Wayward Soul (17 page)

Chapter Thirty

Waking up, I see it
’
s light out again. How long have I been tied up here, and why haven
’
t any of the guys noticed I
’
m not around? I hope he
’
s not trying to get Casey here. My girl is smart. She
’
ll figure out it's not me texting her. I know she will.

I try and use my strength to move the chair across the room to where I know my gun is hidden. Leaning forward in the chair, I am able to move, but I have to go slow because of the way my feet are bound to the chair. I get about two steps before the door flies open and crashes against the wall.

“
It seems that your little girlfriend is a lot smarter than I gave her credit for, Alec. She seems to think something happened to you. Your
‘
brother
’
,
”
he uses air quotes,
“
is calling you like crazy, so I had to throw him off the trail. It looks like I am going to have to bring her out here sooner, and I won
’
t get to torture you until after she
’
s dead. Don
’
t worry. I
’
ll still let you watch.
”

The phone starts to ring again and he walks over to me with it.
“
Answer it. If you let them know anything is wrong, I
’
ll kill you, then go after her.
”

I look at him with disgust as he puts the phone to my ear.
“
Yeah?
”

“
Gunner!
”
she says breathlessly.
“
Oh, my god. Are you okay? Where are you?
”
I feel some relief hearing her voice.

“
Hey, beauty. Yeah, I
’
m okay. Just went looking for him. I need you to stay where you are and don
’
t come here. Okay? Promise me.
”
He looks at me with hate in his eyes. He wanted me to bring her back here, but I won
’
t. My girl will never be near this sick son of a bitch.

“
Gun, I miss you. I promise. I
’
ll stay here. Just don
’
t disappear again.
”
I can hear the sadness in her voice and it kills me to know she
’
s hurting because of me.
“
Gun, Brant wants to talk to you really quick.
”

“
Yeah, put him on,
”
I say. Brantley and I know each other better than anyone else. We can get our points across without words.

“
Gun?
”
The asshole is staring at me, trying to get to me say something I
’
ll regret.

“
Yeah, brother?
”
How do I say something without it being obvious?

“
What
’
s up, brother? Everything okay? You find him?
”

I sigh, looking up into his face.
“
Yeah, B. I
’
m all right. Kinda got a lot going on. I need you to do something for me, though." I can see him staring at me, almost like he's wondering what I am going to say.

"Yeah, cuz. You know I got your back. What do you need?"

Here goes nothing
… “
I need you to make sure my girls are taken care of. Remember when we were in high school and they called your dad because of the spray paint?
”
I can hear him whisper something to someone, but I can't make out the words.

"Yeah, Gunny. I remember. We always had trouble up our sleeves, which always entertained Dad. You know I'll always keep them protected. Let me know if you need anything, brother. Case wants to talk to you again. Hold up."

Gunny. Shit, I haven't heard that name since I was fifteen. He used to call me that when we were planning things against the others. "Gunner
…
,
”
she whispers into the phone. I think she knows something's wrong, too.

"Yeah, beauty?"

"I love you." I can hear the tears in her voice. It's killing me that I can't do anything to stop her hurt.

"You're my soul, baby. Don
’
t forget that." I hear a sob come across the line and my dad has a smirk on his face. Now he knows how I feel about her and he's going to use it against me. However, only one of us will die here, and I'll be damned if it's going to be me. "Beauty, I got to go. Listen to B and don't go anywhere alone. I'll see you soon." Hanging up with her is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I hear his snicker and I want to string him up by his balls. "Now, wasn't that just something? I can't wait to get my hands on that girl. I'll definitely take my time with her. Once I'm done with her, I think I
’
ll see how your mom is doing. Does she still look the same? Or did she become a biker whore like her sister?"

"Fuck off. Stay away from my mom. You and I both know Uncle Nick won't take too kindly to you coming near my mom again." I rock the chair as much as I can and he jumps back. Ha! He's scared of me getting free. "How the fuck did you even get into my house in the first place?
”

"You really should watch who you let into your club, son. You can't trust everyone nowadays.
”

I fucking knew it. The only person who knew about my father was Abe and he's been acting strange the last few days. "You and I both know that the rat is going to eat a bullet just like you are,
”
I say with a grin.

He hits me in the eyebrow with the butt of the gun. I can feel my skin split open and blood starts to pour out of the cut.

"Too bad you're tied up at the moment because your friend, Abe, is at your little clubhouse telling your brothers you went looking for me and you
’
ll be gone for a while. So don't worry. They won't be breaking up our little party anytime soon.
”

I can feel my eyebrow swelling, the blood gushing. I try moving some more and I can feel the ropes loosen up a bit. I'll wait for him to leave before I keep trying. If I can at least get my arm out enough to reach into my pocket, I should be able to get free.

He keeps talking, but I'm not even listening. He can go straight to hell. I'll be ecstatic when this motherfucker is gone and out of my life for good.

When he finally gets tired of listening to his own voice, he gets up and leaves the room. Time for me to get to work.

Chapter Thirty-One

Fuck. Casey was right. Something is going on in Seattle, but I don't think I'll get there in time to help. When Gun was talking about the time my dad got called for an incident at school, I knew he was code. My old man wouldn't have cared about us spray painting anything."Doll, go find my dad, please." Anslie nods and goes running out of the room. Casey is a mess and I want to make sure Gunner comes home to her. "Case, you okay?" I ask, wrapping my arm around her.

She nods, then asks softly, "Is he gonna be okay, Brant?"

"We'll do everything we can to make sure of it. Just stay here and don't leave the compound. I'll bring Gunner's mom here, too, just to be safe."

She just nods as Sev and Remy come out of the playroom. "Was wrog, Antie Casy?" Remy asks, coming up to give her a hug.

She pulls him to her. "Nothing, little man. I'll be fine." Sev comes up and kisses her cheek.

Anslie and my old man come in, followed by Prez and Dom. Anslie walks straight for Casey and the boys. "Doll, take Casey and the boys to the playroom."

Anslie starts to get up, but Casey doesn
’
t want to leave. "No! I want to know what's going on!" She looks over at Dom. "Please. I need to know he's okay."

My dad smirks and tells her she can stay until the time comes for it to come in front of the club. I know Ans is going to want to stay now, too. I try and keep her away from club business, but it
’
s going to be a losing battle this time. I turn to the boys.
“
Boys, go to the playroom until your mom comes to get you." They both nod and make their way to the next room.

"What's going on, Brant?" my dad asks.

"I'm pretty sure Jaron has him,
”
I say as calmly as I can.

"What do you mean Jaron has him? What the fuck is he doing going after Jaron alone? He fucking knows better." Casey and Anslie both flinch at my dad's words.

"I don't know the whole story, but I don't think Gun went after him. I think it was the other way around. They are probably somewhere in Seattle. Gunner sent Casey here for a reason. He knew something was coming, but he didn't know when.
”

Walking over to Anslie, I pull her into my body and she wraps her arms around my waist. Casey is shaking her head. "Before we left Seattle, he told me someone was threatening me. He wouldn't tell me much. Just that I needed to come back to Vegas until things blew over. He said someone from his past was going to hurt him by hurting everyone he cares about.
”
She starts to cry and Dom walks over to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders.

"I'll make a call to Johnny. See what he knows,
”
my dad says, pulling out his phone.

"I'll send a couple of the boys out to them. Tell Johnny they'll be on their way within the hour,
”
Prez states.

"I
’
m going, too,
”
I say. Anslie looks up at me with fear in her eyes.

Prez just looks at me with a frown and shakes his head. "I need you here, Brant. I just got my daughter back. I won't let you go off and get hurt.
”

I smirk. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just like having me around, Prez."

He snorts. "No, I just like knowing where the bastard who knocked up my daughter is at all times. Just in case I get the urge to kill you, you will be easier to find.
”
He walks off laughing.

Her old man can say whatever he wants. She
’
s it for me and nothing will get me to leave her again. Now I just have to get rid of Kendall. Fuck me.

I hear my dad talking to Johnny, but I can
’
t catch any of his conversation. When he hangs up, I can see something is wrong. "What is it?
”

"Johnny thinks they have a rat in their club." I watch Casey pale and Anslie gasps.

“
Fuck! Does he know who?
”
I ask. I know all of those guys. I may not get along with everyone, but they are all pretty solid men.

“
He said he might have an idea. I told him we are sending a few men to help out and to keep us updated.
”

I nod my head and Prez calls for church. Kissing Anslie on the forehead, I whisper in her ear,
”
Doll, be strong for her. She
’
s gonna need you, yeah?
”

I watch her face and she takes in a deep breath.
“
Yeah,
”
she whispers back. I kiss her again and walk out the door.