She watched Danny’s eyes widen, like he was expecting her to strip for them. The other two men folded their arms across their chest, preparing to watch the show.
Well, Felicity would do her best to give them a show, even if it killed her.
“This is gonna be great. Look at her tits. More than a handful.” One of the guys said, making Felicity shudder with his raspy voice, sounding like he’d already started anticipating what he was going to do to her.
Near the dumpster, she noticed a broken clothing rack with pieces of the metal pole lying off to the side. If she could ease closer to it she might have a fighting chance. With a yell she swung her heavy purse and knocked Alice in the head, and then hit Danny. Both were stunned, giving her a chance to lunge for the metal pole.
“Looks like our toy has claws.” The last man spoke. His voice hissing, a snake-like sound that slithered along her nerves.
She held the weapon in front of her. “I don’t want to hurt you. Just take my purse, my car, and the money from the store and go. I can’t identify you, so just go.”
Danny sighed. “She went with the hard way, kids. Let’s do this then.”
If she wasn’t the one in their sights, she’d have appreciated their well thought out choreography. The way they fanned out, giving her no chance to escape. Again, she wished she’d learned self-defense or something useful that would’ve saved her. Instead, she held the metal pole like a baseball bat, because she was good at that, and hit the first person to come at her. The sound of metal hitting flesh and bone, followed by the grunt of pain, almost made her drop her it. Only too soon another body came at her, and she swung with all her might, hitting a hard male body, who grabbed her weapon and jerked.
The metal pole was ripped from her, forcing Felicity to cry out in pain as the skin on her palms was ripped open.
“You stupid little bitch. You should’ve went with option A.” One of the men grabbed her, jerking her close to his body, shivers wracked her frame.
She raised her knee and tried to hit the one holding her between his legs, but he threw her away from him. She scrambled on her hands and knees, looking for more pieces of the rack, when her foot was grabbed.
Pieces of dirt and gravel scraped against her hands and arms as she was pulled back. Felicity clawed at the ground, feeling her nails breaking off, screaming, and knowing nobody could hear her.
“Give me something to gag her.” The leader’s voice grated.
Being flipped onto her back, her skirt hiked up to her waist, Felicity felt tears running down her temples and into her dark brown hair. The smell of the trash, and the overwhelming scent of the man’s cologne was forever imprinted on her brain as he straddled her, and shoved a piece of cloth in her mouth. She kicked and punched, trying to get the large man off her.
The feel of several hands grabbing her legs, and then her arms, brought a fresh wave of adrenalin through her. She worked the cloth out of her mouth with her tongue, and with the last bit of her breath, Felicity screamed, and screamed, until a fist came down, and still she screamed. She continued to scream, even when the man kept hitting her, telling her to shut up or else. Felicity heard bones cracking, tasted her own blood filling her mouth, and swallowed in order to continue screaming.
A stranger’s yell broke through the blackness trying to swallow her. Pain wracked every nerve of her body, and then the weight holding her down was gone. She wanted to move, needed to get away, but couldn’t. She let herself go where there was no pain, and prayed her parents knew she loved them. Darkness filled her vision. Broken, Felicity stopped fighting wishing she could see who the new man was.
* * * *
Hal rounded the corner and came to an abrupt stop. He swore he heard a woman scream. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and then he heard the sound again. He took off at a run, seeing the empty parking lot, save for one lone car parked under a security light.
The sound of the screaming was cut off, but he realized where it came from. In a darkened corner, he saw four figures surrounding what looked to be a woman’s prone form. Rage filled his vision. The closer he came and saw the damage they’d done, Hal’s grip on his control began to slip, making him see a red haze surrounding the four beings. He gave a yell that he knew was louder than the average man, making the attackers turn to face him, except the one still straddling the body.
He couldn’t control his temper and didn’t attempt to. His inner beast had free reign to do whatever it wanted to the animals responsible for killing the young woman, and Hal would rejoice in their pain. He felt his seams stretching and knew he probably looked like a monster to them. Again, he didn’t care. Let them scream and beg for mercy. They wouldn’t get any.
With another yell he ran, his arms extended, grabbing hold of two of the men. He threw them against the concrete wall and watched them slide down, their screams for mercy falling on deaf ears. The last one standing faced him with a glare, but it was the one bent over the downed woman who held his attention. Hal’s sole focus zeroed in on him. Before he could stop himself he crossed the small space and knocked him off the woman. He landed with a sickening crunch against the trash can, a metal pole skewering him, blood pouring from his stomach. Hal’s gaze went to the woman lying so still, gasping at the bloody pulp her face had become. He promised he’d make them all look just the same before he was done with them.
“Please don’t hurt me. They made me do it.” Hal stared at the outstretched hands, hearing the plea behind the mask.
Hal came to an abrupt halt at the soft feminine voice behind the mask. He shook his head trying to clear thoughts of rage running through his mind. A whimper and the sound of gagging had him turning to the injured female. He took a step toward the masked woman, and then more gagging had him spinning to help. While his back was turned the woman fled. Hal took a few calming breaths before making his way to where the poor abused woman lay. The berserker in him was trying to stay in control, needing to make everyone suffer the way the woman had, but with utter ruthlessness Hal pushed him back. Taking out his cell, he dialed 911, and explained to the dispatcher what had happened as quickly as he could, leaving out the fact he was a berserker, and did his best to save the young woman’s life.
He wasn’t sure how old she was, but from the look of her body she couldn’t be more than early twenties. A connection to the unconscious woman threaded its way through him like the lifeline his nana had spoken about. Mine.
He shrugged out of his jacket, and covered her lower half up as best as he could. Her skirt had been rucked up and her panties had been torn off. Hal hoped she hadn’t been raped, but he couldn’t be sure he’d gotten there in time to save her from that injustice. “Hold on, ma petite. Help is on the way.” The urge to brush her hair off her face was strong, but her injuries were so severe he stopped himself, barely.
In his rage Hal hadn’t thought to check on the two men he’d thrown against the wall, or the one impaled on the pipe. He made a quick call to his team leader, Brax, just in case he needed him to bend some minds. The last thing he needed was anyone to think he was more than a human man.
“What the hell did you do now, Aldridge?” Brax asked.
Hal told him what had happened, hearing the other man swear fluently in several languages, before he settled down. “I’ll be there in a few hours. Don’t say anything more than what you have to. You have PTSD. Do you hear me?” Brax’s tone turned serious.
“I’m a smokejumper, used to stressful situations. Do you really think something like this would cause me to have PTSD?” Hal checked for a pulse on one man then the next, finding they each had one, he relaxed. “I think I only killed one, Brax.”
“Oh, goody. Now, go back to the girl and make sure she lives.” Brax’s voice growled through the connection.
Hal was already heading back to stand guard over her. There was something about her that called to him on an elemental level. Before he’d taken a step away he noticed a bag. Figuring it was hers, he gat
hered it and the items nearby. Her wallet had fallen open and, seeing her face for the first time, he studied it as he walked back toward her.
“Felicity Evans, I wish I’d gotten here sooner, ma petite.” He liked her name. Liked her dark brown hair and the way it looked long and soft in her picture. Lying in such a disarray, Hal wanted to hurt the men who did this to her, all over again.
Shoving the wallet back inside the overly large bag he crouched down and waited. He’d used his shirts to brace her body on the side to keep her from choking on her own blood, his leather jacket was covering her lower half, leaving him half dressed.
The first responders pulled in with the lights flashing, followed by several police vehicles. Hal held his hands up, still in a crouched position, and shirtless. “My name is Hal Aldridge. I’m a firefighter. I came upon the scene when I heard a young woman screaming.” He went on to explain what had happened, moving aside while they hooked an IV into Felicity’s arm. The fact she never regained consciousness worried him.
“Was she awake when you found her?” One of the officers asked.
“No, other than gagging on her own blood, no.” Hal felt a primal growl rise in his chest as they removed his jacket exposing her lower half. With reflexes too fast for most humans, Hal jerked the jacket back up her legs. “I don’t know what they did to her before I got here, but you can respect her modesty, boy.”
The paramedic mumbled an apology, however his jacket wasn’t removed again.
A lady police officer tapped him on the shoulder. “Did you do that to them?” She pointed at the three men.
“I’m not sure what happened, officer. I think I’m suffering from PTSD.” He watched as they carefully transferred Felicity onto a backboard then into the ambulance. “Can I ride with her?”
“I’m going to need you to come down to the station for more questions, Mr. Aldridge.”
“Am I under arrest?” Hal asked.
She sighed, sympathy in her gaze. “No, we just need to make a report.”
“Then you can follow me to the hospital.” He jogged over to the ambulance. “Can I ride with you?” He asked the paramedic.
“I’m sorry, there isn’t room.” The man said with way too much satisfaction.
Hal took a deep breath. “What hospital are you taking her to?”
He listened as they told him, making a mental note of the man’s name. “Todd, can I tell you a secret?” When the man settled in on the bench, Hal continued. “I make for a really bad enemy. You treat her like she’s the most precious thing in the world. If I think for one second you didn’t, I’ll make what happened to her look like a walk in the park next to what will happen to you. Got it?”
“Excuse me, Mr. Aldridge. You shouldn’t go around threatening people.” The police woman whispered, humor lacing her words.
Hal turned to look at the police woman. “It’s a promise, not a threat. I’ll see you at the hospital.” He nodded at the paramedic.
“How about if I give you a ride? To the hospital, not the station, scouts honor.”
With a jerk of his head, Hal picked up his bloody shirts from where they’d been under Felicity’s body. He shook them out and looked at them.
“Those are evidence, Mr. Aldridge.” One of the other officer’s tried to stop him from taking his clothes.
“I used them to prop her up so she wouldn’t choke on her own blood. Why would they beat her so severely?” Hal didn’t expect an answer.
The woman officer led the way to her car, speaking in low tones. “We’ve had a string of similar attacks in the area. Usually the vic is not so lucky, though.”
“Excuse me? Did you see her face, or what was left of it? There is probably not enough plastic surgery in the world to fix the damage done to her.” And that was the thing that bothered him the most. While she wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense, he felt a connection to her. Her green eyes had such trust and intelligence that even the camera couldn’t hide.
She waited for him to buckle up before pulling onto the road. “Oh, hun, this is Beverly Hills. Believe me, if she has money, she can get anything fixed, and be good as new.”
Hal looked at the woman driving with such surety. Her name tag said Coleman. He hoped he never became quite so jaded. Even if Felicity was able to get all the corrective surgery to heal the outward scars, he wondered if her inner wounds could be fixed as easily.
Hal slapped the dash, making the lady cop jump. “Shit, who will call her next of kin?”
Officer Coleman patted his thigh. “You really are one of the good guys aren’t you, Aldridge.”
He couldn’t imagine the phone call that was to come to her parents. Not even eight o’clock on a Sunday night, and you think your child is safe from the evils of the world, only to get a phone call saying just the opposite.
“Shit, one of them got away. A female. She said they made her do it, and then I got distracted when I realized Felicity wasn’t…well…I turned my back on the female and she ran off. There was something about her, though, that didn’t scream victim to me.”
Coleman nodded her head. “Since we have two of the others, who hopefully aren’t injured too badly.” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye before continuing. “Maybe they’ll give her identity up.”
They followed the ambulance, with the sirens and lights flashing, all the way to the nearest hospital. Hal was pushed to the side while they wheeled Felicity in. The ER team seemed efficient and quickly called in a plastic surgeon. Hal listened and waited for Brax. He knew his captain could get a lot more information than he ever could, and for some reason it was immensely important that he knew everything about Felicity.
After a few hours, a couple walked in looking like they were worth millions of dollars. Hal ignored them, assuming they were there to see someone else.
“Excuse me, are you the young man who saved our girl?”
Hal’s head shot up at the cultured voice. He got to his feet. “Hello, ma’am. Are you Felicity’s parents?” The woman looked nothing like the woman he’d rescued. Neither did the man, but that didn’t mean they weren’t related.
“Yes, my name is Felicia, and this is my husband, Rand. We owe you so much for saving our baby.”
Rand and Felicia looked like supermodels.
Hal stuck his hand out and was surprised by the strong grip Rand had. Felicia looked at his hand and threw her arms around his waist. He looked over her head at Felicity’s dad and saw tears in the older man’s eyes. Both of the Evans clearly loved their daughter very much. Hal hugged Felicia and waited for her hiccupping cries to subside.
“Have you heard anything about her condition? They won’t tell me anything because I’m not family.”
“You’re family now, son,” Rand said firmly.
Hal wondered where they’d been, but didn’t question what had taken them so long to get there. He watched Felicia walk to the desk with her husband next to her. Both with their backs straight as pins. Felicity’s mother turned to Rand and murmured oh thank God, and then she broke down into tears again. He felt like a voyeur.
The wait for them to return was the longest three minutes of his life, but he made himself stand still instead of going to them and demanding information. Rand tilted his wife’s face up and brushed her tears away with his thumbs, and then he nodded in Hal’s direction. Luckily, he’d been given a shirt from Officer Coleman’s workout bag. The woman kept a spare change of clothes, and liked men’s T-shirts instead of women’s. Why he was worried about being shirtless in front of these people, he had no clue, but there was something that made him want to impress them.
“They have her in a medically induced coma and stopped the bleeding. The doctors don’t believe there’s any brain damage, but won’t know until all the swelling goes down. There’s extensive damage to her…fa…face. She’s going to need a lot of surgeries, and even then they don’t know…oh my poor baby.” Felicia buried her face in Rand’s chest again.
Rand held
Felicia closer. “They didn’t rape her. There’s no evidence of that atrocity. Now, we will just go one day at a time. She will have the best that money can buy.”
Hal nodded, but knew all the money in the world couldn’t blot out the physical and mental pain that she’d already suffered, and what was sure to come. He breathed a relieved sigh that at least he’d gotten there before they’d been able to rape her.
“How long will they keep her in the coma?” Hal asked.
“A couple weeks probably.” Rand soothed his wife as she cried at his words.
“It will give her body a chance to heal.” Hal wasn’t sure who he was reassuring, them or himself. He was in California on vacation, and hadn’t planned to stay for more than a couple extra days of sun and surfing with his buddies. Looks like he would be staying a little longer.
“Give us your information,” Rand said.
Hal pulled out his card, handing it over without hesitation. A commotion down the hall had them all turning to see Brax coming their way.
“That’s my buddy, Brax. I called him when I wasn’t sure what was going on. He’s my captain.”
Mr. Evans studied the card. “SmokeJumper huh?”
With a nod, Hal waited for Brax. He made the introductions, and saw Brax’s eyebrows rise. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the obvious wealth or because of the too small T-shirt he had on.
“I’ve spoken with the Chief of Police. Your leather jacket, along with your shirts, are being released since they aren’t considered evidence any longer. The one man who was killed, pardon my frank talk ma’am, has a rap sheet longer than my leg, and his fingerprints match those on one of the other victims. The other two are going to live, although I’m not sure how much they’ll be good to society. They keep murmuring and rocking back and forth, or so I’m told. I think their brains are scrambled. Again, their fingerprints are all over several other victims, and they are running other bodily fluids to see if they match as well.” Brax coughed and looked away.
“Its okay, Felicity wasn’t raped.” Hal slapped him on the back, making him stagger forward.
Thorn's Bondmate (Zarronian Warriors Book 2) Page 28