Stryker’s Fight by Erin Osborne
Chapter Sixteen
Stryker
THE PROTECTION RUN for Jose went off without a single problem. We made it to our destination without being followed or having any mechanical problems with any of our bikes. Yes, there have been occasions things have happened to one of our bikes when we’ve been on a road. Even performing regular maintenance and double checking things before we leave, things happen. That’s why we always have a Prospect in one of the vans following us in case something happens. We can keep a few spare parts and tools in the van so we can make repairs on the road without having to delay our trip for a garage to fix something. That’s only a last resort for us.
We’re now on our way back and I can’t wait to get home. My first stop will be the clubhouse so I can wash the road grime off me and then debrief with Slim about the run and what happened. As soon as I can leave there, I’m making my way to Sally’s apartment to have the talk we need to finish. I’ve told her my past and where I stand on everything. She’s had three days to think over everything and determine what she wants to do. It also helps Shadow paid her a visit while I was gone. I have talked to him more than once over the last few weeks to find out what is going through Sally’s head and what I can do to reassure her I’ll do everything in my power to always come home to her and our children.
Playboy signals to pull over into the gas station coming up. I’m not sure why he wants to pull off the road now when we’ve already stopped for gas and gotten bottled water. We also ate at a diner before leaving this morning. There should be no reason for us to stop at this point in our return trip. Not unless something is happening we don’t know about. My eyes dart along the road at oncoming traffic, along the side of the road that’s nothing more than wasteland with a few small trees in the distance and some rocks that wouldn’t provide good cover for anyone. We all follow Playboy as he pulls off to the side of the parking lot where we can have some sort of privacy for whatever he’s about to tell us.
“What’s goin’ on?” I question our VP when our bikes are shut off and we can hear one another.
“My phone’s been goin’ off in my pocket like crazy. No one else’s phone is goin’ off?” Playboy returns.
For his phone to be going off when Slim, the rest of the guys, and Sam know he’s on a run can only mean trouble. A tremor runs through my body as dread settles in my gut. I quickly reach into my pocket to retrieve my own phone. There are several missed calls and messages filling my screen. The main one trying to get ahold of me is Killer. I don’t pay attention to anything going on around me as I unlock my phone and call him back. I’m not wasting time to read through messages or listen to any voicemails he might have left me.
“Killer what’s goin’ on?” I ask as soon as he answers the phone.
Looking around the rest of the guys with me, they’re all on their phones. Most of their eyes are locked on me.
“Stryker, where are you guys?”
“Still a few hours from town. What’s goin’ on?” I repeat my question, impatience filling my voice.
“I don’t know how to tell you this,” he begins as I hear crying in the background. “Someone took Sally and Rich is bein’ rushed into surgery as we speak. He took a bullet to the stomach and lost a shit ton of blood. No one has any clue how long he laid there until Amelia found him when she was walkin’ to her car after closin’ up the bakery. I do know he wasn’t there when Shadow stopped in to see Sally on his way through town. He called Slim to give him a heads up. I’m guessin’ you told him we had a guard on Sally.”
“What the fuck?” I roar out as pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt rips through my body.
Each of the men surround me as I want to lash out in pain and anger. There is no way in hell I want to be here out on the side of the fucking road in bumfuck Egypt when my woman is gone, and no one knows where the hell she is. If we haven’t been able to find Chrome and the rest of the Frozen Bastards so far, it’s going to be even harder now that he has Sally. They’re going to do everything in their power to remain underground so he can do as he pleases with my woman. What about our son?
Dropping to my knees on the ground in the middle of the parking lot, I don’t give a shit who sees me losing my shit when my woman has been taken from me.
“Where’s Natalia?” I question, not sure if Killer is even still on the phone. “Do they have my Princess too?”
“No. We still had her with us. She’s here at the clubhouse. Stryker, Nat needs you man. Not a single one of us can console her. She needs to see you and know one of you is still here for her,” Killer answer me, his voice showing his frustration and anger at not being able to save Sally from the assholes.
“I’m on my way.”
Hanging up my phone, I don’t wait for the other men to get on their bikes and start them up. I jump on mine, not giving a shit about my helmet or anything as I start the engine and rev it before taking off. Roaring out of the parking lot, my only thought is getting home so I can see my baby girl and begin searching for her mama. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll bring Sally and my son home safe and sound. There is no other option for me.
As I gun my bike into the compound, narrowly missing the Prospect standing guard, I race up to the front of the building where the rest of the bikes are parked. I barely manage to get the kickstand down and shut the engine off before racing inside the clubhouse. My eyes frantically scan the faces until they land on my Princess as she sits up against Gwen’s side, tears rolling down her red and puffy face. It’s the last thing I want to see on my baby girl’s face. She’s usually so happy and bubbly. The second Natalia sees me, she jumps from the couch and races as fast as her little legs will carry her to me. I pick her up in my arms, holding her close to me as she continues to cry and mutter ‘mama’ every now and then.
“Baby girl, I’m gonna bring your mama home to you,” I promise her as Slim makes his way into the common room.
“Church,” he bellows, running his hands over his face.
When I try to set Natalia back down on her feet, she refuses to let me go. Natty wraps her legs and arms around me even tighter. It’s not that I want to put her down, because I really don’t. Church is important though and I need to get in there to find out what’s been found out so far. With her still in my arms, I make my way into our meeting room. Natalia is in my lap as I take my seat. Not a single man surrounding me says a word to me as they take in my little girl sitting around the table with us.
Taking into consideration our little member, Slim doesn’t slam the gavel on the table like he normally does. Instead, he knocks his knuckles against the table.
“We all know one of our own was taken today. Sally was taken from her apartment. Rich is also in surgery as we speak. Playboy is there with him along with Jeremy our newest Prospect. We don’t know the extent of the damage that’s been done to him yet. Playboy is gonna call with any updates he receives from the doctor when he gets out of surgery. I’ll be headin’ up there soon as we get out of here. Fox, what have you been able to find out so far?”
“It was definitely Chrome. I hacked into the security feed from around the bakery. He’s in an older, rusted out SUV. Other than headin’ out of town, I got nothin’ on a direction about where he’s headed. The plates on the SUV are stolen. I wouldn’t doubt if the SUV is stolen too. Chrome is playin’ this shit smart. We have no leads on where they’re stayin’ and now he’s got Sally they’re gonna dig even further underground than they already are,” Fox announces to the room.
“Fuck!” I growl out, trying not to scare Natalia as she curls her body even further into mine.
“I want each and every one of you to be out searchin’. When you’re not searchin’, I want you here gettin’ a few hours of sleep and eatin’. Other than that, it’s all hands on deck to be out lookin’. Stryker, what are you doin’ first?” Slim questions as he turns his attention on me while running his hand down Natty’s back.
“I’m headin’ to the bakery to see if I can find anythin’. Has anyone been there to look yet?”
“No. I’ve been makin’ calls to the other clubs to get them searchin’ online and doin’ their thing to find Chrome. Tech is bringin’ Siren in to help find anythin’ out about them and where they might be holed up,” Slim responds to me.
Nodding my head, I get out of my seat and walk from our meeting room. Natalia is still clinging to me as I make my way out to the common room. Gwen is still sitting in the same spot on the couch with her twins when I make my way over to her. Natalia looks from Gwen to me and burrows further into my chest once again. This time, I have to put her down so I can try to figure out what’s going on and where her mama is.
“Princess, I need you to stay with Gwen for me. Can you do that?” I ask her, sitting down on the couch with her.
“Mama! Stryker!” Natalia cries out as Gwen pulls her from my arms gently.
While Natalia cries and reaches out for me, I have to walk away. It’s breaking my heart to hear her little cries and know she isn’t coming with me. I don’t want to hear anything like her anguished little cries or any pain coming from her. Shaking my head as I get out of the clubhouse, I straddle my bike and put my helmet on before taking off from the compound’s parking lot. I don’t hesitate to take off and head for the parking lot of the bakery.
Pulling into the empty lot, I park my bike next to Sally’s car. After shutting off my bike, I have to sit for a few minutes to let the racing of my heart calm down and the red haze filling my gaze. There is no way in hell someone didn’t hear any sort of commotion with Chrome taking Sally. Just like there is no evidence of what happened to her somewhere along the way. In this second, a large part of me doesn’t want to know what the hell happened to her and where she was taken. However, it might just lead me to discover where they have her hidden away.
Finally, I get off my bike and make my way over toward the stairs. Just before I get to them, I notice the dumpster is not sitting how it normally does. It would take a lot of force for someone, or something, to move it. Changing my direction, I head straight for the area of the dumpster. Bending down, I notice a piece of cloth laying carelessly on the ground. It’s black and looks thin enough to be from a tee-shirt or tank top. Picking it up in my hands, I get a whiff of Sally’s laundry detergent and subtle perfume she wears every now and then.
“Fuck!” I roar out once again, causing a bunch of birds to startle and fly off into the distance.
My eyes search the ground around the dumpster as I spot blood on the cement. This blood was dropped here recently, and I follow the path with my eyes. Standing up, the blood goes in the direction between the bakery and the next storefront. Between the two buildings, there’s a larger pool of blood. This is where Chrome let her lay on the ground before he put her in the rusted out SUV he carted her away in. This is where the trail goes cold as I stand up and look around.
There is barely enough room for the SUV to fit in between the two buildings. He would have had to open the door and squeeze through the opening just to get inside. Chrome is not a small man. He’s got a pot belly from too much beer and over indulging in things he shouldn’t. he doesn’t spend any time in a gym or doing any work on his own. That’s why he’s fat and lazy. The man would rather sit on his ass to lead his club. His men follow his lead and don’t do anything that’s going to cause them to break a sweat or get callouses.
The rumbling engine of multiple bikes pull in the parking lot. I don’t pull my attention from the spots of blood on the pavement beneath me. Slim and Killer walk up to me and stand there without saying a word. They’re offering me their silent support as they take in what I’m looking at. This is why I’ll never leave the club; these men always know what I need without me having to say a single word to them. And they’ll give it freely because it’s what I’d do in return for them.
“We’re gonna bring her home, Stryker,” Slim tells me, his voice commanding as it normally is when the women and kids aren’t around.
“Will it be in time though. She’s carryin’ our son and there’s blood from the dumpster all the way over to here. This is where that sonofabitch loaded her in that decrepit SUV and took her away from Natalia and me. What if we don’t find them in time and she gets hurt or worse because of my short comin’s? This is the reason she doesn’t want to be with me; because she knows I’ll put my life on the line to bring her and my boy home safe. That I’ll protect them with everythin’ I have and right now I can’t do fuck all because we don’t know where they are. How’s that for a slap in the fuckin’ face?” I ground out, finally seeing Sally’s point of view on how I live my life.
“She’s scared to be with you because you and Killian were a lot alike. You both have a need to protect those you love. Even if it means gettin’ yourself killed in the process. That’s why she’s scared. Not because you’re in the club, but because she knows you’d trade your life for hers in a heartbeat and not think twice about doin’ so,” Slim tells me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “It’s doin’ you no good to stand here and stare down at this blood. Let’s get on the road and see if we can find somethin’ out. You’re with me, Stryker. Killer, I want the ol’ ladies and kids put on lockdown. Make it happen immediately.”
Nodding my head, I slip the torn piece of Sally’s shirt in my pocket before leaving this spot. The three of us mount our bikes and start them up. I bring out my bandana and tie it around my head before putting on my helmet. Slim and Killer put theirs on as well. Pulling out of the parking lot, Slim and I head one way while Killer goes in a different direction. Playboy is waiting for him as he turns to head out. Slim and I head out of town. We ride past the abandoned homes and warehouses heading for another small town. If we can’t find them in Benton Falls, we’ll start methodically searching each and every single town until we find Sally and bring her home.
