Defiant Loyalty (Comanche Sons Motorcycle Club Book 2) (8 page)

“If you try…”

“I don’t want to.” Her words whipped into his mind with the force of a hard blow. “Don’t ask me. Please.”

Picking up her dress, she walked into the bedroom while he stood still for a long time. For the first time in his life, he was actually in love with someone and she refused to accept and return his feelings. He meant nothing to her, nothing at all. His heart broke into a million pieces, and he could feel the pain of it. It was relentless, dizzying in its agony. 

What could he do about it?

Not much.

She’d made her decision, and now he had to make his. 

Chapter Nine

Riley was aware that she hurt Chance with her cold words. Hell! She was in as much pain as he was. When he told her that he loved her, her heart burst with joy. Nothing could have given her more happiness than to hear those precious words, but she had to steel herself and pretend that she wasn’t affected. It was the worst thing that she ever did. She was ashamed of herself.

She wished she was dead.

But of course, she had to go on. As she watched TV, her eyes filled with tears. If only she was a normal person who could accept his love and return it without reservations, but she didn’t have the luxury of such a decision. As she thought about her choices, her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number. “Hello.”

Someone laughed at the other end. “How long can you hide from me?”

The voice, so achingly familiar, sent a lance of panic straight through her nerves. Riley stood still. She would have recognized the timber of this voice anywhere. After all, she lived with this boy, no, now a man, for fourteen years. “Wesley.”

“Yes, dear sister. You’ve done a good job of staying alive up until now but I am enjoying this game. It’s fun.”

Why did he call her? “It’s not a game.”

“It is to me. A deadly one. You sent me to prison, and in turn, I will make your life a living hell until your dying day.”

She gulped. This was the first time she’d had a conversation with her brother since she saw him in jail. It appeared that he was more willing to communicate now, probably because she had taken so many precautions and he was finding it difficult to find an access to her. Or perhaps he was more confident now. After all, he’d already delivered her quite a blow by getting her fired from the job.

“You broke the law.”

“I wasn’t meant to go to jail, little sister. You shouldn’t have done it. Water under the bridge now. No point talking about it.” She realized that the way he spoke indicated a degree of control that he didn’t have when they were kids. This wasn’t some uneducated boy who was only good with a knife. He had more skills and that made him deadly. “So since you’ve barricaded yourself into the apartment, I don’t have any choice but to go after people who are important to you.”

Her heart slammed into his chest. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Chance, your boyfriend. Hasn’t he gone over to visit someone? Such an easy target he would make.”

She sat straighter. “Don’t you dare touch him, you asshole. Don’t you dare even look at him.”

“Such anger.” He laughed, and the cold sound of it filled her with terror. What the hell did he plan to do to Chance? “But it’s useless. He is gone. Say goodbye.”

“No,” she screamed, but he cut the line.

Damn it! Damn the man! Shit! With hands that shook, Riley dialed Chance’s number, but his phone was busy. Shit. Shit. She didn’t quite know what to do. How could she contact him and warn him that his life was in danger? What she feared had come to life. Frustrated by his lack of access to her, Wesley now targeted Chance. She should have left him ages ago. If she did so, he wouldn’t be in this situation right now.

This was no time for regrets, but for action. She sent him a text, explaining Wesley’s call. Then, she picked up her purse and ran out of the apartment. Just as she got out of the building, she was lucky enough to get a cab, and she gave the address of Simon’s bar.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
She screamed in her mind as the cab rode through the streets. Riley picked up her phone and dialed Chance’s phone again, but it was still engaged on another call.

Damn it!

Who the hell was he talking to?

Did he get her message?

If something happened to him, she wouldn’t ever be able to forgive herself. Riley was so worried that her fingernails dug into the palm of her hand as she closed it in a fist. She just wanted to make sure that he was fine, that Wesley hadn’t gotten to him. When she got to the bar, she jumped out of the cab, paid the bill, and rushed towards it. She was stopped by a police officer who stood just inside the door.

“Sorry, ma’am. The bar has been closed.”

Terror and dread exploded in her gut like a cocktail. “What happened?”

The man didn’t even move a muscle. “Ma’am, please. This is an official investigation, and we would appreciate if you could just move aside.”

Where was Chance? What happened to him? From the grim expression of the officer and the number of policemen she could see inside, Riley could see that this was something serious. Had Chance been attacked already? Was she too late? “Please, officer. I just need to find my boyfriend.”

“Sorry, ma’am. No one is allowed inside.”

“But why? Please. I am begging you.”

“If you don’t move, ma’am, I might have to arrest you on the charges of obstructing justice.”

Tears poured down her eyes as she craned her neck to find Chance. Where was he? What happened to him? She couldn’t quite believe this. “I…” She backed away. If she was arrested, she wouldn’t be able to help Chance. Her fingers trembled as she took out her phone yet again. She dialed his number and much to her relief, he picked up. The sound of his voice filled her with relief. He was alive, at least until now.

“Chance? Where are you?”

“I am at Simon’s bar. Riley, there has been a murder here.”

“What?” she screamed. Riley glanced back at the officer, but he wasn’t paying attention to her. Instead, his attention was focused on something inside the bar. “Who?”

“It’s Simon. When I came in, he was…already dead. There wasn’t much I could do. So I called the police, and now obviously, I have to stick around to answer all these questions.”

She couldn’t believe it. Simon, the kind, old man was dead. She’d met him a few times since he was friends with Johnny. He was a nice guy, a bit rough around the edges, but he had a heart of gold. She couldn’t quite believe that he didn’t exist anymore. “Simon is dead?”

“He is. He was stabbed in the stomach three times.”

Wesley! It had to be her brother, but then why would he target him? Simon wasn’t even particularly close to Riley. They didn’t have much of a connection. What would this murder serve? “Do you think it was Wesley?”

Chance appeared shocked by her words. “No, of course. Why would he do this? It’s…the club,” he whispered. “That’s what I think. There were talks. Remember, we discussed it. But murder? I am not sure if they would stoop so low to quiet the voice of dissent.”

“You think they killed Simon just to make sure he didn’t entice others to rise against them?”

He sighed. “I am not sure about anything, but yeah, that is what it seems like. I hope I am wrong, because if I am not, then this club is in a lot of trouble.”

Riley didn’t quite know what to say. This was a nightmare. “Listen, I am right outside the bar.”

“What the fuck are you doing here? It’s not safe. You were supposed to remain inside. Riley, why the hell are you taking such risks?”

She explained about the call. “I had to come and check if you were ok.”

“Did it occur to you that he might have enticed you outside with that threat?”

She hadn’t even considered that motive but knew it could be that. Wesley was always a clever boy. He could have planned an ambush for her. “If that was so, he would have attacked me right in front of the building.”

“That man is diabolic.” He sounded scared, frustrated. “Look, I can’t get away. The police won’t let me. I have to go into the station and give an interview. Shit. It’s going to take too long. Just take a cab and go home right now.”

“Yeah, ok. I will do that.”

“Text me as soon as you reach home.”

She could understand his fear. It matched that which ran inside her veins, but Riley was tired of sitting inside. She was sick of doing nothing. “Ok, I will do that.”

“Riley, just one more thing…I checked with someone at the jail where he was incarcerated, and Wesley never took any carpentry lessons. Instead, he did an online degree in computers.”

She couldn’t reconcile his words with reality. “What?”

“Young inmates are encouraged to study, and he wasn’t in a maximum security prison, so he had plenty of chances to bone up on his education, and it seemed he took full advantage of that. When Wesley left the prison, he had two degrees in computer related fields, and it was known among the inmates that he could do anything with a laptop. He was already on his way to become a world class hacker.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that he can track you through a lot of things that we cannot even think about. It could be your phone number, your bills, credit cards, and anything else. I don’t know how it works, but it would explain how he has managed to find you so easily from one city to another. This is how he managed to get your phone number.”

“But…I don’t understand.”

“I think he must be doing some freelance work in this field. It would explain his flexible hours. He might actually be doing something illegal, hacking and getting paid for it. Who knows?” Chance cleared his throat. “I want you to go to the apartment and stay there until I come back. Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t meet anyone. Just stay safe.”

“Ok. Take care, Chance.” She closed the phone and put it in her purse. “Damn it.”

So that was the reason why her brother found it so easy to chase her. Had he gone into that field with the express purpose of learning something that would help him find her? She recalled his interests with computers at an early age. He was always into them. If he hadn’t killed their parents, he might have been able to make a success of his life because he was smart. But of course, the murders screwed him up. Had he really expected that he would get away with those murders without paying a price?

Whatever was done was done. It was time to move forward. She had to be careful. If he caught her, she would be as good as dead. Chance was right; he probably lured her out of the apartment with the threat of killing Chance, and like an idiot, she followed his directions. It was vital that she get back to his place.

Riley tried to hail a cab, but there were none around. The bar was on a side street. She decided to walk to the main road to get one. After adjusting the strap of her purse, she looked around carefully, but she didn’t see anyone loitering about. He wouldn’t dare do anything in broad daylight on a public street. There were too many avenues for her to escape, and if she screamed, someone was likely to help her. The major danger was when she reached the apartment. He could be hiding on the staircase.

Maybe she could go into a hotel and check in until Chance was free. As she kept her eyes open for any sign of trouble, Riley contemplated all those moves. Briskly, she walked towards the main road. A black van came trundling down from the other side. She crept to the side of the pavement. The van crossed her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, it stopped, and Riley felt a prickle of unease. She turned around to look and then leapt, but it was too late already. Three men wearing ski masks came out of the van. One reached her, just as she tried to run. With his hand, he pressed something on her mouth, a cloth that reeked of some bad medicine, and then yanked her towards the van.

She wanted to protest, scream, and kick, but already she was feeling dizzy. Just as they tumbled her into the van, she fainted. That was the last thing she remembered.