I pass the entrance of the trailer park and then I’m out on the main road, where only a few cars zip past. I wave my arms, screaming, but the cars don’t stop. There’s a tightness in my chest and I’m sweating. There’s nothing else around here, only a few run-down houses, so I run along the road in the hope someone will stop. I’m not safe. Not until I’m back with Rage.
The woman yells louder. She’s getting closer. There’s another car coming. I frantically wave my arms in the air. When I see the car slowly veering toward me with the blinker on, relief pours over me.
As the car gets closer, I see it’s being driven by an elderly woman. When she stops, the window slides down. “Are you okay?” she asks with curved brows, her eyes wandering over me.
A loud pop, sharp and deafening, makes me jump.
“Don’t you dare get into that car,” the Russian woman yells.
I jiggle the door handle. “Please let me in.” My voice breaks. “She kidnapped me and she’s going to kill me.”
I hear the door unlock. “Get in, sweetheart!” the driver shouts. I jump in the passenger seat and we speed away. As we drive pasts the woman with the gun, I duck, but she doesn’t shoot. In the mirror, I watch her throw her hands up in the air and run back inside the trailer park.
“Oh deary me,” the driver says loudly as she stares into the rearview mirror. “Would you like me to take you to the police station?”
I swallow over the large lump in my throat. My hands are still shaking in my lap. I feel safest with Rage, but I don’t expect her to take me to the clubhouse. “Can you take me to the women’s shelter in Crown Village?”
The woman nods. “I don’t know where that is.”
“If you can take me to the main street of Crown Village, I should be able to direct you from there.”
Fear still lingers, coiled tight inside of me. I lean back against the seat as the reality of what just happened sinks in. I escaped. I’m out. But Ivan and his crew will be after me, and that makes my stomach churn. I’m not safe... not yet.
TWENTY
THE FINAL SHOWDOWN
Rage
Reaper went backto the clubhouse. He’s been on the phone, organizing the fight. We’ve split up and have been calling and going to every place of accommodation in the surrounding towns. We hope we’ll find Rose because we doubt the Russians will be staying far away if they’re monitoring who’s going to and from the clubhouse.
I can’t focus, so I’ve teamed up with Viper. He’s been doing the talking to all the business owners. We’ve got eyes everywhere, but so far, nothing. We’ve spent the morning looking around in the suburb of Opal Bay. It’s insane how run-down this suburb is compared to Crown Village.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I snatch it up as my heart leaps into my throat. It’s Cash.
“I’ve got something,” he says. “At Opal Bay trailer park. The owner says there are Russians staying here. I’m in the front office. Get here now.”
My lungs collapse.Maybe we’ve finally found Rose.“Cash thinks he’s located them, we’ve got to move,” I bellow to Viper.I’m already racing to my bike. Viper’s right behind me; he’s on the phone to the club members. The roar of our engines fills the air as our bikes surge forward, the tires kicking up pebbles.
My heart threatens to burst out of my chest it’s pumping so hard. My mind turns to Rose. Is she okay? Is she even alive?
When we pull up to the trailer park, Cash is waiting in the front office, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. “Owner says they’re in the back. Trailers number twelve and thirteen. Two men and a woman. He doesn’t recall seeing another woman with them, though.”
I nod, my jaw tight. It sounds like them—Ivan, his manager, and Ivan’s missus.
Viper is VP of the club, next in charge while Reaper is at the clubhouse, so he motions for me and Cash to stay back. We move as a unit, weapons drawn. The sound of our boots crunching on the gravel is the only noise we make as we approach the trailer.
The trailer is small and looks like it’s been here for decades. My grip tightens on my gun, my finger hovering over the trigger. A man and woman inside are yelling at each other in Russian.
Viper kicks the door in with a single, powerful kick. We storm inside, weapons raised.
The man is Ivan. He’s standing in the middle of the room, and his hands shoot up the moment he spots our guns. His girlfriend stands behind him, her wide eyes darting between us. She’s frozen in fear.
The manager sits stiffly on the couch, his arms raised in surrender, his face pale.
I move quickly, my heart pounding as I sweep through the small trailer. I check the bedroom, then the bathroom, my movements quick and desperate.
But it’s empty. My heart sinks, the disappointment hitting me with full force. Rose isn’t here.
