Chapter 34
Lacy
Eddie answered me when I was able to finally send a text, but I had to put my phone away when that guy came back toward the SUV. I didn’t want to tip him off that I had it and the light would be obvious, at least through the front windshield. They had said nobody could see inside, but I didn’t want to risk getting caught.
“Shiv, Shiv,” I whispered as I nudged her. She hadn’t woken up yet, but I knew she was alive. I was glad she was missing most of this, but I started to think she should be aware of our mess.
Eddie said he’d take care of it, but if these guys decided to toss us in a plane in the next few minutes, we’d be shit out of luck. The clubhouse was at least forty-five minutes from us.
Finally, Shiv twitched, then groaned.
“Shiv, are you okay?”
Mumbling, she asked, “Where are we?” She pushed herself up slowly, looking around, bewildered.
“Some tiny airport.”
“Why? Do you know these guys?”
“How’s your head?”
She rubbed it, wincing. “Ow. What the fuck happened?” She reached for the SUV’s handle but it didn’t open.
“I’m so sorry, Shiv. I have no clue. I’m just so sorry.”
Shiv tried the door again, jerking it quickly over and over. “Shit, shit, shit. What the fuck is happening?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry.”
Shiv righted herself and scooted closer, grabbing my hand. “Why are you sorry? You said you don’t know them.”
“I don’t, but I have a feeling they know me. Maybe some crazy customer? I don’t know. But you wouldn’t be in this mess if I hadn’t told you to come.”
“You didn’t put a gun to my head. I missed you and the timing seemed good. Maybe the fuck up with the flight was a sign, but hey, can’t turn back time.” She sighed and looked out the window. Her voice was calm, but her hand was shaking in mine. “I do have a few regrets in life, but nothing earth shattering, I suppose. I wish I could tell my mom bye, even if she makes me crazy.”
“My boyfriend knows we’re here. We just got to hold on until he can get here. If they try to get us out of the car, we just need to stall a little.”
“Well, I hope you’re right. Otherwise, I want you to know I’m proud of you and I’m glad I got to see you again.”
Even though it seemed like an odd time to say that, I had to swallow down the lump in my throat. “Proud of me? You’re a doctor. With an MD and a PhD. I’m a dancer. A stripper, Shiv.”
“Which is a valid form of employment that clearly keeps you very fit and healthy. Also, it must be completely empowering to have that kind of control. Very fascinating, honestly. But I meant I’m proud of the woman you’ve become. You used to not be so cool under pressure.”
Running my hand over my ponytail, I blew a breath through puffed cheeks. “They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But shit, can I be done with this test of will already?”
We both let out a humorless laugh, then wrapped our arms around each other. After a few seconds, we let go, but scooted hip to hip and held hands as we waited.
Sitting around while unsure of what was planned for you was unnerving. At least with Tony, we knew what was happening. Maybe not at first, but once we were in and had our lives stripped away, it was obvious–he owned us and we were nothing other than dollar signs to him.
Now, I had no idea what was about to happen, or why. Shiv clearly was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn’t a doctor, but I was smart enough to know this was targeted at me. But why?
My thoughts were still processing when I heard an engine. It wasn’t a plane, so I looked around and saw a car. An older Trans Am. Random, but okay. Nothing would surprise me at this point.
But as I watched the car to see who got out, my stomach turned to knots. Two of the men that were in the car with us walked over and pulled a woman from the car. One held her and the other stuffed a gag in her mouth.
I tightened my grip on Shiv. “Fuck.”
“What are they doing to her?” Shiv asked with a crack in her voice.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think she wants to go.” I looked around and didn’t see anyone else around.
I was still staring at the woman being dragged away when one of the doors on the other side opened. We both jumped and scooted toward the door closest to me.
“Time to go,” he said as he reached in for Shiv.
I gripped her arm with both hands. “No, no. She’s not part of this.”
“Stop squirming,” he said as he reached in to grab her by the waist.
She pushed and hit, and I held onto her, then swung my leg up, trying to connect with his balls. I think I grazed them because he went still and grunted, then glared up at me.
Before he could reach for her again, gunshots rang out and Shiv turned, so I tried to push her down into the floorboard. “Get down!”
I rolled up into a ball as best I could, covering my head with my arms as glass shattered and more shots rang out. It probably wasn’t the best position, but it was all involuntary. Curl in a ball and cover your head . Peeking over, I decided this was better than laying in the seat because then someone could grab my feet and easily drag me out.
The shots seemed to slow, then stop, so I peeked out the front window and tears filled my eyes. I knew that cut and that Grim Reaper anywhere. And one of them was mine. Eagle was here.
“Oh my God. My man’s here, Shiv. Just hold on.” New tears filled my eyes but they were of hope and relief.
She sniffled. “I’m holding.” Yeah. She was crying for sure.
“If we live through this, I owe you big time.”
“I want my biker daddy, goddammit. And a fucking drink!”
“All the biker daddies and all the drinks, I promise.”
I still had my arms over my head, but leaned to look out the front windshield again as the shots slowed. My body recoiled as another flurry of shots rang out. I was tucked into a ball behind the seat, wondering if he was alright. Falcon and Butch were with him, but I didn’t see anyone else from DE. I didn’t get to look but for a second, though.
Turning in the seat, I looked out the back windshield, but didn’t see anyone else. I had to trust that they knew best and could take down however many guys were on the other side. But with the addition of the car, it was six to three.
Looking out the side window, I watched as the driver of the car was hiding behind the open door. He stood up and aimed a gun toward the bikers, but glass shattered and he crumpled to the ground. A shot had gone through the drivers’ side window.
Glancing over, it was Butch who took the shot and he was rushing to the SUV. I never thought I’d be happy to see him, but right now, he was a sight for sore eyes. Even though I had already tried the door and knew I couldn’t open it, I tugged on the handle.
Butch slung the door open and looked at me, then down at Shiv. “Who the hell is that?”
I grabbed his arms. “My friend. She’s with me. Where’s Eagle?”
“In the hangar making sure nobody else is a threat. C’mon,” he said as he pulled me out and onto my feet. I turned and tried to help Shiv climb from the awkward position on the floorboard. But she was still struggling to get out of the tight spot when arms went around my waist and pulled me away.
“Wait! My friend! We can’t leave her there, Butch!”
Instead of some kind of snarky reply, he kept walking, easily carrying me. Something was wrong. This was all wrong. More shots rang out. Eagle wouldn’t have wanted me in the line of fire.
“What the fuck are you doing, Butch?” I asked as I started trying to free myself from his grasp.
“Shut up and nothing will happen to you.” Butch walked around to the driver’s side of the car and stepped over the man, trying to push me inside.
I put my arms on the door frame and kicked my legs as hard as I could. “Eagle! Eagle!” I screamed as loud as I could. Looking through the car out of the passenger side window, Shiv was sitting in the SUV, looking at me with wide eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Hey!” Eagle shouted, but Butch didn’t let up.
Butch kept pushing. “Get in the car or I will kill you, Lacy.”
“I’d rather die than go with you!” I screeched out. Movement in my peripheral caught my attention and it must have caught Butch’s, because his pushing let up enough for me to slip between him and the car, so I took off running.
Eagle was already almost to me and I pounded the pavement trying to get to him. I could barely see as we closed the distance and it all seemed to be going in slow motion. “Eddie,” I mouthed, unable to even get the sound out as I ran as fast as I could.
His look of determination turned to horror. “Lacy! Get down!” He raised his gun and shots rang out just as he plowed into me and rolled our bodies.
We fell to the ground and a loud engine came to life. Tilting my head, I screamed as the car started to move toward us. But right before it got to us, Jackal came running over and somehow tossed us out of the way.
When I opened my eyes, Jackal winced and grabbed at his thigh as he fell to his knees and the car peeled out.
Eddie wasn’t moving and Falcon came running over. “Eagle! Eagle, wake up man,” he said as he smacked his cheek.
I scrambled to my knees and leaned over him. “Oh my God,” I sobbed as I looked down and blood spread over his shirt.
Looking up, Shiv was running to Jackal and knelt down next to him. My heartbeat was all I could hear as I looked down at Eddie.
My tears fell onto his shirt and his eyes cracked open. “Lacy, baby, don’t cry.”
“Eddie, you can’t die on me now,” I said through sobs.
“We gotta get the fuck out of here,” Falcon said as he stood up. He grabbed Eagle by the cut then heaved him over his shoulder. “Jackal, get her,” he said motioning to Shiv, “and get back to the clubhouse. Who rode with you?”
I ran to Jackal; Shiv and I helped him up. He had something wrapped tightly around his leg, but I didn’t bother to see what it was. “I’m good, ladies,” he said with a grin as he looked down at my friend. “Rooster has the box truck.”
Falcon put Eagle into the SUV we were kidnapped in and turned around. “Can you drive? We need the truck for the bikes.”
Jackal hobbled to the SUV with Shiv’s arm around his waist. She helped him into the back seat with Eagle.
“You want me to steal this?” I asked.
Falcon gripped my shoulders. “They stole you , Lacy. Now get in the fucking seat and drive to the clubhouse as fast as you can.” He slammed a key into my hand.
Furiously nodding, I said, “Okay, okay. I can do that.” Shiv climbed in the passenger seat. I looked over to see Falcon grabbing the guy off the ground as the box truck I’d seen parked at the clubhouse came pulling in.
Rooster jumped out and opened the back. There were three bikes already inside and they tossed the man in the back with them. Falcon looked up and pointed, then waved. Not wanting to waste more time, I cranked the SUV and handed my phone to Shiv.
“We need the address,” I called out.
Jackal gave her the info for the clubhouse. I didn’t know where the hell we were and we had to go.
“Got it. How you doing back there? How’s the leg?” Shiv asked.
Jackal answered as I peeled through the opened gate, “I’m okay. Just worried about this little guy.”
A tearful laugh escaped me. There weren’t many people that could call Eagle little. “Is he awake? Eddie? Eddie? Talk to me please.”
Looking at the map but trying to keep it steady, I said, “Shiv, change that to avoid highways.”
“You’re Shiv?” Eagle asked in a strained voice.
She changed the route and turned with a big smile. “Hi, yeah. It’s short for Shivana. I’m originally from Trinidad, but I’ve lived in the states since I was a kid. And not to sound bossy, but you, biker daddy, you need to keep pressure on his wound until we get to the hospital.”
I whipped my head to her. “Shiv, we’re not going to a hospital.”
Her eyes bugged out of her head. “Um, what the fuck do you mean? We can’t let him bleed out!”
“How are you with gunshots?” I asked.
“Lacy, what part of ‘I don’t like blood’ did you not understand?” she asked as she waved her hands wildly.
“I’m sorry. Okay, but he can’t go to a hospital.”
Jackal said, “One of the guys can patch him up. Just get back to the clubhouse.”
“ Patch him up ?” Shiv asked, emphasizing each word. “You can’t just patch that up. He’s already lost a ton of blood. And if there’s a bullet in there, it has to come out.”
“I’m alright, Shivana,” Eagle mumbled.
She turned around again. “Hey, don’t talk. Save your energy. And you keep the pressure on it,” she instructed Jackal.
I rubbed tears from my eyes nearly the whole way back to the clubhouse. Once we made it to the side road that led to the clubhouse driveway, I floored it. It was eerily quiet, but Shiv had told him to save his energy.
When we finally pulled up to the door, several members ran outside and helped get him out of the back. I jumped out without even turning the engine off and ran to him. When we made under the light, his skin was ashen and his lips were turning blue.
“Eagle. Eagle. Talk to me,” I said as my lips trembled. But he didn’t answer me. “Eagle!” I shouted as I grabbed at his lifeless body.
Daisy ran out and grabbed me as I tried to go with them. “Let them work, Lacy. I got you.”
I fought and yelled, “Eddie! Please wake up!” as new tears streamed down my face, stinging where I’d rubbed my eyes raw.
Falcon came out of nowhere and tried to talk to me as Daisy struggled to keep me still, but I didn’t hear anything except blood rushing in my ears. Shiv and Jackal pushed their way inside and Mama Hen came running from her house, passing us and following them.
My whole body trembled and I kept fighting as I screamed, “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!”