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***
About that time, the alarm on my phone goes off, alerting me that it’s time to head to the courthouse. I must have spent more time talking to Evan than I thought. I immediately get up, toss my empty coffee cup in the trash, and leave the coffee shop. The courthouse is a couple of blocks away. I’ll get there in plenty of time to meet for a few minutes with my client, before proceedings start.
I walk down to the end of the street and wait for the crosswalk to flash green. Unfortunately, a white panel van drives up and stops dead in the street right in front of me, literally blocking my path. Who just stops in the middle of the road? The person behind them is even honking. I don’t like that the van is so close to me, so I start to take a step backwards.
Before I know what’s happening the door slides open and a muscular arm jerks me inside by my arm. Someone behind me is yelling for them to stop, but they pay the person no heed. It takes me a second to realize I’m being abducted off the street in broad daylight. It’s such a shock that my mind blanks out for a second. I’m like a rag doll as the man slams me down on a seat. All I can think of is protecting my unborn child, so I instinctively try to fold my arms over my body.
My brain switches back on, and I realize the best way to protect my child is to get away from my abductors. Therefore, I fight against the person who roughly pulled me into the van. The problem is he’s bigger and stronger than I am, so there’s not much of a fight. I don’t recognize this man at all. He’s large with tattoos and bad breath. He easily holds down one of my arms and zip ties it to the armrest and does the same with the other. I keep kicking him until he loops one around both of my feet and pulls it tight around my ankles. After that I’m just stuck. No matter how hard I fight against the restraints, I can’t free myself.
The van is moving but I can’t see anything as the windows have been blacked out. By the way I’m being thrown around I can tell, the van is going at breakneck speed and swerving around other cars to make their getaway. I’m not safe because the way they’re driving is insanely reckless.
I open my mouth to scream, wondering why I didn’t think of doing that when they first grabbed me. At this point, I don’t even know who would hear me or if it would matter but I’ve got to try something. I can’t just let these strangers cart me off.
Before I can get a sound out, his big hand comes up and clamps over my mouth. I realize all too late that he’s not trying to muffle sounds with his palm. Instead, he has a big piece of masking tape that he’s sealing over my mouth. Doesn’t matter how hard I scream because nothing comes out. The tape is also covering part of one nostril which makes it hard to breathe and even has a clump of my hair taped to my face.
I don’t know who this person is a what he wants with me but I’m furious. The reality of my situation only slams home when another man turns around from the driver’s seat and says, “Calm the fuck down, little lady. We just want to talk to you for a minute, and then you can be on your way.”
It’s lies, all lies. I can tell by the coaxing way he articulated the words. If they only wanted to talk and let me go, then I wouldn’t be trussed up like a chicken ready for roasting.
The realization that I’m being abducted sends me into a spiral. I shake my head violently and make raspy noises of panic in the back of my throat that I didn’t know were even possible to make.
“Damn bro,” The man who pulled me into the van says irritably. “This woman is going to give herself a damn heart attack panicking. What in the fuck did Stan do to make her so reactive?”
“Not a fucking thing. He already told you, she’s batshit crazy.”
My heart sinks. I’d been still holding onto the hope that Stan hadn’t been behind Gina’s murder and the threats, but it’s now clear that it’s all him, and he wants to make me pay. I left Stan and got a restraining order that says he’s not supposed to be within a hundred feet of me so he hires a couple of thugs to do what he can’t—though that doesn’t make one bit of sense, if he’s going to kill me, then why would he bother about a bit of paper saying he can’t be within a hundred feet?
I feel my eyes rolling back in my head and I think I’m going to faint. This can’t be happening. I can’t pass out. I have to stay strong for Smoke and our unborn child.
We’ve been so careful. Smoke and I thought I’d be safe as long as I stayed in view of the public, the MC’s IT guy hadn’t found any hint as to Stan’s whereabouts, and the cops were still investigating Gina’s murder so there were no leads there. We didn’t anticipate shenanigans like this.
I still can’t believe Stan is behind this. It makes me wonder if this was what it was like when Gina got kidnapped. It’s like lightning hits my brain and everything becomes so clear. He abducted her to get to me, and it worked. He used her cell phone to find my number so he could get at me. As a public defense attorney, I’m not difficult to find, but when I moved back home, I hadn’t expected to gain myself a stalker, the number change was more to avoid Stan’s ranting phone calls telling me what an uptight bitch I was. Now, he’s going to do the same thing to me that he did to her. I’m dead meat. And unless I miss my guess, he’s going to make my death twice as bloody and gruesome because I was his primary target.
I begin hyperventilating, it’s been a crisis response I’ve had for the better part of my life. Talk about bad coping skills. I feel my world going black. My last thoughts are of Gina and how she didn’t deserve to have these pricks do the things they did to her. And how Smoke is going to lose his mind, that the one thing we were so careful to avoid, is happening anyway.
Chapter 23
Smoke
I’m halfway through the meeting I rescheduled with Rex Corp when my phone buzzes. I’ve got the ringer turned off, and all notifications switched to silent, save for Serena’s phone and the MC number we use for emergencies. I can’t afford to not answer it, Serena knows I’m in a meeting and wouldn’t call unless it was urgent. The buzzing stops and I surreptitiously check the screen—it was the emergency code for the entire club, but the video call had been from Evan, of all people. He’s been prospecting for only a few weeks, and he’s already managed to get himself in over his head.
I say, “Sorry gentlemen, but I need to take a minute to make a call.”
One of the Rex Corp executives comes to his feet and stretches his arms over his head. “I expected us to make better progress than we have. What do you say we call a break for lunch and get back to it this afternoon?”
“That actually sounds good,” I reply.
We break for lunch, and I walk outside with my briefcase in one hand and my phone in the other, it starts buzzing again, and I answer immediately expecting to see Evan’s face, instead it’s a video of someone pulling Serena into a van and speeding away.
I curse under my breath and begin running for my office as I continue watching the video. My bike is parked there. I toss my briefcase into the reception area.
Marge’s indignant voice cries out, “What’s happened?”
“Serena’s been kidnapped. I’m going after her. Cancel all my appointment for today.”
I don’t wait for a reply, I head for my bike. When I glance down at the phone in my hand, I realize Evan is still streaming.
Hope surges in my chest when I realize he and Gordon are following them. He might be relegated to having to ride pillion, but today that’s working in our favor as he can hold on and stream live. As I run to the basement garage, the video call disconnects and I curse, but then I calm myself the fuck down. We have Evan’s location so we can track him.
