“I’m sorry, honey, I went to the lake and then fell asleep. I didn’t mean to worry you,” I rushed to tell him. He reached me and tugged me into his chest hard. His arms crushed me, and he began to kiss all over my face. When he stopped, I touched his cheek. “Kellan, I’m so, so sorry.”
“Don’t do that kind of thing, Jess! I thought they got you. I came home to find you, to tell you someone sighted what looked like May and Melody in town earlier today. When I couldn’t find you at the clubhouse or at home, I thought they’d somehow gotten their hands on you. I almost died, baby,” he said with fear and anger in his voice. I hugged him, as I rubbed up and down his tense back.
“Damn, I’m really sorry now, but I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m safe here, Kellan.”
“We had someone get in here before when they were after Madisen. It could happen again, even if it’s unlikely. I can’t live without you. Now, I need you to come back with me to the clubhouse. Bull is calling church to discuss this sighting of them. I want you to be where you’re safe and have eyes on you. Come on, baby.” I allowed him to lead me back. I didn’t argue. I knew he was genuinely worried about me and the baby.
When we got there, I saw the other old ladies and the babies were there. The guys all gave me stern looks. I guess they’d all heard he couldn’t find me. Shit, I hated to worry them, but a girl needed to be able to walk around her own damn land.
He got me seated with a bottle of water and a kiss then he followed the others into church. Madisen gave me a sympathetic look. I settled in to talk to them and wait for the guys to get done with their war council, as I thought of these meetings.
Ajax:
My heart still hadn’t fully settled from the panic of not finding Jessica at the house or here when I got home. I’d raced here when I heard the report. I didn’t call her or text since I wanted to be there to comfort her when she heard the news.
This was the first big break we’d had. Our search had been coming up empty, which was frustrating as hell and a remarkable feat when you thought of all Outlaw could do to find people. They were either very knowledgeable on covering their tracks or they had someone who was helping. Maybe the two guys who were helping them. This got me thinking.
Bull was filling everyone in on what we’d heard. It was actually Trudie who had reported seeing two women when she went to grab lunch at our restaurant. We’d made sure she, Cleo, and Tina, as well as the guys and old ladies knew what they both looked like. Trudie called Rebel right away. He had in turn called me. As Bull finished telling them what Trudie said, I held up my hand. He nodded at me to speak.
“I was thinking about how they could have been keeping under the radar so well. We’ve been looking for them for a month. I don’t think they have the brains or know-how to cover their tracks. That got me thinking, what about the two guys who kidnapped Jess? Maybe we need to focus on finding out who they are. They might be the ones with the knowledge.”
Outlaw got a contemplative look on his face. As usual, he had his laptop with him. I swear the thing was permanently attached to his hands. Looking at him, no one would ever guess he was a computer nerd. He and Smoke from Dublin Falls were very scary men. They looked like tough-ass bikers, but it was their brains you should be the most afraid of.
“Did Jess give you a description of them? I know we’ve been looking for her stepmom and stepsister. Shit, why didn’t I think to focus on these two?” he muttered.
“Hey, we’ve got a lot of things going on right now. None of us thought of it, so it’s not on you, brother. I didn’t ask her to give me a detailed description. Do you want me to see if she’ll come in and give us one now?”
“Yeah, I think we should. Go get her,” Bull told me. I got up and went in search of her. I found her still seated in the common room with the other ladies. They raised their brows when they saw only me coming out of church.
“Baby, would you come into church, please? We need to ask you something. It won’t take long.” She furrowed her brow but got up to come with me without a peep. I held on to her hand.
“It’s nothing serious. Relax. We just want to ask you about those guys who helped to grab you in Colorado. Do you think you could give us a description of them?” We entered the room by the time I asked her. She stopped and looked at me. The guys were watching us closely.
“Yes, or I could draw them if that’s better.” I heard a hiss come from the guys. Payne thumped the table and jumped up to race out of the room. I sat her down beside my chair. A minute later, Payne was back with his sketch pad and some kind of pencils. He handed them to her.
“Here you go, sweetheart. Wish I’d thought of this. Go for it.” She quickly got to work. I waited for her to finish. I was impatient to see what they looked like; however, I didn’t want to rush her or make her nervous. While she was busy sketching, we talked about how the bakery and a few of the other businesses were doing.
We’d started the security one and had found what we thought was a good place to have the tattoo shop. The spa was still up in the air. The owner wasn’t sure if she wanted to sell or not. We were considering if we should offer to do a partnership like we’d done with the bakery. Payne was talking excitedly about the tattoo shop.
“It’s a great spot. Down the street and over one from the bakery and garage. Player found it for us.” Player was our brother who oversaw our real estate business. “The guy who owns it doesn’t want the hassle of upkeep on it or having new tenants. It’s in decent shape, but Tank, I’d need you or one of your guys to check it out before we make him an offer.”
“I can do that, Payne. Tell me when and I’ll be there.” They set a day and time. With this settled, I looked back at Jessica. She had stopped working and slid a piece of paper across to me. I looked down. Even though it was quick and in black and grays, her details were wonderful.
“This is the main one. They called him B. They only used what I assume was their first initials. He was the one who seemed to be in charge, and the one who took the most pleasure in scaring me by talking about what he’d like to do to me,” she said softly. I knew she was recalling their threats to rape her.
“Thank you, baby. Are you okay with doing the other one?” I didn’t want to stress her too much. She nodded and got back to drawing. I handed it to Outlaw and the others to see. He whistled.
“Damn, Jess, I didn’t know you could draw like this? You should be doing this. It’s amazing.”
“You know she drew the tat she and Ajax got, right? I asked her to give me what else she’s done. I want to display them in the shop,” Payne told them with a smile.
“I love to draw, but it’s only a hobby. It does help me think when I need to come up with decorating ideas for cakes and stuff,” she said absentmindedly as she sketched.
“Hey, speaking of baking, do you do any of that stuff like they do on the cooking channel? Those extreme cake baking things?” Rebel asked. We all looked at him with our mouths hanging open. He shrugged.
“What can I say, my woman loves to watch that shit. Some of it is amazing. You mean Jess hasn’t roped you into watching any yet?” he asked me. I shook my head. He glanced at her.
“What’s up with that, Jess? You need to make his ass watch. I know you do. Madisen told me about one you two saw and loved.”