Page 72 of Deadly Secrets

“Oh my God. Oh my God,” I repeat, then look around the cabin at all my brothers. “Oh my fucking God!”

It feels like the air is being sucked out and I can’t breathe. My hands start to claw at my throat, trying to get some oxygen to my lungs as I try to process what just happened. I try to stand but my body isn’t cooperating.

“I need to get out of here,” I pant. “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

“Someone do something before he tries to open the door mid-air,” someone says but everyone’s face is a blur.

“I’m sorry about this, brother.”

That is the last thing I hear before there’s a hard knock to the side of my temple and the blurry faces of my brothers go black. My body starts feeling like it’s floating, as the sounds of Remi’s wail tattoos my soul.

When I come to, I feel a heavy weight on top of me. My body aches as though it’s been tossed around and slammed into cement blocks. My eyes finally come into focus and I see Ryder laying on top of me. He’s not moving but I can feel him breathing.

He’s alive. My boy is alive.

Finally able to breathe again, now that I know he’s safe, I look around and can see that we are in a small empty room. There’s a tiny window at the top of the wall, so I think we are in some type of basement, although I can’t be sure. Ryder shifts and I gently position him on his back as he starts to stir. Giving the window another look, I start to wonder if Ryder might be able to squeeze through there to escape. Not knowing where we are makes it hard to send him out there on his own.

A groan emits from his throat as his eyes start to flutter open.

“Hey, baby,” I coax him awake.

“Mom?”

I help prop him up on the wall. I keep hold of his wrist, hoping it’ll calm me down knowing that he is okay.

“Take it easy,” I say.

“Wh-what happened? Where are we?” he asks, as his eyes wander around the small empty room.

“I’m not sure, but whatever you do I’m going to need you to listen to me, no questions asked, until I can get us outta here,” I instruct.

“Where’s Dad?” he asks, and I can feel his heartrate start to spike beneath my fingers. “Who are those guys?”

“Shh. It’ll be okay. Dad will come for us or we’ll find another way to get out of this.” I look back at the window. “Somehow.”

“Does this have to do with the cartel?”

I’m sure my face looks about as shocked as I feel.

“How do you know anything about the cartel?” I question.

Rhett told me that the club had an enemy in the cartel but that they were monitoring it closely. Sutton had also given me a rundown of events that she went through with her father, the cult leader, being in bed with a drug lord.

“I hear things,” Ryder shrugs off.

“You mean eavesdropping,” I clarify.

“So, we just wait until Dad comes?”

“I don’t know, buddy, but I’m gonna need you to stay with me at all times. No matter what happens,” I tell him. “Do you think you could fit through that window over there?” I point to the glass in the upper wall.

“Maybe,” he says as he starts to heave himself up from the floor.

We walk over and examine the glass pane that is just out of reach for me but my son is able to make it work.

“Depending on how this goes we may need to get ourselves through here,” I say.

“I could help you up there and then follow,” he says as he gages our exit. “Looks like there’s a garden right outside there.”