Chapter 11

Raven

" W ould you please try to enjoy yourself?" I mutter, shooting a side eye at Link.

He snorts out a laugh, the sound of laughing children fills the air around us as we walk through the fairgrounds. "Nah, Little Bird. Because this shit isn't for me. It's for you. And as much as you wanna say it's for Andrew, he has no idea what's going on. It's all bright colors and pretty things. He's not going to remember."

"No, but I am." I frown. "Is it so wrong of me to want to give my children everything I didn't have?"

He stops and looks down at me with a sigh. "No, it's not. And you're right. But, Raven, I don't like this. It's too open, too many people. You're pregnant, you can't even ride any of the rides."

"I know, but it's not just for me. Look." I point over to Hunter who is playing one of the carnival booth games. "He's having the time of his life."

"Fuck yes!" Hunter whoops after popping the last balloon. The booth worker grabs the biggest stuffie and hands it to Hunter. It's a giant pink elephant.

"Of course, he is," Link mutters. "He's a big kid himself."

"Stop it." I slap his arm. "Look, fine, don't enjoy yourself. But at least let us, please?"

"Fine." He glares at me. "An hour. That's it. Then we leave."

"Deal." I give him a beaming smile.

"Hey, Little Mouse, look what I won for Baby Bird." Hunter holds up the elephant like it's his prize-winning pig.

"It's adorable and will look perfect in her nursery." I crook my finger, beckoning him to come closer. He grins, and leans in, letting me kiss him. "Thank you."

"I fucking hate that thing," I hear Taylor curse. Turning around, I look over to see Travis and Taylor walking towards us. Taylor doesn't look so good.

"Are you okay?" I ask him in concern.

Travis pats his brother on the back. "He's fine. Just can't handle the rides."

"Oh, did you go on the Gravitron?"

"Nope. The tea cups with Andrew." Travis grins so damn wide but grunts when his brother punches him in the stomach.

Quinton joins us, Andrew strapped to his chest. "He almost puked on me," Q laughs.

"I did not," Taylor mutters. "And fuck off, all of you or I'll kill you."

"No killing." I laugh. "Come on, let's go play some games and get some food. I'd kill for a corn dog right now."

He gives me a smirk. "I thought you said no killing?"

I just grin and shake my head. "Smart ass." But he's my smart ass.

AN HOUR LATER, LINK makes it known that it's time to go home. I don't argue because honestly, it's hot outside, my feet hurt, and I could use a nap. Quinton left not too long ago, headed back to the warehouse for work stuff.

I had fun though. Got to play some games, win some prizes, and ate lots of food. Even got a ton of photos of all of us.

Today was exactly what I needed. All I can hope for now is that with my father being gone we can work on getting back as much of our old life as we can. I can't say back to normal because our lives have never been normal . And I know they never will be.

"I'm gonna go check the cars out, make sure everythings good," Link states.

"I'll come with you," Taylor offers, following after Link, carrying the giant pink elephant along with some more prizes we won in his hands.

"What is he checking for? Does he think someone put bombs on the cars or something?" I laugh at Hunter who has a sleeping Andrew in his arms.

"Yeah." Hunter gives me a blank look, and my smile falls.

"What, really? Why?"

"Just because the person who wanted you alive is gone, doesn't mean there aren't people who would want us dead. And with you being pregnant along with Andrew, we're not taking any chances."

"Fine," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "I really gotta pee."

"Come on, I'll take you. There's a place right there." He points to a building a few feet away from us.

"You get this side, I'll take the back," Travis says, and Hunter nods.

After I waddle my ass over there, I slip into the women's bathroom. "Fuck," I sigh happily as I pee. It's like I'm going every five minutes these days. It's fucking annoying when I'm trying to sleep.

When I'm done, I go to the sink to wash my hands.

As I'm drying my hands, I see a woman stepping out of the stall that was next to mine. She looks at me in the mirror, and I smile. "Cute dress," she tells me. I'm in a black sundress with pink skulls. One of the only things I have that doesn't look bad with this big belly.

"Thanks. I love your bag." I point to her cute mini backpack.

"Thanks." She smiles.

Turning, I go to grab a few more towels. As I'm ripping one off, I notice movement out of the corner of my eye. "Sorry," is all I hear the girl say before I feel a prick in my neck.

Gasping, I spin around and look at her, eyes wide, my hand going to where she pricked me. "What did you do?" I ask, but the words sound a little slurred.

"What needed to be done."

The back door opens and two men slip in.

I try to stay on my feet, my eyes going blurry as my body begins to feel numb. Panic claws at my throat as my heart pounds in my chest. My mouth opens but no sounds come out. My eyes fall to the floor by the open back door. Travis. He's lying there. "Travis!" I try to call out but it comes out in a whisper. "Hunter."

My eyes close and just before I fall to the ground, someone catches me. But it's not one of my guys. "We got you, Raven," a voice I don't know says. "Everything will be fine."

Travis

PAIN RADIATES THROUGH my skull. Groaning, I sit up, a ringing in my ears drowning out the sounds of the fair.

It takes me a moment to come to. "Raven!" I shout, scrambling to my feet. I remember standing guard at the back door, someone called for my attention, and then I was hit in the back of the head really fucking hard.

"Raven!" I shout again, running into the bathroom. With a pounding head and racing heart, I kick in every door of every stall. Nothing. She's not here.

Throwing the main door to the bathroom open, I frantically look around. Hunter is standing there with Andrew.

"Where is she?" I shout.

His eyes snap over to me. He sees the state I'm in and that Raven isn't with me, and his whole body goes stiff. "What the fuck happened?!"

"Someone fucking ambushed me," I snarl. "Doesn't fucking matter. We need to find her now!"

"What's going on?" Link finds us, and fuck, this isn't going to be good.

"Someone took Raven," I pant out, looking around for her.

"I'm sorry. What the fuck did you just say?" It's the voice that tells me there's a good chance I might fucking die.

"There's no fucking time for this!" I shout. "Find her!"

"I'm going to kill you," he promises. "You, take Andrew home now."

"I want to help!" Hunter protests.

"You get our son out of here right fucking now. We will not put him at risk."

"Fuck!" Hunter shouts, pure terror on his face. "Find her. You better fucking find her!"

We all split up. He takes off with Andrew. Link handles the parking lot. While Taylor and I take the fairgrounds. We call in every single BVC crew member who's here and order them to join the search.

The whole time I feel numb; I'm in soldier mode. One singular focus: Find Raven, and make sure she's safe.

We shouldn't have come here, Link was right. It was too soon. Someone was waiting for their moment, and they fucking took it.

I run around, trying to spot her, any sign of her, but there's too much going on. It's crowded here, kids running around. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Fuck!" I shout, panic starting to sink in. No. No, I will not lose her. Not again. No, no, no, no!

My eyes scan the crowd again, and then I spot her. She's in the arms of some man over by the emergency exit.

"Raven," I whisper, eyes widening. I take off through the crowd, running and jumping over things while pushing people out of my way without a fucking care in the world.

And then one of the guys looks out of the crowd and right at me.

He doesn't panic, he doesn't try to hide. He just gives me an eerie smile. Then he takes something out of his pocket, points it to the sky and fires off a few rounds.

The shots ring loudly through the park. And instantly people are screaming, running for safety.

"No!" I scream as I try to rush through the mob of people coming my way. "Raven!" I scream so fucking loud. Dove. Please.

I'm pushing people to the ground, not caring who I hurt at this point. All I want to do is get to my girl.

I'm too slow, though. I pull my gun, firing a few shots, hoping if people think I'm the shooter they will run from me.

It works, only it's too late. When I get to the back exit, I see them shoving her into a black SUV.

With a roar filled with terror and determination, I start shooting the tires of the SUV as I run towards them with every ounce of energy I have. I run and shoot as they swerve through the dirt lot.

One, two, three more shots and then no more. I'm out of fucking bullets. "Fuck!" I shout, tossing the gun to the ground. I don't stop. I keep running, following them onto the road.

I ignore the burning in my lungs as they scream at me in pain. I ignore the pounding of my heart as it feels like it's going to burst out of my chest.

I give it everything I have, pumping my arms, breathing heavily to the point I think I'm going to pass out.

My eyes are on that SUV. But the more I run, the further it gets away.

"Raven!" The agony in my voice as I see the SUV disappear will forever echo through my soul.

My vision goes spotty as my knees collapse under me. I trip over my feet and go down hard, smashing my head against the pavement. "Dove," I croak before everything goes black.