Chapter 14
TRAX
I hate my brother. Tonight, I really fucking hate my brother. I'm not talking any of my club brothers, no I mean Merle or as he prefers to be called Sugar, my blood brother. Without even trying, he singlehandedly fucked up my entire weekend.
My bike is flying down this pitch-black country road as I follow a box truck with seven of my club brothers on its way to Beaumont, Texas. Yes, fucking Texas. One of the jobs that the RDMC does is provide escort when someone needs some extra security. I haven't done this in a long while since I run the garage now, but because of my dickhead brother, I'm doing this run without any time to prep for it.
Which basically means sleep. This is something that gets done during the quiet night hours because with less traffic on the road, there are fewer eyes seeing what's going on. The trip will take longer as we stick to backroads and off the interstates.
Not what I wanted to be doing tonight.
Sophie was supposed to talk to Marci today after work and she did. How did I know? Bear pushed back church today until four o'clock so after I delivered all those damn cakes and whatever Maddie made to the clubhouse, I parked down the street to see if Sophie would actually go.
And she did.
By the time I left to head back to the clubhouse, they were still together so I took that as a really good sign. And yeah, I know this is fucked up of me. I'm not trying to stalk her. Believe me, I'm not. It's also hard to stay inconspicuous when I ride a loud as fuck Harley and my cut advertises who I am.
I have never even come close to doing this for any other woman. I wish I knew what about her is making me this way. Why I can't let go of the thought of her? I never got close to a woman before. Never wanted to. Even before I patched in, I was a one-night stand type of guy. I didn't date. I didn't wake up in anyone's bed but my own…when I had one.
There was something about Sophie that called out to me. That's why I had to find out what it was by getting to know her better. And I couldn't do that if she refused to see me. I was pretty damn persistent and to be honest, that surprised the shit out of me. She was making me do shit that was so out of character for me that I was confused half the time on what was going on in my head.
I wanted her. I also needed to get her in my bed and see if that first time was a fluke or if we really did have something. And I can't believe I'm hoping for the latter.
Me, Daryl Dixon…also known as Trax, wanted a girlfriend for the first time in my damn pitiful life. I finally needed something more than just the club.
The Road Devils have been part of my life way before I took the patch. Merle's a fair share older than me and he joined them first after he got out of the army. I was still a kid when I took off from the piece of crap shack we called home after my old man and I had come to some very dangerous blows. Merle let me sleep on his floor in the room in the clubhouse. The only problem was that every time he screwed a Hellion or some other chick, I was booted out. Lucky for me, Truck, the prez back then, let me sleep on a couch in the main room of clubhouse on those nights.
Truck may have had the club into a lot more shady shit back then, but I can't fault him for what he did for a homeless teenager like me. I was the first non-club guy they let work in the garage back then. In the beginning, I worked for my room and board, but eventually, I did start to get paid. That's when I moved out of the clubhouse into a small shitty apartment of my own.
That's why I owe this club so much. They took me in and even when I turned down the Truck's offer to prospect, they still let me hang around. I saw for years the shit that prospects had to go through and as much as I wanted to be part of the club, that wasn't anything I knew I could do…especially with Merle there. He'd make my life a fucking living hell and laugh about it.
Now, don't get me wrong. I guess Merle loved me in his odd, obnoxious way, but he liked being the big man…the patched Road Devil and made sure I knew I was not.
He's been a thorn in my side for years but tonight he pissed both Bear and me off.
I slid into my seat at the table a few minutes before church was to start. Just before Bear picked up the gavel to bring us to order, Sugar slunk in. He looked worse than shit. One eye was swollen shut with the other pretty damn close. There were a couple of butterflies closing a cut in his left cheek plus numerous scrapes and bruises. His knuckles looked raw and the way he held his one arm against him I was betting he had few cracked if not broken ribs. What the fuck did he do?
I saw Bear's face get hard and I knew he was pissed. The gavel came down harder than normal shaking the table. I was surprised the damn thing didn't break in two. Bear called for us to start and we went over the usual boring shit that Buck takes care of.
When that was thanks to fuck done, Bear took over. "Not much going on right now 'cept that run tonight. The OK's are staying quiet for now, but still, keep an eye out for any unusual activity. As usual, Mace is in charge of the run. Are we all set?"
"I got the route mapped out. We're leaving here at nine tonight to meet up with the truck at ten. Gonna try to get as much of the trip done at night, but it's an easy twelve-hour ride to Beaumont. Handoff the truck and head back. Gonna have to get a few hours of sleep in there somewhere too."
"Why such a far run?" asked Jet. He had only been patched for a few years but he was always eager to be involved with whatever the club needed. I had no problems with him. In fact, he asked the very question I was thinking about.
"We're paying back a favor to the Dark Sinners out of Jackson, Mississippi. They helped us a few years ago locating a hijacked shipment so we're repaying the favor since their Road Captain and Enforcer are in the hospital with broken bones. Some young punk pulled out of a gas station and didn't look. He took them both down on their bikes," Bear explained.
I remembered when that happened and the Sinners were instrumental in us getting that shipment back. I felt bad for the guys going on the run. It would take all weekend and that was a hell of a lot of riding.
"We got one little problem," Mace growled. I wondered what was up with that.
"What's that, brother?" Bear asked.
"We need eight brothers plus a prospect in the crash van. I got me, Cue, Diesel, Blade, Ghost, Jet, Raven and Brick in the van. Sugar was the eighth and he ain't in any condition to ride." Now I knew why Mace was pissed. Merle…Sugar had fucked up even worse than I thought. No one gave a shit that he had been in a fight. That happens way too often as assholes see our cuts and think they can take us down. But he was due to be on this run and there was no way he could ride.
"I can ride," he demanded.
"No, you fuckin' can't!" Bear shouted. "You and me will talk after church, but now Mace needs another guy." Then he turned to me and said, "Trax you can take your brother's place."
Now, there's no fucking way I can say no. Anything that's asked of us we do, so of course I said, "No problem" when it was a very big fucking problem!
When Bear said to take my brother's place, he didn't mean Road Devil brother he meant blood brother. I was paying for Merle's stupidity. I don't care why he was beat to shit, but his fuck up was getting in the way of what was going on with Sophie. The club had to come first, but damn ain't anything ever gonna go right for me?
That's why I'm riding down some dark road after we just crossed the Georgia/Alabama line eating everyone's dust since I'm with the back of the pack. I think I feel my phone vibrate with a text but I ain't sure. It's hours and two state lines later before I can check.
Son of a bitch it was from Sophie.
It was just three fucking words, but it was what I was waiting to hear, "I'm all in." It was sent hours ago. I could be in bed with her right now instead of holding my own dick as I piss on the side of the road with three hours at least yet to ride. The sun was already rising in the morning sky and that meant we had a bigger chance of being discovered.
I sent her a quick text back. Short and to the point. Flowery and romantic it was definitely not.
Me:
out of town talk sunday
After a few minutes, we were headed out toward Beaumont. Hours later we made the handoff of the truck and driver to the next club. Mace found us a crappy motel on the edge of the state line to get a few hours' sleep in. I ended up with Ghost which was fine with me. Neither of us were big talkers and all I wanted was to get as much shut-eye as I could. It had been over thirty hours since I last slept and I was bone tired.
Before my exhaustion overtakes me, I glance at my phone and wondered why Sophie hasn't texted back.
The sun was just coming up Sunday morning as the deafening sound of eight Harley's filled the parking lot at the clubhouse. We were back. As much as I wanted to call Sophie to find out what the fuck was going on, I was dead tied…again and it was way too fucking early. I crashed in my room until early afternoon. A couple of hours of sleep and a long hot shower made a huge difference.
After grabbing a quick sandwich in the kitchen, I headed into town toward Sophie's apartment. As I pulled my bike behind the building my cell rang. I parked the bike and quickly pulled it out. It was from Sophie. "Hey, I'm pulling up out back right now," I told her.
Except the voice that spoke back to me wasn't Sophie's, "Trax, it's Maddie. I'm at Sophie's place. Get up here right away!" That's all she said before hanging up.
I didn't hesitate a second and took the stairs two at a time. What I saw was nothing short of a nightmare. The doorframe was a mess from the door having been kicked in. The coffee table lay smashed into broken shards of wood in front of the overturned sofa. What the fuck happened here?
"Maddie, where is she?" I yelled even though she was in the room with me.
"I don't know, Trax. She didn't show up this morning, but I was too busy to check on her. This was the first chance I had to see if she was sick and I found her place like this. Her purse is on the counter and her cell was next to it. She didn't leave her voluntarily, Trax. What do we do?"
"No police." They would take too long and we could do more faster and our way.
"Are you sure?" Maddie worriedly asked.
"Yeah. Very sure. Let me call Bear." I quickly called my Prez and he was sending at least a half dozen brothers my way. Then I started to pace the small living room. Who would have done this?
I answered my own question in a second. I turned to Maddie, "This has got to be Gentry. Nobody else here had a beef with Sophie except him. The club should be here any minute and that's where we going."
"She hasn't seen a hair of him all week, why now?"
I chuckled. "He was licking his wounds. That night after I was sure that Sophie was okay, I went to his place and showed him what would happen if he went near her again. He wasn't walking well when I left."
"Oh, Trax! You didn't?"
"Yep, it's our way, Maddie. She's been mine since the second I saw her that day on the side of the road. She just had to see that for herself and she did. Friday night she texted me that she was all in with us, but I was outta town. Just got back this morning. Damn it! I should have been here. Woulda been here if Sugar wasn't such a selfish prick."
Before Maddie could ask me to explain, we both turned to the open door as the air filled with the sound of motorcycles. Seconds later, a dozen boots ran up the back steps and instantly Sophie's trashed living room was filled with Road Devils…starting with Bear. Diesel, Striker, Ghost, Jet, and Brick followed after him.
"She put up a fight," Bear said as he looked around the destroyed room.
"Trax said that we shouldn't call the police," Maddie said with tears in her eyes.
"Come here." I watched Bear pull Maddie into his arms to comfort her. There was definitely more going on there but this wasn't the time for me to even think about all those special bakery boxes she sent him every week. "Trax is right. No cops. We'll find her, don't worry Maddie."
"It's gotta be Jacob Gentry, Prez," I told him.
I didn't take the confused glare from Bear personally. "Who the fuck is that?"
"He's an asshole that she went on a date with last week." I saw the questions in my brother's eyes but I didn't have time to tell them about Sophie and me. At least not right now. "The date didn't end well at all and he's the only one that would have a problem with her. Suppose I didn't help beating the crap outta him that night either. We gotta check his place first and we need to go now." I didn't want to waste any more time. She needed me and I failed her, but not this time. I'd bring her back if it was the last thing I ever did.
"Do we know his address or do we need Code?" Diesel spoke for the first time. His face was hard and I felt the anger coming off him in waves. He could probably break a prick like Gentry in half with his bare hands. Take all that muscle and combine it with rage and that was a deadly combination. Sophie was Diesel's ol' lady's cousin and they were close. We were both ready to kill Jacob Gentry.
That wasn't any figure of speech either. Gentry was going to die for hurting Sophie.
"I got it. Already had Code look into this loser." I rattled off the directions and we were about to leave when Maddie said, "What about me? Can I come?"
Bear shook his head. "No, Maddie. Go back to the bakery and we'll call you there. We don't know what we getting into so I can't chance you getting hurt. We'll find her. I promise you," he explained in the gentlest voice I've ever heard Bear use.
Maddie put her hand on his chest. "Be careful, Bear," she told him with tears in her eyes.
I could tell that all of the guys were surprised except me when out president lowered his mouth to Maddie's for a kiss. "We need to talk." I heard him whisper to her.
When he realized everyone was staring at him, he became the Bear we knew, "Let's get the fuck outta here. Trax you ride in the SUV with Brick."
"Why?" Fuck, I needed my bike.
"Cause dipshit, when we find her she may not be able to hang on behind you. Bringing her back to the club in the SUV is the best way and she'll need you. C'mon! Let's go!"
And that's why he was in charge. I didn't even think about her maybe not being able to ride back with me. I knew I could send a prospect back for my bike later.
We all ran down the stairs leaving Maddie watching us. Brick headed toward the driver's side and I grabbed the keys out of his hand. "Fuck, Can't I drive?"
"No," I told him. "Just get in the other fuckin' side."
I heard him bitching as he hustled around to the other side of the car. "You ever gonna let me drive, Trax?"
"Ask me when you get your patch," I told him as I lead the way out to Gentry's place.
He said, "Got it," and that was the last thing he said until I cut the cage's engine before Gentry's rental house came into view. The guys coasted their bikes in as their pipes made a lot more noise than the SUV.
We all pulled our guns out and checked our clips. Jet handed me an extra one which I shoved in my pocket. "Thanks, brother." I knew we each also carried at least one knife, but most of us also had an extra one in the boot.
It was still daylight so if anyone was looking out a window there would be no way they could miss seven bikers headed their way. Bear, Diesel, Ghost, and me hit the front door while Striker, Jet, and Brick took the back.
Oddly neither door was locked.
We cleared the downstairs quickly and found nothing except a bad smell. That left the second floor and the basement. We went up as Striker and his team went down. The higher we climbed the stairs the worse the smell got. We all knew what it was without even saying…a dead body.
The smell was too strong to be Sophie or at least that's what I kept telling myself. If this asshole had killed her it was too soon for her body to be decomposing that badly. There were four doors off the hallway at the top of the stairs. We each took one. I ended up in Jacob's room. What I saw made my blood boil. Pictures of Sophie taped on every inch of his walls. Photos she never knew he took. The asshole was obsessed with her.
Unfortunately, I could understand that. I just wasn't as fucked up about it as this psycho prick was. This just proved that he was the one that had her. But fucking where?
"Nuthin' 'cept hundreds of photos of her. He's got her. I know it, but where?" I said to Diesel and Bear when we met back in the hallway. Ghost stayed downstairs as a lookout.
"The other bedroom and bathroom had shit," Bear told us.
"I just got a dead old lady in bed. She's been there a while. Damn that fuckin' smells," Diesel said shaking his head. "Who do you think she is?"
I knew exactly who she was. "His mother. Nobody's seen her for a long while. Gotta be her."
"Find anything?" Striker called up the stairs.
"Just his dead mother. Not recent either," Bear called down.
We met the other guys on the main level. "What next?" Jet asked.
"His car's out front so he had to be here," Bear said before turning to me. "Trax, it's time for you to do your thing. We'll hang back until you give the signal."
It was time for me to track them. That's what I did. It was the one damn decent thing my ol' man taught and I was damn good at it.
I ran out the front door and circled wide around Jacob's car. My brothers stood outside waiting for my signal. The ground told me everything I needed to know. Sophie had been in the front seat and I could see that she was fighting him every inch of the way as he dragged her from the car. The tracks never headed toward the house, they went toward the dense forest directly across the overgrown yard.
Gentry didn't even try to cover his steps as he forced Sophie into the woods. At the tree line were obvious footprints and broken branches showing a struggle. "Good girl," I thought to myself. "Keep fighting. I'm on my way."
I waved the guys over and we followed their tracks through the woods. I realized that Gentry was following a barely noticeable path. That meant he had a destination in mind and wasn't just walking blind.
About a half-hour in I found what I was looking for… a rundown shack on the edge of a small clearing. This had to be it. Why would he take her here? The only thing I could think of as that I knew where he lived and he knew I'd come for him. He didn't count on the fact that he was a dumb shit and I was a lot smarter than he took me for.
If there wasn't a tarp over the top of the roof hiding what should be a decent-sized hole, you'd think this place was abandoned. I knew it wasn't. The grass was trampled by the door not to mention the faint path that lead up to the door.
I turned to Bear who was right behind me. "They gotta be in there. We should send guys around back in case there's another exit. I don't want that fucker to get away."
"Me either," Bear agreed. He turned to relay instructions to Striker who took his team through the underbrush and staying out of sight until he reached the backside of the shack. Ghost was going to wait hidden in case the asshole did get away from us. It was doubtful, but better to be safe than sorry.
Bear, Diesel, and me we're gonna hit the front. Sophie meant something to each one of us. For me, the feelings were unfamiliar but strong. I didn't know if I loved her, but I was pretty sure it was headed that way.
For Diesel, she was family. Sophie was his ol' lady's cousin, but it more than that. She had lived with him and Chrissy for a couple of months when she moved to Angel Valley. He probably knew her better than any of us.
And Bear. Sophie was Bear's connection to Maddie. I don't have a fuckin' clue what's going on between those two but something is. She's Maddie's friend so Bear's here with me. Don't get me wrong, he'd be here to help me anyway but now I think he has an extra stake in it.
A birdcall softly rang out and we knew the other guys were in place. I turned to Bear, "Let me go alone. That way he thinks it's just me. You'll know if things go south, but if we all go in guns a blazin' Sophie could get hurt."
He gave it a quick thought and agreed. As quietly as we could we made our way to the front of the shack. Diesel and Bear stood with their backs against the old weathered wood on either side of the door. We could hear him talking but I couldn't make out that he was saying until he shouted, "You are my wife!"
To which Sophie vehemently responded, "No, I'm not!"
I had a split second of relief that she was alive before I kicked the door in shattering it to pieces. My gun was aimed directly at his head. Too bad his was aimed directly at Sophie.
Fuck.
"Gentry, what did I tell you about leaving her alone? I guess I went too easy on you the last time, but there ain't gonna be no other chance for you. You're dead, you know that, right?"
Jacob shook his head. "No. She's mine! She's my wife and no biker trash is going to touch her. Get out of here or I'll shoot her!"
I took a quick look at Sophie. She was terrified. Gentry had her tied to an old wooden chair. Her clothes were filthy and strangely she had a short white veil on her head. Jacob was a madman. There would be no way to rationalize anything with someone as crazy as he was. I had to make a move at my first opportunity.
My eyes went back to Gentry so he had my full attention. I didn't like the way he had the barrel of the gun pressed up against her head. "If she's your wife then where's the priest or the justice of the peace? Show me the marriage license, man."
That's when he smiled at me. "We were married in the eyes of God and no piece of paper can make it any less true!"
"Then I don't get it," I said leaning up against the doorframe trying to look casual.
"Get what?"
Good. He was talking and the gun wasn't pressed tightly up against her head anymore. It was close, but he was concentrating on me more than her right now. "So if you two are married why do you have her tied up in this crap of a shack?"
"Got to teach her how to obey me. Women don't like that so she needs to learn that first."
I kept my attention focused on Gentry, but I could see Sophie slightly wiggling the arm on that chair. It was old and she was loosening it up. "Man, you got it all backward. Shit if this was me, I'd have her tied down to my bed, not some chair so I could bang her nonstop. Keeping her happy like that is the way you teach her to obey. If she wants the dick, she better have dinner on the table on time."
Hell, I hoped she realized this was just shit coming outta my mouth. I needed him to move the gun just a little more before I could take him out.
"Sophie's pure and when we make love she'll…"
I didn't let him finish before I laughed. "Pure? Women these days ain't pure which makes it so much more fun." I could see him shaking his head disagreeing with me. I hoped what I said next wouldn't get us both killed. It was a chance I had to take. "Brother, don't you remember me saying that she and I were 'close friends' at the bakery? I've had her…twice and I'm looking for another go around with her. She's a hot piece of ass for sure."
As my words sunk in I saw rage come across his face. He looked at me then her and then back at me. "You ruined her!" he shouted turning the gun toward me instead of her. Before I could shoot him, Sophie slammed the back of her hand into his dick as hard as she could. Apparently, she had worked the arm of the chair free. Jacob jerked and the gun fired. I heard a "Fuck!" from out front the second before I pulled my trigger nailing him in the forehead. He went down like a sack of bricks.
"Trax!" I heard Bear shout.
"He's dead. I got her!" I yelled back as I ran over to her. I quickly had my knife in my hand and I cut the duct tape that bound her to the chair. "She's okay."
"Diesel's been shot," I heard coming from behind me.
"What the fuck?"
The room filled with my brothers as I pulled the tape off Sophie's arms. "It's just a fuckin' graze. I'll be alright. You okay, Soph?" Diesel said crouching down next to her ignoring his bleeding arm.
"I am now," she said with tears streaming down her face. Once, I had her free, Sophie ripped off the veil before throwing her arms around my neck. She was hanging on so tight I was having a hard time breathing.
"Easy, babe," I whispered to her. God, she felt so good in my arms.
"How did you find me?" she asked looking around the room.
"Trax did. He tracked you and Gentry from his house to here. It's what he does," Bear told her.
I could see the light bulb go off in her head as she realized where my name came from. I was a tracker. It was the one thing I learned as a kid from my deadbeat father. He taught me how to track game so we could eat. I was really good at it.
"Trax, I get it now, but I still like Daryl. Can I still call you Daryl?"
"Yeah, you can," I chuckled as I wiped a smudge of dirt from her cheek. "How about we get out of here?"
"Good idea. Striker, you have clean up?" Bear asked.
Our Enforcer nodded his head. "We'll drag him back in the tarp that's over the roof. I'll make it look like a suicide and set the house on fire. It's far enough away that someone calling it in may take a little bit. I'll keep Jet and Brick with me."
"Good. Diesel you ride back in the SUV with Trax and Sophie. Brick can ride your bike back. You gotta get that looked at by Stitch first," Bear instructed.
"Naw, I can ride," Diesel said contradicting the Prez.
Bear put his hand on Diesel's uninjured shoulder, "Brother, let's play it safe getting you home. Your ol' lady will be pissed enough that you got shot. Crashing your bike too will be too much. I'm giving you an order. Ride back in the SUV."
Diesel turned to Brick, "You fuck up my bike, you better keep going cause I'll be looking to kill you. Got it, prospect?"
Brick promised he'd be careful with the bike and we left the three of them to handle Jacob's body. It was a faster trip out of the woods because I didn't need to follow any tracks. I knew exactly where I was going.
Sophie was coming back to the clubhouse whether she wanted to or not. It was the safest place for her and there was no way I was letting her out of my sight any time soon. Diesel sat squashed in the back seat holding a towel to his shoulder as Sophie sat next to me as I drove. I held her hand the entire way as she stared straight ahead with tears slowly running down her dirty cheeks.
I knew Gentry hadn't raped her, but he had sure messed up her head. I hoped some rest and a good meal would help her. This wasn't anything I had any experience with so I could only go with my gut. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with this woman that I barely knew. Not even twenty-four hours ago I was wondering what I was feeling for her and now I knew. The prospect of her dying would have killed me. This was an unusual emotion for me and I was still processing that I thought I loved her.
Seeing her crying, hit me hard. I'd do anything to take her pain away, except I had no idea what that was. We'd have to figure this out together.
As I parked the SUV in front of the clubhouse, I knew we'd have to take this one step at a time. First, both she and Diesel needed to be checked out by Stitch. He was our medical expert having been a medic in the army for over a dozen years. They discharged him when he lost a leg to an IED. Like the rest of us, he needed the brotherhood that the club offered and Bear took him in.
"The clubhouse?" Sophie asked.
"Because your place needs to be fixed before you can go back and this is the safest place for you. Plus, I ain't letting you outta my sight for a long while. Okay?"
She nodded yes and we followed Diesel into the clubhouse. Sophie was being too timid and that had me worried. Where was her spunk?
We'd figure that out later. Stitch needed to check her out first. I'd bring her something to eat while she showered and then she needed to rest. It sounded simple. I just wished to hell it was.