Page 3 of Big, Bad Biker Daddy

CHAPTER THREE

Beth

While I wasn’t sure how long I was going to have to wait for Amanda’s uncle to come pick me up, I knew that the safest place to hide was in the bathroom in the gas station. Originally, I had planned on asking for help from the cashier, but, remembering that they would insist on calling the police, I instead asked to use the bathroom. Safe in the small room with the locked door, I just had to wait here until I got the text from Amanda’s uncle.

I already knew there was a chance the driver was out in the gas station looking for me, so I didn’t bother venturing outside the locked bathroom. The last thing I wanted was to run into the driver and get taken away. So, I kept a watchful eye on my phone while I waited, watching the driver’s phone number pop up on the caller ID again and again and again.

Finally, I received the text message from Amanda’s uncle, whose number she had sent me so that I knew it was him, not the driver, saying that he and a friend of his had arrived at the gas station. I texted back, telling him that I believed that the driver was still inside either the gas station or the parking lot. After verifying the license plate number, he reassured me it was safe to come out. Only then did I unlock the door and venture back out into the gas station to look for him.

Besides the cashier, who looked concerned that I had been in the bathroom so long, there were only two other people in the gas station, and I stopped to get a better look at them. They were both giant men completely composed of muscles, and they looked as though they would dwarf any football player. One was a rugged man with a gruff beard, and the other was clean shaven with his eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses. Seeing me, the man with the sunglasses smiled and approached me.

“Beth, I presume?” he asked, his voice gruff and a little frightening. When I nodded, he nodded toward the door. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.” Seeing the backpack I was carrying, he asked. “What’s in the bag?” Wondering if he had been in the military or law enforcement at any point in his life, I took a deep breath and looked down at the backpack.

“Just a change of clothing and toiletries,” I said. “Figured it would be better to keep it on hand rather than leaving it in the car.” He motioned for me to hand it over to him, and I wondered about his strange behavior as I handed him the backpack.

As he went through the items I had packed, I felt my phone vibrate as the driver tried to call me again. Having planned on ignoring it, I watched the man search the backpack. Before the call went to voicemail, he motioned for me to hand him the phone.

“Look here, bub,” he said as he answered the phone. “You’re way out of your element if you think you’re going to be able to come back for this customer. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll fuck off and tell your boss you never saw her. If you even try to look for her, I’ll make you regret the day you were born. Am I understood?” My jaw dropped as I stared at him in shock and disbelief.

This man was bolder than anyone I had ever met, and, if the driver was associated with the kind of activities I suspected he was, he was no laughing matter, either. I already knew that I had been incredibly lucky this time around, but I didn't want to push it. After hanging up the phone, the man handed me back the phone.

"I recommend blocking that number so that he doesn't keep bothering you," he said. "If he calls back, don't answer it. People like that often will do anything to track you down and answering the call can put you at risk of discovery." Fully convinced that, since he knew that little fact about crime groups, he came from a law enforcement background, I felt much safer and nodded while he finished searching my backpack. As soon as he was done, he nodded at his companion and then turned to me. "Let's get going. I'll explain everything on the way."

The air outside was chilly, and I blinked in surprise as my eyes adjusted to the sun. All the fear I had felt since the day before when I first overheard Jackson talking to his friends had completely left me, and I was finally able to relax as I followed them out to their car. Once in the backseat, the man instructed me to buckle up, and we were off. However, once again, we weren't going in the direction of Amanda's house.

"Excuse me," I said, fear rising in me once again. "I hate to be a bother, but I thought you would be taking me to Amanda's." The man sighed and shook his head as he turned to look at me.

"The driver has Amanda's address," he reminded me, and I felt stupid as I looked down at the ground. "For your own protection, we’re taking you to my place, where you're going to stay until we get this resolved." I had just barely come to terms with this when I remembered that Amanda would be off within the next few hours.

"What about Amanda?" I asked, genuinely concerned for her safety. "Is she going to meet me there? Or is she going to go to her house instead?" The man shook his head and gave me a gentle smile as we drove down the road.

"She's going to meet us at the compound," he reassured me, and I frowned in confusion.

Compound? That was a strange way to describe his home. I thought we were just going to his house, but, after hearing him use the word compound, I struggled to remember where I had heard the term before. After thinking it over for a few minutes, I stopped and looked up at him, fear rising in me once again.

"Are you really her uncle?" I asked. "Or are you somebody she asked to come help me?"

"I feel like it would be better if we let Chase explain everything," he said. "Rest assured that we're not going to hurt you. That I can promise you without a shadow of doubt."