Chapter 30
The drive home was quiet, the air cooler now as the sun dipped low. Leah parked and then went inside. After grabbing Benny’s kibble from the kitchen, she then headed out the back door to his run.
Happy, she thought. It had been a while in coming, but today, she felt happy and knew her uncle and Hudson were the same. Coming back to Lyntacky had been the right move.
“Hey, troublemaker,” she murmured, letting Benny out the gate. He turned in circles, tail wagging, and then shot off in the direction of the barns.
“Benny, get back here!” Leah followed. She wanted to feed him and then head back to the after match celebrations. Back to Dan. The thought of him had her giggling like a schoolkid. Her man.
She heard Benny’s high-pitched barking. He’s probably cornered something. She hoped it wasn’t vicious.
He wasn’t in the first three barns, and to her surprise, the last was open, when she knew the sheriffs department had wanted it to stay locked. Something didn’t feel right.
She stepped inside and saw that the door to the hidden room was open. Where was Benny? A yelp had her creeping closer, and then he was there at her feet, turning circles. She pulled out her phone and brought up Dan’s number.
“Drop it.”
She turned and found Grill behind her. He had a gun. Moving her fingers over the screen, Leah hoped she was pressing the Call button.
“I said drop the phone, now.”
She did, at her feet.
“Where is it?”
Big, dangerous, and angry, she thought. This man smelled of desperation. He’d lost everything and was cornered.
“Looking for something, Grill?” she said, forcing her voice steady.
“You know damn well what I’m looking for,” Grill said, stepping closer. “Money. That safe is empty. Where is it?”
“The feds have it,” Leah said. “How did you know it was there?”
“Because I put it there,” he snarled. “It was where I stored my money after your idiot father was jailed.”
It wasn’t her dad’s money. She wasn’t sure why that relieved her, but it did.
“Where is it?” he hissed.
“I just told you where. The feds have it,” Leah repeated, wondering how she was going to get away from this guy.
His hand shot out, and he gripped her arm hard. “Then you’re gonna get me something else. Cash. Jewelry. I don’t care. Now, and then I’m leaving.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“You better hope that’s not true.”
Leah wanted to look down at her phone but couldn’t risk it.
“What will you do with me?”
“Nothing, if you give me what I want, if not….” He let the words fall away.
Please help me, Dan.
“Move.” Grill shoved her up the porch steps so hard, she stumbled against the doorframe. “Inside,” he barked.
Her breath came fast, but she forced her legs to move, stepping into the kitchen of the home she’d never loved… until now. Benny darted past her, nails skittering on the wood floor, growling deep in his chest.
“Quiet that mutt down,” Grill ordered.
Leah put a hand on Benny’s back, trying to soothe him, her fingers trembling. She could feel Grill’s presence behind her, big and menacing.
“What exactly is your plan here?” she asked, stalling.
“You’re gonna get me money,” he said. “And then I’m gone.”
She angled her head toward him, noting the sweat along his temple, the twitch in his jaw. This man was running on desperation and rage—a dangerous mix.
“I told you, I don’t have anything.”
Grill moved closer until she could smell stale cigarettes and the tang of gasoline clinging to his clothes. “Then you better start thinking, girl, or we’ll have a problem.”
Benny’s growl deepened.
Grill’s eyes flicked to the dog. “Lock him up before I do something about him.”
Her stomach lurched. She bent, grabbing Benny’s collar. “Let me put him outside.”
“Do it.”
She put the dog outside the back door and shut it. Benny, at least, was safe.
“You got ten minutes,” Grill said, pulling a crumpled wad of rope from his pocket.
Her pulse spiked. “What is that for?”
“In case you get ideas.”
He tossed the rope on the table and jerked his chin toward the hallway. “Go. Check your bedroom, check the kitchen—anywhere you might have something worth selling. Money, jewelry, anything.”
She took a step, but her mind was racing. Had Dan heard any of what she and Grill said in the barn? Or was she alone?
The thought of him had her throat tightening.
She could picture his face. The hard line of his jaw when he was angry, the way his eyes darkened when something mattered to him.
If he knew she was in trouble, he’d come.
He cared about her, and she loved him. She had a future to live for now, and this man wasn’t taking that from her.
“Move it,” Grill snapped.
She headed toward the hallway.
Her bedroom was exactly as she’d left it that morning, laundry in a folded pile on her bed, purse on the dresser. She grabbed it, rifling through it as if looking for valuables, but she knew there was nothing in there worth more than a couple of twenties.
Grill’s footsteps were heavy behind her. She handed him the money. “Pathetic. What else?”
“That’s all I’ve got,” she said.
“Don’t play with me.” His voice was a menacing growl. “We’re going through every room in this house.”
“Why don’t you have money if you’ve made so much from drugs?” Leah asked.
“Because it was all in that fucking safe!”
“So you didn’t trust your fellow Bandits?”
“Shut up!”
Leah knew she was right.
She pulled out the only thing she’d got from her mother. The engagement ring was diamond and emerald, and she’d never worn it, but she’d also never been able to sell it.
“Here,” she handed it to him. “Take this.”
He studied it. “Now we’re talking.”
The creak of the front porch boards cut through the air.
Grill’s head whipped toward the sound. “Who’s that?”
Leah’s heart slammed against her ribs. Porch boards meant weight. People.
“Probably Benny. He likes to be on the front porch to see if anyone arrives,” she said quickly.
“You better hope you’re right, or I’m shooting whoever is outside,” he said, heading for the door. “Stay here and keep looking.”
She didn’t listen and edged into the hallway after he’d left. She followed him down the stairs silently, moving forward until she could see his back and the front door. Leah waited.
It burst inward.
Three large shapes filled the doorway with Dan in the lead, his dark eyes locked on Grill. Behind him came his brothers.
Grill’s hand rose to shoot Dan, and Leah ran. She leaped onto his back, her foot knocking the arm that held the gun.
“Get off, Leah!” Dan roared.
She did as he said, and in the next heartbeat, everything happened at once.
“You motherfucker!” Sawyer roared. “You broke my brother’s shoulder!”
Leah rolled and regained her feet in time to watch Sawyer fly through the air past Dan and hit Grill front on. They both went down, with the oldest Duke on top. He then slammed his fist into the biker’s face, and the man slumped, unconscious.
Leah stood rooted to the spot, her breath coming in quick bursts.
Then Dan was in front of her, scanning her face like he was memorizing every inch. “You okay?”
She nodded, then shook her head because the relief was almost too much.
“Look at me, baby.”
She did then and saw the fear. “I’m okay.”
His jaw flexed. “I’m not. That phone call took years off my life.”
“I’m glad I pushed the right button before I dropped it,” Leah whispered, and then she was in his arms, her face pressed into his neck.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear.
She leaned into him, breathing in the faint scent of soap and leather, and let herself believe it.