A Promise to Return (Shadow Souls MC Book 3) (3 page)

Chapter Six

Chad was sitting around a table with members of
the Shadow Souls, and he didn’t think he would be able to look any of them in the eye. Sierra was sitting next to him, holding his hand. He could feel the massive diamonds on her engagement ring against his palm though, reminding him of her how far away she was from him. Talk was flying around him—about how they were going to seek revenge on James and what Sierra’s role was going to be.

If all this went according to plan, she would be widowed and available for marriage again. However, Chad wasn’t sure if it would be as easy as that. She had left him without bothering to listen to his side of the story, even for a moment.

It was much easier to forgive the Shadow Souls. They had been innocent victims. They had nothing to do, really, with anything that had happened to him.

However, Sierra had taken part in everything. He wondered if he was being a bit cruel about all of this, but in some ways it was deserved. It was very hard to sort it all out. Chad knew that he needed to get away from the drama and chaos, so he could sort out his thoughts and feelings about Sierra. He pulled his hand from hers, clasp his two hands on the table in front of him and said, “All right. People are throwing around all these plans, and they are all well and good, but do you really think they will do anything? We have the perfect little spy and infiltrator now.”

“What do you mean?” Sierra asked.

“Mrs. James Northorp,” responded Chad.

Sierra stared at him. “You want me to go back there?”

“You’re the one who wants to go through with this whole plan.”

“All right. So, what do you propose?”

“That you go back home and feed Northorp some lines about our plans and what we are going to do. We will talk care of everything else.”

“Do I get to know the plan?”

“It is probably better if you don’t,” he said, knowing that he was being needlessly cruel to her.

“Is it wise that I even reveal that I’ve been here?”

“I’m sure he knows.”

“I guess so. I didn’t think I would be going back.”

Chad bit back a retort toward her. His life kept spinning around in circles, more accurately up and down from the highest heights to the lowest pits.

“So, I’m just supposed to come up with some reason why I came back?” Sierra said.

“Say I rejected you. Say that you got scared. Say anything you wish,” Chad responded.

“All right, then. I guess I will see you soon, then.”

“We will let you know.”

The hurt in her eyes was painful to him, but the longer he was around her the more he found his image of her as perfect and lovely falling away. She was human, full of flaws, sins, and mistakes. Although some part of him found that more endearing than any sort of perfect image, it still did not mean he trusted her yet.

She quietly walked out of the room, and soon they heard her car pulling away.

The other men sitting around the table glanced at him a little awkwardly. “You okay, man?”

“Yes. I’m fine. I just need to sort out some things. Okay?”

“It’s cool.”

They got back to their planning and Chad was able to throw himself into it fully. It was easier than trying to deal with all the variables in his potential relationship with a woman whose husband he might kill in the next few weeks.

Chapter Seven

Sierra tried to hold back tears as she drove home. Chad was so furious with her
, even after she searched for him, set him free, and apologized. She wondered if he had a right to be angry, especially since she had been pretty awful to him. She had married someone else, so now she knew that she had to prove to him that she was worth forgiving and accepting again.

She decided that she would make sure she played her role in this war perfectly, so he could find no fault with her. She would make sure she showed how much she cared—that was all she could do, and she would do it perfectly.

She pulled into her driveway. It was almost one in the morning, but she had a story worked out. It had holes, but it was at least partially believable, considering the current state of her appearance.

She slipped into the house. The lights were out or dimmed, and everything was in shadow. She slipped off her shoes and tread through the house, a sense of dread grew within her as she snuck through the quiet halls. James knew something was up, and he wasn’t going to let her get away with something like this. He would see it as an affront. She silently asked herself, “Am I just going to be living in fear now? Where is he? Is he asleep? No, his bedroom door is open and he definitely isn’t in there. Where in the world is he?”

She walked into her bedroom, turned on the light, and found him.

“Sierra.”

“James.”

“Where have you been?”

“I went to talk to some people about my brother. I want to set up a fund of some sort in his name.”

He leered at her. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“Yes. Remember the bit about trust in our whole arrangement.”

“If that’s all you went to do, why are you so late? And why do you look like that?”

“I went down there to talk to this guy; but, then I ended up overhearing something I wasn’t supposed to. Then, they found me. It was a rough couple hours, and I would appreciate it if you would let it go. I am going to get a bath, go to bed, and not wake up for a long time.” She held her chin up, trying to convey an image of confidence.

“What did you hear?”

“I’m really quite tired.”

He advanced on her, his eyes colder than usual. “Tell me. Was it important?”

“They are planning a robbery or something that will go poorly and result in some guy’s death. That’s all I know.”

“Who?”

“They didn’t say.”

He frowned. “When?”

“In the next week or so. It was the beginning stage of the plan.” He was so close to her, she could’ve sworn that he could hear her heart beating and smell fear on her.

“Fine then.”

She stepped out of the doorway. “Will you please leave me in peace then? I’ve had a long and somewhat traumatic day.”

“Fine.” He stormed out of the room, and she shut and locked the door behind him, breathing out a huge sight of relief. Somehow, he bought her story—at least enough not to throw her out right away. She just hoped she could keep this up and that the Shadow Souls wouldn’t take too long. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could live in this house. Tears started to leak out of her eyes, and she fled to the en-suite bathroom, hoping the sound of running water would cover her tears of shame and fear.

Chapter Eight

James did not trust Sierra. He did not believe her story about where she had been, what she was doing, and why she had gone. He did not believe a word of it
, and he thought that something was just off about the whole thing. In fact, for all he knew—and suspected—she was working with the Shadow Souls and Chad to try and bring him down, maybe even kill him. She had a lot of anger towards him now.

He knew he should’ve never let her free, and now it was too late to put her back into chains. He would have to be more creative with how he restricted her freedoms in the future. It would have to be completely legal and cast him in a good light, even though keeping things legal would limit his options. But then, a thought struck him.

Hurriedly, he ran to his office and logged onto his laptop. A quick Internet search gave him the information he was looking for, and the 24/7 hotline soon connected him with the right personnel. Quickly adopting the right attitude and persona for his call, he responded to the weary sounding “Hello.”

“Hi,” he said, voice husky and trembling. “I’m so sorry to call this late; but, I’m really worried about my wife right now. She hasn’t been doing too well for a long time. She came home really late tonight, her clothes all dirty and torn, and then she refused to answer any of my questions about where she had been. She locked herself in the bathroom and ran water, and I think I can hear her crying. I don’t know what’s wrong. She’s been acting weird for weeks, telling people things that aren’t true and being really secretive and… I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

“Okay, sir. Is your wife a danger to herself or anyone else?”

“I…I don’t know. Maybe. I haven’t seen anything to think she’s a danger to herself, but I’ve found some bloody shirts before. I didn’t want to assume anything, but do you think…”

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions. I think you should bring her to us as soon as you can.”

“But I can’t get her out of the bathroom!”

“Okay, sir. Calm down. Would you like one of our trained professionals to come assist you?”

“Oh yes, thank you, that would be wonderful. “ He gave the operator his address and then situated himself by the door to wait. He could still hear her in the bathtub. This would get her out of the way so that he could focus on what was really important. Also, as long as she has access to computers and phones who knew what information she was feeding to the Shadow Souls. As far as he knew, it could be anything.

In a few minutes, the medic team arrived. “Where is she?” they asked without much introduction.

“Upstairs in the fourth room on the left.”

Two burly men and a slim blond woman with horn-rimmed glasses went upstairs. James followed behind, trying to look scared.

“Mrs. Northorp, can we please come in?” the blond woman said.

“Who are you?” Sierra demanded through the door.

“We are here to help you.”

“Help me with what?” 

“How are you feeling today?”

“A little upset. Mostly I’m just tired and really confused about what you are doing here.”

“Your husband called us because he is worried about you.”

“Oh really?” she asked. “Let me talk to him for a minute.”

She wasn’t sounding very crazy and that was definitely not helping his case.

“Yes, dear?” he asked.

“What are you doing?”

“You’ve been acting strange for quite awhile now. I just want to make sure you are taken care of, that’s all.”

“Don’t you think we should’ve talked about this?”

“You wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Because you are always demanding. Of course, I don’t want to answer your questions.”

One of the burly men turned to James and said, “If this is just some domestic disagreement that you’ve called us here for, that is abuse of medical resources.”

“No, sir. I would never do anything like that. My wife has a history of mental illness, and I’m just afraid that things are surfacing for her. I just want to make sure she is safe.”

The blond woman spoke again, “Sierra, would you mind if you let just me in?”

Silence on the other side, and then the door opened. “Just her.”

They disappeared inside and very low voices could be heard, but no words could be made out. James paced nervously. His fear of what she was saying made him look like he was concerned for the so-called love of his life. After about half an hour the two emerged. “We are going to be taking Mrs. Northorp with us,” the blond woman announced. “She is in desperate need of our help and assistance. Someone will contact you tomorrow Mr. Northorp about the other details of her stay with us.”

James watched with triumphant relief, as Sierra was led out of the front door and off the premises. Now, it was his time to plan.