Chapter 17: Madisen
The last week has been hectic and stressful. I knew when Rebel came back from interrogating those guys, he was feeling stressed and worried. He didn’t go into detail on what they did or what they learned other than they had been right about who all was in on it and that they planned to take me when I went to the doctor today. I couldn’t help but feel stressed too. I didn’t like the thought of some other woman taking on my identity and risking being taken. But I also knew it was for the best. I had to think of my unborn baby.
Over the last few days, Sean, Gabe, and Griffin had been here planning with the guys. They snuck in after dark so whoever was watching wouldn’t notice them. Two days ago, the female operative, who was going to pretend to be me, showed up. She was around my height and shape with similar hair. They assured me when she was done, she’d look like me enough to fool anyone more than a few feet away. It was decided that Rebel, Slash, Joker, and Demon would be the ones to go to the doctor’s appointment with Susan. I would stay behind, safe at the compound with the other women being protected.
I was pacing the common room as they got ready to go. Rebel came over and pulled me into his arms. “Baby, calm down. We’ve got this. As soon as we take out the ones here, Payne’s team is going to take out the Horsemen’s compound while Tank’s team does the same for the Bloods.”
One of the things they had found was that Diaz was at the Horsemen’s compound and all had been called in to be on standby while the other guys went after me. The same was happening at the Blood’s compound where Paul was at. They told me Sean had an insider who had confirmed it. They would be able to get both clubs at the same time. I only hoped they were right.
“Ronan, please be careful. I couldn’t live if I lost you. Me and the baby need you. I don’t want any of you to get hurt because of me. God, I hate this!” I swore in frustration. He took my mouth. His lips and tongue consumed mine, making me want to drag him back to our room and make love to him again. We’d done it three times last night and again this morning. It was like we were afraid it would be the last time. When we broke apart, he kissed my forehead.
“Baby, I plan to come back to you. Nothing is going to keep me away from you. Now, stay here. I’d prefer it if you stayed in the house. I’ll call as soon as it’s safe to do so. Try to relax. I know that’s easier said than done but try. Stay at the house with Devyn and Jocelyn.” I couldn’t say anything, so I nodded.
He held on to me until Bull called it was time to go. In case someone was watching, I’d stay in the clubhouse until they were at the doctor’s office. Then I’d sneak to Jocelyn and Bull’s house. I watched as they headed out. The other two teams had left last night under the cover of darkness and from the back gate. They didn’t want to risk tipping anyone left to watch the compound by rolling out in big groups. I watched from the window as they left with Susan in the SUV. Now the wait began.
Over the next hour, I paced and then went to Jocelyn’s house. She and Devyn tried to distract me, but I couldn’t watch a movie or television with them. I paced and they watched. Occasionally, we said something. I chewed on my thumbnail as the clock got closer to the time they should be leaving “my” appointment. The guys who were left behind patrolled the fences while others were at the clubhouse. Bull was with them.
In the end, my pacing was too much, and the ladies insisted I sit down. We went out on the back patio. It was shady and we could at least be out in the air. I felt less trapped there. We were busy talking about going baby shopping when this was over with, when I heard Devyn gasp. I looked to see what she was staring at. It was CeeCee—the bunny who had made a play for Rebel and caused an issue. She had been kicked out of the compound and told not to come back. No one had seen or heard from her since until now.
She was standing with a gun in her hand. She was glaring at me with hate in her eyes. Jocelyn moved, and she turned the gun on her. “Don’t move. I don’t want to hurt you or Devyn, but if you make me, I will. All I want is Madisen. Get up,” she ordered me. I slowly stood up. She motioned for me to walk toward her.
As I got closer, she told me, “Stop. Here’s what you’re going to do. We’re going to go for a little walk toward the back of the compound. When we get there, you are going for a ride with a couple of friends. They are going to take care of you for me. Then I’ll come back, and Rebel will see I was the only one for him.”
Her logic made no sense. Did she really think he’d want her after finding out she took me and his baby away? But I didn’t argue because I could tell she was not thinking clearly. I only hoped I got the chance to get away from her or one of the guys saw us. She opened the bag she had on her shoulder and threw ropes on the ground.
“Tie those two up. I can’t have them going for help. Then put these on them.” She threw out two gags. I slowly complied. At this point, all I could do is prolong it as long as I could, and hope help came. After I’d tied them, she checked to make sure they were tight enough. At no time did she let me close to her or take her eyes off of me. Satisfied with the tie job, she gestured for me to walk ahead of her. We headed toward the woods.
Resolved to find a way to distract her, I began to talk. “CeeCee, you said you had friends waiting for me. Who? Why would they help you with something like this?”
“Oh, they’re just a couple of guys I met at the bar. I told them about you and what happened. They told me that in their club, they don’t have old ladies. They were really interested when they found out your name. I guess I’m not the only one who hates your guts. Your stepdaddy seems to as well. He’s been staying with them. They had some dumb idea about grabbing you when you went to the doctor, but I knew I’d be better off catching you here. A couple of them believed me. We hung back and when the first try for you was unsuccessful, I knew you’d be brought back here. We left as soon as the others failed and came here. I thought I’d have to look for you, but imagine my surprise when I heard you talking behind Jocelyn and Bull’s house.”
Her words were enough to let me know the “friends” were a couple of Bloods, and that they hadn’t stayed around long enough to realize the woman in the SUV hadn’t been me. Or that the guys were right now taking out their whole compound. I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. The sun was hot, beating down on our heads. I was sweating and would have killed for a drink of water. We walked for an hour. I knew we were close to the back gate. If I let her give me over to them, there was no telling what they’d do to me. My only choice was to take her out and then see if I could take them out as well.
I pretended to stumble a couple of steps, then fell to one knee. She yelled at me to get up. I did it slowly then staggered a few more steps before going down on one knee again. She yelled at me again to get up. I shook my head.
“I can’t. I’m too tired. I’m pregnant. I’m not used to this kind of walking.” I panted as I said it and hung my head. This time, she came close enough to grab me. While she was distracted, I rolled to the left and swept out my legs. They tangled with hers and she fell to the ground, losing hold of the gun. I scrambled to get to it before she did. As my hand closed around the butt of the gun, she grabbed my hair and yanked. It made my eyes water, but I held onto that gun. She scratched and hit at me. No way was I going to let her get control of the gun again and I knew it was her or me. Elbowing her in the face, I turned and shot her in the upper chest. She screamed out in pain. I put another in her right knee. Watch her run now.
I needed to get to the gate and see if those guys were still there. I heard yelling coming from behind me. Taking a glance over my shoulder, I saw Bull and several of the other guys running toward us. I left her lying there and took off for the back gate. I heard them yell, but I didn’t have time to talk. Breaking through the trees, I saw two guys pacing outside the back entrance. Taking cover behind a large oak, I sighted up on the first one and shot him center mass. As he fell and the other whipped around to look, I fired on him. He hit the ground.
A minute later, I was surrounded by the guys with their guns drawn. A couple ran over to the gate and outside to check on those on the ground. I sat down on the grass and leaned back against the tree. I was suddenly more tired than I could ever remember being. Bull eased the gun from my hand.
“Sweetheart, let me take that. Everything is alright. Let me and the guys take care of this and you go back with Tate.” I looked up to see Tate sitting on a side-by-side. I nodded wearily. Bull picked me up and gently sat me in the side-by-side. Two others got in the back. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. In no time, I was back at Bull’s house. The ladies were both crying when they saw me and hugged me. Helping me up to one of the spare bedrooms, they got me in the shower and then I laid down. I wanted to sleep for a week.
There was a soft knock at the door. Dev opened it and Bull came in. He sat down beside me. “You feeling better, Mad? I wanted to let you know, Rebel and the guys are on their way back. They got them and everyone on our side made it. As for CeeCee and those two you shot, CeeCee is getting patched up by Doc Weeks. We’ll talk more about her later. The two Bloods you shot are dead. The guys are taking care of them and any evidence. You did one helluva job, sweetheart. Why don’t you rest until Rebel gets here?” Hearing him say Rebel and the others were okay made me sag in relief. I burst out crying. He held me until I calmed down, then they left me to rest. I drifted off, praying Rebel would be here soon. I needed to hold him.
Rebel:
I was almost giddy with relief. We’d pulled off the hit on the group ambushing us outside of town without a hitch. Same went for the teams hitting the Horsemen and Blood’s compounds. My group had gone to dispose of the bodies from the SUV attack before going back to our compound. I couldn’t wait to see and hold Madisen. It was over. She was safe. Sean and his guys were going to keep an ear out on the Diaz Cartel to see if there was going to be any backlash. Smoke’s buddy, Anderson, had provided intel and backup as well.
I jumped out of the SUV as soon as it came to a stop in front of the clubhouse. I raced inside. Some of the guys were sitting in the common room. They got quiet and stared at me. I ignored them, heading for my room. Bull stepped away from the bar and stopped me. “Give me a second to see Madisen, Bull, then I’ll tell you everything.”
He shook his head. “She’s not here. She’s at the house.”
“Okay, let’s go there then we’ll talk.” The serious expression on his face made me freeze. “What happened? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Right now, she’s resting. Have a seat.” He pointed to a chair at one of the tables. I reluctantly sank down. He told me what had happened while we were gone. I swear my heart jumped into my throat and I couldn’t breathe. She’d almost been taken on our own fucking compound, by that bitch, CeeCee. I stood up, knocking over my chair.
“Where’s CeeCee?”