Ridin' Dirty: An Outlaw Author Anthology (OAMC Book 1) (17 page)

Raven

“It’s going to be okay, baby,” Laurelyn tries to persuade me. “You won’t feel like this forever.”

“Yes, I will,” I force out through my sobs. “You don’t understand.”

“I do. I was pretty much like you when I had to give up your father. But I moved on. I found Daniel, and look at us now.”

“You’re happy because Daddy wasn’t
the
one
. Gage is.”

“You’re only eighteen —”

“This has nothing to do with my age.”

“Okay, sweetheart. We can talk all about it when you get here. Call me when you get on your flight.”

“’Kay.”

I hang up and wipe at my tears with the backs of my hands. I need to get ready to go to the airport.

“Have you decided if you’re going to stay in Miami?” Chrissy asks.

“No. I don’t know,” I answer as I climb out of her bed.

“I think you should stay for a while… be with your mom. Maybe try to figure things out.”

“Maybe.”

My phone rings as I’m walking to the bathroom, and I turn back to answer it. It’s Chopper. I really don’t want to talk about Gage right now, but I answer because I know he’d worry if I didn’t pick up.

“Hi, Chopper.”

“Hey, darlin’. Have you seen Gage?”

“No. Why?”

“It’s nothin’ to worry about.”

“If it was, you wouldn’t have called me. What’s going on?”

I begin to panic. Ron says he’s been drinking himself silly, and now Chopper’s asking me if I’ve seen him. Something’s happened.

“No one’s seen him since last night. We thought maybe he was with you.”

“He’s not.”

Tears begin rolling down my cheeks again and I legit think I’m having a panic attack.

“It’s okay, darlin’. We’ll find him. As soon as —”

“I’m on my way.”

I end the call, pulling Chrissy behind me as I hurry downstairs.

“What happened?” she asks, starting to panic also.

“Gage is missing.”

We hop in my car and I make it to the clubhouse as fast as I can. When we walk inside, Chopper, Dr. E, Crow, Motor, and Rico are around the pool table. Chopper and Dr. E are engaged in a heated debate.

“Chopper?”

He looks up, immediately coming over and curling his arm around my shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be here, darlin’.”

“I’m not leaving. Have you heard anything?”

“Not yet.”

“What happened?”

He takes a deep breath, leading me to where the other men are standing.

“Got a call from Renley this morning. Apparently Gage’s Mustang was in the parking lot of a bar all night. No one’s heard from him and it seems his phone is turned off.”

“Oh, God. This is my fault.”

“It’s not,” Dr. E says. “He’s the one who ran off all half-cocked.”

“Yeah, because of
me
.”

Tek walks in and everyone looks to him expectantly. He shakes his head, making Chopper run his fingers through his hair in frustration. Razor and Venom enter the clubhouse, their expressions just as bleak as everyone else’s.

“Nothing?” Dr. E asks.

“We checked everywhere. No sign of him.”

This is just getting worse by the second.
Where is he? Is he okay?
God, he could be hurt somewhere… or worse. I’ll never forgive myself if something has happened to him. Chopper’s phone rings and he answers, switching to speaker phone. Ron’s voice comes from the other end.

“Bartender says he was here. He had a few drinks then left with a redhead.”

I lean against the table, hanging on for dear life. He left with a redhead. He’s already over me. Chrissy wraps her arms around me, trying to pull me to the couch, but I stop when Ron speaks again.

“Thing is, description kinda sounds like Razor’s girl.”

“Cassidy?” Razor asks in disbelief. “Nah. No matter how drunk he was, the prez would never hook up with her.”

“Fuck!” Dr. E shouts.

They all look at each other and I know they’re all privy to some information I’m not. Cassidy. I knew that bitch was always too interested in what was going on between me and him. But she’s Razor’s woman. Gage wouldn’t do that to his brother, would he? Razor pulls out his phone, calling who I assume is Cassidy. After a beat, he shakes his head.

“Her phone’s off.”

“Actually,” Tek pipes up. “I can do something with this. Let me have her number.”

Razor reels off the numbers and Tek disappears into the corridor. Everyone follows him so Chrissy and I do, too. We crowd into Tek’s room and I look around in awe. It’s like technology central in here. There are six monitors on his desk and several keyboards. He begins tapping away, shaking his head after only a few seconds.

“Not much on the phone, other than she was in the vicinity of the bar last night.
But
we can try her car. If he left with her, they must have taken it. Hopefully it has GPS.”

He turns back to his computers and video feed from the camera out front starts up on one of the monitors. He quickly finds footage of Cassidy driving in, and freezes it.

“Make, model, license plate,” he says excitedly. Another minute and he jumps to his feet. “Got it!”

A printer in the corner goes off and he grabs the printout, handing it to Dr. E.

“That’s where the car is. Hopefully, that’s where the boss is, too.”

“Church. Now,” Dr. E growls.

They seem to have forgotten about me and Chrissy, leaving us standing in Tek’s room. I move to the monitor displaying the car’s location. I don’t know what happened with Cassidy before, but it has to be serious for them to be in Church over it. I move to the keyboard Tek was using, and print my own copy of the location.

“What are you doing?” Chrissy whispers.

“I’m going to find him.”

I grab the paper and head to Gage’s room to retrieve his black duffel bag. Whenever shit goes down, he takes it with him. Chrissy watches as I heave it to the bed and open it up. Holy shit. I didn’t know what was in here, but I wasn’t expecting an arsenal.

“Fuck. Me,” Chrissy says as she peers inside.

I reach for a Glock, check the clip, then tuck it into my waist. I also take an extra mag, and a knife, which I strap to my thigh.

“Okay… you’re scaring me.”

I look up at Chrissy, realizing she’s never seen this side of me. “You’re not the one who should be scared.”

I throw the bag over my shoulder and walk right into the chapel. Everyone turns to look at me. I drop the bag on the table and turn to Dr. E, who’s sitting in Gage’s chair.

“You all can sit around your table and talk all you want. I’m going to find him.”

I turn to leave but Chopper shouts after me, “Raven, wait!”

I make it to the courtyard before they catch up to me. Dr. E grabs my elbow, stopping my progress.

“Raven, please. Let us handle this. We don’t know what we could be walking into.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Raven —”

“I said, I’m
coming
with
you
.”

There’s no way they’re leaving me behind. If Cassidy has done something to him, I need to be there.

That bitch is mine.

Gage

I need to get out of here. This bitch is seriously psycho
—
more than I thought. I’ve lost count of the number of times her knife has sliced through my flesh since she ripped off my shirt and went to town. They aren’t deep cuts, but with the level of alcohol in my system, I’m bleeding more than I should. Through all of this, she’s still been trying to get me to fuck her. Right now she’s on her knees, rubbing her hands over my crotch, but my dick still won’t get hard.

“What’s wrong, baby?” she asks, seeming oblivious to the current situation.

“What’s wrong? I’m still a little intoxicated, tired, hungry, and bleeding. You expect me to…
perform
under those conditions?”

“You’re right,” she stands, slamming her palm into her forehead. “Stupid, Cassidy!”

She storms out, leaving me alone for the first time in hours. I look around, trying to find a way to get free. That’s when I see movement outside the window. Maybe I’ve lost too much blood; I must be hallucinating. I shake my head, blinking to clear my vision. No, I wasn’t imagining things. That’s E peering in the window. I never thought I’d be so happy to see that motherfucker’s face. He disappears just as Cassidy walks back in, carrying a tray of food. She drags the table closer to me and places the tray there. I need to keep her distracted, so I take a bite of the sandwich she offers. Hopefully, it’s not laced with anything.

A rustling sound comes from outside and she snaps her head toward the window, immediately on alert.

“Probably just an animal,” I tell her. “We
are
in the woods.”

“You’re right.” She turns back to me with a smile. “Eat up. You’re going to need your strength.”

I return her smile. “I know. I remember you like it rough… just like me.”

She bites into her bottom lip and I notice her pressing her thighs together.

“Not many women do,” I continue. “I think you were right. You were the one for me all along.”

“Oh, Gage!” She straddles my lap, excitedly planting kisses all over my face. “I knew it! I knew all it would take is some time alone.”

She tugs her top off, and that’s when E bursts into the room. Cassidy screams in shock, but he grabs her before she can reach for my gun. Razor and Venom are right on his heels. While Razor helps to restrain her, Venom works on setting me free.

“No!” Cassidy screams. “You’re ruining everything!”

“Shut up!” Razor growls.

“You shut up! He’s mine. We’re finally going to be together!”

She thrashes, trying desperately to break free. Once my bonds are off, I try to stand, but the room spins and I fall back into the chair. Venom relieves E and he hurries to my side.

“Don’t try to move, brother. I need to stop the bleeding.”

He uses my discarded shirt, ripping pieces off to tie around the gashes on my arms.

“Those are the worst ones. I’ll patch you up when we get home.”

“How did you find me?”

“Motherfucking Tek. How do you think?”

“Sometimes I think I could kiss that man.”

“Sorry, boss,” Tek chuckles as he enters the room. “You’re not my type.”

We all laugh as he and E help me up. Venom and Razor tie Cassidy to the chair.

“Gage! Are you going to let them do this to me?” she shrieks.

“Shut up, bitch. I need to think about what I’m going to do with you.”

“But —”

“Gag her,” I tell Razor.

I’ve been listening to her voice all night and it worked my last nerve hours ago. I perch on the table, taking a bottle of water Tek hands me.

“Gage?”

I turn to the soft, shaky voice, and see Raven standing in the doorway. She approaches carefully, tears in her eyes as they wander over my body, evaluating my condition. My instinct is to go to her, pull her into my arms and leave her lips swollen from my kiss. Instead, I grit my teeth and glare at E.

“Why the fuck did you bring her?”

“Short of tying her up, I couldn’t stop her from coming.”

She moves, and when I look back to her, she reaches for the knife strapped to her thigh and charges at Cassidy. Venom grabs her hand, wrestling the knife from her.

“Whoa, there, baby girl,” he says.

Razor grabs her, pulling her to his chest. She kicks and screams, lunging in Cassidy’s direction.

“Let go of me!” She points to Cassidy, who’s staring back in fear. “You’re dead! You hear me, bitch? You’re fucking dead!”

I watch the spectacle with a small smile. The way she is right now is just one of the many reasons I thought she was perfect for me.

“Okay, okay. I’m cool,” she says, calming down.

Razor tentatively releases her, but keeps a close eye on her. She returns her attention to me, and her anger intensifies once more at the sight before her. She growls, removing a Glock from the back of her jeans and pointing it at Cassidy. Razor moves swiftly, grabbing the gun, while Venom tries to hold her back.

“Raven, stop.”

At the sound of my voice, she stops struggling. She’s breathing hard and staring daggers at Cassidy, but she’s stopped fighting. I jerk my head at Venom to take her to the next room and he leads her out.

“Razor, you good with this?” I ask. I gave her a chance before; she’s not getting another one.

He throws Cassidy a sideways glance, and then nods.

“You sure?”

“It’s just pussy, Prez. Besides, this shit ain’t gonna fly.”

“Okay.” I nod. “Is Crow with you?”

“No. He’s back at the clubhouse.”

“Call him up,” I say, walking toward Cassidy. I’ll definitely need clean up. “I’m gonna need him after I’m done with Miss Martin.”