Chaos Chapter 1 #2
Eagle was waving his hands, demonstrating what he looked like trying not to fall on a roofing job this week, when the sound of a phone ringing caught our attention.
It wasn’t unusual to hear them at any time, but this one was close.
Then I noticed Mishap reach into his inner cut pocket and pull out his cell phone.
He glanced at the screen and frowned. He wasted no time answering it.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Several beats of silence as he sat there listening. As he did, I saw his face turn dark, and his expression go grim. The rest of us sat straighter and leaned toward him.
“You stay there and don’t you fucking move! Get your ass somewhere safe,” he snapped.
Mishap paused to listen again. This time, the conversation on the other end lasted not as long.
“Then stay there and don’t come out until you hear my voice. Call me back if anyone tries anything. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes max,” he barked before disconnecting the call. He came to his feet.
“I’ve gotta go,” Mishap said gruffly.
Before he could walk away, we stood up.
“Who was that?” Eagle asked.
“What’s wrong?” Forge asked.
“Where are you headed?” I chimed in.
“Walk with me, and I’ll fill you in. I can’t stop to chat,” Mishap said.
We headed for the door with him. He talked fast. We’d ridden our bikes from our houses to the clubhouse. It wasn’t that far to walk for me, but they all had their houses further back, and at night, none of us liked to walk if we didn’t have to, not even me.
“It was Bianca, my cousin. She’s at a bar in Greensboro, the one right on the end of town closest to us, the Tipsy Taproom. She said that she thinks she’s been drugged. I’m going to get her.”
“Whoa, what the hell is she doing there? That place isn’t a nice place to be, especially for a woman alone,” Forge stated.
“Why would Bianca go there? She’s not a drinker,” Eagle said.
“You know her?” I asked.
As Eagle nodded, we made it outside. I couldn’t recall Mishap ever mentioning a cousin named Bianca. Like many of us, he was rather close-lipped about his blood family. I assumed he either didn’t have any or he wasn’t on good terms with them, like I wasn’t with mine.
“You shouldn’t go alone. If she was drugged, then whoever did it is probably still there. And if more than one person is involved, you can’t get her out of there and fight them off if they try anything. I’ll go with you,” I told Mishap.
Within seconds, Eagle and Forge both chimed in, saying they’d go, too.
“You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine,” Mishap assured us.
“Don’t argue. We’re not listening. And if I have to, I’ll pull rank,” I informed Mishap.
I was the club’s treasurer, which was officially an officer’s position, just not one of the top ones. The three of them were regular members. Mishap rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue when he spoke.
“Okay, no need to bring out the threats. Let’s get going.”
“One second, I’m sending a text to Ryder, so someone knows where we’re going,” I informed them.
Ryder was our enforcer. I doubted if there would be anything that the four of us couldn’t handle, but if there were, he’d be ready to bring reinforcements.
It took me less than thirty seconds to send off the text, then we got ourselves situated on our bikes and fired them up.
From this side of the gate, sensors would open it automatically.
We roared off into the night, heading to Greensboro. It wasn’t far, a small town of about thirty-five hundred to four thousand people that, depending upon what end of Lake Oconee you were on, could be five to fifteen minutes away. We were closer to the Greensboro end of the lake.
There was very little traffic at this time of night, so we made good time.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the Tipsy Taproom, it was full.
Loud music could be heard through the walls.
We found parking alongside the building, not in what was officially a parking area, but I dared anyone to tell us to move our bikes.
After we parked, we walked in sync to the door.
Eagle yanked it open. Standing on the other side was a guy, their version of a bouncer from the looks of him.
He gave us a narrow-eyed, searching look.
We stared back. He was smarter than he appeared because he kept his mouth shut and let us walk inside.
“She’s in the ladies’ room. She promised she’d lock herself in a stall and wait for me,” Mishap told us.
I’d been here before, though it had been a long time ago.
I headed toward where I recalled the restrooms to be.
People stared and whispered as they saw our fierce faces and cuts.
They moved out of our way as we wove through the tables to the restrooms. A few people loitered in the short hallway outside them.
They hurried off when they saw us stop outside the women’s restroom.
Mishap raised his fist and rapped his knuckles hard on the door, then he called out loudly.
“Bianca, it’s Rawley. It’s alright to come out. You’re safe.”
We waited. There was a muffled sound from inside, but no distinct answer.
We stood there for I don’t know how long.
I was about to suggest he knock again or that we enter when the door opened, and a woman stumbled out.
She practically fell into Mishap’s arms. I was behind him, so I didn’t get a good look at her, other than seeing the top of her head. He pulled her to his chest.
“Thank God, you made it. I feel horrible. Get me out of here. Take me home,” a muffled, husky female voice muttered.
“We’re gonna take you out of here. And when I get you home, you’re telling us what the hell happened,” Mishap replied.
“We?” she croaked, then her body shifted, and a head peeked around his arm.
The woman who glanced at us wore an astonished expression.
She scanned our faces. When she paused at me, I barely kept my curse inside.
Bianca was clearly drugged and fighting it.
But that wasn’t the only reason I wanted to swear.
Even in the dim light of the bar, I knew she was gorgeous.
Just the type of woman predators would target in a place like this. Anger began building inside me.
“You brought others? Christ, there was no need to bring the cavalry. Did you think we’d have to fight an army to get out of here?” she asked her cousin.
“Knowing you, yeah,” Eagle replied, smirking.
“Hey, Eagle, he dragged you out for this. I’m sorry. I should’ve just called for a rideshare.”
“Like hell you should’ve. You did the right thing by calling me. They insisted on coming along. You got everything?” Mishap asked.
“Yeah, I have my stuff in my pocket. God, the room is spinning. Get me outside where I can breathe fresh air, please.”
I hated turning my back on her, but I took point and walked in front of them.
Eagle fell in next to Mishap and Bianca.
That left Forge to have their backs. We marched out in a tight formation.
Our heads were kept on a swivel, scanning the crowd for anyone who might try to stop us or who looked overly upset to see her leave.
Curiosity was rampant, but no one got in our way.
At the door, the bouncer rushed to open it for us.
As I passed him, I gave him a chin lift, and he returned it.
The cool air hit me as we exited the bar.
I didn’t wait before leading the way to where we parked our bikes.
Mishap murmured to his cousin, but their voices were too low for me to hear what was said.
When we reached our rides, I turned to face the group.
Bianca was in the building’s shadow, and Mishap had his arm around her.
“Where to?” I asked.
“Back to the compound,” Mishap answered. Immediately, his cousin objected.
“No need to go all that way. Help me get home, and I’ll be fine.”
“You’ve been drugged. You need to be monitored.
At the compound, we have someone who can monitor you.
Stitch was a Navy corpsman. Taking you home might not be safe.
What if whoever did this is watching and waiting to see where we take you?
I’m not saying this to scare you, yet I am.
You can’t be too cautious, Bianca,” Mishap told her.
She sighed. “God, I knew I shouldn’t have called. You’re going overboard. At home, I’ll be behind locked doors, and I have a gun. I know how to shoot,” was her comeback.
“Where’s your car?” Eagle asked out of nowhere.
He and Forge were watching the darkness around us. I had half an eye on it, too.
“At home. I took a rideshare here.”
“Bianca, you left yourself without a reliable way to get—” Mishap was cut off when she yanked herself free of his arms, took three steps, and bent over the bushes along the building.
She heaved and heaved as she made retching sounds. Nothing came up, but it sounded terrible. Mishap took advantage and kept speaking.
“I’m not arguing with you. I came to help, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. We’re getting on the damn bike, and you’ll hang on and go where I take you. If you need me to pull over, tap my right shoulder three times. The sooner you give in, the sooner you can rest,” her cousin demanded.
She straightened and opened her mouth. Something told me she was about to voice an objection, but a trio of guys walking around the building stopped her.
They were talking loudly, laughing, and unsteady on their feet.
They were talking loudly, laughing, and unsteady on their feet.
Clearly, they were drunk. It took them a couple of seconds to spot us.
When they did, the first thing they did was stop and then squint at us.
The guys’ gazes swept over us, then froze on Bianca.
They ran their eyes up and down her body, not bothering to hide the blatant sexual interest. We would’ve ignored them, even though those glances made me want to plant my fist in their faces.
However, they didn’t move along to wherever they were headed. The tallest one opened his mouth.