Dancing With Danger Read online

  I’m not sure how the guys pulled it off, but The Tribe were apparently given similar stories of my erratic behavior, and drugged up state as they checked in with other places I had been along the way. Now, supposedly, I had overdone the party favors and checked myself out of this game called life without my sister and her fucked up family having to do a damn thing to make that happen. The guys still hadn’t been able to flush out the perverted asshat who was attempting to buy me to star in his latest snufftastrophy film, but whatever. We could deal with that dickwad after we tricked my sister into thinking she’d won, and I was deader than dead.

  Another bump, this one far more severe than any of those along the path to the clubhouse, had the gurney I was strapped to tipping up on one side for a moment before I heard the driver yelp out, “holy shit!”

  Well, that did not sound like things were going to go according to plan. Damn. I had about a solid minute more, probably less, to contemplate what could possible be happening before the bag I was closed in, the gurney the bag was strapped to, and the van that housed it all lost all control and felt as though it were tipping up on two wheels. How the fuck does something like that happen? Okay, not just tipping on its wheels, we were rolling, downhill it felt like as the van tumbled and I was slammed – gurney and all – to the roof of the van before being tossed back down. I think back down meant to the floor that the fucking gurney should have been locked in place to, and apparently hadn’t been. I guess they didn’t really care about following directions and protocol when the corpse couldn’t tell on them.

  Fuck.

  We had a plan in place.

  That plan just got sucked right the fuck out the busted windows of the corpse transport van that had been driven off the road by a moron. Rage had wanted to use a prospect, at the very least, to drive the van, but Iceman and Agent Cooper had nixed the idea of having anyone club affiliated inside because it would be too easy to figure out that it was a set up. It didn’t seem to matter now though, because I smelled smoke, and if I didn’t get the hell out of this body bag soon I might just end up burning to death in here. Warm liquid trailed down into my eyes reminding me that I hadn’t escaped the accident unscathed.

  As if the blood were a cue to my dazed brain a fierce sort of throbbing began in my head, near my hairline as pain sizzled down in an arc toward my ear. A fire was burning in my shoulder leaving my left arm useless as I struggled to use the right to grasp onto the zipper that Rage had tucked toward the inside of the bag just in case I panicked and needed to get out. I was pretty sure the liquid currently dripping into my eyes was blood since it felt like far too much to just be sweat, but it could have been sweat too, or a combination of the fluids, because the panic and suffocating feeling from before the accident had definitely done a number on my anxiety and my body’s responses to it.

  I couldn’t hear movement from the front of the van. No telling what happened to my driver. Finally, I got the zipper unstuck and it started moving at just about the same time that I heard voices. “Is she in there?”

  “I don’t know, but if she wasn’t already dead in there, she definitely may be now,” a male voice called out in a joking tone.

  “You better hope this wasn’t a ruse, and that your little stunt didn’t just kill her. My parents want her alive, if possible, and dead as a consolation prize only.”

  “Since when do you care about them getting the girl intact?”

  “I’d rather gut the bitch, personally. She’s been a thorn in my side my entire life. Mommy dearest has been crying about getting her back for years, and my dad promised she could have her. So she’ll get to talk to the little bitch before she gets sent off to that sick fuck who wants to buy her.”

  “Why in the hell would your Lulu agree to send her to him if she’s been trying to get her daughter back for years?”

  “You’re an idiot. Lulu isn’t going to know. She’ll be lead to believe that the bitch got away.” Metal clanking close by let me know they had moved a bit closer. “Well, this fucker is dead,” the woman huffed out. “That probably doesn’t bode too well for his cargo, Spark.”

  “Eh, it was the quickest way to deal with the situation. Fucking sue me.”

  “You’re going to be lucky if Crank doesn’t kill you for this.”

  The zipper pull being inside the body bag with me wasn’t the only comfort Rage had left me with. I palmed the gun he’d tucked in here at the last minute too. Thankfully, it hadn’t been dislodged from where he’d tucked it under my thigh when the van went tumbling. It was just luck that it happened to be under the one strap the moron driver had tightened up pretty good to keep my body from moving off the gurney when he took the sharp turns. I knew this, because the sick fuck had talked to the body bag, like he had to walk the presumed dead person through the steps he was taking to insure it got to the hospital in one piece. Clearly, his plan hadn’t worked out to well though. Not for me, and especially not for him.

  As soon as I heard the male voice coming from right above me I held my breath, listening for my opening. “Where’s the zipper on this thing?” He had asked. I tipped the gun up and shot in the direction I’d heard his voice coming from. Two taps. I thanked all the merciful angels in the world for the silencer that had been placed on the gun, because there’s no telling what would have happened to my hearing if it hadn’t.

  A heavy pressure immediately fell upon my chest making it more difficult for me to breathe as a woman frantically shouted. “Spark? What the fuck is going on in there?” I could hear her panting breaths before she spoke again. “Fucking hell. So you are alive in there, you little cunt. Well, guess what? Today is the day of your reckoning, and now you gave me a way out. I can blame Spark for your death, and mommy dear never has to know it was me that took her precious lost daughter from her. I bet you didn’t know that she tried to have you kidnapped after she supposedly died and lost her baby. She did though. When she couldn’t get to you, it devastated her. I was never enough. Who cares about the child you have when the one you’re missing can’t be obtained, right?”

  I tried to point my gun up so I could shoot again, but the dead weight on top of me was preventing me from moving it in any way that might not get me shot as a result of firing it now. The sweet tang of blood filled the air along with the acrid scent of urine. Most likely it was from the dead man who lay draped over me. My useless arm hanging limply at my other side wasn’t helping any as I moved and wriggled beneath the body. The words that my sister – at least that’s who I figured it was since I was still trapped in my body bag – had said were echoing inside my brain. “Mommy dearest, mom, Lulu.” It couldn’t be. Everyone, including my dad, told me she died when I was five. Shameless told me we lost her and my baby brother that day. What the hell was going on?

  Before I had a chance to think things through any further a pop hissed out in the air above where I was trapped under the dead dickwad who had been trying to kidnap me. A feminine shriek of pain reverberated through the van just behind it, letting me know my sister had taken the bullet. Meanwhile, I was still wriggling and struggling to try to get out from under the dead weight on top of me. It was not going in my favor since my legs were still strapped down pretty tight, and they were strapped from outside the fucking bag while I was trapped inside it.

  Never in my life – even in all the running from Josh – had I felt so absolutely helpless. A whimper escaped my lips as I attempted once more to shift the dead guy off enough to move my hand and make any shots from my gun count. “Drop it!” I heard yelled out by a male voice I was all too familiar with. “Drop the fuckin’ gun now or I will end you where you lie.” A metallic clank rang out which probably indicated my sister wanted to live more than make her last stand here.

  “Make sure you check that cunt for more weapons before you toss her in the transport.” Rage bellowed out into the night air. “Darlin’? You with me in there?” He asked hesitantly.

  “Get this fucker off of me. He’s nothing but dead
weight.” I am a complete fool and started giggling as I announced that fact.

  I heard laughter ring out then that didn’t belong to Rage. “Damn, she has a sick sense of humor,” Rabbit called out in between his chuckling. The body above me was yanked off and hit the floor of the van with a sickening thud as the body bag was cut away from me while the straps holding my legs down were released.

  “Why the fuck was she strapped down to the gurney? We fuckin’ told him not to do that shit.” Rage yelled at no one and everyone.

  “Well, it’s not like we can ask him. This guy is deader than dead. He’s half out the driver-side window and the van’s on top of him.” Doc – at least I think it was Doc – stated coolly. “You hurt under there, sweetheart?” He asked, letting me know that yes, it was Doc.

  “A little. Blood trickling into my eyes from somewhere and my arm is useless.”

  “Okay, sweetheart, just stay still until I can get over there to check on you.” There was a pause, a grunt as something shifted in the front of the van and then Doc was speaking again. “No!” He shouted. “Do not move her yet. We don’t know why her arm is useless, and with blood trickling into her eyes too, she could have damage to her neck. Keep her still. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  More grunting sounded, and then Doc was beside me. “I’m going to pour some water over your face to help wash the blood away,” he warned. “Hold on to her so she doesn’t move.” He addressed someone else. Hands grasped either side of my head and held me immobile as Doc slowly streamed a bit of water over my face and then used something cloth-like to wipe at me. I hadn’t realized before, because there was no way to see through the body bag anyway, but my eyes had been sealed shut with the amount of blood that had congealed around the edges. Ewww.

  “There, you should be able to open your eyes now, sweetheart,” Doc informed me. So, I did and the first thing I saw was his smiling face and then I looked up and standing directly above me, holding my head still was Rage. My heart thumped a bit harder, and relief flooded my system as I laid eyes on him. “You have a nasty bump on your forehead, scalp laceration that will need stitches, and judging from the way you’ve been wiggling your entire body around the whole time since I told you not to move I’m guessing the dead arm isn’t from a neck injury,” he added while shaking his head disapprovingly.

  “Sorry. It was harder being trapped in that bag than I thought, especially after I shot that asshole and he fell on top of me.”

  “Looks like you may have a dislocation. We’ll fix it for you back at the clubhouse.” He glanced over his shoulder at someone who was lingering toward the door of the van. “What’s happening?”

  “Molly just rang. Says the x-ray machine in the basement is working just fine now, so you’ll be able to use it if needed.”

  Doc’s smile beamed. “Fuck yeah! I knew getting our hands on that facility would pay for itself in the end. If any of that other equipment works, it will be like living in a gold mine when you fuckers get hurt.”

  “Do I want to know why there’s an x-ray machine in the basement of your clubhouse?” I asked with trepidation.

  “Haven’t you ever noticed how sterile looking our joint is?” Doc asked with a waggle of his brows. I nodded my head thinking back to the hallways that hadn’t been given as much concern to décor as the main areas had. They were sterile looking and reminded me of a hospital in a way. I had always thought maybe it was some sort of medical office structure before, but now I was reassessing my initial thoughts.

  “Our place used to be some sort of research and treatment facility.” Rage finally clued me in on what it all meant. Don’t know why it went belly up, but we were there in the end to scoop it up when the money backing the program shut it down. They left some of their toys behind when they went. That’s why we have that crazy security on the doors too. It was in place already. We just had to take it over and make it ours.”

  “Um, okay.” My body was aching and my head was throbbing with an increased ferocity. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the dizziness at bay that came in the wake of nausea triggered by the pain I was in.

  “Let’s get you out of here, darlin’.” Rage leaned in and scooped me up into his arms and took me to yet another van. I started shaking a bit when he went to put me inside. “It’s the only way to get you back. You can’t ride with that busted arm and head of yours.” I knew what he wasn’t saying too. He would not be riding with me, because he couldn’t leave his bike behind at the accident scene either.

  I glanced inside, noting my sister was also in there. She was bound and gagged, but that really did nothing to give me warm fuzzies about having to ride anywhere with her. She may have been a blood relation, but the dishonorable bitch had been trying to kill me for over a year now. Who knows? Maybe long before that. She was bound and gagged, but that didn’t stop me from leaning over and punching a bitch in the face. If I had it my way that wouldn’t be the only time I got a hit in on her.

  Chapter 16

  I sat back and shook my hand out. I had never realized how much it could hurt to punch a person in the face. Next time, I’d definitely punch a bitch in a softer spot. For sure. Ouch.

  “Maybe you should leave the brute force to the brothers?” The prospect, who I’d heard a few of the guys refer to as Flicker, told me from the front of the van. When I just stared at him and said nothing he continued to speak. “It’s just that you’re down one arm, you know? No use in fucking up the other one.”

  Well, hell. He certainly had a point there. Sadly, he was a little late on the delivery. “Not that I’d want to take the hit back, but it’s a little too late to be thinking about that now,” I informed him as I attempted once more to shake the hurt out of my knuckles. He just chuckled in answer while staying ever watchful and vigilant. He would probably make a hell of an asset to the club one day as a fully patched brother.

  Shaking the pain from my knuckles didn’t work so I leaned against the back of the driver’s side seat and watched my sister who was glaring daggers at me from where she had fallen over on her side after taking my hit. Much to my satisfaction, I noted the red mark on her cheek darkening as we waited. It took a few minutes more before Doc made his way from the little pow-wow the guys had been having after I was placed in the van. Once he was inside we took off, headed for the safe haven of the Aces High clubhouse. I honestly couldn’t wait to get there.

  Riding in yet another van after what just happened wasn’t exactly lifting the veil of anxiety that had settled in my bones on the previous trip. Only this time, I was able to see while also floating in a foggy numbness. I was battered, bruised, and a little bit broken on top of the fact that I had killed a man. Granted, he definitely would have killed me if I hadn’t gotten to him first, but still the idea that I had taken a life was starting to worm its way into my brain, and I wasn’t sure it would be working itself out of my nightmares anytime soon. The only saving grace to the whole experience had been that I was trapped in that body bag and never had to see the man I killed. He would always remain a faceless nobody. Maybe that would help me sleep at night. Maybe it wouldn’t allow me to sleep at all. Time would tell in the end, and I had a feeling tonight would be the test of how things went for me.

  It didn’t take long to get back to the clubhouse, because as it turned out we hadn’t gotten that far away from it before my sister and her cohort waylaid us. They must have had brass balls to think about ambushing my “corpse transport” that close to the Aces High property, but I suppose they didn’t think the guys would care what happened to my body if I had truly been dead. These were all things I was certain the guys would be attempting to glean from my sadistic sister later on tonight.

  The familiar rumble of motorcycle engines died off as Flicker parked the van. For the first time since I’d been able to actually see her since this ordeal started, my sister’s eyes were filled with fear. Her jaw was set stubbornly though, even around the gag they’d placed in her mouth I could see the muscle workin
g where she was trying to psych herself up for whatever was supposed to come next. If only her eyes hadn’t given her way. Good. I hoped like hell she was shitting her pants. I really didn’t know why I continued to call her my sister either. This bitch had never been a sister of mine, no matter the DNA we might possibly have shared. The side door to the van slid open just as the back doors were popped open. My sister, no Sheri Lynn Michaels, was ripped out of the back too quickly for me to process.

  “I want to be there when she’s questioned,” I called out as Rage’s face peeked in the side door looking for me. He nodded and reached in to grab me and carry me to the clubhouse. We had not pulled out front, and instead were in the back of the building in a part I had never seen before, complete with a loading dock and bay doors. I had forgotten just how big this place actually was since I was only ever in the upper portions of the building.

  “We are going to get you checked out and x-rayed first. Don’t worry, they’re just putting your sister in a holding cell until we’re ready for her.”

  “Not my sister,” I argued. “She’s Sheri Lynn Michaels, a pain in my ass for the past year or so of my life, and nothing more.” Rage smiled down at me as I tucked my head against his chest and listened to his heart beating while he walked me down a very sterile-looking, hospital-like corridor. The guys had definitely done a lot to make the upstairs look less like a hospital and more like a home-base if this area was what they originally had to work with up there too.

  “This place is kind of spooky looking,” I commented.

  “Yeah, you should hear the stories about what went on here before they got shut down,” Rabbit’s voice called out from just behind Rage.