Page 18 of Hendrix (Speed Demons MC Virginia #1)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ANNA

“T hat’ll be nine hundred forty-three dollars and eighty-eight cents,” the manager of Miss-tique announced with a beaming smile.

I winced but then relaxed when I remembered the joyful expression on Addie’s face when we took the huge pile of clothes, underwear, nighties, PJs, and footwear to the counter.

The girls had been trying on clothes and giving me a fashion show for the last hour. Thank God we’d had a drink and a snack at the tea shop across the street before we came in because I was exhausted.

Arrowhead Point was a pretty town. It was bigger than Hambleton, and it had a few of the bigger chain stores, but it was still charming, with lots of character and friendly people. I suspected they were more used to strangers because it was a resort of sorts, so nobody gave the girls or me a second look when we walked down the street to Miss-tique , a cool kids' clothing store that catered up to about the age of around fourteen.

Addison was kitted out for a year. Lulu, the owner, had even rummaged in the back of the store for some winter clothes that were left over from last season, and then she’d thrown in some free hair barrettes, ties, and clips with butterflies and flowers on them and even a cute little girl pink coin pouch and purse. Hendrix had stuffed a wad of bills into my hand when he dropped us off at the tea rooms further up the street, so most of the bill was already covered.

It wouldn’t have mattered to me anyway.

The joy a few clothes brought to a little girl who’d been robbed of her mother was worth way more than a thousand bucks.

It was worth everything.

“My friend from school just walked past with her mom,” Gigi called from the window. “Can I go outside and talk to her?”

“Of course,” I agreed. “But don’t wander off.”

“I won’t,” she promised, the bell over the door tinkling as it closed behind her.

I handed Lulu Hendrix’s cash, then grabbed my wallet and slid my debit card out while I waited for the due amount to appear on the card reader. After slotting the plastic in, I typed in my PIN and waited for the transaction to complete before taking my card out and putting it away.

“Thanks so much,” Lulu said, the gratitude in her tone matching her words. “Small businesses like mine rely on customers like you to keep our heads above water. I’m not exactly living on the breadline, but a big sale like that takes the pressure off.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied, sliding my wallet inside my purse. “I was a business owner myself until recently when I sold my salon, so I know how up and down finances can be.”

“Did you sell because you’re having a baby?” she asked, glancing at my stomach and smiling.

“I sold up before I got pregnant,” I explained. “I moved out of town. In fact, I’m looking for a job after I’ve had the baby. Is there a salon in town that might need a stylist?”

Lulu leaned against the counter. “No. The salon we used to have closed down about ten months ago. The closest place is the next town over, but Betty, who owns it, is part of the blue rinse era, so I drive over to Alexandria to get my hair done.”

Something pinged in the back of my mind. “Do you know why it closed? Was business slow?”

“The place was always busy,” she relayed. “Things started to go wrong for the owner when she got mixed up with one of the bikers who lives over at the hotel.”

My stomach sank. “Really?”

“Look,” she murmured. “I’m not a judgy person, and those guys are always respectful and no trouble. I’ve spoken to a few in passing, and one of them comes in here every week to buy a gift card, so I’m not complaining.”

“So what was the problem?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual. “Did he screw her around?”

“Well, that all depends on what you mean by screwing.” She gave me a knowing look. “Again, not an issue for me. I’ll tell any sister to go get herself some if the opportunity arose, especially if the guy looks the way he looks. The problem was that her husband didn’t much like it.”

Slowly, I closed my eyes and sighed.

“Her hubby gave her an ultimatum: leave town and start again or stay and get divorced. From what I heard, the biker wasn’t up for settling down with her, so she put the salon up for sale and moved the entire family to Illinois.” She studied my face briefly before continuing, “You should be careful. Apparently, the guy’s got a thing for women with red hair. Over the past few years, he’s vacuumed up every redhead who’s stepped foot in town, charmed the panties off them—literally—then chewed them up and spat them out. You may be pregnant, but you’re gorgeous, so I don’t think he’d discriminate.” Her lips twitched humorously. “In fact, going by what I’ve heard about those Friday night biker parties over at the hotel, he’d probably like it.”

A tight ball formed in my stomach.

“Tell me,” I asked sweetly. “The biker. Did he have long hair, blue eyes, lots of muscles, and tattoos?”

Her eyes widened. “Don’t tell me he’s gotten to you already. Jeez, those boys don’t waste any?—”

She was interrupted by the bell over the door tinkling. Then, Hendrix’s gruff voice called out, “Sorry I’m late, baby. Ended up on a bit of a mission.” Heavy footsteps pounded on the floor, and a muscular arm slid around my shoulders. “Jesus. You’ve only been let loose for a couple of hours. How much damage have you done?”

Lulu’s eyes fixed on Hendrix, and her face paled.

“Lulu,” I said a little too brightly. “This is Hendrix. He’s my...” My voice trailed off because, for the life of me, I had not one clue how to introduce him. Weirdo redhead fucker, maybe? Or even better, President, military hero, and destroyer of marriages.

“Ol’ man,” he rumbled, sliding a hand across my belly possessively. “I’m her ol’ man.”

I sighed for a third time before tipping my face up to study Hendrix. “Babe, Lulu’s just been telling me about the empty salon in town.”

His body stiffened. “She has?”

“Yeah. Apparently, the owner got mixed up with some asshole who left her high and dry when her husband found out. She had to skip town to keep her marriage intact. Crazy, right?”

Hendrix’s body locked so tight I thought it might shatter into pieces.

“Turns out it was one of your guys,” I went on tightly. “Any idea who would do something so shameful, slutty, and shitty?”

Lulu rolled her lips together to conceal her grin.

Hendrix’s fingers lifted from my belly to scrape down his face. “Maybe the brother didn’t know she was wed,” he muttered. “None of my men would knowingly touch a married woman—except for Fletcher. The dudes get the blame when they’re kept in the dark about the circumstances, so I can only assume that’s what went down.” His stare darted to Lulu before it sliced back to me. “Maybe you shouldn’t listen to town gossip.”

I skewered him with a glare and snapped, “Whatever.”

Hendrix grinned and brushed his lips over mine. “You jealous?”

“No,” I lied.

He chuckled quietly.

“Whatever,” I snapped again.

His head raised, and he glanced around the store. “Where’s Gigi and Addie at?”

“Waiting outside,” I informed him haughtily, still smarting from hearing about his sexual escapades.

He glanced over his shoulder toward the window. “Didn’t see them when I came in.”

I followed his gaze and saw the street was empty. A weird feeling began to fill my stomach. “I told them not to wander off. Where could they have gone?”

His gaze came to me. “I’ll go look for ‘em. They can’t have gotten far.”

My throat went dry, and I nodded.

“Stay put,” he ordered, turning and heading for the door.

I bit my lip nervously as I watched him walk outside and look both ways down the road. After a few seconds, he turned left and disappeared.

“I can’t believe this,” I whispered to myself. “First time I’m trusted to take two little girls out, and I misplace them.” My hand went to my belly. “It’s not looking good for this little one.”

Lulu waved a casual hand. “I own a kids’ clothing store. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen a child pull a Houdini on their mom, I’d be a rich woman.”

“Their parents will never trust me again,” I muttered, worrying my lip with my teeth. “I’ve literally had them in my care for two hours, and already, I’ve had a meltdown and lost them.”

“It’ll be fine,” Lulu assured me. “It’s a safe town. The most unsavory element is the biker club, and I guess you’re covered there.”

“Thanks,” I told her sarcastically.

She laughed softly. “Sorry about what I said earlier about your man. He’s right; I shouldn’t listen to gossip, and there are always two sides to a story. The last thing I want to do is upset you, especially in your condition.”

“It’s okay,” I said reassuringly. “It’s not the first time one of Hendrix’s conquests has been thrown in my face, and it probably won’t be the last. We weren’t together then, so as much as I feel like strangling him sometimes, it’s not fair for me to give him shit.” I pointed down at my belly. “And it’s not like I refrained. I was married to somebody else.”

Her eyes rounded. “I think we need to go out for a girls’ dinner. I’ve never met anybody as interesting as you. This town’s boring.”

“You wanna see the action up at the hotel,” I muttered. “You’d change your views on boring pretty quickly.”

“That would be awesome,” she breathed just as the bell tinkled over the door again.

I turned to see Hendrix walking over the threshold with Gigi holding his hand. “Anna. We need to go,” he barked.

“Where’s Addie?” I demanded, swiftly gathering up the bags of clothes.

“Can’t find her,” he stated, leaning over and taking them from me.

The tightness grew in my stomach.

“She saw a cat and went to look,” Gigi wailed. “I went to look for her, but she’d gone.”

Hendrix put her down, and I leaned over and smoothed a hand over her hair, trying to calm her. “It’s okay, baby. We’ll find her.”

She grabbed my hand and burrowed into me.

“Do you want me to call the sheriff's office?” Lulu asked.

“I’ll do it,” Hendrix muttered, his mind clearly elsewhere. “Gonna take you girls to Picasso’s shop. You’ll be safe there.” With a curt nod in Lulu’s direction, he guided me and Gigi toward the door and out into the street. The tension gripping my body was so sharp it burned my flesh. My mind kept conjuring images of Addie, all alone and frightened.

It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have let the girls out of my sight.

Through the recesses of my mind, I could hear Hendrix talking to Blade on the phone, barking orders as he guided us through the doorway of a nondescript building with a dark exterior.

Picasso appeared and ushered us inside before guiding us to an artist’s workstation in the corner of the reception.

I gazed around the place, so deep in my thoughts that I didn’t take in the beautiful artwork covering the walls or the light and airy feel of the place, which was a stark contrast to the darkness of the outside décor.

“What’s the status?” Picasso demanded.

“Anna was down at the kids’ clothes shop,” Hendrix relayed. “The girls went outside to wait, and Addie took off after a cat. Nobody’s seen her since.”

Slowly, I closed my eyes.

“You spoke to the sheriff?” Picasso asked.

“Nope. Nothin’ they can do that we can’t. Blade’s sending the boys up to do a sweep of the town, and Colt’s already looking at cameras and tapping into any nearby doorbell footage. If the law’s involved, my hands will be tied should I need to make an example of some asshole for thinkin’ they can take what’s ours.”

I closed my eyes against the nausea rising through my stomach, and a strangled sound left my throat.

Within seconds, Hendrix was on his knees before me. “We’ll find her,” he murmured, clasping my face in his hands and staring into my eyes. “We’ve got the best of the best, Anna. It’s probably something and nothing, and she’ll turn up after playing with some mangy stray cat as if nothing’s happened.”

“Prez is right, Anna,” Picasso reiterated. “This is a safe town. Nobody’s gonna take her. We’re just talking worst-case scenarios. It’s what we do; hope for the best, plan for the worst.”

“She’ll be okay,” Hendrix whispered. “Hand to God, Anna, I’ll bring her back.”

I nodded blindly, my arm automatically reaching out to pull Gigi closer to me. “You okay, baby?” I asked her.

Gigi’s big, brown eyes stared up at me. “Blade won’t let anything happen to Addie. She’ll be okay.”

Despite myself, I couldn’t stop a smile from tugging at my lips.

Hendrix touched his mouth to my forehead, his soft lips remaining there as he murmured, “The girls have just pulled up with Gopher and Tweety. I need you to be strong, Anna. Need you to be the woman you are and make sure everyone’s okay. Me and Cass need to join in the search. The more boots we got on the ground, the quicker we’ll find Addie.”

“It’s my fault, Jamie,” I whispered. “I should never have let her out of my sight. It’s just such a nice town, and we’d been in the store for so long; I assumed they needed a break, plus I knew you were coming for us. I didn’t think it would hurt. If anything happens to Addie, it’s on me.”

“Stop,” he argued. “Don’t do that. It could happen to anyone.”

“I should’ve protected her better,” I said, my voice stricken.

“I’ll find her, baby,” he promised. “I won’t stop looking until she’s safe.”

I closed my eyes, trying to tamp down my rising panic.

Fender had already been through so much. If anything happened to Addie, it could tip him over the edge. She was such a sensitive girl, and I knew if somebody had hurt her, the family would never come back from it, especially after Ashley.

Why did I let Addie out of my sight?

What was I thinking?

How could this have happened?