“Why would he try to use me against you? I don’t even know you,” Lily protested.
“Look at me, Lily. It’s obvious.” His eyes stared into hers.
“No.” Lily shook her head, denying the possibility, squeezing her eyes closed as if she could make him disappear. She couldn’t shove the truth away, though. Lily gave a bitter laugh. “So not only was my mother a prostitute, my father was her pimp?”
King nodded his head. “Among other things. I’m afraid being a pimp isn’t the worst of my sins. You didn’t stand a chance.”
Lily lowered her head, her hair falling forward to hide her face. “Do you even know that I didn’t know that fathers existed? That when I found out, I cried for three days? Do you even know the things she did to me and made me do?!” Lily’s eyes raised, the purple depths filled with hatred stared at King who went pale at her outburst.
His face quickly became an impassive mask; however, Lily saw the torture in the eyes that were so much like her own, and her hatred fell away, replaced with pity. She had suffered for eight short years while this man had suffered for much longer than that.
“I…” King cleared his throat. His impassive voice belied the eyes staring back at her. “I didn’t know. My sister was violently murdered. She had been kidnapped and cut to shreds. I loved my sister. It was why I did some of the things I did when I began my business, so I could drag her out of the filth of that neighborhood. When she died like that, I swore I’d never let anyone hold someone over me like that again. The men I dealt with were too dangerous. The night they returned Ariel’s body, I had to make the arrangements for her funeral and pick out the clothes they were going to bury her in the next day.”
Kings hand ran through his dark hair. “I went back to my apartment, got drunk and did some coke. Brenda must have come by. I don’t even remember the bitch being there. I remember stinking like sex the next morning, but I didn’t remember anything from that night. I stayed out of the neighborhood Brenda lived in. It brought back too many memories.
“Then, one of my girls got hurt bad. I went there to settle a score and as I was leaving, I heard kids laughing—little girls. It’s an unmistakable sound. I looked over at the playground and I saw you. You looked exactly like my sister had at that age. When Brenda came outside to get you, yelling at you to go inside, I knew what that bitch had done.
“I made her come to my office. She said she didn’t tell me about you because she was afraid I would kill her. She was right. It was everything I could do not to kill her that day. The only reason I didn’t was because I knew that I didn’t want you hurt like Ariel. You were too beautiful to drag into my world.
“I gave her money for you. She had enough to move out of that rat hole, but she stayed there to be closer to her suppliers. I knew she was doing drugs, so I paid Marshall to move in with her to keep an eye on you, to protect you. Instead, he became another one of your tormentors.
“I had no idea what she was doing to you until that night when Marshall called. He was so mad at Brenda for letting another man have you that he called me. I don’t think the dumb bastard thought I would ask you. I knew the son of a bitch wouldn’t care if Brenda fucked fifty men.” His voice was full of disgust.
“So you killed them then started the fire.”
“I enjoyed it. I wish I could have brought them back to life and done it again.” His eyes blazed hatred for the people he had so ruthlessly killed.
“How did Beth’s parents come to adopt me?”
“Saul Cornett was my uncle. I called him and asked him if he would take you. He said he would, but he told me that if he did, I had to agree to stay away. He wasn’t going to endanger his child. He knew Ariel had been killed because of me. I had an acquaintance in the morgue that falsified papers of a body there, showing you had died in the fire. I wanted to make sure no one would ever think to look for you.”
“So, he was my great-uncle?”
“Yes. He was a religious fanatic, but I knew he wouldn’t touch you.” Lily didn’t tell him that her adopted father had been a sadist who had tortured Beth. Lily wondered if he hadn’t touched her because of Beth and the Sheriff’s threats or because of King.
“You’re the one who owned the house behind ours?”
King smiled at her ingenuity. “Yes. That way I could keep an eye on you. I would always vacation there during the summer because you were outside more often. You grew into a beautiful woman, Lily. I heard you got married during Christmas.”
Lily nodded her head. “Small town gossip. I suppose you know everything about me, probably from just talking to a waitress at the diner.”
King nodded his head. “All except one thing. Are you happy? When I would see you during my trips, you always seemed so reserved, I never could tell.” Lily thought she heard a small break in his voice when he asked the question.
“Yes, I’m very happy. I couldn’t have asked for a better sister. I have friends who I care about, and I love my husband, Shade. He’s everything to me,” she said softly, seeing her answer was important to him.
King nodded his head.
“Take me back to him. Shade and The Last Riders can keep me safe from whoever wants to hurt you.”
“You’ve almost been killed twice because Digger has a hit out on you. I have to take care of Digger or you’ll never have a normal life,” King said resolutely.
“How do you plan to stop him?” Lily saw she wasn’t going to change his mind.
“I have a meeting scheduled in two hours. I’m going to let him have me. Once he kills me, you become unimportant. Of course, I’m planning on taking the bastard with me to Hell.”
* * *
When the Last Riders pulled into the parking lot of Rosie’s bar, The Predators were already there waiting.
Viper and Cash pulled to the front while Shade rode his bike to the other side of Viper where the three waited.
Ice and Max rode their bikes forward, and the men faced each other down.
“Where’s Rip?” Ice’s cold eyes searched the riders behind them.
“You mean, Eightball?” Viper asked sarcastically. He pointed to the mountain ridge to their left. Two men moved to the edge, one held with a gun to his head.
“Are you going to tell us why you planted a traitor in our club and what the fuck it’s got to do with Lily? Or is your brother going to take a leap of faith?” Viper finished, turning back to Ice.
Ice gave a whistle and two bikes at the back of the lot moved. Penni stood with a gun to her head. The terrified look on her face made Shade want his rifle; however, he knew the men wanted their brother as much as he wanted his sister.
“Ice, man, this wasn’t part of the plan.” Two men toward the back got off their bikes, walking forward. Shade remembered the one with the goatee from the diner. The second one was recognizable to anyone that could turn a television set on.
“I told you I would let you talk, Colton. You got ten minutes before I do my own fucking talking.”
The one named Colton walked a step closer to Viper before the large man next to Ice put an arm in his way, stopping him.
“My name is Colton, this is Kaden. Our wives were friends with Lily when she was a little girl. A man named Digger runs a sex ring; he kidnaps young women then sells them as slaves. Digger is in a power struggle with a man named King. Last year, my wife was kidnapped and held hostage by Digger to gain information to destroy King.”
“What did she know?” Shade asked.
“That King had a daughter, Callie. Your wife, Lily. It was only when Penni started working for us that we discovered Callie was still alive. Unfortunately, so did Digger.”
“That must be who’s been trying to kill her,” Shade said thoughtfully.
Shade saw the men pause and look at each other. “We weren’t aware someone had tried to kill her yet. We didn’t know until Friday, when Digger escaped, that he was aware of Callie. They found information that he had taken a hit out on Callie.
&nbs
p; “Our wives have been tortured by this information. They love Callie and want to be reunited with her, but didn’t attempt to do so because they didn’t want to lead Digger to her. Ice was doing me a favor by trying to put a man in to keep an eye on Callie, and to be honest, make sure she was happy. That’s important to them.
“If you bring Callie here, she can confirm that she knows them. She was just eight, but she should have been old enough that she would recognize one of them. We have them waiting. When you bring Callie, I’ll send for our wives to be brought in.”
“What’re your wives’ names?” Shade questioned.
“Sawyer and Vida. Are you willing to bring Callie?” Colton asked.
“There’s a problem with that. She’s missing,” Shade said, carefully watching their reaction.
Shade could tell from their faces that they didn’t have Lily. They had told them what they knew. Viper could tell, too. That was why he lifted his hand. The two men disappeared from the edge of the cliff.
“You can have your man back. Any idea where Digger would take her?” Viper asked.
“No. He’s been in prison. We don’t know where the houses he operates are or which routes he still has open. The FBI have been trying to find information and can’t. That’s why they didn’t kill the bastard when they took him in custody.”
The sound of a motorbike filled the air as Train pulled into the lot behind Viper. Rip got off the back of the bike, going to his brothers who started cheering.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Shade’s voice snapped out.
“Jackal!” Ice yelled.
The man holding the gun moved it away from Penni’s head, and he gave her a shove forward.
She turned around and spat into his face. “Asshole.”
The men around him broke into jeers as she walked through their midst. When she reached Kaden and Colton, Kaden reached out to touch her, but she jerked her arm away, going straight to her brother and climbing on the back of his bike.
“How long has she been gone?” Ice asked.
“Since this morning,” Shade answered.
“Need some help?” Ice questioned, reaching his hand out for Viper to shake in truce.
Viper shook his hand. “Couldn’t hurt. Tell us what you know about Digger?”
Shade listened to the men, gradually coming to the conclusion that only one man had the power to save Lily.
It was time to call Lucky.
Chapter 40
The knock came ten minutes earlier than he said he would be there, but Shade didn’t have time to waste.
“Come in.”
Shade walked into his office, seeing his brother standing by the window.
“Lucky, I wouldn’t ask if I had a choice.” Shade’s harsh voice sounded hollow in the room.
“I’ve stood looking out this window for a lot of years, Shade. It took me over a year after your father opened the investigation into the pipeline going through here to find a connection. Then I had to find a way into the community, which wouldn’t arouse suspicion. I’m a month away from closing down a pipeline that runs through nine states, carrying drugs and guns, and you’re asking me to blow my cover for one woman when the men I’m getting ready to arrest have killed hundreds while I’ve had to sit and wait to get enough evidence to bring them all down. We have all the warrants, everything gone because of one woman.”
“Lucky,” Shade said, forced to do what he had never done before. “Brother, please. I can’t lose her. I’m not like you and the others. I can pretend I have emotions, but they’re not there for anyone. There’s nothing inside of me except shadows. Lily drives the shadows away. She feels everything she can’t even stand to crush a fucking flower under her foot and I don’t feel anything unless I’m with her, I can’t lose that. I waited so long for her, I’ve loved her for years; she’s only loved me for a few weeks.
“When I first saw her all I could think about was fucking her. Then I saw her at the lake with Beth, I felt her fear but I saw the look she gave to Beth. She loved and trusted her, knew that Beth wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” Shade swallowed hard uncomfortable opening himself to anyone especially Lucky. “I wanted her to look at me that way, needed her to look at me that way. I wanted to give her a life away from the darkness that I saw had touched her beautiful soul.” Shade’s face twisted into a painful mask. “I’ve taken countless lives, and never felt an ounce of emotion that’s why they recruited me in the military. One psychologist even joked after my evaluation I had been born without a soul, and it was true until that day at the lake. I fell in love with her that day, there is no other woman for me, there never will be. Lily is my gateway to Heaven without her the only thing left for me is Hell.
“You used to believe in something more important than that badge you carry. I’m begging you to save me brother because, as God is my witness, I will kill you if you don’t help me.”
“I wouldn’t do it for anyone. Not my mother or any brother, not for a million fucking dollars, and especially not because of any fucking threat of yours. But, I will for Lily.”
“Thank you.” Shade’s mind caught on something. “Wait a minute. You said you have the warrants? I think I know how we can get Lily back and serve those warrants at the same time. Call your boss.”
* * *
They stayed in that tiny room, letting the day go by. At one point, Lily thought she heard a plane breaking the monotony for a few precious minutes until she could no longer hear the sound and the deadened silence returned. Her fingertips played with the red rubber band that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to snap.
Lily saw King look at his watch. “I’m going to leave Henry with you. He’s going to drive you back to your husband at nightfall. By then, it should be over.”
“You don’t have to handle it like this. I know the Sheriff here; he’ll keep us both safe,” she pleaded.
“In this little backwater town? Your town has never dealt with men like us who barter with life every day. As long as Digger is alive, he will chase you. The only way to stop him is if one of us is dead.” King’s voice was flat as he described a life that had been spent always looking over his shoulder.
King walked to the doorway, turning back before he went out the door. “I’m sorry, Lily. If it’s any consolation, you were better off without me. I would have made a lousy father.” King turned to walk through the doorway, leaving her without a goodbye.
One moment he was walking out the door, and in the next second, a gun blast and shattering glass sounded from the other room. Lily ran toward the sound, seeing King lying with blood pouring out of his chest.
Another gun blast sent glass splattering from another window, punching a hole in the plaster in the wall behind her. Lily screamed as more shots ricocheted into the house.
“Get down!” King yelled.
The big man, who had driven them to the house, came running into the room carrying a gun in his hand. He grabbed Lily’s arm, forcing her to her knees.
“How many, Henry?” King asked, putting his hand to his chest.
Henry dragged her to a corner of the room, forcing her down onto her stomach. Then he scooted to a window facing the front of the house. He didn’t say anything, just turned back to face his boss. For a second, the men shared a glance and Lily knew she wouldn’t be going home to Shade again.
“I’m sorry, Lily. I always fuck up with you, don’t I? I told you I was a lousy father.”
As more shots were fired into the room, Lily screamed, covering her head with both her hand and arms. She started praying, over and over, hoping this time God was listening.
“What are you doing?” King’s head turned on the floor toward her.
“I’m praying.”
“Well, it’s certainly the time for it. Say one for me. God knows I need it.” He tried to sit up, finally managing to get up on an elbow, and then slid himself toward the window by Henry.
“Okay.” Lily kept praying.
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She heard him laughing, pulling a gun out of his suit coat. “Henry, did you ever think a daughter of mine or Brenda’s would even know what a prayer was?”
“No, sir.” More shots came flying into the room.
Lily stopped praying for a second. “How come you’re not shooting back?”
Both men burst out laughing.
“I knew there was a part of me in there somewhere. We’re not shooting because I want to save it for when they try to come into the house.”
Lily started praying again when another round began.
“Come on out, King, and I’ll let the girl live,” a voice yelled from the outside.
“Digger, if you want me, come and get me. We both know you don’t plan on killing her.”
When a noise from the back sounded, Lily looked over at King; they only had minutes left. “Why didn’t you just take me and disappear, instead of driving and leaving me with my parents? Why didn’t you just keep me?” Lily asked with unshed tears in her eyes.
King turned from looking out the window to face her. This time he made no attempt to hide his tortured expression. “Don’t you remember what happened after we left the apartment?”
Lily shook her head.
“You were hysterical. You thought I was going to kill you, too. You didn’t stop screaming until we got to Saul’s house and you saw Beth. She rocked you until you fell asleep. I left while you were still sleeping. I didn’t want you to wake up and see me.”
Lily sat, staring at him, hearing the men coming from the back of the house. Knowing they only had seconds left, she said what she knew they both needed to hear the most before they died. “Daddy, I forgive you.”
“What in the hell have you gotten yourself into now, Lily?”
Lily turned to look at the three men running hell-bent across the room, taking positions around it.
“Dustin, Greer and Tate? What are you doing here?” Lily found herself laughing in stunned disbelief.
“You’ve got everyone in the fucking country searching for you. The FBI, the ATF, even the motherfucking CIA. What shit have you stirred up?” Dustin gave her his usual shit-eating grin.