Paul snickers while rubbing his hands together. “This is going to be one for the books by the time it’s all done.”
I tune all of them out as I think about Marnie and what she and Holly are shopping for. Honestly, I don’t give that first fuck if she wears plain old cotton underwear, but I know there are women who feel like they have to have the fancier stuff. It won’t change how I feel about her, that’s for sure. When it dawns on me that I’m getting hard, I turn my thoughts to something else, like where the two pricks who jumped and stabbed my ol’ lady are hiding. They’re not the smartest tools in the shed, so the fact that Data hasn’t been able to find them is concerning.
“Wait, hold on, Prophet, I’m putting you on speaker since we’re all here,” Rebel says, breaking into my thoughts.
“They’ve got the girls, Rebel,” Prophet chokes out. He sounds horrible right now, but I can’t think of that knowing that not only is Marnie in their clutches, but so is Holly who’s so pregnant, she looks like she’s about to give birth at any time. “Ran all three ofus off the road, pres. Bikes are FUBAR’d. Cops and ambulances are on the scene now, and we’ve given our statements. They’ve got an APB on the vehicle that ran us off the road before they rammed into the girls and took them. A CLEAR Alert is being broadcast as well with the information we had on the vehicle in question, brother.”
“What kind?” Rebel asks, his voice menacing. “What are those fuckers driving?”
Prophet coughs and even I can hear the rattling in his lungs as he explains everything that’s happened to us. “A white Chevy van that has a college football team decal on it with Oregon plates on the back. Guess that’s where Marnie came from.”
“Prophet, sending Data to the hospital to be with y’all. The rest of us are going hunting,” Rebel decrees as he hangs up the phone. Looking at us, he pulls Esther in for a hard hug and whispers something to her before he says, “Let’s ride, brothers. Data, let me know when you’ve got coordinates.”
I’ve got to give him major props since he’s still somewhat recovering, but it’s his wife, hispregnantwife at that, and I don’t think Satan himself could stop my brother from going after his woman.
ELEVEN
MARNIE
“I’m so sorry, Holly,” I whisper as I hold my friend’s head in my lap.
She hit it when we were rammed into from the side and the slam knocked her out. I was so stunned myself that I didn’t realize who had done it until I saw Porter’s face leering at me as he dragged me from the passenger seat of the truck then practically threw me into the back of a van. Knowingwhohas us already has me in fear for our lives. Holly is innocent in all of this, yet because of Porter and Paxton’s vendetta against me, she’s hurt.
Reaching down, I place my hand on her burgeoning stomach. Thankfully, the baby is moving around, and I breathe out a silent prayer of thanks that her body shielded her baby boy from harm. Hopefully, Prophet and the two prospects that were escorting us will be okay. When I heard Holly hiss in surprise, I looked in the side mirror and watched in horror as all three bikers went tumbling into the ditch.
“This is all my fault,” I mumble. “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to any of y’all.”
Tears steadily streak down my face until anger suddenly roars to the forefront of my emotions. “What the hell are you two doing? You know you won’t get away with this. They’re going to make you regret ever being born.”
“They gotta find us first, bitch, and since those three bikers aren’t gonna be talking, it sucks to be you two,” Porter sneers as he glances over his shoulder. “Bonus points that we got a pregnant bitch, right Paxton?”
“Fuck yeah, means she’s already broken in,” Paxton chortles, rubbing his hands together.
Whether it’s the whiplash I sustained or their words, I have to swallow back the bile that rushes into my throat. There’s no way I’ll give them the satisfaction of seeing my fear. IknowAsh will find us because the necklace I’m wearing has a tracker on it. Plus, these two knuckleheads didn’t toss our phones and I’m confident that Data can use those as well to find us. My only concern is Holly. I feel something squeeze my leg and look down to see Holly peering at me from underneath her lashes. When I go to say something, she shakes her head so minutely that if I hadn’t been watching her, I would’ve missed it.
Apparently, she doesn’t want them knowing she’s awake. I watch with great interest as she slowly moves her hand to her charm bracelet that Rebel recently gave her. She fumbles slightly and I bite back a gasp, until she settles herself and pushes the heart charm. There’s a slight flash, but nothing else happens. However, she must be confident in it because she settles once again, her hand now joining my other one on her stomach, where she lightly squeezes my fingers again as if to say, ‘it’s going to be okay’.
“You’re sicker than your brother was,” I tell Paxton. “Your parents must be so proud to have raised three sociopaths, huh?”
Keep them focused on you, Marnie, my mind whispers.Protect Holly no matter what.
I’m not keen on getting hurt again; hell, I’m still recovering my strength from their last assault. But there’s no way in hell I’ll let them hurt my pregnant friend. Nope. Even if it means sacrificing my own life. While a part of me mourns at the thought I may not get my happily-ever-after with Ash, it’s a small price to pay to ensure that Mina and Ruby have their momma in their lives, and that this baby boy, who is already well-loved, survives.
“This is a fine kettle of fish,” Holly whispers.
I don’t know how long we drove for, but we’re now in an abandoned barn somewhere off the beaten path. We’ve been tied together, our backs to one another. Right now, we’re alone for some reason, but it’s not like we can go anywhere fast. Holly’s likely got a concussion from where she hit her head, and I probably do as well if the constant nausea is any indicator.
“They didn’t take our phones, Holly, can’t Data find us that way?” I ask, keeping my voice down as well.
“He should, yes, if they’re even aware we’re missing yet,” she replies. “You said you saw Prophet and the two prospects going into the ditch. If they were hurt badly enough, they might not have been able to call for help and sound the alarm.”
“But if we don’t come back in a timely manner, I would think they’d look for us,” I persist.
“They will once they know we’re not where we said we’d be,” she replies. “I just wish I knew whether or not those two assholes were coming back any time soon.”
“Why?”
“Because I almost have these knots undone. If we get loose, there’s bound to be something in this place we can use for a weapon,” she says. “I’m not going down without a fight, Marnie!”
