Page 42 of Cocky Secrets

Margaret throws open Sage’s window and shouts down to us, “She’s not here!”

Bear squares off with Dad and Honey Badger. “An employee at the gas station around the corner from my house saw The Spiders take Sage against her will.”

“From your house!” Honey Badger snarls. “So shewaswith you!”

“I haven’t seen her since you turned me away from here. And tonight I’ve been on patrol since six. Best I can gather since it was so near my house, is that she might havetriedto come see me. And when she found me not at home, Sage gassed up for the ride back here. Jett, you say the last time didn’t end well. What does that mean?”

“Use your imagination. What did the gas station attendant tell you?”

The club is silent, hanging onto every word as Bear informs us all, “He said that Sage came in, paid cash for a fill-up. She was nice to him, and when she left, he went back to reading his comic book. He heard the gang drive up but didn’t look outside at first because he was used to engines coming and going. Peopleusually pay at the pump, he said. But then he heard shouting, looked out the window and saw she was being dragged to a guy who seemed to be the leader. The attendant shouted for them to leave her alone, but he was outnumbered and called the police rather than trying to fight them. Dispatch called me. I arrived on the scene to find the Harley you bought from me abandoned at the pump.”

Margaret shouts in anguish from Sage’s window. “She fought them?!”

“She did. From what I understand, their leader…”

Honey Badger can’t even talk so my Dad fills in the blank, “His name is Soot.”

Bear’s teeth grind together. “Soot…punched Sage and knocked her out.”

Honey Badger lets out a roar like he was there to witness it.

Margaret screams and we hear a thump from upstairs. Melody calls down, “She fainted. We’ve got her.”

Tears of rage spring to my eyes, and I’m not the only one.

Celia whispers, “We should have forced her to train.”

Atlas growls, “I’ve been saying that for years!”

Luke shuts them down. “This isn’t helping.” He calls to his father, “Dad, what now?”

Honey Badger shouts, “We find them and make them pay!”

Bear informs us, “Dispatch has other patrol cars searching for her. I came here first to tell you, since she’s your daughter. But not only that. I want us to work together on this because what I need to know is,” he shifts his weight, eyeing The Ciphers, “where would a motorcycle club take someone they kidnapped?”

EIGHTEEN

Sage

Iwake to the sound of muffled voices echoing through a vast space. My wrists and ankles throb where rope digs into my skin, and I blink against one glaring overhead light. As my eyes adjust, I take in the grimy walls of an abandoned room in what looks to be a warehouse, litter of its past life askew on the dirty floor and shelves. There are no other chairs in here, just an old desk, and shadows that dance ominously around me. The air is thick with the scent of something rotting, making my stomach churn. Dead rat?

They’ve brought me here, but where is here? Am I in the heart of The Spiders’ territory? I have no idea how long I’ve been trapped in this nightmare, but the fear is as fresh as the moment they grabbed me. I swallow hard, trying to steady my racing heart. I can’t let them see me panic.

An old door creaks open and the leader of the club strides in wearing a sneer that makes my blood curdle. His beady eyes narrow as he approaches, and I can feel malice radiating off him in waves. “You’re in a world of hurt, princess,” he growls, voice low and menacing.

I shudder, pulling against my restraints, but they hold firm. “You won’t get away with this,” I manage to spit out, though my voice trembles.

“Get away with it?” He chuckles darkly, taking a step closer. “This is just the beginning.”

The door swings open again. A Spider steps in, silhouetted against the light.

The leader looks over his shoulder. “What do you want, Briar?”

“It’s my turn.”

“Your turn what?”

“You know what, Soot. It’s my turn to have a girl,” Briar says, voice menacing.

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