Chapter 12: Madisen:
I stayed at the hospital for two days. I hated it, but they wanted to be sure everything was fine with the baby. The cyst ended up bursting. I hoped I wouldn’t have more. That was painful as hell. I've been back at the compound now for three days. Rebel was driving me crazy, hovering. He didn’t want me to even walk to the bathroom. I finally broke this morning and threatened to castrate him if he didn’t go do something. He wisely chose to go to the bakery and check on them for me. I was sitting with a book, trying to relax.
He hadn’t wanted to leave me at the clubhouse alone, but I assured him that I had the phone and would call if something happened. I was just getting into the book, which was a suspense romance, when my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number. I hesitated before answering. If it was telemarketers, I’d be pissed. I hated those kinds of calls.
“Hello?” Silence greeted me. “Hello, is anyone there?”
“You think you’re so smart, getting some bikers to protect your ass. What did you trade for that deal? All of them getting a piece of you? Are you teasing them like you teased me? Too bad I didn’t get what you promised. But your soon-to-be owner will be sure to break you in nice and hard.” The voice on the other end was one I recognized. It was one I’d hoped never to hear again. My stepdad had decided to crawl out of the sewer.
“Well, I guess all the rats are coming out of the sewers now. What the hell do you want, Paul? I never did anything to you. I didn’t promise you anything or tease you. It was all in your fucked-up head. And I didn’t prostitute myself to get the Warriors to help me. Tell me why you’re calling me.”
“I just wanted to be the one to tell you that your time is coming. Real soon, you’ll be someone else’s problem. I did try to get him to let me have you first, but Diaz is a territorial bastard. I hear he’s hard on his women. Likes to inflict pain. When he gets tired of you, he’ll sell you off to the highest bidder. Better hope they like you. Hate to see what they do to that beautiful face and body before they’re done with you. I hope it hurts. You’re getting what you deserve, bitch,” he hissed.
His words were scaring the hell out of me, but I refused to let him know it. “I’m not going with anyone. This Diaz character can try his hardest, but the club has my back. You’re the one who should be worried. They’re coming for you, Paul. It may take them some time, but they’ll find you. You’ll have to look over your shoulder until they do. No place will ever be safe for you to just stop and rest. You’ll be on the run until they take your ass out,” I said with a note of mirth in my voice. I knew it would piss him off.
I wanted to keep him talking. When he first called, I texted Outlaw to let him know he was on the phone with me. I also told him to tell Rebel. I was hoping they might be able to trace this call. What can I say, I liked cop shows and other crime shows?
“You goddamn whore, they’re never going to find me. I hope you suffer. I hope they mark that face and body, so no man can ever stand to look at you again. You’re a Jezebel, tempting men and playing them off of each other!” he screamed into the phone. He was losing control. Paul’s mental instability had really become noticeable after his attack on me. He’d screamed things like this during his trial. It sure didn’t help his case. I’m not sure why they let him out early. The front door opened and Rebel raced inside. I could see the panic on his face. I shook my head and held up my hand, indicating I wanted him to be quiet.
“Paul, your crazy is showing. I’m staying right here with my man. He’ll never let me go. You and your deal with Diaz are going to be a bust. Why don’t you turn yourself in and save everyone the trouble of finding your dumb ass?” This pushed him over the final edge. He went into a rant, calling me every foul name he could think of before hanging up. I slumped in my chair. Rebel wrapped his arms around me.
“Babe, are you alright? Why did you keep talking to him? I never imagined he’d call you. If I had, I’d have told you to not engage.”
“Honey, I was hoping Outlaw could trace his call. That’s why I texted him and had him text you. Yes, he was foul, but maybe we got something. Can you call Outlaw and find out?”
He looked less than pleased, but he did call him. Outlaw asked that we come to the clubhouse. We headed over there immediately. Being it was a Monday and before five o’clock, the common room was empty except for Alex. Rebel flew by him without a word, just a chin lift. He took me down the hall and knocked on a door. Outlaw’s voice called out for us to come in. Inside, I found a room that looked like computer central. I’m not sure how Outlaw even found his bed. He pointed to a couple of chairs, and we took a seat.
“Okay, I ran the trace as soon as I got Madisen’s text. She kept him on there long enough to get a general location but not long enough to get an exact. He’s in Tennessee and he’s within three hundred miles of here. I wish I could narrow it down more. With him being here, I’d bet money he’s somewhere around those two clubhouses for the Horsemen and Blood clubs. I think we should assume that. I set up an alert to notify me of any calls Madisen gets from people not already in her contacts. If that happens and she answers, it will alert me and start to record the conversation.” I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t know he could set something like that up on my phone. He smiled.
“Ah, I see you’re impressed. Sure, you want to hook up with this guy? I think you’d love me more,” he teased. I knew he was poking Rebel, trying to lighten the mood. Rebel growled and sat forward in his chair. Outlaw burst out laughing. “Settle down, Reb. Just messing with you. Anyone can see she’s crazy for you. Lucky prick. Now, back to the issue at hand. Rebel, I wanted to suggest we get Madisen tagged with the tracker like we did Jocelyn and Devyn.”
Rebel got a look of contemplation on his face. What tracker? I spoke before Outlaw or Rebel could say anything. “What tracker?” Outlaw explained about the tracker they had in Dev and Jocelyn as well as all the old ladies in Dublin Falls. He reassured me it was harmless to get when pregnant. It was just an extra precaution. I had to admit, if the others had gotten it, I wanted to get it. You could never be too careful.
“Honey, I think I should get it. Just in case. If the other old ladies got it and saw nothing wrong with it, I think I should.” He gave me a surprised look. “What? Did you think I’d balk at getting it?”
“Well, yeah, I did. You really aren’t going to oppose getting it?”
“No. It makes sense. We need to make sure we use everything at our disposal. How soon can I get one? What does it entail?”
Outlaw explained how it was administered. He said he’d contact Smoke to get us one. In fact, he thought it would be a good idea to get several. We left him to work on that. Back out in the common room, we found more of the guys had wandered in after their work day. Rebel took me to the bar. He asked for a bottle of iced tea for me and a beer for him. Slash and Player joined us at the bar.
“What’s up? Alex said you two came in here looking really intent and went to Outlaw’s room. Did he find out anything about her stepdad?” Slash asked. Rebel nodded. Ace and Bull came through the door and over to us. They stood there expectantly.
“Her stepdad called her and spewed a bunch of shit about her being sold to someone, her being taught a lesson, and a bunch of other bullshit. She texted Outlaw to trace the call and kept him on the line as long as she could. He didn’t get an exact location, but he’s in Tennessee within three hundred miles of here. Bull, I know we just had church, but I want us to have it again. We need to come up with a strategy to deal with them. Can we call it tonight?”
I hated that they were having to have more meetings because of me, but I knew they wouldn’t back down. They were all about family and protecting that. I was Rebel’s old lady and that made me family to all of them. It was nice to have family after all the things I had go wrong with my own over the years.
“It’s not a problem. I’ll send out a text to the rest of the guys. Say we meet at seven? Gives time for everyone to get home and to have dinner. Why don’t you feed your lady here and then come back?” Rebel looked relieved at Bull’s decision. I grinned at Rebel. I wanted to distract him even if it was only for a little while.
“Honey. Do you think we can have pizza? I’m craving it for some reason.” The guys who were in the common room all chimed in, saying they wanted some too. Before I knew it, a huge order was called into the local pizza shop. Ace and Bull checked to see if Devyn and Jocelyn had started dinner. Neither had, so they came to the clubhouse to eat with the rest of us. My effort to distract Rebel ended up being an impromptu pizza party. Not long after we ordered, the rest of the guys came wandering in from work. Some of the guys from the other clubs were here while others were on guard duty around the compound. The bakery was closed for the night, so Ajax and Bear were here. While we waited, I sat down beside Ajax. He had a pensive look on his face.
“How was the bakery today? Were they busy? Any problems?” He groaned and rubbed his neck.
“Business was booming. No issues unless you count all the damn guys coming in there to stare and drool over your staff. It’s out of control. And if Officer Talbot doesn’t stop it, I’m going to have to beat his ass,” he growled. I stifled my laugh.
“You mean, there are guys flirting with Trudie and Jessica? Trudie’s husband won’t like that.” I knew he was talking about Jessica. Trudie was an older woman in her late fifties. I didn’t see her attracting attention. He scowled at me.
“Not Trudie, it’s Jessica, as if you didn’t know. That woman has no idea what she’s doing to those guys. She smiles and talks all sweet and nice to them. They’re getting the wrong impression. They’re going to think she’s offering more than she is.”