Page 56 of Sabre’s Guard

My father sits across from me on a bench, mostly staring out the window. Once the van reaches highway speed, he begins talking.

“You dishonored our family. You acted like a Jezebel opening your legs for Dylan. Then you refused to marry him after getting pregnant with his child. And the most shameful sin is lying about his child dying in the womb. Now I find you’re living in sin with outlaw biker trash. Ten years is a long time, but the Lord’s work is never done. How do you plan to atone for all that sin, girl?”

“I don’t. I’m an adult. That means I can make my own choices.”

His top lip snarls back and he spits out, “There you go, being disrespectful again. Even after all these years, you’ve learned nothing, girl.”

“I’m an adult now. You’re not going to intimidate me into doing what you want anymore.”

For the first time, real regret shows on his face, rather than just anger. “I tried to raise you to live a righteous life. I allowed your mother to dissuade me when the rod would have served better to drive home lessons about right and wrong. That was my failure, one I’ve regretted every single day since you ran away from home.”

I swallow thickly. This is scary because there’s no getting through to him. He’s so fixed in his ways, he can’t open his mind to another way of living.

“I won’t make that mistake with our good son,” he says. “I’ll not spare the rod with him.”

“Our good son?” I ask, more than a little bewildered.

“Noah. You’re not fit to be a mother, I can at least ensure he has a proper upbringing. God knows what kind of life he’d have living with you and that biker.”

A chill creeps down my spine. I want to scream at him that he’ll never get his hands on my son. I don’t, though, because it’s a waste of breath. Instead, I ask, “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere quiet where you can repent. There are people waiting to help you. They have my permission to humble you, to do what is necessary for you to find your way back to God. You’ll stay there for as long as it takes.”

Just when I thought this couldn’t get creepier, he comes off with something like that. My mom is right about one thing. He’s becoming more unhinged with time.

He casually checks his watch. “Once you’re settled, we’ll deal with retrieving Noah.”

That chill that ran down my spine just swamped my whole body. A white-hot fury swells up in my soul. Instead of shouting and fighting, I tell him in no uncertain terms, “You will never touch my son. Stay away from him or you’re going to become Dylan’s new cellmate.”

My father looks disappointed in me. “You see, this is exactly the defiance I’ve been talking about. Noah needs his family, not a Godless single mother associating with outlaws. How can you not see that, Linny? It’s almost like you suffered a head injury at some point and all your good sense fell out.”

I just turn and stare out the window. My father loves to preach, and I can already tell that’s how he plans to spend our travel time. I need to zone out right now because it’s going to take hours to drive back to Montana.

“Noah needs strong male role models, men who can teach him discipline and faith before those outlaws you’ve been shacking up with destroy whatever good remains in his soul.”

Words come tumbling out that I didn’t mean to say. “Those outlaws aren’t criminals. And they’ve shown him more patience, love, and protection than you showed any child in your entire life.”

My father’s expression hardens. His hand comes out to grasp a handful of my hair and pulls my head back to stare into my eyes. “You will learn to control that disrespectful mouth of yours, girl.”

I stare straight into his eyes. “You had eighteen years to make me into the puppet you wanted. Consider it a missed opportunity.”

“I can see you plan to challenge my good judgment every step of the way. Once I straighten you out, I think it’s time to get you married once and for all.”

“They have a new word for marrying women against their will. It’s called human trafficking. Did you know that?”

He just stares at me before saying, “God’s will shall be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.”

Chapter 18

Sabre

Irun after the van for a block and a half before the professional in me wrestles control away from the man panicking over just watching his old lady get abducted. Chasing them on foot ain’t gonna bring Linsey back. I stop and spend a couple seconds catching my breath while I watch the white van and the sedan that joined them fade into the distance. They’re too far off for me to take a photo of, so instead, I make a note of the plate numbers, colors, and makes and models of the vehicles. I send a quick text to the brothers’ group chat, to let them know what happened.

Then I sprint back to Linsey’s car, pretty sure that if those bastards wrecked my motorcycle, they did the same to her car. I’m back at her car in less than a minute, noticing what a mess they made of my bike along the way.

Kneeling down at her open driver’s side door, I see the carnage they left behind. There’s no blood, thank God. But her phone is face down on the pavement right outside the door. And her purse has spilled open on the passenger seat and floorboard.

My phone rings and it’s Siege. “We got your message. I put brothers on the streets and highways leadin’ out of town. With any luck we might catch them before they leave the area. If not, I guess we’re in for a road trip to Billings, Montana.”