Vengeance
"If I leave, she'll be dead within a week." The room erupted around him as men cursed.
"The balls on this bastard,” an older man shouted.
"I'll kill him myself,” another said.
"You threatening her now?" someone in the corner asked.
Bowie raised one hand, and silence returned immediately. "You've got ten seconds."
Vengeance met his furious stare. "I'm trying to save your daughter."
"You've got five,” Bowie warned.
"The Syndicate knows every Royal Bastards property in Alabama,” Vengeance said.
"Four,” Bowie growled.
"They've been watching this club for weeks,” Vengeance said, trying to persuade Bowie to listen to reason.
"Three,” Bowie spat.
"They've got people on the payroll inside the city,” Vengeance warned.
"Two,” Bowie almost whispered.
"They know every vehicle registered to your members,” Vengeance said. Bowie's expression shifted, but only barely. Still, Vengeance caught it. He'd gotten his attention. "They know your routines," Vengeance continued. "Your businesses. Your families."
"You expect me to believe all that?" Bowie asked.
"I expect you to look at what just happened." He gestured toward the shattered front windows. "They didn't come for the clubhouse." His eyes drifted toward Chloe. "They came for her." Nobody argued because nobody could. The dead man lying on the floor proved it.
"They had one objective." Vengeance looked Bowie square in the eye. "To capture Chloe."
One of the older Bastards kicked the attacker's rifle away. "So what?"
"So her staying here guarantees they'll try again,” Vengeance said.
"They'll have to come through us,” Bowie said.
"They just did,” Vengeance reminded. The words hit harder than he'd intended, and Bowie's jaw flexed.
Vengeance hated twisting the knife, but the truth didn't care about feelings.
"You've got too many people to protect." He shook his head.
"They'll keep throwing bodies at you until you make a mistake. "
Bowie stepped closer. "So what's your solution?"
"You send Chloe away,” he said.
"No.” The answer came instantly.
"I figured you'd say that,” Vengeance said.
"I'm not sending my daughter anywhere with you,” Bowie said.
"I didn't say that you should send her with me,” he almost whispered.
"You implied it,” Bowie insisted.
"I implied that she leave Huntsville,” Vengeance said.
Chloe finally spoke. "I'm standing right here." Neither man acknowledged her.
"I can disappear," Vengeance continued. "I've spent years learning how."
Bowie laughed again. "Why would I trust you?"
"You shouldn't,” Vengeance admitted.
"Then this conversation's over,” Bowie said.
"You should trust one thing,” Vengeance said.
"And what's that?" Bowie asked.
"I hate Dante more than you do,” Vengeance insisted. That was the most honest thing that he had said all day, and it seemed to catch everyone's attention.
Bowie narrowed his eyes. "I don’t believe you.”
Vengeance looked down at the floor and shrugged. “Believe what you want to believe about me. But the Black Veil Syndicate won’t stop coming for her now. She’s on their radar, and that means that she’s not safe." The words slipped out before he could stop them. Damn it.
Chloe seemed to catch his slip-up immediately. "What does that mean?"
He ignored her. Instead, he looked back at Bowie. "I know how he thinks."
"That’s convenient,” Bowie said.
"I know how he'd hunt her,” Vengeance said.
"You seem to know a hell of a lot about the monster who took me,” Chloe said.
"I do." Silence stretched before she asked the question Vengeance had been waiting for.
"How?"
He hesitated just long enough to make it believable. "I grew up around men like him." It wasn’t technically a lie. "They taught me things I wish I'd never learned." Chloe studied him for nearly a full minute, as though looking for cracks. She was hunting for any hint of deception.
"If I agreed to your plan, where would you take her?” Bowie asked, quickly changing the subject. Vengeance tried not to look relieved, but he was.
"I wouldn't choose where we go,” he insisted.
"What?" Bowie asked.
"You've got allies."
Bowie nodded slowly. "Several,” he said.
"Use one of them,” Vengeance said. "Just no one in Alabama."
"No,” Bowie agreed.
"Not Tennessee,” Vengeance continued.
"No,” Bowie said, rolling his eyes.
"It needs to be far enough away that the Syndicate won't expect it,” Vengeance said.
One of the older Bastards finally spoke. "Kentucky?"
Vengeance shook his head. "Too close."
"What about Mississippi?" another man asked.
"Still too close,” Vengeance said.
Bowie folded his arms. "I've got an old brother in Montana."
Vengeance immediately shook his head. "Too far."
That seemed to surprise everyone. "You just said farther was better."
"Not if Chloe's never been on the run,” he said, finally looking at her. "You'll make mistakes."
She frowned. "I can handle myself."
"I know you think that,” Vengeance said.
Her chin lifted. "I know I can."
His expression softened. "I believe you." She blinked at him as though she didn’t expect him to say that to her. "I also know what happens when people who've never disappeared try to run." She looked away because they both knew he was right.
Bowie rubbed both hands over his face.
"There's a safe house." Everyone looked at him. "It belonged to one of the original Royal Bastards."
"The old cabin?" another member asked.
Bowie nodded. "Nobody's used it in years."
"Where is it?” Vengeance asked.
"West Virginia,” Bowie said. Vengeance felt something inside him finally loosen. West Virginia would be remote—probably in the mountains with limited access roads. It would be perfect.
"Who knows about it?" he asked.
"Five people,” Bowie said. He looked at his daughter. "I always hoped we'd never have to use it."
"Dad,” she whispered.
His eyes filled with tears for the first time all day. "I buried my husband this morning." His voice broke. "I'll be damned if I bury my daughter next."
Chloe's own eyes shimmered. "I don't want to leave you."
"I know,” Bowie said.
"I should stay,” Chloe insisted.
"You should go,” Bowie said. “And stay safe.” Bowie turned back toward Vengeance. "You fail her, and?—”
"I won't,” Vengeance interrupted.
"You have no idea what I'll do,” Bowie said.
Vengeance met his gaze without hesitation. "If I fail Chloe, you won’t have to find me. I’ll be dead.” Bowie stared at him for several long seconds before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a worn brass key attached to a faded leather tag. Without another word, he tossed it at Vengeance.
"The address is written on the back." He looked down and saw that the house was in Hidden Valley, outside of Marlinton, West Virginia. He knew the place. It was so isolated that most people had probably never heard of it.
"Leave tonight," Bowie ordered. "No phones, no credit cards, no social media, and no contact unless absolutely necessary."
Vengeance nodded. "I'll get her there."
Bowie took one threatening step forward until only inches separated them.
"If my daughter comes home with so much as a scratch—” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"I'll finish what Savage started with the Dragons.
" Vengeance didn't flinch because there was something Bowie didn't know.
If Dante found Chloe first, there wouldn't be enough left of the Dragons or the Black Veil Syndicate for Bowie to avenge.
Because Vengeance would burn his father's entire empire to the ground before he let Dante put his hands on Chloe again.
The ride out of Huntsville felt like the longest of Vengeance's life.
He checked his mirrors every few seconds, and neither of them spoke a word.
Bowie had insisted on sending four Royal Bastards with them until they reached the interstate.
After that, they would split off in different directions to muddy the trail.
It was smart. Unfortunately, he knew that it probably wouldn't be enough.
The sun had disappeared hours before they crossed into Tennessee. Chloe hadn't spoken since they'd left Savage Hell. She sat behind him on the Harley, her gloved hands gripping the grab bar instead of his waist. She didn't trust him. Hell, he couldn't blame her.
Every time they stopped for gas, she climbed off the bike without looking at him—without saying a word.
She kept her distance while he paid cash and filled the tank because using a credit card would make them traceable.
He was doing things exactly the way Bowie wanted it.
But then again, that was easy because it was the way that Vengeance had lived most of his adult life.
By midnight, they'd crossed into Kentucky. He pulled off onto an old logging road, shutting off the motorcycle beneath a canopy of trees. The sudden silence felt unnerving. Chloe climbed off. "Why are we stopping?"
"Because we've been followed since Tennessee,” Vengeance said.
Her eyes widened as she quickly looked around. "What?"
He walked around the motorcycle, pulling a flashlight from one of the saddlebags. "Relax."
"Relax?" she hissed. "You just said we're being followed."
"Were,” he breathed. “I said that they were following us.”
"So, they aren’t anymore?” she asked.
"No, they are, but they're about three minutes ahead of us now,” he said.
She stared at him. "How can you possibly know that?"
He crouched beside the gravel road and looked up at her. "They're amateurs." He noticed the tire tracks and knew that they had come this way.
"What do you mean by amateurs?" she asked.
"They don't know how to hide very well,” he said.
He pointed toward the road. "See that?"
She leaned closer. "I don't see anything."
"The gravel,” he said.
"It's gravel,” she grumbled, staring at the road.
"It shouldn't be piled up like that." She frowned, and he sighed. "Somebody came through here too fast."
"Oh,” she breathed.
"They're rushing to get ahead of us. It’s why I noticed them in the first place,” he said.
"You can tell all that from some piled-up gravel?” she asked.
He nodded. "They're anxious, or stupid—probably both."