Page 31 of Cowboy

The man standing there was someone she didn’t recognize and didn’t think she’d ever seen before. She stepped forward, pulling the door from all the way open, hoping to keep him from stepping inside.

“Can I help you?” She did her best to keep her tone polite, but something about him set off alarm bells in her mind.

“You sure can, sweetheart. You can come with me.”

Before Ava had a chance to tell him no or close the door, he pushed his way inside. He grabbed one arm and twisted it behind her so that ever time she moved or tried to fight, a shooting pain shot through her shoulder.

“What’s going on? Why are you doing this?”

“They messed with the wrong man. I’m going to teach them a lesson.” The stranger kept his hold on her arm as he steered her down the hall and into the elevator. Then out of the building and into the parking lot. She didn’t see anyone around.

Why was there no one around when she needed them? What would Cowboy think when he found her apartment door standing open and her nowhere to be found?

These thoughts and a million more raced through her head as he forced her into the back seat of a car that had been idling in a parking space, then followed her into the seat. There was another man in the driver’s seat and as soon as the door closed, the car backed out of the space and left.

Why hadn’t she listened to Cowboy and checked who was at the door before opening it?

21

Cowboy had just pulled into the parking lot and was in the middle of pulling the food he’d picked up on the way over from the saddle bags on his bike when a noise caught his attention. He looked up to see Ava stepping out the front door. Her posture and the expression on her face told him something was wrong. He stepped behind the cab of a pickup parked next to him just in time to see Rooster step out behind her, one arm bent up behind her back.

Rage washed through Cowboy. He nearly stepped out to confront the man he used to call brother, but reason intervened. Rooster wouldn’t do this on his own. He wasn’t smart enough to plan this on his own. If Rooster was involved, Jonesy would be nearby and, in all likelihood, Tank was pulling their strings. He needed to keep his cool and follow them.

The last thing he wanted was to pull Ava out of this but leave an element of the group free to target her again. He watched as Rooster pushed her into the back seat of an older model sedan he didn’t know if he’d ever seen before. He followed her into the rear seat then the car backed out.

Cowboy didn’t wait for them to leave before stepping out from behind the truck. He went to his bike, closed the saddlebags from where he’d left them open, and stepped astride the bike. As the car came toward him, he realized Jonesy was behind the wheel. It only took him a moment to start the bike then he waited for them to pull out of the complex parking lot before pulling out and following them. He needed to know where they were going, but he didn’t want to be too close. He didn’t want them to know he was on their tail.

At the first stoplight that turned red, Cowboy activated the Bluetooth in his helmet and told his phone to dial Deke.

“I thought you were spending the evening with your girl?” Deke said as he answered his phone. “What are you doing calling me?”

“We’ve got a problem.”

“Talk.”

“I arrived at Ava’s in time to see Rooster walk her out and force her into a car.” The light turned green, Cowboy continued through traffic, keeping several cars between him and the sedan, but not letting the sedan, and Ava, out of his sight. “It looked like he had her in a hammer lock. As soon as they were both in the car, the car left. I’m tailing it now. Jonesy is driving and Rooster is in the back seat with her. We’re headed west on 9th Street between 4th Ave and Sims. I don’t know where they’re headed, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some back up.”

“I’m on it. I’ve texted Miles and Caden. They’re the only two I trust a hundred percent not to have some allegiance to these two or Tank. What are they driving? If I can get one or both of them out to you, they can take your place and let you fall back so they don’t spot you.”

He gave the description of the vehicle, even down to the license plate when he got close enough to read it before falling back again. As much as Cowboy hated to admit it, even to himself, someone to help tail them would be helpful. He didn’t want to let the car, and Ava out of his sight, but who knew what Rooster and Jonesy would do to her if they spotted him. Who knew what they had planned? He hoped it was some kind of ransom plan, but after what they’d pulled with that other club a few months ago, he couldn’t count on it. He wasn’t willing to risk Ava’s safety on it.

Deke kept talking to him over the headset in his helmet as Cowboy followed them. A few minutes later his VP let him know that Caden was right behind him in a pickup, he could peel off the pursuit and they wouldn’t lose them.

It went against every instinct, but he took the next right, turning off the trail and looping back around. He pulled back onto 9th Street about a half mile behind where he’d turned off, waiting for news that it was his turn to tail them or that they’d stopped somewhere. Deke was still on the phone, keeping him on top of what was going on, giving him directions as they turned from one street to another.

After about a mile, Miles took Caden’s place following the car. It was Miles that saw it turn into a warehouse lot, then disappear through one of the overhead doors.

“Fuck,” Cowboy said as he cranked the accelerator. He needed to be there now. Who knew what these twatwaffles had planned for her. It could be something as simple as ransoming her back to him, or so much worse. Especially if, as he suspected, Tank was calling the shots.

The bike shot forward as rage once again filled him. He had to get there and save her. He could only hope this wouldn’t scare her off because damned if he hadn’t gone and fallen in love with her, despite knowing better.

22

Ava could barely think. Terror filled her mind. Who were these men and what did they want with her? Once she was in the car and the car moving, they didn’t seem to worry much about her. They talked between them.

It took her a few minutes for the panic and terror that had kept her from noticing much to fade.

Slowly, she became aware of what was being said around her.

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