Page 5 of Torn In Two

A second gunshot splintered the night, this time louder. Closer.

I doubled down, stumbling on the uneven ground, catching myself on the trees as I fought my way through the scrub in the darkness, no time to stop and turn on flashlights.

A figure stepped out of the darkness, and I pulled my gun. Moonlight caught the Saint View Slayers’ emblem on the back of his jacket before I needed to question whether I should shoot.

“Ice!” I recognized the prospect’s fair hair and slim build. “Did you find her—”

A bellow from somewhere up ahead cut me off. “Hawk! This motherfucker has buried your woman alive!”

My blood ran cold.

The sound Chaos made behind me was something between a shout of anger and a moan of agony. I let go of Ice’s shoulder and sprinted for the clearing ahead, Chaos at my side, both of us bursting out of the trees at the same time.

Riot, president of the Louisiana chapter, was on his hands and knees, scooping dirt from a hole.

Not a hole.

A motherfucking grave.

Beside it lay two dead bodies, both in Slayers’ jackets, one a Saint View original, one with a Louisiana patch. Their blood seeped into the ground, spreading out around them like halos.

“What the fuck have you done?” I yelled at Riot, staring in horror at Ratchet’s dead body, lying completely still next to Thunder’s. I didn’t need to check their pulses to know they were both dead as fucking doornails.

Behind me, Ice let out a string of cuss words, but it was Hayden who caught on quicker than any of us. He skidded to a stop at the edge of the grave and peered over the edge.

He’s buried your woman alive.

Riot ran a hand through his hair, gripping the back of his neck in dismay. “I heard her scream. It was weak, but I heard it.”

“Kara!” Hayden and I shouted in unison.

There wasn’t a sound.

He stared at me in horror. “How long has she been down there for?”

It had been hours since I’d lost track of her at the party. Terror coursing through my veins, I shook my head. “Too long. Way too fucking long. Get her out!”

Frantic, I scraped my fingers through the dirt, hauling it to the edge of the hole and then up, spilling half in an attempt to remove the soil. Over and over we did the same thing. Ice grabbed the shovel while Chaos, Riot, and I dug with our bare fingers. Other members found their way out of the woods and into the clearing. If they questioned what we were doing, I didn’t hear it.

All I could think about was getting this fucking dirt off her so she could breathe.

And that we weren’t going to be fast enough.

Something inside me snapped. Some floodgate that had been holding in everything I felt for the curvy brunette.

I was so fucking in love with her, and she was going to die, all because I’d lied to her. If I’d been a better man, an honest one, maybe she would have chosen Hayden, but at least she’d be in his arms, breathing and healthy, instead of suffocating beneath the earth.

I couldn’t stand it. The realization made me want to claw my face to pieces.

“Women look to us for guidance. They are lost sheep, while you are their shepherd. It is your job, men of the Lord, to guide them to their rightful place. To teach them how to behave and how to honor the Lord by honoring the men the Almighty made in his image.”

“Wait, wait. What is that?” Chaos asked, clearly hearing it too. “A recording?”

A scream of frustration and agony ripped from my chest. We could wipe serial killer off the suspect list, at least for tonight. “That’s her psychopath husband’s podcast.” I’d searched for it when Kara had mentioned it, and there was no mistaking Josiah’s smarmy voice, luring men in with promises he couldn’t fucking keep.

There was no way she was dying in that hole with his words the last thing she heard. I refused to let that happen.

I threw myself in.