Page 9 of Storm the Night

“FUCK!” I yelled and then brought my hand up to my mouth, and then running my hand over the stubble on my face. My phone was still vibrating. I had a text message and missed calls. The text read,“help”and that was it. It was Calliope.Goddamn it!I called Doc back.

“Ryder. Everyone got a message from Calliope that says help. Get back to the clubhouse now.”

“I’m on my way.”

*

I lit another cigarette as I tapped the table, my leg bouncing underneath. “Where the fuck is D?” Just then the door opened and D walked in. “Where the fuck were you?”

Doc spoke up giving me a warning, “Ryder.”

I knew I had to rein it in. “I’m sorry, D. What did you find?”

D slid a folder across the table to me. “They have a cabin in a remote area of Lowell. It’s heavily wooded. I tried to ping the burner phone, but I lost signal with it. I’m guessing he either found it or they are just so remote that the signal sucks. I bet my left nut that’s where he took her.”

“What are we waiting for? Fuck only knows what he’s done to her.” I said as I stood up.

Doc spoke up. “Hold on a minute. D, did you find out if he's tied to anyone? Do we need to worry about anything there?”

“No, he just seems like a rich asshole lawyer. He has a history of defending the bad guys. Other than that, I couldn’t find anything that we should be worried about.”

“Send one of the prospects to their house and see if his truck is still there. If it is, I want him to watch the house. We need to know when he leaves because it means he’s probably heading to their cabin.” Doc looked at the end of the table.

“I’m with you, Ryder.” Sawyer said and stood up.

“I’ll go watch the house,” Romeo said. Romeo, short for Romello was one of our prospects. He hadn’t quite learned to keep his mouth shut unless spoken to but in this case, I didn’t care. Anyone that wanted to help, could.

Doc stood, “We’re all going, Ryder. We don’t know if he’s alone or not. D didn’t find anything but I’d rather we be together than you be alone and find out the hard the way. If he’s alone, he’s all yours. If he isn’t, then you have us there as back up. The most important thing is that we get Callie out in one piece.”

Every club member was strapped. I had a glock 43 in my ankle holster along with a snub nose revolver under my cut. Contrary to dickheads beliefs, I’m authorized to carry, and Idon’thave a rap sheet. I’ve never even gone to jail. Sure, I’ve had my share of fights growing up and with the club, but I’ve never gotten into any real trouble, until now. Now, I’m not afraid of what happens if it means getting Calliope out of that house and away from that narcissistic abusive asshole.

We were getting ready to go when we heard a loud crack. “It’s pouring out guys. This run just got a little more complicated,” Sawyer said.

“That won’t stop us. Get everyone loaded up into the black suburban,” Doc said. “Ryder, she’s gonna be ok. Let’s go get her.”

Nodding, I headed out the doors and jumped in the front seat. The entire way I just keep playing different scenarios in my head and hoping she was ok. If she was at their cabin, had he hurt her? He hurt her just after talking to me. I could only imagine what he may have done to her knowing she was trying to leave. The indignation I had for how he treated her was boilingand I knew there was no way I could promise that I wouldn’t kill the piece of shit if given the chance.

The crashes of thunder and flashes of lightening zig zagging across the sky told me everything I needed to know about how the night was going to go. No matter what it took, I was going to get her back. Storm or no storm, I was going to get her away from him.

Chapter 7

Calliope

Everything hurt. I hugged my aching ribs as I tried to bring myself up to sit against the bed.

The panic had set in as I remembered going to answer the door thinking it was Ryder, but it was Colin instead. The look on Colin’s face was one of sheer evil and hatred. He hated me. He was angry. He knew and I didn’t know how. My only guess was that he asked the neighbor. I took a step backward and he came charging in. I tried to run but he grabbed me by my hair and threw me into the banister. Hitting my head is the last thing I remembered.

I stood up and looked around me.The cabin.I was at our cabin. Reaching for the window blind, I looked outside to confirm my worst fear. I should’ve been in my room at Ryders. That’s what was supposed to happen, but Colin came early. He came home a day early.

Slipping on a sweater from one of the closets, I knew I needed to try and get out. I didn’t know where Colin was but if he wasn’t here then I needed to try and escape. I reached for the bedroom door, but it was locked, he locked me inside. I just kept wondering how the hell I was going to get out? My ribs hurt so bad. I went to the bathroom and pulled my shirt up and my whole stomach was riddled with bruises already. On a normal day, I bruised easy, but it was clear that Colin had kicked the shit out of me. He must’ve been drunk. That’s when it was the worst. Just lifting my shirt killed so I wasn’t sure how I was going to defend myself or even break out of the house, but I knew I had to try. Tiptoeing back over to the window, I lifted the blinds and locked them in place before trying to open the window. It was pouring out. Ryder would never find me here. I knew he must’ve been freaking out. It sounded the like the fourth of July with how much thunder and lightning there was. The sounds were what made me miss hearing the door open behind me.

“Going somewhere?” I froze as I recognized Colin’s drunk voice.

Slowly turning around, I said, “The door was locked. I was trying to figure out how to get out and around to the front door. You came back early. Why are we here?”

“I asked you for one thing, Callie.” He looked menacing. “ONE THING!” He shouted, making me jump. “I asked you to not talk to that guy. So, imagine my surprise when I called Nancy to see if you had left or if anyone came over and she told me you had a visitor.” I knew it. God, I hated living in that neighborhood.

“I don’t know what Nancy thinks she saw…” He cut me off by barreling toward me.

---