Chapter 31 – Zeb
Chapter Thirty-One
Zeb
The night’s work ends before one in the morning.
I didn’t find Janelle. We rescue some woman who claims to be called Rana Rhodes, but she’s the only survivor we leave behind.
Cody takes her away from their makeshift clubhouse before we commence the slaughter.
The woman claiming to be Rana also claims to be a lawyer.
Wyatt doesn’t want us killing women, but I don’t trust her.
When I get back to the motel – owned and operated by Sinclair Enterprises LLC – I turn my phone on and see a bunch of messages. From Deacon. From Janelle. I’m supposed to head straight upstairs to Rana’s room where Cody guards the door.
Instead, I call Janelle right away. She picks up after a couple rings.
“Hello?” she says. “Zeb… Where are you?”
I hear a gruff voice in the background and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Who the hell is that?”
She sounds suspicious, but no other words could have brought me greater relief than the ones that spill out of Janelle’s mouth. “It’s a man claiming to be Deacon Hollingsworth…”
Thank fucking God.
“Where are you, baby?” I ask her, trying to steady my voice.
I want to tell her everything on the phone.
How I love her. How I want her to stay with me.
How I will change everything about my life she doesn’t like just for a chance with her…
I feel crazy just thinking those wild thoughts, so I keep them bottled up.
“Where are you?” she asks. She sounds happy. Not like a woman who wanted to run away from me.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “Get him to take you to Ruger’s place. I’ll meet you there.”
We’re getting married. Fuck. She’s back which means we’re getting married.
“Zeb,” she says. “I can’t go back to Ruger’s place unless I know what happened to Rana.”
“Your friend is fine,” I say, trying not to sound frustrated, because it really isn’t her fault that I’m ready to burst with frustration. “I promise. I’ll be at Ruger’s place soon.”
And don’t you scare me like that again, I want to say. But I hang up without saying it, because I don’t want to say anything that might even slightly spook her.
I don’t have the wisdom to go upstairs first. I text Cody as much as I can and race back outside to my back. I need to see Janelle.
It takes me one green Monster energy drink and two hours to get to Ruger’s place.
The Ducati out front means Deacon beat me to it.
The floodlights that come on when I park my bike mean that Ruger’s still up – and possibly Zayna.
For all I know, Janelle might be asleep, but I don’t plan on letting her stay asleep for long.
Once I dismount and get to the front door, Ruger meets me there with an angry look on his face. Then again, it’s Ruger, so he’s usually pissed off.
“Took you long enough.”
“I can’t fucking teleport, asshole.”
“Janelle has been worried out of her mind. Did you bring Rana for her?”
“No. Are you crazy?”
“Well. I have some bad news then.”
Deacon emerges in the doorway with a grim expression on his face.
“Did you tell him yet?” he asks Ruger.
“No, dumbass. How could we have known?”
“What the fuck is going on?” I respond impatiently. I’m getting pretty sick of dicking around on the landing instead of getting inside the house and laying eyes on Janelle.
“Janelle might have locked herself in the bathroom and she’s refusing to come out unless Rana can be there at her wedding.”
“You told her?”
“She found out,” Deacon says suspiciously.
“Deacon is an idiot,” Ruger grumbles. “But… Maybe she’ll listen to your voice and come out.”
“What about breaking down the door?”
“I carved that door out of oak,” Ruger snarls. “It’s practically bullet proof and we’re not ripping it down because of a woman’s unwillingness to marry you.”
“Sorry I asked,” I grumble. “Let me talk to her.”
Can’t say it will work, but I don’t have much of a choice but to try talking sense into Janelle. Promising her the world. Promising her Rana. Promising her that I will always fight for her – always.
“Go ahead,” Ruger grumbles. “She insulted my looks worse than Zayna ever has.”
“Can Zayna get her out?”
“She says she’s protecting her peace and this is our fault,” Ruger says. “Whatever the fuck that means.”
It means we’re on our own. I follow Ruger to the hand-hewn door and knock gently on it.
“Janelle. It’s me.”
At first, there’s no sound and I worry that she drowned herself or fell asleep or something. I might have to face Ruger’s consequences for me and rip that damned door down… But then I hear shuffling. A voice follows.
“Zeb.”
“Yes, angel. It’s me.”
Her voice does something to me. I touch the door and imagine her hand pressed to the other side.
“I didn’t bring Rana. Thought it might be better to let her sleep after the night she’s had.”
“She’s not answering my texts.”
“I promise, she’s fine. Angel… I promise.”
I try the handle gently, hoping to keep her calm on the other side.
“Are you ready to come out?” I say. “I want to see you.”
Even if she thinks it’s just a trap – it’s not. I’m desperate to see her. Desperate enough to risk getting slaughtered by Ruger Blackwood where I stand for breaking his door just to get to her. My hand quietly searches for the weak points while I wait for Janelle’s response.
“No,” she says. “I… They’re going to force us to get married, Zeb.”