Chapter 18
Jed
Jed was on his way back from chasing down leads when he called Cutter, asking him to bring Sadie to her apartment.
She reminded him before he left that they would need a change of clothes while staying at the clubhouse, and asked if someone might be able to take her to her apartment to grab a few things.
He hated that she was forced to stay there, but with all the brothers out searching for Tinker, he couldn’t leave her alone.
Knowing the prospects and a few of Preacher’s men were providing protection while they were out eased his worry a little.
He planned on asking her to move in with him, hopefully before the baby was born. He would rest easier knowing she wasn’t climbing up and down those stairs in her condition, possibly taking a tumble down them during bad weather. The thought of her falling down those stairs made him physically sick.
From what he’d seen of her apartment, they didn’t have a lot of stuff to move.
The furniture came with the apartment. All they had were their clothes, a few personal things, and a Christmas tree.
It would be so much easier to move them before she started buying a bunch of baby stuff.
When it was time to put the crib together, he’d like to only have to do it once and not have to assemble it, take it apart, and reassemble it at his house.
Just thinking about her and Oliver moving into his house excited him. He couldn’t wait to ask her and planned on doing it the first chance he got.
Headlights turned down the alley, illuminating the interior of his truck.
He recognized the vehicle as one of the club’s as it pulled in next to him.
Sadie was already smiling as she got out of the car.
Cutter rolled down the passenger side window and greeted him.
Jed thanked him for bringing her and waved him off.
“Why are you smiling so big?” Her smile was infectious as he took her hand in his and led the way to the stairs.
“I’m so happy to be out of the clubhouse. No offense, but it’s nice to have a moment without a large group of people being all up in my space.” She started up the steps.
“No. I get it. Lockdowns are rough. Too many people in too little space. That’s why we built the rec center.
The kids would go stir crazy, and the older they are, the rougher they play.
” They weren’t in an official lockdown, but the brothers liked having their families watched over while they were out looking for Tinker.
No one wanted to risk giving the fucker a different target when he couldn’t get his hands on Sadie.
He unlocked the door and entered first. He flipped the light switch on and told her to wait by the door while he took a look around.
He was almost to the mouth of the hall when he heard her locking the door.
He checked each room before returning to her.
“Okay. We’re all good. Let’s pack what you need and head back. ”
Sadie pulled a laundry basket from the hall closet and went to her room first. “How long am I packing for?”
“I don’t know, but pack for several days. We’ve had some promising leads, and we’re all hoping this ends in the next couple of days.”
She pulled out a pair of jeans, some sweats, and a pair of leggings, tossing them in the basket, followed by socks, panties, and shirts.
In the closet, she pulled out a jacket. She then gathered up her toiletries from the bathroom before moving on to Oliver’s room.
After she put a few sets of clothes in the basket for him, she grabbed his teddy bear off the bed and added that.
She started to reach for the basket, but he beat her to it.
“Is this everything?”
“No. I need to find my laptop and eReader from the other room.”
He followed her to the kitchen, where she added the rest of what she wanted.
“Okay. Now, that’s it.”
“All right. Let’s head back.” He stepped out onto the landing and waited for her to lock up before leading the way downstairs.
He set the basket in the backseat, then climbed behind the wheel.
He waited until he was on the main road again before he broached the subject of moving in.
He’d never asked anyone to move in with him before, and he was nervous.
He cleared his throat. “When this is all over, and Tinker has been dealt with, I want you and Oliver to move in with me. I know you’re going to think it’s too soon, but in case I haven’t been clear, you’re it for me.
I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I don’t see any reason for us to wait to spend our lives together. ”
When she didn’t immediately respond, he turned to look at her.
She was staring at him. Was she trying to figure out a way to turn him down?
He quickly went on to plead his case. “If you think about it, now would be a good time to move you and Oliver in. You don’t have a lot of stuff other than your clothes and a few personal things.
If we did it before you started accumulating a lot of baby stuff, that would make fewer trips up and down the stairs. ”
He chanced another look when she still didn’t say anything. “Say something, Sadie.”
“Is this your way of asking me to marry you?” She was trying hard not to laugh.
His brows dipped as he thought back over what he’d blurted out, and he supposed that he had done that in a roundabout kind of way.
Damn it. That wasn’t how he planned on proposing to her.
Well, he couldn’t take it back now. “That wasn’t an official proposal, but yes, I do want to marry you.
I wanted to do it right. I wanted to do something memorable that you’d always remember when I asked you to marry me.
” He rubbed a hand along his jaw. “I fucked that up, didn’t I? ”
She reached over and touched his arm, drawing his attention. “Yes. Oliver and I will move in with you, and when you do decide to get around to asking me to marry you, the answer is yes.”
He smiled, thrilled to hear her answer. “That’s good to know, but just remember I plan to ask you again when everything isn’t so crazy.”
He made the turn that would lead out of town and take them to the clubhouse. Hopefully, with a little luck, Kylie had discovered the addresses of the other men Misty told them about yesterday. Surely, one of them would roll over on Tinker.
Bright lights suddenly blinded him from behind. He flipped his rearview mirror to deflect the worst of it. It didn’t stop the brightness from coming at him from his side mirror, though. “What the hell is wrong with this jackass?”
An uneasy feeling settled low in his gut, telling him this wasn’t right and they might be in trouble.
Bam!
His head jerked from the force of the vehicle ramming into the back of his truck.
“What the fuck?” He checked his rearview mirror and saw that the van was speeding up, set on ramming them again.
“Hold on! They’re coming again!” He sped up, hoping to outrun the fucker, but it was staying glued to his ass. “Are you all right?”
“Yes!” Sadie was grasping the grab handle above the door and the console.
He had a really good idea who was doing this. Fucking Tinker. Jed had to protect Sadie. He couldn’t let him get his hands on her. He hit the call button on his steering wheel and dialed Race.
“Jed.”
“Race! I got someone on my ass, trying to run my truck off the road. I think it’s Tinker.
” It had to be. It couldn’t be anyone else.
They weren’t having any problems with anyone else, and as far as he knew, he hadn’t pissed anyone off bad enough to try and kill him.
“I have Sadie with me and we’re about to pass the old Jennings farm on our way to the clubhouse. ”
Bam!
He tried to correct the direction of his truck when he was hit from behind again. His hands spun the wheel this way and that until he had it in the middle of the road once more. God help them if they ran into oncoming traffic.
“We’re on our way. Hold tight.” The line disconnected. He prayed Race and the brothers got to them before Tinker succeeded in killing them.
He saw the road curve to the left up ahead.
He slowed down to take it low and inside while praying no one was in that lane to meet him head-on.
He came out of the curve and started to straighten his truck when he saw the van coming up on his left side in his side mirror.
He tried to cut in front of it, but it was too late.
The van jerked their wheel, ramming into the back quarter panel of his truck, sending it into a spin.
“Hold on!” he shouted at Sadie. There was no way he could keep the truck under control.
He slammed on his brakes as it went off the road, the tree line quickly approaching.
They came to a sudden, jarring stop as they hit a large oak tree.
The airbags deployed, filling the cab with smoke and chemicals, and sending them both into a coughing fit.
“Sadie?” His voice came out hoarse.
“I’m okay.”
He checked his mirrors and saw a group of men jumping out of the van, heading their way.
“Stick your phone in your boot. Hurry.” He could see the men getting closer.
If she managed to hang on to it, Kylie should be able to trace her phone to wherever they were being taken.
It was their only hope of Race and the club finding them.
Sadie hurried to do as she was told. She pulled her phone from her purse and shoved it in her boot.
She was pushing the leg of her pants down over her boot when someone showed up outside each of their doors.
A dark-haired man tapped the end of his gun on her window.
He smiled and flicked his tongue like a snake at her.
Sadie’s lip curled at his crude behavior.
“Unlock your door,” the man told her.
Sadie looked at Jed, asking without saying a word, what should she do?
He nodded his head once. “Go ahead. Unlock it.”