Ride with the Wind [The Ghost Riders 1] (18 page)

After a few minutes of getting herself together, Raven pulled her clothes back on and slipped out of Dominic’s room. She didn’t feel like dealing with anyone at the moment, so she hurried across the hall to Reece’s room and buried herself in her writing. She still had a few days left with them. She would worry about leaving when the time came.

Friday afternoon everyone seemed to be on edge as they waited to find out what time the package bound for Michael was slated to arrive. Dominic and Reece stayed close to the house, waiting on the call. Every time a phone rang somewhere, everyone froze until it could be determined whose it was and what it was about.

Somewhere around six that evening, Turk rushed into the den.

“Got it.”

Dominic and Reece followed the other man into the sanctuary and closed the doors. Raven felt left out, considering it was about the rest of her life. She thought about banging on the door of the sanctuary and demanding they let her in but changed her mind. Instead, she grabbed a bottle of water and decided to sit outside to get some fresh air. She walked through the office and nodded at one of the mechanics working on the computer.

“Um, are you supposed to be going outside?”

What, had Dominic told everyone she was confined to the house?

“I’m just going to sit in the chairs by the door. I’m not going anywhere.”

“If you say so.” He didn’t look convinced.

She just shrugged and stepped outside in the heat of the sun. She grabbed a chair and moved it slightly to one side near the edge of the building to take advantage of the shade. The sounds of metal on metal and the occasional curse reached her ears as she relaxed out of the sun. The men in the shop were backed up with work. Since Reece, Vernon, and Rhodes usually worked in the shop, they were shorthanded, and it showed.

After a while, the sounds died down as she slowly slipped into a light doze. She could hear things going on around her, but she was too relaxed to pay much attention. When a hand wrapped around her mouth and something sharp poked her ribs, Raven’s eyes flew open and she jumped.

“Don’t make a sound. If you do, I’ll poke a hole in your lung. Understand?”

She didn’t recognize the voice and worried that it was one of The Skulls. She nodded her head and waited to see what he would have her do. Fear warred with anger that someone was going to screw up her last few days with Reece and Dominic. She almost defied the voice and attempted to jerk free.

“Stand up and ease around the side of the building. One wrong move and I’ll stick this knife between your ribs.”

She believed him. Already she felt the tip bruising her skin. She stood up and slid around the side of the building to where the man led her. She got a glimpse of his face before he covered her head with a hood, but she didn’t recognize him, and he wasn’t wearing leather. Had Michael’s goons finally found her? How? What would happen to her when Michael was arrested?

Raven didn’t have time to think about that any further. She was being urged forward by the man with the knife in her side.

“Keep going. Don’t slow down.”

“I can’t see where I’m going. I’m going to trip and fall.”

“Better hope you don’t. If you do, my knife might get you.” He chuckled, sending shivers down her spine.

After what seemed like an hour, he stopped her and picked her up and threw her in the backseat of a truck, from the feel of it. Before she could recover and pull off the cover over her head, someone began tying up her hands in front of her. She wasn’t sure if there was more than one with her now or not.

She heard the door slam and then another door open and slam. Then the truck was moving. She struggled to loosen the rope at her wrists. Something popped her on the head.

“Stop moving around.”

It was a different voice, so she wasn’t alone in the backseat. She could hear the other man in the front talking to someone on a phone.

“Yep, got her. What next?”

Silence stretched for several seconds. Finally there was a grunt from the front, and then nothing.

“What are we supposed to do next?” This came from the guy in the backseat with her.

“We’re holding her for the boss to pick her up in a couple of hours.”

“Maybe we can have a little fun with her while we wait.”

“I don’t think he’ll like that. Keep your dick in your pants, man.”

Raven shivered at the thought of them raping her. She wasn’t about to let them get away with it. She’d fight them all the way. It had to be Michael’s doing that she was kidnapped like this. What would anyone else want with her?

The truck finally slowed down and turned down a road that was in bad shape. She was going to be black and blue by the time they arrived at their destination. She ended up falling off the seat after one sudden turn. Whatever was in the floorboard of the truck with her was going to leave bruises all over her back and ass. Something sharp was poking her on the left side near her bra line. After several minutes of bumping down this road, they turned again and pulled to a stop. She waited for an opportunity to kick out at someone when they opened the door.

The front door opened and then slammed shut. She heard the crunch of gravel beneath someone’s shoes then the door by her head opened and someone grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her out of the truck. She landed on the gravel on her hands and knees. With her hands bound tougher, her knuckles bore the brunt of the rocks.

“Get her up and inside,” the first captor mumbled.

A hand grabbed her by the hair and drew her up to her knees and then her feet. She ground her teeth against crying out at the sting to her scalp. She wasn’t going to give these bastards anything. She’d be damned if she let them see how scared she was.

“Come on, bitch. You’ve got a long wait ahead of you. The boss will be here tonight to get you.” He shoved her in the back while still holding on to her hair. She couldn’t walk very fast with her head still covered and her hair in the man’s grip. As she walked forward, her foot hit something in front of her and she lost her balance. A hand grabbed her arm, keeping her from falling forward.

“Steps. Three of them.” He urged her forward.

Raven finally made it up the steps and into a slightly cooler room. It wasn’t air conditioned, but it wasn’t exactly sweltering either. She continued shuffling along until there was a jerk at her hair. She stopped and waited, wishing she could see around her so she could fight.

She heard the sound of a door opening, and then she was shoved forward, and without a hand holding her hair, she fell forward face-first. Her hands caught her as she hit the floor with a grunt.

The sound of the door closing behind her had her jerking the cover off her head and finding that she was in a small room of what had to be an old wooden shack somewhere outside of town. They hadn’t driven more than an hour, if that long. She got to her knees and tried to loosen the ropes binding her hands. It didn’t take her long to realize they were well tied and she wasn’t going to get out of them anytime soon.

She could hear the two men in the other room talking back and forth but couldn’t distinguish what they were saying. She pushed herself to her feet and explored the room for some means of escape. There was one small window, but she found that it was nailed shut. There was a twin bed in one corner of the room with nothing but a dirty mattress on it and a musty-looking lounge chair in another corner. One window and one door. Both were equally unusable.

There had to be a way she could escape. She settled herself on the floor in the middle of the room. She had no desire to sit on either the bed or the chair. She could easily envision mice living in the mattress of the bed and the stuffing of the chair.

Sometime later, the door opened and a gruff-looking man of about thirty-five or so walked in, grinning at her. He softly closed the door behind him and stood watching her for a few seconds.

“You and me are going to have some fun while my partner is asleep.” He pulled out a knife and waved it back and forth in front of him. “You even think about making a sound and I’ll start cutting you. Got it?”

Nodding, she searched the man for any sign of weakness. After finding none, she decided the balls were her best shot, and as soon as she could manage it, Raven planned to knee him so hard that she shoved them into his throat. This was her one chance, she was sure.

He slowly moved closer, keeping the knife in front of him as he grew near. She could see lust and excitement in his eyes as he reached her.

“Get up and walk over to the bed. I’m not getting on the floor. It’s too hard.”

Evidently he wasn’t worried about mice or bugs like she was. She hesitated before standing up. He growled at her and pointed with the knife at the bed once more. She didn’t dare turn her back on him. Instead, she backed toward the bed and nearly yelped when the backs of her knees hit the edge of it. She lost her balance and sat down hard on the bare mattress. Dust flew up in her face.

“Get those shorts off of you.”

“I can’t with my hands tied.” She held them out in front of her in hopes he would remove the rope.

“Fuck. Stand up. I’ll get them off of you.”

He stepped between her legs and nudged them apart as he unfastened and unzipped her shorts. Then he shoved her back to the bed. Before she could regain her balance, he had her shorts and underwear off of her. She immediately tried to cover her pussy with her bound hands. He knocked her hands away with his fist and lifted them over her head with one hand while holding the knife at her waist with the other one.

“Be still, bitch!” He pulled her up the bed and hooked her hands over a nail on the wall.

She was half sitting, half lying on the bed now with her hands stuck above her head. She tried to move them off the nail but couldn’t get any leverage to push up. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all. The lump that was in her throat began to choke her as acid filled her stomach and burned. She wasn’t going to be able to stop him from raping her.

The man held the knife at her belly as he fumbled with his belt and jeans with the other hands. The sound of the zipper drew a whimper from her mouth before she could stop it. He smiled down at her, obviously happy to see her fear. She closed her eyes and began to pray.

* * * *

Dominic waited to hear back that the DEA had Michael in custody. They had finally gotten the information they needed on when and where the package was going to be delivered, but it had been late coming. Now they were worried that the DEA wouldn’t get there in time.

“Fuck! What’s taking them so long?” Reece gripped the beer bottle in his hand as he stared at Turk’s phone sitting on the table.

“They aren’t going to call until they have the situation secure, Reece. You know that.” Dominic had to fight to remain calm himself.

Right now all he wanted to do was go find Raven and bury his dick so deep inside of her she wouldn’t ever want to leave them. As much as he would like to have her need them for cover and safety, he didn’t want her staying with them only out of need. He wanted her to want to be with them. Everything inside of him craved to hear her say she loved them, but he wasn’t fooling himself. He doubted he would ever hear those words.

“It’s only been thirty minutes, Reece.” Turk checked his watch.

“Your source was sure there was a package being delivered to him?”

“He heard the details with his own ears. I trust him. He’s steady.”

Reece fiddled with his empty beer bottle then stood up. “I’m going to get another beer. Anyone else want one?”

“Yeah. Get me one.” Dominic nodded at his friend.

Turk shook his head. Dom watched Reece step out of the room. He was having trouble staying calm. There was a lot at stake, and Reece was head over heels in love with Raven. It had been a long time since Reece had shown so much interest in a woman. The fact that it was someone who might be leaving them soon wasn’t lost on him. Reece was going to take it hard, but he was more alive now than he had been in a long time.

The door opened, and Reece walked back in with two bottles. He tossed one to Dominic and locked the door before taking his seat at the table once again.

The phone on the table rang, and everyone froze. Turk picked it up and answered it.

“Yes?”

“You’re kidding.” Turk’s face lit up with a smile.

“Is he okay? Good.”

There was silence for a few seconds. Then Turk spoke again.

“Good. Just a concerned citizen wanting to help.” He punched a button and set the phone back on the table. “You’re not going to fucking believe this.”

“What!” Both Dominic and Reece spoke at the same time.

“That package Michael was getting wasn’t drugs.”

“What was it?” Dominic wondered if everything had gone to hell now.

“Something even better.” Turk chuckled. “It was a twelve-year-old boy. He was buying a fucking slave.”

“Son of a bitch!” Dominic grinned. “Human trafficking. He’s ruined.”

“Got that right.” Turk bumped fists with each of the men across the table.

“So they caught him red-handed receiving the kid and arrested him?” Reece asked.

“Yeah. They burst in to find him handing over two hundred thousand dollars to the guy. The bastard hadn’t even taken the delivery somewhere separate from him. They were at his little hideaway outside of Dallas. Evidently there was tons of evidence of child pornography around as well.”

Dominic grinned at Reece. The other man was smiling just as widely. With him in jail, the search for Raven would be called off. She would be able to do what she wanted. He refused to let what that meant to them color his celebrating their success at putting Michael in prison for a long time.

A few well-placed hints of his sick habits once he got to prison would assure that he would be taken care of once and for all. Even criminals didn’t like perverts.

“Get rid of that cell, Turk. No reason to court trouble with the law.” Dominic stood up and stretched.

He couldn’t wait to tell Raven and see her reaction. He would bet she would be relieved and excited. Inside, he felt it was a bittersweet victory though. It meant the beginning of the end for them. Somehow they had to convince her to stay with them. He didn’t think he could handle losing her.