Bianca Chapter 14
Four days of being alone, trying to work through what I discovered about what the Pagans, and more specifically what Chaos and Mishap, had done.
I had called off work on Thursday and Friday, knowing I wouldn’t be able to think properly to advise anyone.
I apologized and promised to reschedule them as soon as I could.
Sleep had become sporadic and broken by dreams. Some were memories of Elodie. Others were about the women who had been hurt. And then the rest were about Chaos and me. Some were sexual, but not all.
During waking hours, his final parting confession, if it was real, haunted me. He claimed to love me. Did he? If he did, why not tell me before now and tell me what the club had done? Or had he hoped saying that would soften me toward him?
It would be simple if I didn’t love him.
If that were the case, I’d simply cut him off and walk away.
But my heart was tangled in this mess, and I was astonished at how quickly it happened.
It took me months to fall in love with Byron, or what I thought was love.
With Chaos, I was there and falling deeper after barely a month.
I thought that my life was finally headed in the right direction. I had a really good chance of having a man who saw me, supported me, and would care for me. And the family I’d dreamed about having would come true. To know that was possibly not occurring made my chest hurt.
Having my cousin be a part of it all complicated things, even if, at the moment, he was acting crazy.
If I broke up with Chaos and cut ties with the Pagans, then how would that work?
Would the club allow Mishap to be a part of my life?
And even if they did, was Mishap capable or willing to be my family anymore?
The way he had been acting suggested the answer was no.
I cried so much I felt dehydrated, and my eyes were sore and dry.
This morning, in the mirror, my eyes were red, and my face was drawn with dark shadows beneath my eyes.
Add to that, I had no appetite. The thought of food made me nauseous.
I forced myself to eat small amounts because I knew if I didn’t, I’d become sick.
I learned long ago that skipping meals had a huge impact on my body. Fainting spells were likely.
I wasn’t in the mood to be around people, so I remained inside. But that made me feel cooped up and restless. I wasn’t able to concentrate on television, music, or books. I tried to do computer work, but every time I saw my laptop, I flinched.
Shadow arrived Thursday morning at eight o’clock.
He removed the cameras, the computer program, and the tracker on my car.
He made sure to show me how he wiped the program and removed the other items. He profusely apologized.
Shadow also told me that Chaos was devastated and he loved me.
I hadn’t responded. I just locked the door when he left.
The laptop avoidance was because I wondered whether he had removed everything he had placed on it. What if there was more than one program and they were still watching my online movements? Paranoia was my companion.
It was Sunday, so I tried to do my routine of cleaning, laundry, and meal prep.
I needed groceries to cook, but instead of going to the store, I had them delivered for the first time.
It cost extra, but it was worth it. Not only did I not want to be near people, but I was afraid I might run into one of the Pagans lurking around.
There have been a few acceptable surprises these past several days.
One was that Chaos and the rest of the Pagans hadn’t attempted to contact me in any way.
Other than Shadow, it had been radio silence.
That included Mishap, which I was kinda hoping he would reach out. Contrary, I knew it, but there it was.
It was early evening, and I couldn’t stand another second. I got up and went to my laptop. Fuck it if they were monitoring me. I was an adult and free to research anything I wanted.
I began by bringing up a map of the gyms within sixty miles of Macon.
The reason was that the five women who were assaulted all lived in that area.
Once I had that map saved, I searched for bars and nightclubs in the same area.
On that map, I plotted the approximate location of each woman’s address. And then their work.
I took the maps and printed them out. On the one depicting gyms, I had to use a dark permanent marker to color in the location tags.
That was so, when I placed the other map over it, the underlying gyms would show through, and I could transfer them to the single map.
A pattern emerged. I sat there staring at it. More questions raced around in my head.
In all five cases, the woman’s gym was either very close to her home or work.
And in the case of the bars available versus the bars or spots where the women were drugged, they fell close to their gym.
Excitement filled me. My theory that they might be targeted through their gyms seemed more plausible.
I picked up my cell phone. My finger was ready to hit the call button when I froze.
I’d automatically gone to call Chaos. I wanted to tell him the news, then let the club know.
Why? Because he had been my support. And I knew the club had their hands in taking out people like the rapist when leaving them to law enforcement wasn’t the answer.
Most of society would be appalled and ask me why I thought vigilante justice, without the benefit of counsel, a jury, and a judge, was acceptable.
The answer was simple. I’d seen firsthand how easy it was for the offenders never to be caught, how that fact could torture the one hurt, their friends and family, for years, forever, or until they broke and took their life.
And you read about or heard how many offenders, even when caught, made plea deals, got light sentences, or avoided jail time altogether.
And then they would go right back to it again.
I hadn’t been able to find who hurt Elodie. That fact still haunted me. However, I would do my best to discover who was raping these women and put a stop to it. I hoped the Pagans would help permanently stop whoever it was, but I’d settle for what I could get or do on my own.
Finding a potential connection slightly elevated my mood. I needed to find out the name of the sixth woman and add her details to the map. If she fell outside of the area, then that might destroy my theory.
I’d been working hunched over the keyboard, scratching notes on the maps and my notebook for a long time when I had to stand and stretch out the kinks in my back.
Glancing at the clock, I was shocked to see two and a half hours had elapsed.
It was nine thirty at night, and I hadn’t had anything to eat since ten that morning.
I wasn’t hungry, mostly nauseous, but I should eat a little.
I was almost to the kitchen when there was a knock on my door. It was loud and impatient.
Immediately, I thought of Chaos. Had he finally broken and come despite my order to stay away?
It sounded like something an alpha male like him would do.
I shoved my eagerness to see him aside as I picked up my pace and stomped to the front door.
I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
I wasn’t quite ready to settle things with him.
I unlocked the door and yanked it open. My glare was firmly in place.
I had a habit of leaving my porch light on until I went to bed. So, I wasn’t facing a pitch-dark night. However, standing there wasn’t Chaos. It was my cousin, and he wasn’t alone. Disbelief hit me as I stared. Standing with him, as if he had the right to be there, was Byron.
“Bianca, thank God you answered. Let us in. We need to talk,” Byron stated.
“What the hell are the two of you doing together? And why are you here?” I snapped.
“We need to speak to you. It’s important. We thought you’d hear us out if we came together,” Byron added.
I looked at Mishap. I waited for him to say something. When he did, all he said was, “We’ve got to talk.”
“I’m not talking to him, and I’m not sure I want to speak to you, Mishap. Besides, it’s late. I need to go to bed soon. I have work in the morning. Byron, you wasted a trip here. Go back to Augusta. There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear.”
As soon as I finished telling them that, I started closing the door.
I was startled when Mishap’s hand flew out, shoved back on it, and his foot crossed the threshold.
My heart beat faster. I shoved harder, but I was no match against his strength.
Before I knew it, they had pushed inside, and I was left moving away from them.
I placed myself at the mouth of the short hallway where my bedroom and bathroom were.
“You need to leave. I don’t want you here. If you aren’t out of here in two minutes, I’m screaming.”
“Stop being dramatic. I hated it when you acted this way. We’re not here to hurt you. Rawley and I came to save you from a terrible mistake,” Byron said.
“Mistake? What mistake?” I asked.
“You’re not in contact with Chaos, which is good. But I don’t want you to go back to him. And there’s no need for you to be with another man. Byron realized he messed up. He should’ve never left you,” Mishap rattled off.
“He’s right, I shouldn’t have. I let Cecily’s talk about career advancement if I were her partner and how much better off I’d be financially with a woman like her.
I’m ashamed that she fooled me. I hate that I hurt you, Bianca.
But I’m free of her. And we can be together again.
I’ll make it up to you,” my ex blathered.
My shock changed to astonishment, and now I was inching toward rage. I fought to keep my voice from shouting as I opened my mouth. I wanted to blast both of them into next week.
“I don’t care that you and Cecily are no longer together, Byron.
It doesn’t matter because I don’t want you.
I don’t miss you. I don’t love you. My life is much better without you.
I’m never coming back to you, no matter what you say, promise, or how much you beg.
End of discussion. Now, I want you both to leave. Byron, don’t return. You were warned.”
A red flush appeared in Byron’s cheeks. I remembered that. It happened anytime he was pissed or embarrassed that he wasn’t getting his way. He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Bianca, that man has confused you. Just let us talk and give yourself time to free yourself from his hold fully. Your cousin said that you’re broken up.
Don’t let him suck you back in. Come home with me.
We’ll send someone to pack and move your things back to Augusta.
We can leave tonight. Pack a small bag of essentials,” Byron stated.
His tone went from tight and demanding to pleading.
I steeled myself to get ugly, and if that didn’t work, I’d lock myself in my room and call the cops. I had my cell phone in my jeans pocket. I eased back a couple of steps. Mishap’s gaze snapped from Byron to me. He leaned slightly toward me.
“Don’t do it,” my cousin ordered.
Without pausing, instead of running, I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could. Seconds later, there was a loud cracking sound, then my front door exploded inward.