Striker: No Prisoners MC Book 1 (32 page)

Tears streamed down her face, and she made a horrible choking sound. Earl still held her by the throat and her face turned an alarming shade of purple, but she continued to fight back. Reaching forward she clawed at his face, leaving a rake of fingernail scratches down his cheek. With a loud roar Earl threw her across the room. Her small body crashed into the dresser before it crumpled to the ground at Striker’s feet.

“Lila!” Striker shouted. He struggled against the tape that bound him to the chair, ignoring the searing pain in his gut. Black spots swam in front of his vision, but he ignored that as well.

Lila coughed, and gulped air from her position on the floor. The one thing they had going for them was that she was now out of Earl’s reach.

Earl started toward them, dragging the bed with him, his shackled hand wrapped around the iron rung. Where was his strength coming from? It could only be born of rage and insanity.

“Get up, Lila,” Striker ordered. He blinked his eyes in rapid succession, trying make the room stand still.

Lila scrambled to her feet still hacking out a cough each time she tried to suck in a breath. She swayed a bit, and braced herself against the chair Striker was tied to. Earl drew closer, and screamed vulgarities at her as he advanced.

“The bat, babe. Get the bat,” he whispered. Earl wouldn’t hear over his own screams.

Their eyes met, and she nodded then hurried to the corner on the other side of the chair, where the bat rested against the wall. Striker thought she moved with a slight limp, but didn’t have time to consider it further.

Lila grabbed the bat with both hands, her face a mask of agony, streaked with tears and black eye makeup. A loud battle cry erupted and she swung the bat, slamming it into Earl’s head with a crack that would have made Mickey Mantle proud. The man collapsed to the ground in a heap and the bat clattered to the floor next to him.

Lila rushed to Striker’s side. She knelt in front of him, and swiped her tears away even as new ones fell. With trembling hands, she reached forward and tugged at the tape around his forearms in a fruitless attempt to free him. “God, Striker, he used so much tape. It’s going to take me forever to get it off. What if he wakes up?” Her voice was harsh, ravaged by the pressure Earl had exerted on her throat.

“Look at me, Lila,” he commanded as he gazed down at her fear-filled face.

Lila looked up from the floor at his feet.

Her chocolate eyes gutted him. Terror, remorse, shame, and guilt stared up at him. All things he would have to help her battle once this was over. There was simply no time to address it now. “You did it, baby. He’s down, and we can get out of here. There’s a knife in my left boot.”

She gave him a tiny smile. “I forgot about that.” Lila pulled out the military style knife he always kept in his boot. More than once she’d teased him about it. Not wasting any more time, Lila sawed through the tape around his arms first, and in seconds he was free.

Before Lila moved down to his feet, Striker grabbed her face with both hands and drew it to his own. He pressed their lips together in a firm kiss. Both their mouths were bleeding and he didn’t want to cause her any further pain, but he needed to feel her for just a moment. “Let’s get out of here, baby. I’m not going to last much longer.”

Lila pulled herself together, and liberated his legs and trunk from the chair. He rotated his wrists and ankles to get the blood flowing as renewed pain flooded his system. Shit, that hurt like a son of a bitch.

“Can you walk?” she asked.

“I think so. I may need to lean on you a bit, but first you need to find something to cover up with.”

She peered down at herself, clad only in her lingerie. “Shit, I completely forgot.” She looked around as though searching for her clothes.

“They aren’t here. I think he destroyed them. Grab something from that dresser.”

A look of panic crossed her face, and she shook her head vigorously. “No! I can’t put something of his on my body. I can’t do it.”

She sounded close to the edge, so Striker worked to keep his voice calm. “It’s all right, baby. Help me get my cut off then you can take my sweatshirt. Just unzip it and slide it off me.”

She shook her head again.

“I’ll be fine Lila, I promise you. We need to roll before he comes around.”

She moved toward him, and helped ease him out of his cut. Then, slowly, she worked the sweatshirt down his arms. They didn’t really have the time to waste, but she was trying not to hurt him, and not to freak out, so he didn’t rush her.

Once it was off, she slipped it over her own body. Striker leaned forward and fumbled with the zipper but was able to close the sweatshirt for her. It was long enough to cover her ass, but the garters and stockings were still visible. It would have to do. He didn’t have a clue where her shoes were, but she could get by without them.

He slipped his cut back on, then struggled to stand and take a step forward. The world spun and he almost fell on his face, but Lila was there to take his weight. With Lila’s arm around his waist, they hobbled into the hallway.

“I think he drove us here in your car.” Striker gasped as his ribs screamed in pain. “Look, there on the counter.” He pointed to a kitchen counter about fifteen feet away. “I think those are your keys.”

“Oh thank God.” Lila swiped the keys from the counter and they staggered their way toward the exit. “Where the hell are we? I don’t see a phone, and you need a hospital. Who knows where our cells are.” Her voice sounded rough and raw, and he knew her throat had to be sore.

“Earl told me exactly where we are. Bastard bragged all about how he planned this, and how we’re actually really close to the gym. Go there. Jester and Hook will take care of everything and get us to the hospital. You hit your head on the concrete and passed out. You shouldn’t be driving at all. This road ends at a cross in about a mile. Take a right and the gym is about a mile and a half down on the left.”

They struggled through the front door, and out into the night. It was cold, and next to him Lila trembled from the chill. The house they were in was small, a typical one story desert dwelling. There weren’t any others on this road, at least not that they could see in the black of night.

Striker stumbled, and a groan of pain escaped Lila as his weight on her increased. “Sorry, babe. I think I’m going to pass out.”

They were at the car, and instead of answering, Lila leaned him against it as she opened the rear door. She helped ease him inside, and encouraged him to lie down. “I need you to try and stay awake Striker. Talk to me as I drive.”

He mumbled something in reply, and heard the car door slam as the world went black.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was not good. Striker needed to get to the hospital, and fast. Lila’s entire body throbbed in pain. She hadn’t said anything, but she was dizzy and her head pounded. There was a good chance she’d lose consciousness as well.

She’d never be able to drive all the way to the hospital. The best option was to do what Striker suggested, and drive back to the gym. The party should still be going strong, and his brothers would take care of them.

Petrified that Earl might wake up at any moment, Lila moved as fast as her aching body allowed. Her throat was on fire, her ribs throbbed from where they’d crashed against the dresser, and she thought her ankle was sprained. She worked not to fall into hysterics. That could come later.

Gingerly, she climbed into the driver’s seat, locked the doors, started the car, and pulled out onto the dark road. For the first time since she woke up in hell, Lila had confidence they would make it. Earl was back in the house, hopefully still cuffed to the bed, and they’d made it out alive.

The MC would never call the cops on him, preferring to handle him on their own. She tried to feel guilty about that, but it didn’t come.

Striker was right. The gym was very close, and within minutes it came into view. Lila sobbed in relief as the car drew closer to it. With a hard jerk of the steering wheel, she flew into the parking lot, and around the back of the building where the party was still going full blast. Lila laid on the horn to attract as much attention as possible. Tears blocked her vision, and she slammed the car in park.

With the last of her strength, she shoved the door open, and stumbled out only to look up and glimpse about fifty stunned bikers staring at her, and no less than ten weapons trained on her. “Help,” she said weakly, swaying on her feet.

“Holy fucking shit! Lila? Put your weapons away! What the fuck happened to you?”

She glanced up again. Jester sprinted toward her, and she collapsed to her knees, loud sobs echoing through the quiet lot. She couldn’t imagine what they all thought of her right now as she bawled on the ground bleeding, covered in bruises and wearing nothing but a sweatshirt and some lingerie.

Jester reached her in seconds, and scooped her into his arms where he cradled her against his enormous chest.

“Striker’s in the back seat,” she choked out between sobs. “He needs help immediately. I need some too. That crazy man who was my patient at the hospital, Earl White, took us from the parking lot. He was behind everything, the Grimms didn’t do a thing.” She turned her face, and buried it in Jester’s shirt as the tears flowed.

“Fuck,” Jester bit out. “Okay, honey, I’ve got you. You’re safe now. Hook, I’m gonna drive Lila’s car to the hospital. Follow us with a few other guys, and let Shiv know what’s going on.”

Hook nodded and sprang into action, motioning for others to join him as he pulled out his phone.

Jester carried Lila around to the passenger side of her idling car. He tried to be gentle, but she was unable to stifle a whimper of pain when he placed her on the soft leather seat.

“Sorry, honey,” Jester said with a grimace.

“I’m all right. Just go. We need to get Striker there fast,” she rasped.

Lila rested her head back against the seat, and closed her eyes as she tried to stem the onslaught of tears. Now that she’d given into them, she couldn’t turn them off. Jester folded his large body in to her little car, but she didn’t react.

The continuous rumble of the car as he sped toward the hospital had a calming effect. When some of the fear finally ebbed from her system, other unpleasant sensations rushed in. Her head throbbed and her throat was on fire. A sharp, stabbing pain hit her midsection every time she took a breath and her ankle was swelling.

Striker remained quiet, in the same position she placed him in, sprawled across the back seat. Fear for him was eating at her. What would she do if something happened to him?

Lila forced those thoughts from her mind, and attempted to reposition her body in the seat, but pain caused her to gasp and remain as she was. Violent shivers racked her body. Shock was setting in. Jester noticed and cranked up the heat in the car before he reached out and folded her trembling hand in his much larger one.

She opened her eyes, and sent him a grateful smile. Jester gave her hand a squeeze as his voice permeated the quiet car. “I’m not going to make you tell me everything now, but I have a few important questions. You think you can answer them? Your voice sounds awful.”

Lila nodded. “What do you want to know?”

Jester shot her a quick glance, before returning his eyes to the road. They flew down the highway at least thirty miles an hour above the speed limit. Police attention would be very unwelcome.

“Do we have a body to deal with?”

The question startled her. Since leaving the house, she hadn’t given a thought to Earl White, but now she understood he needed to be dealt with. Lila assumed they wouldn’t let him live, unless he’d managed to escape. The idea had dread racing up her spine so she pushed it aside. Perhaps later, when the dust settled, guilt and shame for her part in the retaliation would come, but now, with the taste of terror still lingering, in her mouth she wanted him to pay.

“A live body. He held us in a house, very close to the gym actually, only one about a mile down on Turtle Rock Way.”

Jester nodded. “I know where that is.”

“When we left he was handcuffed to a bed, unconscious, but I think alive.”

Jester dug out his phone and relayed the information to someone, instructing him to head to the house, pick up the
motherfucker,
and stash him at the warehouse. The warehouse? Was that the building she’d gone to with Striker some months ago when Kenny had been stabbed? It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

Jester hung up and took his eyes off the road for a beat to glance at her. “Hang in there, baby doll, we’ll be there in five. I hate to ask this, but were you raped, Lila?”

The blunt question startled her. “Geez Jester, dive right in why don’t you. No, I wasn’t raped. Why did you assume that?”

Glancing at her quickly he said, “You’re only wearing Striker’s sweatshirt, Doc.”

She looked down, yet again having completely forgotten about her state of undress. No wonder she was freezing. “Shit, I keep forgetting.” She turned away, unable to meet Jester’s eye. “I, um, woke up handcuffed to a bed in my under things. He took off my clothes to torture Striker, but Striker said he didn’t…you know.” Her face flamed. It must have been beet red. Luckily it was dark in the car, and there was no way she would tell him how she came on to Earl to save them. She hadn’t processed that herself yet.

“Good. Last thing for now, there’s no way to avoid cops getting wind of this after you two show up at the hospital. Tell them you don’t know who took you, act a little confused. Stall answering any other questions for now. We’ll come up a plausible story for you. Got me?”

There was no point in playing dumb. This was how it was done in their world, a world she’d willingly joined. She’d play by their rules. “I got it.”

They pulled up to the emergency room, and Jester jumped out of the car with orders for her to stay put until he got help. They made it. The world outside the car became fuzzy as Lila saw the ER doors whir open, and people rush toward the car. Certain that help had arrived for both Striker and her, Lila finally gave into the oblivion that had been threatening to pull her under.