Page 11 of Panther's Magpie
“Of course you do. Now do you want me to walk you home, or are you staying here with Maggie?”
I scan the room, looking for her. “Where is she? She didn’t leave, did she?”
“I thought you didn’t care?” Eagle shakes his head. “Nah, I took her to the bunk room. I peeked in about fifteen minutes ago. She finally cried herself to sleep.”
For some reason the thought of her crying herself to sleep makes my chest feel tight.
“You okay?” Eagle asks.
I follow his eyes and look down and see that I was rubbing my chest, right over my heart.
“No, and I won’t be until my sister is home,” I tell him bluntly.
“Then come on, let’s get you in bed. Like I told Maggie, neither of you will be of any use to Aspen if you’re dead on your feet.”
I follow him down the hall to the room I keep in the clubhouse, and only one thought rolls through my mind.
What if we are already too late? What then?
CHAPTER
THREE
MAGGIE
My eyes ache from all the tears I’ve cried. My hands itch to reach for my phone and text Aspen, but I know they will go unanswered.
Wherever Aspen is, her phone is not with her. I tried the “locate a friend” feature and found it was turned off. She would have never turned it off, so someone else has her phone.
I tried to fall asleep last night, but my dreams were plagued with strange men looking more like monsters as they terrorized both me and Aspen. Every time I thought I had saved her, she would slip away from my grasp and into theirs.
To say I am exhausted would be an understatement.
I don’t know what to expect as I come out of the room Eagle led me to last night, but I know I wasn’t expecting the silence. Walking out into the main room, I find one lone man sitting with his computer as he types away.
I am considering what to say to him when he speaks up.
“Good morning, Maggie. I am to feed you and keep you out of trouble. What would you like to eat?”
He finally turns and looks at me. He’s one of the men that went into the room after Panther last night.
“I need a shower,” I tell him, feeling the crusty feel of tears on my face.
“Bathroom is down the hall and to the left. There should be towels in there. The sweetbutts are pretty good about keeping it stocked. Use whatever you find in there. No one will care. Eggs and bacon okay for food?” he asks.
I nod, turning back to go to the bathroom.
How different one day can make. Yesterday I woke up in our shared apartment in Bakersfield, setting out on a journey to make it to Denver before midnight. I didn’t have a care in the world other than passing my classes.
Now I’m living a nightmare. My best friend is in trouble, and I can’t help her. I’m stuck in a strange place with a man that I once knew as a boy, but he isn’t the kind, caring kid who loves Aspen anymore. He’s the scary kid who showed up at school and told Principal Kinney off in front of me. Only now that anger is turned on me.
I don’t blame him, though. I should have done more. It’s all my fault.
I take a quick shower, wanting to pump the guy waiting for me for info. Have they found Aspen yet? I hope if they did, they would have woken me up. Then again, if that’s true, then she’s still missing, and I don’t want that.
After dressing in the same clothes from yesterday, I explore the clubhouse as I look for the man from before. I find him in the kitchen with an apron on. Seeing a tattooed biker with his cut, as I now know they are called, on with an apron over it is quite comical. I don’t say a word, though.
“What’s your name?” I ask the man.
