The Stolen Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

contained anger. She wore a sleeveless leather vest, dipping low enough to show a hint of cleavage, but both her vest’s shoulders and her leather gauntlets were covered in spiked metal studs. These weren’t simply gleaming decoration, either; I swore that I could see dark stains discoloring the bumps on her knuckles. As I made eye contact with her, she glared back and slowly cracked her knuckles with a loud popping sound.
    “So, this is our meal ticket?” the woman said, her voice sounding scornful. “She doesn’t look like much. Honestly, Slammer, this whole thing seems like a dumbass idea.”
    “Shut your mouth, Flamer,” Slammer replied. He didn’t raise his voice, or even turn his head, but the woman did as he asked, her jaw slamming shut with a snap. Her eyes were briefly filled with rage, but she merely tightened her fists in those leather gauntlets.
    “Toss her onto my bike,” the big man went on. “We’re getting out of here.”
    I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and shifted my gaze over. Biggie and Chainz had both gotten up from their bench and had approached us. Of the teenager, Rachel, I didn’t see any sign. She must have run off as soon as they let her go. I felt a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, thinking about what I had seen her doing. Chainz returned my eye contact and leered at me. I wanted to be wearing a blanket, something to cover myself up from his roving, perverted eyes.
    “No,” Roads replied. “I’m taking her.”

 

     
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    S lammer’s eyebrow twitched for an instant. “What?”
    “You heard me,”Roads repeated.“I don’t trust you with her. I’m going along with this plan, but I’m going to make sure that she gets returned without any harm. She’s coming on my bike.”
    The man in black in front of me took a challenging step forward. “Roads, you’re out of line! Don’t forget who’s the leader of this gang! Or do you want to challenge that?”
    Roads’ hand on my shoulder pushed me aside - thankfully, nudging me more towards Flamer than towards Chainz and Biggie. With me out of the way, my protector also took a step forward towards Slammer. The two men, both standing over six feet, were barely an arm’s width apart. “I’m trying to do what’s best for this gang!” Roads shouted. “And that doesn’t involve getting us all on the Most Wanted list for accidentally killing the daughter of a prominent politician!”
    Slammer’s hands had rose up to his chest, tightening and balling up into fists. Roads’ hands were still at his sides, but I could see them pulling into fists as well. The men stood and glared at each other, two alpha males sizing each other up and watching for any sign of weakness. I sensed that this was much deeper than it seemed; this was a power struggle that affected the entire gang. The other members were standing around, not moving forward to get involved but also keeping their eyes peeled and watching every detail of what transpired.
    “Listen to me,” Roads spoke up again, not breaking eye contact. “I’ve gone along with your plan this entire time. And I know that you want to do what’s best for the Outlaws. I do too. But I just want to make sure that nothing goes wrong, that we can get our cash and get out of here without having the Feds chasing us for the rest of our lives!”
    Slammer shook his head. “I think that you don’t trust me,” he hissed, his eyes piercing like daggers. “Do you trust me, Roads? Because if you don’t, well, we’ve got a problem.”
    For a long minute longer, Roads held the gang leader’s gaze. But then, he let his eyes drop down, looking down at the ground and breaking eye contact. “I trust you,” he said. Each of those three words sounded as though it was forced with monumental effort, but they came out. His hands were still pulled into fists, and I could see his knuckles turning white as his fingertips bit into his palms.
    The answer seemed