Rainer: An MC Savage Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (5 page)

“You know who else can drink? Anyone with a mouth,” I said. “Even a newborn child can drink off his mom’s tits, unless, of course, the kid has some kind of defect.”

“I meant drink as in alcoholic drinks,” she said.

“So let me get this straight — you assumed that we knew what you meant, even though you didn’t make it clear, darlin’?”

Candace put her head down, “Sorry.”

“Kind of like how you assumed we’d take you in just because you asked, right?” I said.

I watched her closely as she desperately tried to hide her frown. “So tell me, Candace — what exactly do you think we do around here?”

“I don’t know… badass crime stuff, like kidnappings and drugs and all that.”

Ah, with the stereotypes. I couldn’t blame her, she wasn’t exactly wrong. “What do you do for a living?” I said.

“Well, nothing right now. I mean, I had an interview last week but I couldn’t make it. I had my hands tied.”

I shook my head in disappointment as I circled her, then stopped right in front of her and stooped down. “If you can’t commit to that, what makes you think you can commit to what we have going on here?”

“Sorry, I meant that I was literally in here, blindfolded, with my hands tied, so…”

Lanvin started laughing and so did Sid, who stopped himself when he noticed I was looking at him.

“You’re funny, Candace.” I said before I took a smoke. “Has anyone ever told you how funny you are?” I let the smoke flow slowly out of my mouth. “Maybe you should become a comedian, Candace. Comedy Candace, Miss CC.”

She stared at the ground for a moment, and then with an excited look on her face, she stared deep into my eyes. “What if I help you find that girl. The one you thought was me? I mean, I found you guys so that’s got to be worth something, right?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Your tracking abilities are impressive, I must admit. And before we move forward, I would just like to apologize, on behalf of all of us, for causing you to miss that interview.” I took a drag and exhaled towards Lanvin and Sid.

“Oh, it’s okay, really,” she said. “I didn’t really want that job anyways, I just wanted a change.”

“Well now I feel better. It seems like some good can actually come from a kidnapping,” I said. “Good job, you two.” Sid glared at me and shook his head and Lanvin looked really happy, but it’s probably because he never seems to detect sarcasm that well.

“Now as for finding the girl: thanks for the offer, but I’m afraid you’re too late.”

“Too late?” she said.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Lanvin raise his gun, aiming it directly at Candace.

“You two are really jumpy tonight,” I said. “Put it down, Lanvy, that wasn’t your cue to shoot or anything.”

“Oh I just thought—“

“It’s okay Lanvy-boy, you don’t have to explain.”

I placed my hands above her shoulders and moved my face as close to hers as possible. “Follow me, candy girl.”

With a slow but loud squeak, I pulled the closet door open, revealing Rocket with his gun aimed right between Zella’s eyes.

***

Candace

“Is she… the girl?”

I stood there in a bit of shock. She was crying and it reminded me of when I was in the same position just a week before. The girl kind of resembled me but not by much.

“Ding Ding Ding,” said Rainer as he slapped his hand against the wall, causing a loud thud that made the girl shiver. “Correct.” Even though I caught a blurred glimpse of Rainer before, he didn’t look like I had imagined. He seemed younger, possibly a few years older than me. And his hazel eyes were so intense that it made me a little nervous but excited at the same time. I didn’t want to admit it, just because Mandy would give me a lot of shit, but he was attractive. Scary, but still pretty good looking.

“I guess she does kind of look like me,” I said as I looked over at Rainer.

“Yeah, if you were run over by a freight train and set on fire,” said Rainer who glared back at Sid and Lanvin.

I shifted my eyes back to the girl, “So what’d she do?”

“That’s none of your fucking business,” said Sid. I’m not sure what stick was up his ass but he was so rude. I could tell from his whiney voice that he was the guy who wanted to kill me last time I was in here.

“It’s best you don’t know the details unless you want a bullet in your head, too,” said the guy with a gun.

“That wasn’t the cue, right guys?” said Lanvin, who pointed his gun in my direction.

My eyes shot open and I looked at everyone, but they all looked at him and shook their heads.

“Brother, this is Candace. She wants to join our gang,” said Rainer.

“His name’s Rocket,” said Lanvin from across the room.

Rocket didn’t say anything; he just kept his gun aimed at the girl.

A million questions raced through my mind as I stared at the girl in the chair. It was strange that Rainer seemed so open about using everyone’s names in front of me, too. Either he doesn’t care, or he doesn’t plan on letting me walk out of here alive so it wouldn’t matter if I knew their names. My heart started to race as I focused on that thought.

The girl had her hands tied behind her back and was sweating like she had just run a marathon. The wet stains around her pits, neck, and crotch seemed like it almost covered all of her clothes. Her black shirt was ripped in specific areas and so were her jeans. She had on flats and her exposed ankle had blood dripping down. The dark circles under her eyes and her heavy eye bags made me wonder how long she’d been in here with them. I felt bad, but I was glad I wasn’t her.

“What about the other guy that was in here with me? Who was he?”

“You mean that scorching hot guy that lay beside you on the floor?”

“I couldn’t see if he was hot or— oh…”

I watched as Rainer reached into his back pocket, expecting something terrible, but all he pulled out was his box of cigarettes, which he smacked against his palm.

“Ah, that guy,” said Rainer. “That was Zella’s husband.”

“Who’s Zella?”

Rainer moved toward the girl and kicked her chair, causing her to squirm. “Her.”

Rainer placed his palm against her cheek, kneeling down in front of her. He smiled and ripped the tape that covered her mouth off slowly, allowing the pain to linger. Rainer moved back and the girl managed to cough out the cloth that was stuck in her mouth.

“Where is he?” said the girl, her voice coarse.

Rainer tossed the tape he just removed back at Zella and it stuck to her arm. “Get him, brother,” said Rainer with a smirk on his face as he nudged him.

Zella watched in helpless desperation.

I watched as Rocket handed Rainer a folded black bandana. Rainer dangled it in front of the girls face, holding it at the tip as it slowly unraveled. At the end, a ring lands on her lap followed by some dust that quickly filled the air. Rainer shook the rest of the dust off the bandana right in front of her until she started coughing, then he placed the bandana on top of her head, allowing it to slide down her face until it landed on the floor.

Once the dust settled, only then did she realize the ring on her lap. She stared at it for a moment, and soon after, the ring was covered in her tears as she sobbed.

“Ta-da! Magic!” said Rainer. “Did you like my trick, Candace?”

I covered my mouth and took a step back the moment I finally realized what the dust was.

“Honestly, that’s all that would fit,” said Rainer, lifting the ring from the girls lap. He wiped the tears away from the ring against her sleeve and lifted it toward the light inside the closet. “We had to wash the rest of his ashes into the gutter.”

I knew what they did to him, but knowing what happened didn’t make it any less shocking.

Zella was crying harder now, while trying to talk at the same time. The guys mocked her pleas like she was an incoherent parrot. She managed to get words out that made sense. “Please let me go,” she said. “I didn’t mean to get your people killed, I swear. It was a mistake.”

“A mistake?” Rainer yelled back, throwing the ring hard across the room. The expression on his face looked like he was ready to kill her, but instead he stooped down in front of her. His intense glare focused on Zella’s watering eyes. “The night your ma and pa conceived you, now that was a mistake.”

My heart raced faster the longer he stared into her eyes. I was intimidated and he wasn’t even looking at me. I bit my lip, “Does she have to die, too?” I asked, although from the looks of everyone in the room, I already knew the answer to my own question.

Rainer switched his gaze towards mine, his piercing hazel eyes made me nervous. “Oh yes,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve a lot of things, but death is definitely one of them. A thousand times over.”

I stood still as Rainer made his way next to me. He cleared the ash from his almost-finished cigarette, allowing it to land on top of the girl as he continued to glare at her. Rainer’s expression was different now. He looked more serious, like a different person. A scary person.

The tension was too much for me to handle. It was quiet, a little too quiet, and it looked like the rest of them wanted her dead just as much as Rainer. I gulped and asked the only question I could think of, “How come she’s still alive?”

“Ah, now you’re asking the right questions,” said Rainer. The girl looked right at me and my eyes widened. I couldn’t look at her so I watched Rainer as he moved towards a nearby table. “If you’d like to do something about that, Candace, be my guest.” My heart sank as I heard the clicks from a firearm being readied. Rainer moved slowly towards me, a gun in his hand and a grin on his face. He lifted the gun in front of me and let it dangle like they were keys. Of course I didn’t want to do anything about it, this was their problem, not mine. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was this a test?

“Rainer… don’t do it,” said Rocket.

“Easy, guys,” he assured them. “Let’s see what she’s got.”

I felt the sweat form across my forehead. What did he want me to do? Shoot her? Was this a joke? I watched as the gun glimmered in the light, ready for me to take hold. How did he know I wouldn’t just shoot him instead?

I lifted my hand, uncertain of anything but afraid that if I didn’t, they’d kill me too.

Sid finally stood from his chair and aimed his gun at me, “What the fuck are you fucking crazy? Don’t give it to her!”

Rainer continued his deep gaze into my eyes like some sort of trance. I was overwhelmed by it all. “Put it away, Sid,” he said slowly without looking at him. I watched Sid put his gun down, his eyes filled with rage as he glared back at me. Rainer wiggled the gun again, his eyes still fixed on mine.

I looked at all the blank expressions in the room, hoping for some kind of solution, but it was dead silent. I took a deep breath of the smoke filled air and reached for the gun, trembling as I aimed it at the floor and placed my finger softly on the trigger.

“This isn’t your first time shooting a gun, is it?” said Rainer.

I didn’t respond to him but the answer was no, it wasn’t my first time. I shot a gun once before at a shooting range with Mandy. The one thing I wish she didn’t drag me to so that I’d at least have an excuse.

“Go ahead, Candace, show us what you’ve got.”

I turned to the girl tied to the chair. Zella struggled to break free but there was nowhere for her to go. She began to beg while furiously shaking her head no. “Please,” was the only word she repeated. Over and over. Her eyes were bloodshot and full of tears. I took a small step toward her and she froze, staring me in the eyes as the tears rushed down her face. “Please,” she sobbed, her expression desperate and difficult to look at.

I glanced back at Rainer who was leaning against a table, smoking a newly lit cigarette with a huge smile on his face. Then I glanced at the others who looked tense with their own guns to their sides, closely watching my every move.

I placed my other hand on the gun and cleared my throat. My shaky hands clung to the grip as I lifted it in front of me. My face felt warm as I stood before her with my finger on the trigger and the gun pointed directly at her forehead. As I stared at my target, I felt the sweat trickle down my chin, landing above my tense body.

My focus began to blur the girl at the other end, but the gun was clear as day. I could even make out the small hairs on my trembling hands.

I always wanted to be powerful, but this feeling wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I blinked a few times, hoping maybe this was all just a nightmare that I could force myself to wake up from, but all I caught were horrific fleeting glimpses of the girl at the other end.

I took a deep breath, and tears began to fill my eyes. I didn’t want to blink anymore, not if I had to see her over and over again. The silence in the room grew louder with every passing second.

“It’s alright, darling,” said Rainer. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to—“

Less than a second is all it took. A second that felt like hours. My eyes shot open as I watched the wisp of smoke leave the barrel of the gun. It was in that moment that I realized what had happened. The echo moved across the room in one loud crack, leaving a sharp ringing in my ears. I kept my arms positioned in front of me but my body felt numb and my grip weakened, causing the gun to dangle from my fingers. I stood still as I tried to make sense of it all.

And that’s when I saw her.

Clear as ever, completely still. Silent. Her head tilted back with blood spattered against the wall. Her body was limp and alone as she sat there covered in dirt, sweat, and the ashes of what used to be her husband. Her lifeless body still tied to the chair.

A high pitch sound rang through my ears as the scent of something burning filled the room. I felt chills rushing up and down my spine. I could hear people yelling, but nothing seemed to register.

I looked around to see faces in shock, every one of their mouths opened. I blinked and Sid, Rocket, and Lanvin all had their guns pointed directly at me.

“Holy fuck,” was the first thing I heard. I don’t know who said it but from the looks on everyone’s faces, it seemed like they all had the same thought.