Severed Justice (Severed MC Book 3) (17 page)

I open my drowsy eyes, placing a hand to my head. God, it feels so heavy. I look around and see that I’m in Gabe’s old room in the clubhouse. What am I doing here?

I slowly sit up and see its dark outside. Looking around the room, I panic when I don’t see him. The memories of what happened earlier begin to surface, and I groan into my hands. I can’t believe they put me to sleep.

The sound of water running in the bathroom reassures me. That is until the door opens and it’s Teresa who steps out.

“How are you honey?” She asks, her voice full of sympathy. She looks at me nervously, and I turn away. I can’t look at her right now. It hurts too much knowing what she’s done.

“Go away Teresa. I… I can’t talk to you right now.” A tear starts to fall as I look at my friend.  She’s no longer the person I thought she was.

She sighs, and I hear her footsteps come closer. “Eve, I didn’t do it. You were right. I just couldn’t do it.” She starts to cry and moves to sit on the edge of the bed.  She’s wringing her hands and can’t bring herself to look me in the face. “I’m sorry, Eve.”

Her words unsettle me. Why is she sorry?

For almost destroying our friendship with her lies and secrets, or for something else. Panic hits me hard in the chest.

“Where’s Angel? Why isn’t he here?” I sit upright.  The sick feeling in my stomach is worse than ever. “Tess, where’s Elizabeth?”

Teresa looks me in the eye, and what I see in her face scares the crap out of me.

“She.. “ She’s struggling to get the words out. “She’s missing, Eve.” 

I let out a pained scream.  I knew it; I fucking knew something was wrong.

Sue rushes into the room at hearing my scream, running to me and pulling me into her arms.  “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. They’ll find her. They’ll find our girl and bring her home safe.” She croons.

“What happened?” I don’t know if I have the strength to hear this.

Sue and Teresa take turns explaining what happened, as best they know it anyway.  They tell me that Maggie’s still unconscious, but that the doctors are hopeful.  They tell me that Jamie and Elizabeth are both missing, but there’s no evidence to suggest they were harmed. And they tell me that it’s all going to be okay, because there are two MC’s out there searching for them. It’s all going to be okay?

Who the fuck are they kidding.  Nothing has been okay since I set foot in this goddamned country. I was stupid to believe I could have a life here, and now, I’ve put my daughter at risk.  Bringing her here was supposed to keep her safe!

“I’m going to go get you a warm drink, sweetie.” Sue stand
s, before she leaves the room she turns to Teresa. “Keep an eye on her.”

I look at Teresa out of the corner of my eye. “I don’t want you here right now, Teresa. You should go.” 

I still can’t bring myself to talk to her.

“Eve, please.” She puts her hand on my arm and I flinch at the touch. “I told you, you were right, I couldn’t do it.”  She takes my hand and places it on her stomach.  “I’m here for you, Eve. I always have been. I know you’re angry with me, but I need you right now. Aside from being worried sick about Elizabeth, I’m scared shitless.  I’m not strong like you. I need you.”

I look into her eyes, seeking the truth I need to see there.  Can I really believe her after everything that’s been said between us these past few days?

***

“Teresa. You’re really going to have to stop eating spicy food. You know it doesn’t agree with you.” I laugh. “At this rate people are going to start thinking you’re pregnant.”

I’m standing outside the bathroom door, as my friend throws up her breakfast, for the fourth day in a row.

The look on Teresa’s face as she exits the bathroom gives me pause. 

No, I was only joking.  Teresa’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want kids, and I know she’s OCD about taking her birth control. However the look she’s giving me right now, tells me otherwise.

“You’re not?” I ask, a huge grin splitting my face. 

“I am.” She replies, her voice flat. She doesn’t mirror my smile. From the look on her face you’d think someone had died, not just found out they were having a miracle.  “I can’t be pregnant. I can’t do this.” She throws herself onto the bed and starts sobbing.

“It’ll be fine. You and Prez will make great parents.” I comfort her, rubbing her back. “You’re great with Elizabeth.”

“You can’t tell him.” She sits up suddenly, her eyes wide with panic. “You can’t tell anyone.” She looks scared.

“Of course I won’t say anything until you’ve had chance to tell him yourself.” I promise. “When did you find out?”

“Last week. He can’t know, Eve. I can’t do this. It’ll all be over in a few days anyway. There’s no need to worry.” She mumbles.

“What do you mean?” I ask, not understanding what she’s trying to tell me.

“I mean, that I’m booked in for an abortion. I’m going to get rid of it.”

I look at my friend, no longer recognizing her.  I know she always said she didn’t want kids, but isn’t that what most people say until the day they find out they’re pregnant? Surely she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.  Looking at the determined expression on her face, I see that she could. And she is. She’s got a great relationship with Prez, they seem happy, and I think they’ll be great parents. I’ve seen how Prez looks at Elizabeth when she’s playing with Teresa. I know he wants kids. If he knew what his wife was planning behind his back, he’d be pissed.

“You can’t do this.” I try to reason with her. Tears blur my vision, I know what she’s giving up. Nothing will dissuade her though.  I try begging and pleading, but nothing shifts her. She’s determined to do this, even when I refuse to go with her to the appointment.  Even when I tell her that if she goes through with it, our friendship is over. It’s harsh, but at the end of the day I really believe what she’s doing is wrong. Fair enough if she had gone to Prez and told him, and together they’d reached this decision, but that isn’t what happened. She’s going behind her husband’s back.

***

This is why Teresa has been missing all day.  She persuaded Diane to go with her in the end.  As much as Diane didn’t believe in what she was doing, she was a better friend than me, she wouldn’t let her go through it alone.  It’s also why I persuaded Elle to go out with me today, I couldn’t face sitting at home knowing where Teresa was, and what she was doing.  It’s why I allowed Maggie to have Elizabeth for the day.  My twisted logic tells me that it’s Teresa’s fault my daughter is missing now.

“
You
need
Me
?” I scream at her. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been such a determined, selfish bitch. I wouldn’t have left my daughter if I didn’t need to get away from here at the thought of what you were doing today.  But no.  You fucked off, left the rest of us to suffer through the day from hell, and tell me you need me? Fuck no. My daughter’s missing because of you.” I throw a punch that connects with her jaw. It must have hurt because my hand is throbbing like hell, but she just sits there and takes it.

“They’ll find her, Eve.” She pulls me into her arms. “They’ve got to find her.” 

That’s how Sue finds us when she returns.  Holding tightly to each other, and sobbing our hearts out for Elizabeth.

I need my baby back.

I can’t believe what we’ve woken up to.  Eve’s little girl is missing. Justice threw a fit that no one woke him so he could help search for her last night. 

I can’t just sit around here doing nothing. They don’t want the women out on the search; they say we’ll get in the way. Bloody macho bullshit if you ask me.  The rest of the girls are sitting around like good little wives, doing as they’re told.  Eve’s not come out of her room yet. Sue lets us know that she’s fine. Teresa is taking care of her.  I can’t imagine what Eve’s going through right now. This has to be one of the worst things a mother can face.

“Fuck this.” I stand and shove my chair aside.  Justice watches me cautiously, a forkful of breakfast halted between his plate and his mouth.  He’s waiting for Prez to ring back and tell him where to head out to, to help in the search. “Can you give me a ride to the shop?” I ask him.

“You want to go to the shop?” He sounds surprised.

“Yeah. I’m guessing Ink hasn’t had chance to go in and cancel today’s appointments.  I can bring the diary back with me when I’m done in case we need to cancel tomorrow as well.” Someone needs to be practical in the midst of all this shit. It beats sitting here twiddling my thumbs.

“Give me five.” He gestures at me with his fork.  Looks like the big guy wants to finish his breakfast first.  It’s been uncomfortable between us this morning.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s been civil to me, but there’s a distance between us that wasn’t there before.  I guess we both feel guilty about last night.  I’m tired of all this guilt that’s beginning to weigh me down.  That’s one of the reasons I need to get back to the shop. I don’t belong here. I’m not part of this tight knit family, and I hate feeling like an interloper.

***

I’m fine until the bike stops outside the shop. As I get off I can’t help looking over the street to the scene of yesterday’s disaster. 

Disaster? What a stupid word. Danni fucking died over there. I’m not sure there’s a word that covers how awful that is.  Justice follows my gaze.  He’s been silent all the way here, and his face looks even grimmer now than it did when we set off.

As I open up the shop he can’t stop looking at the screen on his phone. He’s willing it to ring. I know he wants to be out there with the rest of the guys searching for Elizabeth. Waiting for Prez to ring him back and tell him where to go is killing him.

I’m not sure I want to be here now that we’ve actually arrived. It’s too close to where it all happened.  I’ll just grab the diary and go. I can ring the customers once I’m out of here. I’m about to let Justice know about the change of plan, when the bell on the door sounds.

“We’re closed.” I shout, my back still to the door. 

Can’t they read the fucking sign?

When I turn around I’m startled to see Joe’s customer from the other day standing there.  She looks like she’s had a rough night, and is looking around nervously. Odd, she normally swaggers in here arrogantly, showing off her bitchy attitude.

Justice looks up from the chair where he’s stationed himself with his phone, and seeing it’s no one important goes back to ignoring everything but his phone screen.

I’ve hardly slept from the stress of trying to work out what to do. The best plan I can think of money wise, is the till at the tattoo shop.  With everything that’s happened I think it’s the last place they’ll be today, allowing me to sneak in and take the money that I need to start my new life.  I made Jamie and the brat drink some more drugged milk, and left them locked in at the cabin. I’ll get this over and done with as quickly as I can, then I can take Jamie and get the fuck out of here. I still haven’t decided what to do with the girl though; I need to think about that.

When I pull up I’m surprised to see a bike parked outside. Shit. I honestly didn’t think anyone would be here.  I haven’t got another plan so I’ll have to go inside and see if there’s anything I can come up with on the fly.

The chime on the door surprises me.  It shouldn’t, I’ve been here enough to know it’s there, but in my current state I’m hyper aware of everything.  The blonde bitch is behind the counter, her back to me, and one of the bikers is slumped in a chair ignoring everything but his phone.

“We’re closed.” The blonde bitch shouts, her back still to me.  When she turns around she looks surprised to see me.  I move closer to the counter, slowly pulling the knife from my sleeve.  I need to do this carefully so as not to alert the biker.  I’m pretty confident I can handle Blondie, but not so sure about him.

The biker’s phone rings, and he stands suddenly. “Need to take this, I’ll be back in a minute.” With that he’s gone.  That was good timing.

“Give me the takings.” I whisper to her. 

She just laughs at me. Fucking bitch!  I slam my hand on the counter. “Now.”

As I slam my hand the charm bracelet on my wrist jangles.  She looks at it in horror, comprehension on her face.  Reaching into her pocket she pulls out a baby charm.  The baby charm that’s missing from my bracelet. Fuck.

“It was you.” She whispers back. “I thought I recognized this. I found it beside Danni yesterday, I just couldn’t place it.” She looks into my eyes. “It’s yours isn’t it?”

I don’t answer her. “Did you kill Danni?” I stand still, staring at her, ignoring her questions. “Why?”  She’s so quiet.

Blondie slowly makes her way around the counter towards me, standing in front of me and facing off. Who does the stupid bitch think she is?  She moves a step closer, repeating her question. “Why?”

“Fuck you.” I reply, drawing the knife from my sleeve and showing it to her. “I told you to give me the fucking money from the till.  Do it now bitch.” Something’s wrong. She shows no fear at the sight of the knife. She doesn’t even shout out for biker guy. She just stands there, staring at me.

“And I asked you fucking why?” She says calmly. “What did Danni ever do to you?”

“So that was the bitch’s name?” I ask. 

Blondie’s face flushes red. “You want any money from me, you’d better tell me fucking why, and don’t you dare talk about Danni like that.” She’s in my face, no trace of fear on her face at all. What the fuck is she playing at? Can’t she see the knife?

“Because she was a Severed bitch.” I hiss. “And Severed needs to suffer for what they did to Satan.” Her face blanches at the mention of his name.  About fucking time.

“You killed her because of that piece of shit?” She asks in disbelief. “You can’t be fucking serious.”

“I’m serious as shit.” I tell her coldly. “And if you want your precious Severed MC to see that little brat of theirs again, you’ll give me that fucking money.” She still doesn’t move. “Now!” I scream at her.

“You took Elizabeth?” Her voice is quiet now, calm. Too calm. 

She moves towards me so quickly I don’t have time to step out of her way.  “Tell me where she is you fucking bitch.” She hisses at me, just as she shoves me backwards, violently.

Shit. There’s some strength in that small frame of hers. I’m lifted off my feet, flying backwards through the air with the force of it.  There’s a sound of shattering glass, and a warm feeling spreads over my body. 

Pain shoots through my body, but his voice is back, comforting me, calling to me.

“It’s okay baby. We’re going to be together again real soon.” It croons.