Chapter 18 #2
She did as he said as he unlocked his own.
Where they allowed her to step out on her own, Lyle reached inside and yanked Jed out, almost causing him to fall to the ground.
“Come on.” Lyle shoved him hard between the shoulder blades, causing him to stumble over a snow-covered fallen branch.
Jed's gaze narrowed on him, letting him know Lyle was a dead man if he got half a chance.
He trudged to the van behind Sadie and climbed inside.
“I’ve waited a long fucking time for this,” Tinker said right before he swung the butt of a gun at Jed’s head. He blacked out to Sadie screaming his name.
* * *
Jed
Jed wasn’t sure how long or how far they’d been driving, having been knocked out for part of the ride.
The van had no windows for him to see outside and he doubted he’d be able to make out anything in the dark from his position in the floor.
He checked on Sadie again to see how she was holding up.
Her mouth was set in a flat line and her eyes shot sparks of anger.
That was his girl. As tough as they came.
The van came to a rough stop, almost throwing them to the floor.
There were three men in the back of the van with them.
The one who’d taken Sadie from his truck had black hair and a beard.
The other had gray hair and a scar through his left eyebrow.
The last was bald and wore gauges in his ears.
It was the first one that snickered as he and Sadie scrambled to stay upright.
He wasn’t sure who these men were, but he’d bet money that they were the men Misty told them about.
Lyle shut the engine off, and both he and Tinker climbed out.
Jed wasn’t sure how far they’d driven, but he was hoping it wasn’t too far that it would take the club a long time to find them.
He wanted to ask Sadie if the phone was still safely tucked inside her boot, but couldn’t in front of all these men.
The man who’d gotten Sadie out of the truck jumped out first, then reached in and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her roughly outside.
She immediately sank into snow that came up to her knees.
The bald guy jumped out next and demanded that Jed exit the vehicle.
“Don’t try anything or Snake will take it out on the woman,” he said.
Not wanting to give Snake a reason to hurt Sadie, he gritted his teeth and did as he was told. Stepping down, he took in his surroundings and almost fell over in shock. Holy shit. They were at the club cabin. No wonder they couldn’t find him.
The bald guy shoved hard from behind. “Move it. It’s fucking cold out here.”
Shooting daggers at the asshole, he followed in Sadie’s and Snake’s footsteps.
Inside the door, he stopped to look around.
Tinker already had Sadie sitting on a wooden chair over by the fireplace.
Snake was adding wood to the coals to get it going again.
Tinker stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder and a gun pointed at her head, ensuring Jed’s cooperation.
“Come over here and have a seat.” He tipped his head at the empty chair facing hers. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”
“How long have you been squatting here?” he asked as he took a seat, resting his arms loosely on the arms of the chair. He did a quick head to toe scan of Sadie to make sure no one had hurt her while he’d been out.
“Few days. Had to find somewhere to lay low. Didn’t want Race catching up to me before I was ready.” Tinker’s closed-mouth smirk pissed Jed off.
“Take their coats, Lyle.”
Tinker’s prison buddy smiled like a grinning idiot, happy to do everything Tinker said. He brought some rope over and ordered Jed to remove his coat. He then tied his arms from wrists to elbow to the arms of the chair before moving to Sadie and doing the same.
“Okay. Now you’ve got us. What now?” Jed wanted to keep Tinker talking, hoping to give the club time to mount a rescue.
Instead of answering him, he turned to the other four men in the room. “I need you guys to do a perimeter check.”
“What? Outside?” Snake’s look was incredulous.
“Yes, outside. That would be where the perimeter is.” Tinker talked to the man like he was an idiot. His sarcasm was completely lost on the guy.
“But it’s cold out there,” Snake continued to complain.
“Do you want to do as you’re told or do you want me to quit supplying you with EZ Lay?”
Snake seemed to debate whether it was worth freezing his dick off in order to keep getting his EZ Lay fix or not. In the end, he followed the other men outside.
Once the door closed behind the last of them, Tinker turned his attention back to Jed. “I want to thank you for making this so easy for me.”
“How did I make what easy for you?”
“You made getting my hands on the two of you easy by going to her apartment. I waited in the shadows for you to leave and followed you until we could run you off the road.”
Fuck. Had he been so wrapped up in his conversation with Sadie that he hadn’t been as vigilant as he should have been?
Was this his fault that he and Sadie were being held prisoner?
Yes. It was his fault. He knew better. He should never have told Cutter to bring her to him.
Instead, he should have called her and asked her what she needed from the apartment.
She would be safe back at the clubhouse right now had he not been so overconfident in his skills of keeping her safe. At least Oliver wasn’t with them.
Tinker walked to the fireplace and back.
“I’ve waited for this day for over ten fucking years.
All I thought about while I lay in my bunk every night was how I was going to get my hands on you and make you suffer before I finally killed you.
It’s all your fault that I went away. If you had saved me instead of Dagger, I wouldn’t have lost ten years of my life!
The club should have been mine after Monk died!
I should have been running things! I helped create this fucking club and what thanks do I get?
” He continued to pace back and forth, getting more agitated the longer he talked.
“I’m treated no better than a goddamn prospect!
No one tells me anything. I had to find out from a fucking waitress that the club owned the goddamn strip club.
I should have been treated with respect for being an original!
You’ve all turned the Sons into a bunch of sniveling pussies.
You’ve got ankle biters running around the club for God’s sake.
You have old ladies hanging out instead of a stable of whores.
And you gave the fucking whores rights! Who the fuck does that? !”
He stopped behind Sadie and put his hands on her shoulders.
She flinched as he gave her a rough squeeze.
“Even the dancers and waitresses should be dropping to their knees and sucking our cocks anytime we want. Instead, you let them think they don’t have to service the brothers to keep their jobs. What the fuck?”
He fisted her hair in his hand and jerked her head back.
“You think you’re too good for me, but you’ll spread your legs for him?
Seriously? After you fucked the moose, Darren?
” He shoved her head roughly forward. “I mean, you’re carrying another man’s baby, for God’s sake.
And you still have this one panting around after you like you’ve got a golden snatch.
Hmm? Is that it?” He reached around and grabbed her between the legs.
She stiffened, but otherwise, she didn’t let on how much she despised his touch.
By the time Tinker took a moment to catch his breath from his tirade, Jed was desperate to get him away from Sadie. “You know what? I didn’t save you because Dagger was closer, and honestly, I just never liked you. I was glad to see you go to prison.”
Tinker stomped over to Jed and backhanded him so hard, it was a wonder his chair didn’t tip over. He heard Sadie gasp, but refused to look her way. He had to keep Tinker’s attention on him. He laughed and spit a mouthful of blood on the floor. “That the best you’ve got?”
Tinker backhanded him again, then punched him in the stomach, knocking the breath from him. He shouldn’t be shocked that the man could hit so hard, considering he had nothing to do all day long in prison but work out and lift weights.
He watched Tinker move back to Sadie. He grabbed her around the chin, his fingers digging into her face.
He pulled out a hunting knife and ran the dull edge along her cheek, then down her throat.
Jed clenched his teeth hard to keep from shouting at him to leave her alone.
It was exactly the kind of reaction he was trying to get out of him.
He fisted his hands on the ends of the chair arms, his whole body tense from waiting on Tinker’s next move. He didn’t have long to wait.
The bastard used the sharp edge of his blade to cut Sadie’s shirt up the middle. She held her breath, not moving an inch as the two halves fell to the sides.
“Hey. I was wondering something.” He needed to draw his attention back to him. “They say in prison, everyone is someone’s bitch. Who did you belong to? Lyle?”
Tinker roared as he raced back to Jed, red staining his cheeks and his eyes wild.
He reared back and shoved the blade into his gut, causing him to grunt and double over in pain.
Sadie screamed, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying over the roaring in his ears.
The wet sound of the knife being pulled out of his body was something he’d never forget. If he lived that long.
“You always were a smart-mouthed son of a bitch.” Tinker stood over him, his smile pure evil as he held the knife at his side with Jed’s blood dripping off the tip.
“You’re fucking dead,” Jed panted.
Tinker threw his head back, laughing at his obviously weak threat. He opened his mouth to say something else when the front door opened and Lyle stuck his head inside. “You got a minute?”
Jed watched a muscle in Tinker’s jaw jump at having been interrupted.
“It’s Snake.”
After a count of three, he stepped outside with Lyle.
“Jed? Look at me.” Sadie’s sweet voice drew him back from the black edges trying to seep into his vision. Even with tears running down her cheeks, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“It’ll be okay, baby. Race is on the way.” Then he frowned as he wondered if she still had the phone on her. “Do you still?” his eyes dipped to her boot.
She nodded quickly. “Yes.” She licked the tears from her upper lip. “I can’t believe he stabbed you. Why would you provoke him like that?”
His head felt heavy, like it was hard for his neck to bear the weight any longer. “Because I would do anything to keep him from hurting you. Even knowing what he would do to me.” His head dropped forward, and his eyes felt so heavy, he just wanted to sleep for a minute.
“Jed. Jed!”
He shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times. He finally got his head to raise.
“I love you so much, Jed. Please hold on. Please don’t leave me,” she begged.
“I love you, too, baby. I’ll try. You do whatever it takes to stay alive long enough for Race to make it here. You understand?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I mean it. Whatever it takes.”
The door opened, and Tinker returned. His jaw tightened as he tried to reel in his obvious frustration. Something happened. Was Race here?
“Snake wanting to come back inside already?” Jed’s voice sounded weak to his own ears. If the club didn’t hurry up, he could bleed out. Then what would happen to Sadie?
“Fucking pussy took off. He couldn’t handle the cold.” Tinker ran a hand over his beard, appearing to be thinking.
“It’s hard to find good help today, right?” He coughed, his energy fading. Hang on. Hang on, he told himself.
“I wanted to drag this out a little longer, but I have a feeling Race won’t be far behind you.
” Moving back to Sadie, he held his knife in front of her.
“I’m going to untie you. If you try anything I’m going to help you out with that baby situation you’ve got going on.
Get me?” He pressed the tip of the knife to her stomach just enough to nick her.
A drop of blood formed a bead before slowly sliding down her belly.
She gasped and tried to shrink back from him, but had nowhere to go. “Yes. I understand you.”
“Good.” He made quick work of cutting her loose. “Now get up.”
She got to her feet slowly, her shirt falling open. There was a thin pink line where Tinker had cut her, mocking Jed’s inability to protect her.
“Take off your clothes,” Tinker commanded. He’d traded his knife for his gun.
She glanced Jed’s way, her cheeks pink from embarrassment, her eyes reflecting how badly she wanted to kill Tinker.
He gave her a nod, telling her it was okay and not to fight the man who was probably going to rape her.
She had to stay alive, and she had to think of the baby until the club got here to rescue her.
Whether he was still alive when they got her was another story.
He felt his strength fading fast. Sweat formed on his brow, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open.
Sadie’s mouth formed a grim line as she let her ruined shirt fall to the floor.
She held her head high, defiant even as she did as she was instructed.
Shit. She was going to have to take off her boots to remove her jeans.
Tinker was going to find the phone. Would he be smart enough to know her phone could be traced?
That they had a computer genius at their disposal who could do it?
She shimmied her pants down her legs, having to stop because of her boots. “I need to sit down to get my boots off.”
Tinker nodded. Jed hated the hungry gleam in his eyes. Like he couldn’t wait to eat her up. Only he wouldn’t be nice or gentle about it. Tinker had a reputation for being especially violent with his women. He got off on hurting them. The more they fought, the better he liked it.
She sat down, bunching her jeans down over her boots, slipping her feet out without dislodging the phone. Good girl. Maybe it was tangled in the folds of her pants? He didn’t know and didn’t care as long as Tinker didn’t find it.
Jed jerked his head up immediately as it fell forward.
Fuck. Tinker had Sadie over on the couch.
He had her pinned down, and she was struggling against him.
He saw Tinker backhand her, splitting her lip.
The sound of her screams sent shivers of anger down his spine, but there was nothing he could do.
Then there was only darkness.