Page 130 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

Guilt tore through me as I took stock of what I had. The gas tank was full so I left the car running and the lights on so I could see anything approaching me from the dirt road in front of me. I had no food or water, but since I could hike down the road in the morning when it was light out, I wasn’t worried about it. Which meant it would just be a long night of watching and waiting since I doubted I’d be able to sleep. I patted my lap and Harley immediately climbed onto it and curled up into a ball. Her presence was comforting and I dropped my head back against the headrest. I let my eyes slide closed as the events of the evening began to replay in my head.

Never in my life had I struck out at another human being. The fact that I’d hit Dale repeatedly, if the amount of blood on his face had been anything to go by, was proof that the shit I’d been trying to pretend didn’t exist anymore was alive and well inside of me. But instead of resorting to my usual tactics to deal with it, I’d gone a whole other way.

And my men had witnessed it all.

I closed my eyes as more tears threatened to fall, but before they could, Harley began growling and I quickly opened my eyes again. The inside of my car was lit up from the headlights of a car that had pulled onto the access road behind mine. Fear went through me as I saw a figure get out and approach my car. I’d been hoping help would come, but what if whoever it was wasn’t here to help?

Harley was barking like crazy as the figure stopped outside my door and tapped on the window.

“Beck, it’s me, Roman.”

I let out a whimper of relief and couldn’t stop the sob that tore from my throat. I managed to open the window, but my voice was stuck in my throat. I put my hand on Harley’s muzzle to try and calm her.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

A nod was all I accomplished. It seemed to take forever for me to say, “It’s stuck.”

Luckily, Roman seemed to know what I was trying to say because he said, “Yeah, the runoff from the mountain causes the dirt to become like cement. We’ll need to have it towed out of here.”

I nodded, but couldn’t make myself move. Logically, I knew this man meant me no harm, but my brain wasn’t interested in logic. It was interested in the past and what men like Roman had wanted from me.

“Beck,” Roman said softly and he actually crouched down so he was eye level with me through the car window. “Lots of people are worried about you. Let me get you out of here.”

“Okay,” I whispered, my voice sounding uneven and on the verge of tears. I closed my window and turned off the car. I held Harley in a tight grip against my chest as I got out. Roman didn’t touch me despite the awkwardness of trying to get through the mud with the dog in my arms. He did, however, shut the door behind me. I went to his car which turned out to be a luxury SUV and climbed into the front seat. I knew Harley would be better off in the back seat, but I wasn’t willing to release my death grip on her. She’d become the only barrier between me and the man who climbed into the driver’s seat.

The car was warm and quiet. I watched as Roman picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Jax, it’s me,” he said quietly. “I’ve got him.” Roman appeared to wait for Jax to speak before he said, “His car is a few miles from Gray and Luke’s…on that access road leading to the river trail. It’s stuck in the mud.”

Another pause and then Roman said, “I’ll have him call you back in a few minutes, okay?”

Roman said his goodbyes and hung up. He put the car in reverse and got it out onto the road.

“Where do you want me to take you, Beck?” Roman asked. “I can take you to Dane and Jax’s or the resort…or you can come to Hunter’s and my house.”

“Your house,” I whispered. Despite my fear of the man, I wasn’t ready to face anyone else.

“Okay,” he said softly and then he was back on the phone with Jax. Once he told Jax where he was taking me, he handed me the phone.

“Beck, are you okay?” Jax asked gently.

I nodded and then remembered he couldn’t see me. “I’m okay,” I said. “I’m sorry if I worried you.”

There was a brief pause before Jax said, “We’re just glad you’re okay. Would you do me a favor and call Brody and Quinn to let them know you’re all right? They’ve been out looking for you for quite a while.”

A fresh round of guilt went through me. “Yeah, I will.”

“Okay…promise you’ll call if you need anything,” Jax said.

Emotion clogged my throat. This man and his husband had been nothing but kind to me, yet I’d put them in the same class as all the men from my past.

“I will,” I responded. “Jax,” I began after a moment. “Did you…did you call my fathers?”

The silence that loomed seemed to last forever. “No,” he finally said.

The relief was instantaneous. It was bad enough I’d caused him, Dane and my men to worry…putting my fathers through that level of stress, especially when they were helpless to do anything about it, was just too much.

“Please don’t call them,” I said.

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