Owning Destiny (Forsaken Sinners MC Series Book 4) (16 page)

I see my brother look from me to the prospect, who seems to be on the ground mumbling. Maybe he’s trying to check if I’m okay or maybe he’s taunting my brother. I don’t know.

Anthony turns his back on me and starts to walk toward the prospect again. I try to call out to him and get his attention back on me, but the words won’t come out. Or maybe they do, they just don’t make sense. Everything is garbled in my mind and my vision is going black.

I open my mouth to try again when a shot rings out. It’s deafening and final. I feel tears well up in my eyes as I am now looking at a motionless prospect. There’s no way my brother missed, so I know he’s dead. He died trying to save my life and it was all for nothing.

Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I finally surrender to the blackness. I just pray I’m dead so I don’t have to endure the hell my brother is taking me to…and so I don’t have to live in a world where someone died for me.

***

Hearing voices, I open my eyes but don’t see anyone. I have no idea where I am, but I probably don’t want to know.

I still remember hearing the shot ring out that ended the life of the prospect who was only following orders to go after me, and died in the process of trying to protect me. I hate that he was killed because of me and I’ll never forgive myself. I may not have asked for him to try and save me, but he did. Whether out of feelings of obligation to the club or to Michael, or if it was just from the goodness of his heart…it doesn’t really matter now because he died regardless, doesn’t matter what his motives were.

Looking around the room I’m in, there is nothing here except the bed I’m sitting on. My hands are tied behind my back. I’m leaning against the wall and my ass is asleep. I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but going off of that fact alone, I’d say it’s been awhile.

I still hear voices outside the closed door but I can’t make out what they’re saying and I don’t recognize the voice. Not like that means anything. The only person I really know here is my brother, and it’s not like I try to remember what his voice sounds like. So it could be anyone. Maybe that Gutter guy is coming for me. Did my brother tell him I’d willingly be his if he left the Sinners alone?

Hearing the doorknob turn, I look toward it, dreading who will come through. It opens slowly.

The man who comes in is huge. He’s probably almost six feet five inches and he’s got tattoos covering every visible part of his body besides his face. His face is actually quite handsome and when I look into his eyes, I expect to see raw evil, but I’m surprised when I see pain and concern. Maybe this guy doesn’t like what these men do to women, but that’s highly unlikely. He probably just likes to fool his victims into thinking he’s going to help them, then crushes them with his iron fists or maybe his huge looking boots.

“Rose?” he questions in a deep voice but he seems to be trying to be quiet. Not sure why, but with my head still hurting from the blow to my head given not so kindly by my brother, it’s a small victory I’m going to take.

“Who are you? Gutter?” I ask in disdain. I probably shouldn’t piss this guy off, but I can’t help it. I’m angry I’m here, and even though I’ve hated my brother for so long and knew he was an evil person, I’m still a little hurt I’ve been betrayed by my family. Someone who is supposed to protect me, love me, and always be there for me when I need them. Not someone who will hurt you and sell you off to the highest bidder. If my brother wasn’t such a shitty person, I wouldn’t be here and the Sinners wouldn’t be in danger. The only thing I can hope is that Gutter accepts my offer.

The man comes closer, and I scurry as far as I can against the wall. It’s probably not even an inch, but anything I can do to make it seem like I’m getting away, I’ll do. This man could probably kill me with a single finger. I’m scared and uncertain, but I guess I better get used to those feelings. I’ll be feeling them for the rest of my life, no matter how short it is.

“Hey, it’s okay. My name is Tyke and I’m going to get you out of here,” he says, inching closer to me but with caution and ease. It seems like he’s trying not to scare me but it could all be a show. If I put my guard down and believe him, will he strike?

For some reason though, I want to believe him. And I swear I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t put my finger on it. I know I’ve never seen him before, but he still seems familiar.

“Who are you?” I ask, relaxing my sore body a little bit. I guess if he lashes out at me, I’d rather it be him than my brother or this Gutter guy that wants me.

“I’m Tyke, a member of the Forsaken Sinners MC. I’ve been here undercover for a few months, but I know who you are. You’re Mack’s nurse.”

As soon as he said he was a member of the Forsaken Sinners, I broke down. Here’s another person putting themselves in danger for me. Sure, he was already here, but he’s risking himself to make contact with me. And he shouldn’t. I want to get rescued and be back in Michael’s arms more than anything, but not at the risk of them being in danger. I won’t do that to them if I can prevent it.

“No. You have to get out of here. Go back to the clubhouse and tell everyone not to come after me. My brother told me their plans to kill every single member of the Sinners and every person they care about. But I can stop them. Please, you have to leave.” I can’t help it when my voice rises with hysteria. What if another person dies because of me? Dear Lord, I won’t be able to handle that.

“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. Don’t you worry about me. I’m a Marine. Ain’t nothing going to happen to either of us, okay?” He still doesn’t get it. He’s going to die, along with everyone else if he doesn’t leave me here.

“No, you don’t understand,” I say, but Tyke interrupts me.

“Look, we have to be fast—” he starts to say when the door opens and my brother and another man I don’t know comes walking in.

Tyke looks behind him, but he doesn’t seem worried. He actually looks void of all emotion, even the friendly look he had when talking to me. Was all of that just a nasty joke he was playing on me? Is he really a part of this gang and not the Forsaken Sinners? It’s probably for the best if that was the case. Then they would know I’m serious about staying if it means saving the club.

“Hey, man. I was just checking on our little prisoner here,” Tyke says, sneering at me over his shoulder for a split second before he looks back to the other men now in the room.

My brother closes the door behind him and stands guard while the other man steps past Tyke with a sick smile on his face.

“Finally, my angel has woken,” he says, reaching out and touching my face, but I jerk away from his hand before I can stop myself. This must be Gutter. If I have any hope of saving Michael and everyone else, I need to get better at not reacting.

“You’ll learn to love my touch. But until then, I guess I’ll just have to have fun breaking you,” he exclaims before slapping me hard across the face.

His hit hurt, but not as bad as the one my brother delivered. Or maybe I’m already getting used to it, which is a good thing because I know there will be many more to come.

My gaze falls on Tyke. I can literally see his jaw hardening, probably from grinding his teeth together. He had to have been telling the truth about who he is, but I wish it wasn’t true. It hurts to know salvation is so close, yet so far away. Tyke would have to risk himself to save me, and even if he succeeded, what would the cost be? If I left, how long would it take before my brother and his club follow through with the plans they set out for the Sinners? A day? A week? I’d give almost anything to be back in Michael’s arms and tell him that I love him, but the price is too high. I won’t pay in their blood just so I can see him again.

I want to plead with my eyes for Tyke to play along. To let me be and to run as soon as he gets the chance, but I’m afraid if I do, the others will see. I can’t risk it.

Gutter turns away from me and looks at Tyke. “I’m glad you’re here, actually. There was something I wanted to ask you.”

I can do nothing but watch and listen to the exchange and hope that whatever is going on isn’t going to be bad. I can’t handle any more violence.

Tyke just nods and folds his arms. He looks casual to the naked eye, but when looking closer, I can tell his body is stiff and ready for anything.

“I’ve been told that there’s a traitor among us. Have any idea who it could be?” Gutter asks.

Tyke doesn’t react the way I thought he would. I figured he’d play along, but instead, he drops his arms and looks at Gutter with a look of pure malice.

Quicker than I thought possible, Tyke strikes Gutter with a solid left hook and then follows it up with a right uppercut. It all happens so fast, I can barely follow the moves. Neither Gutter nor Anthony saw it coming, but my brother is quick to respond.

Jumping onto Tyke’s back, he tries to put some sort of hold on him but Tyke is easily able to evade and dislodge him.

Gutter hasn’t made a move from where he’s kneeling on the floor. Blood pours out of his nose and covers his face. I’m surprised those blows didn’t knock him out. If he was unconscious right now, the fight that still ensues between my brother and Tyke might be fair then. I’m not sure if Tyke can win two against one, Marine or not. Tyke is big and I have no doubt he’s a good fighter just by what I’ve seen so far, but who knows how dirty the other two fight. And it’s already not fair because he’s outnumbered.

Right now, it looks like Tyke has the upper hand against my brother, but then out of the corner of my eye, I see Gutter stand and pull something out of his sleeve. It’s a crowbar.

I scream to get Tyke’s attention, but it’s too late. Gutter swings out with the crowbar and hits Tyke in the middle of his back. He surprises me by not going down, but Gutter is quick to hit him again. This time, it’s in the back of his head.

Tyke drops to his knees, stunned from the blow. His back is facing me and I can see blood running down his neck and soaking into his black shirt, so it now looks wet and glossy.

“Stop!” I yell, though I know they won’t listen. It didn’t help last time I tried to stop my brother, so why would it now?

I’m full out sobbing now and don’t want to look anymore, but I can’t look away. It’s like watching a horror flick and knowing the scariest part is coming and you’ll have nightmares if you watch, but you just can’t close your eyes to the horror. It’s probably my punishment. Another man is going to die tonight because of me, so I should have to watch it. That way I’ll always see it when I close my eyes. Tyke and the prospect will haunt me till the day I die.

I watch as my brother delivers blow after blow to Tyke’s face until he’s a mass of blood on the floor. But Tyke still hasn’t given up. He may be down, but he’s not out.

Gutter kicks him in the stomach as Tyke tries to get up, effectively dropping him back down. He tries once more to get back up, but he’s kicked again, and this time, Gutter doesn’t stop. He kicks him over and over and over again until he’s still.

“Please, stop,” I cry again but even I can’t make out my words. I’m a blubbering mess and can barely see.

Gutter looks at me and actually smiles. “Don’t cry, love. I’m doing this for you,” he tells me. It only makes me cry harder. He’s killing this man because of me and I hate myself for it. “He’s a traitor and tried to take you away from me. He has to die.”

“No,” I say. “Don’t kill him. I swear, I’ll stay with you. Just please don’t hurt him anymore.” But my words go unheard. Gutter starts to hit Tyke everywhere on his body with the crowbar. The sound of steel hitting flesh and bone is sickening. It’s a noise I will never forget. It sounds wet, and you can literally hear bones breaking and the skin being broken open.

Not able to hold it in any longer, I puke up what little I had left in my stomach and continue to dry heave even after my stomach is empty. I can’t bring myself to look away from the mess of unrecognizable flesh on the floor in front of me. What was once a handsome, brave man minutes before is now covered in blood, his skin torn open and swollen to the point I can’t even see anything that resembles the man I had just met.

I don’t know how long I sit there and cry as I stare at the second man who died tonight because of me, and I have no idea if my brother or Gutter are still in the room with me, but soon my eyes grow heavy and I can no longer hold them open.

Lord, please forgive me for what I’ve caused. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,
I say to myself before I allow myself to fall into darkness.

Chapter Fifteen

Mack

I stand there, with my phone attached to my ear long after I heard the shot ring out and knew the prospect was dead.
Tyler
. He’d been prospecting for only a few months and had barely begun. How is it that he’s already been killed? He died trying to look after my girl, and when he knew that his life was over, he called me to make sure I knew what was going on. For that, I’ll be forever in his debt.

Tyler hadn’t been able to finish his sentence before he was killed, but I got enough to know who has Rose.
The Street Kings.
I don’t know who or why they took her, but I’m going to get her back. I don’t care if it takes my life in the process, I will do whatever it takes to make sure she’s safe.

“Get the brothers here. Now!” I yell out as I put my phone back in my pocket and head into the chapel. As much as I want to go off half-cocked and find my girl, I know if I have any chance of doing this without any casualties on our side, I have to think this through. If I go off on my own, I could risk losing Rose, or worse, hurting her. And that is not a fuckin’ option.

It’s only a matter of minutes before all of my brothers come barreling into the chapel with mixed looks that range from confusion, anger, and determination. They have no idea what’s going on, but they know me well enough to know that if I’m calling an emergency meeting, that shit is important and they know it’s most likely something they won’t like.

Plus, I’m sure Jax filled them in a little bit from what he heard from my conversation. My face probably told it all.

Once everyone is seated, I start out with, “Prospect Tyler is dead.” I figure I need to get that out of the way now so we can focus on Rose and what we’re going to do to get her back.

The room turns into an uproar of brothers asking what happened and just angry yells about losing a brother. Because that’s what he is now. He may not have been fully patched in when he was alive, but dying for the club, that’s an honorable way to go. He’ll be buried with full patch status. I’ll make sure of it.

“Settle the fuck down. There’s more,” I yell out so they shut the hell up so I can finish. I know they’re all upset and confused, and they deserve to be this way, but right now, we have more important things to do. There will be a time for getting angry and grieving, but now isn’t the time. I need everyone’s heads in the game.

“I don’t know much, but here’s what I do know; I sent the prospect out after Rose. We got into it and she left. I told him to find her and keep his distance, but to keep me posted on what she was doing or where she was going. And hour later, I was getting ready to go out myself to get Rose when my phone rang. I knew it was the prospect right away and I could also tell he was in bad shape. He was able to tell me that Rose was taken and who took her before he was shot.” Of course I can’t be sure that he’s dead because I wasn’t there, but with what I know about the Kings, they wouldn’t leave him alive.

“Who did he say took her?” Blaze asks on my left.

Looking to him, I say, “He only managed to get three letters out, but it was enough.” I now look all around the table, at each of my brothers who I know will follow me wherever I ask them to go. “The Kings have Rose,” I say, and let that sink in for a moment.

Everyone is quiet for a few seconds, either not knowing what to say or waiting for me to tell them the plan.

“Now, I don’t know why they took her and I don’t care. They ain’t keepin’ her. So we need to figure out where they would have taken her and how we’re gettin’ her,” I tell the boys, and then leave the table open to suggestions, but this shit better happen quick, otherwise I’ll say the heck with it and we’ll be going in blind.

“I say we call Tyke and see what he knows first. Then, we can do a little digging into some of the guys and see if there is anything we can find that would be useful,” Toby says.

Nodding in agreement, I set it in motion. “Toby, call Tyke. See what he knows and if he can spot where Rose might be. Tell him not to make a move until we get there. I don’t need them catching on if they haven’t already from Tyler calling me.” Toby nods and leaves the room to make the call. “Jax, I want you to do the digging. I want info on all the guys we know about.” Jax gets up and leaves the room as well.

“Now, for the rest of you. I want somebody to go back and listen in on the bug we have. See if you hear any chatter about Rose or where they might be holding her. I want the rest of go out and scope their clubhouse and other places of business. Go in quiet, so no bikes. Keep me in the loop, but do not make a move without my say so unless Rose is in immediate danger. Got it?” I ask, looking at all my brothers around the table.

They all nod or say, “Yes, sir,” and then they leave the room. All except Blaze.

“You think they took her as payback for us killin’ Titus?” Blaze asks, but I’m not sure how to answer. There are plenty of reasons they could take her.

“I have no idea, brother. If we learned anything from when Harlow was taken, it’s that not everything is as simple as it seems. They could have taken her as payback or they could have taken her for a bargaining chip. Or fuck, maybe she knows one of the fuckers, I don’t know,” I say, already feeling the heat and exhaustion of what’s taken place.

Being the president of a club, everything lands on your shoulders; the lives of your brethren and everyone else who knows you. If someone can be used against you, they will be. It makes me long for the times I used to hear stories about the wild west. You had a beef with someone, you’d go out into the streets at high noon and duke it out. But now, they don’t take you head on or come at you directly. They take your loved ones or anything that means something to you. It’s a cowardly thing to do, but they don’t seem to give a shit and honor.

“What I do know is that no one outside of here knows she’s my woman. The only thing someone would know is that she was hired to be my nurse and was seen with the girls. So either someone has some inside details about what goes on here, or she was an easy target and they’re just hoping she means something to us.” I don’t want to make the call and be wrong though. Her life is in the balance and if I’m wrong about this, it could mean death for her. The safest way to play this is do our research and have a plan. I hate it, but it’s the best way to go about getting her back.

Blaze stands and places his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll get her back, Prez.” Then he leaves the room to hopefully keep everyone on their toes and doing what they need to do.

I should be the one out there leading everyone, but I need this time to gather my thoughts and try to come up with plans based on different scenarios that could come up. I’m good at planning and giving orders, even leading everyone into battle. But all the busybody work? That shit ain’t for me. I leave that to the men I trust and who can do a better job at it than me.

Ten minutes later, Blaze, Toby, Slayer, and Louie come walking back into the room. I can’t tell from their facial expressions if they found anything out or if they have useful information, so I just wait until the door is closed and they take a seat.

Toby’s the first to say anything. “I tried calling Tyke, but he’s not picking up. I sent him a text message in code that it’s important, but he hasn’t gotten back to me. I have no idea what’s going on, but something doesn’t feel right.”

Nodding in agreement, I say, “I agree, brother. Tyke knows the importance of keeping in touch and would have contacted you back with at least something if things hadn’t gone to shit. So either he’s been made or it’s worse there than we thought. I hope it’s just him working behind the scenes and getting Rose out of harm’s way, but we need to plan that it’s gone south.”

Everyone nods and is quiet for a moment. God, I hope Tyke is okay. We don’t need another funeral to plan.

“I’ve got everyone split into groups; we’ll have brothers on the clubhouse, at their warehouses, and sites of known businesses. They know what to do once they get there,” Blaze says, giving me a rundown of what’s going on from that end.

“Good. That’s good. Thanks, brother,” I tell him.

Looking around the table, I wait to see if anyone else has anything to add.

“And we’ve also sent prospects out to get the other girls and bring them here. I think it’s a good idea for them to be here so we have one less thing to worry about. Who knows what those fuckers are going to do, but they’ve got one of our girls, we don’t need them to get anymore.” This comes from Louie. I’m glad they had the foresight to think about the bigger picture. We need to make sure Dani, Sara, Harlow, and the twins are safe.

“Good. Thank you, brother.”

I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before, but I know my brothers understand. They’ve got shit locked down for their women while I figure shit out on how to rescue mine.

“Do you have an idea of how you want to do this, Prez?” Slayer asks just as Jax comes into the room, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

Throwing a folder down on the table in front of me, at least a dozen pictures slide out.

“What’s this?” I ask as I pick one of the pictures up. At first, I don’t know what I’m looking at, but then I look closer. It’s a picture of a family; there’s a woman and a man standing in front of a building and standing in front of them are two children. They look to be in their early teens. The boy isn’t smiling and looks pissed off at the world. The girl looks tiny and scared to death.

The little girl looks just like Rose. Lifting my head, I ask, “Is this who I think it is?”

Nodding, he says, “It’s Rose as a little girl.”

Looking back down at the picture, I try to figure out what this means and how this helps us, but I’m not seeing it. I can’t get past the look on her face and how frail she seems in this picture.

“Do you know who the boy is?”

Moving my eyes from Rose’s young, scared face, I look at the boy. There are parts that look familiar but I don’t recognize him.

“Who is he?” I ask, not wanting to waste any time guessing. If this brings us closer to how to find Rose and bring her home safely, then I want to get the show on the road.

Reaching out, Jax pulls out another picture and places it down in front of me. It’s a mugshot of someone name Anthony Chambers. Picking it up and holding the two photos side by side, I now see the connection. “Is this the same man?”

“Anthony Chambers, born August 7
th
, 1979. Son of Robert and Greta Chambers. Brother to a Tiny Chambers,” Jax says, then grabs a paper from the stack. “And this is a court paper for a request for a name change. One Tiny Chambers to be changed to Tiny Rose Chamberlain.”

This just doesn’t make any sense. First of all, why would Rose change her name? Did she get married? No, that doesn’t seem right. But nothing else makes sense either.

Looking back at the mugshot, I figure this has to be the clue we need. Reading the information at the body, I finally see it. “Anthony Chambers, aka Brutus—member of the Street Kings MC,” I read aloud so everyone can hear.

“You have got to be shittin’ me,” Louie says, as the rest of the brothers sit in silent shock.

But it still doesn’t make sense. Why would she change her name when she turned nineteen and why would her brother kidnap her?

“Do we have any club info on Brutus?” I ask, trying to get a better understanding of who her brother is and what to expect from him. The mugshot says that he’s a felon and has a list as long as my arm of charges that range from drugs, guns, theft, suspected murder, rape, and assault. Shit, no wonder Rose didn’t want to be associated with her brother. He’s bad fuckin’ news.

“He’s the newly appointed VP and is as ruthless as they come. He’s been in the club since he was in his twenties,” Jax says. He must have done more research on him after finding out who he is to Rose or he’d been digging into all of the Kings.

Grabbing the folder, I sort through everything else that’s inside. There are more pictures, police records, court documents, and medical records. Those are what concern me the most. All of the medical records are for Rose and shows the hell she went through growing up with someone like Brutus. She’s had several broken bones and fractures, cuts that needed stitches, and bruised ribs. All from supposedly falling or getting into car accidents. Now I’m not saying they couldn’t be true, because there are people out there with that bad of luck. But I highly doubt this is the case for Rose, considering who her brother is. If I had to guess, he’s the one who beat her and played it off as accidental.

Knowing all of this just enrages me more. He’s done way more than just kidnap her, he’s tortured her since the very beginning. And right here, right now, I swear to be the one to end his life.

Over the next hour, we figure out what our best options are as far as attacking different locations where we think they could be holding Rose. I think our best bet is at the clubhouse but I don’t think they’d be so stupid to take her there, but who the fuck knows with these clowns.

I had sent Slayer forty minutes ago to talk to one of his contacts in the city clerk’s office to get blueprints on the clubhouse and a few of their bigger businesses―all the logical or probable places they could be holding Rose. They could be keeping her at one of the warehouses like Titus did Harlow, but if they are, we won’t need blueprints because they are most likely an open layout.