Chapter XI – A band aid for a fracture.

Ella couldn't believe how stupid she had been. Thinking for one second that Ray wasn't beyond redemption; Wanting to believe she could ever understand him.

She had taken the first exit out of town and was now driving aimlessly on a quiet road. She needed to clear her head away from the shit show her life had become. She kept seeing the bruises on Darcy's neck,. She had never been a fan of the girl yes, she had hated her even. But she had never wished for anything back to befall her. But it had. In the form of her father. He had used the girl for months and now no other Tacoma Son will probably want her. She'll stick around until she washes out and leaves on her own accord and be kicked out if she causes any issues. That was how things worked within the club. There was a hierarchy amongst the women and very strict rules and if your overstepped your bounds, or broke the rules, you could fall very low. It was a horrifying truth but a truth nonetheless.

Ella noticed the Deville behind her accelerating and she moved aside to let it go through. But instead of overtaking, the car moved aside mimicking what she had just done. She frowned and checked the rearview mirror. The windows were tinted and she couldn't see the driver. She decided to try again and this time opened her window to signal to the driver with her arm. But the driver continued to tail her.

"What is your problem, asshole?"she vented as she looked in the rearview mirror again.

That's when she realised something. She had seen that car before, as she had pulled into the range parking lot. She remembered noticing the bumper stickers because they were in Spanish and she had tried deciphering it with the little Spanish she remembered from school. And now that she thought about it she had seen it again when she had taken the north exit at the junction. Could this car be following her? And if it was, to what end? She got the answer to her question when the Deville suddenly accelerated bumping into the rear of her car, causing Ella to violently jerk forward.

"What the hell?" She turned around just in time to see the caddy come at her again. Ella picked up speed, looking at the road ahead looking for a way out but it was desperately empty. She checked her speed nervously; she knew that her old beat up car wouldn't be a match for the Deville in a full blown car chase. She was in trouble and she knew it. She had two choices call the cops and hope they got to her in time, or call the club. And regardless of what Ella might have thought about the Sons, it had long been engrained in her never to go to the cops.

Holding the steering wheel with one hand, she frantically foraged in her hand bag which was resting on the passenger seat, before finally locating her phone. Careful to check the road, she tried to dial a number on her phone only to be rear bumped again by the other car. Ella's car swerved a little and she fought to take back control of it. "Shit!" She ultimately managed to dial the number and held the phone to her ear.

"Ella?"

"Ray, I'm in trouble. I'm on road 410 about a mile past Boney Lake, I'm being chased by a car."

As if on cue, the Deville rear bumped her again.

"Shit!"

"Ella?!"

"They're trying to run my off the road, Ray. I don't know what to do." Despite the position she was in, Ella managed to say that in a calm voice.

"Ella, listen to me, you need to keep as much distance with them as you can."

"I'm trying!"

"Keep trying. I'm on my way. And Ella? "

"Yes."

"No matter what, do not get out of that car."

She couldn't help but wonder why he had felt necessary to insist on that but she decided she didn't want to know. "Okay." She quickly hanged up and threw her phone away as she checked her rear view mirror again and saw the Deville slowing down and the front windows opening. Ella gasped as she caught sigh of a glistering gun pointed right at her.

Ray had been alone with his thoughts when his phone had ranged. He had been surprised to see Ella's name on the caller ID as she usually avoided calling him. He had picked and paled when his daughter had told him she was being chased. Augusto Romero's warning still ringing in his ears. I will not be able to stop retaliation now. That is on you my friend. He didn't need to think to know exactly who was driving the car chasing his daughter. And despite the fact that Ray was convinced Juan wasn't acting with his club backing, they would be more than happy to put their hands on his daughter. Ella was in mortal danger but Ray was painfully aware of Juan Ortega's antecedents and he managed to get her alive, he would not only kill his daughter but violate her in ways Ray couldn't even bear to think about. Ray jumped, sending his chair flying on the floor and ran out the door walking into the bar area where most of the man were sitting chatting, playing cards, and drinking.

"We have to go."

Pete stood up immediately sensing the alarm in his president "What happened?"

"Juan Ortega is after Ella. She's on road 410." He said as he led the way soon followed by forty angry bikers.

Juan Ortega couldn't believe his luck. After making an anonymous call to the cops and leaving the body of his beloved sister behind, he hadn't returned to the cantina that served as the Tacoma Mayans head quarters. He didn't want to hear his uncle pretenses about how much he had loved his sister. Tina had been an innocent and she was executed like a dog by the Sons and he intended to give back ten fold. The Sons President bitch daughter was going to be the price the Sons would pay, Juan had decided. An eye for an eye, an innocent for an innocent. He would kill her. But first he would make the bitch scream in the worst ways possible, maybe even pass her to his brothers before he slit her throat ear to ear. Yes, Juan wanted revenge plain and simple and he wasn't going to wait for it. So he had called up their contact in the Tacoma PD and requested Ray Strickland personal address. Although the detective had been reluctant to provide the information knowing exactly what would likely happen if he did, a thousand dollars had finished convincing him. Armed with the address, Juan had left his Harley choosing instead to ride in his old lady's vintage Cadillac with his lieutenant Andres. They had both been camped in front of the ranch all morning waiting for the right moment. They had thought about grabbing her when she came out of the funeral home but she had been in a hurry and had ran to her car too fast. Juan didn't want to take the risk of any witnesses so they had just followed her to the range and when she'd left they'd tailed her again until he found his opportunity on this small road. He relished in the thought of how scared she must be wondering why someone was trying to run her off the road. Maybe she even called daddy crying someone was after her. He had fun rear bumping her a few times, putting some pressure on the bitch. But now was time to get serious, he thought, as he turned to his lieutenant Andres nodding for him to open the glove box. "Time to get the bitch. Give me my gun."

Andres took out a glock and handed it to his vice-president before pulling up his tee shirt and taking out his own gun. He smiled at Juan indicating he was ready.

"Remember, I want her alive." Juan stressed as they pulled their windows down. "Here it comes puta." He mouthed with a sick smile before they pulled the trigger.

At his speed, Kozik couldn't hear the guns but he definitely saw them and pressing the accelerator, he picked up his speed trying to reach Ella and the Deville that had been following her. When he had spotted Ella on the parking lot, he had just wanted to apologize for his reaction the day before, but when she had looked at him with her angry eyes, he'd known something was wrong. After Ella had gotten in her car, he had made a split second decision, driven by a primal instinct. He had told himself he just wanted to talk to her and make sure she was okay. She had looked so distressed, so sad he hadn't been able to stop himself and jumped on his bike to follow her. But very soon, he had noticed the Deville tailing her and known something was wrong. He had been slowed down at a railway crossing and lost sigh of both cars before finally catching up. Now he thought that he probably should have stopped and called for back up but he hadn't wanted to lose them completely. Kozik knew it would be pointless to get out his own gun as he wouldn't be able to hit anything at this distance, so he just pressed the accelerator again.

Ella bent forward very aware that those assholes were now shooting at her. She was trying to avoid any bullet but staying in control of her car was becoming increasingly difficult. She suddenly felt the car jump forward as if it had hit something before it swerved dangerously to the right. Ella realised they must have hit a wheel bursting it. She furiously tried to turn the steering wheel to get back on the road but it was too late, the car was not responding anymore. It skidded and crashed through the railings sending it flying in the bushes. Ella felt herself being jerked around her car, her face hitting the dashboard while the car continued its dangerous path until it finally came to a stop.

Every part of Ella's body started hurting. She could feel a warm liquid stream down her face and touching it she realised it was blood. "Shit." She murmured. She tried to move but her left shoulder was burning where the seatbelt had restrained her. She removed it and checked the nasty burn that was radiating pain through her body. Just then, she tried to turn around and saw two Hispanic men in their late twenties moving towards her. One had a massive tattoo of a spider crawling up his neck and the other one sported a moustache and sideburns and both had guns in their hands. Her hand went to open the car door but she remembered Ray's parting words. "No matter what, do not get out of that car."

As if he was reading her mind, she heard the man with the tattoo address her. "Get out of the car, puta!" They were still about thirty yards away from her car but they were approaching fast. She tried to assess her chances of escaping if she made a run for it now but from this distance if they weren't half bad shooters they could probably hit her. She made a rapid calculation in her mind and concluded it would be another fifteen minutes at least until her father got there. She was stuck. She checked on the two Latinos again and watched horrified as the one who had spoken before raised his gun and fired hitting her wing mirror as she flinched in her seat. "I said get out."

The other one encouraged by his friend yelled "We only bite if you ask nice bitch!"

Ella was starting to get a pretty good idea of why her father had insisted she stay in the car as the thought sent a chill down her spine. "Come on Ray. Come on."

The man with the tattoo raised his gun again "Last chance chica." He warned before pulling the trigger.

Ella heard her rear window shatter as a bullet hit it.

"I'm coming for you puta!"

Ella decided that if they were coming for her she wasn't going to sit there like a duck waiting for the slaughter. She moved to the passenger seat as she knew their angle wouldn't be as good and fought with the handle to get it to open. She finally felt the door give and tried to come out as discretely as possible.

"I see you bitch!" she heard the taunting voice before she started running as fast as she could. She heard them behind her, vociferating insults she had no desire of ever understanding. She realised they were catching up on her when she heard shots being fired. She moved behind a tree to take cover but as she looked behind her she realised that the two Latinos were not firing at her anymore. They were firing at Kozik.

Kozik saw Ella hide behind a tree and make eye contact with him. He nodded reassuringly to her letting her know he was there. When he had spotted the smashed railings and seen the Deville parked on the side of the road, he had understood what had happened straight away and felt a gripping fear rise in him. That was when he had heard the shots. He knew they were two of them and after quickly checking his gun, he knew he a full clip but that wouldn't be enough to fight off two armed men. He had decided the most important thing was to get Ella out of there so he had bypassed the attackers by circling around in order to surprise them on the right side. That was when he had spotted a bleeding Ella trying to get away from the Mexicans who were hunting her like a scared animal, yelling at her in Spanish as they laughed. He had felt anger course through his veins and pausing a second to aim, he'd started shooting. Ortega's lieutenant cried out in pain as a bullet hit his leg forcing Juan to back down. Kozik knew this was his chance so he made a beeline for her shooting aimlessly for cover.

"Kozik!"

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, what's going on Kozik?"

"I don't know yet. Stay behind me."

He moved around the tree and shot in Juan's direction again. The man had helped his man and taken refuge behind Ella's car. He shot back in their direction and Kozik swiftly moved around to shield Ella for the bullets. The deafening sound of bullet sprays around finally stopped and Kozik checked over his shoulder to see Ortega running away supporting his man. He took Ella by the elbow and spun her around to face him. "Are you okay?"

All she could do is nod her response. Kozik knew she was in complete shock at what had just taken place. He felt a surge of affection towards her and sliding his hand behind her head he brought her close to him, holding her warm body tightly. "I got you Elle. I got you."

He felt her grip tighten around his kutte as she held on for dear life before she pulled away as she felt something wet by her neck. He looked down and she watched his eye grow wide as he noticed blood on her shoulder. "Are you hurt?" he asked panic-stricken.

"It's not my blood Kozik, it's yours."

Hope you enjoyed the reading and I hope to read YOU soon!