Konrad by LeAnn Ashers
10
Etta
The second we left Hawaii,I wanted to go back, but I also miss the girls and I know I have a shitload of work to catch up on and I’ve been worried about all of them.
Konrad brings our bags into my apartment, setting them onto the floor. I fall back onto the bed, exhausted from the long flight.
My phone rings on the bedside table. I lean over and grab it, putting it up to my ear.
“Hello, this is Etta,” I answer.
I hear a sniffling over the phone and I snap to attention instantly at the sound. “I need help,” she whispers so softly I can barely hear her.
I put the phone on speaker so Konrad can hear. “Where are you and what’s your situation?” My adrenaline is pumping.
I hear a shuffling sound like she’s scooting across a wooden floor. “He forgot his phone with me. I am under Mr. Thompson’s house. He is a teacher at Campton High. Please hurry, he will be back. My name is Baylee.”
Oh fuck!
Mr. Thompson is a teacher at the school where Randy is the school principal. This is not good.
“We will be there soon, sweetheart. Toss the phone out of reach and delete the history so he doesn’t know you called. We will be right there,” I urge her in case he does come back and catches her.
The phone goes dead. I run to my closet and get my gear along with Konrad’s, who is on the phone with the guys.
We need to get there. My best guess is he’s probably scared out of his mind considering what’s going on with Randy.
I remember when Baylee went missing, but I didn’t learn about it for months because they deemed her a runaway because she was in foster care, so there was nothing I could do.
“Brian and Butcher are going with us!” Konrad yells and I pull the bulletproof vest over my head.
Konrad slips his gear on and I hand him a gun while I check to make sure mine is loaded and ready to go.
Konrad gives me a look and I know what it means. “I will be safe and I will stand behind you.” I kiss his cheek and rush out of the door, not wanting to waste a second.
Konrad gets in the driver’s side and I get in the passenger’s. The others will meet up with us on the way to Mr. Thompson’s house.
Konrad holds my hand the whole drive. Both of us are quiet as we go through every single thing that can happen and go wrong.
I hope Mr. Thompson doesn’t discover that she has his phone, because the consequences could be fatal for her.
Nine-one-one tells them to stay on the phone, they get caught and the anger and the fear they feel in getting caught makes people do stupid things and the outcome is never great.
If she is who she says she is, she has been missing for six months.
I can hear the bikes before I see them. Brian pulls up behind us, with Butcher right behind him just as the house comes into view.
My first thought is that it’s in the middle of nowhere. There is no one in sight and no one can hear screams.
The house is completely dark. I grip my gun tighter and I ready myself for what’s to come.
Konrad slams the SUV into park and Butcher immediately runs behind the house, leaving Brian with me and Konrad.
Konrad kicks in the door, Brian right behind him, and I bring up the rear. I hear a loud boom from the back of the house. I know it’s Butcher breaking in the back.
The house is silent.
“She said under the house,” I mention.
I push rugs up off the floor, looking for a way into the basement when I see a weird rug to the side of the living room.
I walk over and push the rug but it won’t budge. That’s when I notice it appears to be glued down.
I get on my knees and find a little handle to the side of the rug that does come up. “Help me lift.”
Konrad grabs the handle, opening the hatch. That’s when I hear a weird sound. Konrad walks down the ladder, looking at me as he goes.
My heart is racing, Brian is next and then me.
I have a really bad feeling.
The light comes on suddenly. Right in the middle of the room on a bed is Baylee. I know her from her pictures.
She is so pale. My guess is it’s from not seeing the sun in such a long time. “Baylee, I’m Etta. We just spoke, honey,” I tell her softly.
She looks at the guys behind me. I know she’s scared out of her mind. I can see the panic on her face.
“Do you want us to go back upstairs?” Brian asks.
She nods and they do so, leaving us alone.
I look around the small room. There are no windows, it’s just brick. The guys had to bend over to stand up in here.
It’s so cold, mold is crawling over the walls. Her bed is filthy and so is she. “Sweetheart, I am going to untie you and we are going to get you out of here,” I whisper to her softly.
She nods, watching as I slowly get closer and closer, not wanting to make any sudden movements and scare her.
She smiles at me weirdly, then her hand comes out from under her pillow and I see a gun.
My heart stops.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
Then nothing.
Konrad
The soundof the gun going off is something I will never forget. I can’t even breathe as I jump inside of the hole.
The sight before me is straight from my nightmares.
Etta is lying on the ground and the one we came to help is standing above her with a gun.
I don’t hesitate. I lift my gun. Baylee looks at me in horror, but the bullet has already left my gun and plates in the middle of her forehead.
She falls to the ground, dead.
I run to Etta and see she’s covered in blood, the source of which is her head.
Panic unlike any I have ever felt before races through me. I pick her up and carry her out of that fucking hole and place her into the back of the SUV, which is basically set up like an ambulance.
“DRIVE ME TO THE FUCKING HOSPITAL!” I yell at Brian, who jumps in the driver’s seat.
I turn on the light and take off Etta’s bulletproof vest, making sure a bullet didn’t break through.
The wound on her head is pouring. I push her hair to the side and I can see her skull.
I almost pass the fuck out. It grazed her.
I put some oxygen on her, applying pressure to her head wound to stop the bleeding.
My hands are shaking so fucking bad I’m not sure how I even manage it.
“How is she?” Brian asks.
“She was shot twice in the chest but her vest stopped it. She was shot in the head but it looks like it grazed her.” My voice is fucking shaking, I can barely explain.
I am so fucking scared. The thought of losing her is more than I can bear.
She moans and opens her eyes, her hands going to her head. “What happened?” she groans as she tries to sit up.
“No, honey, lie still,” I beg her.
She looks at me for a few seconds before I can see the shift. “Baylee was fake,” she says in such a heartbroken tone, tears in her eyes. Her face and hair are covered in blood from the wound on her head.
I close my eyes because this is going to fuck with her. I can see the hospital lights in front of me before Brian slams the SUV to a stop.
He runs around and opens the back. I get out, carrying Etta into the hospital. Butcher is right behind us.
Brian yells for some doctors and nurses. I set her on a bed, reapplying pressure to her head wound.
Everyone swarms us at once, asking a million questions that I can’t answer, my full attention on her.
They start to push her away and I grab the bed, stopping them. “I am fucking coming with you,” I yell.
“Call security!” the doctor yells, trying to pull her away from me again.
“She is not leaving my sight. I don't give a fuck what you say. I want a new doctor,” I tell the nurse next to me.
She looks unsure of what to do, and the doctor looks at me in disbelief.
He reaches into the bed, his hands under her arms, and tries to fucking lift her up out of the bed with her bleeding everywhere.
Etta looks at me panicked, reaching for me.
I snap into action.
Brian tears his hands free just as I punch the doctor as hard as I can in the face. He hits the ground and I stand in front of him. “You will get me another doctor or so help me God.” I let the threat hang in the air.
One of the nurses runs off. I turn to Etta to check on her. She’s holding on to my pants. “I’m right here,” I reassure her.
I hear a shit ton of footsteps like someone is running when I see security. “Get that man, he attacked me!” the doctor yells from the ground.
They come straight to me. I push them back away from me. They take out their tasers.
I want to rip them apart, I am so fucking angry.
Brian takes a look at my face and moves in front of me. One more thing happens and I will blow the fuck up.
“If you value your life, you will leave,” Brian tells them. They look at each other unsure of what to do before they reluctantly leave.
The door opens and Myra steps out. “What is going on here?”
The doctor perks up at the sound of Myra’s voice. “This man attacked me.” He points to me.
Myra steps over him and runs to us. “Let’s get her in trauma bay one!” I follow her. “You’re letting them go?” the doctor screams and gets off of the floor, running straight for Myra.
I’m going to have to kill this stupid fucker.
I grip him by his throat before he can reach Myra. “She is an ole lady to the Devil Souls MC and Etta is a Grim Sinners MC ole lady.” I put my face right in front of his, looking right into his soul.
“I would love to fucking kill you.” I smile, loving the extreme fear on his face. I flex my hands, and his eyes roll back as I choke him.
I open my hand and he falls to the ground, out.
I run to catch up with Myra. Butcher stays behind with the doctor. I know he’s making sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble.
I stand in the back of the room as they do scans to make sure Etta’s head is okay. The minutes feel like hours and the hours feel like days.
Etta keeps looking to me at the side of the room to make sure I’m still here. Someone would have to fucking kill me to leave her.
Etta
Konrad carriesme inside of his house. This is the first time I have ever been to his home, but I have a major concussion from where I fell after Baylee shot me and I had to get a shit ton of stitches from where the bullet grazed me from my temple to the back of my scalp.
It was scary.
I can’t get the look on her face out of my head from when she pulled the gun. She was so happy with herself.
I was tricked and I know that I will never go on a mission again without being super cautious.
Konrad lays me down onto the bed. He hasn’t left me one second since it all happened last night.
“I’m going to go start your shower, baby.” He kisses my forehead, letting it linger for a few seconds.
I nod and close my eyes. I am so emotionally exhausted.
I fall asleep the minute Konrad leaves, and I open my eyes to Konrad picking me up once more.
“I love you,” I murmur.
His arms tighten around me. “I love you more than life.”
I smile, and he sets me on the counter, stripping me out of my blood-stained clothes and then himself.
He carries me into the shower. “Tilt your hair back,” he says gently, putting me under the spray so I can wash the back of my hair away from the stitches which is still caked in blood.
I reach for the shampoo, but he takes it from me. “I will.” He sets me down onto the floor, keeping a hand on me as he washes my hair gently and then deep conditions it.
I’m shaking, not from the cold but everything that has happened and I am so tired.
I just feel betrayed in a weird way.
Konrad washes my body. This time there is nothing sexual about it. It’s just straight him taking care of me.
“You’re breaking my heart, baby.” He cups my cheek, kissing my forehead. I drop my eyes as I let the tears fall.
I was shot by someone who I came to save, someone that I never expected. Konrad turns off the water, carrying me to the counter and drying me off as I cry into his chest.
I feel so raw and exposed.
The pain on everyone’s faces as they rushed to the ER to check on me—my brother and Trey were completely panicked.
I hate that I caused that with so much going on right now.
Konrad didn’t want to take me to the compound because he demanded that I needed rest.
He dries me off and doesn’t bother dressing me. The soft pillow has me moaning. I am so tired.
He pulls up the covers and climbs in beside me, tucking me into his front. “I was so scared I lost you. I don’t think I would have survived it. I would have followed you.”
I swallow hard at his admission and lean back to kiss him. “I would want you to live.”
He shakes his head. “How could I live without my life?”
That was so deep. “Baby,” I whisper, turning around and putting my head on his chest right over his heart.
“I know,” he answers.
Right now there are no words for how I feel. This connection is something different, something that is beyond us.
I close my eyes and fall asleep to the sound of his heart.
Konrad
I don't sleepfor hours. I count every single breath. Every little movement startles me from any sort of sleep I can muster.
When I do sleep, it’s filled with nightmares, the sight of her lying there, and for a split second I thought she was dead.
It’s haunting me.
I turn over and pull her into me, breathing in her scent, my arm around her waist. She puts her hand on my arm. I know I woke her up.
“Baby, can’t sleep?” she asks, looking at me with her beautiful eyes.
I touch her cheek, rubbing my thumb along her cheekbone. “Sweetheart, I’m fine.”
She gives me a look letting me know that she knows I’m not telling the whole truth. “Let me rub your back. You need the rest, baby.” I turn her over on her belly, rubbing my fingers along her back.
She sighs, and I smile into my pillow knowing she’ll be out in a minute. “I love you,” she whispers once more.
I kiss the back of her head. “I love you, darlin’.”