Page 53 of Hell & Back

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Darren was having sex with Sadie Swallow, the woman they suspected to have ties to the PFMC and the woman Jed was supposed to be getting close to. He ran his hand through his hair and thought thank God there wasn’t any sound. Hang on. What was that? Were those metal bars? Was Darren in a cage?

“Play it again,” he instructed Race. This time he took his time and took in the smallest details, from their eyes to their surroundings. “Look. It looks like there’s another guy in there.”

“Fuck. He’s just a kid.” Race’s mouth flattened, his attention turning back to Kylie. “When and how did you get this?”

“I just got it in an email that I specifically set up to communicate with Crockett.” At least she had the good sense to look guilty at her unexpected admission.

“You did what?” Race’s head jerked back, the scowl on his face deepening. Tuck noticed the muscle in his jaw ticking and worried he might go ballistic on her.

“I had his wife’s car repoed and told him to release Darren or his house was next. He sent this.” She flipped her hand toward her computer.

“Oh, baby.” Tuck closed his eyes and let his head fall back on his shoulders. There was no way he could get her out of the mess she’d just gotten herself into. She would have to weather Race’s tongue lashing in order to learn a valuable lesson. No one made moves or decisions concerning the club outside the club.

Race paced away and came back to stand in front of her. His hands hung loosely at his sides. He took a deep breath as if he were holding on to his patience by a thread. “Kylie, I really like you. You are actually one of my favorite old ladies and if you ever tell them I said that, I’ll deny it. So, darlin’, although I appreciate all the work you do for the club, you gotta know this,” he pointedtoward her desk, “this is crossing a line. This is you interfering in club business. I told you before you took the job, club business is club business. It’s only for the brothers. I know you can get confused on where that line is because of what we ask you to do sometimes. This, right here, is way over the line.”

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I was just so desperate to find him.”

“Baby.” Tuck took a seat next to her but didn’t reach for her yet. “Did you stop to think how this could affect Darren? What they might do to him in retaliation for what you did with his wife’s car?” She stiffened as it dawned on her what could have happened or might still happen to Darren if Crockett was pissed off enough. “Did you watch the video?”

“Yes,” she sniffled. God, she looked so pitiful he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right.

“Did you notice his glassy eyes? Or the woman’s? Did you see how his body was shaking from holding back and fighting against the drug? Did you see his face when she climbed on? If they would have cut him open and pulled his guts out, it wouldn’t have hurt him more. Honey, the man was wrecked.”

“Then why did he do it?” Race shoved a box of tissues in front of her which she gladly accepted.

“My guess is they used that new drug on him and he didn’t have a choice.” The way she looked at him with such hope, he felt he needed to remind her. “Remember, the drug makes your body think it needs sex even when your head and heart are saying no?”

“Yes. I remember.” He pulled her into his arms and held her while she continued to cry.

“I’m going to call everyone in. We’ll meet in church in thirty minutes,” Race told him before pulling his cell from his pocket and leaving the two of them alone.

“How mad is Race?” Kylie asked.

He was thoroughly pissed off. There would have to be a punishment dealt out for someone stepping this far over the line. Race would never take it out on Kylie, pregnant or not. No. Tuck or Darren would be getting the punishment sometime in the future when they were both healed enough to take it. To Kylie, he said, “He’s pretty mad, baby.You’re lucky you’re not one of the brothers or he might have decked you.”

“What? He would punch me?”

“No! He would never lay a hand on you. I’m just saying that if it was one of the brothers who’d done something like this that could affect the whole club, he’d have to answer for it. For you, he’ll probably give you the stink eye for a while, maybe give you the silent treatment for a day or two.” He really had no idea what Race was going to do.

“Are you guys going to figure out how to get inside that building and get Darren?” Kylie asked. Her tears had soaked through his shirt and it was breaking his heart.

“Yeah. As soon as everyone that’s still in town can get here, we’re going to come up with a plan to get our brother back.” He held her until it was time to head to church. “Why don’t you lie down and try to get some rest? The meeting may take a while.” He waited for her to lie down, then covered her with the throw she kept on the back of the couch.

At the entrance to church he dropped his phone in the box before entering. He took his seat and looked at the empty chair next to him where Darren should be sitting. Seeing what they’d been putting him through, Tuck wanted to kill someone. For someone like Darren, an honorable, loyal man, forcing him to have sex with anyone other than Kylie was truly the worst torture they could have come up with.

“All right. Let’s get this started.” Race banged the gavel and started the meeting. “As you know, Tulsa was going to use the drone Kylie sent him to get a closer look at the building we’rehoping and praying that Darren’s being held in. Tuck and I watched it and I drew up a map so we could all come up with a plan to rescue our brother.” He’d made copies and sent them down the table.

“There’s only one entrance and exit. No windows,” Tuck filled them in.

“Fucking fire hazard,” Jackson mumbled.

“You can see there are trees at the back and one side. We can use the trees for cover and come in from behind,” Race suggested.

“How close is the clubhouse?” Maverick asked while looking over his copy of the map.

“Far enough they can’t see the building from there. There are also a half dozen trees blocking their view,” Race replied.

“What kind of condition do we think we might find Darren in?” Trick asked.

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