Page 65 of Baja
“The next thing I know, the driver of the other car is pointing a gun at us. Nash shouted. I got down. When I looked back up, he’d been shot.”
Caroline pales, and a tangible silence falls over the room.
“Oh, God no.” I bring my hand to my mouth. Sukie breaks away from Harlem and rushes to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
“Did you see where the bullet hit?” Salem’s eyes flicker with barely controlled anger.
Lily shakes her head. “I can’t be sure, but he was bleeding along his left side. Nash took us down a dirt road. He slowed down and told me to jump.” Lily cries harder. “I didn’t want to leave him.” She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I hid in the woods as Nash sped off. Waited until I thought it was safe, then found my way back to the road, where a nice old man gave me a lift, dropping me off here.” Lily’s eyes dart toward me, sadness clouding her features. “Alice, I’m sorry.”
Not wanting Lily to think this is her fault, I let go of Sukie and lower myself to the sofa’s edge. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Nash was looking out for you and your baby.”
With no time to spare, Salem stays on course by cutting in, “I need you to tell me everythin’ you can about the vehicle chasin’ you and what the driver looked like.”
Lily’s lower lip quivers. “The car was a black SUV. I didn’t get a good look at the guy,” she states, and Harlem and Mystic share a look. “I’m sorry, that’s all I remember.”
Salem gives Lily a nod of approval. “You did good,” he acknowledges her effort. After a moment, his attention shifts to his men. “Church,now,” he commands.
With the men gone, I find myself trapped in the room’s stillness, forced to wait for a miracle that seems out of reach. A deep sense of helplessness gnaws at my every thought. Thoughts of what Nash could be going through cause unease to wash over me, settling in the pit of my stomach. Visions of him lying somewhere, bleeding out, send my emotions into a tailspin.
How can the universe be so cruel as to introduce such an extraordinary man into my life only to snatch him away from me?
22
BAJA
Pain radiates through my skull and my ribcage as I wake up, accompanied by the copper tang of blood filling my mouth. My vision blurs as I struggle to open my eyes, but I can make out the dim light of a single bulb hanging above me. I go to move my arms, but I’m met with resistance. My wrists burn where they’re tied behind my back, and my knees ache from the cold, hard floor.
“Rise and shine, motherfucker.” The voice I hear is gravelly and mocking.
I blink hard, my vision clearing and eyes locking onto the bastard before me?—
Havoc.His face is a void, revealing nothing but cold indifference. Two men, arms crossed like impenetrable walls, are towering behind him, while a tripod stands between them, a phone bound to it with duct tape and the lens glaring at me.
“I underestimated your driving skills.” Havoc crouches down to my level. “Imagine my surprise not finding my bride among the wreckage with you.” He lifts his hand, takes a drag from the cigarette between his fingers, and blows smoke in my face. He stares intently at the glowing end of the cigarette, then brutallypresses it against my neck, unleashing a vicious burn that ignites a wave of pain. “Thought you could keep her from me, motherfucker? She’smine,” he sneers.
I spit blood on the ground between us, smirking while fighting back a wave of nausea because my head feels like it’s splitting open. “You so hard up that you have to keep a broken woman prisoner to get your ugly ass some pussy?”
The backhand comes fast, snapping my head to the side. Stars explode in my vision, and I taste more blood.
Adding fuel to the fire, I laugh through the pain.
Havoc leans in close, his breath reeking of whiskey and cigarettes. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?” He stands and steps back, snapping his fingers.
A couple of men drag someone into the room, a man whose salt-n-pepper beard and weary eyes I would recognize anywhere.Uncle Jax.I struggle against the ropes cutting into my wrists. My uncle looks rough, shirtless, with blood smeared down his face. His eyes find me, steady and defiant as ever. He doesn’t flinch as one of the men shoves him to the ground. My eyes flick to the two motherfuckers who brought him in, their smug faces smirking at me.
I recognize their faces, too.
They’re the two bastards who took off, leaving their friend behind the night they jumped me at the strip club.
Havoc looks at his men. “Make the call.” He stands in front of me and Jax, facing the phone.
“Baja…” I hear the hardness in Salem’s voice. “Where are you?”
Havoc steps to the side, and Salem’s face appears on the phone screen. “Nothin’ like a family reunion,” Havoc mocks.
“You’ve picked the wrong club to fuck with, Havoc,” Salem growls.
“You have something that belongs to me, Raven. And if I don’t get her in the next two hours?—”
