Page 46 of Sold to the Bikers
“What if it isn’t good enough?”
I don’t have a fucking answer for that.
24
SANDRA
This is bullshit.So much for the Eagles being good on their word. Eric "if that's your real name" biker dude was supposed to have her keep in touch with me, and like the idiot I am, I freaking believed him.
I don't expect Nat to call me with constant updates, but she's obviously involved in something that she doesn't want me to know about, and I don't know how I'm supposed to try to ignore that little tingle in my gut that says something’s wrong.
I toss my math book back onto the table. It was never my best subject, even before I dropped out, but I'm not exactly finding it any easier knowing that my big sister is in trouble. After several years away from school, it's weird to be dealing with homework again, but I can’t do shit without my GED.
I pick up the book one more time, but I can't concentrate.
Argh!
Does she really think I'm so mad at her that I won't pick up if she calls? And that I won't worry about her like she always has about me? Talk about getting my own behavior smacked back in my face.
If her phone survived, a few days should be enough for it to dry out, right? Aren't phones mostly waterproof these days anyway?
Unable to sit still, I head to the kitchen to grab something to drink. The tray of burnt cupcakes from the day she took off is still on the counter. She’s usually so picky about cleaning up after herself, and I keep putting off scraping off the black spots.
It’s so not like her to leave her baking stuff like this. She might not be a master baker yet, but she knows what she's doing.
What distracted her so much that she forgot about the cupcakes in the oven? Even if she forgot the timer, which also wouldn't be like her, because at least to me it seems like she never forgets anything. She’s usually right there, watching like a hawk. There's a reason she likes working at the bakery.
And now, some kid came by and dropped off Nat’s last paycheck for a job she absolutely loved. I didn’t even get the feeling she was trying to fight to keep it at all.
I feel like the sister I know abandoned me and her entire life at the same time, and I can either be scared out of my mind, or angry as hell. I've got a job, and I'm studying, and for the first time in forever, my life might actually be on track, but I'm not ready for my big sister to let me go just yet. I still need her, and whatever she's up to with the Screaming Eagles, it's ruined that.
And I don't understand it. She knows that. And an MC? That's not her scene—like so, so not her scene. So why is she there? Do they have something on her? Did she really fall in love with… Eric?
Back in the living room with a drink to pep me up, I grab my phone off the table and find her contact. I haven’t tried to call her in a couple days, mostly because she pissed me off and she’s really the one that should be reaching out, but I’m worried.
I tap to call her.
It's ringing. That's a good sign, right? If it wasn't working, my call would go straight to some kind of message, wouldn't it?
It keeps ringing. And ringing. I hang up with a sigh.
If she doesn't want to talk to me, how much can I really do? Go back to the Screaming Eagles clubhouse and try to drag her out of there? Good fucking luck. Even if they've got her in the clutches somehow, then there's not much I can do.
Still, the Screaming Eagles are supposed to be the closest we have to good guys on a scale that basically goes from muddy gray to pitch black. No white knights around here. Kidnapping and imprisonment doesn't sound like their style.
Then again, isn't that what they did with the mayor's daughter a few years ago?
God, there's got to be something I can do.
Picking up the phone, I tap it to call her again. Maybe she was in the bathroom or something.
It rings. Once. Twice. Then someone picks up.
"Natalie!"
But it's not Natalie who answers. Instead, I get a cruel laughter that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Fuck, is that Sandra? I've missed hearing from you."
Oh fuck me.