Whereas I should feel easier knowing that she’s had the everyday essentials, all that manages to happen is a red glaze coating my eyes. These women have been locked away like fucking animals!
“Star!” I bellow out, unable to take the suspense of waiting to see her any longer.
“Shamus?” I follow the sound of her voice and see her cringing as she crawls out from beneath what I’m assuming is her bed. “Is it really you? Where’s Ella? Jessia? Please say you got both of them out before coming to get me.” Her tone becomes almost hysterical as she asks me these questions.
“Kruger, your sister’s old man, took a group to go get her. Jessia? Is that the woman that lives with Ella?” I ask, wanting to make sure we’re talking about the same woman here.
“Yes. She’s also Ella’s aunt who’s just as much a victim of Jeremiah as I am, if not worse,” she declares. “I won’t leave without her.” The vehemence behind her voice and eyes lets me know she’s dead serious on this topic.
“Don’t worry, she’s coming with us. I had a feeling in my gut that she was somehow important and I advised the men to bring her along.”
“She’ll sacrifice herself if she thinks it is the only way to get Ella out of that situation safe.” When Star advises me of this, I know that my intuition about this other woman was spot on.
“She’s coming, but first, we’ve gotta get you out of here,” I tell her. Her eyes scan over to the asshole who led us to her. “Keys!” I insist through an unwavering and unquestionable bark, holding out my hand. The man digs into his jean pocket and pulls out a set of keys.
“There’s a master skeleton key on there that opens any of the quarters,” he discloses as he points it out to me. I separate it from the others and insert it into the lock, when it gives a click sound, I slide it over and Star comes running into my arms. I see a slight limp to her movements and her hand comes up to cup her side.
“What’s wrong?” I immediately ask her.
“Let’s talk about it later, right now, all I wanna do is get the fuck out of here,” she insist. “First, I need to gather a few small things. Do I have enough time, Sandy?” she questions the guard.
“Plenty of time, Star. They went to meet that Injun fella,” he begrudgingly answers. I have a feeling that whoever this man is, the guard doesn’t hold him in high regard.
“What Injun fella would that be?” Gunner inquires, his body stiff, and I have a feeling we’re all concerned that it might be Jamie. He’s got his hands in all types of illegal activities it seems. But if he’s in cahoots with Jeremiah, that’s one we weren’t aware of.
“All I know is it’s a girl type of name,” he answers and I raise my eyebrows up to where they’re practically touching my hairline. All I can think is that it has to be Jamie, who else could it be? “Something that starts with a ‘J’.”
“Jamie,” Gunner growls out, I can feel the vibration coming from his chest through the floor my feet are planted on. There’s only one man on the planet that can initiate that sort of reaction from my club president.
“Yes! That’s it,” the guy answers.
Star
As the guys have a pissing match with Sandy, while they insert their dominance over him, I gently remove myself from Shamus’ grip. I already know how big Shamus’ dick is, I don’t need to watch him beat on his chest and prove it. So, I slink away and head for my dresser. I only have a few precious mementos that I’ll be bringing with me along with the envelope filled with the cash I’ve been gathering for two years.
I don’t have many pictures of Ella, nor keepsakes from her birth, but the few things I do have will be coming with me. I pull out the plastic bag that Sandy got for me in order to keep everything in pristine condition and look down at it. Everything I have that’s important to me can fit inside of this gallon sized baggie.
It’s pathetic, but I’m eternally grateful to have these few items. They’ve come to mean the world to me. Help me through a gloomy day when all else feels lost. There have been several nights that I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole, then, I look at these pictures and everything feels right, as if I have something important worth fighting and living for.
Inhaling a deep breath, I walk back over to Shamus who lifts his arm for me to tuck myself into his side. “You ready to get out of here?”
“Yeah, get me out of here. I’m ready to start my new life.” With those words shared, something heavy lifts from my chest; and I know I’ve made the right decision by choosing to trust this man.
As quickly as I was shuffled out of the club, I didn’t have time to check out things. My mind was on one mission and that was to get my daughter in my grasp. I should want to free all the women who are in the same predicament as I am, but these thoughts didn’t occur to me until I was already firmly planted on the back of Shamus’ bike with the wind flowing through my hair.
My fingers dig into his side as these feelings swamp me. What kind of woman am I that I could abandon the others behind? I was so full of myself and Ella that I didn’t consider anyone else.
I feel so selfish and inconsiderate right now, I need to find a way to save them all. Jeremiah will take my disappearance out on them, no doubt about it. And poor Sandy, what’s gonna happen to him?
We travel a long distance
