Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC (67 page)

Before now, I was never a quitter. I was never one to give up without a single fight for myself or anyone else. But for the first time in my life, I felt as if I didn't have a choice. I felt as if I didn't have a choice except to sit, pray and wait to die.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Silence filled the truck as River sped through Daytona in search of the location of the house that Ricky had rebuilt. He knew in his gut just what that motherfucker had planned to do to his woman, and why of all places he had taken her back there, but refused to say that shit out loud in fear that it could somehow come to pass. He wasn't ever a superstitious motherfucker by any means; more of a believer in the tongue holding a hell of a lot more power over people than he thought it should, unless that power produced something worthy of being greater than regret.

His heart was beating so goddamn hard and fast as he raced through lights and flashed past stop signs, reminding him of when they sped through Tampa to get back to Crescent Beach, and to Mia then as well, that even Blue could see it pounding out from his massive chest. Never in his goddamn life had he seen River so fucking scared; scared that not only he would lose the woman that made him whole, the woman that opened his eyes to a brand new fucking world, but scared out of his own goddamn mind that he'd lose himself right along with her if she never made it back to him.

"Brother?" asked Blue.

River clinched his teeth and glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He relaxed his grip around the wheel before tightening it up again. "What?" he asked through clinched teeth.

"We're gonna get to her, brother. You just gotta believe in--"

"Believe in
what
, asshole?" he snapped back. "In God? In that He'll save her from this crazy as fuck prick who wants nothin' more than to see her fuckin' dead?"

Blue shrugged. "That too," he said. They looked over at each other before River turned his eyes back to the road. "But I meant that maybe you should believe in yourself, and that you'll get to her before any of that bad shit that you keep thinkin' inside that goddamn head of yours manages to go down."

"I can't fuckin' help that shit, asshole!" he roared. He threw his hand against the steering wheel a few times and ground his teeth. "Goddamnit!" He rattled the wheel inside his hands and fell back against his seat. "GOD FUCKIN DAMNIT, I never shoulda fuckin' left her there to go and confront Wolf over this shit--"

"You can't control how the fuck that motherfucker chose to operate this shit, Riv. No matter when or how we came at that asshole, you had to fuckin' know that he's always been twenty steps ahead of us 'cause the fucker had time to think that shit out--"

"We shoulda made fuckin' time to do the same--"

"Yeah, motherfucker," said Blue, "but we didn't. And you know why? 'Cause we were too fuckin’ busy livin' our goddamn lives and havin' fun."

He peered. "Shit ain't been fun."

"You fuckin' Mia ain't been fun for you, brother? 'Cause if it ain't, then gettin' married to her is the last thing you wanna fuckin' do." He chuckled.

"That ain't the kinda fun I meant--"

"I know," he interjected. He pat River on the shoulder and turned his eyes ahead. "But this is the kinda life we live, brother. The kinda shit we deal with every goddamn day. Mia's a part of that now--"

"She shouldn't have to fuckin' be is my goddamn point--"

"You're sayin' that shit like she can't hold her fuckin' own while livin’ in it." He paused. "Look brother, I don't know if you know this shit yet, but your 'lady' is a strong ass woman. Overtakin' Eightball, puttin' a bullet right through his goddamn skull -- that shit woulda sent most bitches runnin' for the goddamn hills long before it even had to get that fuckin' far. You see where my bitch fled after Courtney got shot the fuck up? She took off runnin’ last night and I ain’t seen or heard from her ass since,” he told him. “Your girl knew what the fuck she was up against, asshole, and she took care of shit for herself when it came to that motherfucker, just like she was tryin' to take care of her kid in comin' to see you. And what you told me about her tellin' you to own that shit and the crown? Even after lettin’ her know just
how
the fuck you got initiated into the club, shit even I didn’t know ‘til now? Brother, they don't make old ladies better than that bitch. If you ain't about all of that anymore then--"

"Fucker."

"I'm just sayin', brother." He shook his head and grinned. "What was that shit you said Verna told you about her bein’ the sun in somebody else’s sky or some other bullshit? I’m just lettin’ you know for myself that they don't make 'em better than your girl." Blue threw a hand around River's neck and squeezed down hard. He felt the tension rising in his best friend and looked over at him again. "You make the best of this shit with her, yeah? Once we get her back, you make her proud as fuck to stand at your side and call herself not just your woman or your goddamn Old Lady, but your motherfuckin’ wife, brother; with you through thick and fuckin’ thin, for better or fuckin’ worse."

“This shit is worse if I ever fuckin’ saw it,” he said.

“I know,” he told him. “And she’s gonna fuckin’ survive this shit just like every other goddamn thing in her life that she’s managed to get through. You just gotta fuckin’ believe that shit for yourself. Otherwise, what the fuck are we doin’ out here?”

River turned to look Blue in the eyes and bobbed his head. "
Yeah
,” he replied. He sniffed and swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

Within what felt like hours later, though it had actually only been minutes, they arrived at the location where the new house sat, though they were about one hundred or so plus feet away from the electric fence surrounding the property, and remained near a ditch on the opposite side of the railroad tracks in the hopes of not being seen by Ricky, his men or any cameras they could see surrounding the property.

The minute River shut off the engine, Blue stuck his head out of the window and looked around the area, at the dirt, grass and gravel all across the grounds of the place and scrunched his brows. "This house is sittin' right in the middle of a goddamn vacant field just like those lots out in Tampa. The last house we passed was sixty fuckin' miles ago and that shit was it?"

"Guess so, motherfucker," said River. He swung the door open to his truck and moved alongside it. "Place like this is perfect for makin' those dope deals."

“Even the dope deals we made out in other cities had other motherfuckers and houses around.” Blue hopped out of his side of the truck and moved around to the front. He pulled a cigarette from his cut and immediately lit up. "So what the fuck do we do?" he asked, blowing out the smoke. "Get in there and fuckin' grab her?"

"You just said yourself that this motherfucker stays twenty fuckin' steps ahead, right?" he asked. Blue nodded. "So if you were him, and you had done what you did eight years ago in the exact same fuckin' place--"

"Holy shit," said Blue. "You think he's gonna burn her alive?"

"I smell smoke, motherfucker," said River, trying like hell to keep his voice from trembling as he spoke. "Smelled that shit long before we even pulled up and fuckin'.... Shit, fuckin' prayin' that we didn't get here and see nothin' but a pile of ashes in place of this goddamn house instead."

"Jesus." Blue looked down at the tip of his cigarette hanging out from his mouth, then ripped it from between his lips and tossed it to the ground. He jammed his heel into the lit tip and dusted his hands on his pants. "So what the fuck do we do?"

"I don't know. But he's got her locked up inside and I'm guessin' on that second floor where the windows are all boarded up."

"Why the second?"

"He's replayin' this shit. Doin' every single goddamn thing he did back then. When Mia came into the club that day and she told me about tryin' to save that girl--"

"The one whose cloth she kept inside her purse?"

River nodded. "She was on the second floor with the other kids. That's when Ricky and those Czechoslovakian motherfuckers found her, and Ricky knocked her out."

Blue turned back to the house and shook his head. "I don't see any fire yet, though, Riv. I smell the smoke, but… Maybe he's just tryin' to scare the shit outta her this time in order to get to you."

"No brother. He wants her fuckin' dead. Shit ain't about me, it ain't never fuckin' been about me. It's always been about her. Just like me takin' her in; shit was always about her."

"The only person who took longer than a two inch cock to realize that shit was you, brother. Now let’s get our shit together and figure out a way to take this motherfucker out and get your girl."

Chapter Fifty-Three

After sending off Blue, who had managed to figure out a way to get past the fence without being seen, River waited alongside his truck all while keeping a close as hell eye out for Ricky and his men. When he saw two of them exit the house behind Ricky and move over to a large black van just a few feet away from it, he figured that clipping off those two motherfuckers who sounded about as stupid as they looked, would be his best bet before getting to the main motherfucker himself.

The minute he witnessed his best friend sneak inside the house from the back of the place without making even a single noise, he pulled two pistols from his holster, crossed his arms one over the other and leaned across the hood of his truck. And once he had those motherfuckers on either side of Ricky in perfect eye line through the holes of the fence, he took a single fucking shot at each of them at the exact same goddamn time. A single bullet straight to the head for both men and they fell to the ground in two seconds flat without a single whimper.

Even as Ricky saw them drop dead at his goddamn feet, he didn't flinch. Instead, he dipped his head back and groaned. "Alright," he called out, loud enough for his voice to crack against the light air of an early as fuck morning. He threw his hands up and spun around on the heels of his shoes. "You got me, asshole. Now come on out here like a good motherfucker and face me like a goddamn man," he mocked.

River stood up and away from his truck and with each pistol in his hand, paced his way over to the fence. The second he reached it, it made a sharp clicking noise and a door at the center of it swung back, allowing him inside. The minute he stepped over the line and the door slammed shut behind him, he knew he was in hell and the only way out was death.

"Well, fucking well," said Ricky as River approached him. "Been a long fucking time, my man. A long fucking time." He frowned. "And you look old as shit. About like Mia. Whatever the fuck you've been doing to each other outside of fucking might need to stop." River shook his head, refusing to utter a single word to him in return. Ricky felt that shit, which made him even more riled up. "How's Madison?" he asked, knowing that the question would be his Achilles heel. “Her tits finally grow into place?”

On instinct, River raised his pistol just as Ricky knew he would, and pointed it directly at Ricky's head. He held up his hands in a mocking manner, opened his eyes wide as if he was scared out of his mind, and stood back. Then he dropped his hands to his sides and burst into a goddamn fit of laughter. It would've been easy as fuck just to end that asshole right then and there; but River knew he had to wait until he was sure that Mia was safe before finally taking him out for good.

"You know, I've got to say that it took longer than I expected for you to finally show up here," Ricky told him. He stepped over one of his men to move closer to River and pulled a cigarette from the inside of his vest, ripped a match from pants pocket and lifted his foot to strike the tip across the bottom of his shoe. He kept his eyes on River as he lit up and inhaled, then blew out the smoke as he turned back to his men and watched as the blood continued to spew out from their heads and onto the gravel. Then he shrugged and lifted his head. "Those were two nice fucking shots," he told River. "If I didn't hate you so much, I'd have you on my team. There's just one problem though." He blew out another wad of smoke and opened his hands. "You missed. See, on my team, I teach you how to aim for your target and win."

"Who says that I was even aimin' for your ass when I shot up those two assholes, motherfucker?"

"So you were trying to get yourself killed instead, is that it?"

"No. Then again, I ain't the one who's gonna be dyin' tonight, asshole."

"Oh. Oh, so you're saying that'd be me?" He laughed and closed one eye as he wrapped two fingers around his cigarette and inhaled. "You think you're gonna come here all Rambo style like some B movie bullshit hero? Where the bad guy like me loses and motherfuckers like you win and get the girl and some pussy once it's all said and done? In the movies, they've usually got backup, and yet...." He spun in a circle and threw his arms out to his sides. "I don't see any backup out here with you, asshole."

"Don't fuckin' need it. I got all the goddamn backup I need right inside my fuckin' hands--"

"Oh, oh, that's nice, but um... You might need more than that considering where I have your girl...
our
girl."

"She ain't yours, motherfucker. Never fuckin' was."

"That's good, because I don't want her. Never really fucking did, but her pussy was good enough for my cock. And sweet too, WOO!" He leaned back and scrunched his face. "That bitch has the sweetest fucking pussy I think I've ever tasted in my thirty-two years on earth."