“I’m in,” Ryan said, getting to his feet. “I could use a little excitement.”
“Taylor and Cooper, I want you to head straight for Cedar Ridge just in case we miss them,” Jackson said. “The rest of you stay here and wait for us to call. Be prepared in case we need you.”
“Do you think we should call Marcus?” Cooper asked. “The clan is going to want to know about this. If that’s your son, Thomas has kidnapped one of us.”
“I think we should call him,” Aaron said. “I’ll do it if you want me to.”
“Cooper is right, the clan needs to know about this,” Gabe said, then looked over at Walker. “It’s your decision.”
“I’ll call him myself,” Walker said. “This is my family, I want the clan’s full protection for them, no matter what it takes.”
***Maddie***
“Get in there,” Thomas said, giving Maddie a huge shove and nearly making her drop the baby. “This is all your fault.”
“How is a flat tire my fault?” she asked. “I told you this was a mistake.”
“Shut up, when I say something is your fault, you apologize,” Thomas screamed at her. “I’m the man, I’m always right, you’re the woman, you bow down to me…in everything…and always.”
“You and I have very different ideas about how the world works,” she said calmly, refusing to show him how scared she was. “That could be a problem.”
“Put that kid to bed,” he growled, giving her a dirty look. “You’re going to pay for that attitude, missy. Before we leave this room, you’re going to know who’s the boss.”
“Touch me and I’ll scream so loud it will wake up the entire motel,” she shot back at him, lifting her chin in the air. “And don’t even think about threatening Justin, he’ll scream even louder than I will, and that will really get everyone’s attention.”
“You little bitch, don’t you threaten me,” he said, taking a couple of steps toward her. “You’re going to submit to me and give me what I want. Now get undressed and get in that bed, I don’t care if the kid watches if you don’t.”
“Oh, that’s going to get a bit messy, but if you don’t care…” she said, then shrugged her shoulders. “You’d better let me go to the bathroom and get cleaned up first. My flow has been really heavy this time, I guess having a kid will do that to you.”
It was almost impossible not to laugh at the look on Thomas’s face when what she was telling him sank in, but she held it together, silently cheering when he backed away from her. “You won’t be able to use that excuse for very long,” he said, grabbing her purse and shoving it into her arms. “Go clean yourself up, you’re disgusting, I don’t ever want to hear about…that stuff again, gross…”
Not about to miss the opportunity to get away from him, she took Justin and slipped into the bathroom, then turned on the water in the sink. Taking a few seconds to catch her breath and calm down, she stared at herself in the mirror, then closed her eyes and thought about Walker, willing him to come for them. When a wave of warmth settled over her, she opened her eyes again. Deep down, she knew that he was on his way. She just had to find a way to stall Thomas.
With a flame of hope alive and burning brightly inside her, she opened her purse and started digging through it, hoping to find something that would help. When her fingers closed around a prescription bottle, she smiled for the first time, then carefully pocketed a small handful of the little white tablets, a plan slowly forming in her mind.
When she came out of the bathroom, Thomas was lying on one of the beds flipping through the channels, a bored look on his face. “I’m kind of hungry,” she said, sitting down on the other bed. “Could we get something to eat?”
“It’s late, everything is closed,” he said, waving his hand at her. “Just shut up and go to sleep.”
“The restaurant in the lobby was still open,” she said. “I bet you’re hungry too. We didn’t have any dinner. I could run down there and get us something, I don’t mind.”
Thomas was silent for a second, then looked over at her. “I’m not letting you take the kid,” he said. “If you go he’s staying here with me.”
“I’m not going to run away,” she said, then sighed. “Fine, I’m so hungry, I don’t care, I’ll call and order it ahead of time. What do you want?”
She left the room ten minutes later after kissing a sleeping Justin on the head. Her plan was going perfectly, but she still had a long way to go. The food was ready when she walked in, and she gave the waitress a big tip since it was Thomas’s money. Then, when the woman walked away, she popped the lid off his drink and dropped in six of the little white pills. Hoping they’d dissolve before she got back to the room, she took her time, then made a big show of serving Thomas his dinner to make sure he got the right drink.
It was almost an hour before Thomas quietly fell asleep and began to snore loudly. Heart pounding, she got up and walked over to the bed. “Hey, wake up,” she shouted in his face. “I’m going to run away and leave you here if you don’t wake up right now.”
When he didn’t move, she stuck her tongue out at him, then grabbed her purse, put on both her jacket and Thomas’s, then tucked Justin between the two. She had no idea how far she’d have to go to find the police, but she wasn’t taking any chances,she was going to get as far away from the motel as she could. The sleeping pills were working, but she didn’t know for how long; she couldn’t risk Thomas waking up and finding her close by.
Taking one more look at the sleeping man, she slowly eased the door open, then slipped out and closed it without making a sound. Turning, she looked around the parking lot, then spotting the lights of town further down the road, she clutched Justin a little tighter and started to run. She’d only made it a few thousand feet when she felt a pair of strong arms grab her from behind. A scream was trapped in her throat, but she began to struggle.
“Maddie, it’s me,” Walker said, holding her tightly. “Stop fighting, it’s me, I came after you.”
She froze, relief pouring through her, then turned and looked up at him, all the fear and panic suddenly rising to the surface. “Thomas…sleeping pill…still in the room…” she stammered. “Have to get away…have to save the baby…”
Walker didn’t hesitate; he swept them both up in his arms and ran to a truck idling on the other side of the parking lot. There were two other men in the front seat, but the backseat was empty, and Walker shoved the two of them in, then jumped in behind them.
