Leaning forward, fresh wet drops fell on his jeans. This wasn’t the sweat creating circles on his pants. He was bleeding, from his head, maybe that had been the red haze when he woke. Had his stitches broken open or something worse like he had another wound? Someone had hit him hard on the head. What the fuck?
“Topaz?” he called out through a swollen and scratchy throat.
“Onyx, Jesus, they gave me drugs did they knock you senseless?” she said. “I was counting breaths, afraid you’d died on me a few times.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” he grumbled now recognizing he wasn’t on a chair, but instead a stool. The back support came from Topaz the person he was tied to. She wiggled and it pulled on the ropes that secured them together.
Was it a stool? Or a hard floor they were sitting on? His knees were bent, fuck they did hit him hard. They were on a damn floor. Parts of him were numbing in a way he didn’t appreciate. Already having ghost cramps in a leg that was no longer attached, he wasn’t about to lose other parts of his body. Not his fingers, hands and at this point, his head was groggy enough from the concussion, the idea of being assless actually was hitting him. Fear like no other settled around him. Topaz, and himself by default, were in trouble and he had no choice, but to figure this out or they could die.
“Talk to me. Tell me something about you?” he asked.
“What the hell? This isn’t a bad first date.” Topaz’s voice shook telling him they both needed the same thing if they were every going to get out of here. “We need to figure this out. Who did this to us?”
“That’s the first thing you’re worried about? Who did this? I’m trying to get us out of here. I’m all for a little tie up mixed with some slap and tickle, but back to back isn’t as satisfying.”
“Should have known you were a sub,” she bemoaned behind him, but he’d done what he needed, to get her to begin to calm.
“Sad because you are too? I’m up for being a switch.”
“No,” she snapped. “It’s just, why are you asking me questions when we should be trying to get out of here?”
“Give me a moment. Keep talking, I want something to distract me. Tell me about, oh I don’t know, your Grandma.” Onyx curled his fingers up to try to gauge the ropes binding them together to see if he could untie them. They were in knots, but he worked at it, slowly rotating his wrists too, if nothing else, get a bit of sweat going.
“My Nanna is a beautiful and kind woman. Anytime I needed to breathe, I went to her house. In a way, she raised me more than my parents had. She made sure I never wanted for anything, well not anything real important.” Topaz stilled behind him. The silence a deep void between them as if the place she’d gone was dark and dank. “Kinda was the favorite of all the cousins. Me, being a girl and all. In high school, she worked two jobs to pay for my cheerleading and volleyball fees.”
“That explains your flexibility,” he said, finding a tail to the knot.
“Whatever?” she mocked, her body shifting and arms following his to try and angle to loosen the knot.
“I meant handling all the shit at the bar,” he said. “Cheerleading and volleyball. Those two had to overlap. Add in school work to stay eligible and that’s more than a full load.”
“Oh,” she said her voice softening. “It is, and my activities were expensive, way more than my parents could afford.”
“Was she paying to keep you out of trouble or hoping to save money on college? You good enough to play after high school.”
“Cheerleading I was,” she admitted. “Volleyball was more fun with friends.”
Onyx dropped one shoulder as low as he could and blood rushed to his fingers, waking them up with a horrific case of pins and needles. The pain didn’t subside, no matter how many times he opened and closed his fist.
“I remember back when she found out that I had been voted on to the homecoming court,” Topaz continued. “She made sure I had the best gown. She spent so much money on it, we drove all the way to Little Rock to get my dress. I told her it would be fine if she made it like she had the others, but she insisted.”
“She sounds like she really loved you.” Onyx continued to work at the ropes. He looked around to see if there was something he could use to help him. But if he had found something he had no way of getting to it, so he skipped that idea and concentrated on his job to get them loose with just his fingers.
“She does me. That’s why I will do anything for her now. Her asthma’s been real bad for a while now and I send her medicine with the help of Red and Roadkill. They’ve given me samples to send to her. To Red, the drug reps are vultures, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them right back.”
Her impression of Red made him smile as his finger wiggled between part of the cross over and knot. With a big exhale, he arched his back.
The action made Topaz nearly double-over herself.
“That’s why you were in the clinic the other day?”
“Yeah. But you didn’t give me a chance to explain. You just teased me.”
“It’s my way,” he said. “When people hate me, I try to find ways of putting them at ease.” His confession was more to himself than her. “Plus, you’re easy, it’s like you have zero fucks left by the time you get to me and…well, if I piss you off, at this point so be it.”
“You do. But it’s because you remind me of someone.”
“Who is this someone?” Onyx worried they didn’t have much time alone, so he picked up the pace.
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Sounds like he’s an asshole,” Onyx surmised.
“Fuck you,” she replied.
“You’re the one not about to dredge up the past. Got some other place to be?”
“Yes, by the way, I do,” she replied. “Anywhere that isn’t by you.”
“Hey, how long have you been up?” he asked.
“I don’t know, why?”
“Trying for a timeframe, I’m still bleeding a bit, but that could be the damn aspirin a day regimen I’ve been on for a while. Oh and let’s see, we’re in a cabin somewhere in bum-fuck Montana. Doubt we were put here to Netflix and chill,” he continued, a little ire spiking his tone. “You wake up with just yours truly? Or did you hear voices? Shoes? A door? What woke you?”
“You snore,” she stated plainly. “Or more snort at times.”
“Thought you had to check my breaths,” he countered.
“Well, when it goes from road construction to a quiet nature path it takes a bit before you can hear the crickets.”
“Not me,” he replied. “Those little assholes are loud and annoying.”
“Really? I love them, they can be so soothing at night.”
“Yeah, but you grew up in a holler somewhere,” he joked. “Little Rock? You from Kansas, Oklahoma? Wait, is that in Tennessee?”
“Arkansas and don’t play dumb with me,” she replied. “I know most of the country has no idea where I’m from, but you’re not that person.”
“What makes you say that?” he questioned.
“Beno,” she stated plainly. “I saw you with him the other day.”
“Must have been someone else,” he joked, remembering the little game of name the state the nearly four-year-old was playing with him while he put together a puzzle.
Dreamer had ordered a number of puzzles for the elementary school she was organizing in town. Onyx had helped with some of the demo to combine classrooms, since there weren’t enough kids for a whole grade. Instead, she went back to the one room school house style of learning. Now, they called it homeschooling, but she was putting her teaching degree to use in a very different way. One that was making the parents of younger kids look at staying in Turnabout Creek, instead of heading west to Berrington.
“You didn’t just help him, you talked with him about every state.”
“What can I say? My mama said there was more to the world than Los Angeles.”
“Funny, never thought anyone from t
here believed anything existed in fly over land.”
“Well, in Cali it’s hard to think about other places,” he admitted. “We’ve got everything because the state’s so damn big. We go from nearly subtropical to snow. Deserts to giant lakes and farmland.” He mused thinking about his old home. At times, he missed traffic jams that were more than three guys on bikes trailing a semi. Warm weather, near perfect temps year round. But the snow was thicker and lasted longer in Montana. Not to the point he’d be going crazy, but he now understood the idea of cabin fever.
“But you really talked to him,” she said. “The kid isn’t even four and you were telling him stories about the states. Like the reason Florida is shaped like a gun is so you can fight off the alligators trying to move from Louisiana swamps. And here I thought it was a panhandle.”
“Can’t be a panhandle,” he said with a surety he even believed. “Florida’s too long, now a pot sure. Just be glad I could have told him it was like his ding-a-ling and that’s why there’s so much water at the end.”
“Let me guess, The Keys are really kidney stones?”
“Obviously, you’ve visited them,” he joked as they had the most civil conversation ever between them. “He’ll remember Iowa is short and fat because it’s like a pig more than me telling him it’s between Minnesota and Missouri. It’s not like I did it with every state.”
“Did you teach him a power fist for Wisconsin?”
“Okay, so that one wasn’t my fault,” he stated. “There was a meme that was shared, kinda like Michigan is a mitt. Who knew?”
“The man who comes from the backward J state.”
“Right? See, and everyone knows Italy because it’s a boot. No other European countries are known, but Italy, everyone knows them.” He smiled, the knot loosening a bit more. “They have a great marketing department.”
“And Arkansas?”
“No so much, what’s your nickname again?”
“The Land of Opportunity,” she said, as if a little bit of pride was warming her chest.
“That why you left?”
The silence was back. Cold and harsh.
“Topaz?” he asked a bit softer knowing not only was he a daily reminder of someone she’d like to forget, he’d hit a nerve. Raw and unwanted. “You try and help me with the ropes?”
“Sure,” she said, coming out of the bad place he’d sent her. “Let me see what I can do over here.”
The rumble from a loud vehicle noise vibrated the single window by the door.
Onyx’s heart felt like it skipped a beat.
They were out of time.
7
Although there was a two by four next to the door and two slots for it to rest in as a lock, the cabin they were in was open. All they had to do was get free. She’d tried, but the dead weight of a passed out Onyx had made it hard for her to even stay upright, let alone finagle her way free.
Onyx placed a long tail from the rope in her palm. “Hold it,” he said. “The best you can. Don’t let them see it. Those drugs still swimming in your body?”
“A bit,” she confessed. “Beyond feeling funky, I’m pretty sure I’m off balance.” Having not been able to pee, her bladder was near bursting which meant all the toxins were floating around. Not fully flushed from her system. With her head light, hands a bit numb, she wondered if her arms actually worked. She’d never been one for anything stronger than some Kush when it came to chilling her out. Having not chased the high of the heavy drugs, it was no wonder she’d passed out in seconds once the needle was empty.
“Cracked head and drug withdraw,” Onyx commented. “Aren’t we a fucking pair? Here’s the deal, no sudden moves. We’re both gonna be slow as shit and probably going to injure ourselves more.” The sound of boots crunching the gravel caused Onyx to straighten behind her for a moment, then he went limp.
“Onyx,” she cried, a bit panicked. Had he said cracked head?
“I’m good,” he whispered. “Well, okay I guess, but I’m gonna need you to play opossum, you good with that Topaz?”
“Right, a little groggy, but not dead.”
The latch of the door handle echoed in the single room right before two men walked through the door.
“Oh looky, the lovebirds are awake,” the larger of the two spoke, then kicked Onyx in the thigh. “Aren’t you.”
“Maybe you knocked him senseless,” the other said.
“Couldn’t,” he replied. “You know this porch monkey ain’t got no sense.”
Fear trickled up Topaz’s spine as she let go of the rope and wove her fingers with Onyx’s. She knew more would come from these men. Disgusting words, meant to harm him deep inside and all she wanted was for him to know he was loved. Or at least cared for. Seen as human. The way he’d been with Beno, this big man working with a kid who kneeled on the chair because he didn’t have a booster seat. Onyx was so patient with him. Making it a game and even helping the kid with long thick curls by pulling back his hair into a little man bun. Beno came to them with a flop of hair and mother dying. Now raised by Baldy and Lil’ Bit, he wanted to immolate his adoptive father Baldy with his long hair usually tied back as he worked on cars.
This man, behind her, the one she’d been so cruel to because of her fear for this situation. She’d been so rude and hateful for his protection and even now, he was squeezing her hand in assurance. Looking out for her with his thumb stroking along the outside of her hand. Not the other way around, even as the men’s hatred spewed in his face as they crouched to be eye level with him.
She wanted to memorize their faces. Look for tattoos or any scars. Only they were blurred out, fuzzy in a way. She didn’t know if it was fear or the drugs, but all she could see was both had guns strapped across their backs. The muzzles peeking out over their shoulder telling of the long range capabilities. All Topaz could register was the fear coursing through her of angering either man. She knew the outcome, tasted the pain and in this case, it would be both Onyx and her that would pay the ultimate price.
The shorter of the two jerked her head up by her chin. Knocking her skull against Onyx’s who inhaled sharply, but didn’t do much more. The sharp pain bouncing her brain around had to be nothing compared to his. Her heart ached thinking about how much pain he had to be in.
“I probably shouldn’t, seein’ as you’re a spoiled whore whose body is ruined after you rutted around with this animal,” he said then she heard the crack of a fresh water bottle. “But here slut, you need to drink, we’ve got plans for you and you’ll need to hydrate.”
Survival mode kicked in even though Topaz was afraid and had pinched her lips together, she knew she should drink the water they offered to her. Her head tipped back, gently to avoid the already concussed man behind her and she parted her lips. He poured and she tried to relax her throat for a long drink before she began to gag and he pulled it away. Her body convulsing a bit from the mini-waterboarding exercise as Onyx clung tighter to their joined hands.
“Please, like any of us want her after she’s been damaged by that Mandingo,” the man by the door said. “It’s not like The Carpenter would want her.”
“Didn’t know the new generation appreciated the classics when it came to the cinema,” Onyx spit. “So glad to hear the white nationalists have their own hipster crowds. Or was it the cousin fucking that had you watching the movie?”
The man used the butt end of the rifle to smash against Onyx’s skull.
Topaz winced in pain for him as his hand released its grip and she struggled to capture his fingers again. Relief as this time she wrapped her fingers around his palm.
“You think you’re smart don’t you?” the big one replied then used his knee to knock the side of Onyx’s jaw hard enough the pair of them wobbled to the side but were able to stay upright. “Maybe we should roll these two around a bit. Have some real fun.”
The man still in front of her stood and asked, “Should I give it some water?”
“Yeah, give me the bo
ttle, I’ll do it.” The larger one sloshed what was left of the bottle of water as he snatched it from the short one’s hand and tipped the bottle over Onyx’s head. Soaking him with the last of the water. “Look at me, I’m a damn preacher, bathing in the blood of the lord, now aren’t ya?”
“What the fuck man.” Onyx growled.
“You don’t deserve water.” The man crouched down next to Onyx, the smell of stale beer and onion chips permeated the air and made Topaz cough again. “You dirty, coon. We’ve been watching your little ranch.”
“Stop by sometime,” Onyx snarled. “Maggie has killer lemon bars.”
“Like we’d go somewhere with all those mulatto mutts.”
“Wow, over two hundred years, no change. Even the Catholics mixed it up and got with the times.”
Why was Onyx pushing back? Taking chances with men who already hated him? Oh God, did he think she was like them. Fearing him, despising him? She had been acting that way. There had been no reason for her to be so cold. Not on a personal level, just private. One based on what had happened in her life. What was happening right now had been a foregone conclusion in her mind. A repeat of her past, played out on a scale so loud, it screamed in her head every time she looked at Onyx. That first day, the ghost before her. She’d wanted so badly to wrap her arms around the stranger. Pray he was Byron coming to find her after he’d been away so long. Growing up, having a life.
The sound of men joking in the lobby made her smile. Red insisted they keep at least one person working at the clinic for emergencies, this sounded like a few friends coming to raid the Band-aide supply after slip and fall.
She’d only popped over with Lyna to bring Brick his takeout order from the Roadside. It had been a slow night and Topaz had wanted to raid the samples for her Nanna anyway. Stepping from the breakroom, she saw him. Standing in leathers next to Hollywood. Heart stopping she wondered if one could use the AED on themselves to restart her now silent heart. Lack of oxygen or blood soon turned into an overload when her heart took off. Racing in a way that made her head light as the world flashed around her. Hope mixed, bringing a whirlpool of pain as the past visions of Byron’s face, smiling at her as he stood lit up in the hallway melded with the present. The space narrowing from his large frame. No. Not his frame this man, this stranger with features, similar, but not quite right. He was older, his eyes knowing of the dangers of the world.
Topaz: Book 8 of the Steel MC Montana Charter Page 7