Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

F aust texted Molly on the hour. He'd wanted her promise to respond every half hour but had relented when she'd explained why that wouldn't be possible. With his phone set up facing him, he watched for his screen to light up with an incoming message as he forced himself to work.

"Faust, I've got a question for you about a motor." Kade strode in to stand braced against his counter.

"Move!" Faust roared.

Kade turned to see the phone behind him and smirked as he shifted out of the way. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just yell at your boss because I know you've got it bad, Daddysaurus."

Faust shook his head. "You're lucky I'm here." He deliberately didn't comment on his new nickname that had made it around the shop that morning.

"You wouldn't be here if that Little girl of yours hadn't promised to stay inside the church and only come out when you called this afternoon."

"You've got that right." Faust checked the screen again. No message. "Distract me. What did you need?"

"I've got someone at the front desk with a question about a rebuilt motor on a vintage bike. It sounds to me like a kit build, but he's assuring me it isn't. Could you see what you discover as you speak engine to him?" Kade asked.

"Let me send Molly a message and I'll follow you up."

"Perfect."

Little girl. You promised to answer me. If you want to sit down to type tomorrow…

Taking his phone, Faust headed for the front of the shop. There a man stood, looking around. He looked uncomfortable, like he wasn't used to being in a cycle repair shop.

"You had a question about a motor?"

"Yeah. You ever worked on something like this?" The man held up his phone, displaying a picture of something much different than a motorcycle.

With a roar, Faust rushed forward, thrusting a forearm under the man's chin to drive him back against the supply shelves. He ignored the scattering of the customers from the waiting area. They didn't matter. Holding the threat pinned there by the neck, Faust felt the Guardians ring behind him without asking a single question. "Where is she?"

He eased up on the man's throat slightly to allow him to draw a breath and answer.

"You'll never find her without me," he rasped.

"That doesn't keep me from hurting you badly. Your tongue will still work if I start breaking bones." Faust moved quickly and ripped the phone out of the man's hand. He tossed it over his shoulder, knowing one of his brothers behind him would catch it.

"Don't mess up his face. You know this piece of shit has his phone enabled for facial recognition," Kade said in a tone devoid of emotion that spoke volumes about how far he would go to back up Faust.

"I'm looking at the picture, Faust. There's no indication that she's hurt. She looks surprised." Steele's voice came from behind him, cool, logical.

Faust's blood continued to boil. He wouldn't come down from berserker mode until she was in his arms. "Grab my phone from my bench and call her."

"On it," Talon answered.

"He's starting to turn blue, Faust," Gabriel mentioned in a deceptively casual tone. Faust knew he must have seen the shop on the security camera.

"I don't fucking care," Faust snarled, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him.

"Me, neither," Gabriel admitted.

"It's ringing, Faust. I have it on speakerphone," Talon told him.

You've reached Molly's phone. Leave me a message and I'll call you back.

"Fuck!" Faust cursed. "You are dead if you've harmed a hair on her head."

The man swung an arm toward Faust's shoulder and the large man deflected it easily. The snap and muffled groan of the collateral damage for that move didn't quench the blood lust flowing through Faust's body. He was going to tear him apart bit by bit. That finger was nothing.

Blade was by his side in a flash. Armed with a thick zip tie, he restrained his arms behind his back as Faust held him pinned in place.

"That picture's in the office at her desk. Call the church. It's in my contacts," Faust ordered.

"Hello?" a shaky male voice answered.

"Where's Molly?" Faust demanded.

"I don't know. This is Minister Steve. A man just broke in here and tried to take her. I need to call the police."

"He doesn't have her?"

"I saw her running away. I tried to stop him. He knocked me down. I must have hit my head," the older man guessed. "Lester O'Brien was here. I don't see him now."

"Call the police. We're on our way," Steele advised. He stepped away without hesitation. The men would take care of him. He had more important things to do.

"What do you want me to do with this dickwad?" Bear called from his seat on top of the struggling visitor, after a short tussle.

"Tie him to something. Will you stay with him, Rock, Gabriel?" Steele threw over his shoulder as they ran for their bikes.

"We're missing the fun," Gabriel told Bear as he finished tethering his feet to one of the motorcycle lifts.

"Ummm. Is everything okay? Should we leave?" one of the customers who'd been in the waiting room asked.

"You're fine. They're just taking a break," Rock assured them as he rose smoothly to his feet and headed for a phone. "There will be a bit of a delay in finishing your tune-up."

"Good af…" The rest of that word disappeared from her brain as Molly looked up to see the visitor to the church office, holding his phone to take a picture of her. Reaching out automatically for her keys, Molly bolted to her feet and heard her office chair clatter noisily to the tiled floor.

"Molly? Are you okay?" Minister Steve called from his office.

"Call the police," she yelled as she backed away, recalling the familiar man in front of the waist-high counter that separated them.

"More of those hoodlums visiting?" Lester suggested as he walked back from the kitchen at the rear of the office space with a coffeepot full of water. He was still fuming that Molly wasn't making and bringing him coffee.

"That is the man who assaulted me yesterday and has left drugged candy on my car," Molly answered, angling her path to disappear into the private area.

"What? This guy doesn't look like he'd hurt a fly." Lester scoffed, continuing to the coffeepot. He fit the water-filled tank back into place before picking up a fresh coffee mug.

"Yeah, Molly. I couldn't hurt a fly," the man repeated as he opened the swinging gate that allowed access to the space behind the counter.

"Stop right there, young man. This is a church. We will not tolerate any violence or shenanigans here," Minister Steve told him, gripping the gate to prevent him from walking through.

"Right," the man drawled sarcastically before backhanding the minister to knock him out of the way.

Molly saw him tumble and strike his head. That sickening thump of his head against the wall forced her to move. She darted past Lester and ran down the hallway. Hearing the crash of a ceramic coffee cup behind her, she suspected that Lester had dropped his coffee, shocked by the intruder's treatment of their boss.

Turning her head to see how close the man was to her, Molly spotted Lester running behind her. She skidded to a stop at the back door. It led back into the storage areas of the church and was kept locked. She fumbled with the keys in her pocket and looked down to find the right one for that deadbolt.

Glancing over her shoulder to see where the man was, Molly could see him stalking down the hallway as if he had all the time in the world. The look on his face was of a hunter triumphantly cornering his prey. She forced herself not to panic and scanned the keys.

"Molly, you've led me on a merry chase…" he called.

"Stop right there. This space is only for church officials and employees," Lester warned, holding his arms out to the sides to block as much of the hallway as possible.

The key almost sparkled as she spotted it. Pushing it quickly into the lock, she rotated it until she heard the click. She twisted the doorknob and dragged it open. Her heart wouldn't let her abandon the assistant minister. "Quick, Lester. Come on."

"Go call the authorities, Molly."

Go back to the office to get to the phone?

The sight of the man launching into a run made her dart through the doorway and keep running. Molly's heart pounded in her throat as she forced herself through the dark storage area. With any luck, he wouldn't find the lights. The switches were partially concealed by the extra shelves that had been put up over the years.

Taking off her shoes, Molly walked as quickly and silently as possible. After turning a corner, Molly paused for a few precious seconds to pull a set of cushions from a stack under the shelves to scatter on the ground. If he fell, she'd have more time.

If she could get to the door that led to the baptismal pool, Molly could crawl through the curtained area to get to the sanctuary and out the door. She cursed that there was no phone along her path. Maybe Faust would figure out something was wrong.

"Oh, Molly. They say smoking is bad for your health," the man called, and she looked over her shoulder to see the flickering glow of a small flame.

Of course he has a lighter!

He's too close. There was no way she could find the right key fast enough from the thirty jumbled on her keyring. She'd never make it into the baptism area before he turned the corner. Her gaze darted around the shelves as she tried to remember where everything was.

Molly scrambled to come up with another plan. Scanning the boxes, she noted one stuck out more than the others. An idea jolted into her brain. Molly sank to the floor and felt along the items on the bottom row.

Praying with all her heart, she pushed that protruding box and it shifted. Thank you! The small Christmas tree! They'd almost forgotten to put it up in the children's area a few years ago because it got pushed back out of sight. After that, Molly had always placed it carefully at the edge of the deep shelves so it wouldn't get overlooked.

Please, let there be a space big enough for me to fit into.

She grabbed the gold candlestick on the shelf above the box as a final back-up plan. Feeling the intricate decorations biting into her palm, she forced herself to move. Unable to stop herself from looking back toward the corner as she backed into the disguised space, Molly could see the light getting brighter. He was almost to her. Holding her breath, she closed her eyes and prayed.