Consumed: A Devil Chaser's MC Romance (13 page)

I walked over to Bobby and placed the palm of my hand on the side of his face. “I like it when you get all protective,” I said pressing my body against his.

“Get used to it, baby. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you again,” he whispered.

“Good. Shouldn’t we see if anybody else needs anything while we’re out?” I asked him.

He let out a deep sigh before he said, “Probably, but they are gonna ask for a lot of shit. It’s gonna take a while.”

“That’s fine. It’ll be fun to get out of here for a little bit,” I told him.

“No, Courtney. This isn’t going to be a fun trip. This is just a run for supplies. You are
not
going on one of your shopping escapades,” Bobby snapped.

“I know, I know,” I told him. “No fun. Just supplies. I get it.” I rolled my eyes and followed him down the hall to find out who needed
supplies
. Supplies? Whatever. It was shopping, no matter how you sliced it.

After we asked around, we had a long list of things to get while we were out. Bobby was right. The guys had a lot that they wanted us to get for them, including toilet paper, liquor, cigarettes, and dip. It wasn’t going to be a short trip. Apparently, it had been days since anyone had been shopping, and they were low on everything.

We made several stops before heading into the supermarket. We had a pretty extensive list, so we decided to make it faster by dividing it. Bobby agreed to let Bull follow Lily and I over to the baby section, while he and Levi gathered up the groceries.

“Stay with Bull,” he told me. “I’ll be close.”

I nodded and smiled, knowing there was no way he would let me get out of his sight. When we got to the baby section, Lily and I became enthralled with all of the cute clothes they’d just put out on display.

“Look at this one!” I told her as I ran my fingers across the soft fabric. “I really hope you have a girl. It will be so much fun dressing her up in all of these cute clothes.”

“I’ll probably go overboard, but I can’t wait. There are just too many adorable things!” She picked up a little dress and turned to Bull and said, “Isn’t this one precious?”

He didn’t answer. He just rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Well, I think it’s adorable. Let’s buy it,” I told her.

“No… not yet. I don’t want to jinx anything,” Lily said with concern.

“I get that, but you don’t have anything to worry about. Everything is going to be fine with you and the baby.”

“I know. It’s just all this lockdown stuff has me worried about everything. I’ll get over it,” she confessed.

“It’ll all be over soon, Lily,” I told her.

“God, I hope so. I’m not much for being cooped up for long periods of time.”

“Amen, sister. We need to do something fun when this thing is over. By then, we’ll have lots to celebrate.”

We continued to look around the baby aisle and occasionally threw things into the cart. “You didn’t tell me that Bobby gave you your jacket,” Lily told me with her hand on her hip.

“I guess there really hasn’t been a good time to tell everyone,” I told her.

“I just wanted you to know that I’m happy for you. I’m glad you and Bobby worked everything out.”

“I was beginning to have my doubts, but I love him. I always have,” I told her.
      
We’d just about filled the entire cart when I got this weird sensation that someone was watching me. I stopped and looked around, but I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. There were a few customers doing their own shopping, and a mother was fussing at her son, but nothing unusual. Everyone looked completely normal, so I decided to ignore it. I figured it was just one of my students gawking at me. My kids never seemed to get that I had a life outside of that classroom. I smiled thinking how surprised they were when they saw me out doing everyday things.

I tried to shake off the eerie feeling and looked back over to Lily. She was standing beside Bull as he reached up to the top shelf to grab her a case of diapers. It had been pushed back, and he was having a hard time pulling it down. Lily giggled as she watched him stand on his tiptoes, so he could reach the box. He refused to ask for help. Lily’s attention was focused on Bull when a dark figure came up behind her. He stood motionless behind her, and it instantly set me on edge. I tried to get a glimpse of him, but Lily was blocking his face. Chills ran down my spine as he slowly brought his hand up to the side of her head, pointing his fingers at her temple like a gun. Lily was totally unaware of what was happening. I wanted to warn her, but I was frozen in fear. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. It had to be some kind of joke. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would do that to Lily. My mouth dropped in horror when the man finally stepped to the side, exposing his face.

The scar. The scar that had haunted my dreams for weeks was standing right in front of me. My eyes widened in fear as a wicked smile slowly crept across his face. I had no idea what he was going to do. I needed to move, to do something to get Lily’s attention. I quickly dropped the jars of baby food. The glass shattered across the floor as I started to scream. No actual words came from my mouth, just blood curdling screams that brought the attention of everyone around us. Within seconds, Bull had dropped the box of diapers and had his gun drawn, ready to take action. He looked for my source of terror, but the man with the grotesque scar was nowhere to be seen.

“It was him!” I shouted. I looked around us trying to find where he might have gone, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Who?” Bull asked frantically. “Who was it?” Several customers gasped when they saw the gun in his hand, but he just ignored them. My heart pounded in my chest, and my thoughts raced through my head. I kept seeing him standing there, smiling like he did in my nightmares.

“It was… him,” I stammered. “From the night of the accident. The man with the scar,” I pleaded with them, trying to make them understand who I was talking about. “He was standing right behind you. Pointing his fingers at you like this,” I said as I showed her what he’d done. A look of horror washed over her as she listened to my words. She shook her head, realizing the man had already gone.

Lily rushed over to me and wrapped her arms around me. “Courtney, he’s gone, honey. It’s okay,” she said, trying to calm me down.

Levi rushed over to us and said, “Bobby had eyes on Courtney the whole time. When he saw what happened he followed him out the door.”

“What?!
By
himself
?” I screeched.

“Goddamn it!” Bull shouted.

“He didn’t want me to leave you. He told me to get y’all back to the clubhouse.
Now
,” he demanded.

“I gotta call Bishop first,” Bull said as he reached for his phone.

After Bull called Bishop and told him everything that had happened, we had to stay where we were. Bishop didn’t want us to leave until Goliath and Renegade got there. He didn’t want to risk having anyone cause us problems on the way home. I was a nervous wreck. It didn’t take long for them to come rushing into the store. Goliath went straight to Lily and held her close to him as he led her out of the store. Renegade took me by the arm, and we followed them out to the truck.

Bobby was still gone when we made it back to the clubhouse. Pacing around his room, I prayed that he’d come back home safely. I hated feeling so damn helpless. Bobby was putting his life at risk, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I wanted the nightmare to be over, but I knew the worst was yet to come.

It was hours before Bobby got back to the clubhouse. He charged into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my neck. The warmth of his breath soothed me as he held me tight against him. Neither of us spoke. I held him until the tension in his muscles began to relax.

“I was worried out of my mind,” I whispered.

“I’m fine. No need for you to worry, baby. This will all be over soon,” he told me.

“I’m scared,” I confessed.

He didn’t respond. He brought his hand to my face and kissed me. It wasn’t an answer, but it would do. I trusted Bobby, and I tried to focus on what Maverick had told me a few days ago.
“Sometimes we just have to live on faith, Courtney. Believe in Bobby the way he believes in you.”
I did have faith in Bobby, and I had to trust him to take care of everything.

Chapter 20

Love has its place, as does hate.

Peace has its place, as does war.

Mercy has its place, as do cruelty and revenge.

Meir Kahane

Bobby

“The guy with the scar. What do we know about him?” Goliath asked.

“His name is Shadow. He’s the president of the club. You take him down, and his club will fall with him,” I told him.

“We need to keep an eye out for him. I don’t want him walking away from this,” Goliath snapped.

“He won’t if I have anything to do with it,” I replied.

Bishop nodded. He knew that neither of us would let him get away with what he’d done. “Everything is going as planned. They took the bait,” Bishop told us. “They think Snake has set up a meet with a barge company in Calvert City. They’ll try to do whatever they can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Who are you taking with you?” Bull asked.

“Everyone will go except you, Doc, and the prospects. We’ll need you here to watch over our families while we’re gone.”

Bull nodded, but I could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn’t happy about staying behind. He wanted to be part of the action, but we needed him there more. There was no way Bishop would leave his family unprotected.

“We leave tomorrow at 2:00. Goliath, you, and Renegade load the truck with any weapons we may need. You know they’re well armed. We’ll need to be prepared,” Bishop told them.

“On it,” Renegade replied.

“Bobby, we’re going to need some of your two-way radios for tomorrow. Bring the ones with an earpiece,” Bishop told me.

“I’ll get them,” I nodded.

“Get some rest. I need you at your best tomorrow,” Bishop told us.

We all dispersed and tried to prepare ourselves for what lay ahead. Sheppard followed Otis to the bar, while Renegade headed towards the garage. Goliath stayed to talk with Bishop, while I went to find Courtney.

      
Taylor saw me in the hall and said Courtney was waiting for me in my room. When I walked in, she was propped up on my bed with several movies sitting in front of her. She also had enough junk food for ten people spread across the foot of the bed. She smiled at me and said, “Thought you might wanna get your mind off things for a bit.”

Fuck. I loved how she always knew what I needed, even when I didn’t. I sat down on the bed beside her and said, “I’ve got a better way to take my mind off things.”

“Well, duh. We’ll do that later,” she said with a laugh and threw a pillow at me. “Now, pick a movie.”
  It w
as the perfect way to spend the night. Just being with her took my mind off of everything. She was everything I’d ever wanted and more.

We were about to walk right into a war filled with chaos and destruction. Tension was running so high among the brothers as we crossed into Kentucky that no one bothered talking. We were lost in our own thoughts. I noticed Sheppard seemed a little more on edge than usual. He wasn’t the type to let things get to him, but I could tell that something was bothering him. I was just ready to get things taken care of, so we could get back to the way things used to be.

As soon as we pulled into the cargo area, Snake started barking orders at his men. He had them scattered throughout the area, leaving no chance for the Black Diamonds to get away. Bishop didn’t want any witnesses, so he had the barge pilot release his crew for the day. The pilot seemed nervous, but Bishop talked to him and assured him that everything would go as planned.

Bishop pulled Snake to the side to discuss the expectations for the day. He gave Snake one of the earpieces I’d given him, so that they would be able to communicate back and forth. Once they finished talking, Bishop walked back over to us and instructed each of us where to go. Sheppard shook his head when Bishop told him to go to one of the rooftops.

“That’s too far. I need a better angle. We have to keep you out of the line of fire. I’ll take cover on the barge,” he protested.

“That’s not necessary,” Bishop barked.

“The hell it isn’t. I’m not taking any chances,” he retorted as Goliath handed him his weapon. “I’ve got your back, brother,” he said as he walked towards the boat ramp.

“Be careful, Shep,” Bishop warned.

“Always,” he shouted as he walked away.

I didn’t like him being away from the group, but I trusted Sheppard. He’d been through much worse and come out on the other side. No one seemed surprised by his actions as we each took an earpiece and headed to our assigned location. Bishop asked me to monitor all the security cameras. They monitored everything coming in and out of the area, so I would have no problem knowing when our guests arrived.