Chapter 20
Naomi
Cherri looks flustered when we open the front door, her wide eyes darting with a mix of desperation and relief.
“Oh, thank god, you’re here! I was worried I would be too late,” she says breathlessly, her voice tinged with urgency as she barges through the front door, brushing past me.
Her coat billows behind her like a dark storm cloud.
“Unless you thought dinner was last night, in which case you’re very late, you’re super early for dinner,” I say sarcastically, raising my eyebrows and crossing my arms.
Confused, Cherri blinks, her long lashes fluttering like a china doll, almost comically.
“What? Oh, you think I’m here for dinner?
” she says, her tone a strange blend of condescension and relief that only adds to the chaos of the moment.
“No. No. Ace sent me. You’re both in danger.
The Rusted Scythes are on their way right now for you.
You have to come with me. There’s a safehouse I have to take you both to.
” Her words spill out in a frantic rush, each syllable weighted with fear.
My mind is reeling from the information, the urgency of her message sinking in like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples of anxiety through me. I shake my head, brow knitting together. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t Ace just call me?”
Cherri looks at me as if I’m an idiot, her eyes flashing with irritation.
“Well, you know, he’s a bit preoccupied fighting off the Rusted Scythes at the clubhouse.
They came back and attacked. They want you back.
God knows why everyone thinks you’re so damn special.
You have to come with me now, we don’t have much time,” she insists fiercely, grabbing Eli’s hand as if to reinforce her point with physical urgency.
My first thought is a rush of concern for the guys. “Are they okay? Ace, Gage, and Cash?” I ask frantically, the words spilling out in a torrent, my heart pounding with dread.
“They’re fine, but they need you to be safe. If they’re busy worrying about you, they’re more likely to get hurt, aren’t they?” she points out firmly.
I still don’t understand why Ace would have sent Cherri of all people, someone I don’t particularly like, and nor do they. “Surely we’re best off locking ourselves inside here?”
“And be sitting ducks?” Eli interrupts, his voice tinged with frustration and fear. “You know what they’re capable of.” Eli doesn’t let go of Cherri’s hand, which annoys me, as does the triumphant gleam in her eye that she’s won Eli over.
I’m guessing, rather than following Ace’s orders and getting me to safety she’s only come here for Eli, and if it was just me, then she’d leave me for the Rusted Scythes.
“I’ll go call Ace,” I say, moving toward the kitchen where I left my phone. If I could just speak to Ace to confirm this, I’d feel better. Something in my gut feels off, and I need reassurance.
“There’s no time, we have to go now,” Cherri insists, her voice rising with an edge of panic and urgency. “I’m not dying because of you, bitch!”
Cherri reverting to form is what finally convinces me that for whatever reason she’s doing it, it’s been sanctioned by Ace.
“Naomi, please, let’s just go. She’s with the club, right? Ace is already pissed at me, don’t give him another reason to hate me,” Eli pleads desperately. I know he just wants to keep me safe.
“Fine,” I sigh. Although I’m still not happy about going with her. “Let’s go. Lemme just grab my phone.” I move to go to the kitchen, but Cherri blocks my way, hands on her hips.
“No. No phones. It’s how they found out you’re here in the first place. They’re tracking you.”
I look at Eli, the expert on this kind of thing, and he nods, his expression grim. “She’s right, it’s possible they could have hacked our phones.”
I don’t like it, the thought of being out of contact with the guys gnaws at me, but I nod.
“Fine.” Eli sags with relief, and we follow Cherri outside to her car.
The air feels thick with tension. Cherri glances around furtively, as if expecting the Rusted Scythes to jump out of the bushes and ambush us.
“Maybe I should follow you guys on my bike?” I suggest, clinging to some semblance of independence.
Again, Cherri has a ready answer for why this is a bad idea. “They’ll spot you a mile off. You on that giant bike of yours is hardly inconspicuous.”
She has a point, and I can tell that Eli is on Cherri’s side, again, so I reluctantly stomp over to her car and climb inside the back.
Eli hops up front with her. As we leave the relative safety of the guys’ house I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong.
A sense of ominous foreboding rises within me as the safehouse disappears in the rearview.
***
The silence in the car thickens as we approach the city limits. My heart races, and I feel a growing unease settle in my gut like a storm cloud ready to burst. We’ve been driving for twenty minutes now and whenever I asked Cherri where she was taking us to, she just changed the subject.
I glance at my brother. He’s in the passenger seat beside her, gazing at her face, clearly entranced by her beauty. She’s lulled him into a false sense of security. I’m getting a really bad feeling about all this. I glance around. There are a few warehouses here, but no signs of human habitation.
“So where are we going?” Eli asks hesitantly, his voice cutting through the oppressive quiet. There’s a slight quiver in his tone, a flicker of doubt I can sense. Perhaps I underestimated my brother’s instincts.
“Don’t worry about that, all you need to know is it’s safe, trust me,” she replies with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, her voice dripping with false assurance.
“We’ll be safe soon, I promise,” she says, her repetition only serving to make me feel even more uneasy.
Her words feel weighted, laden with hidden intentions I can’t decipher.
I wish I had my phone so I could call the guys for reassurance, to know that they’re safe.
Minutes pass, stretching into what feels like an eternity, anxiety clawing at me. The winding roads become increasingly unfamiliar. Dark shadows from the trees that crowd the roadside swallow the landscape. My heart pounds in my chest.
“Where are we going?” I press, a sense of foreboding flooding my senses as I lean forward, trying to catch her eye.
She sharpens the curve of her lips into a smirk, her gaze fixed ahead. “You’ll see.”
We finally pull up to a run-down warehouse, its exterior cloaked in shadows, the sun behind it making it look like it’s on fire.
My stomach drops like a stone. “Cherri, where are we?” I demand, panic rising in my throat, every instinct screaming to escape.
I can’t imagine this abandoned building being a place of refuge.
The brickwork and the boarded facade, the color of dried blood, scream, ‘Keep out’.
There’s something foreboding about this place.
At that moment, Chopper ambles out of the building.
He’s flanked on either side by two armed henchmen, though their massive bulk is weapons enough against Eli and me.
I realize with sickening clarity that Cherri has sold us out.
She’s working for the enemy, a spy. I wonder how long she’s been on their side.
“I believe you already know Chopper. He’ll be pleased to have you back,” she announces gleefully, her eyes glinting with a manic edge.
She gestures toward the looming building where the ominous figures loom in the shadows.
Their presence sends shivers down my spine.
She looks at our aghast expressions. “For fuck’s sake, you didn’t really think I was going to help you, did you?
God, I knew you were naive, but I didn’t think you were so stupid,” she mutters.
“You betrayed us,” I whisper, the betrayal cutting deeper than any physical wound. I didn’t like Cherri, and I know she hates me, but I trusted her loyalty to the Road Renegades. “How could you do this to us? I thought you cared about the club?”
“Betrayal is such a strong word,” she replies, feigning innocence, her voice laced with amusement.
“I prefer to think of it as a smart investment. The Rusted Scythes were willing to pay a generous price to get you both back.” She picks at her nails.
“As for Ace and the Road Renegades, they’re the ones who betrayed me first. Ace is mine, and he chose you,” she looks at me in disgust. “No one wants me there. Chopper wants me, he appreciates my value. I’ll be his old lady. ”
Eli seems frozen beside me, shock clear on his face. “Cherri, you can’t do this!” he pleads, desperation spilling from his voice. “You’re making a huge mistake.”
“No, sweetheart, you’re the ones who made the mistake by trusting me,” she says, patting his hand condescendingly.
“You don’t have to do this! We can get out of this together! Just turn the car around and drive away, it’s not too late,” I try to plead with her, praying that deep down, her resolve might not be as unyielding as it seems. “You’re not this person,” I add, hoping it might resonate with her.
“What’s the point of staying where I’m not wanted when there’s profit on the line?” she retorts, her dispassionate tone chilling me to my core.
We’re a means to an end for Cherri. She doesn’t care what happens to us as long as she gets her money and status.
But as the Scythes move closer, I recognize the truth—there’s no reasoning with someone driven by betrayal and greed.
Time slows as I weigh our options, my pulse racing in the rising tension, daring to hope for a chance to turn the tide before it’s too late.
Cherri’s smile widens unsettlingly, and she gestures for us to get out. “Now come on! The Rusted Scythes are waiting, and you don’t want to keep them.”
Instinct kicks in, and as she unlocks the car doors, I lunge forward, praying Eli will try to escape too. “Run!” I shout. But before we can make a move, Chopper’s goons block our escape. They grab us, roughly pulling us from the car and holding us firm with meaty palms that dig into my flesh.
I look at Eli, and without needing words, we share a silent understanding.
We’re done for. Our only hope now is that the guys will come to our rescue.
A seeming impossibility considering they have no way of knowing where we went.
“The Road Renegades will kill you for this. They’ll come for us,” I snarl, glaring at Chopper and Cherri as she sidles up to him and he pulls her into his embrace.
Chopper kisses Cherri and tells her, “Good job, darlin’.” Patting her like she’s his pet. He turns to me with a reptilian smile. “That’s what we’re counting on. You two are gonna be bait.”