Chapter Twenty-Six Annabel
As soon as I hung up with Father, he got to work.
His connections quickly patched in with the Georgia branch of the ATF, and after an agonizing couple of hours they had two teams heading to our area.
I also had my phone being tracked for my location as well as to trace incoming calls.
If I had ever doubted the power my father possessed, I would no longer do so after today.
All that was left to do was wait for Mendoza to reach out.
I once again resorted to pacing around the main room of the roadhouse.
Thankfully, Breakneck had stitched up Bishop’s bullet wound to the back.
He had been lucky after it narrowly missed nicking one of his kidneys.
Breakneck had gotten Deacon and Mac cleaned up as well.
The eerie silence in the roadhouse was interrupted by my phone ringing. I would have ignored it had it not been Rev’s ringtone.
Snatching my phone to my ear, I said, “H-hello? Rev?”
There was a pause on the line before I heard the voice from my darkest nightmares. “Roja, how lovely to speak to you. I’ve missed you. Haven’t you missed me?”
A chill ran over my body at the sound of his voice in my ear. I had been haunted by it for months. Flashes of his rapes tormented my mind, but I fought with everything in my being to push them out. I had to be strong and focus on the here and now to get Rev back.
“Where is Rev?” I demanded.
“Ah, I would assume you’re speaking of the biker trash you spread your legs for.”
“Tell me where he is!”
“You have been away from me from far too long, Roja. You should know better than to speak to me that way,” he admonished.
Refusing to let him ever intimidate me again, I snapped, “Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want!”
“That should be clear. I want you.”
I closed my eyes as a wave of revulsion ran through me. “So you are willing to trade me for Rev?”
He chuckled. “You’re already trying to negotiate a deal. This man must mean a lot to you.”
Thinking of what Deacon had said, I replied, “You obviously took him for a reason instead of killing him. Tell me what to do so we can end this.”
“I don’t give you any directions until I know you’re away from the Raiders.”
“Fine. I’ll leave the compound now.”
“I’ll give you ten minutes. If you’re not alone then, I’ll start taking out chunks of your lover.”
My stomach churned at his words. “I’m on my way.”
Deacon and the others stared expectantly at me. “He won’t tell me where he has Rev until I’m away from the compound.” I then related to them what he had said about giving me ten minutes or he would hurt Rev.
“So that’s it? We’re just supposed to let you walk out of here alone?” Deacon demanded.
“I won’t be entirely alone. I’ll have the ATF and the GBI.”
With a roll of his eyes, Deacon said, “That makes me feel so fucking better.”
“I can’t argue about this anymore. I have to get out of here.”
“If something happens to you, Rev will never forgive me,” Deacon said.
I smiled sadly at him. “This wasn’t his choice; it was mine. I’m doing what I felt I had to do to save him–and to save me.”
After shaking his head, Deacon gave me a quick hug. “You be careful, okay?”
I nodded. “I’m a lot stronger than I look.”.
“Trust me, I know that.”
I got halfway across the room and stopped. Whirling around, I said, “I don’t have a car.” It was the one part of the plan I seemed to have overlooked.
Boone came over and handed a set of keys to me. “It’s the Mustang outside.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “It’ll get you to Rev faster.”
I gave him a quick hug before racing out the door. After cranking up the car, I roared out of the roadhouse parking lot. Of course, I had no idea if I should go right or left. All I knew is Mendoza would phone with instructions.
With just a minute to spare before my ten minutes were up, the phone rang. With a shaky hand, I reached for it. “Hello?”
“Go to the old rock quarry off route nineteen. Come around to the back of the barn.”
“But I don’t know—”I started to protest.
“You’ll figure it out.” Mendoza then hung up.
“Son of a bitch!” I shouted.
Pulling the car off to the side of the road, I googled a rock quarry. Amazingly enough the route pulled up. It was only fifteen minutes away, but it was in the other direction than I had come out of the roadhouse.
After turning around, I gunned the engine. Even though they were tracking my phone, I wasn’t taking any chances with the ATF. I dialed Agent Hollis’s number that I had programmed in my phone earlier. “I’m supposed to meet him at a barn beside the old rock quarry on route nineteen.”
“We are only a few minutes from the location. When you arrive, stall for a few moments in the car before you go in. We do not want too much time to elapse before you go in the barn and before we come in.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“I know you can. We have every confidence in you, Annabel,” Agent Hollis said.
I wished that his words made me feel better, but sadly, they didn’t. While I might’ve looked calm and collected on the outside, I was a fucking basket case on the inside. I had stared down death once before, so I wasn’t afraid of being killed. More than anything, I didn’t want to lose Rev.
Veering off the road onto route nineteen caused my stomach to churn. Rolling down the window, I did a pitiful excuse of puking. With a nervous laugh, I thought about how Boone would regret loaning me his car when it came back with puke down the front door.
At the sight of the barn, my heartbeat started thrumming so loudly it felt like a canon’s blast inside the car. I eased around the back, craning my neck to see if anyone was around. Just one car was parked, and I knew it had to belong to Mendoza.
Once I turned the engine off, I tried to collect myself. My arms and legs trembled uncontrollably with nerves. But then I focused on Rev’s face and it gave me the strength I needed. Opening the car door, I slowly rose to my feet.
I’d taken one small step when someone descended on me. Before I could scream, a hand clamped down on my mouth as the cool metal of a gun tapped against my temple. “Gotta make sure you’re clean,” a heavily accented voice snarled in my ear.
“If I take my hand away, you’re not to make a sound. Got it?”
Slowly, I nodded my head. The man spun me around. At the sight of his face, I jerked back, which caused him to snicker. “Remember me, huh?”
How could I not? I watched him beat and assault countless women when I was at Mendoza’s compound.
He then went about patting me down. Just when I thought he was finished, he jerked my shirt up and slid his hands across the tops of my breasts.
“Gotta make sure that biker scum didn’t get smart with a wire. ”
Narrowing my eyes, I then spit in his face.”
“You cunt!” he screamed before sending a harsh slap to my cheek.
Before I retaliate again, he shoved me forward. “Go. Mendoza is waiting for you.”
With my hand against my stinging cheek, I made my way to the back door. When I reached to open it, the door creaked open. The next thing I knew I was being grabbed and dragged inside. Then I was thrown to the ground.
“So glad you could come,” Mendoza greeted me.
I started to glare up at him, but then something to my left drew my attention. Rev was strung up to one of the lower hanging barn beams. His arms were jerked at a painful angle over his head, but the worst were the burns on his chest.
“Rev!” I cried, as I started to scramble to my feet.
But then I felt the familiar bite of a belt slamming across my back. I couldn’t hold back the scream that tore from my lips. Grabbing me by the hair, Mendoza jerked me to my feet.
With a cold glare, he asked, “You didn’t think you could just waltz in here without being punished, did you?”
Another crack of the belt had me shrieking. “You wanna beat someone, you beat me, you cocksucker!” Rev shouted his voice weak with pain.
“You don’t get to call the shots.” He licked his lips as he drew me closer to him. “Right now I think I’ll make her scream for another reason.”
Mendoza grabbed one of my breasts, kneading it harshly. At my whimper of pain, a cruel smirk curved on his lips. “That’s nothing compared to what I’m going to do to you, Roja.”
At that moment the barn door burst open and four agents came crashing through it. “Freeze! Drop your weapon. Now!” an agent shouted. After recognizing his voice, I knew it was Agent Hollis.
“You lying cunt!” Mendoza spat before lunging at me so hard he knocked us both to the ground. He started punching and kicking me until he was wrestled off of me by one of the agents.
“Are you okay?” Agent Hollis asked.
My sides and stomach screamed in agony where Mendoza had kicked me. When I tried to sit up, I couldn’t. I seemed to be working overtime to catch my breath. But the sound of Rev screaming my name had me struggling to my feet with some help from Agent Hollis.
After I wiped the blood off my busted lip, I nodded. At that point, I didn’t care about the pain. All I could think about was Rev. As I limped over to him, I met his haunted gaze. “
Oh Rev,” I murmured. Turning back to Agent Hollis, I said, “Get him down. Now!”
As he worked to cut down the rope that held Rev in place, I brought my hands to Rev’s face. “I’m so, so sorry, my love,” I murmured.
“Not your fault,” he gasped.
He tried to lean closer to me, but he couldn’t reach. I leaned in and brought my lips to his. “Thank God you’re okay.”
With a smile, I said, “I feel the same way about you.”
Agent Hollis eased the rope down to where Rev’s arms slowly came to his side.
I started working at getting his hands free of the rope.
Suddenly, one of the agents shouted in alarm.
When I glanced over my shoulder, Mendoza pushed out of one of the agent’s reach and then grab the agent’s extra gun from his chest holster.
Mendoza then whirled around towards me and Rev and pointed the gun. As the blast went off, Rev shoved me out of the way. After I fell to the ground, I glanced back to see Rev’s body contort in pain as blood spewed out of a wound in his stomach. “No, no, NO!” I screamed.
Rev collapsed onto the ground at the same moment the agents tackled Mendoza. I crawled over to Rev, cradling his head in my lap. He stared up at me, his eyes glassy.
“Been gut shot,” he gasped. “Not good.”
“Don’t say that!”
“I love you, Annabel.”
I shook my head. “Don’t you dare act like you’re saying goodbye. You’re going to marry me, remember? We’re a team—you and me against the world.” Tears streamed down my cheeks and fell onto his face.
One of the agents dropped down beside us and started working on compressing Rev’s wound. “Ambulance is on the way,” he said to me.
“You hear that, Rev? The ambulance is coming, so you have to hold on until it gets here.”
With a weak smile, he reached up to cup my cheek. “My beautiful Annabel Lee.” Then he closed his eyes.
“Rev, stay with me. Please…please stay with me.” I buried my face against his, unable to stop the sobs that overtook me.
When someone tried pulling me off of Rev, I kicked and punched to stay with him. “Ma’am, we’ve got to get him to the ambulance.”
Tearing my head off Rev’s chest, I stared up into the face of a paramedic. He gave me a gentle smile. “We’re here to help, I promise.”
Nodding, I eased away from Rev, allowing the paramedics to load him onto the stretcher. It felt like I was underwater, or the world was moving at a glacial pace.
Someone helped me to my feet, and I lumbered out of the barn. When I got into the sunlight, a flurry of activity unfolded outside. Mendoza and his men were being loaded into an ATF van at the same time Rev was loaded into an ambulance.
The crowd suddenly parted, and there my father stood. At the sight of him, I burst into tears. I knew he wasn’t here to assure my safety.
He’d come to claim me. He’d completed his side of the bargain, and now it was time for mine.
Although I knew I should make my way to him, I remained frozen where I stood. When the shrill wail of the ambulance started up, I covered my ears and sank to the ground.
When the siren’s wail finally began to fade, I looked up to see my father hovering over me. His face was unreadable except for a slight tenderness that seemed completely foreign to him.
“You got more than you bargained for,” I ruefully mused.
His brows creased. “I don’t understand.”
“Rev got shot in the gut by Mendoza while trying to save my life. He’s probably going to die. So not only am I back in your world, but the man you hate will be dead.”
“Nathaniel was shot?”
“What did you think the ambulance was for?” I snapped.
“From his injuries being tortured.”
Shaking my head, I replied, “No. He could’ve survived those, but then Mendoza took one of the ATF’s guns and tried to shoot me, but Rev pushed me out of the way.”
“He saved your life?”
I nodded. “But it’s not the first time.” A sob choked off in my throat. “He saved me from Mendoza the night he stormed the compound. And then he saved me when I tried to take my own life after I learned I’d never be able to carry children.”
Guttural sobs rocketed through me. “He saved me every single day by loving me even when I was broken.”
When I continued sobbing, Father’s voice broke through my sorrow. “Annabel, stop this. You’re making a scene.”
A maniacal laugh spilled from my lips. “You are such a prick.”
Gritting my teeth, I swiped my eyes as I pulled myself to my feet. “I know I didn’t negotiate it, but I would like to stop at the roadhouse to say goodbye and grab my things.”
When Father remained silent, I thew up my hands. “Fine. I’ll just have them send my things.”
I started to stalk past Father, but he grabbed my arm. “Annabel, wait.”
“What?”
“After that horrible display of yours a moment ago and in light of the developments about Nathaniel’s care for you, I won’t be taking you back with me.”
“Excuse me?”
Father smoothed a hand through his hair. “It would seem you’re exactly where you should be.”
My hand flew to my mouth. “You’re letting me go?”
“I am.”
“Oh Father!” I cried before throwing myself at him. “Thankyou.Thankyou.Thankyou,” I murmured into his chest.
After giving me the stiffest hug, he pushed me back. “I will expect you to at least make something of yourself despite being with such a man.”
“I will. Just wait and see.”
He nodded. He waved over someone from behind me. “Harry, please see that my doctor gets a police escort to the hospital where Nathaniel Malloy was taken.”
Harry nodded. “Yes, sir.”
After one final slightly emotional look, Father then turned and walked away. I didn’t wait for him to change his mind. “Let’s go,” I commanded Harry.
Rev and my future were waiting.