Dark Menace MC: Stone (26 page)

I felt sick, and frightened. Jimmy was dead
and it was all because he’d been at the wrong place at the wrong
time. He hadn’t deserved a bullet through his brain. Guilt for
asking him to come to the clubhouse overwhelmed me, and then I
thought about the Dark Menace biker who’d been watching us. Was he
dead, too?

Conversation coming from the front of the van
drew my attention back to the same two assholes from Death Vaders
who’d walked into the bar earlier and sat at in front of me. They
were talking as if they assumed that I was still out. My first
thought was that they’d taken me to use as leverage against Stone,
then I changed my mind and thought that maybe they’d taken me to
sell to another biker club as a whore, to pay off one of their
debts. A whole slew of possible reasons for this kidnapping went
through my addled brain until the one in the passenger seat swung
around to look at me.

I quickly closed my eyes, practically holding
my breath. They hadn’t taken the time to bind me, so I figured that
they must be in a hurry. The road we were on caused the vehicle to
rock and bounce, which led me to believe that we were on an unpaved
road somewhere.

“Bitch is still out cold,” the passenger
laughed. “Lucky for her, or I’d be rutting between her legs. Fuck
Wildman and what he wants. He’s lucky we’re delivering her
alive.”

Oh, God!
No, I couldn’t believe what
I’d just heard. My eyes were adjusted to the dim interior now, and
I searched frantically for anything within my sight that I could
use for a weapon. Rope, a ladder, what looked like a tool chest,
and a pile of packing blankets were within reach. I knew in my
heart that there would be something in the tool chest I could use,
even a screwdriver, but I also knew that trying to open the metal
lid without making noise would be impossible. The man in the
passenger side would be on me before I could blink.

“This is gonna bring a whole fucking heap of
trouble down on us if their prez finds out we’re the ones who took
her,” said the driver.

I sensed that they were talking about
Stone.

“No one will find out, man. The only two
fucking witnesses are dead.”

Their laughter crushed me as I realized that
they’d also killed the Dark Menace member.

“No one in the fucking clubhouse will pin it
on us, either. With as much fucking noise as we made, they’ll never
believe we were involved.”

I thought about what the driver said. He was
right. Who would be stupid enough to bring attention to themselves
if they were there to kill and kidnap someone? I stared at the tool
box as if I could will the top to flip open on its own. As soon as
the chance presented itself, I was going to make a move to it. As I
lay there waiting, I was thankful that my headache was dimming.

Suddenly the van hit something, and the front
end shuddered. “Fuck, man, watch the pot holes!”

Once again, when he glanced back at me I shut
my eyes.

“Can’t believe she’s still out. What the fuck
did you hit her with?”

“My pistol,” the guy driving responded,
giving his friend a grin. “Hey, we’re here.”

“Fuck, man, what’s going on?”

“Looks like fucking war, bro,” From my
position I could see him lift his ass off the seat and reach for
something in his back pocket.

“Maybe we better hang back,” the driver said,
braking the vehicle sharply.

“I’m gonna try to reach Wildman.” He punched
a number and put the phone to his ear.

“Don’t waste your time, bro, looks like the
whole fucking club is in this.”

He began to slow down. I tried to calm my
breathing because I could feel my heart rate pick up. I could hear
the sound of gunfire in the distance, a lot of it, and I froze. If
Wildman and the Red Devils were involved in a shootout I was
willing to bet that Stone was involved, too. Ty had said that Lynch
and someone named Hawk had come into town on club business. Was
this it?

Once the ignition was turned off, the noise
surrounding us seemed louder and more menacing. I couldn’t tell how
far away we were from the activity, watching the reaction of the
two men sitting up front.

“Looks like fucking Wildman is low on
manpower,” the driver commented, not taking his eyes off the scene
in front of them. “Must have been caught off guard, maybe we should
help out.”

“Fuck that!” the man next to him growled. “I
say we take the cunt in the back and get the fuck out of here.”

“Fuck that, I don’t want Wildman after my
ass, he’s crazy.”

The passenger looked back at me, and then
back at his friend. “Come on, I have a fucking idea. We’ll take the
bitch with us.” He turned and opened his door to get out, but I
didn’t move until the driver did the same thing.

As soon as they slammed their doors shut I
jumped into action. I flipped the lid to the tool box and
immediately started rummaging through the contents. My gaze landed
on a screwdriver and I reached for it, but then my eyes flickered
on something else and I had to look twice, and I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing.
A gun?
I shook my head with disbelief as
I slowly reached for it. Surely it couldn’t be loaded. I didn’t
even know how to use a gun. I only knew that I had a couple of
seconds, and quickly slipped it into the garter belt at the top of
my thigh. I’d worn that for Stone, for later, but now it might save
my life.

As back-up I also grabbed a screwdriver and
jammed it into the waistband of my skirt, hoping that they wouldn’t
notice it. No sooner done and the door was jerked open and I was
facing the two leering gazes of the men who’d kidnapped me. I threw
myself at them to disguise what I’d been doing, the momentum
pushing the driver back a few feet from the van as he grabbed at
me. I screamed at the top of my lungs and went for his eyes.

I was going to hurt him any way that I
could.

RACHEL

“Whoa, there, bitch!” His friend subdued me
within seconds, wrapping an arm around my waist and hauling me
back. Once I was clear of his friend he twisted my arms behind my
back roughly, and clasped my wrist with one hand.

The next thing I knew, his body was pressed
against the back of me. It seemed ludicrous that this was all
happening with the sound of gunfire in the air all around us. “I’m
gonna fuck your tight ass before I turn you over to Wildman,
bitch,” he grit the words into my ear. Then I felt his nasty tongue
there, lapping up the side of my forehead.

I let out a scream and jerked my head away,
but it turned to a cry of pain when he roughly forced me around and
pointed me toward the chaos going on down the road. “Walk.” He
shoved me ahead of him and I stumbled, but managed to stay on my
feet.

“What’s the plan, bro?”

The other man’s laugh was evil. “Get the
fucker’s attention.”

“Shit!” Suddenly we were stopping. “It’s Dark
Menace.” The driver’s gaze was on me, but his comment was meant for
the man behind me. “Did Wildman set us the fuck up?”

I gasped from the vicious squeeze around my
wrists. “What are you to Wildman?”

“Nothing.”

The pressure around my wrists intensified
until I thought my bones would break. “I won’t ask you again,
bitch.” He lifted me until I was on my toes. It was tell him, or
let him dislocate my shoulders.

“He…was…my…stepfather…at…one…time,” I gasped
out.

“And Stone?”

“I just work for him,” I responded, grateful
when he let me back down on my feet.

The next thing I knew, his mouth was grating
next to my ear, “You expect us to believe that shit?” He gave me a
rough shake. “He fucking you?”

“None of your fucking business!” I screeched
at him, refusing to tell him the truth. I couldn’t take it anymore,
and kicked back with my foot, catching him in the shin with my
heel. At the same time I jerked my wrists from him and broke free.
For a second I was stunned, and just stood there as he bellowed out
in pain and grabbed his leg, and then I was running as fast as I
could toward the chaos in front of me.

I heard his swearing behind me, but knew his
friend was hot on my tail. I wouldn’t get far, not in heels, but I
gave it my best try. I was surprised at how far I’d managed to make
it when I heard a shot ring out. It wasn’t just any shot, it had
been aimed at me, and the reason I knew that was because it had
grazed my upper arm. I came to a dead stop with a high-pitched cry,
and grabbed my arm where it was already bleeding.

I was aware of two things happening at once.
The shooting stopped, just stopped, yet neither side left their
cover. Separated by a dirt road, Dark Menace was using grave stones
to shield against the oncoming fire from the Red Devils, and the
two men who’d kidnapped me were closing in from behind. I had no
doubt
s
that one of them had fired at me.
Whether they meant to kill me or just stop me wasn’t clear. I cried
out when my wounded arm was grabbed roughly, and I was forced to
stand there until the man I’d kicked caught up to us. Without a
word, he back-handed me, causing my head to swing to one side.

I would have fallen but for the other man’s
grip, my vision blurred from the force of the hit. I felt my lip
swell almost immediately and the blood run down the corner of my
mouth, yet I managed to find the strength and anger to remain on my
feet. I thought about the gun that was tucked in my garter and the
screwdriver at my waist, and knew I wouldn’t give in without a
fight.

“Holy fuck!” Someone on the side of Dark
Menace swore.

I was aware that some of the men from both
sides were breaking away from their group, while all guns remained
aimed and ready to fire. My gaze lit on Wildman for a second before
landing on Stone, my salvation. His expression was positively wild,
as his gaze ran over my appearance. Just knowing that he was there
and that he would protect me brought tears to my eyes. When both he
and Wildman realized that they’d moved in my direction they drew to
a halt and pointed their weapons at one another.

“Today you die,” Stone swore at Wildman.

“If I die,
she
dies,” Wildman
promised, laughing. “Those bastards are working for me.” He
indicated my kidnappers. “They get paid for following my orders.”
He glanced our way. “If I tell you to shoot her, you put a bullet
in her head.” Then he turned his smug look on Stone. “You die, she
lives.”

I gasped, and cried out, “No!”

Stone’s gaze flickered to me briefly before
going back to Wildman. There was angry mumbling among Stone’s men.
Stone ignored everything but the evil, murderess bastard facing
him.

“What about we both die and she lives.”
Stone’s comment drew a scowl from Wildman. “I’d rather kill her
myself than let you have her.” The message in his eyes when he met
mine said to trust him, and I did. I fucking loved him.

I reached for the screwdriver slowly,
ignoring the narrowed warning in his gaze. Even if I didn’t kill
one of my kidnappers, if creating a distraction could end all of
this than I was willing to try anything. Wildman was the only one I
wanted to see dead, but right now he seemed to be holding all the
cards. The smug look on his face revealed that he thought he’d
already won.

As Stone and Wildman squared off, their men
stationary with their weapons drawn and ready, I got the tool free
and thrust it behind me blindly. My satisfaction at the howl that
followed was short lived. The man who had the gun pointed at me
fell backward to the ground, with the screwdriver sticking out of
his gut. His friend became enraged and started to raise his gun
toward me. The savage look on his face told me that I was dead. I
could only stand in shock and wait for the bullet to end my
life.

Then, without warning, the biggest man I’d
ever seen stepped out of the bushes on the side of the road. His
fierce gaze locked onto me, silently warning me not to give his
presence away. He didn’t have to worry, I was stunned into silence.
The man was terrifying, dressed all in black biker gear and cut
that emphasized his powerful muscles. With stealth and menace he
moved straight toward the biker who had his gun aimed on me.
Without stopping, he wrapped his huge arms around the man’s neck
and gave a violent twist, and just like that, the man was dead and
floating to the ground. He never knew what hit him.

“Thank you,” I said softly, aware that the
giant had saved my life. He gave me a brief nod and turned away,
heading in Stone’s direction.

“Looks like your numbers are going down,”
Stone said to Wildman.

I’d heard what Stone said, but I was watching
the giant who’d saved me walking away, before a movement out of the
corner of my eye drew my attention away from him. It seemed we’d
all forgotten about the other kidnapper, lying on the ground. He
wasn’t dead, but he was close. Still, he managed to reach for his
gun where it had fallen when he went down. I didn’t even think
about what I was doing when I reached for my concealed weapon
beneath my skirt. As he raised his gun to shoot the departing hulk
in the back, I raised mine and fired two shots after the first one
missed. He fell back without a word.

I returned my gaze to the huge biker, who’d
spun around when I’d fired. It didn’t take him long to assess the
situation and realize that I’d just saved his life. My killing of
the kidnapper seemed to be the catalyst that re-launched the fight
between the two clubs again, as gunfire erupted from both sides and
I watched Stone dive for cover.

“Hawk—!” he yelled out, casting a glance our
way.

There was something in his harsh tone and an
urgency in his expression that conveyed itself to the man I now
knew as Hawk. He reached me in two big strides, grabbed my
uninjured arm, and spun me around to go back to the van. I was
forced to almost run to keep up with him, and when we reached the
van he picked me up as if I were a rag doll and deposited me
inside.