Page 17 of Riding Through Life

“Thanks, Dad. And by the way, Mom’s an idiot for treating you the way she did. You’re kind of badass.” I genuinely smile for the first time in a few days.

“I am pretty awesome. Which I learned from my headstrong daughter.” He kisses the side of my head that isn’t bleeding and we continue to walk.

After another two hours and several stops later, bright lights come into view, making me wince. After blinking away tears, my eyes adjust to where we are. The Royal Bastards MC Clubhouse comes into view. This is the last place I want to be right now even knowing I need to talk to Aftermath.

“Shit.”

Chapter

Thirteen

AFTERMATH

“Let’s do this shit.” Torch exclaims raising his mask to cover his face. Torch, Playboy and I are in black tactical gear, ready to take down these low-life motherfuckers. I watch Torch’s eyes light up when he hits a button on his phone. A loud explosion permeates the air a few beats later, shaking the ground under our feet. Men come running out of the house, investigating the explosion. Several of their vehicles are on fire and it’s spreading fast. They try to put the fire out and we sneak around them in the shadows.

“Big Bang, motherfuckers.” Torch’s excited voice echoes through the darkness.

“Come on,” I order, moving through the shadows toward a rundown ranch-style home. Why do these assholes always have to use a rundown shack or house in the middle of nowhere or an abandoned warehouse or hotel? Don’t they have any class? Yeah, you’re an asshole for kidnapping and abusing women, but at least have some dignity.

My mind drifts back to finding Kensi in that rundown warehouse basement with Danyella years ago chained to a bed, raped and beaten, without hope. God, I’m such a fuck up. She has been through so much in her young life, everything she has been through and came out of, the security she placed in my hands has been ripped away by my foolishness. The trust she had in me was shattered because I didn’t tell her about that skank coming on to me and letting Kensi believe the lies spewed about her and me.

Red called me before we left and told me he hacked into this bitch’s phone. Her name is Lynn Martinez and she’s from Oklahoma, moving here two months ago. He also said something didn’t add up on her timeline so he was digging further into it. She had been texting Kensi, telling her all kinds of lies about us. Instead of calling Kensi to set the record straight, I put it on the back burner until this is over.

“Aftermath, get your fucking head in the game, brother. You can fix Kensi later, but you can’t do that if you’re dead.” Torch growls in frustration.

“I’m with you, Torch. Let’s go.” We find an unlocked window in the back of the house and crawl inside. One by one, the three of us snap the necks of the guards creeping around the house as we come to them. We don’t use our guns because that will draw attention to us where we don’t need it.

Clearing each room, we finally find our mark. She’s naked and handcuffed to the frame of the bed, bruised and beaten. Blood is trickling down the side of her head and between her thighs that are covered with fresh bruises. Rage like no other penetrates my soul when I look at this teenager and Kensi’s face comes into view instead. I roar in frustration and leave the room. I kick and stomp the first dead body I find until his face is unrecognizable. Then I move to the next and the next.

One of the men who was outside with the fire comes barging into the house and when he spots me, he raises his gun and fires off a shot. It barely misses my ear and I’m on him like white on rice. I start punching him in the face repeatedly until he stops breathing. Then I punch him some more. All while thinking about the abuse Kensi suffered in that basement. Then I stomp on his body, thinking about my fuck up with Kensi and how I didn’t protect her from me.

Strong arms pull me off the dead guy and turn me to face them. I’m ready to pound someone else until Torch’s voice invades my headspace. “ENOUGH!”

I blink and the room comes into focus. Playboy is cradling the young girl wrapped in a blanket in his arms. Her head is resting on his chest. “I’m good. I’m good.” I respond holding my bloody knuckles up.

I spit on the dead guy and walk out the back door, making sure no one has the jump on us. Once the coast is clear, the three of us walk rapidly to the SUV we brought from the hotel, instead of our bikes. Once Playboy is settling in the back with the girl, I jump in the driver's seat and Torch gets in the passenger seat. He pulls out his phone and clicks another button. A fireball explodes behind us, making the mirrors light up like the Fourth of July.

“Boom, dead motherfuckers.” Torch declares. The whole area is on fire and explosion after explosion rocks the ground and shakes our SUV. No one will be able to escape that hell.

Once we get a safe distance away, Torch calls Capone putting it on speakerphone.

Capone answers in the first ring. “Tell me good news.”

“Package is secure and the office is blown away by the speed of our services.” He’s always saying weird shit like this and it drives everyone nuts, but that’s who Torch is. Take it or fuck off is what he says.

“We’ve got another issue, am I on speakerphone?” Capone asks. The tension in his voice makes me sit up straight in the driver’s seat.

“Aye, Prez. All three of us can hear you.” Torch responds.

“Good, now listen. Aftermath, I don’t want you to go off the rails but something’s happened.” My heart hammers against my chest and my stomach sinks to my toes. “Nadia, Knight and Seth went to Kensi’s Dad’s house.” Capone pauses.

My breathing is erratic and every bad situation comes flooding into my mind. Kensi is gone, she’s hurt, she’s bleeding out and no one can fix her, she’s dead, or her dad is dead. “What is it, Prez?” I growl trying to keep my temper in check.

Capone releases a deep sigh. “The house was broken into and both Sheriff Donovan and Kensi are missing. Red has been looking for them with no luck. From the images we have, they were thrown into the back of a dark SUV. Kensi wasn’t moving on her own and Sheriff Donovan was tied with a gun pointed at his head. That’s all the information we have.”

“Son of a bitch!” I shout, smacking the steering wheel. “God damn it!”

“Aftermath, calm the fuck down.” Capone demands through the phone. “We have our best guys on this and as soon as they hear anything, I will let you know.”

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