Stitch: Satan's Fury MC (18 page)

Breathe.

Slow… steady.

Damn. Why was it so hard to breathe? I inhaled through my nose, trying to keep my breaths short and shallow, so it wouldn’t hurt so much. It didn’t help. Nothing helped, and the darkness was pulling at me. I was about to just give into it, when it came to me. The one thing that could pull me out of my haze… Wyatt. My chest tightened with panic, making my lungs burn even more. When I tried to move, a pain shot to my side, reminding me of the time that Michael had broken my ribs during one of his meltdowns. I stilled myself and tried to call out to Wyatt, but only muffled cries echoed around me. When I tried to move, I realized that my arms were bound behind me. I called out again, but something was covering my mouth. Duct tape was sealed across my lips, another reason it was so hard to breathe. I could feel my heartbeat pound against my chest as panic washed over me. I was losing it. I needed to focus.

Breathe.

Slow… steady.

I couldn’t fall apart. Not now, not when Wyatt needed me. I twisted my wrists back and forth, trying to loosen the ties around my hands. Ignoring the pain, I rocked my body from side to side and quickly realized that I was confined in some kind of box or maybe the trunk of a car. Not only was I bound and gagged, I was locked away, all alone.

Alone.

I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I couldn’t stop the panic from setting in as the memories came rushing back. My heart started to beat rapidly in my chest as I thought back to the night Michael had locked me away in that damn closet. It was just once, but it made a lasting impression on me. I’d told him I was going to a movie with a friend. When I headed towards the door, he slapped me… hard. Before I had time to react, he pushed me into the closet and kicked me in the side with his boot when I tried to fight back. Seconds later the door slammed shut, and not only did he lock it, he propped a chair against the doorknob to ensure that I couldn’t get out. He had a thousand reasons why he’d gone to such an extreme, but that night I’d seen the light. There were no limits to Michael’s abuse, and the thought of my son being alone with him scared me to death. I had to get to Wyatt before Michael hurt him. Nothing else mattered. I fought against my restraints again, determined to get my hands free, but it only made it harder for me to breathe with that damn tape across my mouth.

Breathe.

Slow… steady.

I moved my wrists slowly, back and forth, until I felt my skin begin to tear against the rope. I stopped and rested for a few minutes before trying again… and again… and again. After what felt like forever, I finally started to feel the rope give around my wrists. Blood trickled down my hands as I twisted them back and forth, making them slippery. It was just enough for me to pull one hand through the rope, letting it fall free around my other hand. I quickly lifted my hand and removed the blindfold and the tape from my mouth. I laid back and took a long, deep breath, letting my eyes adjust to the dark surroundings. I was no better off without the blindfold; I still couldn’t see a thing.

I tried to lift myself up, but the stabbing pain in my head forced me back down. I reached up along the back of my neck, searching for the source of pain. I carefully ran my hand over the large knot on the back of my head, and blood covered my fingertips. I was bleeding, but it wasn’t bad enough to keep me down. I had to get the hell out. I had to get to Wyatt. I felt along the curved edges of the wall, and I quickly determined that I was indeed in the trunk of a car. Now, I just needed to find a way out.

Stitch

‡

A
s soon as
we pulled into Clearwater, I pulled over and gave Gonzalez a call. “What’s the word?”

“I got ’em,” Gonzalez told me over the phone. “Got lucky when the prick stopped for gas. Added a little agua to his tank when he went in to buy a pack of cigarettes,” he laughed.

“Where is he now?” I asked.

“Guess they figured it was gonna take ’em a while to fix his car, so they gave him one of their rentals. Followed him to the hotel down on Lumbar Street. It’s gonna take ’em a few hours to fix his car, maybe longer if Dan isn’t working in the garage today. His son, Billy, don’t know shit about engines. It could take him forever to figure out it was just water in the tank,” Gonzalez laughed.

“Did you see who he had with him?” I asked.

“Yeah. Had a kid in the backseat.”

“You didn’t see a woman with them?” I asked.

“Nah, just the kid from what I could tell,” he answered.

“I’ll be there in five. Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere,” I demanded.

“Sitting right outside his room, brother. This guy ain’t going nowhere. He’s been in there cussing and screaming for the past fifteen minutes. Just came out to the car and grabbed himself a fifth of bourbon, so it won’t be long ’till he’ll settles down,” he chuckled.

I didn’t like the sound of that, not one fucking bit. I knew very well what Michael was capable of, and I hated the thought of Wyatt and Wren in the room alone with him.

“If he starts in again, distract him,” I ordered.

“You got it,” he chuckled.

Wren should’ve been in that car and not knowing where she was gave me a sick feeling in my gut. When I couldn’t shake the feeling, I made a call to Cotton. As soon as he answered, I asked, “Need eyes on the warehouse. Gonzalez didn’t see Wren with Michael.”

“We’re here now,” Cotton confirmed.

“Have you seen any sign of her?” I asked anxiously.

“Not yet. Only one of the cameras is still working, and there has been no sign of anyone coming or going since last night. We’re securing the perimeters before we go in,” Cotton explained.

“Fuck,” I roared. “We need to get in there. See if she’s there!”

“We’ve gotta be careful with this Stitch. Don’t know how many guys they’ve got with them,” Cotton started.

“There’s no time to be careful. They might have Wren!” I let out a deep breath and said, “You just gotta see where I’m coming from here, Cotton.”

“I know damn well where you’re coming from, but you need to reign that shit in, brother. We’re playing this thing smart. Period,” he answered.

“I’m claiming her, Cotton,” I told him. “I can’t lose her.”

“And you won’t. If she’s there, we’ll get her,” he assured me. “First, we get eyes on them… see what we’re up against. Then, we’ll make our move.”

“Understood. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I told him before I hung up the phone.

With Maverick and Q’ following behind me, I pulled back on the highway and pushed the throttle forward. I couldn’t stop thinking about Wren, and the way that she looked at me when we were standing in her driveway. Until that moment, I hadn’t been sure how she truly felt about me, but seeing her standing there, pleading with me to come back to her… I knew. And knowing I felt the same way about her, I was even more determined to get to her. I sped through traffic, weaving through the cars that lined the street. Even though Gonzalez was there to keep an eye on things, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking the worst, and by the time we pulled into the hotel parking lot, I was on the brink of losing it. As soon as I parked my bike, I headed over to Gonzalez. He was standing under the stairway smoking a cigarette, and he hadn’t changed a bit since the last time I’d seen him. His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing his cut with his handgun noticeably tucked away at his side.

“Long time no see, brother,” he smirked. “Yo, Maverick, good to see you, man.”

I had no intention of wasting time with small talk, so I looked over at the door behind him and asked, “Is that the room?”

“Yeah, it’s been pretty quiet for the last few minutes,” Gonzalez told me. “This guy’s a real asshole, if you ask me.”

I nodded and made my way over to the door. I took a deep breath and knocked. When I heard a commotion inside, I covered the keyhole so he couldn’t see me standing there. After several seconds, Michael called out, “What do you want?”

“Room service. Got you some extra towels,” I answered. With one good shove, I could’ve knocked the door down, but I didn’t want to frighten Wyatt. I had to be patient. As soon as the door opened, I reached in and grabbed Michael by the throat, lifting him off the ground as I hauled him outside. He tried to fight against my hold, but then, I reared back and slammed my fist into his gut, completely knocking the breath out of him. He barreled over as I shoved him towards Maverick. “Hold on to him,” I ordered as I walked into the hotel room, quickly searching for Wren and Wyatt.

At first the room looked empty. The bottle of bourbon was resting on the table next to the bed, and the TV was blaring with some old war movie. After checking the bathroom, I was about to go back outside when I finally saw him. Wyatt was crouched down in the corner, partly hidden by the window drapes, and he was cautiously cradling his arm in his lap. My gut twisted into knots when I caught sight of the swelling and bruising forming on his obviously broken wrist. I couldn’t take it. Seeing him look so damn scared, all balled up in that corner took me right back to that godforsaken barn. All the hell I’d been through came rushing back to me, and I wanted to scream for it to stop. I didn’t want to remember, didn’t want to think about how I’d spent night after night terrified out there in that fucking barn. I loathed that feeling of being weak and scared and so fucking alone. I wanted those feelings gone, to stay forgotten. But there sat Wyatt, feeling exactly the same way I’d felt all those years ago. Rage coursed through my veins, and I had to fight the urge to slam my fist through the wall. I took a deep breath trying to push back the anger, knowing the last thing I needed to do was scare him even more. He didn’t even notice me standing there as he stared down at his arm.

“Wyatt?” I called out to him.

His head quickly lifted, exposing more cuts and bruises on his face, and when his eyes met mine, tears began to roll down his cheeks. “Stitch! You came! I knew you’d come,” he cried.

He tried to stand, but grimaced with pain when his arm shifted to the side. Before he had a chance to try again, I rushed over to him and picked him up off the floor, carefully sitting him down on the bed next to me. I glanced down at his arm and asked, “Your dad do that to you?”

“Yeah… it hurts,” he cried. “I tried to get away from him so I could get back to Momma. But, he grabbed me and held on real tight. I think he broke it,” Wyatt whimpered. “I want my momma.”

When he mentioned Wren, my gut twisted with worry. “Do you know where your momma is, Wyatt?”

“N-no,” his voice trembled as the tears continued to pool in his eyes. “I’m scared something happened to her, Griffin. What if my daddy hurt her?”

“She’s going to be fine. I’m going to make sure of it,” I promised. Fuck. If she wasn’t with them, then where the hell was she? There was only one person that knew, and he was outside with Maverick. Before I could get my hands on Michael, I needed to get Wyatt to the hospital. “I want you to wait here for just a minute. I’m going to see what we can do about your arm. Okay?”

“No!” he cried. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you. I’ll stay right here in the room, okay? I’ll stand at the doorway… it won’t take long,” I told him.

“Okay,” he agreed.

I was so torn. I knew Wren was out there, needing me to find her, but I couldn’t leave Wyatt, not when he was hurt like this. I knew better than anyone how scared he must be, and I wasn’t going to leave him until he was ready for me to go. In the meantime, I had to trust that my brothers would be able to find Wren and that they’d protect her until I was able to get there.

I stuck my head outside the door, looking for Gonzalez and found Maverick standing there with Michael’s face crammed against the side of the building. He had a childlike smile on his face as he held Michael’s arm firmly behind his back, obviously enjoying himself. I nodded in approval, then motioned over to Gonzalez to come to the doorway. When he approached me, I asked, “Got a hospital in this town? The kid has a broken wrist that needs to be tended to.”

He let out a breath of smoke from his cigarette and nodded. “Yeah. Got a surgeon we use from time to time over at the county hospital. She’ll let us bring him in without asking a bunch of questions. I’ll call one of my boys to bring a cage over,” he offered.

“Good. Thanks, brother,” I told him.

Maverick looked over to me and asked, “Did you find out anything about Wren?”

“Not yet. Wyatt doesn’t know where she is,” I growled, glaring over at Michael.

“Tell ya what… we’ll take care of the kid, while you tend to his dad,” Gonzalez smirked.

“You’re wasting your time. I don’t know where that bitch is!” Michael panted. “And Wyatt’s fine… not a damn thing wrong with him. He’s just a pansy assed little shit,” Michael shouted as he tried to pull himself free from Maverick. Grabbing a fistful of Michael’s hair, Maverick pulled his head back and slammed it into the brick wall.

Noticing the blood dripping from Michael’s nose, I told Maverick, “Take him around back. I don’t want Wyatt to see anything.” I looked over to Q’ and said, “I’m gonna need you to go with us to take Wyatt to the hospital. I want someone I can trust to be there with him after I leave.”