The other bikes roar to life and I shove the first aid kit into the back storage compartment on my bike. “I gotta go. I’ll keep you posted about what we find.”
I throw my leg over my bike and hit the ignition switch. As my motor springs to life, I snap my helmet into place. Right before I shove my visor down, Jasper pulls his bike up beside mine. His eyes drift over all the weapons I’m carrying and his expression goes blank.
I think he’s worried that I’m gonna lose my shit on some poor hapless fool, like I did last time, so I try to reassure him. “I’m calm, Prez. My head is screwed on straight. You don’t have to worry about me tonight.”
“I know. This is your one chance to get your old lady back in one piece. I don’t think you’d be quite stupid enough to blow it by letting your emotions get the better of you.”
“What is it then?”
“We need to make smart, strategic decisions during this mission. It’s the only way to make sure everyone makes it home alive.”
“They took my woman and my unborn child. If anyone loses their life rescuing them, it’ll be me.”
Our club president doesn’t look too happy with my response, but he lets it go. He revs his engine to get everyone’s attention and yells, “Let’s move out.”
Chapter 16
Nora
The van stops and a few seconds later the driver turns the engine off. We’ve reached our destination, but I have no idea what kind of place this is. I don’t recognize the landscape or the building. Stripe and my brother look pleased with themselves, which doesn’t bode well for me.
They zip-tied my wrists in front of me. Although the skin around the straps is getting rubbed raw, at least my fingers aren’t going numb. My shoulder hurts from Brave’s rough handling. The thing that keeps circling in my head is the little pinch of pain in my stomach. I worry about what that means. I just need to keep my wits about me, since I’m thinking for two now.
The van door slides back. Cold air swoops in, chilling me. A flood light blinds me, but I recognize the familiar voice of the man who comes to greet us.
“Welcome home, Nora. Get out of the fuckin’ van. Now.” My father’s voice is sharp and irritated. I scramble to do as he says because I fear him more than Stripe. My father is the known variable. I know he’ll backhand me if I don’t move fast enough, speak up when he talks to me or piss him off. Stripe is an unknown variable, in that I don’t know him well enough to predict his behavior.
I stumble out of the van and fall back against the sliding door. When my father reaches for me, Spark steps up. “I gotthis, Pa. You’ve got better things to do with your time than worry about our lost little club princess.”
He takes me firmly by the arm and walks me across the storage yard of derelict, junked vehicles. To the untrained eye, it looks a lot like a salvage yard, but I know better. There are rows of cars and trucks of every make and model imaginable. Some even look new. That’s because they’re all stolen. This must be part of their chop business.
When I shiver, Spark curses under his breath. He slides off his jacket and drapes it over my shoulders. I hold up my zip-tied hands. “Can you remove these, please?”
“If I did, you’d just try to escape. I’d have to run you down and punish you in front of everyone, in order to save face. So, no. I don’t think that would be a very fuckin’ good idea for you or for me.”
“Why are you so angry?” I ask, even though I have a pretty good idea what the answer is.
“Why do you fuckin’ think I’m angry? I asked you to come home. I sent you that little warning so you would know we could get to you if you didn’t. And you made us force the issue anyway. It was a huge waste of time and resources.”
Bringing my hands back down, I respond tersely, “Sorry to be a bother, I know how busy you all are now that you’re in good with the cartel.”
He glances ahead to see our old man and Stripe walk into the building. Then he hisses, “Shut the fuck up about club business. I swear to fuckin’ God, Nora. Sometimes I don’t think you have any instinct for self-preservation at all.”
“I don’t want this life Dad’s forcing on me,” I tell him, lowering my voice.
He gestures around the lot in frustration. “You think I do? How about Brave? Do you think he enjoys being the big scary thing our old man throws at every problem?”
I just glare at him. Our brother has always been an asshole.
“Yeah, you might be right about that actually. But look, Sis, none of us had a choice about being born into this life. We either adapt or die. Hell, maybe Brave is the fuckin’ smart one, instead of me. At least he adapted to reality, unlike you and me.”
“Don’t lie,” I tell him. “You’re the golden child, Dad’s right-hand man, and the brains behind most of his really good ideas.”
“About that. Believe it or not, my damn dream in life wasn’t to hook up with the cartel and operate a chop shop using stolen merch.”
I stop my slow walk towards the door and ask, “What was it that you wanted to do with your life, Spark?”
“What does it fuckin’ matter? What matters is keeping our family alive, making sure you don’t end up with twenty fuckin’ lashes from a whip for running off to ride Rager dick. What the hell were you thinking, Sis?”
