Chapter 13
Tide
The ride was long, which means I’m further away from home, from the guys, from her.
I can’t stop thinking about her. I know we can find out who bought her.
I know Mystic can work his magic when I can get a hold of him.
But right now? I need to figure out a way out of this mess.
This is bullshit. I have no idea who the fuck bought me, and that’s scary.
I could be going to a rival MC. That’s my biggest worry.
I don’t know how I’ll fight my way out of that. I’ll be outnumbered.
The van has been stopped for a long time now, but no one has made a move to open the doors. The waiting is the hardest. Not knowing what’s out there. Not knowing what I’m up against. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for whatever is about to come.
Then it happens. The back door opens, and I’m shocked to see who’s standing there. They play their parts, grabbing me and dragging me out of the van. I put up a little fight, but not much, seeing as I know who they are. I won’t fight them.
“Get him inside. In the basement.” I hear chuckles and laughter. I hear guys pretending to hate me. Why would they have bought me? What sense does this make? And how the hell are they even here? So many questions run through my mind, but I have no answers for them, so I just go with it.
I’m dragged through the makeshift clubhouse and down to the basement.
“What the hell is goin’ on?”
“Miss me motherfucker?” Mayhem asks. Fucking Mayhem. A Soulless Bastard from California.
“Been a long time, brother,” I say as he holds his hand out to me. We shake hands, and he pulls me into a hug before stepping back. “What the hell is goin’ on?”
“We’re workin’ on somethin’. It brought us here. Happened to see the live feed of your ass on the screen instead and bid on you.”
“You fuckin’ bought me?” He chuckles and nods his head.
“Goddamn right we did. Couldn’t let you go down like that, brother. What the hell happened? How’d you get there?”
“I was taken along with my girl.”
“Fuck me, that was your girl on the auction block?”
“Yeah. They sold her. Any idea who bought her?” Mayhem shakes his head when another of the Soulless Bastards walks into the room. Ruger. Been a long time since I’ve seen him, too.
“That was your girl?” Ruger asks as I nod my head. He passes me a water and a cigarette, which I light up before dropping onto the chair in the room.
“Yeah, she’s mine. Don’t know who the hell wanted her taken, but they said they paid big money for it.”
“What the hell? Someone paid traffickers to get your girl gone?”
“Traffickers? That’s who we’re dealin’ with?” I ask, more concerned than I was.
“Yeah, Tide. Not good ones either. They don’t just traffic, they sell. Big fuckin’ money runnin’ through that line of assholes,” Ruger tells me. Fuck. I should have known.
“I should have seen that comin’. I should have fuckin’ known!” I roar as I squeeze the bottle in my hand.
“They’re a sneaky bunch of fuckers. You wouldn’t have known,” he says.
“Doesn’t matter, I should have. We’ve been dealin’ with this shit for a while now.”
“Doesn’t mean shit, Tide. These are a whole new breed of traffickers. They’re out for money, and I’m not talkin’ dollars like the others. They’re in it for big money.”
“Who the hell would have wanted her taken?” I ask, more to myself than to them. It doesn’t make sense. Mylah trains dogs and stays to herself. There’s no one out there who would want to hurt her.
“Whoever it was has money,” Ruger adds. I nod my head. He’s right. Whoever it was paid the fucking traffickers to take her, sell her. That has to be big money.
“Do the guys know where I am?” I ask, looking between the two of them.
“Yeah. I let Patch know what was happenin’. He was about to bid on your ass too, but that would have been a little suspicious.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“They’re waitin’ on you to come home, though. Been a rough few days,” Mayhem says.
“Sure as fuck has. Can you get a hold of Mystic for me?”
“Yeah. He’ll find your girl.” I sure as hell hope so. There’s a knot in my stomach from missing her.
“You ready to go home, Tide?” I nod my head.
As ready as I’ll ever be. I shove off the chair and stand, finishing off my cigarette before following Ruger out of the basement.
We walk up the steps, and I see a few other guys, some I know, some I don’t.
We fist-bump anyway, and I say my thanks for what they did for me.
Then I follow Ruger out the door where the bikes are.
“You can take that one,” he says, nodding toward one of them.
“You sure? I’m sure the guys can come pick me up.”
“It’s just for show anyway.”
“What do you have goin’ on over here?”
“Same shit as you, I would assume. Missin’ person. We agreed to help find her. I think she’s in deep, though. We’ve been runnin’ around like crazy,” he says as he blows smoke into the air.
“No shit? You need help?”
“No. We got this. You focus on your girl. If you need help, let us know,” he says. I nod my head as he passes me a set of keys and smirks.
“Been good to see you, though, Tide. Been too long, brother.”
“I agree there. We need to get together more often.”
“Sure as hell do. I’ll let the guys know,” he says as I nod.
“I appreciate this.”
“No problem, brother. It’s what we do.” He pulls me into a hug before slapping a hand on my back. He tells me where I am and how to get back home. Then I turn and grab the helmet off the bike and slide it on my head before climbing on. I rev it up and give one last nod to Ruger before taking off.
I’m only about an hour away from Savannah. And that’s a whole hour I have to think about what happened. A whole hour to think about her.