Twenty-Two
F uck me, I thought I’d lost her. I thought he’d fucking killed her, and even now, holding her trembling form in my arms, I could barely believe it. Panic and rage were warring with each other, and I had to fight not to squeeze her tighter, to fucking embed her so deeply in me that she could never be in danger again. So I could protect her, by surrounding her with me, and never letting anything bad happen to her. Let’s be honest though, just fucking knowing me was enough of a reason for her to be in danger, and I couldn’t change that now. This was all my fault.
“Stitch says to bring her in, man. I’ve already packed a bag for her.” The fuck? We both pulled back from our life-affirming hug to stare at him. He’d been in her room? He’d been going through her shit?
“You did what?”
Ryder rolled his eyes at me, instead focusing on Grace, who was still trembling in my arms. I knew he was trying to support us, and help protect her, but she was wearing almost fucking nothing, and his eyes on her made me want to remove them from his head.
“Doc, I’m Ryder. We’d like to take you back with us, where we can keep you safer.”
“Safer? How the fuck is that safer? Elise was taken from the fucking clubhouse, remember? No. I’m taking her, and getting the fuck out of town. There’s no other way to protect her, and her safety is the only priority for me right now.”
Grace tried to speak, but Ryder spoke over her.
“Now wait a minute. You don’t just fucking abandon the club, man. I know you’ve been through hell, so have we all, but we’re so close to putting an end to this fucker. Whether it’s Tommy or not, we’re nearly there. Bring Grace. She can meet the other old ladies, and stay safe with them, while we-”
“You’re not fucking listening, man. I’m getting her away from this shit, not bringing her right into the fucking middle of it!”
Grace suddenly made a huffy sound, and shoved hard enough at my chest that I loosened my arms.
“I’ll make my own decisions thank you, Mr North.” Whoa, sassy doc is back in the house, and now I have a semi. How the fuck did she do that?
“Babe, think about this, please. Whoever did this to you is in the club, and will be in the fucking clubhouse. We’re on full lockdown. They’re all bunking up in rooms, and sleeping in the fucking bar, and it’s hell right now. I’d rather get you out of town, and somewhere he can’t find you at all. Not put you in his fucking path.”
“Torch-”
“I’m coming with you,” Grace said firmly, talking over Ryder this time. Fuck! Half of me wanted that, so fucking badly, because she belonged in my bed, even though my room would freak her the fuck out. The other half of me though, the fucking smarter half, knew it wasn’t safe.
“Babe, no. You can’t.”
Some of the strength left her posture, as her bottom lip trembled a little.
“You… you don’t want me, Torch?”
Fuck me. “You know that’s not it,” I said, as I dragged her into my arms again. “Get her a coat or something, man. Shoes. Whatever.”
She sniffled a little, rubbing her face against my chest, before she winced and pulled back. I lifted her chin and checked her over, something I should have fucking done the second she ran into the house.
“He fucking hit you?” Rage seethed through every fucking inch of me. That fucker hit my woman. And fuck. Was that all he did? My eyes took in her scantily clad form, which was at least still covered with her sleeping gear.
“He… did he… uh…”
Grace shuddered, shaking her head.
“I… I called the police, so he said he’d have to rush straight to killing me instead.”
I tilted her head up, catching sight of dark angry skin on her throat. The fucker tried choking her. Why the hell hadn’t I checked her over first? I was so pissed off, that I was just seeing red.
“Well, I’m sure glad the cops rushed over here,” Ryder said sarcastically, bringing Grace a coat, a pair of trousers, and shoes. I helped her get covered up, and let Ryder lock the place up, as I led her to the van. The fucking cops still hadn’t shown up, and there was no way I was going to wait around for them.
“We’re taking her to the hospital,” I told Ryder, as he joined us in the front of the van, but Grace shook her head.
“I’m fine. I’ll just have some bruises later. Please just take me somewhere I can rest, and be locked in and safe.”
Ryder handed her something as he started driving. Her phone. She took it, idly swiping the screen, then she gasped.
“He messaged you?!”
I fucking knew that didn’t sound like her.
“ Asshole . Babe, when we get to the clubhouse, we’re gonna need to know everything you remember. His height, weight, anything you took note of. His voice. The things he said. I know it’s horrifying, but we need to know.”
Grace shuddered, snuggling closer to me, staying silent.
“I know it’s scary, babe, but we need to know. We need to figure out who it is, so we can put them in the fucking ground.”
She lifted her head, looking at me, glancing over at Ryder, then coming back to me again. I had a feeling I wouldn’t like what she was about to say.
“What if it’s someone you’re close with, and care about? You talk like it’ll be easy to kill whoever it is, but what if killing them hurts you even more?” Well, fuck. Hadn’t that been at the back of my mind the whole time? There were a handful of guys I was really close with, and I was pretty sure they were all innocent, at least of this bunch of sick shit, but what if?
What if we found the fucker, and it turned out to be someone I loved like a brother? There were guys in the club that nobody was all that close with. They lived offsite, they worked day jobs, and they came along on rides and stuff, but that was it.
Weren’t we all just hoping it was one of them? They had access, even if they didn’t live onsite, and they knew more than an outsider would. It had to be one of them, right? We kept looking inward, at the guys living onsite, but was that more about ruling out the ones we trusted the most?
“She’s got a point, man. I mean, there’s a bunch of you I’d already ruled out in my head, but what if one of those is playing me for a fool, and I’m gonna have to deal with losing someone I’m close to?” Dammit, Ryder, don’t you start now too.
“If it keeps Tori safe though?”
He cursed, taking the last turn towards the road which led to the clubhouse.
“Fuck’s sake. Obviously Tori’s safety matters more to me, but imagine if it was someone we’ve ruled out, like Ice, or Has.”
“It isn’t either of them, man. No fucking way. Has? His old lady was taken twice, for fuck’s sake, and he got attacked too.”
“What if someone faked being attacked, so it’d take the heat off them though,” Grace suggested, and my blood ran cold in my veins. If that were true, they might suspect me too, and I knew it wasn’t me. This was the problem with this situation, anyone could be suspected, and it would be so easy to misjudge the facts, and who’d believe that person then, when they protested their innocence?
“Jesus. Let’s just get back there, and talk with Stitch.”
We stayed silent until we were leading Grace into the clubhouse, tucked firmly under my arm, and with her face hidden from any of the guys milling about in the bar area. Seriously, so many of them had sleeping bags there right now, it was like a big dorm room, and that was a place I wanted her nowhere near.
“Hey, Stitch says to meet up in his room,” Ice suddenly called out to us from the stairs, because of course he’d have known we’d arrived, from his many screens. We led the way to Stitch’s room, tapping on the door, and stepping inside when he opened it. He cast a compassionate look at Grace.
“Do you need to see Doc first, darlin’?” She shook her head, lifting her chin, to try and portray that inner strength of hers, even though I knew it was intimidating for her to suddenly be in a room with many large bikers, after what she’d just been through. Has, Ice, Grease, and Stitch were there, with the two of us, and beside Ice was Lissa.
“Hi, Grace, I hope you don’t mind me being here. I’m uh… they wanted me here in case you need support from someone a little less testosterone-y.”
Her calm manner seemed to relax Grace a little, as it always did for all of us, and as Stitch moved everyone out of the way, and offered one of his armchairs to Grace, I dropped into it, and pulled her onto my lap. She needed me right now, and even if she didn’t, I wasn’t sure I could let her go.
“Let me start by saying how incredibly sorry I am that you’ve been caught up in all of this. Obviously our hope was that this bastard hadn’t figured out your connection to the club, and that you weren’t at risk.”
Grace
L issa brought me a cup of sweet tea, and some painkillers, which was what I really needed right now, followed by an ice pack for the side of my face, which was throbbing in concert with my heartbeat.
“I know you probably just want to get some rest, but we could do with knowing what you know, before any details might slip away from you.” Stitch was at least familiar to me, and had a gentle approach that I appreciated right now.
None of the men in the room were built like my attacker, so at least I knew he wasn’t here right now. I turned to Torch, which wasn’t easy when I was sitting in his lap, and facing mostly forward.
“It’s none of them, Torch. If these are the ones you’re closest to, you’re not being betrayed.”
“Wait, what? You thought it was one of us?” The vaguely-familiar guy with the beanie asked, looking horrified. I’d been introduced to everyone, even though I knew a few of them, but the names of the others had escaped me almost immediately.
Ryder spoke up quickly. “Not necessarily, we were just worrying that it might not necessarily be one of the guys we’re not close with. You all are great, but we’re all close with others, right? It’s a tight knit club.”
Stitch sighed, rubbing both hands over his face and taking a deep breath.
“I swear, this shit is going to destroy this club. Whoever this fucker is, we need to find them. Now, Grace, darlin’. I know you’ve been through an ordeal, but can you tell us what happened?”
Lissa leaned forward from her seat beside Ice on the sofa. I remembered their names, of course, because I’d met them both before and even knew Lissa pretty well.
“Are you comfortable with everyone being here? If not, they can leave the room.” Stitch frowned in her direction, but nodded at me.
“Yeah. You want these ugly fuckers to clear out?” There were a few grumbles in response, but I shook my head. Strangely, I felt safer in a room full of these guys right now, knowing none of them were the man who attacked me.
“He got into my house somehow. That’s… I heard a noise downstairs, and at first I didn’t think it was… like sometimes the neighbours make a noise, and I think it’s downstairs. Ugh, sorry. The facts. Let’s see, he broke in downstairs, and got into my room while I was trying to phone the police for help. I rang 999 and it connected, but he ended the call, and… and he pinned me down on my bedroom floor, and… and…” Oh god. Don’t cry . Don’t cry in front of all of these big strong people. Don’t be that loser.
“It’s okay, babe. Take your time. You’re safe now,” Torch whispered, kissing my temple. I could do this. I fucking had to.
“He hit me, and threatened me. He told me he’d wanted to ra… force… um… you know, but because my call went through he’d have to just kill me. We struggled, and he tried to uh… to strangle me, but I managed to kick him in the… in the groin-”
“That’s my girl,” Torch chuckled, kissing my temple again. Thank god he was here with me. His touch gave me courage, and his warmth and strength made me feel safe. Protected.
“I ran and hid in the garden, until I heard Torch yelling for me in the house. I knew I was safe then. I knew he’d save me.” I turned to look at him, so sad to see his eyes dark with sorrow, his long lashes framing them, as he lowered his gaze.
“I should have fucking been there. I was too late, or I could have ended that fucker right then. I get a crack at him. Promise me that.”
“You can get in line behind me, man. He took Elise, remember?”
Stitch grimaced and lifted a hand, bringing instant silence to the room again.
“Anything you can remember about him? Looks? Appearance? Voice? You said he wasn’t any of us, so there’s something that sets him apart from us all.” Smart man . I nodded, biting my lip as I tried to figure out how to word it, without somehow insulting them.
“He was big… uh, muscled, like a powerlifter or something. You guys are more athletically built, strong without bulk. Does that make sense?”
Ice groaned. “Fuck. Yeah, and you know else what it proves?”
Everyone looked resigned.
“Yeah. It wasn’t Tommy, so that poor bastard must be another of his victims.” They all lowered their heads after Stitch’s comment. I wondered who Tommy was, and what had happened to him. Clearly they had no idea either way.