Chapter 26
Becky was starting to feel better about her situation after talking with Dawn.
Not great. Not even close. But better. She was trying to push what she’d heard earlier to the side for now and deal with that later.
Right now, her main priority was making sure the child growing inside her was taken care of.
This stress wasn’t good for the baby or her, and she’d learned that the hard way the first time.
Frankie had been born early and spent weeks in the NICU.
It had been one of the hardest times in her life.
She had been alone and afraid, making decisions a girl who was still a kid herself shouldn’t have had to make.
“Do you think Amara will be open with me about her and her nephew’s blood type?” Dawn asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“Amara is amazing.” Becky nodded. “She wants to help the Warriors. She’s mated to King and saved his life with her blood. I have no doubt she will be more than happy to give you any information you need.”
“Good.” Dawn smiled then looked around the office. “I think I’m going to have my hands full here.”
“You will.” Becky’s smile came a little easier. “But I think you’ll get along with all the mates, which I’m sure you’ll be meeting sooner rather than later. They’re all amazing women.”
“I’ll be seeing them all next week,” Dawn said as she looked through the papers in front of her. “I have to get the office set up first. Dr. Buchanan said most of the equipment I need is already in.”
“No one calls him Dr. Buchanan.” Becky gave her a look. “It’s either Doc or Slade.”
Dawn laughed just as Becky’s phone rang. Looking down, Becky smiled, relief and excitement rushing through her when she saw Frankie’s name. “It’s my son. Can you excuse me for a second?”
“Sure.” Dawn shooed her with a grin. “Go.”
Becky headed for the private suite, already hitting the answer button. “I was getting worried when you didn’t text me back.” When the line stayed silent, her smile slipped. “Frankie? Hello?”
“If you want to see your son alive, you will listen to me very closely,” a stranger’s voice said on the other end.
Becky went cold all over. “Who is this?”
“Interrupt me again, and he’s dead.” The man’s voice turned hostile. “Get into your car and start driving toward Kentucky alone. In ten minutes, I will call you again and give you an address. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” Becky swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat, her hand tightening around the phone. “How do I know you have him and that he’s unhurt?”
She prayed she hadn’t made a mistake asking, but she wasn’t stupid either. Maybe they were lying. Maybe Frankie was on campus, or out with his friends, or asleep in his dorm ignoring his phone like he sometimes did. God, she prayed that was the case.
“Mom!” Frankie’s voice came through, farther away but real, and Becky’s knees almost buckled. “Don’t do it. Don’t come!”
“Shut him up!” the man ordered just as Frankie screamed in pain.
“Stop!” Becky cried, pressing her hand to her mouth. “I’ll come. I’ll come. Just don’t hurt him, please.”
“You will be watched. If we see one Warrior anywhere near you, he is dead, and we will get you another way. You have something of ours, Becky. For your son’s sake, do not fuck this up.”
The line went dead.
“Hello?” Becky stared at the phone, panic ripping through her. “Hello!”
For a few seconds, she couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Frankie. Her son. Oh, God, what was she going to do?
Then her hand moved to her stomach.
"No!" she shook her head as rage started to overcome her fear.
No, she was not doing this. She was not standing here falling apart while someone hurt her son and threatened to take her unborn child.
She had been scared and confused. She had been lied to, used, and pushed to the edge of every emotion she had, but now someone had threatened her children. That was a whole different emotion.
“Get your shit together, dammit,” she hissed at herself.
Rushing toward the table next to the bed, she opened the drawer and saw the gun Sloan kept there.
He had taught her how to shoot, and she knew where every hidden gun was in this place.
Grabbing it, she ran to her bag and shoved it inside, then froze with her hand on the zipper.
Dawn was out there. How in the hell was she going to get past her without questions?
She couldn’t tell her. Couldn’t risk Dawn running for Sloan or Slade.
She believed the man when he said they would kill him.
“Think,” Becky whispered, closing her eyes for one hard second. “Come on, Becky. Think.”
Then it came to her. Opening the door, she plastered a smile on her face and prayed to God it looked real enough. “You’re not going to believe this.”
Dawn looked up from the paperwork she was going through. “What?”
“My son came home to surprise me.” Becky laughed, hearing the nerves in her own voice but forcing the smile to stay in place. “Sloan should be back anytime, and I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen Frankie in a while.”
“Well, why are you standing here?” Dawn smiled. “Go see your boy, Becky. I’m fine. I have a ton of stuff to do here.”
Becky nodded, her smile holding until she turned away. The second Dawn couldn’t see her face, it fell. Her hand tightened around the strap of her bag as she headed for the door, every step taking her farther from the safest place she could be and closer to the monsters waiting for her.
Rushing up the steps to the control room, she prayed it wasn’t being manned.
The Warriors were short-handed, but she needed to make sure just in case and grab keys to one of the SUVs.
Opening the door, she sighed in relief when she found it empty.
Hurrying to the controls, she hit a few keys and stopped the recording.
She knew this would be the first place Sloan would come once he figured out she was gone.
Running toward the wall of keys, she grabbed a set, took note of which SUV it belonged to, then took off without even closing the door behind her.
Making her way back downstairs, she looked around, praying she wouldn’t run into anyone.
The Warriors wouldn’t let her leave alone, and the mates would question her.
Dawn didn’t know how things worked around here with the overprotective Warriors, so she had been easy to get past. The others, not so much.
Making it to the main door, she rushed outside, her eyes scanning the compound.
Dark storm clouds hung low, and thunder rumbled in the distance.
Running toward the parked SUVs, she hit the key fob, needing to find the right one fast. She didn’t have time to search each one.
There were six sitting in a row, and every second she wasted was another second Frankie was in danger.
Jumping in, she fumbled with the keys, then froze when she heard motorcycles in the distance.
“Shit!” she cursed, scrunching down in the seat praying they would pass, but that wasn’t her luck. Three bikes pulled in and parked. Ronan, Jax, and Daniel got off, heading toward the compound. Daniel slowed almost to a stop, and Becky lowered herself even more.
“Keep going, Daniel,” she whispered. Holding still, she watched him, terrified he would sense something, see something, or just be Daniel and know.
Finally, he started walking again, disappearing inside with Ronan and Jax.
Giving it a few more seconds to make sure they were deeper inside the compound, she started the SUV and pulled out onto the main road, heading toward the expressway.
Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she set it on the seat next to her so it was within easy reach. Wishing she had timed the call, she figured it had to be close to fifteen minutes, and she was almost to the Kentucky state line.
Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud crack of thunder. The clouds swirled overhead as sprinkles of rain hit the windshield. Angry tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision, and she swiped at them with the back of her hand.
As brave as she wanted to be for her son, she was terrified and wanted Sloan, but she couldn’t chance it.
She needed to get her shit together. First, she needed to save Frankie, and if that meant giving herself to these bastards, then she’d do it.
After that, she would figure out how to save herself or pray that Sloan would find her.
Frankie was her priority right now. She knew these assholes wanted the child she carried, so they would keep her alive until he or she was born.
That gave her some hope of getting out of this damn mess.
Her phone rang, making her scream in fright. Grabbing for it, she almost went off the road. Glancing down, she saw it was Frankie’s number. “Hello,” she said quickly.
“I’m impressed,” the man said, his voice not as hostile as the first call. “The Warriors aren’t easy to get past. Didn’t think you could do it. Guess a mother’s love for her son is a powerful thing.”
Becky sneered, but remained silent. He had no idea what a mother would do for her child. Her eyes flicked to the bag that held the gun.
“No comment?” he asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice. Hatred for the man burned through her. “Are you familiar with Kentucky at all?”
“Yes,” she replied, not saying anything else. All she wanted to do was get to her son.
“Good. I want you to take the Double A.” He paused as a phone rang in the background. She heard someone else talking, but couldn’t make out what was being said. “Do you know where the fairground is?”
“Yes,” Becky answered in the same flat voice, her eyes moving to the rearview mirror, trying to see if anyone was following her. In all honesty, she didn't know what to even look for.
“Go to the back entrance to the fairground, pull into the field they use for overflow, and park,” he continued, sounding a little distracted. “Get out of the vehicle and walk down the road toward the fairground. Do you understand?”