Page 73 of Chill

I rose unsteadily to my feet, and the guard close by shot out a hand and grabbed my elbow to steady me. I glanced up and met those terrifying eyes. “Thank you, Mr Locke.” I didn’t need to say anything else; Locke knew exactly what I was thanking him for.

I walked outside and lifted my head to the overcast sky. Sunlight filtered through breaks in the clouds, and I took several deep breaths. I hadn’t expected to survive, but I was still standing. And Gerard had paid the highest price for his arrogance, greed, and downright nastiness. I couldn’t even shed a tear for him.

Chapter Fifteen.

Chill

When Twitch called to say he’d been run off the road, my first thought was to secure the children. That’s what Meadow would have wanted. A knife stabbed at my heart, slowly drawing blood, as I realised she was in danger, but the kids were the priority. Even as Inglorious organised everyone, I sent prospects to fetch them.

As soon as they left, I turned to Inglorious. “What do we know?” I demanded.

“Not much at all. Twitch says another SUV ran him off the road. The accident knocked him unconscious, and when he woke up, Meadow’s car was empty.”

“Twitch didn’t see anything?” I pushed.

“No. I’m contacting all brothers; we’ll ride for her, brother, that doesn’t need saying.”

I nodded. Inglorious would also scramble our allies. We’d ridden for them many times; now it was their turn to repay the favour.

Silently I prayed, ‘Please hold on, babe, we’re coming for you.’

Within a quarter of an hour, the club was riding. I headed for Rapid City with King by my side. We were approaching Braeburn Dog Park and Ice Rink when a car came out of Norman’s Roost Rd and hit us head-on. King took the brunt of the impact.

Instinctively, I threw my arms out to protect my head as I slid towards the treeline and prayed.

I opened my eyes and blinked. I couldn’t see much, and slowly bars came into focus. Where the fuck was I? I sat up with a groan and winced as my ribs and back ached. A quick check showed me to be serious-injury-free. However, I had multiple cuts and bruises and probably a couple of sprains.

Angrily looking around, I realised I was in a cage with barely enough room to sit. Then blinking away the black spots, I checked my surroundings and saw several other cages. They were all empty.

Where the fuck was I?

“Yo!” I called out.

“Shut up,” a voice whispered. “You don’t wanna bring the guards down; that’s not worth it.”

“Where the fuck am I?” I demanded.

“Hell.”

“Guess you were kidnapped too?”

“Give Einstein a medal.”

“Is this the underground fighting ring I’ve heard about?”

The other guy groaned quietly. It was the only logical conclusion. It explained being in a cage. I’d clearly got too close to someone.

“Am I the only person they brought in? Was there another biker?”

“No, just you.”

“How long have they had you?” I asked.

“A month. I fought two fights since then.”

I knew I shouldn’t ask, but I couldn’t help it. “Death matches?”

“Yeah. They tell us if we win, they’ll set us free; they lie. I only hope that one day I might see my family again.”