Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Stand By Me

Nera

I sat at Shep's dining room table two days later. I hadn't left his house and he'd only gone into the clubhouse to do some work in his office, while I sat content in his home. He told me a few guys were asking where I was and if I was all right, and he'd reassured them that I felt safer at his home on the compound.

And it was true.

I had no desire to leave. I had everything I needed here. Shep took such good care of me, fed me, bathed me, loved me. I knew I'd get cabin fever soon, but for now, I was content to chill here and watch TV and play on my new phone.

I'd gotten word that all the girls had made it back home, and basically all told the same story to the police. The FBI was on the case now since the abductions were now officially connected, and had taken place over multiple states and jurisdictions.

It was decided that I'd stay in New Orleans for a bit. I wanted to get out more and explore the city, see what all the fuss was about. I'd only visited Agatha's shop in the Quarter and the couple of dates Shep had taken me on. But I also decided I was going to start applying for jobs.

I had the new laptop Shep bought me up on the dining room table and saw an abundance of nursing jobs available. I didn't want the shiftwork of the hospital, so I applied for a few doctor's offices and even a medical spa, doing Botox injections and assisting in cosmetic procedures. Seemed like a super chill place to work. I'd had to retype a résuméfrom scratch, as everything was on my computer back home in Tampa.

I looked up when I heard the front door open. My gorgeous boyfriend walked in looking sexy in a fitted white tee, his cut, and a pair of jeans that hugged his delicious ass. His black boots had been shined, but were coated with a little dust from his ride back here from the clubhouse.

"Hey, baby," he greeted, coming over and kissing me on the head.

"Hi," I beamed up at him. "How was your day, dear?"

He chuckled. "Same shit, different day. Got paid though, so that's always nice."

"You get what you wanted for the AR15s?" I asked.

Shep kept nothing from me. I knew all about his illegal firearms dealings and I couldn't care less. He and his men were smart enough to know how to launder the money through their legitimate businesses, like the Rumble bar and the mechanic shop where they worked on and flipped bikes and cars for profit.

He took off his cut and sat down at the table with me, handing me a bowl of cut up fruit from the fridge. He was always trying to feed me, fatten me up. I popped a blueberry in my mouth.

Shep watched me chew and smirked. "I'm gonna eat one of those out of your pussy later."

I almost choked, and then smiled. I gulped from my cup of water and said, "Oh yeah? I can't wait."

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I furrowed my brow and shut the laptop. "Uh now? I mean, sure. But I'll be hungry for dinner later."

He pointed to my phone, that was sitting on the table. "No. Are you ready to call them?"

We had planned this and I knew what he meant. I was just stalling. I stared at the phone, knowing I needed to make the call. I was excited and nervous and dreading it all at the same time.

I sucked in the side of my bottom lip. "Yeah."

I had officially been "missing" for twelve weeks and it was time to let my family know I was all right. I should have let them know sooner but I felt like they didn't care. I knew that wasn't true but why hadn't they done a simple locator spell like Agatha had done? They had plenty of toothbrushes and hair from my bathroom to use. Not to mention they could have used their own blood.

Still, I needed to come clean. I didn't worry about going to the cops. They'd stopped sharing me as a missing person so they didn't give a shit either.

I dialed my mother's number and began to sweat with nerves. Shep reached over and grabbed my hand, giving me a reassuring squeeze.

"Hello?"

I took a deep breath. "Ma?"

She was quiet for a minute, and then gasped, "Nera? Baby, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Alec!" my mom screamed at my brother. "Get in here!"

"Baby, where are you?" she asked, her voice wobbly.

"Is it her?" Alec said, the phone on speaker now.

"Sis! Where the hell have you been?" he asked.

I was shocked to hear he was there. The guy was usually off partying.

"I'm in New Orleans. I'm okay," I reassured them.

I heard my mother sniffle. "What happened? You just… disappeared."

"I was taken by vamps, Ma. Human trafficking assholes. I got away and am safe here for now."

"Safe where?" Alec asked. "Do you need me to come get you?"

I was shocked he offered, but maybe my absence had made them appreciate me, and my brother to mature a little.

"No, I'm gonna stay here a while. The people who rescued me have been really good to me." I looked at Shep and squeezed his hand. "I'm gonna help them track down these bastards."

I didn't need to tell them the Bayou Wolves were an MC of werewolves. They'd flip out.

"I want to see you," my mom said.

"I'll get you a plane ticket, you can come visit," I offered.

"Me too," Alec said.

I smiled. "Sure, little bro. Sure. I'd like that."

"Baby…" my mom started. "Were you… hurt at all?"

"I'll Facetime you later, okay? I just wanted to let you know I was all right. I'm going down to the bank and the DMV and reinstating everything tomorrow, so the cops might call and let you know they got an alert. Not that I think they care…"

"I've been hounding them every couple weeks," Alec said. "Me and Mom. They always say they don't have any leads. What happened?"

I explained how I was at the club with Amanda, celebrating her Navy promotion, when Deon drugged and kidnapped me.

"Fucking piece-of-shit vamps," Alec growled.

"Yeah, they were. We rescued most of the girls, but some weren't so lucky," I said, thinking of Anna and trying not to tear up.

"Who are you staying with?" my mom asked.

"My hero," I replied, looking at Shep.

"Hello, Ms. Kennedy," he said, smiling at me. "I'm Sheppard. Nice to meet you."

"Thank you for saving my daughter," she said, and I heard her crying. "I owe you."

"No, ma'am, you do not. I would have done it for anyone, but your daughter… she's very special. Thank you for bringing her into the world. She's made mine a whole lot brighter."

"Kiss ass," I mouthed to him as I bit back a smile.

He winked at me. "I love you," he mouthed.

"Mom… how come you didn't come looking for me?" I asked.

"We did," Alec responded. "Locator spells didn't work, if that's what you mean. It just came up with nothing."

I furrowed my brow. "Sheppard had a witch do one to find me." I chewed my lip. "When did you last do one?"

"About six weeks ago," Ma answered.

That was when I when I was still at the bastards' house in Biloxi.

"I called in your aunt Melinda, she said there was a block of some kind. Or at least she suspected, and that's why we couldn't locate you with your hair from the brush or with using our own DNA as a familial spell."

Shep looked at me. "I bet they spelled the house and when they moved the girls to the warehouse, they hadn't gotten around to it."

"Which means they have a witch working for them," Alec said.

"Not good," I said. "It'll make them harder to find."

"We'll help in any way we can," my mom said. "I'm working from home now so I can come out there. I want to see you."

"I'll call you later, okay?" I said, already feeling emotionally drained but relieved. "I love you both."

"Love you, sis," Alec said.

"Love you, baby," said my mom.

I ended the call and looked at Shep. "I think that went well."

"How do you feel?" he asked, holding my hand.

"Relieved," I answered honestly. "We can go into town tomorrow and get a bank card and a driver's license?" I asked.

"If that's what you want, sure. I'll take you myself. But I was thinking… I don't think you can get a Louisiana driver's license without surrendering your Florida one. Where exactly do you think it is?"

"Well, I left it on a chair in Shark Bait while I was dancing with dickhead Deon."

"Wouldn't Amanda know where it is then?" he asked.

I nodded. "Huh. I would think so, but when I called her, she didn't say she had it."

"Probably not a priority, but call her, maybe we can go to Biloxi and go get it."

I smiled at him. "Thank you. Why are you so good to me?"

He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. "Because you're my queen and my mate. I'll do anything for you."

My heart melted.

"Oh hey, I applied for three jobs. I had to use Duality, Inc.'s address for my résumé. I didn't know what else to use. I didn't want them to think I lived in Tampa."

"Well, you're gonna need an ID before you get a job, so you better call her." He tapped the phone.

I found her contact and sent her a text. I didn't want to get her in trouble with her job again by calling.

Me: Hi Amanda. Question – what happened to my purse from that night?

Amanda: I mailed it to your mom's house. I wasn't sure what to do with it.

Me: Ok, thank you. We need to catch up when you're not so busy.

Amanda: I always have time for you. I can't stop thinking about you and what you've been through. Let's meet soon. I have some leave coming up. I can come to the Big Easy and see you.

That made me smile.

Me: I'd really like that, my friend.

Amanda: I'll be in touch.

I looked at Shep. "My mom has my purse."

"Cool, ask her to overnight you the wallet. Problem solved."

I grinned. "Problem solved."

He stood. "C'mon. Let's go have dinner at that place in the Quarter you liked last time."

My mouth instantly watered. "You don't have to tell me twice!"

Shep drove me back to the clubhouse so I could change my clothes. I'd only brought bare necessities to Shep's, like a toothbrush and hairbrush.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to full-on move in, but a part of me was. I wouldn't ask though, he'd have to invite me.