Mace’s Madonna (Pagan Souls of Cherokee MC #5)

Jessamy

I was fighting not to let depression and doubts weigh me down. I’d been working with Mace’s help to review the countless photographs of missing women and girls that Wire and the other computer wizards were finding and feeding me. The sheer number was daunting and made me sick.

Although we had no idea how many had actually been kidnapped and sold into some form of slavery, we knew many were. Others would suffer who knows what as runaways, victims of murderers, and more. It made one afraid ever to leave your house if you let it. And being in your home wasn’t a guarantee of safety. Even the compound, with its fence, razor wire, gate, and roving guards, wasn’t impenetrable if someone wanted inside badly enough.

I worked not to let Mace see it affecting me, but he knew. He kept telling me I didn’t need to look at any more photos, even though I’d identified seven women in total. It still didn’t make sense why I was taken and included with them. It might never. They all fell along a north-to-south route. I was the odd inclusion.

At least I had the kids at the clinic to help take my mind off that. I might not be able to teach, but spending time with them made me happy. After this past weekend, when Christie decided to demonstrate her craziness for Cherokee to see, Mace refused for the next two days to look at more pictures or to talk about the Black Outlaws or anything related to my abduction or what may be happening. I’d protested, but I was secretly glad he made me take a break.

Instead, we spent the entire weekend holed up together or riding around the area so I could become more familiar with it. He even took me shopping to pick out things for the house. He insisted we needed a new bedding set, one that we both agreed on, and things I thought would bring color to the house. We even went to a home store and looked at paint samples.

Another good thing was I had access to my money. Wire and Twisted got it all squared away for me and transferred it to a local bank. Not that Mace liked to let me spend it, but I won a few arguments. I got him to wait on buying more until we went through my things in Cottonwood to see what we would move here and what I’d give away there. Since I had a small one-bedroom apartment, I wouldn’t have a ton of stuff for the house even if I brought it all, which I didn’t plan to do.

Today was Wednesday, and the clinic seemed busier than usual. I liked how they offered more than just medical services. They filled the gap in public services in many areas. Many elderly people were able to get names and numbers of reliable people to do work for them. If they needed caregivers, they could connect with the necessary resources. It was a one-stop shop. More places should have this tied together.

Eliana explained how she came up with the idea when she was treating so many people, particularly the elderly, with her homeopathic treatments. Her treatments augmented traditional medicine, not replaced. Agony thought she was doing something shady, and when she met Tana, he tried to show her up as a fraud. She lost her job and was about to leave town when he realized the mistake he made. She hadn’t been inclined to forgive him, but he made it right and, in the process, won her heart despite her not wanting to have anything to do with him. I thought their story was sweet, but then again, so were all of the old ladies’ stories.

Loud wailing got my attention. I’d been taking a quick break as I thought about the last several days. Hearing the cry of a child, I knew it was time for me to get back at it. I hurried out to the main waiting area. A harried woman was trying to quiet her son, who looked about four years old. He was crying and fighting to get away from her. I went up to her.

“Excuse me, ma’am, my name is Jessamy. I work here. I see you have your hands full. Are you here for him or yourself?”

“It’s for me, but I couldn’t find a sitter, so I had to bring him with me. I’m so sorry. He’s upset. I promised him we’d go outside. He’s mad that we haven’t. It didn’t help that he didn’t take a nap today. I’ll make him be quiet,” she promised.

“Actually, that’s kind of my job. I work here to help in these kinds of situations or when a child is upset during a procedure. I’m an actual teacher, but I’m waiting for my license to come through here. Eliana asked me to help out until I got a teaching position. If you ask, they’ll verify who I am and that I’m trustworthy. I’ll keep an eye on him while you finish up.”

She gave me a skeptical look, but when one of the medical assistants came over, whom she clearly knew, and the assistant explained what I said was true, the mom relaxed. While we waited for her to be called, I began to coax her son, Wally, to talk to me. I brought out the chest of toys we kept there. She and I chatted about the town and other things in between. When she was called back, Wanda was more than at ease about leaving him with me.

“If you’re okay with it, I’d be glad to take him outside. There’s a playset in the back that the club and clinic put together for kids. Maybe it’ll satisfy him, so when you’re done, you can go home.”

She sighed and smiled. “If you don’t mind, that would be wonderful. I’m tired. Going home and resting would be great. Thank you, Jessamy. I wish more places had this.”

“It would be great if they did, wouldn’t it? I’ll see you when you’re done. Wally, would you like to go outside and play on the swings?” I asked. His face lit up, and he ran over to me. The trusting way he grabbed my hand made me melt inside. This was one of the things I loved about kids.

Wanda told him to behave and then followed the tech into the back. Poor woman, she had a rambunctious toddler, and I’d discovered during our talk that she was three months pregnant. No wonder she was tired and wanted to go home to rest.

Outside, Wally ran straight to the swings. We played on those for a good ten minutes before he wanted to go on the slide. I stood at the bottom and watched him slide down repeatedly. His smile was huge.

No other kids were around, so we had the whole place to ourselves. I waved as I watched one of the guys from Hunters Creek, his name was Iceman, make a circuit around the outside. Agony had insisted that someone be at the clinic during operating hours. There had been no sightings of the Black Outlaws MC, but the club wasn’t easing their security.

If only things had stayed as peaceful and fun as they were at that moment. However, someone had other plans, which I found out a minute later when three men came running toward the playground. They hopped the five-foot fence that enclosed it. They were dressed in jeans and T-shirts. They didn’t have cuts on, but their clothes and the tattoos on their arms made me think they were bikers. Instantly, I knew they had to be Outlaws. I screamed Iceman’s name as I snatched up Wally. They were coming in too fast for me to outrun them, so I did the only thing I could think of. I set Wally down, gently shoved him toward the back door, and yelled, “Run inside. Find your mom. Hurry!”

Thank God he listened and didn’t freeze. He took off screaming at the top of his lungs. The men coming at me weren’t happy at the noise either of us was making. I was screaming, too.

“Shut up!” one of them hollered.

I still tried to make it, but they got to me before I made it to the door. I fought them. I had the knife that I carried with me everywhere out of my pocket and open. As an arm wrapped around my waist, I stabbed down into it. The man bellowed in rage and shook me like I was a rag doll. I jerked it free and stabbed again. He dropped me on the ground.

“Get the fuck away from her!” Iceman shouted.

I tried to get to him, but my hair was grabbed, and I was yanked backward. I slashed out with my knife. I gasped as I saw Iceman take out a gun. He had it pointed in our direction but not at me. It was at the man I stabbed and the other one with them. Hope blossomed until a loud bang almost deafened me. I screamed as I saw Iceman fall.

Something inside of me went insane. There was no way I was allowing myself to be retaken. There was no guarantee I’d ever be found or that what they put me through wouldn’t be a fate worse than death. I’d die first. Shrieks, snarls, and more came out of me as I jabbed, slashed, and fought to get free.

“Hurry up and get the bitch!” the one who was standing off to the side told the other two. He was the one with a gun out—the one who shot Iceman. I’d scored a hit on the second guy, and he let go of me. I whipped around so I could face all three of them.

“You want this bitch? Why don’t you come and get me?” I snarled.

“How about I shoot you?” the gun toter snapped.

“If you do that, I don’t think the people you’re going to sell me to will be pleased. What will your president say? You already fucked up at least once, if not twice. A third strike and you’re out,” I taunted.

“It wasn’t my fuckup,” he denied.

I backed away from them. I knew that it wouldn’t do me much good, but I did it anyway. As I did, they moved closer together. Two were bleeding rather heavily. Where the hell were the cops? A gun had been fired. Wally ran inside. Surely, someone would call them. I held up my knife.

“You come at me again, and one of you gets cut. If I’m lucky, it’ll be somewhere you won’t survive,” I hissed.

“We’ll see,” the one not bleeding, who for some reason I thought was in charge, said as he smirked.

The asshole gestured for the others to come at me. They gave him disbelieving looks, but they did it. I readied myself for them to get close enough to strike. I gulped when I saw the one who I had only sliced once take out his own knife. Shit, I was in trouble. I had no street skills in a knife fight.

I tensed for the charge, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, I heard one gunshot after another ring out. The one with the gun in the rear fell first. Right after him, the one with the knife went down until there was only one left. He scrambled for cover. I frantically looked to see who did it. My eyes landed on Iceman. He was holding himself up on the fence. His face was ashen, and he looked ready to drop, but he had a gun in his hand.

“Get the gun, Jessa. Hold it on the live one. I’m not sure how long I’ll stay awake,” he said hoarsely.

My scrambled brain didn’t register what he meant at first. Lucky for me, I heard Eliana yelling my name. The back door opened, and she came rushing out. She must’ve heard Iceman because she went and got the gun. Neither of the shot men moved. Once she had it, she checked their pulses. Afterward, she walked to the one trying to hide. He was trying to clutch his arm and stomach at the same time. She felt around his waist and came up with a gun. She came to me once she was satisfied he wasn’t carrying another.

“I need you to hold this on that one. If he tries to run, shoot him. I need to help Iceman.”

I numbly took the gun and held it. Mace had shown me the basics of how to hold one properly and how to shoot after the poker run. We hadn’t gotten much further than that. I wish I could say my hands didn’t shake, but they did. As Eliana ran to Iceman, who had dropped to the ground again, I heard the roar of motorcycles and the wail of sirens. I fought not to cry in relief. I barely blinked as I stared at the man huddled before me. I wanted him to move.