Chapter Twenty-Three

Evening had just broken over the land when Merrie heard an engine rumble up to the door. She’d tried all day to snap the zip ties holding her captive but the thick plastic was unbreakable. Due to her efforts to break free, she’d rubbed the skin around her left wrist raw and it bled slightly. After a while, she’d given up. It was either take a break or tear off her hand, and she wasn’t ready to do that.

Tired of standing, she had to pee, plus hunger gnawed at her gut. But all those discomforts fled as she waited for Axe to come back inside. What would he do with her now? Panic wanted to take over her brain but she forced herself to stay calm. Composure allowed her to think and if there was a way to get out of this mess alive, she had to have her wits about her.

Axe didn’t walk into the cabin right away. Footsteps reached her from outside as he walked around for a few minutes, skittering some rocks and cracking some branches. Then she heard another vehicle and her heart began to race. Maybe someone had figured out where she was! Maybe they were here to rescue her!

She strained her ears to listen.

“Did anyone follow you?” Axe demanded.

“What the hell did you do, Axe?” Detective Christianson demanded. Merrie frowned at the familiarity he seemed to have with her abductor.

“None of your goddamned business,” Axe retorted. “I got North! I did it—”

“You got shit, Axe. You nicked him and now he’s out hunting your ass.”

“No! You lie!”

“Out of the two of us, who’s the fucking douche bag? I assure you it’s not me.”

“Then you gotta help me,” Axe pleaded. “You gotta—”

“I don’t have to do shit. I knew this was going to be trouble the moment you called asking for my help.”

“Yeah, for some dumb reason I thought you might actually be of use.”

“I was lying low, trying to let all this fucking bullshit blow over. But no! You have to go shoot the Wolves’ president and kidnap the girl.”

“There’s a warrant out for my arrest!” Axe shouted.

“I know!” Detective Christianson shouted back. “Where’s the girl, Axe?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it fucking matters! I’m taking her back.”

“You can’t!” Axe protested. “She’s my only hope now of getting out of this alive.”

Merrie didn’t hear anything for a moment and she could only imagine what was going on.

“Put the damn gun away,” Axe snarled. “You’re not going to kill your little brother.”

Brother! Nausea churned in her belly.

“I’m no longer your brother,” the detective said. “I’m a cop. And I’m here to arrest you and take the girl back.”

“You wouldn’t dare. DCI will be on your back faster than you can blink.”

“I know. But I can’t turn my back on this anymore. I’m still a cop and I still value my badge. I may have been buying myself time until retirement, but I have to do the right thing, regardless of you being blood. Now, where’s the fucking girl?”

A moment later, the door opened and Detective Christianson swore as he put his gun back in its holster. He pulled out a Leatherman tool and flipped out the knife. He sawed through the zip tie, careful not to nick her. Finally freed, she rubbed her cut wrist as best as possible with the fingers of her other hand.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry for this,” Detective Christianson told her with regret in his voice. “I knew my brother had fucked up but I thought time would just…wash it all away. I thought it’d blow over and you’d be safe again.”

“Can you take me home? Or to the sheriff’s station?”

He nodded. “Of course, I—”

“She ain’t going anywhere!” Axe bit out as he came into the cabin.

Detective Christianson took a step toward his brother and as quick as lightning, Axe pulled a .38 pistol from behind his back. The detective held up his hands and Merrie did the same.

“Put the gun down,” Christianson said. “You’re not going to shoot me and turn this into an even worse situation.”

“Fuck you,” Axe snarled. “I ask for your fucking help and all you give me is shit. Never once in all my life have you ever helped me, Clark. Just this once, why couldn’t you have been a decent brother? You take off and become a cop and you’re ashamed of who I am?”

“Of course I’m ashamed. Look at you. You’re pathetic. I’ve spent my whole career putting criminals like you behind bars. And you think I should be proud that my brother is a goddamn extortionist? A goddamn crook? Fuck you, Andrew.”

Axe fired the gun.

Merrie screamed and jumped back as blood splattered everything, including herself, the bullet hitting Detective Christianson directly in the chest. He gave one little gasp before crashing face first where blood rapidly pooled around him. Axe pointed the weapon in her direction. Merrie literally stared down the barrel of a smoking gun.

“Come on,” Axe muttered. “I’ve got one last card to play.”

Shaking, she did what he’d ordered. The last thing she wanted was to wind up like the poor detective, murdered in some small dingy hunter’s cabin in the middle of nowhere.

He must have run out of zip ties. Instead of using them to tie her up, he used some bungee cords to twist around her arms and hook her to the interior of the van. If she didn’t have the bulky cast on her right wrist, she might have been able to free herself, but as it was, she didn’t have the strength to unhook the restraints.

They bounced along, and somehow, the ride didn’t seem as long as the first time she’d been in the van. When it came to halt sometime later, he threw open the back and unhooked her. Then he grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. Only then did she recognize they were at the Demon Devil’s bar.

Back where the nightmare had begun.

Two men watched them approach, both frowning. She read the word prospect on both their vests and realized that Axe was still wearing his with the red band around the bottom.

“What the fuck do you want?” asked one of the prospects.

“She’s for Gray Dog,” Axe snapped. “He’ll want her. I’m joining the Demon Devils.”

The two prospects looked at each other. One shrugged then gave Axe the nod to enter. The doors opened and Axe pushed her into the bar. Heavy metal played over the speakers and a layer of cigarette smoke hung low in the air. Every pair of eyes in the place observed her as she stumbled forward. The music abruptly cut off, leaving the room eerily quiet.

“What the ever-loving fuck is this?” Gray Dog snapped.

Axe shook her as if she were some kind of prize. “I brought her—to show my loyalty to the Demon Devils. I can still join your table and we can take over this county. Like I told you, I have Intel on the Wolves that can bring them down.”

Gray Dog calmly walked around the bar and came to stand a few feet away from where Axe held her captive. He didn’t look at her.

“My sanction for you to join us rested on you providing me with North Tabion’s head,” Gray Dog stated coldly. “But do you know who I got a call from earlier today? None other than that very same fucker who is looking for you. It seems like your shooting skills are lacking. So, Axe, I’m going to have to revoke my endorsement.”

“You can’t do that!” Axe all but screamed. “This bitch is who screwed up my plans and now I’ve corrected it. I’ll kill her right now for you.”

The cold barrel of Axe’s gun pressed against the back of her head. She couldn’t help the small whimper that escaped her. Terror churned in her stomach, making her wonder if she was about to upchuck and as much as she wanted to run away, her feet seemed frozen to the ground.

“That’s all I need,” Gray Dog sneered. “Her DNA splattered all over this fucking bar. There’s too many people looking for her, numbnuts.”

The gun wavered in his hand. Axe was losing control. “I’ve gone too far, Gray Dog. I can’t go back to the Red Wolves. Not now. You owe me this.”

“I don’t owe you shit,” Gray Dog muttered. “You came to me, remember? You asked me if there was any way a Red Wolf could join the Demon Devils. You even asked not to join as a fucking prospect. You wanted the glory and the badge, didn’t you? Well, fuck you, Axe. My club, my rules. You’re a Red Wolf in Demon Devil territory—a fucking traitor.”

The next moment seemed to stretch into infinity. Merrie couldn’t take her gaze off Gray Dog, who simply watched Axe over her shoulder. The stares of Demon Devils crawled over her skin like ants. This must be how they got their name. She certainly felt like she was standing in a pit of Hell.

Axe shifted he gun from the back to her head to over her shoulder. It barely registered in her brain that he now pointed the barrel at Gray Dog before the report of a gun filled the room, only it wasn’t from his gun. She flinched instinctively then didn’t move a muscle—not even when Axe’s body fell back with a thud. From behind Gray Dog, a man held a gun, a man with long dark hair and a snake tattoo on his arm—the same man from her car, the one who had been driving. She wondered, in a detached sort of way, if he was going to shoot her next. Would it have been better never to see it coming or to face the bullet head on?

Although she tried to keep herself as still as possible, shivers suddenly gripped her. Gray Dog slowly walked up to her.

“Now what shall I do with you?” he asked softly.

A million ideas ran through her mind, but the only thing that stuck was the realization she was going to have to say something meaningful to him if she hoped he’d spare her life. She looked around the room. Cold blank stares met her.

“I think,” she began, but her mouth was so dry she had difficulty forming words. She swallowed as much saliva as she could find in her mouth and tried again. “I think you found me and rescued me.”

Gray Dog cocked his head. “Come again?”

“You said too many people are looking for me,” she answered steadily, using his own words against him. If she had to play on his vanity to save her neck, so be it. “And Axe has proved himself a traitor to the Red Wolves, which means he would have definitely become a traitor to the Demon Devils. When he took me captive to save his own neck, you realized just how bad a man he was, a liar to his colors and a liar to yours. So, you rescued me. And the media labels you a hero.”

Gray Dog sucked in a deep breath and crossed his arms. “A hero, huh? And you being in my bar?”

“I was never in your bar,” she said, keeping her gaze trained on him.

“And Axe being shot?”

“I never saw that happen,” she stated firmly. “I was tied up in the back of his van. Blindfolded. The next thing I knew, you untied me and I have no idea where Axe went.”

The shooter, who had stood behind Gray Dog, murmured something in his ear. Gray Dog gave a small smile, never taking his eyes from her. The man backed away but didn’t go too far.

“I like being called a hero,” Gray Dog said. “Most people in Destiny would label me the antichrist, so being a hero would give them a big old ‘fuck you’. And now there’s too many roads leading you back to my doorstep, so you better stick to that story, Miss Walden, and I do believe we have ourselves a deal.”

She didn’t say anything, just stood still and didn’t look around. The less she saw, the better.

Gray Dog abruptly lost his smile and took a threatening step toward her. “But if you ever breathe one word about what happened here, we’ll have business to take care of. Understand?”

“Yes,” she said firmly. Boy did she understand. His meaning was coming through loud and crystal clear. “All I’ve ever wanted to do was put this…episode…behind me. I’ve no wish to go down memory lane.”

Gray Dog relaxed. “Very well. Then it seems I have a phone call to make and a newspaper reporter to get ready for, plus smile for the camera. My man Gunner will wait with you outside.”

The shooter, aptly named Gunner, strode forward and took her arm. She didn’t look down as he steered her to the door. She had no wish to see Axe’s lifeless body. And she absolutely had no desire ever to see the inside of the Demon Devil’s bar again.