Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

F aust spotted a police car coming from the opposite direction as he turned his bike into the church parking lot. He pulled his bike close to the door and kicked the stand down with the other Shadowridge Guardians at his back.

"Stop right there," the officer called from his patrol car.

Faust ignored him and ran for the door. Ink, King, Kade, and Bear followed him into the building. Faust heard Steele's voice explaining.

"Officer, there was a break-in. They're after…" Steele's voice cut off as the door slammed closed.

Faust ran to the office. The older minister pointed down the hallway and Faust didn't wait for an explanation. He jumped over a man slumped by the wall and continued through the open door. The passage was dark.

"Molly, I'm here!" he shouted into the gloom. He didn't care if the man knew he was there. Nothing was going to get between him and Molly.

A chuckle came from the obscurity before him, sending a chill down his spine. It was muted. Distant? He moved quickly to close the distance.

"What's your endgame, dickwad? The police are in the parking lot. Unfortunately for you, so are my brothers," Faust called as he stalked forward.

"The police won't let them put a hand on me."

"I hope there's an exit in front of you, you piece of shit. Otherwise, you have to come back through me," Faust pointed out.

"Molly's going to be my ticket out of here."

Going to be. He didn't have her. He took several steps forward toward the corner that separated them to get a better idea where the other man was. Turning the corner, he peered into the darkness, straining his ears for a whisper of a sound.

"If I don't get her now, I'll get her the next time I get out," a voice answered, still at a distance.

How fucking big was this storage area?

"Out of what?" Faust asked, trying to keep him talking so he could locate him. Turning another corner, he saw a faint glow flickering. A flame. The bastard could see.

"Jail. The bitch reported me for disciplining my wife and kids. I'm young. I've got plenty of years to get revenge. I can play the game to get parole—again."

He felt Kade's hand close over his shoulder in a silent warning. Faust forced himself not to lose control. Get Molly safe. "A man's house is his kingdom. Women need to understand that."

"Exactly. So, I'll teach Molly a lesson and she'll understand." The man's voice was close.

He turned to hiss into Kade's ear. "Find the fucking light switch. Light this up!"

"I'm afraid I have a problem with that," Faust commented. "You involved me and the Shadowridge Guardians with your messenger."

"My brother does anything I want. He's family. He just brought a picture to warn you. They won't be able to pin anything on him. Then, when I go back to trial, he'll locate my wife and kids when they have to testify against me. She fled without leaving a forwarding address for some reason."

"You wanted to get caught?"

"Sure. I have one thing left to do now before they lock me up. Come out, come out, wherever you are, Molly."

The sound of her name coming out of that jerk's mouth was the last straw. Faust burst around the corner and raced the last few feet to tackle the man who'd dared hurt his Little girl. Pain lanced through his side as he tackled him to the floor. Pushing that inconvenience from his mind, Faust captured the man's hand holding the knife and pushed it to the floor as King, Bear, and Kade rounded the corner, filling the wide hallway with muscular, pissed-off bikers.

White lights blazed from the ceiling and thundering steps raced down the passage toward them. Ink turned the last corner and skidded to a stop as he took in the trio restraining one man. "I miss all the fun."

"Youngest member had to flip on the lights," Kade explained, making Ink shake his head.

"Come out," the police yelled.

"We've got him," Ink bellowed to answer. "Faust? Did you know you're bleeding?"

A box slid out from the bottom shelf and two small hands appeared. One gripped a gold rod so tightly her knuckles were white. Molly's head and body followed as she scrambled from the hiding spot. She clambered to her feet and circled way around the man who'd chased her to reach Faust as he pushed himself against the wall to power himself to his feet.

"Daddy!" She ran toward Faust and tried to help him stand.

"Stay where you are, Faust. You've been stabbed. Do you want to bleed out?" King demanded.

The edges of Faust's vision darkened. He eased himself back down to the concrete floor. If he fainted, he'd never hear the end of it.

Molly hovered over him, trying to help, still holding the cylindrical object in her hand. Faust could see her shaking. "He put a knife in you?" she whispered.

"I'm fine, Pixie. Don't worry. A few stitches and..."

Faust stopped trying to reassure her as she stood up straight and turned to face the man held against the floor. A patrolman reached them with his gun in his hand as she took steps forward and raised the object in her hand.

"Freeze," the officer ordered, pointing the gun at Molly.

"He hurt them," she whimpered. "Over and over. I could hear his wife begging him to stop and her screams when he turned his attention to her instead. He's evil. Now he has this whole plan to take me out and find his ex-wife and kids to beat again? He should not take another breath in this world."

The police officer moved to get a clear shot as Molly moved closer to the man, raising the object in her hand higher. Faust heaved himself to his feet and wrapped his arms around his Little girl. "Someone else will judge him, Pixie. This isn't up to you."

"He's never going to stop coming after me," she whispered.

"He will. Elizabeth will make sure of it," Faust assured her, holding out his hand. Seeing the black fog growing denser, he locked his knees. King stood up from his position holding the man securely and shifted behind Faust.

"Elizabeth, Talon's Little is a lawyer." Molly sighed with relief and smiled. She placed the object in Faust's hand.

The candlestick disappeared from his view as his vision went totally black. Faust heard the clatter as the rod slid through his limp fingers to hit the floor. Strong arms wrapped around his chest, pulling him back to settle on the floor.

"Thanks, brother," Faust whispered, knowing one of the Shadowridge Guardians MC had kept him from collapsing to the floor.

"Hey, we need an ambulance here," King called down the hallway.

"Daddy." Molly's sweet voice made him smile.

"The paramedics are coming. Can someone clue me in? What is going on?" The policeman's voice sounded totally baffled.

Faust shifted and immediately heard the squeak of a chair. He felt her cold hands next as she rubbed his forearm.

"I'm okay, Pixie."

"You scared me," she admitted, holding his hand.

"I just wanted another scar to make you think I was tough." Faust tried to make light of his injury.

"I already know you're tough."

"I'm keeping weapons out of your hands," he tried to joke.

"He deserves a taste of his own medicine."

"Not at your hands. You'd never forgive yourself if you hurt someone," Faust gently pointed out.

"You're right."

"Climb into bed with me, Little girl. I need to hold you," Faust urged.

"I don't want to hurt you. Besides, there's an alarm on your bed. I just sat on it and the nurse came in to yell at me."

Faust felt his eyebrows draw together in concern. "She shouted at you?"

"It's okay, Daddy. She was afraid I'd hurt you. Look, I pulled my chair way up. I can sit here and talk to you." Molly demonstrated by plopping down on the thinly cushioned chair.

"Totally not acceptable. How long are they keeping me in this hellhole?" Faust growled.

"I thought I heard your dulcet tones. I'm Margerie, your nurse. It's time for pain meds. Rate your pain for me on a scale of one to ten."

"Zero."

"You're lying," Margerie commented bluntly.

"Just tell her the truth."

"Three," he said and winced as he tried to shift in bed.

"A three from the bad biker dude. That must be a six on the regular people scale," the nurse commented as she injected medicine into his IV.

"Probably," Molly agreed with her.

Glaring at them both, Faust asked, "When do I get out of here?"

"A couple of days probably. There's a lot of stuff that can go wrong after you're stabbed. The doctor will tell you more, but you must have been very lucky that knife didn't cause more damage. You shouldn't be awake to glower at me."

Molly sniffed, and Faust looked over to see tears in her eyes. "I'm okay, Pixie."

"I was so scared."

"There's an alarm on this bed?" Faust growled, looking at the nurse.

"There is."

"Take it off," he demanded.

"That's against protocol," she said crisply as she checked all the bags hanging from his IV pole.

"Somehow, I'm holding Molly. Here where I don't move or over there," he said, pointing to a chair.

"Fine." The nurse turned to look at Molly, who had tears streaming down her face by this time. "Don't hurt him."

"Yes, ma'am." Molly nodded eagerly.

"I didn't do this. You figured it out yourself," the nurse said, pushing a button on the side of the hospital bed before leaving the room.

Faust saw the corners of her lips curve up as she turned away. He switched his attention to Molly. "Come here, Pixie. I need to hold you."

Bolting to her feet, she almost knocked over the chair. Molly rounded the bed and hesitated before crawling carefully over the sheets toward him.

Faust wrapped his arm around her and held her against his body. He took a corner of the sheet and wiped her face dry. "No more tears. I'm fine. Is that asshole in jail?"

"He is. The police will be here some time to talk to you."

"I'll be glad to talk to them as well," Faust said ominously.

"It's not their fault the jerk is working the system. Hopefully, he won't get out again for a long time. Minister Steve and Lester are pressing charges. Elizabeth's getting everything tied up in a neat bow," Molly said.

A thought popped into his mind, and he asked, "The Guardians didn't leave you at the hospital alone, did they?"

"Oh, no. There has always been someone with me. I just sent everyone back to the compound so you could sleep," Molly explained. "Kade told me to tell you not to worry about work. Ink's filling in on engines."

The string of curses that flew out of his mouth made his Little giggle. Faust looked at her and said, "That's a joke?"

"Kade said that would make you get better faster. He didn't warn me your foul language would sizzle my eyebrows off," Molly teased.

"Sorry, Pixie."

"I hear voices. That's a great sign."

Molly tried to shift away at the sound of Minister Steve's voice, but Faust held her in place. "Stay."

"Thank you for stopping by. I'll be back at work soon," Molly promised when Steve came into the room.

"The office will survive without you for a few days, Molly. I think you're right where you need to be," Steve commented.

"How are you and Lester?"

"We're fine. Lester has a big goose egg on his forehead. He's enjoying all the attention."

"I didn't know how he got hurt until the Shadowridge Guardians filled in everything that happened as I tried to hide," Molly told him. "You tried to stop him, too. I'm sorry I brought trouble into the church."

"A house of God should be a refuge for everyone. The blame rests fully on the person that chooses to do evil. I stopped by today to check on you, young man."

Faust barely controlled a snort from shooting from his nose. Young man? "I'm doing fine."

"Are you religious?" the minister asked him directly.

"I believe in a higher power," Faust answered vaguely.

"Just not in a church. I understand, Faust. I'll invite you to attend a service with Molly. See if we can change your mind. In the meantime, I'd like to say a prayer for you to heal quickly. Totally selfish, of course. I need my secretary back at her desk."

Faust looked at Molly and knew this was important to her. "Thank you, Steve. I'll take any help I can get."