Thumper by Marie James

Chapter 23

Cara

“It’s normally not like this,” Delilah says.

We’ve been at what she calls the clubhouse for a couple of hours. I was forceful in demanding that Lauren let me tag along with her here, but I didn’t offer a single argument when Kincaid asked me to leave the conference room.

He introduced me to his daughter Ivy and her best friend Delilah. They’ve stuck pretty close to me since I walked out of the room.

“How do you mean?” I ask, trying to keep my eyes off the conference room door.

I walked out without an argument, but that did nothing to stop the curiosity about what they were discussing.

I’m glad I’m not having to wait in the rented SUV, but I’d much rather have a little time to myself to shuffle through everything I’ve learned today.

I knew things back in El Salvador weren’t what they seemed, but I never once let myself imagine that Javier was a good guy, not after what I saw that first night there.

That video though. It changes everything, and I try to shove down every other negative thing I felt about him, and that confuses me. I don’t know what to think right now.

“Cara?”

“I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

I give Delilah a weak smile, hoping it’ll be enough to cover my rudeness.

“It’s usually not this crowded. Most of us have our own places.”

“So today is like a special event or something?” I ask, willing my mind to stay on this conversation and stop wandering.

“No. There’s something going on.”

“But you can’t tell me?”

“I just don’t know.”

“But you said your husband—”

“Lawson,” she supplies.

“Yes, that Lawson works for Cerberus.”

“Griffin, Ivy’s husband also works for Cerberus. My dads are original members, but we don’t discuss their business.”

I raise an eyebrow and she just shrugs.

“You don’t feel trapped not knowing what’s going on around you?”

A crease forms between her eyes. “Not even a little.”

I think back to something that Jinx guy said in the conference room. He was complaining about them being on top of each other, and it makes me realize that Javier or Thumper, whatever they know him by, is somehow linked to the current situation they’re in right now.

“You live across the street?”

“Yes, and so does Gigi and Hound and their kids. My husband’s brother, Drew, and his girl, Izzy, live in town with their little boy, and right next to them are Callum—the guys call him Rocker—and Simone and their kids. On the other side of Callum and Simone’s house is Jinx, Reagan and their two kids.”

“That’s a lot to keep up with,” I mutter, already feeling bad that I mixed two of the guys up already.

She chuckles. “That’s not even half of the people.”

Another smiling woman walks in from the hallway carrying two pillows.

“What are you doing?” Delilah asks, her hands rubbing her rounded belly.

“Going home. Hi, I’m Izzy.”

“Hi,” I tell her. “Cara.”

“I’m Hound’s daughter. I mean Jameson. He’s in the conference room with the guys. I’m dating Lawson’s brother, Drew.”

“Lawson is my husband,” Delilah says as if I need the reminder because she told me once already and I still forgot.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Going home?” Delilah asks. “You know what we were told.”

“Dad just texted and said everything was okay and we could leave.”

“Really?” Delilah asks.

Izzy chuckles. “You act like you haven’t been sleeping in your bed every night for the last couple of weeks.”

“I miss my husband.”

“And he’s been right there beside you.”

“I miss my husband.”

My cheeks heat when I understand her meaning, and Izzy laughs even harder. “I completely understand, but still, it’s not like you’ve had a toddler between the two of you.”

“Mommy!” I roll my teeth between my lips to hide my smile when a little boy runs up to our little group carrying his own little pillow. “Can we go home now?”

“This is Andy,” Izzy explains. “Yes, big guy. We can go home. Daddy is going to meet us there. I’ll see you later. It was nice meeting you, Cara.”

“You, too,” I say as she walks away, the cutest little boy running after her.

“I have to admit, I had a bunch of biker stereotypes in my head when we first pulled up to this place.”

Delilah grins, her hands still making circles on her belly. “Yeah. A lot of people do. My dads and the other original guys have been here for like nearly thirty years and there are still people in town that give them nasty looks at the grocery store.”

“So, they have a bad reputation?” If they do, there’s a reason for that.

“No. Cerberus isn’t like the clubs portrayed in movies and television shows. We’re just like a big family.”

Yeah, and Knight Salvation is a big family, too.

“I can read that look on your face,” Delilah says, her smile fading away. “How about you stick around for a while and give us a chance?”

“I’m not staying. I’m just here with Lo-Lauren,” I explain.

“Well, be suspicious, but I promise you’re not going to find anything wrong with the men or the women. Well, Ivy’s twin sister, Gigi, is a lot to handle, but she’ll grow on you. I better get back across the street and help Reagan get packed up. I know she’s going to be just as excited to go home tonight as Izzy was.”

I give her a weak smile as she waddles away, her belly much bigger when she stands than it seemed while she was sitting down.

Although there’s a flurry of activity around me, I feel alone. Women are in and out along with a couple of guys who aren’t wearing one of those leather cuts, but none of them stop to chat, or flirt or leer at me like I’m a snack they want to take a bite out of. It doesn’t take long for me to start believing exactly what Delilah had insisted. The people around here aren’t evil. They aren’t predators on the hunt.

But opening my eyes up to that somehow makes me think about Javier, and that reminds me of the dreams, and the scent of his clean sweat when he pulled me against his chest that day Lupe came in to collect the lunch dishes. It makes me think of the relief in his eyes when he saw the lock still in place on my cage after Megan was assaulted. I can’t forget the way he offered me his lunch for days before I finally gave in and ate it. He never forced me. Never threatened to shove it down my throat if I didn’t eat. Hell, he brought beef jerky and nuts in packages because he knew I was afraid. Then those treats came with every meal.

But he also spewed out information on my sister in a threatening manner like he was going to use it against me just because I didn’t want to tell him what my favorite food was.

He’s like two different people, and not just in front of others. I saw that mask change in a snap that day in his office.

Or was that just my perception of things?

My mind is so mixed up, I jump in fear when I feel a hand on my back.

“I’m so sorry,” Emmalyn says as she takes a step back, putting some distance between the two of us. “I should’ve announced myself. Oh, honey.”

I dash away the tear on my cheek.

“I shouldn’t have touched you without permission.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not, and you don’t have to assure me of anything. I know better. Do you need anything?”

Would she laugh if I joked about needing a new life and a head not full of awful memories? Probably not.

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Kincaid wants to speak with you once their meeting is over. Once the guys come out just head on in there, okay?”

I nod, and she gives me a small smile, her eyes filled with compassion.

“Did you… were you… like me?”

She takes a long, deep breath. “I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know a lot about being hurt. My first husband was the devil himself. That’s why I know I shouldn’t have touched you without your permission. I know what it’s like to have been hurt.”

More tears burn my eyes. Maybe those counselors back in El Paso know a few things. I assured them I was fine, that I didn’t need any help. I wasn’t raped or beaten. I didn’t feel like I deserved their help, and taking it would’ve been wrong, but I’m beginning to think I was wrong.

“I can take you to one of the empty rooms. I know the room Izzy, Drew, and Andy were in is clean. There are fresh sheets on the bed and there’s a really good lock on the door if you want to get some rest.”

“I’m not staying long, but thank—”

“You are staying,” Lauren says as she walks out.

Men swarm all around her as they leave the conference room, but they seem busy and pay me no mind. I don’t open my mouth to argue with her.

“I’m going with you,” I say after the men filter away.

“We’re going back to South America. If you don’t want to stay here, you can go home.”

Seattle is the very last place I want to be. I don’t know that I’ll ever want to return to the same city I was taken from.

“If you’re going, I’m going,” I argue.

“I’m a federal agent. You’re—”

Emmalyn takes a couple steps back before turning around and heading into the kitchen.

“What?” I snap. “A victim?”

“You’re not trained for these types of situations.”

I have to snap my mouth closed because she’s right, and honestly the thought of going out of the country again makes my skin crawl.

“Kincaid needs to see you. I have some calls to make,” Lauren says before walking away.

I don’t know what to feel right now. Fear at her leaving me here without knowing anyone? The sadness and desolation I felt when talking to Emmalyn? Anger that my simple life has turned into such a clusterfuck?

Lucky me, that my body decides to take a little of each emotion and wreak havoc on my nervous system.

“I can go in there with you if you prefer,” Emmalyn says as she approaches again.

“Will they allow that?” I ask, remembering that Delilah said that the men don’t talk to the women about Cerberus business.

Emmalyn laughs. “Honey, I’m married to Kincaid. He just likes to pretend he’s in charge. Come on. He wants to talk to you before they head out.”

She steps out of the way when I stand, and I hate that I was so startled when she touched me before. She seems like a nice lady, and she looks like she gives amazing hugs. Damn it, I could really use one of those right now, but then there will be nothing stopping me from breaking down.

The conference room only holds some of the guys that were in here the first time I stepped over the threshold.

“Cara,” Kincaid begins. “We’re going to be leaving soon, but I wanted to touch base with you first. I want you to be as comfortable as possible, so everyone is going to introduce themselves. My real name is Diego Anderson. I’m the president of the Cerberus MC. You can look at it like a non-profit organization, and I’m the CEO.”

The guy that looks like him gives me a small smile. “I’m Dominic. Diego’s older brother, and I’m more like an employee of the MC rather than an actual member.”

“I’m Max. I handle a lot of the IT stuff for the club. Also an employee and not really a member.”

“I’m Morrison,” the next guy says pointing to the patch on his chest. “Or you can call me Shadow. I’m the Vice President of the MC and do a lot of the IT stuff as well.”

“Do you have any questions so far?” Kincaid asks as he lowers himself into a chair at the head of the table. “I don’t want you to feel intimidated or scared. There isn’t a person allowed on this property that will hurt you.”

My throat clogs with the same emotions I felt before walking in here, but they hit me ten times worse. Emmalyn slides a box of tissues in front of me before the first tear can fall.

“You do this a lot? Comfort women who have been in my position?” I dab at my eyes with the tissue.

“You heard a lot of the story about Thump—I mean Javier—being a part of this club, and it’s no secret what we do, but I’ll explain a little of what I can. Cerberus MC was organized a long time ago to help people and families that don’t have the skill set to do certain things that need to be done. Operations have shifted a little over the years, but our main line of business is tracking down people who have been abducted and sold into slavery, be it sex trafficking, people paying for a child when they can’t have their own, people taken for revenge, or because someone wants to control a person in power, but the end is the same. We rescue people.”

I forget about the tears on my face and the tissue in my hand as he continues to speak.

“I know you felt the anger in the room when Javier was mentioned, and that’s because we trusted him, and then discovered information that we now know is false. Before you and Lauren showed up today, we were ready to hunt him down. We thought he was exactly as you did. He violated our trust. He was around my daughters, my wife, my grandchildren. He was around and spent time alone with my niece. We were mad.”

“Hell. I’m still mad,” Dominic mutters.

Emmalyn huffs and shakes her head like the man is being silly.

“I say all of that because we protect those around us. Everyone that lived off Cerberus property was required to move back when we found the information that Javier was a sex trafficker.”

“Not everyone,” Dominic grumbles.

Emmalyn leans forward. “His daughter Sophia refused to come back, but her husband is a police officer and perfectly capable of protecting her.”

The last part she says more to Dominic than me, as if this isn’t the first time the topic has been discussed.

“Let’s get back on track,” Kincaid says. “We will protect you here. If Em hasn’t already, I want to offer you a room to stay in.”

“I can’t. I’m—”

“You’re safe here. I promise. We’re all leaving. Max is the only Cerberus member that won’t go to South America, and he doesn’t live on the property. Shadow’s son, Cannon, lives here, but I have no problem issuing a women-only order for the clubhouse, and there isn’t a single man connected to this club that will break it without permission from Emmalyn, Khloe, or Misty.”

“Misty is Shadow’s wife, and Khloe is Kid’s wife,” Emmalyn explains. “I can introduce you to them later.”

“You give me the word and that’s what I’ll do,” Kincaid vows. “Whatever it takes to make you feel safe. Now, I know I’ve said more than once that I want you to feel safe, but I have to tell you that Wren found the information sheet you completed in El Salvador, and none of the information lines up.”

“I was protecting April.”

“Is April your daughter?”

“My younger sister.”

“And where is she? Is she safe?”

I don’t know if he’s asking if she’s in a situation exactly like mine or what, but there’s just something in my gut telling me I can honestly trust these people.

“April Gibson—”

Max’s fingers begin to fly over the keyboard as soon as the name is out of my mouth. “She lives at Knight Salvation Ranch.”

“The cult in California?” Dominic asks. I nod. “How old is she?”

“Almost eighteen. Can you help her? I need to get her away from there before her birthday.”

“Do you have family anywhere else?”

“I haven’t talked to anyone in years, but my dad’s family lives on the east coast. Or at least they did fifteen or so years ago. I haven’t seen my dad since I was really little.”

“Can you work with Max on figuring all of that out? As much detail as you can remember will help us,” Kincaid says as he stands. “We need to get out of here. The jet is cleared for takeoff at seven.”

“I can,” I agree. “And if it’s really okay, I think I’d like to stay here for a little while.”

“You’re welcome as long as you like.”