Chapter Twenty-Six
Chloe
Two full days. That’s how long it had been since I’d heard from Pike. Or Faith. Or anyone else associated with Steel Demons MC.
I told myself it was nothing. Told myself they were just busy, caught up in the club business that required Pike to leave so suddenly.
I tried to talk myself off the ledge, tried not to worry.
But the silence, especially overnight, was so loud and so heavy that it drowned every attempt at logical thought.
Something was wrong. I just knew it.
I couldn’t shake the thought that something had happened to him.
It was the only explanation for why he or Faith hadn’t called me yet.
I tried to get through the day with a smile on my face, kept up the facade that all was right and good with the world.
As soon as dinner was over on that second night, I picked up the phone and called Faith, but it went straight to voicemail.
Again.
“Hey, this is Faith. Leave a message.”
I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Faith, it’s me. Call me back. Please.” My voice shook and I ended the call hoping I’d hear from my sister soon.
“Mommy, want to read together?” Gemma appeared at my side with a beautiful smile that was simply irresistible.
“I sure do. What are we reading?”
She produced a book from behind her back, smiling even wider. “This one. I want to read it to you!”
“That sounds wonderful.” I settled on the sofa and pulled her onto my lap, snuggling close because I knew in a few years she’d be far too mature for such things.
We read three books before she fell asleep mid-sentence.
A smile touched my lips as I held her close, dressing her in pajamas before I tucked her in for the night.
It was all so normal, going through our routine. It helped keep my mind off Pike, at least until I turned off the light and left the door open just enough to let a slash of light get through. And then my thoughts went wild. Absolutely wild.
I imagined him lying half dead on the side of the road, his body riddled with bullets meant for me.
My mind raced so wildly that between checking the house and jumping at every sound, I only managed an hour of sleep before I had to get up and get ready for a new day.
And I did it all with a smile on my face that I didn’t feel.
I made pancakes for breakfast, and we both ate far too many of them while ignoring the fact that Pike’s seat sat empty. After breakfast we took a swim in the lake, the sound of Gemma’s childish laughter was exactly the balm I needed for tattered nerves and fractured heart.
“Mommy, you left the butter on the table,” Gemma said shortly after lunch.
“I know,” I grinned at her. “I thought we’d make some cookies. How does that sound?”
She bounced up and down, practically bursting with excitement. “Yay! What kind?” She clasped her hands together and waited for the important details.
“Well,” I began, tapping my chin as if I had to think about it. “I have some chocolate we can chop up for chocolate chunk cookies.
“Oh my god, Mommy! Yes, yes, yes!” Gemma clapped her hands and her little body shook. “I love chocolate chunk cookies the best!”
That was my exact reason for searching the cabinets until I found a large chocolate brick. My goal was to make these days feel like the summer vacations, she’d been denied over the past few years while we were hiding out. While we’d hit pause on living our lives.
My phone hadn’t rung or buzzed at all and I knew, without a doubt, that Pike wasn’t okay.
Something had happened, that was the only reason he hadn’t reached out, I knew that. However I couldn’t bring myself to think about it further than that. He was injured, maybe unconscious, but I couldn’t bring myself to think that he was no longer with us.
That I would never get to see his face again. That thought hurt too much, so I shoved it down as deep as I could—with both hands—and focused on Gemma and keeping her safe. Making her happy.
He’s not dead. He couldn’t be, because if he was then that small spark of hope, of happiness that I’d experienced with him, the new beginnings I started fantasizing about, it would all die with him.
“Mommy,” Gemma began with melted chocolate staining the corners of her mouth, looking innocent as if she hadn’t just eaten a handful of chocolate chips.
“Yeah, baby?”
“When is Mr. Pike coming back?” she asked the question so casually but when I didn’t answer right away, those big green eyes watched me carefully. Too carefully.
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and sighed. “He’s helping Uncle T-Bone and Auntie Faith, and his other friends with something really important.” It was a perfect non-answer.
And it worked. Gemma shrugged and went back to stirring the cookie dough with a wooden spoon that was nearly as tall as her. “I like Mr. Pike,” she began as if we were picking up a thread of conversation. “He’s nice and he smiles at me lots.”
I thought about all the times I’d seen them together and she was right, Pike always wore an amused smile as if he couldn’t believe she was real. It was a look that perfectly mimicked how I felt about my little girl. “Yeah,” I agreed. “He does.”
Gemma slid the bowl in my direction, silently asking for more chocolate chips, smiling when I gave her what she wanted.
“And he never yells at you, not even when he’s mad. Daddy always scared me when he was mad.”
Her words knocked the wind out of me because it was my worst fear come to life.
She remembered more than I guessed about our life with Marcus.
I hoped, hell I prayed, that she remembered nothing.
Hoped that the first three years of her life would be memories lost to time.
My hand went to her shoulder. “No sweetheart, he doesn’t.
” Not when he was frustrated with me or angry at the world, he didn’t yell.
He was firm and he could be grumpy as hell, but he was a kind man.
“No more stirring,” I told her once I got my emotions in check.
Together we formed the cookies and put them on baking sheets, a job that allowed Gemma to stay up later than usual. She was grateful and giddy, until her lids began to slide shut sometime after the second batch.
“Okay, munchkin, time for bed.” I waited for the expected whining and bargaining but none came.
“Okay,” she said around a yawn, raising her hands for me to pick her up.
I knew I’d properly worn her out when she let me brush her teeth without any push back.
She accepted one bedtime story as my limit and then fell asleep before we reached the end, and she didn’t even ask for a glass of water, which was her usual ploy to delay bedtime.
I sat on the bed and watched her, so innocent and peaceful, until her breathing deepened and she was asleep.
I made my way downstairs to finish the final batch of cookies in silence, and I took my time cleaning the kitchen because what else was I going to do? Three dozen cookies later, there was still no word from Faith.
No word from Pike.
The silence started to press in all around me and then panic wrapped its arms around me and squeezed.
What if they were all dead?
What if Faith was dead too, and that’s why no one had called to let me know what was going on?
What if the Ghost Riders MC had won, and now they were coming for me and Gemma, and we were sitting ducks out here all alone and with limited firepower?
Suddenly, I was convinced that was the truth and I debated leaving the cabin altogether. Don’t be ridiculous, I told myself, slowly talking myself back from the edge. I couldn’t leave. I wouldn’t. The Ghost Riders didn’t know where I was.
It would be stupid to leave. I slowly sank into the sofa, relaxing as much as possible even as my mind was a jumbled mess. Just as I was starting to calm myself down a noise jolted me back.
There it was again.
Someone was trying to open the door.
My hands went numb, and my arms and legs tingled uncontrollably. My heart pounded and panic swelled within me, climbing up my throat until it was hot and scratchy.
Every instinct I had yelled at me to move, and I did. I sat straight up, my gaze darting around the room as I took stock of all the places potential weapons were hidden. The gun closet was too far away so I grabbed the nearest thing I could find, which in this case, was a baseball bat.
I crept towards the door with the bat in my hand. My heart pounded wildly and my hands shook but I gripped it tighter, waiting for the door to open.
The knob twisted again, and I stood there, trying like hell to slow my breathing.
The door opened and I swung the bat with all my strength.
The figure dropped to the floor with a grunt but I still gripped the bat tight, knowing the Ghost Riders wouldn’t show up alone.
“Holy shit!” a familiar feminine voice exclaimed, out of view but recognizable.
My heart skipped. “Faith?”
Slowly she stepped into view. “Nice aim, sis. But next time try not to kill my man, okay?” her gaze flicked to the ground and worry instantly filled me.
“Oh God!” I dropped the bat and rushed to the giant on the floor. “T-Bone, are you okay?”
He grabbed my hands to still them and smiled. “Yeah,” he grunted. “Nice attempt. Too bad for you I have excellent reflexes.”
I froze. “You’re okay? I didn’t hurt you?” Before he could answer, I offered my hand to help him to his feet.
He got up, rubbing his arm. Though once he was standing in front of me, the hint of a smile that danced at the corners of his mouth vanished and his expression turned grave.
I don’t know where it went but all the blood left my body. “What is it?” I already knew what it was, and the question was just a delay tactic. My arms went around my body in a protective gesture. “He’s dead, isn’t he?” There was no other reason for them to be here. “Just tell me.”