Sanctum: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (19 page)

Maggie laughed and blew him a kiss. From
the stove, the kettle started its high-pitched song.

Jase was pouring the boiling water into
the press when he heard Maggie scream, and the chilling report of two deafening
gunshots. He fumbled and dropped the kettle, spilling hot water all over his
bare legs and feet. He roared in pain and kicked the kettle aside as he rushed
for the front door screaming Maggie
’
s
name.

From the doorway he saw two men in masks
dragging Maggie
’
s limp and
unconscious body into the back of a dark black van. A third held his bleeding
left arm and cursed them loudly as he scrambled around to the passenger seat.

Jase leapt off the porch and charged
towards them, not giving a second thought to the fact that he was completely
naked or the pain from his burning legs. The men in the back yelled at the
driver until he slammed on the gas. Tires squealed in a smoking fury as the van
shot away from Jase
’
s
driveway and down the street, back door still swinging on open hinges. In the
driveway, tinted glass had been scattered like black candy.

For a split second Jase stared in impotent
horror as he watched the van charge away. He turned back for his bike and dug
out the spare ignition key he kept in a small pocket in the saddle bag. On the
ground nearby, he saw Maggie
’
s
Bersa 9mm. He picked it up and kept it tucked under one of his naked legs as he
started up the bike and tore after them.

I never should have let her step one
fucking foot outside.
Jase
’
s
mind raged as he swerved through the neighborhood at insane speeds, trying to
catch up to Maggie
’
s
kidnappers. He caught sight of them heading towards the heart of LeBeau, their
position given away by the shattered back window that Maggie must have hit when
she tried to fire on them. She had her gun on her and she tried to use it. She
’
d
done exactly what they had told her to do. But he had failed her.

The chase got complicated as the van
swerved through streets already bustling with people up early to enjoy their
summer weekend. More than once Jase had to lane-share or ride down the middle
of the two-lane roads to get around cars in his way. From the sidewalks, he
heard people yelling and screaming as the chase passed by, pulling each other
out of the danger zone.

Don’t
give up, you
piece of shit
…

Up ahead, the van was about to hit a
stoplight with three cars already waiting. Jase expected the driver to see he
was trapped, and slow down or take a detour. He let out a curse when the van
sped up, swerved into the oncoming lanes, and barreled into the intersection.
Horns blared and brakes squealed as the cross-traffic swerved to miss it. One
of the cars turned just at the nick of time, missing the van, and crashing
instead into a post office box on the corner.

“Fuck!”
Jase shouted. He tried to
follow the van
’
s path, but four
other cars sat stalled in the intersection, and witnesses had already started
crawling out of their own cars to investigate. Several of them shouted very
choice words at the naked biker trying to callously maneuver through the scene
of the accident.

By the time Jase got past the
intersection, he couldn’t find a sightline on the van. Desperate, he followed
the road without turning until it came to the mountain and merged with the
highway. All manner of cars sped past his quiet little town, but none of them
looked like the black van.

Maggie was gone.

~ FIFTEEN ~

Maggie
’
s
hands had been deep in the saddle bag of Jase
’
s
bike when the van squealed up to a haphazard stop on the sidewalk. After that,
everything happened fast. The rear doors on the van flew open before it had
even come to a full stop. She saw limbs come tumbling out in a rush, and
suddenly men in masks were bearing down on her. She didn’t remember screaming,
but she did remember the feel of the Bersa in her hand when she pulled it out
of her waistband. She had it cocked by the time the first one reached her, but
he couldn’t stop her squeezing off two wild shots. One of them shouted over the
sound of busting glass. A man
’
s
big hand twisted cruelly in her hair and Maggie
’
s
vision spun as he yanked her backwards. She heard the crisp sound of
electricity buzzing. Then something painful dug itself into the flesh of her
shoulder, and the world went black.

When she came to, Maggie couldn’t move.
They had bent her legs and arms back and zip-tied them together. She laid on
her side, helpless, as they maneuvered her around the van
’
s
space with little concern for her comfort. Since she couldn’t see through the
cloth bag on her head, every touch came as a shock.

“
Is he still behind us?
”
one of them said, breathless.

“Fuckin
’
dude
is crazy!
”
said another in a much
harsher voice.

Maggie groaned in pain.
“
You
motherfucking cowards
…”
she
spit out as she wriggled pointlessly in her binds. Her arms were already
aching, pulled back in such discomfort. Despite being dressed in a tank top and
jeans, she had never felt so vulnerable or exposed, and it enraged her just as
much as it frightened her.

One of the men responded by pressing a
monstrous hand around her neck and squeezing hard enough to cut off her air
supply. Maggie choked and sputtered a few seconds until he released her.
“
Why
don’t you just keep your mouth shut, you stupid bitch, before I shut it for
you.
”

“
Here, use this,
”
said one of the other men. There was faint rustling.
Someone lifted the cloth over Maggie
’
s
head just a bit, and roughly stuffed a white cloth into her mouth before
putting the hood back down. Maggie cried against the gag until she felt another
hand around her neck.

“
I mean it. Shut the fuck
up. Don’t make us give you something to cry about.
”
The hand around her neck disappeared and one began
groping her breast with harsh fingers. Maggie clenched up and whimpered as
tears began to soak the black cloth hood over her head. After the hand lifted,
she took a deep thankful breath. She tried to quiet her crying as the van
jostled over rough bumps and around sharp highway curves. Wherever they were
taking her, it wasn’t
in LeBeau.

When the van finally came to a stop, rough
hands yanked Maggie out onto the ground. Someone cut the ties on her legs and
feet, allowing her to walk but with her arms still immobile. She bit down on
the cloth gag in her mouth every time she felt her feet slip on the blind walk.
A few times her captors let her fall to the asphalt before they pulled her back
to her bare feet and pushed her forward. Judging by the laughter, they were
clearly enjoying the entertainment. She felt clumsy gropes at her ass and legs
a few times when she was
‘
helped up
’
.

They entered some building big enough to
produce echoes, and someone took Maggie
’
s
arm the entire walk from the front door, keeping her on what was probably a
narrow path. Wherever they were must have been industrial, dangerous if she
fell. The hand around her arm gripped tightly enough to hurt and cut off
further circulation, but she was too scared to struggle. She let them lead her
through a dark maze and into what sounded like a smaller room, where she was
tied to a chair and left alone for several minutes.

The room was quiet and muffled enough that
she could hear the racing of her own heart. She couldn’t believe her life could
end like this, especially now. She had finally begun to heal her greatest
wound, her biggest regret. Of course it would be now when the reaper decided to
come calling. She felt cursed, like her father felt cursed. And as fearful as
it was, her heart was equally wrenching in pain for Jase. After all of this,
was he just going to have to bury her? Pick out some stupid dress for her cold
corpse to wear for eternity? What had she done? Maggie started crying again,
wishing she had never come back to LeBeau.
I should have let Evan kill me in
Eagleton. I should have run anywhere else. I destroy everything I touch.

Her thoughts cut off quickly when the big
metal door into the room creaked open. She jumped at the sound. Footsteps, many
footsteps, entered the room. More men than had been in the van in the first
place.

“
Nice work,
”
said one of them.
“
And
the invitation has already been sent. Shouldn’t be long.
”

“
It better fuckin
’
not be, after all this,
”
said
another.
“
Already got a guy with a
bullet in his arm and this shit ain’t even finished yet.
”

Someone approached her and Maggie tensed
up as if it would protect her from being touched. Rough hands removed the black
hood from her head and pulled out the cloth gag. Pain from the sudden
brightness stung Maggie
’
s
eyes, and she squinted as she breathed freely for the first time in hours.

“
Hello there, darlin
’
.
I sure am glad to see you.
”

When her eyes finally adjusted to the
light, Maggie opened them to see Evan
’
s
cruel smile in front of her face. He bent down right in front of her, his gaunt
face cut sharply in the harsh light. Around them stood a bunch of men with
weapons, whose faces and shaved heads she didn’t recognize. The blood drained
from her stomach.

“
I
don’t
remember giving you the idea that our arrangement had an opt-out clause,
”
said Evan, smiling, his tone suggesting everything was
sunny. She supposed it was, for him.
“
You
hurt me real bad when you took off, babe. You always thought you were so much
fucking smarter than me, but not smart enough to realize I’ve had a low-jack on
that car of yours since the first time I fucked you.
”
He reached out and ran a hand through her hair. When
she instinctively tried to pull away from him, his touch became tangled talons
yanking her back to look at his face.

“
Now, now, you
’
re
coming home,
”
said Evan, whispering
close to her. He held her head still while he hovered over her, his lips
brushing against hers with increased force. He licked his tongue across her closed
mouth.
“
No
need to fight it. I already have a long list of new friends for you to meet.
”
Evan kept his face close to hers, breathing on her.
His hot breath on her skin smelled like cheap beer. He panted on her while he
trailed a hand down her jaw, her neck, and her chest, before crudely molesting
her breasts. He stared at her face when she tensed and sucked in a breath,
wanting to fight but helpless to do so. He loved watching her realize she had
no control.

Evan made a little moan against her and she
felt sick. She closed her eyes when his hand dropped between her breasts,
snaking down her stomach towards her center. She felt his fingertips on her
mound when one of the other men in the room interrupted. 
“We
don’t
fucking have time for this.
”

Immediately Evan stood and removed his
hands from her body. Maggie released the breath she realized she
’
d
been holding and tried with great difficulty to hold back her tears.

“
Fair enough,
”
said Evan. He walked up to the man who had spoken.
Maggie realized then that everyone in the room except Evan had his head shaved
or buzzed down to nothing.
“
I
just feel like a kid on Christmas, that
’
s
all.”

The apparent leader of the other men
seemed impatient with Evan.
“
There
ain’t gonna be a Christmas for nobody if her old man don’t pay up like you
promised.
”

“
He will, he will! It
’
s
his only daughter, of course he will pay,
”
said
Evan.

Maggie listened with interest as the
pieces began to fall into place. Evan must have trailed her from Eagleton
somehow, and when he saw that Maggie had the protection of the MC, he probably
did what he was best at: recruit someone else to do the hard work for him.
Whatever ransom they were trying to extort from Henry and the MC would no doubt
be the payment to the thugs he had hired.

And then Evan would drag Maggie away with
him and disappear into the underground, and Henry and Jase would be left
double-crossed, ransom paid with no hostage. Or worse
—
the
thugs would simply murder them for the cash at the exchange.

Maggie began to cry at the thought that
Jase, and her father, were about to meet their doom.
“
Evan,
please. I’ll go with you without a fight if you just promise not to hurt them.
”

Evan turned from his conversation to face
her. His expression was one of cruel amusement.
“
Oh,
sweetheart. Will you really?
”

“
Please, I
’
m
begging you,”
said Maggie. Her vision blurred behind
tears.
“
Just
leave them alive. Don’t kill them.
”

Evan leaned over in front of her again,
face to face.
“
You keep getting these
ideas that you
’
re in some
position to negotiate, and I just can’t figure out why.
”
He laughed for a few seconds, and then he whipped a
vicious backhand across Maggie
’
s
face. The sting tore through her nerves.

He forced Maggie
’
s
head up again to look at him and said,
“
Leave
them alive, to come find you and rescue you like some storybook princess? I don’t
think so. I made the mistake of underestimating you; I won’t do the same with
your old man. That life is over for you now, so just sit tight until this is
finished and then I’ll get you out of this shithole.
”
He smiled at her and gave a sharp yank of her hair
before he stood. He left the room, followed by the other men with their rifles.
The metal door shut and she heard the creaking of a big latch being dropped
into place.

Maggie wept uncontrollably.

I
’
m
sorry Jase. I
’
m
so sorry.