Along Came Merrie (18 page)

After breakfast, she put the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on before running out the door to hop into the truck next to Leo. Braden waved at them and he took off toward the barns while she and Leo headed to the office. Several people waited for them and she hurried to open the office quickly, booting up the computer and turning off the night service as she greeted owners and their pets.

The morning stayed busy but as lunch approached, they had a breather.

“Do you want to come into the back with me? I’m just going to finish up some of these reports while I have a moment,” Leo told her. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

“If I come into the back with you now, we’ll miss hearing the next patient come in.”

“I can close up early so we can play doctor.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Merrie just laughed and shook her head.

“Well, then, let me finish up then we can grab a bite to eat. Shouldn’t take me long at all.”

“That would be great,” she said.

He walked out of the reception area and she admired his tight, firm ass encased in jeans.
Wowzer.
Butterflies flittered through her belly as she wondered if they would have enough time for a quickie during lunchtime. Just imagining him plowing into her on his desk made her pussy clench in anticipation.

At some point during the night, she’d made up her mind. She was going to press charges against Axe. Her new start in life was at her fingertips and all she had to do was have the courage to grasp it—and that meant not looking over her shoulder every day. With Braden and Leo by her side, she felt safe. Protected. And strong enough to face her fear—to face
him
.

When the last morning patient left, Merrie began entering all the payments info into the accounting ledger. The door opened and closed. Merrie turned to smile at the next patient when her gaze landed on Axe. Her smile died instantly and her gaze fell to the big black gun he held in his hand.

“Get up from your chair and come with me,” he said.

She didn’t immediately obey. If she went with him, she was dead. She’d be lost somewhere in the wilderness, her body never discovered, and all she could picture was Leo and Braden as they searched for her for the rest of their lives, hoping to rescue her. Keeping her gaze trained on the gun, she absently scribbled out one word on the paperwork, just in case she was going to have to tell them about her death from the grave.

“Stand up!” he snapped at her. “Else I’d hate to kill your Indian lover in front of you.”

She began shaking her head but she saw him flick the safety off and level the barrel at her. She couldn’t risk him hurting Leo and if Leo came through that door right now, thinking to rescue her, she knew Axe wouldn’t hesitate to fire the gun. She rose and came around the counter to stand in front of him. Part of her wished Leo
would
come out and save her and another part of her hoped he didn’t because she didn’t want him hurt. The crazy glint in Axe’s eyes told her was prepared to kill someone.

“You’ve fucked everything up for me, bitch,” Axe said angrily.

“You know, I had no idea what I saw that night,” she said, stalling. “All I wanted to do was forget, but you’re the one who won’t let me.”

“So now it’s payback.”

“They’re going to know who took me. You’ll be the number one suspect. Do you think you can hide from the sheriff?”

“Halloran is a fucking joke,” Axe said.

“Then North. He didn’t seem like a fucking joke.”

“I have one more shot to get what I want.”

He grabbed her arm and jerked her in front of him, poking the pistol into her back, urging her to walk. Outside, a scuffed white van waited. There weren’t even tags on it for identification. He marched her to the back and opened it, using zip ties to tie her arms together, although it was slightly tricky with the cast around her wrist. Then he backhanded her across the face and she fell with a sharp cry. He closed the van doors and she was once again a prisoner of Axe, the madman.

The engine rumbled to life and seconds later, the van roared away from the office. Tears leaked from her eyes. Would she see Leo and Braden again? What would they do when she didn’t come back? Would they know it wasn’t her choice, that she’d been forced? Somehow, she’d known this showdown was coming, had felt it in her bones when Sheriff Halloran had left to go arrest Axe. Her gut had told her that this man wouldn’t go meekly along with an arrest.

They drove for a long time. At first, she tried to keep her wits about her and count if they went left or right, but her sense of direction—which was never good to begin with—combined with a lack of a window, grew majorly skewed. Finally, Axe stopped the van and turned off the engine. She heard him walk around to the back then the doors swung open. Sunlight poured inside and she blinked at the brightness.

Axe yanked her out. She stumbled to her feet and tried to run, but he caught her easily. It was then that she noticed a forest surrounded them. He’d parked in a small clearing that held nothing more than a hunter’s shack. A sick sinking feeling settled in her stomach.

“You’ve ruined everything,” Axe told her again, shaking her. “You’ve cost me an easy slide into the Demon Devil’s gang.”

“Why would you turn against your own club?” She really didn’t care one way or another but the longer she kept him talking, the longer she had before he hurt her.

“They’re going legit,” he muttered, grabbing her arm and dragging her toward the hunter’s shack. “North was voted in as president and started spouting off about going straight. He turned the other assholes of the club into pussies. Fucking shit made me sick. I didn’t join the Red Wolves thirty fucking years ago just to be a fucking cunt in my golden years! But I couldn’t talk anybody into getting rid of him. Oh no. Everybody
loves
North Tabion. Thinks he’s the guy who’s going to bring the Red Wolves into the future. Well, I’ve got something to say about it and damned if it didn’t mean getting the Demon Devils involved. Then
you
showed up and saw me shaking hands with Gray Dog, a fucking witness. Fucking bitch!”

“If you’d have just let me use the phone, none of this would’ve happened,” she cried.

“Shut up,” he ordered.

He pushed her into the shack and pulled out another zip tie, which he looped through the ones already tied around her wrist before securing her to one of the bars that ran across the window.

“I may have a use for you, so you’re going to stay here until I figure out how to salvage this fucking operation,” he spat.

She flinched as spittle landed across her cheek.

“I’ve got one last shot at North and if I fail then you’re going to be my consolation prize to the Demon Devils.”

With that, he stormed out of the shack. Part of her was glad he was gone and that all he’d done was leave her tied up. It could’ve been much, much worse. On the other hand, he’d be back—or worse, he’d forget about her. She heard the van start up and drive away, the sound of the engine fading out as it left her behind. Alone. Tied to a window bar.

She was going to have to think of something fast. She didn’t want to die here like this.

* * * *

When his stomach rumbled, Leo decided to pick up Merrie so they could go to lunch. He shut off the overhead light and headed to reception.

“Merrie, what do you—?”

Unease settled over him when he discovered she wasn’t at her desk.

“Merrie?”

He walked toward the hallway where the bathroom was located. He knocked on the closed door.

“Merrie?”

No answer.

Unease turned into worry and he turned back toward the reception. At the computer, he saw she’d been entering payments and making notations in the books of who had paid what and how much. The last scribbled word turned his blood cold.

Axe.

He ran to the back room to the camera equipment and scrolled through the recording until he saw a man walk in and raise a gun. His heart sank as he watched Merrie walk out the door with Axe keeping a gun trained on her. With shaking hands, he reached for his phone and dialed his brother.

“Lunch already?” Braden teased as he answered.

“Braden… He took her,” Leo choked out. “He had a gun. She’s gone.”

“What?” Braden bit out. “How do you know?”

“I’m staring at the recording monitor. He’s pointing a gun at her!”

“I’m on my way.”

Leo hung up. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the monitor or the terrified expression on Merrie’s face as he replayed it over and over. He had been right there, right in the back, only a few doors away. He hadn’t heard anything. And she’d been abducted by…by that mad man. Why the hell hadn’t they taken precautions? Because he hadn’t believed the man would be desperate enough to try something in broad daylight.

Fury coursed through him. Axe shouldn’t have been loose. Givon assured them he was going to arrest that man, so how had he been able to kidnap Merrie?

Angrily, he dialed Givon’s number.

“This is Sheriff—”

“He took her!” he shouted into the receiver. He was so upset he didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t the one who usually got upset. He’d always been the calm, collected one between him and Braden but right now, all he wanted to do was hit something—or reach through the phone and punch Givon’s lights out.

“Leo? What are you—?”

“I’m staring at my video monitor watching Axe lead my girlfriend out the door at gunpoint, so what the fuck happened with arresting the son of a bitch?”

“Shit! I put an APB out on him and we’ve been searching for him everywhere.”

“Searching? Well I fucking found him! He’s on my security monitor!”

“I’m on my way.”

“Yeah, that’s what Braden said,” Leo muttered, but he was already talking to the disconnected emptiness of a hang up.

* * * *

North checked his magazine then popped it back into his gun before sliding the piece back into its holster. He stalked out of his room in the clubhouse back into the main area that housed the bar, a pool table, old ratty couches and a huge flat-screen television where various members sat watching it. Two of his officers sat at the bar, his VP John Draven and Skids, who happened to be Axe’s best friend.

He caught their attention and nodded for them to follow then he entered into church, waiting. A moment later, they came into the meeting room and he closed the door behind them.

“What’s up?” Draven asked. When North had been voted in as president of the club, he’d quickly nominated Draven as his right hand. John Draven was a couple of years younger than Axe but North wanted young blood to lead the Red Wolves and bring the club into the future by becoming a legit. Draven had proven himself above and beyond loyal to the club.

“Axe turned traitor,” he said, deciding blunt honesty was the best scenario.

“The hell you say,” Skids growled.

He knew Skids was going to be defensive, so he picked his words carefully.

“It’s true,” he said. “He was seen shaking hands with Gray Dog and he almost killed the witness to hide his disloyalty.”

“Fuck,” Draven muttered. “Why? Why would he do that to the colors?”

North shook his head. “I don’t know a hundred percent but he’s been the most opposed with us getting out of the extortion business. Skids, has he said anything to you?”

“No,” Skids said angrily. “Not a fucking word. Are you sure about this, North?”

“I am. I talked to the witness myself. That’s why I gotta be sure about you, Skids. You and Axe are close.”

Skids straightened his spine, threw his shoulders back. “My loyalty is to this club. If Axe violated that trust, then I’ll be the first one to take him down.”

North narrowed his eyes and studied the man. He saw only clear truth shining back and he slowly let out his breath. Dealing with one traitor was hard enough. He didn’t want to think about dealing with two.

“All right,” he said. “He’s out there now but the sheriff has a warrant out for his arrest. We have to find him before the law does. This is a club matter.”

“Agreed,” Draven said.

“Yeah,” Skids seconded.

“For now, let’s keep this between us,” North said. “We have too many guys who’ll shoot first and I want the pleasure of kicking Axe’s ass myself.”

“Get in line,” Skids snarled and stomped out of the room.

North and Draven shared a look and followed. They left the clubhouse, heading toward their bikes when the sound of a gunshot ricocheted over North’s head. Flinching, North ducked and a searing pain sliced across his scalp as he fell backward. Blood poured down his face. People scrambled from all over, yelling and firing back at the unseen assailant. Skids threw himself over North, protecting him from any further attacks.

Fuck, my head hurts…

It was the last coherent thought he had before oblivion claimed him.

* * * *

As Givon raced out of the door, his cell phone went off. Impatiently he glanced at it and saw North’s name.

“Get to Leo’s office,” he answered without waiting for North to greet him. “Axe took Merrie—”

“It’s Draven, Sheriff.”

Givon’s blood turned cold and he came to a complete stop. His heart thundered in his chest. There was only one reason why Draven would be calling from North’s phone. Not many knew how close they were and not many would know his nickname in North’s contact list.

“What happened to him?” he asked quietly, steeling himself.

“Someone shot him. Skids and I are thinking it was Axe. We’re at Destiny General right now.”

Fuck!
Givon had to choke down the bile that surged up from his gut. He really didn’t want to ask this next question but he had to know. He forced himself not to react at all and, as best as he could, he asked the next question.

“Will he live?”

“Yeah, luckily it was just a deep scratch that needed some stitches,” Draven answered.

Givon sagged in relief.

“But Axe split on us,” Draven added, “and we have no idea where he is.”