With a nod in response, I leave my son with my mom and Janessa. I’m literally being torn in two because I know I need to be there to find my girl and bring her home but I also need to be there for Leo. Our son needs me just as much as Sheridan does. She’d want me to be there for Leo and not worry about her. She’s constantly putting others first and our son will be no different. Especially now when he’s dependent on us for everything. However, I know Janessa and my mom will take care of him. They won’t let him out of their sight and will listen to the doctor when he comes in to check on Leo. Right now, I wouldn’t hear anything that’s said and it would disappoint my Little Fairy.
I walk up to hear Homicide telling everyone Sheridan’s phone is going straight to voicemail. My dad steps up next to me and pulls me into his arms. I’m trying so hard not to break and this isn’t helping at all. If there’s one person here who can make me break, it’s my dad. He doesn’t show this kind of emotion to everyone and I know this is killing him. When he finally pulls back, he looks me straight in the eyes as Mr. Russell steps up next to us. I’m surrounded by my dad, Sheridan’s dad, Knuckles, and Homicide. None of them will allow me to lose my shit in the hospital and they’ll lend me the strength I don’t seem to have right this second.
“We’re gonna bring our girl home, Axel. I won’t rest until she’s back home where she belongs. Sheridan is too damn strong to let some asswipe take her out. Omen heard her fightin’ backwhen Eric called him. She was fightin’ and yellin’ for help. I don’t think it was for her though. I’m thinkin’ she wanted help for Eric,” my dad says as I finally look at Mr. Russell.
Mr. Russell’s face is pale and his body is shaking. Tears fill his eyes and it’s taking everything in him to hold them back.
“If there’s anyone who can bring my girl home, it’s you Axel. She trusts you and has since the day she met you. You’re one of the few people she’s allowed in her life to witness all the good, bad, and ugly. Don’t let them keep her away from us, Axel,” Mr. Russell says as one tear slides down his face and Rooster steps up closer to us with Brick at his side.
“Mr. Russell, I know you don’t wanna think about this shit right now, but we have to know if you have any clue of what her mother is doin’ right now. Or where she’s stayin’. I’ve been diggin’ into her and hasn’t been able to nail down a concrete location on her. I’m guessin’ she doesn’t have a stable home,” Brick says, needing to gather as much information as he possibly can about this bitch because there’s no way in hell she’s not behind Sheridan being taken from us.
“She bragged she was leaving me for some rich asshole. Come to find out, he lied to her. He was a pimp and it didn’t take long for him to start pimping her out. She’s hooked on drugs now and has been since the car accident. She bounces from one place to the next. It just depends on which guy she’s fucking that day. I only know this because I keep tabs on her the best I can. My goal will always be to protect Sheridan from her mother and everyone else. I’ve obviously failed her,” he answers the best he can before my dad pulls him away from our group and they have a private conversation.
I can definitely relate to how he’s feeling right now. I’ve failed Sheridan and now she’s the one paying the price for my fuck-up. I should have been there with her. Then she wouldn’thave been kidnapped. Eric wouldn’t be rushed here in a damn ambulance either. We still need to get his side of the story too.
“I want bikes on the road. Search all fuckin’ over for any sign of Sheridan. Brick and Homicide I want the two of you on the scene. Go through the SUV and all around it. Find any possible sign of what happened. It’s a new vehicle so there’s cameras on it. Check them, Brick. Everyone else rides in pairs and question everyone. Find Foxy and Jess to question them. They are more than likely involved. We know Jess has been in contact with Sheridan’s mother and Foxy and her are close. They can’t stand Sheridan and we know that’s a fact. Tease, you're benched until we get word on where your girl is,” Rooster says, handing out instructions for everyone.
“Fuck that, Prez. I’m gonna be findin’ my girl,” I say, anger filling my voice at the thought of him benching me and not allowing me to be out searching for Sheridan.
“No, you’re not. You’re gonna take your son home with your mom and Janessa. He needs you right now. There’s only so much we can do until we get solid intel on Sheridan and where she is. The very second we know anythin’ for sure, you’ll be my first call. I want two guys here with Eric. Talk to him the very second you're allowed in the room with him. We need as many details as possible about what happened and who’s involved. I want another two with Tease. Don’t let him lose his shit. I’m sure Mr. Russell will be at the house with Tease and the girls, if he remembers anythin’, I’m your first call,” Rooster states, his voice hard and unyielding. He’s in full Presidential mode right now and I’m glad I’m not in his position because I’d be absolutely useless right now.
With a resigned nod of my head, I make my way back in the NICU and to my son’s side. The doctor is with him, talking to my mom as she listens intently to whatever he’s saying. Idon’t hear a single word as a buzzing fills my ears and the fear for Sheridan consumes me. Before I know it, I’m signing Leo’s discharge paperwork and Janessa is strapping him in his car seat so we can leave. I don’t remember the walk out of the NICU or past the guys following us. My mom tries talking to me and I don’t hear a word she says. All I can think about and focus on is Sheridan. She’s out there all alone and I have no clue where she is or what’s being done to her. She just got her fucking cast off and is still injured. Hell, she’s still not fully healed from the cesarean section after the accident. I don’t give a fuck who took her, all I know is they’re gonna pay. No one fucks with my girl and gets away with it.
“Little Fairy, I promise you I’ll bring you home to our son. We both need you and I won’t rest until I know you’re safe at home where you belong,”I promise quietly as Janessa puts my son in the back of my mom’s SUV before climbing in next to him. My mom is in the driver’s seat already as I climb in the passenger seat. They must have stopped to get his seat before coming here.
Chapter Twenty
Sheridan
WAKING UP, I’M groggy as hell and it takes several minutes for me to gather myself so I can figure out where the hell I am. My head is pounding and I can feel something pulling at my hair. I try to remember what happened to me, but it’s all a foggy blur. The last thing I remember is getting the phone call about Leo being discharged. Everything after that is blank. Trying to remember what happened to me only causes my head to hurt worse. It’s so bad I start to feel nauseous. This is the worst feeling in the world as my eyes finally clear enough for me to look around. I take in the details of the room I’m in. The walls are covered in wallpaper that’s an eggshell color with roses and vines all over. I’m sitting in an old, wooden chair that’s got a thick padding under my ass. Looking toward my feet, I find dark wood flooring. I know exactly where I am. I’m being held at my grandparents’ house—my house if I want to be technical. My hands are still behind me and I can feel the metal of the handcuffs digging into my skin. There’s also a rope tied around my chest so I can’t move off of the chair.
When I was younger, Marcus and Axel always worked with me on defending myself. I had more lessons with them than I ever dreamed possible. They knew all about the bullying I received at school and wanted to ensure I could protect myself for the times it turned physical. I could never remember all the lessons they taught me, but I do now. Each way to get out ofholds, where to hit to land the most damage to give me time to get away, and everything else they drilled into my brain on a regular basis. Hammer used to sit out and watch them work with me, giving me pointers if I had difficulty grasping a concept. He loved to see me kick Marcus’ and Axel’s asses.
Right now, all of those lessons won’t do me any good considering I’m wrapped up like an animal and pressed tight against the chair I’m in. It’s so bad, the circulation in my arms is non-existent. I can’t feel them and I know I’m going to be in so much pain when I’m finally released. My legs aren’t tied to anything though. I have the use of them and will utilize what little leg strength I possess to hurt anyone who gets close enough to me. Yes, I also worked out with Axel and Marcus when they would use the gym at school after football practice. I was too self-conscious when they worked out with the guys in the club so I just sat on the sidelines and watched or went home. My legs have always been the strongest part of my body in my estimation. However, my arms have more strength than normal with how often I worked in the garage with my dad.
I try to move my upper body around to loosen the rope keeping me locked against the chair. These aren’t cheap wooden chairs that will break with the slightest movement. They’re strong and have been in my grandparents’ home for as long as I can remember. My grandma used to tell me they were given to her by her parents when she got married. My grandpa’s parents bought the house and her parents furnished it with new furniture and things that were passed down through the generations. This table and chairs in the dining room is one of those things that was passed down through the family over the years. Eventually my kids will get it and then their kids will get it from them.
Whoever tied this rope did a good job. I’m lucid enough to realize it’s tied tightly around my body and it doesn’t give me room to maneuver myself around to loosen the rope so I can escape. I watched the guys train in ways to escape when they were growing up, but I never got that training. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I’m thinking right now I should have hung around and taken the lessons from Hammer, Rooster, and a few other guys who are sadly no longer with the club. All the kids at the time had the same training and there were only certain parts I participated in. I try not to regret anything in my life, but this is certainly one of those times I do.
Giving up because all I’m doing is wasting what little strength I have, I slump against the chair and close my eyes. At the same time, I hear a vehicle pull up. Hope fills me with the thought of Axel and the club showing up to rescue me. I try not to let it build up and fill me, but the bubble bursts when I hear my mother’s voice. It grates on my nerves and sends a tremor through my body because this is simply one more tactic in a long line of ways she’s using to get her hands on my money. The woman is fucking obsessed with it and that’s not how she was raised. Her parents were the most loving and caring people I’d ever met in my life. They were the same as my dad’s parents.
“When we get her to sign the papers, all the money will come to me,” I listen to my mother speak before that maniacal laughter I’ve heard so many times growing up fills the house. “She’s so fucking stupid and will do anything I tell her.”
That’s nothing but a lie. I don’t do anything that woman says because she’s a vile human and doesn’t deserve anything from her parents, me, or anyone else. The life she’s living is the one she deserves. Every single choice she’s made has been in greed and her selfishness. I won’t give her a damn thing to reward anything she’s done since I’ve been alive.
“How long do you think it will take to get the money from her?” I hear a second female ask and it doesn’t take me long to realize Jess is with her.
“Not long at all. As soon as she wakes up, I’ll make her sign the papers transferring everything to me. It’s automatic from what Wesley told me. The money will be available to me as soon as I get to the bank with the signed papers. Then I’ll give you both your cut and you can fuck off,” my mother says, her voice directly in front of me as her disgusting breath washes over my face and I have to fight with all of my strength to hold myself back from gagging.
“I’m not even supposed to be in town still. That fucking bitch got me kicked out of the club and they drove me directly to the bus stop so I could leave town. If they catch me here, they’ll kill me. That’s a promise Homicide said before they left me there as the bus was pulling away. Tease isn’t worth all that shit,” the girl who cornered me at the clubhouse says, her voice whiny and disgusting as it almost echoes off the walls of the dining room.
“Tease will be mine,” Jess says, determination filling her voice like I’ve heard countless times over the years. “I’m gonna make sure this skank watches us together every fucking day. Especially when her brat starts calling me mommy. She got me fired from the strip club and now I don’t get to see my man on a daily basis. I’ll make her pay if it’s the last thing I do.”
“I don’t give a shit what either one of you do. You don’t hold your end of the bargain and you won’t see a dime from me,” my mother threatens and I can’t help but laugh inside because Jess and Foxy, Janessa and Jolene told me her name, are stupid as hell. Neither one of them are ever going to see a penny from my mother. She’ll disappear before she shares money with anyone.
***
“Can’t we wake this bitch up?” Jess whines, her voice like nails on a chalkboard as I slowly start to wake up once again. “We’ve been here all fucking day long and you didn’t say anything about wasting time like this. I have better things to do than sit here. Tease is at the clubhouse all alone and I should be at his side.”
