Page 64 of Deadly Secrets

I immediately put myself in between them and Ryder. I look around for any type of help or saving grace, but find none. The ballpark is essentially empty except for a cleanup crew scattered throughout the park.

“Mom?” I hear Ryder ask but don’t turn and give these men my back.

The man who spoke just a few seconds ago steps closer and I know that I have no choice but to comply until I can think of a better solution to getting us out of here. I turn my head, giving Ryder my best and hopefully comforting smile.

“Let’s go,” I say tightly before I loop my arm through his.

The men surround us as we walk toward the parking lot. As we get closer, a sense of dread starts to consume me. There’s no way out of this. When we get to the lot, two black SUVs come to a stop in front of us, blocking our way to my Bronco. The men step up and open the back door to the second vehicle, motioning for us to get in.

“Why aren’t we taking our car? Who are these men, they don’t look like the ones from earlier?” Ryder asks, looking around. I can feel his nervousness and the last thing I want is for him to get hurt.

I look to my left and see a few men bringing trash bins down to the dumpster. This might be our only shot to get away because if we get in this car, we might never see freedom again. Grabbing Ryder’s arm, I’m about to tell him to run but a hard object at my back and the sound of a click stops me dead in my tracks. The gun pushes me forward as the man holding it grunts.

I swallow, thickly. “We’re going on a trip,” I say but my voice slightly trembles.

One of the men grabs Ryder’s ball bag that has his bat and they corral us into the SUV.

“What’s going on, Mom?” He looks out the window and tries to open his door but the child lock is engaged. “Who are those men? They don’t look like any of Dad’s friends.”

The driver side and passenger door open and two men get in. The car jerks forward and they haul ass out of the ballpark. As we turn onto the main road and enter the freeway, the sound of motorcycles roaring past us is the last bit of hope I had left of us being rescued. I know in my heart that it was Dead Road that just zoomed by. They were only a few minutes too late.

I swipe at my cheeks when I feel the wetness of my tears leaking down. There is no time for those emotions right now when I have to find a way to get us out of this situation. I don’t know who these men are but I’m afraid that they have a grudge against Rhett and the club. Was this what we were going to discuss tonight after Ryder and I got home?

It’s not too long before we are pulling through a gate and past a sign for Abilene Regional Airport. Parking the vehicles next to a private jet, the men get out and come to our doors. The moment they open, we are both grabbed and hauled up the stairs of the plane and shoved down into the chairs. Ryder starts to fight with one of the men and I throw myself between them.

“Stop! He’s a kid,” I start yelling when I see the man about to punch my son.

“Don’t care,” the man spews.

Two other men come over, both with syringes in hand.

“No, no, we’ll behave,” I try to bargain, not wanting to be unconscious.

“You don’t call the shots,” one man says then stabs me in the arm as the other man does the same to Ryder.

“Mom?” I hear the fear in his tone, but before I can say any words of comfort to him my vision goes blurry, and pitch-black darkness consumes me.

Pulling up in our driveway, I park my bike in front of the garage knowing that I have to be up at the clubhouse in a few hours for church. I just left there after showering off all the blood and disposing of all my clothes and any evidence of what we encountered earlier.

Juan José Sanchez is back in the states, or has sent his men to try to take us out. Turner, the sheriff, called Stone this morning about some suspicious men staying at a motel right outside the city limits. We went to check it out and it turned into a fucking blood bath. We had them surrounded for hours before Hawk was able to use one of his crazy gadgets to smoke them out.

All day it felt like we were riding around chasing these fuckers. The moment Hawk got information that our Colombian friends had hit the states, Stone called for all the chapters to come down to help. We should have a good chunk of men available late tonight or by mid-day tomorrow.

Walking in the house I call out to Remi and Ryder but no one answers. I check the backyard thinking maybe they are out there playing catch but don’t see either of them. Checking the bedrooms, my heartrate starts to kick up a notch as each room is just as empty as the next.

“Remi! Ryder!” I shout over and over, even though the silence tells me everything I need to know.

Entering the kitchen, I look around for some clue and press my phone up to my ear not even looking at who I’m calling.

“Yo,” Havoc answers on the first ring.

“Remi and Ryder over there?” I’m sure he can hear the panic in my tone.

“Not here. Did you try Raegan and Stone?” his voice turns just as serious.

I hang up and dial the next number as a paper on the fridge catches my eye.

“What’s up?” I hear Prez answer but I break out in a cold sweat, seeing the ball schedule propped up by a magnet next to our family picture Remi took not too long ago of the three of us. It was at Ryder’s first game with his new team here in Texas.