Chapter 16 Amberly
AMBERLY
I groaned as I sat down on the bathroom floor, wiping at my lips.
The sour taste in my mouth made me heave, but I couldn't waste any more time. I crawled across the bathroom floor and grabbed the cell phone, tucking myself away in a corner. If Saint came into the room, I didn’t want him hearing who I was on the phone with.
Or the fact that I was on the phone in general.
I settled on the number Vlad had me call whenever I wanted proof that Mason was still alive.
Maybe he’d reward me with his voice for calling instead of staying hidden.
With every punch of the number into the cell phone keypad, my stomach rolled.
I burst into a cold sweat. I paused on the last number, debating on whether or not I was making the right decision.
After all, there was always a chance Mason was dead.
My beautiful baby boy, born into a life of deception and darkness and chaos.
I closed my eyes and drew from within me the strength to keep up hope.
The strength to keep believing that my son was alive after over three years of not seeing his beautiful face in person.
Then, I pressed the button and held the phone to my ear.
“Who the hell is this?” Vlad asked.
The ringer didn’t even get through the second ring before he answered.
“Vlad? It’s—it’s me,” I said softly.
I tucked myself behind the bathroom door, curling up in the darkness.
“I was waiting for you to call for me,” Vlad said, chuckling.
“I’m sorry. Please. I had no idea they were going to take me. I just got to a cell phone I could sneak into the room they’ve got me in.”
“You want to hear your son’s voice, don’t you?”
I sniffled. “Please tell me he’s still alive, Vlad. Please. I’m begging you.”
“Stop your groveling. You were always so ugly when you begged. Never seen a woman appear so gross in all my life. He’s still alive. I told myself I’d give you forty-eight hours instead of only a day.”
I heaved over the phone as he chuckled again.
“Can I—speak with him?” I asked softly.
“Do you think you deserve something like that?”
“Please, I swear I didn’t run. A guy tossed me over his shoulder, and—”
“Have they defiled you?” he asked plainly.
“No. No, I swear. Only your customers touch me. They haven’t defiled me one bit.”
Though, the images of Saint between my legs bombarded my mind. Threatening to give my secret away as I tried steadying my breathing. I’d gotten better at lying over the years. Not by much, but a little bit.
And I hoped this lie stuck.
“Good girl. Hold on,” Vlad said.
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” I said breathlessly.
“Mommy?” Mason asked.
“Sweetheart! Hi! It’s me. How are you? Are you okay?” I asked.
“Can I come see you now? It’s been a long time and I miss you,” he said.
Tears rose in my eyes. “I know, honey. Mommy’s just been working a lot, okay? Is Mr. Vlad being nice?”
“Yeah, but I miss you.”
“What kind of things are you and Mr. Vlad doing?”
“I don’t know. Just stuff,” he murmured.
“You know you can tell me, right? Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it,” I said.
“Do you love me anymore?”
I paused. “Of course, I love you. Why in the world would you think I didn’t?”
“Because you work all the time and Mr. Vlad says that’s what women do sometimes. They work all the time and make men do all sorts of things they don’t wanna do. Do you not love me anymore?”
I fumed with anger. “I love you more than the sun loves the sky. Or the ocean loves the earth. You are my world, sweetheart. And the second I know I can see you, it’ll happen. You have my word. Okay?”
“Promise?”
“I promise promise, mister man.”
The phone tussled about as bile crept up the back of my throat again. I wanted to wring my hands around that fucker’s neck. I wanted to plunge a knife directly into his heart for saying shit like that to my son. How dare he! How dare he try to convince my little boy that I didn’t love him!
“The next time you run away from me, little girl, your son will completely believe you don’t love him. Do you hear me?” Vlad asked.
“I didn’t run. I swear to you, I didn’t,” I said.
“You should’ve fought harder, then. You know what’s at stake. Unless that doesn’t bother you anymore.”
“If you lay a finger on my son—”
“You’ll what?” he asked.
But I didn’t know how to respond. What could I do? I didn’t have combat training. I didn’t own a gun. Hell, I could hardly stand on my own two feet half the time. And when Vlad chuckled, he knew he had me.
There was nothing I could do. And he liked it that way.
“Tell me where you are,” he commanded.
I sighed. “I’m with the Dead Souls. That’s who stormed the motel.”
He paused. “You're with them?”
“Yes.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“That could actually be useful. You might just prove yourself worthy of keeping around,” he said.
Wait, had he been debating not keeping me around?
“Here’s what you’re going to do, are you listening?” Vlad asked.
“Always,” I said.
“Good girl. We’re going to meet up at the restaurant I take you to sometimes whenever you’re being an extra hard worker for us. Remember it?”
I nodded quickly. “Of course. It’s always a pleasure to be there with you.”
He chuckled. “It is, and you’d do well to remember that.”
“You want me to meet you there? Just let me know the time and I’ll get there. No matter what it takes.”
“I love it when you work hard for me, sweet girl.”
I tried not to vomit at his words as he drew in a deep breath.
“Meet me there. Around back. You and I are going to go on a little drive and talk. I’ll let you know what you need to do regarding the Dead Souls.
Bossman wants some information on them, and you’re in a prime position to get it.
And if you give him quality information, you might just find yourself promoted within the ranks. ”
I paused. “I will, if you bring Mason with you.”
“That’s not how this works—”
“Bring Mason, or there’s no information to be had. I want to see my son. You’ve dangled him in front of me long enough.”
I knew I was taking a massive risk. I knew, at any second, I could hear the sound of a gunshot before a body dropping to the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut, murmuring soft prayers as my heart slammed heavily against my chest.
Then, Vlad cleared his throat.
“Fine. Be there in thirty minutes,” he said hotly.
He hung up the phone and I let out a sob of happiness.
My boy. I’d get to see my baby boy today.
I slipped the cell phone into my pocket just in case I’d need it again, then I pulled myself up to the bathroom sink.
I splashed some water in my face. I used someone’s toothbrush and toothpaste to clean the disgusting taste off the tip of my tongue.
I even rummaged around to try and find an outfit that wasn’t dirty, soiled, or ripped to shreds.
And once I was satisfied with how I looked, it was on to the next task.
Finding a way out of this building.
I slowly opened the bedroom door and heard the guys talking in the living room. I crept down the hallway, taking into account the fact that the bedrooms I passed by also had people in them. I had to get out of the building, but then that presented a second problem.
I had to find transportation into town.
I slinked down the hallways, sticking to the shadows and creeping along.
I paused whenever someone looked down the hallway, and I prayed they didn’t see me.
I came across a small hallway, not fit for more than an oversized child.
And for the first time in my life, I was thankful for the starvation tactics of Vlad and his team.
I slipped into that corridor with no issues, keeping my eyes on the door ahead of me.
It was a side door to the building I was in.
The only issue was getting it open without any of the guys seeing me.
“I agree. But how we do that? I’m not sure. They’re organized beyond belief. And we’re only so many people. Plus, we’re people with families. Kids. So, we can’t take the kind of chances we’re used to taking,” Diesel said.
“Knox, you think there’s anything Monroe can do legally?” Saint asked.
I paused at the sound of his voice. Only a few steps away from the door, and my heart leapt into my throat.
I didn’t know what the guys were talking about.
But something told me to stop and listen.
The protective mother in me told me to eavesdrop while I could, and maybe—just maybe—I’d have information Vlad and his boss wanted.
“Depending on the kind of evidence she can deem ‘legally obtained,’ there should be something. I’ll fill her in. Ask her about it,” Knox said.
“I’d appreciate it,” Diesel said.
“But there’s still a massive question looming over our heads,” Brewer said.
“You wanna spit it out for us, then?” Cage asked.
“Tone down the attitude. We’ve got enough of those flying around,” Diesel said curtly.
“As I was saying, there’s one massive question that should be obvious from our prior interactions with Lars,” Brewer said, scoffing.
“Ah,” Saint said.
“What?” Diesel asked.
“It’s a good question to ask,” Ryker murmured.
I logged the conversation away and used the pause to gather myself.
And once the conversation struck up again, I made my way for the door.
I crouched down, using the shadows to my advantage and making myself as small as possible.
I inched the door open silently, slipped through the second the crack became big enough, and drew in the salted sea air as I crawled onto the porch.
Victory was mine the second I got the door closed behind me. But then, I turned my eyes toward the parking lot.
“Shit,” I whispered.
As I crawled as quietly as I could along the floor of the porch, it all slowly came back to me.
One of the dates I’d had with Vlad was him teaching me how to ride his motorcycle.
Contrary to the guys I was with, Vlad rode it simply to look cool.
Simply to make him feel as if he was a badass.
At the time, I thought it made him one, too.
With the red stripe going down the side and his matching red leather jacket with his black sunglasses, I thought he was one of the hottest men to ever throw his leg over one.
“I hope this doesn’t backfire,” I murmured to myself.
I crawled off the porch and along the ground until I hit the shade of the trees on the edge of the cliff.
I stood up, dusting myself off and praying I wasn’t too dirty for Vlad’s eyes.
Then, I dashed for the bikes. I kept looking up at the clubhouse, hoping someone hadn’t spotted me.
And as I went around to all the bikes, I checked for keys.
I checked underneath the tires and in the backend compartments.
I prayed someone would make this easy for me, then cursed to myself as I came to the last bike.
Then, the heavens smiled down upon me.
“Bingo,” I said, grinning.
I grabbed the keys from the bottom of the motorcycle compartment and tossed my leg over.
I put the kickstand up, then walked the bike out of sight before I even thought about putting the damn key into it.
I knew the engine would get their attention.
And I wanted some distance between all of us.
I wanted a chance to familiarize myself with the controls again, using my fading memories to guide me.
Because failure wasn’t an option.
Seeing my son’s face again was all riding on my ability to ride this damn bike.
I walked the bike away from the clubhouse until I couldn’t see it anymore.
Then, once it was completely out of sight, I plugged the keys into the ignition.
I turned the bike over, listening to it roar to life.
It was loud. It made me wince. It made me want to turn the damn volume down on it, but I tried not to panic.
I tried not to think about the guys coming after me and ruining every part of this as I revved the engine.
Slowly, the memories came back. And after a minute or two of fiddling around with the shifter and the gears, I took off. With the wind in my hair, the asphalt blazing a trail underneath the tires, and my eyes set on the horizon.
I’m coming for you, Mason. Just stay strong for me a little bit longer, sweet boy.