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“Stop walking away from me, woman!” I followed her outside, where Sherri and Chickie made a quick exit to give us privacy. I’d have to remember to get rid of those two. “What the fuck is your problem?”
She turned on me with fire in her eyes. “You, Charlie. At the moment you are my one and only fucking problem, swooping in like some goddamn white knight when you knew who I was and how I’d be treated here.”
She shook her head, clearly disgusted by me. “If you think hanging on to me will get you some sort of ransom, you can think again. It’s been months, and the whole fucking city is still standing, which means Ronan gave up on me. Washed his hands of me.”
Emotion nearly overcame her, but Savannah Rhymer didn’t wilt for anybody. She stood taller and squared her shoulders. “Which you can do now too, for the price of just a few thousand bucks.”
“No,” I said softly. She wouldn’t make it far with any amount of money.
“Fine,” she shrugged and hoisted the trash bag over her shoulder. “I’ll figure it out on my own. Thanks for…just, thanks.”
Thanks for nothing. The words hung in the air, unspoken, but I heard them anyway. “What do you mean if I knew you weren’t welcome here? Everyone was at the wedding.”
She barked out a laugh but kept walking toward the freeway on the other side of the parking lot. “Everyone but your Bitches, you mean. Doesn’t matter, Charlie. I’m no longer your problem. Or your hostage.”
“A hostage?” I put my hand up. “You got me all wrong, Savannah.”
She laughed again and shook her head. “No, I got you just right, Charlie. Thanks for a place to get me through the worst of these fucking withdrawals. I do appreciate that. Good luck and all that.”
Yeah, I wasn’t letting her get away that easily. “You think you can make it out there with all the Black Jacks looking for you now? They pick up girls at the train station all the time. Didn’t know that did you?”
I didn’t wait for her to answer because shock was written all over her face. “Didn’t think so. Come with me.” I lifted her trash bag from her hand to my shoulder.
“No, thanks. I don’t need another run-in with your fuck toy bitches.”
I didn’t know what happened between her and the Reckless Bitches, but I could figure it out pretty easily. “What did they do?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just give me back my shit, and I’m gone.”
“No.”
“Whatever. Keep it, then.” She spat the words at me and kept walking. She was only about twenty feet from the road now. Despite her weakened condition, her anger and motivation to move was driving her forward. I knew if I let her, she’d keep on walking until she was in real danger. Again.
“Fuck! You’re a stubborn woman,” I growled and scooped her small frame up, tossing it over my shoulder. “Just remember that I tried to do this the easy way.”
Savannah kicked and hit at me as I strode across the parking lot toward my bike. “Get your filthy fucking paws off me!” She punched me in the back and bit my shoulder, but all she got was a mouthful of leather.
“Put me down!”
“When you stop acting like you’re batshit crazy, I will.”
“Motherfucker,” she snarled but calmed down. A little. “Just let me go.”
“I can’t do that, Savannah. You’re not safe out here, not yet.”
“And I’m safe with you? Between you forgetting about me and getting ganged up on by your women, I’d rather risk it.”
“Too fucking bad.” I couldn’t trust her on the back of my bike, so I walked over to one of the club’s trucks. As president, I had a key to everything. I unlocked the passenger door, a neat trick to dig into my jeans pocket with Savannah kicking like she’d sat on a hornet’s nest. Finally, I maneuvered the door open and tossed her in the passenger seat.
“If you try to escape, I’ll just chase you down. Got it?”
She clutched her side and bit back tears as she nodded. “Whatever.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, Savannah.”
She sat up slowly, gingerly holding in her pain until she was upright, releasing it in a slow exhale. “Whatever.”
I wanted to apologize again, but she wasn’t receptive, just holding her spine erect as she looked straight ahead, breathing slowly so I couldn’t see her pain.
“Stay here.” She said nothing, and this time, I didn’t expect her to. I stayed next to the truck. I knew Savannah needed help and there was only one person for me to call. I pulled out my phone and stared at her through the closed truck window.
“Ma, I need your help.”
“What do you need, son?” My ma was the best. She listened to everything I said and didn’t ask too many questions, mostly because she would wait until we were face-to-face. It was always impossible for me to lie to her or deflect. “I’ll meet you at your place,” she said. That was Ma, ready to drop everything on a moment’s notice for me.
