by Jody Pardo
“No, she is just sleeping. I guess the doctor gave her some pretty heavy-duty painkillers. She hasn’t moved.”
“At least she won’t be in pain. The guys found her in the back hay storage barn. This guy likes to drink and was camped out there for a while.”
“The barn closest to my property line?”
“That’s the one. It’s pretty quiet back there. We haven’t used those pastures in a long while because the beef keep busting up the fence, so we planted some hay and just mow.”
“The doctor said her stomach and intestines were completely empty so she had to be out there at least two or three days. They are giving her lots of fluids, IV nutrition, and pain meds.”
“You staying here?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna stay until she wakes up. You going back out to the ranch?”
“It's been a long day. Call us if anything changes.”
“Would you pass by my house in the morning and check on things? I haven’t been out there in a couple days.”
“Will do.” Mike extended his hand for a shake and brought me into a back-slap-half-hug. Kelli grabbed my face and kissed my cheek and reminded me to call my mother and tell her the update.
I settled back into the armchair next to Suzie’s bed and thought of happier times. Her smile gleaming brightly in the sun on horseback galloped in my brain as I snoozed to the metronome of monitor's beeps.
“Max?” Her soft whisper brought me instantly to attention and by her side.
“I’m right here.” Through the small sliver of her right eye I could barely see her blue iris past the white that was red with broken blood vessels.
“Thank you.” I held her hand gently, not wanting to disturb the tube that protruded from her arm.
“For what? I’m so sorry, Suzie.”
“There is no reason to be sorry. You didn’t do this to me.”
“This was your ex? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There wasn’t anything to tell. I thought it was over. He hadn’t bothered me or contacted me since I went back to Dallas.” She winced as she forced the words through her raspy voice.
“He threatened you. You should have listened to Mike and filed a report then.”
“It wouldn’t have stopped him. He was waiting for me. It happened all so fast,” she whispered.
“Did he … you know … violate you?” I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know the answer, but I asked anyway.
She squirmed in the bed and wiggled all her fingers and toes. “Not that I remember. I don’t think so. I can honestly say that is probably the only thing that doesn’t hurt.”
I couldn’t have been more relieved and selfish at the same time. It didn’t erase the obvious injuries anyone could plainly see.
"I'm so sorry." I laid my head on our joined hands, and she ran her fingers through my messy hair. I wasn't well-kept or groomed. My stubble was three days beyond scruffy, and my hair was stringy with grime. Nothing a shower or a hot soak wouldn't fix, but being with Suzie superseded my own comfort.
"You saved me."
"That was Danny and Carlos, not me."
"You saved me long before they found me. I prayed for you."
"I was a dick. This should have never happened."
"You are here now. Where is Bill?"
"I'm not sure, but police have all his information and his photo. They are looking for him."
"He will never stop." Her heart rate increased setting off the alarm on the monitor. A nurse responded to her bedside to check on Suzie. Turning off the alarm, she asked, "Are you in pain, Miss? I can get you something for the pain."
"Yes, please. I hurt all over."
"I will be right back." She exited, leaving the door partly open behind her, and Suzie squeezed my hand.
"Go shower you stink. I'm not going anywhere."
"I don't want to leave you."
"I'm just going to sleep. Will you come back later?"
"Of course. If I had my way, I would never leave your side again."
"Are you getting soft on me, Max Brewer?" The nurse returned and injected medicine into Suzie's IV, and it wouldn't be long before she was in la-la land. I leaned over and kissed her forehead gently.
"Even cement has to get soft every once in a while to build a wall of protection. I will be back in a little while," I whispered in her ear and left her to sleep off her pain.
I parked outside the Emergency Room where Suzie was brought into the hospital and descended the elevator to the ground floor to make my way out the way I came in through Emergency entrance. The only emergency room in town was hopping with activity, and gurneys lined the halls with bodies. As I passed the fourth one on the north wall, a hand grasped mine as I walked past.
“Max? You came to see me.” I stopped and turned to see who grabbed me on full alert.
“Jenny? What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, but you weren’t home. You found me. I knew you cared.”
“Jenny, that's bullshit, and you know it. I don’t give a rat’s ass either way. What do you mean you came to see me?”
“I went to your new house. I thought you might need to unwind. One of your workers roughed me up and wanted a piece of the action.”
“One of my workers? I don’t have anyone working on my house. Just me.”
“Well, it was one of your guys! You think I gave myself this black eye?” she yelled back at me. I looked her over, and from what I could see, she had a handprint bruising her neck, a black eye that was turning a nice shade of purple and blue, and scratches on her exposed skin poking from beneath her hospital gown.
“Tell me exactly what happened …”
She told me how she bought a new lacy teddy and decided she would surprise me at my house. I was in no way shape or form interested in her lingerie. I had a feeling Jenny’s attack wasn’t intended for her the more she recalled her story.
“He kept saying how when he was done with me no one would want me and how dare I embarrass him. Max, I didn’t know him. I only fucked that one guy that helped you with that cement job last year, but he doesn’t even live here. He went back to Arizona. I had no idea what he was talking about. The more I cried, the more he hit me over and over again. What the fuck was his problem?”
“Did he say anything else to you?” I implored her to try and remember anything that might lead me to Suzie’s assailant.
“He said he was going to use me until there was nothing left for another man. He called me a slut for being in your bed after him.”
“What the hell were you doing in my house? I don’t even have furniture.”
“I made up a pallet with a blanket in the bedroom. I was waiting for you to come home.”
“I have been here. I haven’t been home.”
“Are you sick? I will take care of you.” She tried in vain to reach out to me from her hospital bed but quickly recoiled and held her ribs in pain. “Maybe you should take care of me.”
“I’m sure the doctors will take very good care of you. Jenny, stay out of my house!”
“Fuck you, Max. And tell your pig friend to stay the hell away from me! He is an animal. He made my ass bleed. He didn't even spit on it first.”
“He is no friend of mine. Call the police and file a report,” I mumbled on my way out the double sliding doors to the parking lot. That bastard that left Suzie for dead and beat the shit out of Jenny too. It was my fault. Not that I liked Jenny, but even a whore didn’t deserve the raping she received.
"I'm gonna put your asshole friend in jail, Max. You don't get to pass me around to your fucked up freak friends," she screamed after me. Bill had to be stopped.
Max
Quickly showering and changing my clothes, I headed back to the ranch to help search for Bill. I pulled up to my uncle's house, and looking at the empty waiting guest house pulled at my heart. I parked next to Uncle Mike's truck and was met in the kitchen by a table full of ranch hands with my Uncle at the head of the table hear
tily eating.
"Max. How's Suzie?" Aunt Kelli rushed to my side.
"She is awake. Was awake. They gave her some painkillers before I left. I left only to take a shower and check on things."
"I thought you were banging out your worries on your house, cousin," Danny mumbled through his overstuffed mouth.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw your pickup by your house. Mike said to swing by. It was lit up. I figured you were doing some work."
"I have been at the hospital this whole time with my truck."
"Well, I just saw a muddy pickup from the fence line. A pick up is a pick up. I just figured it was yours."
"We have to go. Now."
"We have been out all day and night. We will keep looking after the guys get their bellies full."
"You don't understand, Uncle Mike. I saw Jenny in the emergency room."
"Seriously, what were you doing with that wretched girl? Hasn't she caused enough trouble?"
"I didn't go to see her. She just happened to be there. She said she was attacked … at my house."
"The pickup was there this morning too," Danny added.
"It had to be him. Jenny thought it was one of my workers. Let's go. Maybe he is stupid enough to still be there."
On horseback and trucks tearing through the fields with mud, grass, and dirt flying from the wheel wells, we rushed across the pastures to my property. A million thoughts raced through my brain, and the only clarity I had was we needed to find Bill before anyone else got hurt at his hands.
A dirty mud-covered pickup was parked on the side of my house. A paved driveway had not been installed yet and the side of the house was a good a place as any to park. The horses were well roused and still huffing from their ride, circling the house spreading out to the fence line. The house seemed quiet, and when I touched the hood of the truck, it was not warm. The windows were open, keys in the ignition, and a small automatic pistol sat on the passenger side of the bench seat. Covering my hand with my sleeve, I lifted the gun and shoved it in my pocket.
I climbed the makeshift steps awaiting the porch yet still to be built around the house and slowly opened the door. Holes riddled the sheetrock that was freshly installed and my blood boiled at each indent. A blood-smeared handprint stained the wall next to an indent the size of a head, and I cringed at the unmerciful actions that caused it. Bill was an animal. A monster that let loose his fury in the emptiness of my home still under construction. In the corner, under the yellow caged work lamp, were the pallets made to be a makeshift bed with flannel tartan printed sheets and a fleece blanket. The bed was tussled and more blood marred the yellow pillowcases.
Bill was gone, but his destruction remained. The smear marks were dried, and Jenny had been in the emergency room long enough to be examined and cleaned up. It was fresh but still hours old, and that meant Bill could be anywhere or even gone by now. But the truck was still there. He couldn't have gone far. It was miles back to town from this side of the property.
I quickly searched the other rooms' shells finding them empty with no further sign of Bill. More empty bottles of whiskey riddled the floor. He couldn't even drink good whiskey. Evan Williams was worse than piss. It was no wonder to me he was no more than an animal—he drank piss.
I hurried out to report Bill's absence and the guys took off in starburst pattern in search of Bill. If he was still on the property, we would find him. We were close.
Uncle Mike and I searched hours beyond dusk before returning to the house. Some of the horses were back at the stables, but two stalls remained empty. Carlos and Danny were still on the hunt. I needed food, gas, and I wanted to get back to the hospital to check on Suzie.
Aunt Kelli waited at the kitchen table wringing her hands around her coffee cup. She was on her feet at the sound of the clash made by the screen door.
"Did you find him?"
The look shared between Mike and me must have said it all as she sagged back into her seat.
"Rob has been back for almost an hour. Rob and the guys ate, and he went home to Nicole and the kids."
"We have searched high and low. He is hiding well or is gone. We will look some more tomorrow. Is there any dinner left?"
"Of course, honey, have a seat. There is a fresh pot of coffee." Aunt Kelli pulled the Dutch oven of stew out of the oven and prepared two bowls full.
"The last thing I need is coffee. I need your sweet cooking, a hot shower, and my bed. I'm getting too old for this."
Aunt Kelli set the warm bowls in front of each of us before refilling her coffee cup and sitting back down.
"Mmmm, thank you, Aunt Kelli, this hits the spot." The chicken had shredded after cooking probably most of the day slowly in Kelli's pot. I took a spoonful of the stew chock full of cubed potatoes and well-softened sweet carrots that burst with flavor with the gentlest chew.
"At least someone still appreciates my cooking."
"I eat, don't I?" Uncle Mike argued before shoveling an overflowing spoonful in his mouth.
"It's just nice to hear, that's all. Thank you, Max." She gave my nearby hand a squeeze and watched me eat with deliberation.
"Do you want me to speak or eat?" Uncle Mike mumbled with cheeks full of food. Aunt Kelli rolled her eyes and sipped at her coffee.
I paused, not wanting to add fuel to my Uncle's fire, but I knew I would need some of my Aunt's rocket fuel to keep me lively, and I was eager to return to Suzie's side.
"I will take some of your best brew, Aunt Kelli. I'm headed to the hospital to sit with Suzie."
"I will make her a plate. The hospital food has to be horrid." Aunt Kelli filled a thermos for me and prepared a Tupperware of her stew for Suzie.
I was halfway back to the hospital when my cell phone chirped. I pulled it out, and Uncle Mike's text flashed across the screen.
Uncle Mike: Come back. We got the bastard.
Me: On my way.
Uncle Mike: Meet us at the feed shed.
Flipping a U-turn, I hauled ass back to the ranch. I wanted more than a piece of him. I wanted every mark to match what he doled out and then some. My fury grew, and I gripped the steering wheel to focus on my driving tearing up grass and kicking up gravel making a beeline to the feed shed.
The feed shed held bedding, plant cuttings, some kitchen compost, irregular crops farmers donated to help feed the animals, and the regular kibble feed and horse treats. The hogs loved the blend of fresh veggies and feed. For the most part, they would eat just about anything. Their pen was next to the feed shed. Bill was tied with his arms behind his back on his knees already bleeding from the nose and mouth as Carlos and Danny took turns kicking him with their knee-high muck boots on each side of him.
Carlos was loyal to my Uncle Mike. He gave him a chance and hired him with a felony when no one else would. Carlos was half Mexican and half Native American. He was a citizen but didn't have tribal benefits, and with a felony, no one would touch him. Uncle Mike hired him and since then carried out any and all tasks without question and complete obedience.
Danny was a veteran with a sketchy past. He was discharged from the Army, not exactly honorably, but not an official dishonorable discharge, either. It was more of a “please go quietly and don't come back” situation. Those two men my uncle trusted with his life. Bill was not getting out of there in one piece.
"Take a break, boys, Max is here," Uncle Mike called out. Bill swayed in the mud, but Carlos and Danny alternated nudging him upright with their heels.
I leaned over to the passenger side and pulled my leather work gloves off the side of my tool belt, tugging them onto my hands before handling Bill's gun again. I joined Uncle Mike and the guys in the pig pen.
"This is the animal that beat up Suzie?" I spat in Bill's general direction.
He looked up at me through the slits of his swollen lids and let out an evil cackle. "Let me guess? You're the swinging dick that whore is fucking these days. Boy, she is really dredging the sludge to find a bottom fee
der like you."
The steel toe of my work boot met his jaw with a crack, and he landed face down in the mud. Carlos and Danny pulled him by his armpits back upright.
"You can pick on little women. Well, now you can take a beating like a man, punk."
I kicked him in his dick, and he doubled over but wasn't able to fold over with his hands tied behind his back so he fell over onto his side. I stomped his face until he was unrecognizable. Gurgling, he spat out his front teeth trying desperately to gasp for air. I went back to my truck, threw the gun on the seat and grabbed my wire cutters and a pair of pliers off my tool belt.
"You will never touch anything ever again. Get his shoes off." Carlos yanked one of his legs from under his pulling his shoe off with the sock. One by one, I cut off his toes with my wire cutters at the knuckle starting with the pinky toe. Bill screamed and gurgled, and by the time I reached his big toe, he passed out. Danny kicked him in the face to rouse him.
"Wake up, asshole. You don't get to sleep through this," Danny yelled in his face. Uncle Mike walked calmly to the feed shed and returned with a metal pail and set it beside me. I looked up, and he gave me a nod.
Carlos removed his other shoe and held his foot while I snipped his toes one by one before taking his fingertips too. I scooped up his digits and dumped the bloody parts into the pail. Danny held him by his hair, and Bill's mouth hung open.
"Oh, now you're being a good boy. Well, it's too late. You should have just left Suzie alone." I dropped my wire cutters into the pail and switched them out for the pliers. I stuck them in his mouth and ripped his teeth out with quick twists, and the crackling of his jaw releasing his teeth mingled with his gurgles were the only sounds in the pen. I picked up his front teeth that were victim to my boots and deposited them into the pail as well, his teeth clinking against the side of the pail.
His limp body hung by Danny's fist as he lost consciousness again.
"Wake his ass up. I'm not done. Carlos, grab his pants." Carlos obeyed and unfastened his belt and bloody, mud-soaked khakis, yanking his pants and discolored white briefs down his thighs.