Ride for Two: A Biker Erotic Romance (Black Death MC) (2 page)

Please, Logan…find me.

Logan unlocked his phone to check the time for what the hundredth time that night. It was after ten.
She said she was going to call
, he thought. He checked that his phone was on, charged, and receiving calls. There did not seem to be an issue on his end.

Lina wasn’t the most reliable, but she wasn’t a flake, either. She had a good head on her shoulders and she knew that he would worry if she didn’t call. She did tend to stay up late, so maybe she had just gotten caught up at work.

At ten at night?
No, this didn’t make sense. He figured that even if she forgot to call, he did not forget. They were married, after all. They were not two teenage kids trying to see who loved each other more.

He dialed her number by heart. After the first ring, his pulse kicked up, even though he knew he was being ridiculous. On the second ring, he sent up a prayer that she would answer. On the third ring, he started drumming his fingers on the countertop. When it went to voicemail, he ground his teeth.

Dammit, Lina. Where are you?
he muttered silently. When she
did
answer, he would give her a piece of his mind. He was sure he was worrying for nothing. He tried the office number she had given him, but it went to an after-hour voicemail system. He left a message there. It was worth a shot. He waited five more impatient minutes. Then, he tried again. Same thing.

Throughout the next three hours, he placed another five or so calls. He tried watching TV, reading his emails, doing anything that would take his mind off of her. If she fell asleep, there was nothing he could do.

He knew where she was staying, but a three hour drive just to see her asleep in her hotel bed seemed downright stupid and stalker-like. She’d laugh at him the next day.

He tried one of her office staff’s phone numbers. At least someone answered. The woman said she’d heard from Lina just before lunch, but not after. He begged her to look in Lina’s hotel room. This particular hotel used number codes to open the door. Luckily, he had the code to Lina’s door. He gave the woman Lina’s code and, although annoyed, she promised that she’d check in on Lina later.

It was two in the morning by the time the woman got to Lina’s doorway. She reported that she tried the code and got it open on third time after no one answered the door. She told Logan that the bed was still made. Apparently, it didn’t look like she’d even been there or unpacked. Logan knew something was wrong. She clearly wasn’t still at the office. He tried to get his heart rate under control. He could feel it pulse in his temple and his heart. He was worried that he’d have a heart attack before this was over.

He was sure she was fine.
But if she wasn’t
, he couldn’t stop his subconscious from answering slyly.

If she wasn’t, he was sure as hell going to take matters into his own hands. A less trusting husband might’ve turned his mind toward a cheating spouse. Logan didn’t even think of that. He didn’t worry about her leaving him for some other man. He worried about her getting bored and moving on; but, Lina would never play the field.

His next call was to the chief of police. He may not have as much power as he once did, since he was a married man. Yet, he knew they’d still jump when he rang.

At first, he got the stereotypical twenty-four hour speech. He was told that it was probably nothing and she was probably staying at a friend’s. Logan didn’t believe a word of it. He made sure the chief of police didn’t, either. The chief sent a cruiser over to the hotel room to check it out and dust for prints.

It was near dawn. Logan finally realized that this was not a game. This was life or death. Lina wouldn’t have gone anywhere willingly. Someone took her. There was a pretty clear reason someone abducted her. It wasn’t her job or her family, it was him. He was the reason she was in danger. Over the next few hours, he became angrier and angrier at himself. If he had kept her at a safe distance like he had tried to in the very beginning, this would never have happened. She would still be at work, safe and sound.

He ran through the list of suspects, but honestly, it was too long to even consider focusing on one or two names. The big ones were either in prison or behind enough gang members that the police couldn’t even get close.

Soon, it was late morning. The police and Logan were coming up blank. They had nowhere to search, no one to even look for. There were no security cameras in the area of the building where she had gone to view the bodies. Plus, no one saw her get abducted. It was possible that she was in more serious danger than kidnapping. Logan didn’t even want to think about that.

Lina woke up suddenly with a slap to the face.

“Where does he keep the files?” Lina let out a heartfelt sigh and tried to play it cool.

“He will find you. You’re not that smart. He is. I don’t know what files you’re looking for and I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. The man retrieved a knife from his pocket. It was a large fish-gutting type, she thought. She’d never seen someone carry one around, but she supposed it served its purpose. She was definitely terrified.

He unsheathed it and held it against her bare arm. He twisted around her restraints so that the underside of her arm faced up.

“I’m going to ask you once more today. Each time I ask, the pain is going to get worse. I won’t stop until you tell me what I want to know.”

“Then, ask your stupid ass question. Let’s get this over with,” she retorted.

“Where are the files your husband keeps?”

“In the fucking file cabinet. Why would I know?” She barely got the question out before the knife sliced into her skin. She let out a hiss.

It hurt. In fact, it hurt much more than she thought it would. She told herself it would be like a big paper cut, but this was not like that. The knife was sharp. It cut cleanly. She watched her arm open up and start to bleed right before her eyes. Such red, red blood.

She started to feel nauseous. It was something she hadn’t felt in a while and definitely not of this magnitude.

The man rose and walked out the door. He locked it with an audible
snick
. She couldn’t stop staring at her wound. She felt herself start to tremble and tried to get ahold of herself.

About an hour or two later, he came back. She tried to be brave, but inside she was quivering. What would he do now?

He pulled something out from a shoulder bag. This was the first time she’d seen him wear it.  He dropped it on her lap. She realized it was a tablet of some sort. It powered up and she waited for his instructions.

“What? Did you want to play Words with Friends or something?” She joked bitterly. He didn’t respond. Clearly, he wasn’t the joking type.

“Your phone is now destroyed, so we can’t use it. Email your husband. Explain to him what you need and what will happen if you don’t get it.” After that, the man clearly identified to her what body parts would be missing. Then, he proceeded to tell her what would happen to her if she didn’t get him what he was asking for. She gulped. More waves of nausea rolled through her.

She started writing the email. The man told her he would be back. He said the message wouldn’t send until he typed in the password for internet access.

After a few minutes, she realized that this might be the only chance she had to convey a message to Logan. She thought back on their secret language. She hoped that he would understand what she was doing.

Other than a few oddly placed capital letters and an unusual amount of colors, she was ready. After a little while, the man came back. He read over what she typed. It was short and to the point, but then, it mentioned a couple work items. He apparently didn’t seem to think it was out of the ordinary. She watched him send the message.

If she could have, she would have crossed her fingers and her toes. She hoped that Logan would realize what she tried to do. She prayed he would find her.

Logan opened up his email with a sinking feeling. He heard the notification sound. He knew that he would see a message from Lina or her kidnappers. He wasn’t mistaken. He opened the email from her with the police behind him. Why? He didn’t know. What could they possibly do? It wasn’t a phone call, just an email. No way to track or trace it. No way to get her back just by looking at it.

He read and reread the email at least a hundred times over the next hour. He knew there was something off. He just couldn’t quite place it. As he looked back at old emails between them, he finally figured it out.
I married a brilliant woman
, he thought to himself. For the first time in a day, he took a deep breath. He showed the police the code they had created. Then, he pointed out how she used the word “red” and left him a couple other bread crumbs as to her location. He was also able to figure out what the man wanted from her, as well.

She indicated she was fine and that she loved him. Other than that, there were no real clues as to her safety or well-being. Reading the actual subject line, they were demanding some files that he had of some drug deals gone bad. He guessed that this person wasn’t one the good guys. That meant they were either the bad guys or worked for the bad guys. Either way, it didn’t matter to him. He only cared that Lina was safe and the police would take out the bad guys.

In the message, she had given him clues about where she was being held captive. She could hear church bells twice a day. She also indicated that there must be a railroad crossing overhead. She didn’t know what direction her abductors drove to get to their hiding place, but she could tell Logan approximately how long they drove for.

In the first day, he received three more emails. These emails communicated what they wanted and what they needed. He also got a chance to converse a little bit more with Lina. While they had to be discreet and couldn’t say what they felt, he knew that she was scared. When he thought about what she was going through, he started second guess himself on whether it was right to wait for the police to make their move. As it turned out, Lina knew him better than he knew himself. When he became overly aggressive, she hid a line about being patient. She also hinted that she trusted him and she didn’t want him to turn into the person used to be.

If he hadn’t already loved her beyond all belief, listening to her calm
him
down probably would’ve done the trick. It crossed his mind that she could do better than him. Then, he quickly realized that he didn’t care. Even if it was selfish of him, he was never giving her up.

A few more days went by. Several more emails were exchanged. Finally, they tracked her down to an abandoned warehouse just outside of town. Even though they knew where she was held captive, they arranged for a drop-off spot. They decided to use the lure of the files to draw out the kidnappers.

Logan had no intention of handing over the files, but he gave every indication that he meant to. He even passed along a few remarks about getting back into the business. He simply wanted to keep them interested.

At the rendezvous point, Logan dropped the duffle bag, as scheduled. He was told by the police to walk away slowly. Most likely, it would take ten or fifteen minutes until they’d try to pick it up. He had to be out of the area for the kidnappers to feel safe to pick up the files.

It didn’t take quite that long. About ten minutes in, the abductors made their move. Logan watched from the undercover police van parked a mile away. The abductors picked up the duffle bag from the drop spot and walked back to their vehicle.

After the bag was picked up, an undercover civilian car and the unmarked van headed for the warehouse where they believed Lina was held captive. The location of the warehouse matched all the clues she gave them. They were confident it was the right place. Although anything was possible, they were sure that they weren’t wasting their time and simply tipping off the criminals.

The police took over. They fired gas canisters into the main hallways to clear them out. Because they knew that Lina was in the basement, they took certain liberties with the man on the first level. Logan praised God that Lina figured out clues to her whereabouts. The clues helped the police greatly. Without them, they would’ve had to do more to ensure Lina’s safety. He doubted the mission would have been a success, if the police had to take countless precautions.