The Way Home (11 page)

“Jane?”

“Yes, Susan.”

“If there were a way out of here, would you take it?”

“If someone tried to escape, they would be killed as soon as they were caught. There are at least a dozen guards and I don't think we're close to anything. The drive here took forever.”

“Just talking out loud, I guess.” Susan got comfortable again, allowed silence to overtake them. Eventually Jane's breathing evened out. She was asleep; it was good because rest was what she needed. It was what they both needed. During medical school she'd trained herself to fall asleep in the oddest places.

She didn't sleep a peaceful sleep or dream peaceful dreams. All she wanted was the feeling from earlier, when her mind had tricked her into believing that she was in Houdini's arms, but she couldn't find it. Each time that she woke, shifted to another uncomfortable position, she took the time to listen to Jane's labored breathing.

Susan gave up on sleep once she realized that Jane's breathing was too labored. She'd known the woman was hurt worse than just the damage between her legs, but she hadn't wanted to let on. If this was Jane's last night, she didn't need to be any more scared than she already was. Minutes and hours ticked by, though Susan had no clue what time it really was or even what day it was.

Jane's last breath was more of a gasp, and then there was nothing. For her the end meant a release from four months of hell; Susan was glad that she wouldn't have to suffer any longer, but she knew that she was likely to endure worse before her end.

Chapter Ten.

Houdini's eyes burned. His body ached from being hunched over a keyboard for the better part of twenty-four hours. People had suggested that he take a break. Deacon had tried to make him but had given up when asked if he'd stop if Vera were the one missing. Of course he wouldn't; he'd be no more capable of stopping than Houdini was.

RI Ltd was owned by a corporation out of the Bahamas, which was in turn owned by another corporation in Turks and Cacos which was owned by a corporation out of Russia. It went on and on like that, back at least twelve shell companies deep. Whoever was behind RI Ltd obviously wanted to stay hidden.

It was too bad for them that Houdini wasn't going to give up on finding them. In fact, he'd called in every favor he had at his disposal from like-minded friends. There were four computer guys from clubs friendly with The Vikings looking for Susan as well. Between them all, they would find her and find who had her.

Houdini reached for another energy drink, but the way that his hand was shaking gave him pause. Maybe, just maybe he'd exceeded his caffeine tolerance for the day. Some water would probably do him good, along with some food and sleep, but stepping away felt like abandoning Susan.

Finally when the words on the screen became nothing but a blur, he reached for the energy drink, but even it couldn't make him focus. With a groan, Houdini got up from the chair. His back ached and his bladder nearly cried for relief. He took care of that, grabbed a water from the fridge in the tiny kitchen and simply stared at the coffee cup left drying in the rack next to the sink. Its presence confirmed what he'd suspected; Susan had left the warehouse early in the morning, otherwise the cup would have been put away. She was neat, always.

He knew that he drove her crazy with his tendency to discard his clothes wherever he took them off. It seemed she was always following behind him, for the most part she didn't seem to mind, unless she was in a mood, and then all bets were off. They'd had several epic fights over dirty socks and damp towels. Houdini would pick up after himself better once she was back. And she would be back, not finding her was not an option.

After he'd lost Willow and Junior, he'd all but given up on life. It had been simply existing, going through the motions and maybe doing what he could to speed up the process. Houdini had run with a rough crowd, individuals of a certain skill set who seemed to be able to find one another. It was on one of those jobs, protecting a load of something valuable, where he'd met Deacon. Their paths crossed again a few months later, and after a few hours it seemed like they were old friends. It was Deacon's passion when he spoke of The Vikings that inspired Houdini to prospect.

The Vikings became his family. He didn't think that he'd ever truly love them, but he had. Well, at least most of them. Truthfully, he'd never really liked Master or Double much, but he'd respected them and had their backs. Given what he now knew, he'd been right not to completely warm to them. But the rest of the guys, everyone was dead except for him and Deacon.

The future of The Vikings, well the club, had already died once. He and Deacon had remained loyal, but two men didn't make a club. Now they had an infusion of fresh blood, several members of the pack were starting to show an interest in joining up. The new guys were, well, they were going to have to prove themselves in some tough times.

They'd make it, and The Vikings would make it, or they wouldn't, and the club would once again become a cautionary tale in the biker world. Hell, even if they survived, they were going to be considered weak, and earning back trust and respect was going to be an uphill battle. When would this shit fucking end?

Houdini took a shower, felt a little bit clearer and realized he was going to have to figure out something to eat. The pickings in the kitchen were slim: instant oatmeal and instant soup. He made both with microwaved boiling water, ate them one after the other, and then moved over to the bed. He couldn't imagine sleeping on the bed without Susan, but then picked up her pillow, breathed in her scent and fell face down, out for the count.

Houdini didn't expect to dream, but he did, he dreamed of Susan. Of just being with her and hearing her voice, feeling her hands on him. It wasn't anything special or even memorable, just the day to day things like the way she'd refuse to wake up and he'd have to tickle her or the way that she'd relax just from him pressing his head against hers.

The dreams, though he knew on some level they weren't real, gave him a sense of peace. He felt warm and comfortable, safe as if she were right in the bed next to him. He was reluctant to lose that feeling by opening his eyes when someone began to knock loudly on the door. “Fuck off.” He shouted and shifted his pillow over his face.

The knocking continued; he had no choice but to get out of the warm bed and put his fist through the face of whoever dared disturb him. All the warmth and comfort of the dreams were gone, replaced with the dark reality that Susan was gone. “What?” He bellowed as he opened the door.

Eddie jumped, stumbled back a few steps and looked very much like he was going to wet himself. “I've got something. I'm not sure what, but it's something. Nate talked to the Redmonds, Edgar and Minnie, who were apparently pretty nice when they thought he was looking to buy the house across the street, which was for sale. Anyway, when Minnie was giving him a nice cup of tea, he saw a picture on the wall, asked about it. She said it was her son, clammed up and suddenly the welcome wasn't very welcoming anymore. I found the son, but he's been declared legally dead, which is kind of weird because that picture looked seriously recent.”

“Declared legally dead, doesn't mean actually dead. It just means a court ruled that way because you've been gone with no trace for like seven years.” Houdini was now wide awake. “Let me guess, the son's name is Rick.”

“Richard actually, but Rick is the most common nickname. How did you know that?”

“Get Deke. Get everyone.” Houdini barked the order, his blood surged through his veins. “I said get them, now!” There wasn't enough coincidence in the world for there to be another man named Rick who had been declared legally dead but wasn't, or that anyone else would have the personal motivation that he did to kill other-natured individuals.

Eddie finally took off running for the front of the warehouse. Houdini realized he wasn't even really sure where anyone was. Had they all gone? It didn't really matter. He needed to find what he could about Rick Redmond as well as any link to Susan.

He'd never run a check on her when she started hanging around. Now, normally he would have, but the circumstances had been so extreme that there had been no time or opportunity. It had taken him several months to get a computer that didn't suck and by then, he never even thought of it. Would he have been able to find the link? Seen this coming if he'd dug deep? There was no way to know and no way Susan would have known; if she had she would have told him.

By the time Eddie returned with everyone, all of The Vikings, Adelaide and Shepard and Lina were all eyeing him warily as they waited for him to speak. He'd been busy, printing out packets of information about Rick Redmond, the leader of The Hunters. Once he had the name, which the searches he left running confirming it, it was almost easy to get everything about the man.

“I know who runs The Hunters, and he's got Susan.”

“Wait, what?” Deacon spoke up first, though they all looked equally confused. “Take us through it again, slowly.”

Houdini started at the beginning, gave as much detail as he could and tried not to be pissed he was asked to repeat himself. This was big. It had taken him a few minutes to wrap his head around it but all he knew was they needed to act, and fast, to save Susan.

“This is the best information we've had so far about The Hunters.” Shepard cleared his throat. “We'll need to check it out, be sure that what you found is...”

“They've got Susan. She doesn't have the time for us to sit around here and fucking wait. We need to act, we need to act now.”

“We won't go into the situation blind.” Lina spoke up. “I think that you're way too personally involved to continue being our point man on this. I've arranged for someone to come and work the digital angle.”

“And what the fuck I am supposed to do?”

“Honestly, I don't care. You won't be handling the electronics. The Council orders it and you are bound by their decision. Effective immediately, you will not be involved in either the search for The Hunters or Susan.”

“This is bullshit.” Houdini told the blonde. “Are you on board with this, Deke? Is the club on board with this?”

“Deacon is bound by the orders of The Council, just as you are, Houdini. I understand how difficult it is for you to step back but it is what must be done. There is more at stake here than simply Susan's kidnapping, there are countless lives at stake and they must be considered.” Lina stood tall even as he approached her, stared her down.

“And if I take it upon myself to keep looking for Susan?”

“I see how that would be tempting; however, the consequences would be dire.” Lina frowned.

“You are interpreting the orders wrong, Lina.” Shepard's voice was low and calm, but his tone was serious. “As a member of The Council, I assure you that our intention was not to limit Houdini from participating in the search for Susan and The Hunters in any way except electronically. We need to be sure all the possible information is found.”

Lina didn't look pleased. Houdini didn't care. He was surprised that Shepard had spoken up, glad he had because the consequences didn't matter to him. “So, what now?” He asked; standing around was not an option.

“We start to check the properties that RI Ltd owns.” Deacon spoke up. “Start with the closest ones and work our way outward. If the Strays can provide some bodies, it won't take long at all.”

“I'll send as many of the pack as I can spare.” Adelaide added.

“Wait,” Shepard held up his hand. “The pack needs to stay here, to protect the town. In fact, we'll arrange for more people to come here to keep an eye on the town. We cannot look past the possibility that this is all intended to pull us away from town.”

“The pack will stay in Center City, under the leadership of my second in command, Caro. I will join in the search.” Adelaide told them. “I need some time to make the arrangements.”

“We'll leave out at first light,” Deacon looked over to Houdini. “Does that work for you Brother?”

“Yeah, works for me.” Some of Houdini's anger had deflated. These people had his back. “Everyone who is coming with us, be ready.” He turned his attention to the newest members of The Vikings. Nate met his stare steadily, as did Mike. Lane and Eddie, on the other hand, were quite obviously nervous. “There's no shame in not being up for this, no shame at all. If any of you are having any kind of second thoughts, now is the time to act on them.”

Houdini expected all of them to waver; none of them, with the possible exception of Nate, were killers or hard men. “No one is having second thoughts,” Deacon shut down subject. “Alright, we need to get supplies and get into groups. If we split up, we cover more ground.”

Houdini left Deacon to handle the logistics and went on a weapon hunt. Almost as an afterthought he packed a change of clothes and sneakers for Susan. He did the same for the other two groups. She'd want clean clothes. She'd need them.

The others had taken the clothes without comment. Deacon knew that eventually someone would say the thing he didn't want to hear, someone would ask how they could be sure that she was still alive, especially if Rick had such hatred for her. He didn't know the answer to that, except that he'd known the moment the life slipped from Willow's body, and not just because he'd been looking at her. He'd felt it, deep inside. Felt it even deeper when Junior was gone, too.

All he felt now was anger. He'd let it fuel him, carry him as far as it could. He'd find Susan or die trying, he just regretted anyone else who might lose their life along the way, even if they knew what they were signing up for. “Everyone get moving, there's only a few hours until morning.

<#<#<#

As far as they could tell, RI Ltd owned seven properties. The largest, what they were calling The Compound, was now under control of the Strays, but that still left six. Three warehouse properties and three that showed as residential areas.

They'd sent out three search parties. Houdini rode with Mike and Shepard; he was curious to see how both men would handle themselves if something went down. Deacon had Nate and Lance with him while Lina, Adelaide and Eddie left together.

Caro was in charge of Center City, and Houdini didn't know why that wasn't quite sitting right with him. He liked Caro. They were friends, but there was something in the way she'd looked at Adelaide when they left that made him fucking uneasy. He didn't need any more reason to be on edge.

The first property they'd checked, a residential building, had been home to a swarm of rats and roaches, with no sign that anyone had been there in a long time. It was a sharp disappointment to him. Honestly, he'd expected that she'd be there, or at least he hoped like hell that she was. Every hour she was gone, it was getting harder and harder for him to keep his faith that she was alive or even well.

The first forty-eight hours after a kidnapping were crucial; everyone knew that from television shows, but it was the truth. They'd burned nearly twenty-four hours so far with not a sound from whoever had taken her. It wasn't a good sign, at all. Neither was the upcoming moon. There had been an uptick in missing Weres and Shifters, and somewhere a hunt was being prepared.