Severed Justice (Severed MC Book 3) (16 page)

I stare at my phone in my hand as I sit in the clubhouse communal area. The men have all congregated in the bar, while the women have gathered out here.

I sigh as I think about ringing her again.

Elle looks at me with sympathy.  “She still not answering honey?”

“No.” I shake my head.

I’ve been trying to get hold of Maggie for a while now. She’s not answering her phone. Elizabeth and Jamie must have her running around like crazy. I know that when my little girl is excited she tends to get really hyperactive. I just hope she’s not acting up, and dragging Jamie into it.

I dial her number again, but it just rings out. Hanging up, I get up and walk towards the bar. The men are all talking in hushed voices and stop when they see me.

“What’s up babe?” Gabe asks.

“Have you got Scalp’s number? I can’t get through to Maggie. I just want to talk to Elizabeth.”

Gabe grins and throws me his phone. “Bring it back.” He calls after me as I walk away.

As soon as I re-enter the communal area, I scroll through Gabe’s phone looking for Scalp’s number. Quickly hitting the call button, I cross my fingers, hoping he’s at home so I can hear Elizabeth’s voice. I’m missing her a lot.  After everything that happened this morning, I just need to talk to my girl.

“Angel.” He answers, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Scalp? This is Eve.”

“Angel’s old lady?”

“Yeah, hi. It is okay to call?”

His laughter fills the line. “Of course it is, what’s the problem? Angel okay?”

“Oh yes, he’s fine. It’s just that Maggie has Elizabeth at yours, and I’ve tried ringing her so I can talk to her, but there’s no answer.”

“She probably has her hands full with those two.” He laughs. “But, I’ll give her a call and let you know when I hear from her. Don’t you worry precious.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

The line goes dead and I return Gabe’s phone to him. The men have moved from the large round table they were huddled around, and are spread out now, having a break from the look of the drinks in their hands.

Gabe wraps an arm around my shoulder, and kisses me on the forehead. “What did our princess have to say?”

“Oh, Scalp’s not at home, but he said he’d get hold of Maggie and have her call.”

Gabe nods his head, but I feel him tense slightly as I lean against his body.

About five minutes later Gabe’s phone, which is still in my hand, starts to ring. It’s Scalp. Not bothering to give it to Gabe, I answer it.

“Hi.” I answer, a smile on my face, I’m so excited to hear from my baby girl.

“Is Angel there?”

I look at Gabe who’s watching me carefully. I frown. “Yes, is this to do with Elizabeth?”

I hear him clear his throat. “Maybe it’s best I talk to your old man.”

I straighten my body. “Now you listen to me, if this has something to do with my baby, then you’d damn well better talk to me.” I say it so loudly it draws attention.

I hear Scalp sigh before answering. Gabe is looking at me along with everyone else in the room.

“Okay. Maggie didn’t answer my call, neither did the prospect I have over there. I’ve sent some of my guys over, and I’m heading home myself. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Do you think something’s happened?”

“I don’t know.” He hangs up on me, and I almost drop the phone.

Gabe places his hands on my shoulders. “What did he say?”

I swallow hard, and repeat what Scalp said. Gabe’s grip on my shoulder tightens.   Prez walks over to see what’s going on.  My raised voice has obviously alerted the others that something is wrong.

“It’s nothing Prez. Eve’s getting concerned that she can’t get a hold of Maggie. Scalp’s sending some guys over to his house just to be on the safe side. She’s probably just gone out for the day and let her phone go dead.”  Who’s Gabe trying to convince, him or me?

There’s something wrong. I have this awful feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.  This isn’t just a dead phone battery.  Besides, her phone was ringing out.

Emma walks up and puts her arm around me. “Is everything okay, Eve?” Gabe’s about to tell her that it is, but I stop him.

“No it’s not alright.” I scream. “I can’t get hold of Maggie and that means I can’t get hold of Elizabeth. Something’s wrong.” I’m becoming hysterical.

“Eve, she’ll be fine. It’s just a dead phone battery.” Gabe tries to reassure me.

“Angel, this is not a dead phone battery. Her phone fucking rings out.  Her husband is concerned enough to be going to their house himself.” I really am getting hysterical now.

I get even more pissed when I see Angel incline his head to Doc. He wouldn’t.  The fucker better not do what I think he’s about to do.

I’m shaking with anger now, but I can’t stop Doc from injecting the sedative.  I can’t believe Angel would do this to me. Doesn’t he realize our girl is in danger? Why can’t he sense it?

“Eve, calm down. It’s been a stressful day and you’re getting yourself into a state over nothing. I’m heading over there myself. Elizabeth’s going to be fine, just you wait and see.”

Wait and see? I’m so furious with Gabe right now. He’s the one who needs to wait and fucking see.  When I get hold of him I’m going to fucking kill him.  How dare he have me sedated when my girl’s in danger?  I’m still thinking of all the ways I’m going to hurt Gabe when I pass out.

I race to Scalp’s house, my heart in my throat the whole fucking time.  I just pray that when I get there, this is all just some huge misunderstanding.  That’s what I told Eve just before I left. A misunderstanding, but she says it’s not. I know it, and she fucking knows it too. Some fucking shit about a mother’s intuition. She’s inconsolable. She wouldn’t stop crying and screaming. Fuck it nearly made me tear up seeing her like that. Doc had to give her a shot to knock her out; she’d become so hysterical. Sue is keeping an eye on her.  I don’t know where the fuck Teresa is though, I’ve not seen her all bloody day. She needs to get her ass back to the compound and be there for her friend. I’m afraid that whatever I find out in the next few minutes, she will need her best friend. When I asked Prez about it, he just muttered some shit about an errand she’d had out of state.  I don’t think he knew himself.

When I arrive, there’s a line of bikes parked up in the front yard, and it looks like Scalp has already arrived.  There’s no one out front though, just their bikes and that unsettles me. If everything was okay then surely someone would be waiting for me. Pushing the bike onto its stand, I reach behind me, feeling for the gun tucked in the back of my waistband.  Reassured of its presence, I move cautiously towards the house. I need to get my little girl back to her terrified mother.

There’s shouting coming from the back, so I head around there. When I see the scene that awaits me, I almost fall to my knees.

Scalp is on the ground, cradling Maggie’s head in his lap.  The front of her white blouse is covered in blood, and he’s actually crying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this man get upset, never mind full on crying. There’s no sign of Elizabeth or Scalp’s little boy Jamie from what I can see.  What the fuck is going on here?

Razor, Scalp’s VP, moves over to me. His features drawn and haggard.

“Is she?” I indicate my head towards Maggie. I can barely get the words out of my mouth. 

Razor shakes his head, and I let out a sigh of relief. “She’s not good, she’s unconscious and she’s lost a lot of blood, but she’s still with us.” He looks back at Maggie. “She’s a fighter, that’s for sure.”

“What happened?” I want to scream and ask where the fuck Elizabeth is, but I have to stay calm here.

Razor looks lost. “We’ve got no fucking idea. After your old lady rang, Scalp tried to get hold of her and the prospect he left here. When neither of them answered he decided to head home and see what was going on.  If she’d gone off somewhere with the kids she’d have left him a note on the fridge in case he came home.”

He stops to run his hand through his already messy hair. “We found Larry on the road. Looks like some fucker ran him off his bike. Poor kid’s neck was broken.” I try to get a mental picture of Larry, but nothing comes up.  Razor sees my questioning look.  “You wouldn’t know him, he’s the prospect that Scalp had watching out for Maggie and the kids.” 

“Who the fuck would do this?” I ask, before asking the question I really want the answer to. “And where the fuck’s my daughter?” There’s a cold rage in my tone that doesn’t go unnoticed by Razor.

“I’m sorry Angel, we can’t find the kids.  Both of them are gone.” He hangs his head.  “I love that little fucker, he’s like a son to me.  I promise you, we’ll find whoever did this and we’ll deal with them.”  He looks around the yard.  Other than Maggie’s broken body in Scalp’s arms there’s nothing disturbed.  No clue to what happened here.

Right now I’m glad Eve’s sedated. How do I tell her that our daughter is missing?  Who the fuck is doing this?

If it was Ted, Holly’s ex, then why pick on Maggie or the kids? Something’s not right here.  I need to figure out what the fuck is going on, and I need to find my daughter.

That little girl means the fucking world to me. When I find the person responsible for this, they’d better be prepared for me to end their fucking life!

I don’t know what to do.

None of this is working out how I planned it.  I can’t go home, it’s too dangerous right now. I don’t think they’ve realized that it’s me who killed the girl and took the kids. As confused as I am I’m still focused enough to know I need to hide, to get away from Severed.

I’ve driven around for the last few hours, waiting for the voice to come back and tell me what to do next, but it’s staying silent.  Both kids have cried themselves to sleep, thank fuck.  I couldn’t stand much more of that noise.

I’m not sure I should leave the kids in the car, but I need to call into the chemist. I need some sleeping pills. I’ve got to keep these kids quiet whilst I work out what to do next. While they’re crying and screaming I can’t think straight.

The chemist doesn’t seem overly conscientious, he’s given me the pills I asked for without asking a bucket load of questions and I’m in and out of there in just a few minutes.  I call into the shop next door and buy some milk. Children drink milk don’t they? I need something to mix the tablets in with, that won’t make them suspicious.

I also grab a couple of bags of potato chips and some chocolate bars. All kids love potato chips and chocolate.

I haven’t got enough money to buy anything else. That’s my next problem, money. I can’t go home anymore, and I need money to get away from here and start a new life with Jamie.  I look at the sleeping girl next to him.  What the fuck am I supposed to do with her? I’m not taking a Severed brat with me, that’s for sure. I still can’t bring myself to harm her. She’s just a child at the end of the day. It’s going to be okay, Satan’s going to talk to me soon, and he’ll know what to do.

I need to figure out where to go.  A safe place for tonight.  And then, at just the right moment the voice comes back. I smile broadly, he’s still with me. Thank fuck.  Satan reminds me about the shack in the woods that he used to use sometimes, when he wanted to be alone.  To my knowledge no one but me knows about it, and I only know because I followed him there once.

The headlights of the car behind me are making my head hurt more. How long has it been there? Is it following me? Shit, that’s all I need, to become paranoid. I’m making my headache worse thinking stupid shit like that.  Nobody is following me. Nobody saw what I did. I just need to relax.  Brushing the feelings aside I concentrate on the road in front of me.  There’s a turn off somewhere down here, almost hidden. I need to slow down a little so I don’t miss it.

The turn off appears out of the darkness and I have to slam the brakes on to avoid driving past.  The car behind blares his horn at me before overtaking and driving off into the distance.  See, I was just being paranoid.

The sudden stopping of the car has woken Jamie.  He raises his still sleep filled eyes at me.

“Where are we? Did we get help for Mom?” He looks around him, puzzlement all over his features.

“No, go back to sleep. We’re nearly there.” I promise.

The road to the shack is bumpier than I remember, meaning Jamie doesn’t settle and the brat wakes up as well. That’s all I fucking need.

I find the key hidden under the rock where I remember watching Satan put it.  The door creaks open and I usher the kids in.  The brat tries to protest and stand her ground; frustrated I shove her in and she falls to the floor, grazing her knees. She wails, and I wince at the noise. I might have been a little too rough, but she’s frustrating the hell out of me.  Jamie rushes to her side, helping her. He’s a protective kid that’s for sure.

“Where’s my Mom and Dad?” Jamie asks.  He’s a stubborn little guy for a five year old.  Meanwhile the brat is crying, huddled up against his side.

“It’s going to be alright.” I try to soothe him. “Let me warm up some milk for you guys.” I move to the small paraffin heater on the other side of the room.  “Help is on the way Jamie, they’ll be here soon.”  He looks like he doesn’t believe me. Tough shit, kid.

Dissolving the sleeping tablets into the milk only takes a moment or two.  Persuading the kids to drink the milk takes a lot longer. Jamie realizes I’m not backing down over this and talks the brat into drinking hers too.  I’m grateful as fuck when they both fall asleep.  I need to come up with a new plan.