head confusing her. She couldn't look behind her or think about not making it
to safety. Adrenaline pushed her forward, stumbling and turning her ankles in
her high heels. She kicked her shoes off, and got traction for her escape.
Running blindly, she followed every open doorway until luck rewarded her with the
front door.

She barreled
outside, and sobbed without stopping when her feet hit grass. She was free.

Arms wrapped around
her. She screamed, and her surroundings jumbled in front of her. Her face
landed in the grass, and her hopes died away.

Heaviness lay on
top of her, spreading her legs, crushing her lungs, pushing her cheek into the
sharp blades. She struggled against the hand in her hair, pulling her face up.

"Look,
bitch," Toma' hissed in her ear. "It doesn't matter if we're inside
or outside. Nobody is going to see or hear you. Fight, scream, run from me, it
doesn't matter."

The only thing in
the distance was a row of cottonwoods at least a quarter mile away. A dirt road
led to the side of the house. The grass wasn't manicured lawn, but field grass
gone to seed. He held her captive out in fucking-no-where.

All her strength deserted
her and she sucked in her lips to keep from yelling. She was truly alone with a
madman.

He ground his cock
into her jean-covered ass, separating her legs more. "You want me, and I'm
not going to disappoint you. I'll make you happy. You can't ignore me anymore.
You have to pay attention."

"Never."
She bucked underneath him, trying to dislodge him from his position on top of
her. "They'll kill you. Whether it's today or ten years from now, Bantorus
MC will hunt you down and make you pay."

Slade wouldn't let
her go. If anything, he'd right the wrong and kill to avenge her. She gritted
her teeth together, gathering strength, and threw her head back. The explosion
of cusses and the weight leaving her was worth the agonizing hurt that had her
rolling to her side and clutching her head where she'd made contact with Toma's
face.

Somewhere in the excruciating
pain, she remembered her cell phone in her front pocket. Unable to concentrate,
she kept thinking about the phone, determined not to forget, no matter if her
thoughts were fuzzy and her eyes remained unfocused. The first opportunity she
had, she'd call Slade. He'd come for her, and she could tell him the truth. He
deserved to know the truth, so he could protect his boys.

Her body left the
ground, and her head lulled back into thin air. She couldn't move or open her
eyes. Los Li would pay. Toma' would pay. All she had to do was stay awake and
get ahold of Slade. He'd save her.

Chapter Twenty Nine

In a black suit
with his signature blue shirt opened to the middle of his chest, Banjoey took
his cigar out of his mouth, looked Slade in the eye, and assessed him. Slade
fought back the urge to hurry him along, but he'd learned long ago, nobody
pushed Banjoey without Banjoey pushing back.

"You know, I
respect Bantorus MC." Banjoey set his cigar in the overflowing ashtray on
the desk. "I despise liars and thieves. I especially hate someone who
can't keep their word and tries to play me for a fool."

Slade remained
silent. After going to the underground club Ray frequented and not finding him
or discovering his whereabouts, he'd headed to Jodie's house and found the door
wide open, the place in shambles, and Jodie's clothes gone. Everything pointed
at a job one of Banjoey's men might've done. So, he came to the source.

"Ray was the
worst kind of fool." Banjoey leaned forward. "You know what I'm
saying?"

"Yeah, I get
you." Slade's patience left five minutes ago. "I need to find him.
He's got my woman and when I find him, I'm going to kill him. I'll save us both
the trouble of having a fool around."

Banjoey laughed,
shaking his head. "Too late."

"What?"
Slade's body became alert.

Banjoey picked up
the end of his cigar, clamped the stub between his teeth, and curled his lips. "He
was three hundred grand in debt. He had five days—longer than I normally give a
client—and he ran out of time."

"Jesus
Christ," Slade muttered, standing up to pace the room. "Then who the
hell has my woman?"

"I can't tell
you that, but Ray was alone," Banjoey said.

He'd wasted
valuable time hunting down the wrong person when Ray was packed six feet under.
He held out his hand. "I owe you."

"For
what?" Banjoey stood, walking Slade to the door of the office. "It
was Ray's debt."

"Right."
Slade turned and faced the man who used money to play with people's lives in a
cat and mouse game. "Do you have any information on my ex-wife? I swung by
her house before stopping here, looking for Ray. The apartment is a mess and
Jodie's gone. No matter what I think of the woman, she's the mother to my kids
and I don't want something happening to her. I'll let you know right now, you
harm Jodie and that
will
come between us."

Banjoey clapped his
hand on Slade's shoulder. "Rest easy, my friend. I have Jodie upstairs.
After talking with her the last couple of weeks while I dealt with Ray, I've
grown fond of her."

Jesus Christ.
Trouble with his ex-wife continued to grow. He'd
never allow his boys contact with their mother if she hung around Banjoey. He
couldn't believe his ex-wife would willingly go with a loan shark.

She jumped from one
asshole to a killer.

"No offense,
but tell Jodie she blew any chance of seeing her kids," Slade said.
"I'll be taking her back to court, and my lawyer will know she's staying
with you."

"I don't run
an establishment for minors. Jodie understood the rules when I…urged her to
move in with me. If it makes you feel better, and to keep peace with Bantorus,
I'll have my lawyer draw up the paperwork relinquishing the boys to you, and have
Jodie give up all rights before the end of the week." Banjoey shrugged.
"Then I'll keep her happy and out of your business."

Slade had no time
to straighten out his past life when his future was blowing up in his face.
"Thanks."

"No, thank
you." Banjoey opened the door. "I hear anything about your woman,
I'll get in touch."

He nodded and left
the office. Five minutes later, he pulled into Cactus Cove at a loss on where
to look. If Ray wasn't the person who took Taylor, the only other possibility
could be Los Li, which meant he was going after the Mexican Mafia.

He pushed through
the front door. Rain motioned him over to the bar. He sat down on an empty
stool. "Dead end. Ray went to ground today. He's not the one who has
Taylor."

"Just got the
phone call myself informing me about Ray's untimely death." Rain reached
under the bar and then straightened, slapping down a pre-pay cell. "Duck
called from the hospital. Torque's going to make it. Bullets missed everything
important and landed in muscle. He spoke for a few minutes and mentioned a
black car with an upside down Beemer hood ornament."

"Fuck."
Slade slammed his fist on the bar. "Then I'm going after Los Li."

"There's
more." Rain leaned over, pushing the cell closer to Slade. "I put a
call into the GJ's, and there's a rumor going around that one of the Los Li
members went AWOL two weeks ago. Los Li's letting him run around like a madman,
because they're settling their deal up north and don't have time to fuck around
with a rogue member."

"And?"
Slade stood, unable to sit. Every precious minute wasted was another minute Taylor
was scared out of her mind.

"The runner's
name is Toma'. Has a LL tattoo at the base of his neck. He seems to have a
preference for hurting girls after becoming obsessed with them." Rain
caught Slade's arm before he could punch the bar. "He's the same man who I
caught beating his stick outside the cabin Taylor stayed in."

He heaved the
nearest chair across the bar. His muscles tightened and his soul screamed.
"I want him. Now. He won't take Taylor from me."

"Already on it."
Rain tossed him the cell. "Read the text. I have Ronny and Jedman outside
putting gas in your Harley. The four of us ride, and bring back your
girl."

He looked at the
cell, read the screen, and hope overpowered the rage. The message had an
address, not ten miles outside Pitnam. He tossed the cell to the counter of the
bar and hit the door running.

Ronny and Jedman
fired up their motorcycles and met his gaze. They had his back. Rain followed
alongside Slade and not for the first time, he was glad to have his president
beside him. He'd have the whole Goddamn United States beside him if it meant
finding Taylor alive. Once he got her back, he was never letting her out of his
sight again.