Along Came Merrie

by Beth D. Carter

  At his touch, her heart erupted with longing and brought forth a smattering of tears that she quickly hid by nodding and turning away. When she closed the door, she took a moment to breathe deeply and collect herself. She’d never had someone tell her something so sweet, not even her mother. It had made her feel…cared for.

  When she finished, she opened the door. Without a word, Braden swung her up in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom. After he propped her up and made her comfortable, Leo set the tray across her lap so she could eat. Both Leo and Braden got chairs to sit next to her.

  “We think we found the spot where you jumped out of the car and tumbled down the embankment,” Leo said. “You are one lucky woman.”

  She swallowed a mouthful of soup. Her empty stomach rejoiced at finally having something to fill it.

  “We also drove by the Demon Devil’s bar but didn’t see your car,” Braden added.

  Anxiety shot through Merrie. “Are you crazy? They’re dangerous.”

  “It’s okay,” Leo assured her. “We didn’t stop, just looked.”

  “Merrie,” Braden said. “I did some research online about motorcycle clubs and the local ones around Destiny. For membership into a club, a person has to go through a trial period for a designated time, usually a year, in which they have to do everything the leader and the other members tell them to do. It’s a sort of ritual to show devotion to the gang.”

  “Okay,” she murmured, wondering where the conversation was heading.

  “These potential members are called prospects and for an outlaw gang, which is what the Demon Devils are, that usually means something illegal.”

  “So what you’re saying… What are you saying?”

  “That maybe you were a command to a prospect. A hazing. Or a way to show loyalty.”

  Merrie thought about last night, thought about what the two men had said. Then she thought about being in her car, how the driver was someone different.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “Maybe.”

  “If that’s the case,” Braden continued. “I’m concerned about the next woman that man, Axe, comes across.”

  The thought stopped her cold and her spoon clattered back into her bowl. Ice formed in the pit of her stomach.

  “I never thought of that,” she whispered.

  “We want to take photos of you,” Leo said, holding up a digital camera. “We want to document all your injuries, just in case.”

  She looked at both men and nodded. “Okay. I guess you both have seen me naked already.”

  “In a purely medical way,” Leo assured.

  She offered him a fleeting smile, although she didn’t feel any amusement. “Teasing. Remember?”

  He winked at her, which lifted her spirits a tad.

  “We also want to call the authorities in Cheyenne,” Braden said, after throwing Leo a strange look.

  Merrie realized she was having a hard time interpreting the enigmatic Braden McClintock. One minute she melted under his touch and the next he was formal and in control.

  “Since there’s a possibility the Destiny Sheriff’s Department might not be completely trustworthy, we thought the police in a different city might help us out.”

  “Us?” she whispered. “You can dump me on them, dust your hands of any further involvement. I’d understand, Braden.”

  He shook his head. “I made a promise to keep you safe and until we figure all this out, Leo and I will take care of you.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes again and she rapidly blinked them away. This might be one of those psychological problems that arise when a patient starts to develop feelings for her rescuers, but damn if she didn’t feel a spark for both men. Gratitude? A big hell yes but also something more, something…tangible.

  “Thank you,” she said, clearing her throat.

  Leo took the tray and set it aside while Braden helped her out of bed once more.

  “Can you help me with the T-shirt?” she asked him.

  A muscle ticked in his jaw but he only nodded. He grabbed hold of the shirt and carefully took it off her. Both Leo and Braden’ narrowed their eyes as they looked at her body. She turned to look in the vanity mirror.

  Holy hell, she looked worse than she thought. Her chest, sides and abdomen were one big black and purple bruise. The rounded part of her right shoulder reminded her of a large, black plum. Stitches poked out like railroad ties on her shoulder and thighs. Scabbed abrasions covered the rest of her skin. This time, she couldn’t hold back the tears. Leo gently gathered her in his arms and she buried her head in his neck.

  “Shh,” he soothed. “It’s going to be all right. You’re okay. You’re safe. You hear me, Merrie? You’re safe with Braden and me. We’re going to protect you.”

  Even though she was naked, he held her tenderly, gently and made her feel protected and she thanked whatever divine intervention had led her to the doorstep of her guardian angels.

  After she’d finally gathered her emotions, she posed for the photos. Leo took them in a way that managed to capture the horror her body had gone through while not showing her breasts or anything below the navel—for which she was grateful.

  Braden helped her with the T-shirt then fluffed the pillow against her back as she eased back into bed. Even that little bit of movement exhausted her and she closed her eyes as she relaxed into the comfortable folds of the bed. The coolness of the sheets against her heated and swollen skin brought a measure of relief.

  “Do you want some more pain medicine?” Leo asked her.

  She cracked an eye to look at him. “I don’t want to get addicted to the stuff.”

  “I think one more dose wouldn’t hurt,” he assured her. “You need a good night of rest and you’ll not be able to do that if you’re waking up constantly in pain.”

  “I slept most of today away. Why am I so sleepy now?”

  He patted her hand then held it lightly. “This is normal. Your body uses a lot of energy to heal itself.”

  “Okay,” she said. Truth be told, she desperately wanted to dull the overwhelming ache pulsing through her body. She watched through half-closed eyes as Leo prepared another new syringe, drawing the medicine up through the rubber stopper then easing the needle into her arm. She’d never been a fan of needles or the slight sting as one penetrated her skin, but compared to everything else, she didn’t even feel it go in this time.

  Braden moved her hair off her shoulder. When she turned her head to look at him, her vision swam. The pain med had already begun to kick in.

  “Have a good night,” he told her.

  She smiled at him as sleep enveloped her.

  * * * *

  Leo sat down heavily at the kitchen table and scrolled back through the photos he’d just taken of Merrie. They were horrible and his stomach clenched at the thought that the asshole was still out there and could potentially hurt another woman. What type of monster did this?

  “You know anyone at the Cheyenne PD?” his brother asked, as he placed the tray containing Merrie’s dirty dishes on the counter.

  “No,” Leo replied. “I don’t suppose you do?”

  Braden shook his head. “No. I only know Givon and right now we can’t exactly trust him. Which sucks.”

  “I know, but I don’t want this character Axe learning that we have Merrie.”

  “I know.” Braden sat across from Leo. A frown furrowed his brow. “We’re her only protection.”

  “I’m glad you found her,” Leo said softly, “and I’m glad you brought her to me.”

  “She’s special. A lesser woman might have given up.”

  “Our job now is to keep her on the mend and keep her safe.”

  “Agreed.”

  A deep understanding passed between them, and Leo knew without a doubt Merrie Walden was going to turn their lives completely around.

  Chapter Five

  Detective Clark Christianson finished off the rest of his coffee before throwing the cup in the nearest trash c
an. He gave a nod to another passing detective—someone from vice, he thought—but he couldn’t remember the guy’s name. Really, who the hell cared? He didn’t. Not anymore.

  He got on the elevator and hit the button to his floor, ignoring the other officers crowding the small enclosure. He only had two more weeks then he could retire with his full pension. It wasn’t so much the money but the medical was too good to piss off. Otherwise, he’d say fuck it and head off to go fishing.

  As he walked toward his desk, his cell phone rang and he pulled it from the clip and looked at the number. He stopped, double-checked that he was seeing the same number and swore under his breath.

  “Why are you calling me at this number?” he snarled.

  “We got trouble.”

  “Fuck, Axe, why do you do this to me? Whatever it is, I can’t fucking help you. And don’t call me on this number again.”

  “Wait, Clark! This affects you too. There’s a girl out there who can put me in jail. And if I go to jail then they’re going to find out about you.”

  Clark’s stomach bottomed out and he glanced around at his coworkers to see if anyone had overheard his brother. He didn’t need this fucking shit. Two weeks left and his dumb shit outlaw brother was going fuck everything up.

  “Listen to me, you dumb fuck,” Clark snapped in as quiet of a voice that he could muster and still show him his anger. “You’ve screwed up your life and I’ll be goddamned if you screw up mine. I have two weeks until I retire.”

  “And if this girl goes to the cops and identifies me, how’s your pension going to hold up under an IAB investigation?”

  Clark wished he could reach through the phone and wring his brother’s neck. Heartburn clawed in his gut, twisting his insides up. He closed the door to his office to make sure no one could see how weird he was acting. “Who is she?”

  “Merrie Walden. She escaped from me but she knows my name and she knows what I look like.”

  “And what did you do to her?”

  “She saw me talking to someone she shouldn’t have. I thought she was a spy from North and I… Well—I threatened her.”

  “You threatened her? Why do I doubt it’s that simple?”

  Axe sighed. “I might have punched her. And she might have heard me planning on hiding her body.”

  “Fuck! I hate you, Axe. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, yes. But you’ve got as much to lose as I do, Clark—at least for two more weeks you do. So find me Merrie Walden.”

  The line went dead and Clark wanted to smash the device against the wall when sanity prevailed. He’d have a tough time explaining a sudden fit to his boss. His younger brother had always driven him nuts. Axe had changed his name when he’d turned eighteen, said being a ‘son of Christ’ wasn’t helping his outlaw image, then when Clark had decided to go into law enforcement, Clark had been glad to have the so-called skeleton of his brother tucked far away into the closet.

  He’d been stupid to assume he could finish out his career clean and simple. Two fucking weeks and his brother was going to screw it all up. Clark ran a hand through his hair as he opened his door, ready to go get some milk. It was the only thing that helped his upset stomach. Great. What a great fucking day this was turning out to be.

  “Hey, Clark,” his boss said. “We got a strange call from a rancher in Destiny. It was about a woman who was beaten up by a biker.”

  Clark blinked, unsure if this was a colossal joke or not. He wondered who the hell he’d pissed off to get saddled with this shit.

  “Why didn’t this rancher call the Destiny sheriff?”

  “The guy said the cops up there may be on the take. When you get a moment, will you check it out?”

  “Sure,” Clark said. “What’s the woman’s name?”

  His Captain looked at his notes. “Merrie. Merrie Walden.”

  * * * *

  The next day Merrie didn’t do anything more productive than limp to the bathroom. Her body ached and all she wanted to do was sleep. Braden brought her breakfast and dinner and Leo visited her around lunchtime. They were busy men and she regretted that they had to wait on her and she vowed to get up as soon as possible to figure out some way to pay them back.

  Her dreams had been a kaleidoscope of all her terrors, starting with her mother, segueing into the shit-hole she’d lived through, as well as the underlining fear of Axe still out there somewhere, and ending with worst case scenarios of what would happen if he caught her. None of it was pretty. She’d lived an ugly life for the most part but she’d never be one to bemoan the woe-is-me scenario. She’d woken often throughout the night and tried to think of happy things, but she couldn’t escape for long. Whenever she’d succumbed to slumber again, he was waiting for her.

  The third day progressed much like the day before, only she was able to stay awake longer. She read on Leo’s e-reader, bypassing the mysteries and thrillers for the classics. The last thing she wanted to read was who-done-its in fiction when her own life was a bit complicated. She’d never been one of those people who could pick up a book and sit just to enjoy reading it. Her life was about work, not about simple pleasures. Back in her hometown, she’d gotten up before dawn to head to her to day job at a dairy farm, helping to monitor the milk-processing machines, and her evenings were spent in the diner, where she served food. She’d been supporting herself before she’d even graduated high school and her Great Uncle Clarence had died, leaving her without family.

  When she was seventeen, she’d escaped the system on her word that she’d stay in school and finish her senior year. It’d been tough but she’d done it. Now, six years later, she was once again at a crossroads in her life.

  On the dawn of the fourth day, Merrie pulled herself out of bed. She went into the bathroom to use the facilities and managed to wash herself without getting her cast wet. She’d only given herself a sponge bath for two days but her hair had remained dirty, so having a proper shower with clean hair felt like heaven.

  Most of her bruises had started to turn an ugly mustard-yellow color while others, the larger ones, were more violet-green. She wrapped the towel around herself and opened the door, only to smack into a very hard chest.

  She looked up into Braden’s blue eyes staring back at her in consternation.

  “You should be in bed,” he said.

  “I’m feeling better,” she announced. “I’ve gotten a lot of rest and, honestly, I’m starting to feel a little stir-crazy in that bed.”

  Standing so close to him with his blue eyes studying her intently, Merrie suddenly became aware of how big Braden McClintock actually was. He filled the doorway, shoulder to shoulder. Had he been wearing his hat, he wouldn’t have made it through without ducking. His dark locks peppered with silver tumbled about his forehead and she itched to run her fingers through it and straighten out the mess. Lighter lines crinkled from the corner of his eyes, showing off his tan. His face was a bit craggy from the years working in the sun and weather, but handsome in a tough, masculine way.

  “You want me to help you to the downstairs living room? We have a TV with satellite, so I’m sure you can find something to watch while I whip us up some breakfast.”

  “That would be great.”

  Braden swooped her up in his arms. She gasped at the suddenness and threw her arms around his neck to balance herself.

  “I can walk,” she protested.

  “I don’t want you to fall down the stairs.”

  “I can make it down the stairs just fine. Besides, I need to put a T-shirt on.”

  He turned toward one of the back bedrooms and entered it, setting her on her feet as he rummaged through a dresser drawer. She realized this was his room and looked around. Stark, white walls. Plain, sensible furniture. One picture of a very old family portrait, showing a teenage Braden and Leo standing next to a sitting man and a woman, hung forlornly on the wall. Merrie assumed they were his parents. She wondered if a quarter would bounce on his tightly made bed. Not a single stitch of d
iscarded clothing lay around.

  He handed her a T-shirt and spun around, giving her a little privacy. She dropped the towel and slipped the extra-large shirt over her head. After she tugged it down over her hips, the garment’s hem touched her thighs.

  “All right,” she said.

  He turned around and took in her form, his eyes widening a little. For a long moment, they simply stared at one another. Could he hear how her heart thundered in the silence of the room? Surely her heartbeat echoed through the near-empty chamber, pumping an off-kilter rhythm. What was happening to her? She didn’t want this attraction, so she broke their locked gazes by bending to pick up the damp cloth. He took a step toward her, so close she could smell him—clean and fresh of the wild outdoors with an underlying hint of male spice. Braden took the towel from her, tossed it on the bed then scooped her back up in his arms to head for the stairway.

  Up close and personal, she studied his profile—the hard angles and planes that told of a rugged life. A cowboy lived under the sunshine and in the elements. He’d lived most of his life outside and it wasn’t hard to picture him riding a horse across the plains. She liked how he held her, how he cradled her in his arms against his chest, and she had a sudden flash of running her hands over those smooth pectorals. Merrie raised her gaze to his lips and she wondered what they would feel like against hers. Soft? Unyielding? Dominant?

  At the bottom of the stairs, he happened to look down at her and froze. She brought her gaze from his mouth up to stare into his crystalline blue eyes. The color rivaled the beautiful Caribbean waters she’d seen in travel magazines.

  “Your eyes are gorgeous,” she said.

  Braden lowered his lashes and didn’t acknowledge her compliment as he hurried into the living room and placed her gently on the sofa. When he turned to walk away, she grabbed his hand, reluctant to let him go.

  “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” she said.

  “They’re just eyes. Yours are…pretty too.”