Chapter 13 Mountain
“Where is he?” I ask Phantom as we leave the bakery.
I didn’t mention that we found the prospect Scythe assigned to help protect my woman, gutted behind the building.
It would have upset Cami. I’ll tell her if she asks, but I don’t want to worry her since that bastard is still out there, possibly watching us right now.
“Boomer took care of the scene. It’s contained.”
“Any tourists see Cody?” Even though we called him just a prospect until he patched in, we all knew his name. Cody’s family will be devastated when they hear he’s dead.
“Not that I’ve heard.” Phantom looks as pissed as I feel. “He was just a kid, Mountain. Twenty-one years old.”
Fuck. “I know.”
“We have to find this guy. This town isn’t that big. We would have seen him if he was staying here.”
“Not if he’s walking around without a disguise. No one has seen his face. Not even Cami.”
“Well, shit. You’re right. He could be anyone.”
And that was the frustrating part. He could walk right by us, and we’d never know. He probably already did.
But I’m counting on his obsessed need for Cami to drive him to desperation and make a mistake. She’s protected now, much harder to get to than where she lived in L.A. He has to work harder to see her and get close. That’s gotta piss him off.
“He’s escalating.”
Phantom is right. The stalker has killed someone now. He’s spilled the blood of a prospect, and by extension, the club. Retaliation is coming. The Kings don’t back down and certainly don’t allow anyone to fuck with us.
This is our town. Justice is coming.
Phantom tilts his head to the side. “What’s that smell?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about. I nearly tell him that until I smell it too. Smoke. There’s a fire somewhere close.
“The arsonist,” he blurts before running in the direction of the fire.
That motherfucker just set another building on fire.
I chase after Phantom, hoping we arrive in time to prevent another disaster and destroyed business. Black smoke is already billowing into the air as we arrive. It’s the sheriff’s office.
Phantom hollers for me to call 9-1-1. The front window has been broken, and I can see a figure on the ground inside. Fuck!
There’s no time to waste as I make the call, telling the operator we’ll need an ambulance too. I don’t know if the person inside is dead, but I have a horrible feeling it’s Boomer inside. Scythe is going to lose his shit.
The only club brother I’d let run into a burning building is Phantom. The flames won’t hurt him. He’s already fading into the shadows, using their cloak to protect his body.
That’s the tricky, fascinating part of being spelled by Salem witches. Some of the founding family bloodlines have unique abilities. Phantom can briefly become incorporeal.
He’s dragging the person inside toward the door as I hear sirens. I rush to help him, cursing as I see it really is Boomer. I help him drag the big guy outside and away from the flames that are starting to engulf the interior.
Boomer groans. There’s blood dripping from a wound on the side of his head. “Call Scythe,” he rasps, turning his head to cough.
When I see the soot on his face, it takes me right back to the night my parents died. I swallow down the sorrow and swipe across my cell, hoping Scythe answers.
“Mountain? Are you downtown?”
“Yeah, Pres. You need to come here now. Boomer’s hurt.”
His voice is too calm when he answers me. “How bad?”
“The arsonist set another fire. The sheriff’s office.”
“Fuck! Tell my brother I’m on my way.”
“I will.”
Scythe ends the call as I see Braden rush toward the scene with a hose. They’ll be able to save this building. Most of the interior is charred, but it’s not destroyed as the Butter Bliss had been.
I don’t get it. Why burn the Butter Bliss and now here? Why start the fires at all? It doesn’t accomplish a damn thing.
Just as the horrible truth pops into my head, I hear gunshots. My gut churns because I know from the direction of the shots, it’s coming from the bakery. I can’t wait for the club or Scythe. Not when Cami is in danger.
I rush toward her and hope I’m not too late.
CAMILLE
HAYRIDE SEEMS ANXIOUS. He’s pacing as he glances out the front windows of the Butter Bliss. It’s like he can sense that danger is close, and he can’t stay still because of it.
I hope Rex comes back soon. It’s getting late. The sun set hours ago, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.
Hayride is probably jittery because he’s had three cups of coffee, and I don’t make it weak. I’ve had two myself. We’ve eaten several of the cinnamon rolls I made, and the rest are boxed up for Rex and Granny Jo.
There’s not much else I can do inside the bakery unless I want to make cupcakes or biscotti.
I’m still waiting for a big order delivery to finish stocking the shelves.
Every inch of space is clean, organized, and unpacked to the best of my ability.
There’s more work to do, but I’m pleased with the progress.
The Butter Bliss will be open for business soon.
Hayride stops pacing. His body tenses, which immediately puts me on alert. He’s facing the windows. “What the fuck is that?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about. It’s too dark outside, and with the lights on in the store, I can’t see anything other than empty streets. It’s past closing time for the Fear Farm, and the crowds have left.
Nobody should be wandering around outside. There’s nothing open and no reason to be out there.
“Duck!” Hayride shots, and I react without thinking, dropping behind the new countertop that was just installed, along with the glass display cases.
There’s a crash, and glass shatters. Something heavy hit the panes and tumbled across the floor, landing a few feet from where I’m crouched. I see a huge brick and blink, barely realizing this is intentional, before I hear gunshots.
I drop to the ground and scream Hayride’s name.
He doesn’t answer. There’s only a groan.
Shit! I sneak a peek around the corner and see him flat on his back. There’s glass on the floor around him since the brick shattered one of the windows. Blood soaks into the white shirt he’s wearing underneath his leather vest.
Oo, no!
I don’t have my phone. It’s on a table too far away for me to reach. I don’t want to move since I don’t know if the shooter is out there, ready to spray bullets the second I pop my head out.
“Cami.” Hayride’s voice sounds rough. “Run! Get to Rex.”
I don’t answer him because he passes out.
“Camille,” a gritty male voice calls from outside the broken windows. “Come out, come out wherever you are.” The sing-song chant belongs to the stalker. He’s back.
I need to get my phone. Since the stalker knows I’m here, there’s no point in hiding. Slowly, I stand, backing away from the entrance to the store, and moving toward the table in my line of sight. If I can get to it, I can call Rex.
When I glance at the window, I see the stalker. He’s no longer outside but stepping over the broken glass and moving toward me.
“Leave the phone. You won’t need it.”
I shake my head. This isn’t happening. Where’s Rex!?
“Don’t make this hard, Cami. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I glance at Hayride, and my heart squeezes. He needs medical help, or he’s going to bleed out. “Please. We have to call 9-1-1.”
He doesn’t answer me, lifting his hand to point a gun at my chest. “Move, Camille.”
I slowly step away from the table and my phone, and toward the broken window. When I pass the stalker, he reaches out and yanks me against him. I try to fight him, but he presses a soft cloth over my face that covers my nose and mouth.
It smells sweet, but there’s a chemical, strange odor to it.
By the time it registers in my head that he’s kidnapping me and this is probably chloroform, I’m already losing consciousness. I have no idea what I’ll wake up to, and the terror has just enough time to sink in before I go limp.
The last thought in my head is a scream. Rex!
I’M GROGGY WHEN MY eyes flutter open. It’s dark, and I can’t see well, but I know I’m in a big, drafty space, and I can feel the echo of the wind through the walls. The floor is cold beneath me as I blink and slowly sit up. My palm presses on the concrete, and I shiver.
“You’re awake.”
I scramble to my feet and sway, hearing the stalker’s voice. He’s close enough to send an icy river of fear down my spine. “Where am I?”
“Interesting. I thought you’d go with the classic question.”
“It’s hardly relevant why you’re doing this. If you wanted me to know, you would have told me,” I point out.
“So smart and beautiful. It’s a shame I have to use you as bait.”
Bait?
“Come on, Cami. You know Rex is going to come. It’s his type. The avenging hero and savior complex. So predictable.”
Why does he hate Rex? “You want him to suffer.”
“Yes.”
It doesn’t make sense. What did Rex do to this man?
“I hope you survive this night, Camille Parker. I’d like to take you with me when I leave Raven’s Crest in ruins.”
I don’t have time to process what he’s told me because a door slides open, and I immediately know where we are. It’s the Coleman Lumber Mill. Located on the outskirts of Raven’s Crest, on the edge of the forest, it sits by the Ohio River, where logs can float to the mill as they’re chopped down.
I haven’t been here in years. The last time I set foot in here, Rex’s parents were still alive, and I took a tour.
It smells like different types of wood, fresh and earthy like oak, pine, and cedar.
The hint of sweet resin combines with damp earth.
There’s a hint of something sour, like decaying wood and chemicals, as I see the first flurries of snow being carried on the wind.
The temperature has dropped. It’s grown bitterly cold. The snow isn’t sticking and probably won’t until at least November, but I shudder as the wind sweeps through where I’m standing.
I don’t have a coat. I’m going to freeze outside before Rex can ever arrive. “Why Rex?”
I need to know.
“It’s never been about you, Blissy Girl,” he tells me with a hint of anger and disgust. “This is about getting closer to the Kings of Anarchy and taking everything from them before we kill the club and bury it like the poisonous snake it is. One town, one member at a time.”
It’s not really an answer. “But why Rex?”
“Because you’re his and I want you for myself.”
I’m so shocked and appalled that I feel sick to my stomach.
“I found you by accident. If he didn’t have an obsession with collecting information about you, I wouldn’t have found my sweet baker. I just need to be sure that you’re strong enough for the future.”
There’s no way I’m leaving Raven’s Crest with this freak.
“I don’t know your name or anything about you.” It’s a stall tactic, and it doesn’t work.
He chuckles. “Bad girl, Cami. Don’t distract me with that pretty smile. I can’t take you yet.”
I don’t want to learn what he means by that. The idea that he could take me away, hold me hostage, rape me, or hurt me almost breaks me. The terror just keeps escalating in his presence.
“I told you fear would bind us together. Time to prove your worth, Camille Parker. I truly hope you’re as resourceful as I think you are. I’m going to enjoy the hunt.”
A hunt? Where I’m the prize?
It occurs to me that Rex will show up and have no idea about any of this. He’s walking into a trap.
The stalker lifts his rifle as he steps closer and gestures toward the cornfield I can see stretching to the left outside the mill’s walls. “Run.”