Claiming the Knights (19 page)

             
He felt like if he didn't overpower her, and keep her in her place, he would lose her. Deep down, he knew that would destroy him, so he did what he had to do to remind her. She. Was. His.

             
She felt like if she didn't challenge him, she would lose herself. The consequences were scary, but always ended well. She just wasn't sure how far she could push. Was there a breaking point? Would he snap, and really hurt her? She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out. Things were fine, for now.

             
After that, even with the cameras, he felt better about keeping a good eye on her, so he started taking her to the club again. She stayed busy helping Anne and he got shit done without his mind wandering and wondering about her.

             
Jewl loved helping out Anne. They got along well and it was better than sitting around the house. Drifter kept track of her at home, but when she was with Anne, he let her go more. He knew Anne would keep her out of trouble, and report to him if there was any bullshit.

             
Part of him was getting tired of keeping track of her, but the other more dominant part of him, had to stay in control. They were both walking a fine edge, but it seemed to keep them both happy.

              Scooter and Nikki had started house hunting. Nikki loved the process of looking at all the different houses and properties. Scooter was struggling with it. He had better things to do, but Nik had insisted that they do it together. So he did.

             
The girls were excited about moving into a better home. They had grown up in rentals that were pretty basic, so having their own rooms, and better yet, each having their own bathroom, was a huge deal for them. Jen wanted somewhere that she could maybe have a horse and other pets. Nelly just wanted to make sure that she didn't have to change schools and maybe she could have friends over to hang out. Scooter and Nikki assured them both that those things were all being considered.

             
The real estate agent had shown them several places. They were all beautiful homes, but none were everything that they wanted, so they kept looking.

             
Scooter was getting frustrated, but Nikki was fine with where they were living and she didn't want to settle for just so, when they could wait for the perfect place. She assured him that it would happen. As protective as Scooter was, he was seriously considering letting her and the girls find the damn house on their own.

             
It was Monday morning. She got the girls to school, and was headed to the garage when her phone rang. Not looking who it was, she tapped the screen to answer, and again for the speaker phone.

             
“Hello?” she said, not sure who it was.

             
“Hi sweetie, it's Judy.”

             
Nikki's heart jumped. Things had been going good and she wasn't sure what this phone call could bring for her, the girls or Scooter and the club.

             
“Hi Judy, how are you?”

             
“Well I am ok. I just got back from a long stay with my sister. I haven't heard anything from George and then I come home to an empty house. I wanted to call you and see if you have heard from Sam?” she said, sounding frantic.

             
“No I haven't. He left and hasn't been back. I figured he ended up back at your house,” Nikki explained, trying to be as convincing as possible.

             
“As far as I know, he didn't show up, but now I am wondering if he and George took off somewhere? It looks like George packed a bag. There is a suitcase missing, along with some of his bathroom stuff,” she explained.

             
Nikki wasn't sure what to say. “Geez, Judy. If they show up here, I will let you know, but after he pulled a gun on the girls and I, well, I will call the cops first.” She thought that sounded good.

             
Nikki knew that Raw was a hit man. She had figured that out on her own and after the club found out about George putting the hit out on Scooter, she figured George was as good as dead. He was thorough, packing a bag and all. Raw had made it look like George was taking off.

             
“Ok, I think I might call the police myself if I don't hear from him in a day or two. It's already been weeks,” Judy continued.

             
“Ok, I am at work now, so I will talk to you later,” Nikki said, as she put her car in park and then tapped the screen, not waiting for Judy to respond.

             
Nikki tapped the screen again, calling Scooter. He had been out late, so she had let him sleep in.

             
“Yeah Babe?” he said, as he yawned and stretched.

             
“Hey, Sam's mom just called me. She's worried because she hadn't heard from George and when she came home, he wasn't there.” She took a breath. “She said some of his stuff was missing, along with a suitcase. She assumes that he went somewhere with Sam.”

             
“Anything else, Sunshine?” he asked.

             
“That she might call the police and she asked me to let her know if they end up here,” Nikki answered.

             
“Ok babe, well I guess we will just see where it goes. I am sure he won't come around here,” he said. It was then that she realized that neither one of them were on a burner phone, and he was going along with the story.

             
“Ok, just wanted you to know what was up. Love you. Oh, and I am going to go see that house that the agent called about in a while. Do you want to go, or are you done?” she asked him, hoping he was done. She was sick of listening to him bitch about the process and she was loving it.

             
“You go babe, I got shit to do. Call me and tell me about it later.”

             
She was relieved, and hung up with him.

Chapter 13

              The realtor called and gave Nikki the address to the house. She forwarded it to Scooter, so he knew where she would be. They were to meet at 11:00, giving her time to view the place, grab lunch, and get the girls after school. She might even get some work done at the garage, she thought to herself.

             
With the address in her GPS, she was directed to a remodeled farmhouse in the Hockingson area. Driving up the lane, she noticed how great it all looked with pastures, a barn, and even a chicken coop. Jen could have her own chickens, but Nelly would have to switch schools again. That was a major down fall of this house. It would have to be perfect in every other way to be considered.

             
The agent met her at the front of the house. They had been working together for a few weeks now, trying to find the perfect place for them.

             
“Hi Nikki,” the agent greeted her.

             
“Hi Kim,” Nikki said back to her.

             
“I think you are really going to like this one. It has everything you want, except the school district, but you can put in for a boundary exception since your work is close to the school they go to now,” she suggested.

             
“Oh, what a great idea,” Nikki said, as they entered the empty home.

             
Nikki noticed right away that the agent seemed a bit on edge and nervous, but just chalked it up to a bad day, or getting tired of showing homes to her. However, there was something else underneath the edginess. She just couldn't put her finger on. In the midst of seeing how perfect the home was, she kept pushing the feeling down.

             
This was a mistake.

             
“I want to go see the outbuildings,” Nikki said, excited about the prospect of having horses and chickens for the girls.

             
Quietly, Kim said ok, and they started walking towards the barn.

             
“This place is perfect. I think this might be it,” Nikki said excitedly.

             
“That's great,” Kim said, deadpan.

             
As they walked into the barn, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness, Nikki turned to Kim.

             
“Is everything ok? You seem so...”

             
Suddenly everything went dark. Nikki was struggling to get away from the large frame that was holding her in place. She kicked and tried to scream. Another set of hands wrapped around her kicking legs, and secured them. There was a cloth bag over her head. She kept opening her eyes between struggles and screams to try to see anything, anything at all. Then there was something being pressed into her face, and a soft voice.

             
“Shhh, it's all about to be over.” And just like that, a few breaths, and the world closed in and she passed out.

              Scooter was busy and he had assumed the house Nikki went to look at was another no go. He hadn't heard from her. She had mentioned grabbing lunch before coming back to the garage, so he just kept working on things in the club garage, staying busy, and losing track of time.

             
His phone buzzed, but it wasn't a number he recognized. He almost didn't answer it, but saw it was local, so he did.

             
“Yeah, Scooter here,” he said.

             
“Scooter, Mom never came and got us. We are still at school and she isn't answering her phone. Do you know where she is?” Nelly's voice said.

             
Panic moved through him. He remained calm for the girls though.

             
“She went to look at a house, maybe she got caught up. I will come get you in the van, ok?” he said to her in a calm voice, while his heart was racing.

             
“Scooter, do you think Dad has her again? I’m scared,” Nelly's voice trembled on the other end.

             
“I don't know sweetie, but I will be there in a few. I am sure everything is fine,” he said, and hung up.

             
Immediately, he dialed Nikki's phone. It didn't ring, just went to voicemail. He experienced panic, pure panic. She never let her phone die. She had chargers in the car, home, and office. She was always connected. He called Drifter and had him meet him back at the club, as soon as he got the girls to Kate’s.

             
Scooter then called the agent, maybe she knew. When he reached her, she said that Nikki loved the house, but she hadn't seen her since.

             
She lied to him, because at that moment, she had a gun held to her head. Scooter was clueless.

              As soon as he got back to the club, Drifter, Dean, and John were all there, with the rest of them on the way. Drifter had put out an APB to the club.

             
Scooter had a tracker on Nikki's phone and Drifter had already found the phone's location, but it was in a ditch when they all rolled up on it 30 minutes later.  As soon as they got to the smashed phone, Scooter got a text from a blocked number.

Blocked #: Tit for Tat you take one of mine I get one of yours. Say goodbye to Sunshine motherfucker.

              Again, Scooter's heart hit bottom. He handed his phone to Drifter who read it, and then started scanning the area.

             
He quietly said, “Split up. They are close since they waited for us to find the phone. Whoever the hell has Nikki, has a lookout here, so let’s check everything.”

             
With that, all the brothers went different directions to scour the surrounding buildings and cars. It was an industrial area of Vancouver and there were only a few buildings, but they were all the large, warehouse type. The lookout could easily slip out, and may have already.

             
That’s when Scooter saw it. The car. Nikki's yellow Camaro parked in an ally. He had hope.. maybe she was just beat up, but still alive. He turned his bike into the ally, and raced towards it, stopping short. He realized it may be a trap. Seeing nobody in the car, he turned and went back the way he came to get his brothers, to back him up.