Page 90 of Tuck & Roll

“Yeah. Told him Redemption PD showed up. Not sure what’s going down.”

When it came to their little group, the officer checking I.D.s motioned for other officers to escort all of them and the prospects to different vehicles. Cami and Jenna were put in the back of one, Bellamy, Lindsey and Calliope in another and Cutter and Miles in another. Kylie was escorted to an unmarked vehicle on the other side of the parking lot.

“Hey! What’s going on? Why am I not going with them?” Kylie shouted at the officer propelling her farther and farther away from her friends. Cutter and Miles were straining against the officers trying to hold them back as they demanded to be put in the vehicle with her. When that didn’t work, Cutter tried to get at least one of them in the car with her. That still didn’t work. Instead, it got him and Miles roughly shoved to the ground to be cuffed then tossed into the back of a car. The ladies were all twisting to look out the back window of their respective vehicles, alarm on their faces as they watched helplessly as Kylie was separated from the rest of them.

The officer opened the back door of the unmarked car and shoved her inside, closing the door with force. She tried the door handle, but it didn’t work. She was locked inside. There was a metal screen dividing the front seat from the back. “What’s going on? Why am I being separated from my friends?”

She watched as the other vehicles pulled out of the parking lot, turning right toward the police station. Why was her group being singled out? Why were they being brought to the police station?

Her eyes made contact with the driver’s in the rearview mirror. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she recognized the man behind the wheel. “Chief Whitener? What’s going on?”

Remaining silent, he put the car in gear and started to drive. Instead of turning right off the parking lot, he turned left, heading out of town.

Oh no. That can’t be good. “Where are you taking me? Aren’t you going to take me to the police station with the rest of my friends?”

Chief Whitener didn’t answer.

Looking out the window, her heart sped up as she took in the scenery. Tall trees and thick underbrush grew on both sides of the road, making the already dark night feel even darker. There was nothing she could do as he drove farther and farther out of town. Any hope of anyone finding her dwindling rapidly with each mile.

“Chief Whitener? Please, answer me. Where are you taking me?” Kylie scooted forward to the edge of her seat, her fingers poking through the honeycombed mesh divider separating the front from the back. She slapped at it to get his attention. “Answer me!”

“I’m sorry. I never meant for things to go this far.”

“What? What do you mean?” Kylie’s heart raced in her chest. To say she was afraid would be a gross understatement. She was flat out terrified.

“It was never supposed to be like this. All I was supposed to do was keep the Sons of Redemption busy. Harass them from time to time so the Phantom Furies could get a foothold inside Redemption. It was easy money to look the other way when the Phantoms started to sell their drugs in town.” He took a right turn onto another back road. It was too dark to figure out where she was being taken.

“What are you saying?” Of course, she knew a lot of what motivated him to do what he was doing through her investigation of him for the Sons, but he didn’t know that. Maybe if she kept him talking long enough, he’d rethink what he was trying to do with her.

“I needed the money to take care of my granddaughter. She’s diabetic and her parents are having a hard time paying for her insulin. Do you know how expensive insulin is? She’ll die without it. I’ve seen story after story about it on the news where a diabetic has to choose between taking care of themselves properly or paying rent or buying food. What kind of bullshit is that?”

She truly felt bad for his granddaughter, but debating politics right now didn’t seem the way to go.

“Where are you taking me?” she tried again.

The chief’s eyes shot to the mirror. “I’m taking you to Chet. He says you have something he needs and once he gets it, you’re free to go.”

“You truly believe that?” Was the man crazy? “You and I both know that once Chet gets what he’s after, I’m as good as dead.”

“No. He said he would let you go.” She didn’t know if he was trying to convince her or himself that that was true. She certainly knew that it wasn’t.

The car started to slow and the chief leaned forward as if looking for something. Oh shit. Her time was running out.

“Please, Chief Whitener,” she begged. “Don’t do this.” She was close to tears now and shaking like a leaf. “I’m pregnant. Please don’t do this.”

Her announcement caused the chief to flinch and pull his car to the side of the road, stopping a good distance from a white sedan. “Goddamn it,” he growled, his fist hitting the steering wheel. His chest rose and fell with each deep, guilt-laden breath he took. “I’m sorry. It’s you or my granddaughter.”

She held her breath as she watched Chet exit the vehicle and saunter their direction. In the police car’s bright headlights, she could see he was dressed in faded jeans, a t-shirt and what looked to be his Phantom Furies cut. His hair was longer and in need of a wash, his usual smooth face now scruffy and unkempt. Done with his charade at Bottoms Up, he wasn’t hiding anything now. She watched helplessly as he drew closer and closer with each step.

A sudden wave of rage washed over her. She was angry at this situation. Angry that she was paying for the chief’s and Chet’s mistakes. Angry that both these dickheads were taking away her dream, her future with Tuck and their baby.

“Goddamn it! You’re just going to let him kill me and my baby?! How could you?” She jerked on the divider between the seats in a desperate plea to get through to him. The chief opened his door and got out as if completely unphased by her outburst.

“Glad you finally called. How’d you get her?” Chet continued toward them.

“I saw her and the old ladies enter Bottoms Up and had the place raided. The others were taken to the station and I took her.”

“Finally, a little ingenuity.” Chet’s smile scared the bejeezus out of Kylie. It was like looking at a shark right before he took a bite out of you. She hoped the chief was paying attention.

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