A Promise to Return (Shadow Souls MC Book 3)

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or dead--is entirely coincidental.

A Promise to Return copyright @ 2014 by Tamara Knowles. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Chapter One

Sierra was curled up on the bed, shivering. She couldn’t stand another day of this.
James was torturing her. He was beating her, prodding her, and burning her, for his own pleasure. She wondered how many other girls he had brought into the house, locked up, and used for his own pleasure and abuse. Sierra never imagined that James would do something like this—something so disgusting and unbelievable.

She knew that she had to find a way to get out and get to Chad. She wondered what had happened to her and where she had gone so wrong, so utterly and completely wrong. She let her emotions and her fear get in the way of everything she held dear and important. She had to get out of here, somehow.

The first thing she needed to do was tell James what he wanted to hear. Then, she hoped that he would let her out of this place. However, she wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear since he never said much, only taking pleasure in the torture he inflicted on her.

The door unlocked, and he entered. “Get on your knees.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” Sierra asked.

“You are my wife,” James responded.

“Aren’t people wondering where I am? We have a public face.”

He paused and then replied, “I can come up with lies for weeks.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to tell the truth though?”

“Maybe for you.”

“I don’t hold anything against you, you know. There is no reason to keep me locked up in here.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“Because I’m your wife. We promised each other that we would support each other in all business dealings. These are the business dealings we have to confront. This is just another situation, nothing to get wound up over.” She stood up, wrapping a sheet around her in an attempt to look slightly more dignified. “If you really think I would hold something over you, you are greatly mistaken. I was just shocked when you told me. I don’t think you can find my reaction that surprising, honestly.” She looked down. “I was close to him.”

He crossed his arms, looking at her critically. “So, what exactly are you proposing?”

“Let me out of here. Let me fulfill the promise I made to you about what we are and who we are going to be.”

He tapped his fingers against his chin. “What about all of this?”

“Do you think I will tell anyone? Your fate and secrets are irrevocably bound up in mine. I’m just as invested in making sure both of our reputations stay spotless.” She stared at him, unblinking. “However, if you put me back in a place like this again, I will make sure the entire world knows everything you have ever done to me or any other girl.”

He smiled. “I knew there was something in you that I liked.”

“I’m glad we are in agreement.”

He stepped away from the door and opened it for her.

Trying to suppress her shaking, she walked by him. “Also I don’t think I will be sleeping in your room anymore. This house has enough spare bedrooms. I’m sure there is some other place I can sleep.”

He frowned and said, “That’s fair I suppose.”

“It most definitely is,” Sierra said, as she stepped over the threshold and let herself breathe a sigh of relief.

She couldn’t help but think,
I did it. I got out of that room. Now, I just have to find Chad and fix this. All of it.

***

The next day, after James left, Sierra called Chad. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say or how she was going to say it. She had ignored him for four months, and she didn’t think she could just fall back into his arms like nothing had happened. She thought that maybe he would be understanding though when he saw everything she lost, and she wondered what he had lost, as well.

The call went straight to voicemail. Sierra knew that she couldn’t expect him to answer her call or care about what she had to say. There was no reason for that sort of thing.

She decided that she would head out to his apartment and try to convince him in person. She was sure she still had the address somewhere, as long as he still lived there and hadn’t left town. There was no reason for him to stay; but, there was only one way to find out. So, she got in her car and drove to the other side of town.

***

She rang at his apartment building over and over, but there was no answer. A friendly-looking woman appeared at the door. “Can I help you, miss?”

“Yes. I’m looking for Chad Pender. Do you know if he is in?”

“Oh no, miss. He hasn’t been home for weeks now, not since the big wedding.”

“Can I speak to the super?”

“You are.”

Sierra smiled in acknowledgement. “Did he leave a forwarding address? Any word of where he was going? When he would be back?”

“No. On the day of the wedding, he disappeared early in the morning and then never came back. Are you a friend of his?”

“I hope to be. We had a falling out. I hope I can fix it.”

“I hope so, too. That boy’s been a mess since he came back from Vegas. I figured he just lost big, but he has been like a maniac. Out at all hours of the day, making calls, drinking like every day is his last on earth and tomorrow he goes to the gallows. Sure hope he is all right.”

“Me, too,” Sierra said, dread creeping across her. “Thank you for all your help.”

“No problem. Have a nice day.”

Sierra got back in her car and banged on the steering wheel in frustration. She was starting to get a sneaking, dangerous suspicion about what had happened to Chad, and she was indirectly responsible. He was either drunk somewhere in the city or the Shadow Souls had gotten to him. There, of course, was the off-chance he had just left town without any warning or word, but that didn’t sound like paranoid, meticulous Chad. She needed to find him, and she needed to get him back.

Sierra also had a dark suspicion that James was involved—somehow. She knew that he didn’t want him around at all and was probably regretting letting Chad live. She didn’t know how to get information on Chad’s whereabouts. There was a whole city of options and not a whole lot of time to explore every single secret, abandoned location on every block. Plus, after their most recent interactions, she doubted James would leave anything of importance around for her to find. She knew she would have to plan very carefully, and there would be a lot of sneaking around in her future.

***

That night Sierra snuck into James’ office and started going through everything on the desk. Something had to lead her back to Chad; but, there was a distressing void of anything useful. There were almost no papers. His laptop was there, but she didn’t know the password. She tried to make a guess with a couple different passwords, but they were all incorrect. She didn’t know what her next step was, and Chad could literally be anywhere.

If James had any knowledge of where Chad was, it could possibly be accessed from his phone, and she did know that password. He didn’t know she knew it, but she had observed him punch it in enough times in a day she had figured it out. She snuck into his bedroom and unplugged the phone from beside his bed.

She exited quickly and punched in the code. She tapped recent calls and wrote down all the numbers without caller IDs and all the names and numbers of people she didn’t recognize. She assumed that his business partners and sisters didn’t know anything about his kidnapping and murdering hobbies.

She returned the phone to his room and got to work, using her laptop and an internet search engine. She was up all night searching and backtracking numbers, looking for any information that would take her to Chad. Eventually, she narrowed the list down to five numbers that she thought might be useful to her. Around six in the morning, she threw herself into bed, anxiously waiting for the business day to start so she could finish her search.

As soon as James left for work, she called the numbers on her list, looking for someone who could direct her to Chad. She knew someone had to know where he was; but, all her calls were dead-ends.

Then, a new thought struck her: her father. He was in somewhat regular contact with the Shadow Souls because of her brother, and she could use the same front, too.  She called her father.

“Hello, Sierra! How are you?”

“I’m doing well. I had a quick question for you.”

“Sure, fire away.”

“I was wondering if you could give me a number to contact someone in the Shadow Souls group thing—I don’t know what they are called. I’m trying to set up some sort of charity fund in Scott’s name, maybe a scholarship, and I’m wanting it to be directed toward some sort of specific demographic. I want to talk to them to see if they have any suggestions, since they knew him best in the last few years of his life.”

She could practically hear the smile on his face. “That sounds like a great idea. I’ll email you their information. I’m sure they would be happy to meet with you to discuss him.”

“Thanks, Dad. I think James and I are going to invite you to dinner later this week. Thursday work for you?”

“Sounds great. Looking forward to it.”

“Bye.” She hung up the phone and anxiously waited for the email from her father. Ten minutes later, she was on the phone with someone who knew Scott before he died, and she was invited to come down to talk.

***

It was a bar, a biker bar. She felt very out of place in her overpriced clothes, manicured nails, and perfectly curled hair. She cautiously walked to the back of the building and found a cellar door. Of course, the door was locked; but, a dirty, dusty window revealed what she was looking for—Chad.

Chapter Two

James found this new situation with
Sierra to be slightly unsettling. He found it hard to believe that she was completely okay with just going about her life like she had before. However, he didn’t have many other options. She was right to a certain extent, their lives were tied up in each other in dangerous ways. She knew a lot about him now and that could be used to very dangerous ends. He shouldn’t have gone off the handle with her. It was too late to look back now, and he needed to keep pressing forward.

When he got home from work, Sierra wasn’t home. A small twinge of worry filtered into his brain, but he pushed it aside. If he didn’t trust her on some level this whole thing would just collapse underneath of him.

Then, several more hours passed, and the time pushed on to midnight. He began to grow very concerned over where she could possibly be. He questioned whether she was in trouble or whether she had run away. He called her phone and texted her, but she didn’t respond. As far as he knew, she didn’t have any real friends, and there wasn’t anyone she would go to in times of trouble.

As a last resort, he called Richard. “A bit late, isn’t it?” he answered.

“Sorry. But Sierra isn’t home. Do you know where she is?”

There was silence on the other end for a very long moment. “I can’t tell you exactly where she is because I don’t know, but I have a guess. She called me earlier today about the Shadow Souls.”

James felt anger sweep across and consume him. “What did you tell her?”

“Well, she said that she wanted to talk to them about Scott. Since she has had such a struggle grieving for him, I thought it might do her some good. So, I gave her some contact info.”

“So, are you telling me you gave her all the information to betray me to the friends and bosses of the man she had a fling with?”

“Perhaps. She sounded so sincere.”

James immediately thought about how Sierra could make almost anything sound sincere; but, sincere was probably the last thing she actually was. He knew that she was trying to find Chad.

From his informants, James knew that the Shadow Souls had captured Chad and were holding him hostage. To what end, he was a bit unclear. The Shadow Souls didn’t always think things through logically. For example, he wasn’t sure why they wanted to start a war against him—James knew that nothing good would come of that. He also knew that he could put an end to all of this nonsense and get Sierra back. So, he started forming a plan.