Chapter Nine
Tara hugged herself tightly as she walked along the highway. The warm sun heated the pavement, making the journey seem endless.
Every time a car or motorcycle grew close, she hid behind whatever she found available.
What seemed like a bright idea at the time turned into one of the most harebrained endeavors she ever imagined.
It didn’t matter. Riley needed her help.
If she had only listened and never opened the door when her father knocked, neither of them would be in this position.
A motorcycle sounded in the distance. She ran off the side of the road and ducked into some overgrown grass as the biker slowly passed, searching for her. Refusing to consider what else might be in the grass with her, Tara huddled to the ground until the biker moved farther down the road.
Tara rubbed her eyes and waited a few minutes before walking along the pavement. She needed to go to their apartment, pack up their stuff, and find this Garret Johnson. She didn’t care what they wanted him for, but she wanted her sister back, and she refused to leave until he agreed to help her.
Her foot hit a rock, and she stumbled and fell face-first against the asphalt. Slowly, she pulled herself up and held her burning cheek. Tears gathered in her eyes as she continued to walk. What good did it do to cry?
There’s no telling what the bikers did to her sister at this point, and she was to blame. Riley ensured she escaped, and Tara doubted her sister planned to meet her at the bus station in Corpus Christi.
She told Tara to wait there and use her fake ID for a room.
The Riley she knew would’ve pitched a fit at seeing the stupid thing and made her throw it away.
Desperation glowed in Riley’s eyes as she screamed for her to run.
Tara always listened to her big sister, but this time, she didn’t plan to run like she did when Daddy got drunk and hurt her.
She planned to find Garrett Johnson and make him tell her what the bikers wanted.
The road sign welcoming her to Embers let her know she made it.
Heading toward the back of the apartment complex, she crouched behind a tree and scanned the area for any of Kenny’s crew.
When she saw two bikers asleep in their car, facing the direction of their apartment, she snuck up the fire escape and opened the broken patio door.
Tara ran to the kitchen for a glass of water and guzzled it down.
She set it on the counter and picked up a set of keys.
A piece of paper lay beside them, and her eyes skimmed Garrett’s note.
She folded it up and placed it in her back pocket.
Tara clutched the keys in her hand as a plan began to form.
The biker, Stitch, her head tormentor, lamented giving Riley his rickety old car.
The men made fun of him, calling the vehicle a piece of green shit and a rust bucket.
One of them said it fit the fat, slovenly man…
messy, dirty, grimy, and past its prime.
Stitch took offense to it, and she heard the brawl in the bar before someone shot a gun, ending it.
Tara moved sideways to the window and watched as two bikers pulled into the parking lot, waking the others.
One pointed at the apartment and shook his head.
Tara held her breath as the bikers on the motorcycle parked and the car sped off.
Seeing they changed for watch duty, Tara groaned and pressed against the wall.
Peeking out the window again, she spied the old green clunker.
If she managed to get inside the car without getting caught, she might have a chance.
Another hour went by, and the men didn’t move, making her anxious.
Tara went into the kitchen, searching through the flyers that came in the mail.
She recalled seeing an advertisement for beef at Serenity Ranch.
Locating it, she gave a little squeal. Every minute Riley stayed in that hellhole, the worse Tara’s imagination grew, making her desperate.
Wishing she possessed a cell phone like most kids her age, Tara planned to remind Riley of the importance of getting one.
After all, this constituted an emergency.
A loud banging made her jump before she heard her father’s drunk voice call out, “Open this damn door, Riley. Tara, you’re coming home with me. I don’t care what she promised you, you’re my kid, and you’ll stay with me until I say when you can leave.”
Tara cringed. The bikers got off their bikes and headed toward the steps. She ran toward her bedroom and hid on the left side of the closet, leaving the door open to make it appear empty.
“What the hell do you want, old man?” One of the bikers shouted at her dad.
“My daughters live here, and I’m taking my youngest home with me. Riley kidnapped her,” he stuttered.
“They’re not here. Where else do you think they’d go?” the other biker asked.
Her dad didn’t respond right away. “Why…do you want to know?” he asked.
“Because they owe us money. Tell us where they went,” the biker demanded.
“They can’t owe you. Riley doesn’t have anything.
I spent her inheritance to keep her from moving away.
She’s the exact image of her mother. I can’t lose her again.
Tara caused the accident on the ranch, which killed my wife.
I took her money, too. She owed me. The little bitch will never have enough to pay me back for losing her mother.
If anyone deserves to get paid, it’s me,” her dad exclaimed.
Unfortunately, through the thin walls of the apartment, Tara listened as the bikers roughed her father up. “Riley, Riley,” her dad kept screaming.
“Do you think the kid’s hiding in there?” One of the bikers asked the other, making Tara freeze in place.
“Nah, how do you think she’d make it all the way back here? Walk?” he asked, laughing. “If it’ll make you feel better, we can go inside and take a peek. Maybe they have some food. Kenny’s acted like an asshole lately about the kitchen. I don’t like him telling us if we don’t work, we don’t eat.”
“We can check it out,” the other biker said as he fiddled with the lock.
Tara held her breath as they walked from room to room. The biker opened the dresser and took out a pair of panties and sniffed them.
“There’s nothing like sweet pussy,” he said as he stuffed them in his pocket. “Maybe Kenny will let us have a turn with her if we show up with the kid.”
“Hell, after she scratched his eye, he’ll probably let us all have a turn.
I’m tired of the same old ladies. We need fresh meat like the one he kept in the room,” the biker complained.
“Fuckin Bernice whines like a cat. But she can sure give some good head when Kenny wants to punish her and makes her have sex with one of us.”
“I’m surprised he’s put up with her this long. As soon as they get the money from her son, I bet she doesn’t last a week before he dumps her on the side of the road.”
The bikers returned to the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets.
“Shit. There’s nothing here to eat. Let’s go down to the bar and have Tiny make us some grub.
No one’s here. Damn, it’s too bad. If we found her, we could have some fun before we took her back,” the biker lamented as he shut the door.
Tara waited a bit before coming out of her hiding place.
Something she learned from her home life.
Tears stung her eyes as she thought of her dad’s accusations.
The accident that killed her mom took more from her and Riley than it ever did him.
She wished her mom were here now. She’d know how to get out of this mess.
Sneaking down the hallway, she crossed over to the curtain and saw the men leave their bikes parked as they walked the short distance to the bar.
Taking the opportunity, she took out the keys and ran down the stairs toward the junky green vehicle.
Her heart pounded as she carefully opened the door and waited until the bikers walked out of sight before she started the car.
It choked and sputtered to life, and she put the car in drive.
A man slapped at the driver’s window, and she saw her father’s angry red face.
“Open the door, Tara,” her father ordered as he banged on the glass.
Pressing down on the gas pedal, Tara peeled out of the parking lot. She glanced in the rear-view mirror to see her dad shouting and the bikers running to their bikes.
“Crap,” she exclaimed as she accelerated and gripped the sticky steering wheel. She turned on the main road, heading to Serenity Ranch.
As she grew closer, the rumbling thunder of the motorcycles grew louder.
She turned into the long driveway and nearly lost control of the car as she sped toward the house.
Her heart pounded, and she kept glancing in the rearview mirror, searching for them.
They turned down the gravel drive and she cried out, worried they’d stop her somehow.
She skidded to a stop and pounded on the door of the old farmhouse, screaming bloody murder. “Help me, help me,” she cried as the bikers climbed off their bikes and walked menacingly toward her.
The door opened, and a brown-haired woman pulled her inside as she aimed her shotgun at the two men, making them halt.
“Take one more step, and I’ll shoot,” she warned them.
One of the bikers held up his hands. “We don’t want any trouble. Zeke and his sister argued about her taking his car without permission. We’re only trying to get her to come home,” the biker explained.
The woman’s brow arched as she surveyed the two men. “Sweetie, do you have a brother?” she asked without glancing at Tara.
“No. I don’t. Those men chased me here,” Tara admitted, terrified the woman might let them take her.
“I suggest you leave,” the woman told the men as she raised the shotgun higher.