Chapter 34 I can not tell you that. It is against policy
Catalina
After we spoke with Butcher, Jenna and I decided to cook a big Italian meal for the club. But we did not have all the food we needed. Butcher, Viper, Torque, and Doc were all busy in a meeting. We did not want to go to the store alone in case those bastards showed up again. So we asked Beast and Rockstar to drive us in one of the SUVs.
“Should we use sourdough or french bread for the garlic bread?” I asked Jenna.
“Both,” Beast answered.
I rolled my eyes and put six loaves into the cart. Three of each.
“Get some cheese for the french bread,” Rockstar said.
“Do you want to cook dinner tonight?” I asked him.
He shook his head, looking a little embarrassed. I just laughed and grabbed the mozzarella.
I wanted to make tiramisu, so I left them to find the things I needed for dessert. We had been shopping for about an hour when my phone buzzed.
I looked at the screen. It was a message from Viper with a picture. Before I could open it, Jenna grabbed my arm.
“Do not look straight at them. But by the apples… is that one of the men from the supply shop this morning?”
I pretended to look at some garlic, letting my eyes drift over toward the apples.
“Shit. I think it is.”
“What is wrong? Why are you two so tense all of a sudden?” Beast asked, keeping his voice low.
“Jenna and I had a problem this morning,” I told him. “At the supply store. A man recognized her from before.”
“He could not place exactly who I was, but he was trying to remember,” Jenna said. “And now one of the men he was with is over there.”
I glanced around and saw the man who had recognized her. He was up by the front of the store near the magazines with the other man from this morning.
“Shit. The other two are by the entrance.”
“Do not panic. Let us finish here. Rockstar, go get the SUV and bring it right to the front. Ladies, keep moving,” Beast said.
We got the last of the things we needed and went to check out. As we walked toward the doors, the man with the scar stepped right in front of our cart.
“Hello, Maria,” he said, staring at Jenna.
“Step back. Her name is not Maria,” Beast said. He pulled his gun from under his vest and held it down at his side.
“Sure it is. I would never forget a face that pretty. Or that sweet pussy. I was your first. I never forgot you.”
I looked at Jenna. Her eyes were huge and her skin had gone white. I could not stop myself. A pure, hot rage filled me up. I remembered her screams when those men took her and Mama right in front of me. This was the man who had looked right at me, licked his lips, and mouthed you’re next while he raped my sister.
I screamed. It startled everyone around us. Then I was moving. I flew at him. I hit him with my fists. I kicked him. I threw him over my shoulder and when he hit the floor, I was on top of him. I pounded his face and his arms as he tried to block me. Then strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me off the man. I cursed him in every language I knew, Italian, English, French. I saw Beast holding his gun on the other two men. Then we were all running for the SUV. They got me buckled in, threw the groceries on my lap, and Jenna climbed in beside me. The guys got in and we sped away.
“Holy shit,” Beast said, breathing hard.
Jenna was crying. I took her hand and held it tight.
“I am sorry I lost control.”
“He was the one. He was the one,” Jenna chanted over and over.
“Shhh, it is okay. We need to get back to the club. She needs Torque.” I saw Beast pull out his phone.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the clubhouse. Torque was already running toward the SUV before it even stopped. He pulled Jenna out and held her close against his chest. Then he carried her inside. I looked for Viper, but I did not see him. Beast, Rockstar, and I took the groceries to the kitchen. That was when I remembered the text.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened the message from Viper.
My heart stopped beating. I could not get air into my lungs. Beast ran over to me.
“Catalina, what is it? What is wrong?”
I stared at the picture on my screen, then handed him the phone. He took one look and cursed.
“What the fuck!” he roared.
I grabbed my phone back and sent the image to my email. Then I ran for Butcher’s office. I did not knock. I threw the door open. Butcher looked up, startled from his desk. I was sobbing. He got up and ran to me.
“Catalina, what happened?”
“They took Viper,” I whispered, handing him my phone.
He looked at the picture. Viper was naked, tied to a bed. A message was written over it: Check mate, bitch.
“Who sent this? It came from his phone. We can track it.”
My head snapped up. He was right. I could get into his phone and use the GPS to find him.
I ran to Butcher’s computer and started working. I broke into the cell phone company’s system. It took me twenty minutes to find the location.
“He is in Connecticut?” Butcher asked, looking over my shoulder.
“That is where his phone is. Shit, he has been gone for hours. God only knows what they have done to him. He was tied up. Naked. Who did this?” I asked, frustrated. I pulled at my own hair. My poor man.
“Let’s go,” Butcher said. He yelled for Beast to follow in his truck. Butcher took my hand and pulled me to his bike. He sent Beast the address from the phone tracking.
We got on his bike and left. I prayed the whole way that Viper was okay. I prayed that whatever they had done to him, I could fix it. We drove for hours. We only stopped for gas and to use the bathroom. We did not stop to eat. Finally, around ten at night, we pulled into the town of Branford. We slowed down and parked in front of a small bed and breakfast, the place the phone signal was coming from.
I ran inside. A young man was asleep with his head on the front desk.
“Hey!” I shouted.
He jerked upright, swaying and blinking.
He finally focused on me and the two huge men behind me.
“Have you seen a man? Tall, dark reddish hair. He would have been wearing a cut like theirs,” I said, pointing at Butcher and Beast.
The young man nodded. “Yeah. I helped his wife get him to their room. He was completely wasted. She said he had too much to drink at their wedding.”
“Wife? Wedding?” I asked, confused.
“What room are they in?” Butcher demanded.
“I can not tell you that. It is against policy. A privacy thing.”
Butcher slapped three hundred-dollar bills on the counter.
“Room 303. Here is an extra key,” the young man said, snatching the money.
We thundered up the stairs like a stampede. At room 303, I put the key in the lock. I turned it and pushed the door open.
The sight in front of me made me see red. The room smelled like sex. Viper was tied to the bed, just like in the picture. And fucking Sophie was wrapped around him. Her head was on his shoulder, her leg was over his groin, her arm across his stomach. She was asleep.
But Viper was awake. His eyes were wide open. I could see dried tears on his cheeks. His mouth was still gagged.
“You fucking whore!” I screamed.
I flew across the room, jumped over the bed, and grabbed Sophie by her arm and her hair. I yanked her off Viper. We crashed to the floor on the other side of the bed. She screamed and tried to hit me. Her weak slaps did nothing. The rage inside me was a living thing. Seeing my man tied up, with her touching him…
I grabbed her hair and smashed her head against the hardwood floor. Again. And again. When she went still, I punched her in the face three times. Then my hands went around her throat. I could not stop. All I could see was Viper tied up. All I could smell was sex. This piece of shit had raped my man. I wanted her dead.
I barely heard the loud footsteps coming toward me. Then I was pulled off her and thrown to the floor. Handcuffs were slapped onto my wrists. Someone had called the police because of all the noise. I was dragged away. I saw Butcher and Beast talking to the officers as I was marched out. They put me in the back of a police car. I could not stop sobbing. My poor baby. My love.
I looked out the car window. Paramedics were bringing Viper out on a stretcher. I started screaming his name. Then I saw another stretcher. I knew it was that cunt. I hoped she was dead. Then I heard her crying and I cursed her again.
A police officer came to the car and opened my door. He took the cuffs off.
“Your friends explained everything,” he said. I also saw a thick envelope sticking out of his vest pocket. I did not care. I just nodded and ran to the ambulance.
“I am coming with you. I am his fiancée,” I told the paramedic before he could close the doors.
He nodded and I climbed in. I sat next to Viper and took his hand. I brought his knuckles to my lips and kissed them.
“I am so sorry,” he rasped. His voice sounded torn up.
“Shhh. You have nothing to be sorry for,” I said. Tears were running down my face.
“I cheated on you,” he gasped.
“No. No, you did not.” His heart began to beat too fast on the monitor. Panic filled his eyes.
“Please. Do not leave me,” he begged.
I shook my head, but then his eyes closed. I looked at the paramedic. He was putting medicine into Viper’s IV.
I nodded to myself. Yes. My baby needed to rest.
I cried all the way to the hospital. My poor man.