Several bikers arrived on their bikes and commotion broke out in the driveway. I sat up, curious. Everyone’s face was tight with worry. Hope settled in my chest. Maybe Dad had landed a hit. My hand moved to my ear, barely touching the bandage. Then I quickly jerked it away. I hadn’t even seen the wound yet. I wasn’t sure I had the courage to do so anytime soon.
What if something had happened to Maddox and that was why he hadn’t shown up? What if Dad was the reason behind Maddox’s disappearance?
The lock turned and I stood, smiling. The smile died when Gunnar appeared in the doorway.
“No reason to smile, puppet,” he said in his rough voice.
“Where’s Maddox?” I asked sharply, backing away.
Gunnar shook his head. “Stupid boy.” He stalked toward me and grabbed my arm. “Maddox can’t help you now. You better pray your daddy sees reason.”
He dragged me outside despite my struggling. My bare feet scratched over the rough floorboards. “What do you mean? What happened?” I asked over and over again but he ignored me. Nobody was in the common area when we crossed it. Where was everyone? And what was going on?
Gunnar led me down to the kennels and shoved me inside the same cage I had been in before. I whirled around just when he locked the door.
“What’s going on? Please tell me, where’s Maddox?”
“He’ll join you soon,” he said cryptically before he walked away. The dogs paced in their cages, infected by the nervous atmosphere. Satan wasn’t in her cage though, and I couldn’t help but worry about her, too. The familiar stench of dog piss and feces clogged my nose almost instantly. I sank down on the hut, watching as the bikers gathered guns and carried boards into the clubhouse as if to barricade the windows. Some of them walked by the kennels just to insult me and leer at my body. Only in Maddox’s boxers and T I felt even more exposed.
“Get more men to the fence!” someone roared, worry swinging in their voice.
Hope flared in my veins. This could only be Dad. But where was Maddox? What was going on? What if Dad got Maddox in his hands? My mind wouldn’t stop reeling. Fear battled with hope in me. I wanted to be freed but I didn’t want to lose Maddox.
It was a fatal thought, and a fatal attraction.
Hugging my knees to my chest, I watched my surroundings, trying to catch up on what was going on. After the initial insults, nobody paid me any attention, but the fear I saw on many of their faces could only be because of Dad.
Movement drew my gaze back to the clubhouse.
Earl White walked out of the door, dragging an unmoving Maddox after him by the arm. I jumped off the hut and crossed the dirty kennel on my bare feet, my heart beating in my throat. The dogs in the surrounding kennels began to bark and jump against their cages. I barely flinched anymore. I had gotten used to their boisterous nature. They weren’t the most dangerous beasts around.
Maddox looked lifeless, limbs dragging through the dirt, head lolling almost comically back and forth. Earl smiled darkly at me when our eyes met and immediately goose bumps rose on my skin. I tried to mask my worry but I doubted I could fool him. By now, everyone seemed to know about Maddox and me.
“Maybe this will help you clear your head and make you realize your mistake. If you apologize, I’ll grant you a quick death,” Earl said as he dragged Maddox into the cage beside mine. Death? What was he talking about? Maddox’s left side of his face was covered with blood from a cut in his hairline. I finally noticed Maddox’s chest rising and falling. At least, he wasn’t dead—yet. Something was horribly wrong. Earl turned and closed the cage, then he smiled viciously at me. “And for you, I have a special surprise soon.”
I didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.
I eyed the dog worriedly who paced around Maddox as if he was only waiting for the perfect moment to tear into him. The second Earl and Cody were gone, I kneeled at the bars. “Maddox,” I whispered then louder. “Maddox, wake up!”
His eyelids fluttered but didn’t open. The dog sniffed at his wound. What if the beast started gnawing at him? Had they’d been fed today? I hadn’t paid attention to the kennels while looking out of the windows.
“Shoo,” I hissed, trying to scare the dog away, but it only gave me a quick glance before it continued inspecting Maddox. “Go away!” I growled, hitting the bars. When that didn’t have the intended effect, I turned around and grabbed my water bowl. I tossed the water at the dog and it jumped back. Then charged at me and jumped against the bars. I stumbled back.