Page 70 of No Mercy

We were coming up on the lake, and I assumed that we would be taking a turn somewhere. I took in our surroundings, noticing another camp off to the right. It was a dead end, but if that wasn’t enough to convince me that it was our destination, what met my eyes next was. There were six motorcycles parked near the small, faded green house, and one of the riders was standing guard right outside the door with a gun already in his hand.

My heart stopped, as did my breathing. I stopped the truck because Rock had stopped. When he got off his bike I immediately opened the truck door and stepped out. Rock swung my way when he heard the door slam shut.

“Stay put!” he snapped, causing me to jerk to a halt. He’d never used that menacing tone with me before, and it got my attention. He pivoted back to the man standing guard. “I know the assholes inside heard us. Tell Boomer to get the fuck out here with my son.” His rigid stance revealed that he was struggling to hold on to his control.

“Just a minute.” The man walked to me and the truck, making a show at looking me over, the truck, and then around it, and I sensed that he was looking for hidden threats. He walked toward me with a cocky grin on his whiskered face. My gaze went past him to Rock, who remained like a statue. “You hiding anyone?”

My heart jumped, but I didn’t answer him. My stubbornness received a small grin of approval from Rock. The man took a quick peek inside the cab at the floor area, and then at the empty truck bed. I held my breath, willing myself to remain calm and not give anything away by looking guilty. If he discovered Clay he’d kill him before Clay would have a chance to move. When he bent as if to search beneath the truck, I knew that I had to divert him.

“Where’s my son?” I hissed. He straightened and looked at me. His nasty grin angered me, and I lost control. I took several steps in the direction of the cabin. “I want my son!” I didn’t get far. The man caught up with me and wrapped a heavy arm across my chest, spinning me toward Rock, when Rock made a move toward us.

“Easy, big man,” he growled against my ear. He pointed his gun at Rock, keeping me tight against the front of his body. “I haven’t got orders to kill you yet, but nothing was said about crippling you.”

“Do it,” Rock snarled.

“No!” I cried out, struggling to pull free.

“Can’t. Boomer wants that pleasure.”

I gasped with fear, trying to pull away but he was stronger than me. The next thing I knew he was walking us backwards toward the cabin.

“Take your fucking hands off her,” Rock growled in a low, grisly tone. He had barely opened his mouth, and I could see his hands fisting at his sides. If it weren’t for the gun pointed at me, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to go after the man.

Behind me I heard the cabin door open, and I twisted enough so I could see who it was. “Sam!” I cried out. Suddenly I was released and rushing to my son.

“Mom!” he said in a childish voice of happy surprise.

I fell to my knees and scooped him into my arms. “Are you okay, honey?” I ran my hands over him, searching for any injuries. Other than being dirty and disheveled he appeared unharmed.

He wrapped his little arms around me and held tight. “I’m okay. He said you and dad would come for me.”

For the first time I noticed the pant legs next to me. Not letting go of Sam I glanced up, taking in the familiar biker garb I’d grown used to seeing, until finally coming to the man’s face. I gasped. I hadn’t seen him since our girls’ night out, but I recognized who he was. His hair was a little longer, shaggier, and he wasn’t clean cut now as he had been then, but the scar cutting through his eyebrow was the same. He was smiling down at me as if we were friends.

“You got what you fucking wanted,” Rock said from a few feet away. “Now let them go.”

I stood with the intention of walking back to the truck, Sam’s little hand clenched in mine. I had barely taken a step when a hand grasped my upper arm and I was jerked back.

“Not so fast.” I tried to pull away. “I’ve had time to think while waiting for you to get here.” I didn’t like his smirk, or the painful way he squeezed my arm. It was as if he were silently antagonizing Rock by making it clear that he was keeping me from walking away. “I was wondering what would hurt you more, losing your kid or losing your woman?”

I didn’t like the sensation of doom moving over me. A full minute went by as the words just hung there between us. Rock’s set expression revealed nothing of what he must be feeling inside. I glanced down at Sam, giving his little hand a squeeze to get his attention. His expression revealed that he hadn’t grasped the dangerous situation we were in, yet he waited patiently for me to say something.

“Then I thought, why not take both of them?”

No! I screamed inside. I wouldn’t let him! I reacted in fear and pushed Sam in front of me, yelling, “Sam, run! Hide in the woods!” He hesitated only briefly before taking off in a sprint toward the trees behind Rock. He didn’t look back, and I watched with relief when he disappeared from sight. “Don’t stop, Sam!” I hollered after him.

I prayed these men wouldn’t use violence against a small child, but when the man who’d been guarding the camp raised his gun I could only stare in silent shock. The next second the gun was chopped viciously out of his hand.

“You fool! I don’t want him dead. Go after him!”

With a grunt the man picked up his weapon and followed in the direction Sam had run, but when he neared Rock he came up against a brick wall. Rock stepped into his path and delivered a solid punch to the man’s jaw and gut, giving Sam more precious seconds to get away. “Run, Sam!” I screamed loudly, watching the man hit the ground. He raised his gun to fire at Rock, but Rock kicked it out of his hand.

It was over before it had even begun. The man next to me fired a warning shot, hitting the ground close to where Rock and the other man were fighting. Both looked in our direction. “The next shot goes into your pretty woman.”

Rock instantly grew still. The man he’d been fighting took the opportunity to punch Rock in his jaw. The force staggered Rock, but he remained on his feet. “You hit like a woman,” he taunted. The man drew back his arm to hit Rock again.

“Stringer!” the man next to me hollered in a warning voice, halting the other biker in the middle of his swing. Stringer looked back at us questioningly. “The kid?” Stringer dropped his arm and took off into the woods.

My gaze met Rock’s. His jaw was already swelling. In spite of our situation he gave me a wink, and it was enough to give me hope that we might make it out of this. I was close to losing it, worry over Sam and the unknown overwhelming me. If Stringer caught up to him he wouldn’t kill him, and that knowledge gave me a small comfort.

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