Chapter 23 – Flint
23
FLINT
W hen I arrived at the address Daphne gave me, I understood why she agreed to see the house on such short notice. The property was huge, surrounded by an iron fence with a gated entrance. I could see Jan’s car in the distance, so I knew Daphne was already there. I pulled up to the gate and pressed the button on the call box. It rang several times, but no one answered. I pressed it two more times before I reached for my phone and called Daphne. When she didn’t answer my second call, I began to get worried. She always excused herself and answered her phone when it rang back-to-back. I tried the call box two more times before I decided to take matters into my own hands.
My first thought was to drive my truck through the gate, but I didn’t want to cause problems for Daphne if there was a reasonable explanation for the missed calls, like accidentally leaving her phone in the car. Instead, I got a rope from my truck, looped it around one of the concrete fence posts, and used it to climb over the fence. Then I jogged down the long driveway and right up to the front door. I was about to knock when I heard the shouting.
“You won’t die! Why won’t you die?” a woman screamed.
Moving away from the door, I risked peeking through the nearest window and saw a woman pointing a gun at Daphne as she slowly backed away from her.
Darting back out of sight, I quietly rushed down the stairs and to the side of the house, where I sent a location pin and a text to my dad. I didn’t want to take the chance of someone overhearing me by calling.
Flint: Here with Daphne. Need help. Woman with gun. Send everyone.
My phone buzzed with a text as I was shoving it back into my pocket. I didn’t bother to read the message. I knew it would be some variation of my dad saying he was on his way and to wait for the club to arrive before doing anything. But I didn’t have time to wait for them. I also didn’t have time to formulate a plan. The only thing I could do was move forward blindly and hope for the best.
I continued edging around the house, looking for a point of entry that would allow me to get inside undetected. After one lap around the house, I decided my best option was to go through one of the ground-level basement windows. I was prepared to break the glass with a rock, but to my surprise, the window was unlocked and slid open with ease.
Wedging myself through the opening wasn’t as easy, but I managed to squeeze through and dropped to my feet with a satisfied smile, which promptly disappeared when an overpowering stench filled my nose. Glancing around for the source of the smell, I almost shouted when my eyes landed on a skinny, hairy man chained to the wall. While I gaped at him, he was staring at me with hope-filled eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, I snapped out of my shock and raised my finger to my lips to silently shush him.
“Please help me,” he whispered desperately.
“I will,” I whispered back, “but I need to help my friend upstairs first. Can I go this way?” I asked and pointed to the stairs.
“Yes, but you need to be careful. She’s crazy.”
“I know.”
“If you’ll get these chains off me, I’ll help you.”
“I’ll come back for you,” I promised.
“Please,” he begged and pointed across the room. “The key’s right there.”
I glanced at the key and back at him. “Who are you?”
“My name is Sean Sanders.”
“You’re Daphne’s husband,” I gasped.
“Do you know Daphne? Is she okay?”
“She’s upstairs.”
His eyes widened in horror. “She’s going to kill her. We have to stop her. Please, get the key.”
I wasn’t sure how he would be able to help. Judging by his appearance, he didn’t have much strength to speak of, which is part of why I decided to set him free. If he tried to attack me, I could easily take him down.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” he said when I unlocked his chains.
The smell emanating from him was horrific, and I struggled to keep myself from gagging. “How long have you been down here?”
“Months, I think. I’m not sure.”
I struggled with the lock on the last chain. I was about to give up and leave him when the key finally turned and the lock popped open. Quickly stepping back, I eyed him cautiously.
He seemed to know what I was thinking. “I never wanted any harm to come to Daphne. That’s why Tori locked me down here. Tell me how I can help.”
“I don’t have a plan,” I admitted.
“Where are they upstairs?”
“They were in a room near the front door.”
“The stairs lead to a hallway. If you go to the left, it will take you to the kitchen, which is connected to the dining room. The room they were in is on the other side of that. I’ll go to the right and loop around to the front to create a distraction while you get Daphne to safety.”
I hesitated, unsure if I could trust him. “I’m a member of the Blackwings MC. If you’re fucking with me, my club will make you suffer far worse than anything you’ve experienced here.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” he said, barely audible. “But I swear, I don’t want anything to happen to Daphne.”
“Okay,” I said and tested the doorknob to make sure it was unlocked. “Let’s do this.”
When I pushed the door open, I could hear their voices, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. Based on Sean’s description of the floor plan, it sounded like they were still near the front of the house.
Pulling my gun from its holster, I moved through the kitchen and dining room as quickly and as quietly as possible. When I reached the dining room, I positioned myself where I was out of sight, but had a visual of Tori. Then I waited for Sean. And waited and waited. The shouts were getting louder, and the tension in the room was palpable. I was about to wing it on my own when I finally heard his voice.
“What in the hell are you doing, you crazy fucking bitch?” he yelled.
When she whirled around to face him, I made my move and reached for Daphne. Her back was to me, so she had no idea I was the one grabbing her arm. Naturally, she screamed, which caused Tori to turn back to us.
“No!” she screamed and raised the gun.
Sean threw something that looked like a vase, hitting the back of Tori’s head. She whirled around again and fired a shot, striking Sean’s torso. As Sean fell to the ground, I shoved Daphne to the floor with one hand and fired my weapon with the other, striking her in the chest. Tori staggered back a few steps but stayed on her feet. Her face contorted with rage, and she tightened her hold on her gun as she took aim at me. Slightly raising my gun, I aimed at her forehead and fired before she had a chance. She was dead before her body hit the floor.
Knowing the threat was neutralized, I turned around to check on Daphne. She was on her knees, facing the wall, crying, with her body curved awkwardly like she was holding something.
“Daphne?” I asked quietly.
“We have to … I don’t … she can’t see that,” she rambled.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” I said carefully.
She moved slightly so I could see the very small child she was shielding with her body. It was then that I realized the crying wasn’t coming from Daphne.
“Oh, fuck,” I breathed.
“Help me get her out of here,” she pleaded.
“Don’t move,” I said and frantically looked around for something to cover the child with. When I couldn’t find anything in close proximity, I yanked my shirt over my head and handed it to Daphne. “Cover her head with this.”
She quickly draped my shirt over the little girl and carried her out of the room.
“Are you two okay?” I asked.
“Yes, I think so,” she said shakily.
“The club should be here soon, but I need to go check on Sean.”
“Sean?” Daphne gasped.
“Dada,” the little girl cried.
“Yes, Sean. That’s who she … s-h-o-t,” I said and pulled out my phone, handing it to Daphne. “Call nine-one-one.”
While she placed the call, I ran around to the front of the house, where Sean was still on the floor. For a moment, I thought he was dead, but he opened his eyes when I kneeled beside him.
“She can’t see me like this,” he groaned.
“Who?” I demanded and was instantly on alert, thinking there was someone else in the house.
“My daughter. Don’t let her see me like this. It’ll scare her,” he said.
“She’s in the kitchen with Daphne. She won’t bring her in here,” I promised. “We need to put pressure on that wound until the ambulance gets here.” I glanced around for something to press against the wound other than my bare hands.
“There are blankets in that ottoman,” Sean said and attempted to point toward the living room.
I’d barely made it back to him with a blanket when the roar of multiple motorcycle engines shook the house. Seconds later, my dad nearly knocked me over when he violently kicked the front door open, and a sea of leather-clad bikers flooded the house.
“Tori’s dead. Daphne’s okay. She’s in the kitchen. Cops have been called. And this is Sean. He’s been shot,” I blurted.
“Daphne!” Dice shouted as he ran through the house with Ink on his heels.
“You were supposed to wait for us,” Dad said and kneeled beside me. His nose immediately wrinkled. “What is that smell?”
“It’s me,” Sean answered. “She hasn’t let me shower or anything since I’ve been here.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. She locked me up sometime in July,” he said.
“It’s the middle of November,” I told him.
“Why was she holding you hostage?” Dad asked.
Sean turned his head to the side as a tear slid down his dirty cheek. “It’s kind of my fault. I didn’t tell her I was married when I met her. I didn’t even tell her my real name. She was supposed to be a short fling, so I didn’t think she needed to know anything about me. A few weeks later, she told me she was pregnant. I didn’t believe her at first, so she offered to do a paternity test. Anyway, she wanted to get married and was pretty insistent about it. I convinced her to wait until after the baby was born, which she agreed to. Once the baby was born, I confessed to Daphne and left, but I still didn’t tell Tori I was married. I kept putting it off, but I planned on getting divorced without ever telling her. I’m still not sure how Tori found out I was married, but she lost her shit when she did. Apparently, there’s a large sum of money she will inherit when she gets married, but there are stipulations, one of which is she can’t marry a man who has been divorced. However, she can marry a man whose wife died. So she decided to kill Daphne to solve her problem. When I found out what she was doing, I tried to stop her and ended up chained to a wall in her basement.”
“Cops are here,” Carbon announced.
“Is there someone we can call for your daughter?” I asked.
“My mom,” he said. “I hate to ask, but do you think Daphne will watch her until my mom can get here? I trust Daphne, and Talulah can’t see me like this.”
“Daphne shielded her with her own body and covered her face so she wouldn’t see the aftermath. I’m sure she won’t mind watching her for a little longer,” I said.
“Is that what happened to your shirt?” Dad asked.
“Yeah, we covered the baby with it.”
“Thank you,” Sean said sincerely. “For everything.”
“We have got to stop meeting like this,” Chuck said to my dad.
“Agreed,” Dad said and got to his feet.
Two paramedics appeared and dropped down beside Sean, which was my cue to leave. “I’ll make sure your little girl gets to your mom. I’m sure they’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“If there’s ever anything I can do for you, and for Daphne, please let me know.”
“I think Daphne just wants you to sign the divorce papers,” I said.
“Consider it done.”