AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The detective sighed, lookin’ about as tired as a man can get, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Mr. Knox, these conspiracy stories ain’t helping your case none. We need it straight on where you were the night of the murder and what your beef is with the victim. Is it because of what he did to his ex-wife?” The detective slid over a picture of Eliza, her face swollen up like the elephant man.
“Yeah, I wanted to kill him for that, but I didn’t,” I hollered. “Let me out and I will. Cause he’s breathin’, and he has them.”
As the grilling went on, it was like watching a cage being built around me, each question another bar locking into place. The desperation of my situation settled on me like a heavy coat of winter sleet. They weren’t buying what I was selling. They thought I was just another crook in a long line of liars. Being a notorious biker wasn’t helping me none. These boys were celebrating. They finally had something to pin on me. I was being stitched up real nice, and time was runnin’ out fast to save Eliza and Emma.
Finally, they wrapped up their interrogation and shoved me into a holding cell, but not before they threw me the bone of that one legal phone call. I grabbed the phone like it was a lifeline, my fingers shakin’ as I dialed the clubhouse.
When one of my brothers answered, I laid it out fast, my words tumbling out. “Listen, I’m locked up again—framed for murder. But listen good—Mark is alive. He’s got Eliza and Emma. I saw Emma at the house when they cuffed me. Somethin’ ain’t right. Head over to Eliza’s, check everything out. Grill the grandma—turns out she’s Mark’s mom. She’s spinning tales about them being hauled off across the country, but it’s bull. You gotta dig up what’s really goin’ down. Find Eliza and Emma and kill Mark. If I’m going to fry for it, he might as well die.”
I slammed the phone down, my back against the cold concrete, feeling the full weight of my screwed-up situation. All I could do now was wait and hope to hell my brothers could piece together the truth before it was all too late. My mind kept seeing Eliza and Emma, caught up in some hellish nightmare, and I clung to the desperate hope that somehow, someway, I’d drag them back home.
Chapter 20
Eliza
As night enveloped the house, the sinister quiet was punctuated only by Mark’s movements and Emma’s innocent laughter. Mark had untaped Emma, fed her and convinced her we were playing a game of cops and robbers.
“You and mommy were the robbers,” he explained to her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m the cop, and I’m going to take you two away. You need to play along.”
Emma, still too young to grasp the reality of our situation, giggled and nodded, her joy the opposite of the terror gripping my heart. As I watched them, my mouth still sealed with duct tape, I felt a profound sadness mixed with a fierce protective instinct. I desperately clung to the hope that, despite his many faults and the danger he’d brought to our doorstep, Mark wouldn’t harm his own daughter.
As the hours ticked by, my thoughts inevitably drifted to Knox. I remembered the story he’d shared, the pain and desperation of a young boy forced to make an unimaginable choice to save his mother. My heart ached for him, knowing now the kind of helplessness he must have felt, the same helplessness that was suffocating me.
The realization that Knox was possibly sitting in a cell because of the twisted machinations of my supposedly dead ex-husband made my despair even deeper. I felt guilty for ever doubting Knox, for allowing past fears to cloud the truth of the man he was. If I could see him again, I would tell him everything, apologize for not trusting him completely, tell him how much he meant to me.
And if I had a shotgun, Mark would really be dead.
Lost in my turbulent thoughts, I was startled by a knock at the door. Mark tensed, a flash of panic crossing his features before he masked it with a calm I knew was feigned.
He whispered harshly to his mother, “Answer it, but be careful what you say.”
From my position on the floor, I could only listen as footsteps approached the door and it creaked open. The voices that followed were unmistakably gruff, those of the Royal Bastards MC, their tones taking no shit.
“We’re looking for Eliza and Emma. We know something’s not right. Let us in to check the house,” one of the voices said, a voice I recognized as Rocky’s, filled with concern and an underlying threat of action if denied.
Grandma hesitated, her voice trembling as she responded, “They’re not here. They left.”
I strained against my bonds, desperate to cry out, to let them know I was here, that Emma and I needed help. The muffled sounds of discussion continued, the members of the MC not easily persuaded, their insistence a thin lifeline thrown across the dark waters of my despair.
The exchange seemed to drag on, every second stretched into eternity, until finally, the sound of heavy footsteps signaled that they might be leaving. My heart sank, the fleeting hope dissolving as quickly as it had appeared. But then, a new sound caught my attention—the unmistakable noise of a scuffle, followed by the door being pushed open forcibly.
Adrenaline surged through me as the Royal Bastards MC made their presence known, their voices now clear and authoritative inside the house. Relief flooded through me, even as Mark cursed and looked around wildly for an escape that wasn’t there.
The next moments were a blur of activity. The MC members, a half dozen of them, quickly subdued Mark, their efficient handling of the situation more than welcome. As they freed me and Emma, the relief and gratitude I felt were overwhelming, tears streaming down my face as I hugged my daughter close, her laughter now replaced by confused whimpers.
As I comforted her, I looked up to see Knox’s brothers, my rescuers, standing over us protectively. Their presence underscored the loyalty and courage Knox had shown me from the beginning. In that moment, all I wanted was to be reunited with Knox, to tell him how much he truly meant to us, to thank him for setting in motion the rescue that saved our lives. The bond that had formed between us, tested under the harshest conditions, was unbreakable now, and I knew nothing would ever make me doubt him again.
Chapter 21
Knox
The chill of that damn holding cell melted away the instant the cop told me I was free to go. The charges were dropped. Truth broke through faster than I dared hope. Stepping out into the fresh night, each breath of crisp air scrubbed off the grime of despair and lock-up.
Waiting outside, under the glow of the streetlamps, was Eliza, looking all kinds of relieved but worn out. Flanking her were my brothers from the club, their solid presence a loud vow of their unbreakable support. Seeing them, seeing her, it was like a shot of something strong straight to my heart.
“Knox!” Eliza barreled over, wrapping me up tight. The warmth of her, the smell of her hair grounded me more than any words could be.
Easing back a bit, her eyes dug into mine. “Mark showed up, Knox. He planned to haul off me and Emma. But your brothers rolled in. Saved our asses.”
