Page 24

Chapter Twenty-Three

Honeysuckle’s Demise

M ara couldn’t believe her eyes. Her best friend— former best friend —stood just outside the now open apartment door. Her throat closed up for a moment as she had to remind herself to breathe.

“Come in here,” Darrow said, ushering Macy inside.

When Darrow went to put his gun away at the back of his waistband, Macy pointed and offered up a smirk.

“You might want to keep that thing handy…” she said.

“Is Fitz outside right now?” Darrow asked, eyes going wide.

Macy chuckled. A weak chuckle that teetered on a sound of insanity.

“Do you have anything to drink?” Macy asked.

“Answer my question first,” Darrow growled. “Is Fitz outside?”

“No,” Macy said. “How about that drink now?”

Mara saw the way Macy looked at Darrow. This was once her best friend. Stunning. Beautiful. Sexy. Sultry. Gorgeous. Hot . She saw her as Honeysuckle, her stage name. Men piling up to get as close to the stage as possible for a chance to look at her. The wait times and the amount paid for just one private dance. And now Macy looked like a haggard shell of herself.

Mara caught herself opening her mouth but quickly closing it, not sure how to engage in a conversation right now. In the kitchen, Darrow found a bottle of whiskey and quickly brought the entire thing back to Macy. She wasted no time in twisting off the cap and drinking the whiskey as though it were a bottle of water. She peeled the bottle away from her bone dry lips.

“Tell us what happened,” Darrow said. “This is bad. Really bad.”

“Macy, hey,” Mara said in a soft voice. “How did you get here?”

“Trunk of a car,” Macy said. “Not my favorite way to travel. My eyes were covered up. Hands and feet tied. That whole thing. Car stopped, the trunk popped and I was thrown out to the ground. My hands and feet were freed but I was told to leave the blindfold on for a little longer. A voice told me an apartment number and to go bang on the door until someone answered. And that if nobody answered, I would be finished off…”

Macy helped herself to more whiskey. Mara’s stomach ached as she looked at Darrow.

“I have to go figure this out,” Darrow said. “I want you two in the bedroom right now. I’m calling in protection.”

“That’s right,” Macy said. “The big, bad bikers.” She chuckled in a desolate, evil voice. “You don’t remember me, Darrow, but I remember you. I danced for you. Several times. I even sat on your lap once or twice. I can’t remember if you came though. Or if we fucked…”

“Macy, please,” Mara said.

Macy turned her attention to Mara. “Please? Are you cheating on your husband with this guy? Is that what this is all about? Is that why your husband fucking kidnapped me? Is that why your husband did all the things he did to me?”

That’s when Macy’s entire body started to shake. She reached for the couch and plopped down. She drank more whiskey. Mara’s body burned red-hot. She felt some embarrassment but mostly she wanted to punch Macy in the mouth for what was just spoken.

“I don’t want you two sitting here too close to the door,” Darrow growled.

Mara could easily tell Macy wasn’t going to listen to what she was told to do. Something really bad had happened to this woman. Really bad. Even without knowing details Mara felt ill. And guilty.

“Darrow, please,” Mara whispered.

“Fuck,” he said and stormed off into the kitchen.

Now it would just be a matter of minutes before SOFRAW showed up to survey the damage that was Macy’s soul, then come up with a plan for their version of justice. But the thing was, they already knew Fitz was a rat. He turned on the club. The worst thing possible. He would be sentenced to death already, so what could possibly be added to that in terms of revenge for Macy?

Another thought came to Mara. Just minutes ago she and Darrow had been in the bedroom. His viper-like tongue licking between her legs. His strong, thick thumb rubbing her clit, sending her into orgasmic submission.

That was right about the time that someone had dropped off Macy. Her wrists and ankles tied. Blindfolded. Dragged from the trunk of a car. Told to knock on a door she didn’t know or else she’d be finished off…

Mara sat down on the coffee table across from her former best friend. She hated thinking that way too. Former . It was reality. But a painful one. The moment was tense and awkward.

Mara looked into Macy’s eyes. She couldn’t help herself when she began to cry. She missed her former best friend. Mara reached out and gently touched Macy’s face. Her thumb stroked at the chalked, dry mascara on Macy’s face.

“I am so fucking sorry,” Mara said, her throat clenching. “I am so sorry for everything that happened between us. My God, I know this is the worst time to say something like that. I should have called you sooner. I should have texted you sooner. I did text you, but you didn’t respond…”

Mara’s voice dropped off. She felt horrible. Sick, sad, and worthless. But she knew Macy felt even worse.

Macy just stared. Her beauty hidden under whatever hell Fitz made her live through. What came next from Mara’s mouth… just… happened…

“I’m pregnant,” she said.

Some innocent voice in her head suggested bringing up the pregnancy would make everyone happy. It didn’t work that way.

Macy burst into a fit of laughter. Evil sounding laughter. Chills raced up Mara’s back and she stood from the coffee table and put distance between herself and her former best friend. She had been around the motorcycle club life long enough to know it was a constant state of paranoia.

Was there a chance Macy was working with Fitz? After all these years, imagine if they were fucking all along…

Mara’s cheeks burned red-hot.

“Wow, you still don’t trust me,” Macy said.

“No, it’s not that,” Mara said. “He’s not my husband anymore. It doesn’t work like that. His ink… on me? It’s covered up. Macy, I should have never married him. I should have never been with him. I should have never chose him over you.”

Macy then stood up. “I guess that doesn’t do much good for me now, does it?” She shook her head. “I had no idea where I was or what was happening. I didn’t know you’d be here. If I did…”

Mara touched her own cheeks. She felt sad. Heartbroken. “I don’t know what to say, Macy. I texted you the other night because I missed you. I missed my friend. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to tell you how fucked up my life had become.”

Darrow raced from the kitchen. He looked at the distance between the two former best friends.

“He fucking kidnapped me,” Macy said. She looked over at Darrow. “You’re the same thing as Mara. You think I’m part of this. Want to inspect my body? Huh? Want to find out all the things he did to me?”

“Macy…” Mara said but her voice trailed off.

“He showed up to the club,” Macy said. “No, correction, he broke into the club. And he waited for me. Sitting there, in my chair, with a gun. He told me he had you, Mara, tied up in the trunk of his car and that if I didn’t go with him, he would kill you. And I believed him. Can you imagine that?”

Darrow moved closer to Macy. “Listen, I’m sorry for whatever happened to you. We’ve been looking for Fitz for a while now. He’s a rat. He turned on the club.”

“Maybe because you were fucking his wife and got her pregnant,” Macy said.

Darrow’s nostrils flared. He was about a second away from slamming this woman’s head against a wall and turning her brain into mush.

“It’s not like that, Macy,” Mara said, moving to get in front of Darrow. “It’s not like that at all. Fitz lost his mind a long time ago. I got away from him before I knew he turned on the club. That’s none of your business though. I’m sorry for what he did.”

“What he did was take me outside at gunpoint and opened the trunk of his car,” Macy said. “You obviously weren’t in the trunk, Mara. He then hit me in the back of the head and knocked me out. When I came to I was tied up. On a cold floor somewhere. Fitz pacing around, talking to himself, wondering how he was going to overthrow Cyrus and create his own version of the motorcycle club. It made no sense to attack me. He didn’t want to hear that. I was his punching bag. I was his… for other stuff too…”

Macy drank more whiskey. This time, more than ever. After downing more than half a bottle, Macy handed the bottle to Darrow and then she ran to the bathroom. She fell her to knees and began to vomit loudly.

Mara and Darrow met eyes.

“He…”

“I know,” Darrow said. “I know. She should get medical attention.”

“How does that work, Darrow? Want her to say names? Open an investigation?”

“Fuck,” Darrow said. “I’ll make another call. There’s someone who can help. At the clubhouse. She’s going to have to come with us.”

“I don’t think…”

Mara heard the rattling sound of a pill bottle. She turned and saw Macy in the bathroom at the bathroom sink.

“Macy! Don’t!” Mara yelled.

She ran but Darrow ran faster. Macy dumped as many pills into her mouth as she could. Darrow got there before Macy could swallow them all and kill herself. He forced Macy to bend over the bathroom sink and stuck two fingers into her mouth, inducing vomiting.

Most of the pills fell into the bathroom sink, still intact. A few where crumbled up chunks of white powder. Poor Macy was thrown right into panic. Having a big, strong biker grab her and force her triggered all those fresh memories of Fitz. Macy bit Darrow’s fingers and Darrow grabbed her hair and threw her to the bathroom floor.

“Darrow!” Mara screamed.

He turned and stormed out of the bathroom. Macy curled up and cried, covering her face. Shaking and then groaning. In a matter of seconds, all that whiskey and whatever pills had been chomped and swallowed started to take control.

Macy sobbed but slowed. Mara crouched down and began to rub her former best friend’s back.

“It’s going to be okay, Macy,” she whispered. “They’ll protect you. I’m so sorry.”

“I love you, Mara,” Macy whispered in a slurred voice. “I should have never let this happen between us. I ran out to the car with Fitz because I was worried about you. He was always a psycho. We always had bad choice in men…”

Macy snorted, then fell asleep. Mara found herself pressing her fingers against Macy’s neck, feeling her pulse and praying that she would keep her pulse. Tears filled Mara’s eyes once again. She thought about the baby in her womb.

What kind of life is this to bring a baby into?