Page 5 of Panther’s Magpie (Mountain River MC #1)
CHAPTER
FOUR
MAGGIE
A week.
Seven days.
One hundred and sixty-eight hours.
Ten thousand and eighty minutes.
That’s how long it’s been since I last saw Aspen. Since I left her behind in a dingy biker bar even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
It’s crazy to think how much can happen in a seven-day time span.
Or, in this case, not happen. Aspen is still in the wind, and we aren’t any closer to finding her than we were the first day.
My thumbs ache from me chewing on them with worry, and I also have a line of bruises lining my upper thighs from where I’ve been pinching myself in an attempt to ground myself in the present. My anxiety is at an all-time high.
After this is all said and done, a therapist is going to have a field day with me, that’s for sure.
Then again, there might never be enough therapy in the world to recover from this. Not for me, at least. The guilt will always eat at me.
Would have, could have, should have.
Sighing, I hit send on the final email and set my computer off to the side.
A wave of sadness overcomes me, only this time it’s not with worry over Aspen but because I just withdrew us both from classes indefinitely.
I didn’t know what else to do, and neither of us could miss any more classes.
Thank God I knew her login info, otherwise, she would have kept falling farther and farther behind.
I genuinely enjoy the classes I’ve been taking, so the idea of not knowing if or when I will go back kills me. The only positive is that I don’t have to worry about losing our housing since we lived off campus already and I paid rent right before we hit the road to come here.
Looking away from the laptop, I eye the bedroom door. I know what I need to do, but I’m hesitant. It will go one of two ways. Either they will think it’s a horrible idea and keep me locked up, or they will think it’s brilliant and I’ll be forced to face those sick bastards once again.
I have to try. For Aspen. She would do the same for me. If it were me, she would burn the world down trying to find me. This is the least I could do.
With that in mind, I get off the bed and venture into the main area of the clubhouse. Eagle looks up and smiles.
“Hey, I was wondering when you would stop hiding.”
“I wasn’t hiding. I was actually withdrawing Aspen and me from our classes,” I inform him.
Eagle winces. “That sucks. How do you feel about it?”
“Hate it. Do you know if Panther is around?” I ask, changing the subject.
“He’s out at the moment. Anything I can do to help?”
“I have something I want to run by him.”
“How about you tell me while I feed you? We had some pizza delivered earlier,” he says as he points to the bar.
I look over and see four pizza boxes on the bar top, and suddenly it’s all I can smell. I don’t know how I missed it when I first walked out. I love pizza. I think it should be its own food group, so the fact that I missed it should be evidence enough that I’m distracted.
I follow Eagle over to the bar and take a seat.
“We have meat lovers, pepperoni, and supreme. Which do you want?”
“Meat lovers.”
Eagle sets two pieces onto a plate and hands it to me.
“Thank you.”
He leans forward and rests his arms on the bar. “No problem. How did you sleep last night?”
“About as good as you could expect.”
I pick a piece of sausage off the pizza and pop it into my mouth. Something about the taste of it offers me a little bit of comfort and normalcy. Something I desperately need right about now.
“I have an idea.”
Eagle shakes his head. “Finish your food first.”
“Have you always been so bossy?” I ask as I take a bite of pizza.
“You might be the first to call me that, actually.”
“I doubt that,” I mutter, making him chuckle. “This pizza is delicious.”
“A new place came into town last year. Their food is addicting as fuck.”
“They do more than pizza?” I ask as I take another bite.
“Oh yeah, they make pasta from scratch and desserts too. I order from there far more than I’m willing to admit.”
“Can’t cook?”
“I can, I just hate doing it. It’s a bitch cooking for one.”
I nod. “I get that. I feel like I always make more food than necessary and always have leftovers.”
“Your mom teach you to cook?”
I scoff. “I don’t think she even knows how to turn on the oven. No, Henrietta taught me. She worked for my family for a little bit.”
“She your nanny or something?” he asks.
“Nanny, housekeeper, you name it, she probably did it.”
“That was nice of her.”
“It was.”
My chest aches just thinking about her. It’s been too long since I spoke to her.
I should probably check in. Then again, who says she even wants to hear from me?
She was hired to take care of me after all.
When I turned thirteen, my mom fired her without warning, only this time she didn’t hire anyone to replace her.
I was left truly alone. At first, I let the place get dirty, but then I realized that it was only hurting me.
They never came home to see it, so I started cleaning up again.
I became an adult way too soon.
Henrietta tried to keep in touch over the years, but the calls became few and far between. I doubt she even thinks of me anymore. Not the way I think of her.
“Now tell me what’s on your mind,” Eagle says before I can spiral any further.
I roll my shoulders back and take a deep breath. “I want to go back to the bar and see if Asher is there. See if he’s willing to help again.”
Eagle frowns. “He was the bartender who helped you escape, right?”
“Yes.”
“Maggie, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You got out of there once, but that doesn’t mean you would a second time. On top of that, we have no idea who this guy is. Meek can’t find any information on him,” he says warily.
“But he helped me,” I stress.
“Which could have been a fluke. I’m sorry, but no. This is a horrible idea. Hell, I don’t even think you should bring it up to Panther.”
His voice rings out in the otherwise empty room. “Bring what up to me?”
PANTHER
Her hair whips across her face as she turns to look at me, eyes wide. Her face is a little thinner and paler than it was the night she arrived. Showing that this whole situation is starting to wear on her.
“Bring what up to me?” I repeat as I walk toward her and Eagle.
“Nothing,” Eagle says quickly.
A little too quickly.
She looks down and fiddles with the hem of her shirt.
I narrow my eyes and study them. She looks like she would rather be anywhere else, and Eagle looks pissed off that I interrupted their little chat.
Interesting.
“Is that true, Maggie?” I ask.
She takes a deep breath as she rolls her shoulders back. Something about the simple action pleases me. It’s a sign that she has some form of a backbone and won’t be trampled all over.
“I want to go back to the bar,” she says, catching me off guard.
“Excuse me?” I practically sputter.
I could not have heard her right. No one in their right mind would want to go back into danger. Especially not a pretty young thing like her.
“You heard me. I want to go back, see if Asher is working and if he’s willing to help.” Her confidence is wavering, but she’s holding strong.
“And I told her that it was a horrible idea,” Eagle cuts in from where he leans against the bar.
I roll the idea over in my mind. It has merit, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. In fact, it kind of pisses me off that she thought of it before I did. Is it a risk? Yes, but one I’m willing to take to get my sister back.
“Panther,” Eagle warns.
I look over at my friend and point at him. “Mind your business. This is between Maggie and me.” I turn back to the woman in question. “You think you can pull it off without chickening out?”
She huffs. “Of course I can, otherwise I wouldn’t have offered to do it. I would do anything for Aspen.”
“Surely you two aren’t stupid enough to be contemplating this,” Eagle says.
Maggie and I ignore him as we lock eyes.
Even from a distance, I can see the determination running through her. Her lips are pinched tight, and she has a little line between her brows.
I’ll be damned. She might not be as bad as I thought she was.
“Okay. I’ll allow it,” I tell her.
Her shoulders drop as she smiles. “Thank you.”
“Go get ready.”
She looks over at Eagle. “Thank you for the pizza.”
“Maggie, this is seriously a bad idea. Are you sure about this?” Eagle calls out to her.
My jaw clenches. It pisses me off that he’s trying to talk her out of it, but I bite my tongue even though I want to lash out at him.
Why is he showing loyalty to her and not me? He should be on my side when it comes to this.
“Aspen would do it for me,” is all she says.
Eagle and I watch her walk down the hall to the bunk room she’s claimed. He looks over at me and shakes his head.
“This is seriously fucked. Even for you,” he spits at me.
“Eagle.”
He ignores my warning and keeps going.
“We know nothing, Panther, nothing. She could be walking into a fucking trap, and then we would have to save her as well.”
“It’s a risk she’s willing to take,” I remind him.
“Yeah, well, then at least she would be safe. Something I thought we were trying to do by keeping her here. Or was that a lie?”
I walk toward him and hiss, “Watch your fuckin’ mouth and keep your voice down. If she wants to do this, then who am I to stop her?”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “You’re so fucking blind right now, man, it’s not even funny. You can’t see the bigger picture, let alone what’s in front of your face.”
“It’s my sister we’re talking about.”
“Yeah, which means your judgment is clouded, and you shouldn’t be heading this. You are thinking too emotionally about it and not logically. I’m telling you right now, this is a fucking mistake, and it’s going to blow up in our faces.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I know you seem to like the girl, but she isn’t yours. If this is what it takes to get Aspen back, then we do it.”
Eagle looks at me with disappointment. “Just remember when this goes south that if that girl bleeds, her blood is on your hands and yours alone.”
“Mind your own business, Eagle. I got this.”
“Whatever, I’m out of here,” he mutters as he walks toward the door.
For a moment, I start to second-guess myself.
Is Eagle right? Am I too blinded by my worry for Aspen that I’m putting Maggie in unnecessary danger?
No, she volunteered. It was her idea.
Besides, nothing else has panned out. This might be our only shot.
I need something. Anything, and if this gives us even the smallest of clues, it will be worth it.
The sound of Maggie walking closer has me taking a deep breath. I can’t show her that I’m having second thoughts about this. Because if I do, then so will she.
“You ready?” I ask as she comes into view.
She dips her chin. “I am. How do you want to do this?”
“You’ll drive your car, and I’ll follow behind on my bike. I’ll keep a safe distance between us so no one suspects we are together. I’ll pull off out of view of the bar. You’ll go in, do your thing, and then get out.”
“And if I find myself in trouble?” she asks as she shifts her weight from one foot to another.
“Then I’ll come in and save you.”
We hash out a few other little details, and once she seems a little more confident, I ask, “Now are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’ll just need to stop for gas first,” she says, wincing.
I shut my eyes and bite back my frustration.
In the grand scheme of things, her needing gas isn’t that big of a deal. I just hate that it’s delaying us getting on the road.
“Then I guess we will have to stop on the way out of town, won’t we?” I say as I nod toward the door.
As we walk outside, I can’t help but hope that we are about to do the right thing and Eagle is wrong.