Saving Dallas 2 Making the Cut (25 page)

“We are okay,” I said, my voice catching
Luke’s attention. He held his head higher, trying to focus on me
with his one good eye.

“Let ‘em go,” he said, his voice breathy and
low. The fight was not gone from Luke and I knew if they didn’t get
out of here, he would be killed.

“Always in such a hurry. One leaves, one
stays. You choose who goes back with you,” the white haired man
said, not seeming to care who it was.

“Charlie, please. I’m begging you, let them
go,” Luke pleaded. It killed me to see him like this. I hated to
see how bruised and battered he was, but I knew no amount of
physical hurt could compare to the blow he took to his pride.

“I’m not going to hurt them, Luke. I’m going
to keep one and give you one. Fifty-fifty. Actually, you are
getting the better end of the deal here. You are getting Frankie,
and a hostage. I’m being more than fair,” Charlie said, actually
believing that what he was doing was benefiting Luke.

“Please, I can’t,” Luke said in a final
attempt to bargain with him. Charlie did not feel like negotiating.
He pulled a gun from his back and pointed it at me and Maddie.

“Choose now, or they both die. Your
decision,” he said. Instead of screaming like I wanted to, or
freaking out from the sight of a gun in my face, I looked into
Luke’s shining blue eye. Begging him to make good on his promise
and choose the right one. I mouthed the word ‘please’ just as
Charlie spoke.

“Times up. Whose is it going to be Luke? You
have three seconds. Three, two…”

“Maddie,” Luke said, his voice defeated. The
guys behind him stood motionless, their faces full of sympathy,
remorse and even a few tears. Luke had sealed my fate, but saved
the life of my sister. I would forever be grateful, however long
forever was. Charlie placed his gun at his back and gave the order
to untie Maddie. Her limbs hung limply as Tiny came forward and
curled her into his arms. He looked to me and I knew there was
nothing he could say. There was no reason to cry now, or to scream
and beg for my life. I knew what I wanted and I smiled a weak smile
at Tiny with a nod of my head.

“Luke, I never go back on my word. I will
tell you this, and although it won’t make it any easier for you, at
least you will know. Dallas will be safe. My home will be her home
and in no way will I hurt or mistreat her, other than holding her
against her will. But, if you come looking for her, if you so much
as cross into the state of Texas, I will kill her. I will beat her
until she is within an inch of her life. I will record her final
words and they will be ones that you don’t want to hear.” Luke
nodded his head in understanding, his body sagging until his knees
hit the ground.

“Just don’t hurt her,” He said, looking at
me. “I will find a way, baby. I swear it on my life. I will find a
way.”

Tears poured out of every eye in front of me.
I barely noticed as they cut my hands and feet loose; my stiff
muscles aching so badly I couldn’t function on my own. One of the
goons carried me in his arms to another waiting SUV. I was placed
in the back seat, Charlie sliding in next to me. I turned my head
to look out of the back glass, into the faces of the ones that I
loved. Luke’s eyes found mine and he held my gaze. In this moment,
I only wanted one thing. The love of my life, the man that owned my
body and soul, the one that knew more about me than anyone; this
man gave me exactly what I needed. As we pulled away, I was left
with the vision of his beautiful face, even battered and bruised,
and on it he wore his signature smirk.

RED

“Hold still.” Regg was such a baby. He acted
like a little rubbing alcohol would kill him.

“Well, that shit burns,” he snapped. All of
the guys were on edge since they got back, but that was no reason
to be such a tit.

“I know, baby,” I said in my cooing voice. He
shot me a warning glare and I flashed him a smile. His face
softened and he pulled me onto his lap.

“I love the way you smell,” he said, burying
his face in my hair. “I never want to spend another day apart from
you.”

“Yes, but you will. As soon as y’all figure
out how to get Dallas back, you will be back on the road, putting
yourself on the line for Luke, just as you have for years.” I
understood better than anyone how this shit worked. Regg was loyal
to his brother, and I loved him for that, but it didn’t make it any
easier. “How is Luke?” I asked, not wanting to think too hard about
the risks Regg had taken for the club.

“About as well as can be expected. Well,
actually, better than expected,” he said with a puzzled look. “Luke
knows Charlie better than any one of us and insures that he will
keep his word and not hurt Dallas. He actually spoke to him this
morning. I don’t know what was said, but Luke seemed defeated but
content when he hung up the phone. I tried to ask him what it was
about, but he wouldn’t tell me. I see the wheels turning in his
head and I know that he is thinking of doing something, and he
wants to do it alone.”

The guys had gotten home early this morning,
around three, and between Maddie and Luke, we all had our hands
full. There was no question that we would all put our lives on hold
and stay together until this shit was sorted out. The clubhouse was
big enough to house everyone, and the whole family had pulled
together to take care of each other. If ever we needed one another,
it was now.

“Luke’s not crazy. He won’t do anything that
would harm Dallas. If he knows this guy will keep his word than he
knows better than to go after her.”

Maddie had filled us in on the events that
took place yesterday. It took her a while to get it all out, but
she managed to tell us everything. The guys had called a support
club in to bring a truck to carry Luke home, and a trailer for his
bike. We called the club doctor in to stitch Luke up and check him
out. Other than some broken ribs and a bruised up face, he was
okay. He even walked through the door by himself. Damn pride. Once
he was bandaged, fed and had a few hours of sleep, he was better. I
knew better than to approach him with anything, and I had my hands
full with Maddie. Plus, this was a pretty big hit on the whole
club, so we had to find time somewhere in between to provide solace
and comfort for our own ol’ men.

Church was being held tonight, and the guys
would figure out what to do with Frankie. I was surprised Luke had
not walked up and put a bullet in his skull as soon as he got home,
but I guess he had other things on his mind. As much as I hated
him, I felt bad for the fact that nobody would tell him if Maddie
was okay. They wanted him to suffer. I wasn’t a parent, but I loved
my sister’s kids as much as anyone could. I would have been
devastated if something happened to one of them. Frankie was being
held in the underground room in Luke’s house. The only people to
have seen him were the brothers from Lake Charles. I wanted to go
down there and give him a piece of my mind, but Regg wouldn’t let
me.

We were sitting at the bar throwing back some
much needed shots when Luke walked in, trying hard to hold his
posture upright. He had a couple of bandages on his face, and I
could see the tape wrapped around his stomach through his thin,
white t-shirt. His baggy, torn jeans hung low on his waist and on
his feet he wore flip-flops-something you rarely saw. He looked
freshly showered and ready to take on the day. I was proud of him.
Not every man could hold his shit together after what he had been
through. He walked up to me, grabbing my face in his hands and
kissed my lips, just as he had done many times.

“Thank you. For everything. Thank you all,”
he said louder, looking out at everyone in the clubhouse. We all
stared as the President of the Devil’s Renegades stood before us,
and delivered a speech that left everyone in tears.

“There is no need in repeating the events of
yesterday, or trying to decide what we could have done different.
Not a man or woman in this room could have done anything to prevent
it from happening, it was inevitable. I don’t know where this
leaves us. I have run out of options, and I’m at a dead-end. If we
go over there, if we try to fight, we will all lose. We are a small
army up against a man with thousands of soldiers. I will not risk
the life of Dallas, or the lives of my brothers again, but I will
not stop looking for a way to make this right. I will find a way to
beat him. When I do, I cannot ask you to help me. I cannot choose
between the two of you. I made a decision yesterday to save the
lives of two of the most important women in my life.” Luke looked
away from us as he gathered himself, trying to find the right words
to say. Maddie walked up beside him, snaking her arm lightly around
his waist and giving him a smile. She seemed to give him the
strength that he needed to carry on. “I won’t make it through this
without you. I need you now more than I ever have. I love you.” He
grabbed a beer from the bar and lifted it. “To Dallas.”

“To Dallas,” we all said in unison. I threw
back the shot and looked over at Marty. He had been released from
the hospital and seemed to be taking Dallas’s kidnapping just as
hard as the rest of us. We had a long road ahead of us, but we
would get through it together. That’s what family did.

Chapter 14

Dallas

Church was short and quiet. It didn’t take
long to determine Frankie’s fate. Maddie had requested to see him,
and although Luke didn’t like it, he eventually gave in. Maddie
asked me to accompany her, and I wanted to decline, but of course,
I agreed. It felt weird walking down the steps into the dark room
that Luke used for God knows what. I felt like I was a priest
visiting a death row inmate. Creepy. But, Maddie was my sister and
one of my best friends and if she wanted me to come along, I would.
I thought she would be in tears, but her face was impassive as
Possum and Danny, two of the brothers from the Lake Charles
chapter, led us down the stairwell.

Frankie was sitting tied to a chair in the
middle of the room. The lighting down here was dim and it looked
just like something out of a damn scary movie. When he raised his
head and saw Maddie, he cried out in relief, trying to move his
arms to get to her, but he couldn’t. I thought he would be beaten
up, but the guys had not touched him.

“Maddie! Oh, my baby! You’re alive!” Tears of
joy poured out of his eyes. I remembered seeing him this happy only
once before, the day that Logan was born. He wasn’t crying, but his
excitement over a grandson was contagious and although we all hated
him, we couldn’t help but smile with him at the time.

“I’m not your baby, Frankie,” Maddie said,
her voice so cold that even I shivered. “This is all your fault.
They have her and they are gonna kill her now. Just like you tried
to kill her.”

“Maddie girl, I did that for you. Everything
I did was for you,” he pleaded, looking like a crazy man. I felt
pity for Dallas and what she went through. I could only imagine
being abducted by a man like him. At least his goons that grabbed
me were half ass normal.

“I never asked you to do any of that for me!”
Maddie screamed, making us all jump. “You killed an innocent woman,
then kidnapped my fucking sister and tried to rape her. Now she has
been taken and we will never get her back!” Frankie shook his head
not understanding.

“No, he let you go,” he said, stating the
obvious, but still shaking his head like something wasn’t
clear.

“That’s right,
daddy
. He let me go,
but one of us had to stay. Did you really think he would just let
us walk away?” she asked incredulously.

“I-I thought he took you because of me,”
Frankie said, looking at the faces in the room to see if anyone was
following him. I was totally not following him. When he didn’t get
an answer, he elaborated, “He wanted me. He took you because he
wanted me. When he found out Luke was coming to see him, he already
had me. He wanted Luke to suffer, so he asked for Dallas, but the
whole time, it was you he wanted. He had no intentions of taking
her.”

“Luke!” I yelled up the stairs. He definitely
needed to hear this.

“Why would he do that?” Maddie asked, reality
starting to sink in.

“He knew taking you would hurt the both of
us, but he had no problem with you. The deal was, I would come
willingly and he would leave you alone. The next thing I know, we
show up here and he takes both of you.” Luke came barreling down
the stairs, running to Maddie and pulling her to him.

“Are you okay? What happened?” he asked,
kicking Frankie’s chair over, making them both grunt in pain. “Tell
me what he said. What did he do to upset you? You don’t have to
talk to him.”

“Luke,” I said, grabbing his arm.

“What?” he asked, bothered by my interrupting
him. I let that one slide, considering the circumstances.

“He is saying some shit, and it sounds pretty
important.” Luke swung around and pushed Frankie back up to a
sitting position, acting like he didn’t have broken ribs.

“Talk,” he said, leaning down in Frankie’s
face.

“Can I have a drink of water?”

The sound of Luke’s open palm slapping
Frankie’s cheek made me jump. Maddie cringed beside me. I grabbed
her hand to pull her up the stairs, but she stood her ground and
shook her head at me. Frankie spit blood out on the floor and it
spattered the concrete.

“Why did you choose Maddie over Dallas?”
Frankie asked Luke, his voice full of hate and disgust.

“Why wouldn’t I. She is just as much a part
of my life as Dallas. Stop stalling and talk.” Luke’s patience was
wearing thin. A crowd had gathered in the room and up the
stairwell. Everyone was holding their breath, watching and
waiting.

“You are crazy about that girl. That’s why
you want me dead. Because of her. Because of what I did to-” Luke
shut Frankie up with a blow to his face. This time, he used his
fist and blood gushed from Frankie’s brow. He blinked furiously,
trying to keep the blood out of his eye.