Chapter 7 #3
But she still had several hours before her first call was scheduled, and her priority for the morning had to be figuring out where her mom was.
Had Toni heard a second person in the house the night before, and if she had, had it been her mother?
It had to have been. Who else could it have been?
Toni simply wasn’t sure, though. Fear had caused her to think the intruder—her dad—had been charging at her up the stairs, when obviously he hadn’t because she’d shot him in the back.
Fear had made her hand so unsteady on the gun that she’d accidentally pulled back so hard that she pulled both barrel triggers.
Toni knew better than most how unreliable eye-witness statements were, and it pissed her off that somehow she wasn’t the exception.
Her priority was her mom. Her initial instinct was to call both her parents’ sponsors.
She had both their numbers, though she hadn’t spoken to either in some time.
She hadn’t had to, but then again, it had been a while since she’d seen either around her parents’ home, too.
Had Toni been so caught up with work recently that she’d lost track of her parents’ sobriety?
Was this her fault, for not keeping a closer eye on them?
Grief over what she’d done the night before tried to take control of her, but Toni forced it back.
She could not, would not, break down until she got some answers.
But the attorney side of her brain kept her from reaching out to her parents’ sponsors.
How would it look if she called asking if they’d seen her parents recently?
It might raise some red flags, and Toni had no idea how the club was planning on spinning her father’s sudden absence.
Maybe they weren’t. Maybe they’d done their part and had gotten rid of the evidence, and the rest was up to her.
Determined not to sit around on her ass all morning and actually do something, Toni called Sophia.
Both Jasmine and Sophia had left their numbers, but Jasmine had mentioned needing to head to work earlier than Sophia did, so Toni thought her chances of getting assistance was better from Sophia, who might not have left yet.
Luck was finally on Toni’s side, and Sophia agreed to let her borrow her car.
All Toni had to do was drop her off at the diner on her way.
Which worked out great for Toni. Gave her a set of wheels, and she didn’t have to get back to the diner to pick Sophia back up by a certain time because Sophia said her husband, a man named Pirate, could do it.
Toni had to give Sophia credit. Her shiny blue Acura Integra handled the mountain roads back up to Toni’s house as beautifully as Toni’s Lexus did.
Her property seemed eerily quiet as she parked Sophia’s car.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Maybe a giant neon sign above her roof proclaiming that a murder had occurred here?
A river of blood flowing down her front steps?
Her father’s freshly dug grave in the dirt where she usually parked her car?
Nausea made her regret eating three donuts that morning.
It was harder to compartmentalize her grief and the morbidity of what she’d done as she stood outside her home.
As much as she needed to go inside to get her briefcase, Toni suddenly found herself wondering if she even could.
What if the club hadn’t finished cleaning up?
The sun was too bright for her to see clearly into her living room.
But Susie had already been here. Not inside, but she would have knocked and maybe looked through a window while she waited for Toni.
If she hadn’t seen anything alarming, did that mean there was nothing to be found?
Calling herself all sorts of cowardly names, Toni turned around and headed across the dirt drive to her parents’ apartment. Maybe if she could just figure out where her mom was and what had happened to her, then she’d be able to gather the courage to head into her home.
Then again, what if she never could go home?
Not because of the club, but because of her memories.
Every time she went up and down her stairs, would she see her father’s dead body in her stairwell?
But this was her home! What was she supposed to do?
Leave it? Where would she go? Buy a new house? She’d still have to go inside to pack.
The roar of a motorcycle coming up the mountain caught her attention.
While she had neighbors, none had bikes, and visitors rarely came by this way.
It broke her from the trance she found herself in while standing outside her parents’ apartment door, and suddenly she found her heart beating faster.
She didn’t know how Ranger had found her, but she was incredibly glad he had.
She did not want to go inside her parents’ place or her house alone—but maybe she could if he was with her.
Toni didn’t understand what it was she was feeling towards him, or why. She wasn’t even sure it was healthy to attach herself to someone so quickly, but she also wasn’t sure she cared. Right now, she needed comfort over sanity.
Except the biker pulling into her drive wasn’t Ranger. She didn’t know much about motorcycles, but she remembered Ranger’s had been gray. And the build of the rider was different. Even when he was too far away for her to read his cut, he held himself differently than Ranger.
Disappointment filled her as he pulled to a stop in front of her rather than near Sophia’s parked car, and then she got a sinking feeling when he pulled off his helmet to reveal ginger hair.
Ghost did not hesitate or try to intimidate her as he stared her down.
Rather, he hooked his helmet strap over his handlebar, got off his bike, and walked right up to her in that commanding way that told her he was about to get his way.
Except, she honestly didn’t know what he wanted.
Why was he here? Taking a step back, she found herself pressed up against the door of her parents’ apartment.
Steel had told her to trust Ghost, and while he was Ranger’s best friend, she didn’t know him.
Hell, she didn’t know Ranger. Even her relationship with Steel could be counted as purely professional.
What did Ghost want from her? What if it wasn’t something, but her?
She was secluded on her mountain property with a man who could very easily overpower her.
What if the favor he told her she didn’t owe him was sex?
What would she do? How would she handle that?
She couldn’t—wouldn’t—have sex with him.
Not willingly, at least. And if he did force himself on her, what recourse would she have?
She couldn’t go to the police because he now held her father’s murder over her head.
She was doomed. Her life and her career were no longer her own. The club controlled her, and if she had been thinking clearly the night before, she would have thought this through.
“Whatever nefarious thoughts are running through your head, Toni, stop them. I am not here to harm you or to condemn you. You left the club property without notifying anyone.”
Toni didn’t move. “I wasn’t aware I was a prisoner there.”
“You’re not.” He kept a good amount of distance between them. Further than what was considered standard. “But we also don’t know what happened here last night, and whether you’re in danger. The idea is to keep you safe, not keep you prisoner.”
Toni studied his expression as he spoke. He seemed honest. “I just… I needed my briefcase and to see if I could figure out where my mom is.”
Ghost nodded once, crossing his arms over his chest. “We ran a check on her last night. Actually, I say ‘we’ but I’m useless on a computer.
Keys and Rose ran the check. They found no activity on her phone, bank account, or credit cards.
Her cage has not been seen on any traffic cams in the area either. ”
Toni stared at his casual confession of violating several state and federal laws. “That’s…illegal.”
Ghost raised an eyebrow but did not say anything.
Toni fidgeted uncomfortably. “I just… I don’t need any more trouble. I can find my mom on my own.”
“Debra Anderson can last be traced to this property. Since her vehicle isn’t here, it begs the question of how she got off the mountain—or if she did.” Ghost spoke as if she hadn’t. “Lots of hiding places around these parts,” he indicated the heavy woods around them.
Toni felt the blood drain from her face. “Is that what you did with my father’s body? Is he buried up here?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing about your mother.”
Her heart sank into her stomach. “What? You think I…” Then her voice trailed off, because of the hypocrisy of her aghast reaction that he thought her capable of killing her mother. “I don’t know where my mom is, Ghost. That’s the God-honest truth.”
He seemed to study her just as closely as she did him, and then he nodded. “Fair enough.” He indicated the door behind her. “The bigger question is if you know what is behind that door.”
She didn’t, but she could guess. Toni squared her shoulders, her eyes narrowing on him. “From your question, I take it you do. You broke into my parents’ apartment last night, didn’t you?”
“Scar has a thing against boundaries,” Ghost deadpanned.
And the list of the club’s crimes just kept growing. Jesus. Who had she invited into her life? Shame washed over her as she realized that she’d hid the meth from the club for no reason. If the club, if Scar, had already been inside her parents’ place, then she knew what he’d likely found.