She was going to die. She cried out repeatedly, feeling herself lose her breath as the fear overtook her. It was pitch dark. Her wrists were tied to the point where she couldn’t feel her fingers. Then she heard noises.
* * * *
As soon as the call came in, Johnny and his brothers rushed to Illeanna’s. They hoped that Mikayla and Illeanna weren’t in danger. They were in police mode as they quickly approached the house on foot and spread out. Johnny took the front door, gun raised and prepared to kill the son of a bitch that entered the house to hurt his woman. Franco took the side door as Louis and Julien split up, taking either side of the house, and Gustave expanded out a little further toward the side dirt road that led toward the water and boat launch.
He caught sight of Mikayla just as she began to exit through the slider doors in Illeanna’s bedroom.
“Mikayla!” He called out in a strong whisper, not too loud but enough for her to halt and turn toward him. She had her gun by her side, then nodded her head quietly toward the open doorway indicating to go that way. Before he made it through the doors and onto the patio and staircase, he heard the gunshot.
* * * *
It felt as if minutes had passed and time stood still, yet the car never started and it never moved. She heard a gunshot and stilled inside the trunk. She kicked at the trunk with the last bit of energy she had left when suddenly she heard yelling, and then the trunk yanked open.
Flashlights illuminated her face, and she couldn’t see who was there. She kicked and screamed against her restraints as strong arms scooped her up, and familiar voices echoed around her.
“I got you, sugar. Oh God, we got you and you’re safe,” Gustave stated, and she cried out hysterically as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She didn’t care about the pain anymore. She was alive. She was safe and in Gustave’s arms.
* * * *
Gustave held her tight, relieved that she was alive and that they weren’t too late. Louis softly removed the tape from her mouth, and the second it was off Illeanna cried harder, taking deep breaths. His brothers gathered around them, and Mikayla passed a blanket to them to place over Illeanna.
“Is she okay? Oh God, is she all right?” Mikayla cried, and Louis pulled her next to him and held her.
“We should get her inside so we can check her over for injuries,” Franco stated as he placed his hand on Illeanna’s shoulder. She jumped and clung tighter to Gustave.
Franco pulled his hand away and looked at his brothers.
“She’s scared and probably in shock,” Julien offered as they followed Gustave and Illeanna into the house.
* * * *
The paramedics entered the living room and Illeanna had yet to let go of Gustave.
“Sugar, we need to look you over,” he told her as he held her on the couch. They could see that her feet were cut and her legs bruised and very red. When Franco reached for her hands to try and cut the rope, she cried out in pain. “It hurts,” she whimpered.
“That’s why we need to get that rope off,” Julien told her while he caressed her arms. He looked at his brothers, and they all held the same horrified facial expressions. Gustave rubbed her back and absorbed the feel of her shaking in his arms. His temper was flaring. He wanted to rip someone apart. He had seen what little clothing she was wearing when he opened the trunk. He didn’t even want to think what the guy may have done to her.
“You’ll need to let us take a look at her, Deputy Boudoux. We need to determine if she has to go to the hospital,” the paramedic stated. It was Clyde Walters, a local from Orchidea.
“No hospital,” she whispered, clinging to Gustave’s neck.
A series of mumbled curses went through the room. Mikayla moved next to Gustave to try and console her sister.
“Illeanna, they need to look you over, honey. They need to know what happened.”
Illeanna looked up to Mikayla and lifted her arms from Gustave.
“Oh God, Mikayla. He was going to kill you. Thank God that you’re okay.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Gustave tightened his hold as he saw the bruising on her cheekbone and jaw as well as her ripped shirt. The son of a bitch touched her. He looked up at Louis, Julien, Johnny, and Franco and saw that they must have noticed, too, and appeared just as pissed off.
Franco looked at Mikayla and motioned with his eyes toward Illeanna’s hands to help loosen the knots.
“Let me get these ropes off of you,” Mikayla said as Julien passed over the scissors. She carefully removed the rope from Illeanna’s wrists.
She moaned as she tried to stretch her fingers, and they saw the marks around her wrists, bruises on her forearms, and of course her neck. Did the guy try to strangle her? Gustave was sick to his stomach. They never should have left her. This was more serious than they first thought.
“Honey, can you let the medic take a look at you? We want to be sure that you’re okay now,” Louis said, and it seemed to Gustave that Illeanna was coming around. She wasn’t shaking as much, and she looked like she was calming down.
She turned to Gustave, and he pulled the blanket tighter around her body. He didn’t want anyone to see her ripped shirt or her breasts. He just wanted to take her home and hold her in his arms all night. Well at least what was left of the night.
She held his gaze and placed her palm against his cheek.
“Thank you, Gustave. Thank you so much for finding me and getting me out of that trunk. Oh God I was so scared. I couldn’t breathe and it was so dark. I thought he was going to take me away. Oh God I thought I was going to die,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“He can’t hurt you now, honey. We got you,” he whispered.
“He was going to kill me.”
“What happened?” Gustave asked, and the room went silent. He hoped that no one would interrupt so he could get information from Illeanna. He knew that other police gathered around behind her.
“I was lying in bed sleeping when I felt someone get on top of me. Before I could do anything, he covered my mouth with the tape and began to tie me up. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong for me. He told me to be quiet or he would kill my sister. He knew that Mikayla was in the house and that she’s my sister.” Illeanna sniffled then fought to control her emotions. She looked at Mikayla and grabbed her hand. She brought it up to her cheek and hugged it to her with her eyes closed.
“Thank God he didn’t get to you,” she said softly, her voice cracking and sounding rougher the more she spoke and Mikayla began to cry, too. By the look of the bruises on her throat, they were more than likely the culprits to her froggy voice.
“Did he say what he wanted?” Gustave asked.
Illeanna looked back into his eyes then lowered her head.
They were quiet, but Gustave could tell this was difficult for Illeanna.
“He touched me,” she began to say but shook her head and clutched her arms over her chest. That’s when she said she was hurting.
“Deputy Boudoux, she may need to be checked out at the hospital after all. Ma’am, did your attacker rape you?” the paramedic interrupted, and Gustavo’s eyes widened as Illeanna looked up. He looked at his brothers, and he saw the same shock and concern.
“No. He said he was going to before he killed me. He said he liked my body,” Illeanna stated then clung back against Gustave.
“That’s enough. We’ll take her back to our place. We’ll call Doc and have him come over to check her out,” Julien told them, and everyone around them seemed to move out of the way and take care of the cleanup.
Gustavo caressed her hair and carried her out of her home and to his truck.
* * * *
Franco made sure that Illeanna’s sisters were updated on her condition, and he sent officers to take watch over their homes until the detectives figured out what had happened. Somehow Louis had remained calm enough to shoot and injure Illeanna�
�s attacker instead of kill the son of a bitch.
It took them a few minutes to get to their home and get Illeanna to let them look over her injuries. When Gustave began to lower her feet to the carpeting in the living room, she stopped him.
“No, I don’t want to ruin the rug. My feet are dirty,” she said in a rough, tired voice.
“Don’t worry about the damn rug, honey. We need to get some ice on that cheek and see what else needs tending,” Johnny stated, but Julien came back into the room with a towel and placed it on the rug near the edge of the bed. Slowly Gustave set her down, and she cringed as her foot with the bad ankle hit the floor.
“Okay, baby, we forgot about the ankle,” Gustave said, and she shook her head.
“I reinjured it when he had me pinned to the bed, then again when I kicked the trunk of the car.”
Slowly, Gustave removed the blanket she clung to, and she let it fall to the floor.
“Fucking bastard! I should have ripped his throat out,” Louis stated angrily, and the others grunted along. Illeanna looked right at Louis.
“I’m so glad you got there. It was terrible,” she told them as the tears began to fall again.
“Shhh, sugar. No more worries ’bout that. We’re here now and we’re not gonna let you out of our sight,” Gustave stated.
Just then Franco came to the doorway.
“Doc is here. Can I send him in?”
They all looked at Illeanna. She nodded her head.
* * * *
Doc Walters was in his forties and well liked among everyone in the community. He was also involved in a ménage relationship with Peggy Lefort and his two brothers. Louis trusted him to take good care of their woman.
“Hello, Illeanna,” Doc said.
Illeanna looked right at him but didn’t respond verbally. The sight of all the bruises and red marks upon her body was making him feel as if there was poison in his stomach. He was trying his hardest not to lose it. A glance around the room and he knew all his brothers were feeling the same way.
The doc placed his medical bag onto the bed and took position in front of her. He eyed the others and then looked at Illeanna again.
“You men get the bastard that did this handiwork?” he asked, and they mumbled a yes.
Illeanna hobbled a bit on her feet, and the doctor immediately noticed.
“Should I send your men out of the room, Illeanna, so we can talk and I can examine you?” Louis didn’t want to leave her but they still didn’t know exactly what the guy had done to her. A quick glance at the mess in her bedroom and the tousled sheets and they were all concerned.
“We’ll leave Doc to examine you,” Johnny said and looked at the others before they slowly shuffled out of the room.
Louis saw Illeanna grab Gustave’s hand to make him stay. The others left the room.
* * * *
Illeanna tightened as the Doctor lifted her shirt, revealing more red blotches and slight bruising along her ribs and stomach.
“How did these get there?” Doc asked. She heard Gustave swallow hard, and she gripped his hand tighter. She looked at him then at the doctor.
“He attacked me on the bed, struck me a few times as I fought him. Then he grabbed my throat and told me he was going to kill me.”
The doctor looked more closely at her throat. “Are you having any difficulty swallowing?”
She shook her head.
“You may, as the hours progress. Those marks and the others will get uglier as the days go on. Be sure to ice them as often as you can tolerate.”
When he began to push her shirt to the side, she turned her body against Gustave’s chest and cringed.
“Illeanna, what is it? What’s wrong, baby?” he asked as he held her to him.
“Illeanna, you need to tell me what hurts. I need to make sure that you don’t need to go to the hospital.”
She slowly turned toward the doctor but remained holding Gustave’s hand.
“He stopped choking me and just stared at me a moment. He knew that I would be quiet to protect Mikayla.” The tears rolled down her cheeks and she sniffled.
“He said I had a great body. He touched me and he wouldn’t stop. It hurt,” she blurted out then clutched Gustave’s arm and hand to her chest, feeling comfort having him near her. It was so strange. He was the quietest of the Boudoux and the first one to save her.
“He hurt you where?”
“There,” she said and brought her other hand up to her breast. She felt Gustave’s grip tighten.
The doctor looked up at Gustave, apparently seeing something that concerned him.
“Should I have Gustave leave the room so you’ll be more comfortable?”
“No. You don’t need to see it. I’m certain it’s bruised but nothing that won’t heal with time.”
The doctor looked at her legs and then her torso again before having her turn around so he could see the bruising and scratches on her back.
He pulled her shirt back down and told Gustave about icing specific areas like her cheek, her neck, her breast if necessary, and of course her ankle.
“I’m sure the men will be taking good care of you. You call me if you need anything or if you just need to talk, okay?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Yeah thanks, Doc,” Gustave stated as the doctor left the room.
* * * *
“I’m glad Gustave is in there with her. She’s been clinging to him since we found her,” Louis stated.
“Fuck, man, that was the scariest thing ever. My heart felt as if it were going to explode with fear. Then when Gustave opened that trunk and there she was. Holy fuck!” Julien stated.
“She looked so scared and so fragile. We should have skinned that fucking piece of shit and fed him to the gators,” Johnny said, and they all mumbled in agreement.
“He could have raped her then killed her. Did you see those bruises? We shouldn’t have left her,” Franco added.
“Who would have known something like this would happen? We still don’t know who this guy is or what he was after. The Feds are on it, in case this is connected to the restaurant incident,” Franco added.
“Yeah, I don’t know how you kept your wits about you, Louis, and didn’t kill the fucker,” Julien said.
“I had a gun and he had a knife. I just wanted to get to Illeanna,” Louis replied. Then they heard the doctor coming down the stairs. All four men rose.
He explained Illeanna’s injuries and told them what to possibly expect in the next few days. They thanked him and Franco walked him out.
Chapter 6
Illeanna went into the bathroom while Gustave found her something to wear. She took care of her business then walked into the large shower Gustave had started for her. She wanted to get cleaned up and wash away the dirt and disgusting touch from the man that attacked her. She was shocked when she saw that bruises had already formed over her breast and the water seemed to burn against her skin.
She thought about Gustave and how worried he looked. When she had been thrown into the trunk, she was afraid that she never would see Gustave, Johnny, Franco, Louis, or Julien again. Illeanna thought about how they came to her rescue. They were all armed, all comforting her as Gustave pulled her from the trunk. That was terrible. It was an awful feeling, and she never wanted to experience that again. It was so crazy but being in their home, surrounded by such strong, good men, she felt protected. Why hadn’t I let one of them stay? What if something had happened to Mikayla? All because of my fear of getting involved with five men I adore and obviously find safety with? She wasn’t sure how long she was in there, but she heard the door open and Gustave’s voice.
“You okay, Illeanna? I’ve got a towel and some clothes that might be a bit big but will do.”
She turned off the water and slowly walked toward the end of the entrance to the shower. Gustave handed her the big fluffy red towel, and she quickly wrapped it around her.
When she stepped out Gustave was waiting there leaning against the counter with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
He was a handsome man, tanned complexion with nice warm, brown eyes. He was a bit stockier than his brothers, and damn she had loved how it felt to be held by him. She loved how it felt to be held by any of the Boudoux men. But she was a bundle of nerves. She couldn’t wrap her brain around how terrible the last few days had been for her and how close she had come to death.
She remembered her morning at Aubert’s restaurant and how Johnny and Gustave came in. They sat beside her, tried their regular tactic at getting her to engage in conversation, which always led to one of them touching her. She blew them off. She sighed as she turned away from him to dry herself better and out of his view. He was silent as if gauging his words. It was ironic how she came to her senses about how she felt about Gustave, Johnny, Franco, Louis, and Julien only hours before she was attacked. That reality nearly cost her. She could have lost the opportunity to explore a relationship with them. She could have lost everything.
“I brought in some boxers, an undershirt, and a sweatshirt.”
“Thanks.” She decided that she was a bit cold. It probably had more to do with those damn nerves of hers than the temperature in the room. So much for taking a hot shower.
“Do you need any help?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“I’ll wait outside in the bedroom. It’s late and you’re probably tired.”
She panicked a moment then went to reach for him. “You’ll wait there? Outside the door I mean?” she asked, and he nodded his head.
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