Page 86 of Trick or Treat

She didn’t doubt for a second that if she was successful in escaping and warning Trick, her life would be forfeit. Kurtis would take what he wanted from her, then throw her to the wolves. He’d sell her to some sadistic, fat, bald, smelly man, she just knew it.

Chancing a look out the office window, her heart sank as the men closed the door on the truck hauling the women. Shit, shit, shit. It was now or never. When Kurtis came back in the room, she’d need to make her move. But what could she do? The office had walls a third of the way up and then the rest of the wall was glass. Because of the open view, she wasn’t able to rummage around in the desk. She could only scour the room at a glance. Her heart sank as she realized there was nothing she could use as a weapon.

There was a loud bang at the front of the warehouse. She couldn’t see what made the noise with the big truck blocking her view. It didn’t matter. Kurtis was headed her way and by the way his face was scrunched and red, he was mad about something. At the sound of what she believed to be firecrackers going off, Kurtis sped up, his eyes pinning her in place where she stood. Reading the intent in his eyes, she knew this was it. She had to make her move, whatever it might be. She dropped her blanket to the floor as she stood. “What’s going on? What was that noise?”

“We’re leaving.” He grabbed her roughly by the arm and started to tug her toward the exit. Lindsey dug her heels in causing him to stop and yank her into his body, shaking her. “We don’t have time for your shit right now. We need to leave. Right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” She shouted in his face at the same time she nailed him as hard as she could in the balls with her knee. His breath rushed out of him, his hands immediately cupping his hopefully broken dick and he hit his knees, tears in his eyes. “You fucking bitch!”

Not wanting to blow her one chance at freedom, she bolted from the office, heading in the opposite direction of all the noise. She prayed there was an exit at this end or she was screwed. It was a huge warehouse so there had to be numerous emergency exits, right? She spotted a lighted red EXIT sign and bolted for it. She hoped no one noticed she was trying to escape or she could very well end up shot in the back.

Slapping the arm bar, she pushed the door with all her might. The first thing to register was she was free! The second was the frigid temperature and the fact that she still didn’t have a coat. She’d left the blanket behind in her haste to escape Kurtis. The third thing to register was a big leather gloved hand coming down over her mouth from behind as a strong arm wrapped around her middle, pinning her arms at her sides. Another man dressed in jeans, boots and a leather jacket blocked her way, his palms up and out as if he were trying to settle down a wild animal.

“Lindsey,” a man’s voice she didn’t recognize whisper/shouted in her ear. “Settle down. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m with Trick. We’re here to rescue you.” She continued to struggle in his arms until he said, “See that guy in front of us? Check out his cut. We’re Sons of Redemption.”

The man in front of her turned so she could get a good look at his back and the Sons patch covering it. It took a second, but she finally let it sink in that she was being rescued. Trick had come for her.

The adrenaline that had launched her into action left her body as quickly as it had given her speed and strength to make a run for it. Her knees seemed to give out beneath her, the man behind her catching and supporting her weight. “Come on. Let’s get you to the truck.” The man behind her scooped her up in his arms and took off at a pretty good clip. The other man had his gun out, his gaze swiveling side to side, looking for bad guys.

She vaguely registered that she was being carried along the side of the warehouse, toward the back of the building and across the cracked parking lot. Once he hit the equally cracked sidewalk, he ran for half a block to where a black SUV waited for them. She was placed in the backseat, the man hopping in beside her and closing the door. “Hi. I’m Chris. I’m one of Trick’s club brothers. That guy up there, he’s Tulsa.”

The guy called Tulsa turned to say hello, then started the vehicle, cranking the heat on high. He looked familiar. Where had she seen him before? Oh yeah, he was the other guy in the threesome she’d barged in on. Why that registered right now, she didn’t know. What she really wanted to know was the whereabouts of Trick.

“Where’s Trick?” she asked. Her heart was racing so fast, she thought for sure it would beat right out of her chest.

“He’s inside dealing with that motherfucker that took you,” Chris informed her as he looked out the tinted windows. “Come on, Tulsa. Let’s go.”

“Wait! What? We’re just going to leave without knowing if Trick is all right or not?” Lindsey made to climb over Chris’s lap, needing to get to Trick.

“Whoa! Hang on there, darlin’. Our job is to get you out safe and take you back to the clubhouse. Trick and the others will meet us there.” Chris had both hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to settle back into her seat. He went so far as to reach across her, grab the seatbelt and secure it across her body. He reached out and turned her face so that she was forced to look at him. “Lindsey. It’ll be all right. They know what they’re doing. If you go back in there, Trick’s focus will be on you and whether or not you’re safe instead of on what he needs to do to keep himself and our brothers safe. Understand?”

Lindsey understood what Chris was saying but it didn’t make it any easier to leave Trick behind. She nodded her head. “Yes.”

“Good. Tulsa, let them know we have her.” Chris tipped his head at the man in the front seat.

Tulsa phoned someone, let them know she was safe and hung up. He put the vehicle in drive and took off.

19

Trick waited for Jackson to pull their SUV to a stop behind the one carrying Race, Dagger, Jed and Tulsa. He, Jackson, Chris and Lance piled out and met up with the others between the two vehicles. A third vehicle pulled up and out stepped Maverick, Tuck, and Darren.

The sun would be coming up soon, and they all wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. Trick’s heart was hammering in his chest, the need to lay eyes on Lindsey almost more than he could bear. If Kurtis Black had hurt her in any way, Trick was going to enjoy killing him slowly. Painfully.

It was inconceivable that the man was involved in human trafficking. When Kylie told them what she was able to piece together regarding Kurtis and his business dealings, they’d all been floored. Who did that kind of thing? Sure the Sons did some questionable things, but only if it was necessary. Such as making Kurtis pay tenfold for whatever he’d done to Lindsey.

Before the group could split off and surround the warehouse, they heard a noise coming from behind the last SUV. They all pulled their weapons, spun and leveled them on the possible threat creeping toward them in the dark. Two men, one a little over six feet tall and the other a couple of inches shorter, emerged from the shadows. They were dressed in all black and walked toward them with their hands up and out in a nonthreatening manner.

“Gentlemen.”

“Mav.” Race didn’t need to say any more than that for Maverick to pull a small penlight out of his pocket and shine it on the two men who apparently had a death wish. “Fucking Preacher?”

“Yes. That would be me.” He held his hand in front of his face, blocking the momentary blinding light.

“Fuck me,” Jackson mumbled next to Trick.

Fuck me was right. Preacher was the undisputed top crime boss in Lost Junction. It was rumored that there wasn’t anything he didn’t deal in—guns, drugs, women. Everything had a price. He was known to be ruthless in his business dealings and if someone ever thought of fucking him over, they never got a chance to do it twice. He, like the Sons of Redemption, had his own code of justice. Something along the lines ofdon’t fuck with me or I will end you.

So far, the Sons had never had occasion to deal with the man. He had his territory and the Sons had their own. Seeing Preacher here, in their territory, left Trick wondering what the fuck would bring him to Redemption. Now? At this warehouse? At the same time as the Sons were here?

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