because I was bound, and my mouth was taped. I was at their mercy.
“Ooh, she’s for sure mad at you, Forky,” the older one chuckled. “Oh hey. Hand over your knife and your phone.”
“Not likely.”
“Now, son.” The man’s voice went all business.
He passed his phone up. “No knife. Must’ve left it inside in the brotherhood cut.”
“Gotta frisk you in case you’re bullshitting.”
“Whatever, fuck,” he grunted.
They stepped out and left the door open as I saw the guy pat him down.
“Good lad.”
“Fuck you,” Fork grunted and climbed back in, dragged a pile of thick moving blankets from the back to behind the driver’s seat and then he reached for me and pulled me over to him on top of the mound of blankets.
“Her phone?”
“She hasn’t replaced it yet. Burned up in that fire.”
“Shit. She was there?” the older guy snickered.
“Yeah, luckily I got her out in the nick ‘o time,” he caressed my hair.
“Gonna explain shit to your sweet ‘lil piece there, Fork?” the driver, the younger guy asked.
“I think she gets it,” he grunted.
“Forky may’ve had a momentary lapse of judgement, but then things changed, didn’t they?” He laughed. “He knows who he is, where he comes from. That your father and his boys are pussies.”
“And if he doesn’t prove it, he’ll be in the ground,” the other one said and laughed a little too long.
Christian spread his legs and pulled me closer against his body, nestling me between his parted legs, my back against his torso. His arm was thrown over me to hold me close, his back against the wall of the cargo van.
Not long later, he piped up. “So where we goin’?” He leaned forward to look out the windshield, craning his neck to see, still holding me.
“You’ll see,” the bearded older of the two said from the passenger seat. “You haven’t quite earned your way back into our good graces yet, so you’re on a need-to-know basis.”
I felt his mouth against the back of my neck. He planted a kiss there and gave me a subtle squeeze.
I blinked.
They had something on him? Was he playing this game because his life depended on it? Was he betraying my father and brothers?
I couldn’t relax against his body. I couldn’t stop shaking. I know he knew it, could feel it, and whether he was the enemy or not right now didn’t matter. What the fuck would happen to me?
He left my phone behind, hidden. His leather cut. Brady! Brady was coming to tow Fork’s truck to the garage.
If it were true.
If.
It had to be. Right? I had some hope. A little. If he’d told me the truth last night, Brady might even be at the cabin by now.
A phone rang in the front. The older passenger guy answered it.
“Yo. Yeah, we’re on our way.”
My heartrate accelerated. I was scared. I was scared out of my mind. A tear rolled down my cheek.
Christian caught it with his finger.
“No need for tears, princess. Be a good girl, yeah?” He kissed my forehead and kept me close. “I got you,” he mouthed and kissed the tip of my nose and whispered, “Promise.”
“What?” The driver called out.
“Just whisperin’ sweet nothins to my girl,” Christian said.
The driver laughed. I didn’t relax. Not even marginally.
“Yep, we frisked. No problem, I’ll make sure of it,” the guy on the phone went on. He ended his call. “Got someone there real anxious to see you, Chrissy.”
Fork said nothing.
My father was an excellent judge of character with the most finely honed bullshit detector I had ever seen. As kids, we didn’t get away with squat without Dad finding out about it.
But even with that said, I had my doubts right now. I had zero idea whose side this man was truly on.
Time seemed to drag on and on and it was completely uncomfortable being taped, and in his arms waiting to find out what would happen next. My brain wouldn’t stop making me envision myself laid out in front of the clubhouse dead for my family to find. I thought of Jet. I thought of Kailey. I thought about the fact that my last conversations with all of my family members save Deacon had been arguments. Would I eventually be remembered as dead Miss August? Was that going to be my legacy?
Miss August from the Biker Babes of South Dakota Calendar found brutally raped and murdered, left naked in the parking lot of Deke’s Roadhouse.
***
I didn’t know how long we’d been driving, but it’d felt like it’d been