by Marla Monroe
When they got around the next bend, both men stopped, shocked by what they saw. Lying on the ground with two men holding her down was a mostly nude woman fighting the man on top of her as he tried to unzip his pants.
“Get off me, get off me, get off me!” Her high-pitched screams galvanized him and Craig into action.
He tackled the man on top of her as Craig grabbed a nearby branch and attacked one of the other men. As soon as he had the one on top of the woman wrestled to the ground, the woman rolled over and started throwing up. Something about her seemed familiar, but he was too busy fighting to think about it right then.
He heard Craig curse but didn’t risk looking over to see if his friend was okay. Craig was hell in a fight. The big man might be laid back and friendly most of the time, but give him a reason and he’d put just about anyone on the ground. Billy needed all his attention focused on the bastard he was currently trying to keep from beating the shit out of him.
The man managed to knock him back against a tree, making his ears ring, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that it had given him time to pull a wicked looking hunting knife out of his boot.
Fuck!
Why hadn’t he grabbed a knife or his gun before they’d run willy-nilly into the unknown? Billy cursed his stupidity before ripping off his shirt and wrapping it around one hand to give him some padding against the knife. It wouldn’t do a lot of good, but it would help him get closer to the bastard so he could disarm him.
They circled each other, and he noticed that Craig had put one of the guys on the ground. He was down for the count, and his buddy was working on the other one. Billy needed to catch up. He lunged then backed away, drawing the man in. When he swung the knife around again, Billy grabbed that arm and attempted to bring it down over his knee to break the guy’s hold on the knife. It didn’t work. He ended up with the man on top of him, bearing down on his throat with the sharp, shiny blade.
Aw, hell. Where was Craig?
Suddenly the man above him jerked, then his eyes rolled back in his head, and Billy was able to shove him off of him. Craig came through. He turned back over to thank him, only to find a very wide-eyed Kayley holding a large limb with two trembling hands, barely standing on her equally shaky legs. She dropped the limb and started backing away.
The sight of her, covered in bruises, with a swollen eye and blood covering her mouth and nose, opened something inside of him he’d thought locked up tight. Fear that they’d hurt her worse than she looked had him jumping to his feet and walking toward her.
“No, no. No more. Please.” Kayley wrapped her arms around herself, covering her exposed breasts and backed away, shaking her head.
“Easy, Kayley. No one’s going to hurt you anymore.”
Craig walked over, breathing heavily and sporting a bloody nose and equally bloody knuckles. He held out his hands, palms up. It looked like he was trying to calm a frightened child.
“It’s us, Kayley. You know we won’t hurt you. Let us take care of you, baby. Don’t move. Stay right there.”
Billy held his hands out by his sides and took a step toward her. She was shaking so badly that he was afraid she was going to fall before he could get to her. When he and Craig got within three feet, she squatted down and put her hands over her head. Billy immediately crossed the short distance and knelt in front of her, Craig right next to him. His hands hovered over her shaking shoulders, afraid to touch her for fear of hurting her.
Craig had no such problem. He carefully pulled her into his arms and rocked her, whispering nonsense into her hair. His friend’s eyes met his. Barely contained rage and horror filled his friend’s face. No doubt it was echoed on his own. How had these men gotten her out there? He couldn’t imagine she would have gone with them peacefully.
“We need to get her to the camp so we can clean her up and see where she’s hurt,” he said, standing up. “Can you carry her?” he asked.
“I’m good.” Craig stood up, lifting her into his arms like a child.
“What are we going to do about them?” Craig asked as they passed by the still unconscious men.
“I’ll come back and zip tie them, then put in a call to the sheriff’s office. No way are they getting away with attempted rape,” Billy said with a sneer.
They walked back in silence with only the sound of tree frogs and the occasional sniffle from Kayley breaking the still silence. When they broke into the clearing, Billy hurried to the back of the truck bed and spread out a blanket for Craig to lay her down. He watched his friend gently place her on the tailgate, needing to see for himself once more that she was okay.
The sight of her trembling fingers grasping the front of Craig’s shirt ate at his gut once more. The bastards would pay for this. Her face already had a bruise forming along her cheek. One eye was swollen nearly closed. The blood all over her face scared him even more. He grabbed a cloth and a bottle of water, using some of the water to wet the cloth so he could clean her face.
She cringed when he carefully dabbed at her mouth and chin. When most of her face was clean, he was pleased to see that though she had a split lip, there was no other damage that he could see. A small trickle of blood from her nose, and some bumps and scrapes on her forehead, but no open wounds. He sighed with relief.
“Go tie those bastards up before they get away,” Craig reminded him.
He nodded and finally turned away to grab up zip ties they used on supplies. They weren’t ideal, but they would do in a crunch. He hurried back to where they’d left the three men and found they were all still out cold. He quickly secured their wrists and ankles, not caring if he cut off their circulation in the process. He had removed their boots and tossed them in the river. Then he took particular satisfaction in kicking all three in the balls before turning to head back to camp where his friend was taking care of their woman.
He stopped in mid stride. Where the hell had that come from? She wasn’t theirs. He’d fought long and hard to stay away from her. She was bad news, a walking disaster. Tonight just proved it. Shaking his head, he continued walking until he made it back to camp. He pulled out his phone and punched in the sheriff’s number and waited, watching as Craig pulled one of their shirts down over Kayley’s quivering body.
“Sheriff’s Department. What’s your emergency?”
“This is Billy Wainwright. I need to report an attempted rape out at the river, about a mile from Cutter’s old place. Ask Cletus where. He’ll know where I usually camp.”
“Do you need an ambulance?” the woman on the other end asked.
He glanced over at Craig and mouthed the word ambulance to his friend. The other man shook his head no, anger still brewing in his eyes. He was glad she didn’t necessarily need an ambulance. He didn’t want anyone staring at her. He and Craig would take her to the doctor themselves.
“No, no ambulance.”
He answered a few more useless questions as far as he was concerned then pressed end and stuffed the phone back in the holder. He moved closer to Kayley who was still sitting on the tailgate, the overly large T-shirt covering her from neck to thighs. She shivered, and Craig immediately wrapped the blanket around her.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay,” Craig crooned to her.
“They’re on their way,” Billy told him.
Kayley’s eyes jerked over to him. She shook her head.
“I don’t want anyone to see me like this. Please.” A lone tear trailed down her cheek.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. Please. I can’t stand to see you cry.” Billy reached out and carefully brushed away her tears.
“They have to talk to you, Kayley, so they can prosecute the bastards,” Craig told her, rubbing her back.
“Why were you out here with them, Kayley? Please tell me you didn’t get in the car with them.” Billy wanted to kill someone.
“N–no. I–I don’t understand. I had called a cab to pick me up at The Den and…”
“What i
n the hell were you doing there by yourself?” Billy couldn’t hold back his fury that she would have placed herself in danger like that.
She cringed against Craig. “I wasn’t by myself. I was there with Bea and Sam, but Bea got sick and I didn’t want them going all the way to my house before Sam took her home. I called a cab and was waiting on it. Then this guy started talking to me, and I didn’t figure it would hurt to just talk while I waited, but then things got all weird. I felt sick to my stomach and my head was all swimmy. I thought I was coming down with whatever Bea had. My arms and legs felt so heavy.”
“Fuck!” Craig hissed, making Kayley jerk from his hold. “They drugged you. Don’t you know better than to drink with strange men?”
“I swear you need a keeper.” Billy ran a hand over his face.
“I wasn’t drinking with them. I just had a Ginger Ale,” she cried. “I would have tasted anything in that, right?”
Neither man said anything. Craig eased his arms back around her. Billy exchanged glances with the big man and knew in that moment they were of the same idea. She belonged to them. No more running. God knew it would take both of them to keep her safe from herself.
Billy climbed up in the back of the truck and sat with his back to the side, then held out his arms and Craig moved Kayley onto Billy’s lap. She stiffened all over at first. Then she settled down and eventually laid her head against his shoulder. Either she had decided he wasn’t going to hurt her, or she was too tired to hold her head up any longer. He figured he’d take her either way. He needed to feel her in his arms and know she was safe.
Craig walked off then returned with several bottles of water, handing two to Billy. He unscrewed the cap from one and held it to her lips.
“Have a drink, babe. You’re probably dehydrated.”
She roused enough to get almost half the bottle down before she shook her head and returned to lean against his shoulder. The fact that he didn’t have on a shirt didn’t seem to bother her. Craig climbed up into the bed and sat next to them. He folded his big hand around her knee and drank his water. They waited for the Sheriff’s Department to arrive in silence, each in their own thoughts.
Billy thought about all the times he’d brushed her off or downright insulted her in an effort to keep her at arm’s length. Yet here he was, holding his kryptonite tucked tightly in his arms. Now all he had to do was convince her that she belonged with him and Craig. The idea of a ménage relationship might not fly with her, but that was what he and Craig wanted. He would convince her.
He was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of approaching sirens. Soon the flashing lights of two SUVs could be seen approaching from the highway through the trees. Kayley had started trembling in his arms again.
“Shhh, baby. We won’t leave you. Everything is going to be fine now,” he whispered against her ear. “Just relax, and let us handle this.”
When she didn’t say anything, he took that as a yes. He didn’t want the deputies to upset her any more than was necessary. He and Craig would do most of the talking and take as much of the pressure off of Kayley as possible.
The vehicles slid to a halt, churning up dust that the light wind off the river sent swirling back on them. They waited to get out of their SUVs until it had passed, then opened their doors and stepped out. Billy was glad Cletus was one of the ones to come. He knew him best and trusted him to be reasonable. The others, not so much. Most of them were too young to know how to handle themselves, much less someone else.
“That you, Billy? Hi, Craig. What’s going on?” Cletus walked over with the other deputy right behind him.
“Hey, Cletus,” Craig said.
“Whoever called said there was an attempted rape. That young lady over there doesn’t look to be in very good shape. Maybe you boys should put her down and climb out of the truck so we can see about her.” The second deputy wasn’t one of the young ones, but he was one Billy didn’t know anything about.
“I’m the one who called. We heard her screaming and ran to find three men trying to rape her. They’re back along the river about a quarter mile down.” He held tighter to Kayley. No way was he letting go of her.
“Ma’am? Is that true?” the deputy asked.
Kayley didn’t turn to look at the man, just nodded her head. They needed to get her to the hospital. Maybe he should have told them to send the ambulance after all. He just knew how much she hated anyone making a fuss over her. Second guessing wasn’t helping her now.
“I’ll go with one of you to see about the others,” Craig offered.
“Vickers. Go with Craig. I’ll stay and talk to the victim,” Cletus said.
The other deputy looked at Kayley one more time and nodded before turning and following Craig. It was obvious he didn’t quite trust that they were telling the truth. Billy sighed. Yeah, they had a reputation for playing fast with the women, but they had never hurt one and never would. Hell, he’d cut off his balls before he hurt a woman. So would Craig. It just wasn’t in them.
“I take it you know her. What’s her name?” Cletus asked, leaning his hip against the tailgate.
“Kayley Clayton.”
“Hell. What in the world is she doing out here?” Cletus leaned over trying to get a look at her face.
“I think those guys back there drugged her and brought her out here. She doesn’t feel well and said all she had to drink was Ginger Ale. I believe her. She doesn’t lie.” Billy ran his hand down the back of her head. He hated that she’d cut all of her hair off.
“Did they manage to, uh?” Cletus stopped, knowing Billy would understand.
“No. We got to her in time, but we’re going to take her to the hospital. She’s got a lot of cuts and bruises, and I don’t know what sort of crap they gave her.”
“Soon as they get back, you go on and take her. One of us will be back to question her once she’s been treated. You should have had them send an ambulance for her, Billy.” Cletus shook his head.
“Yeah. I can see that now. I was worried about her and knew how upset she got when anyone made a fuss over her. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Billy?” Kayley’s hoarse voice was barley loud enough for him to hear.
“Hey, baby. What do you need?” he asked, kissing her on the forehead.
“I want to go home now, Billy. Take me home,” she said.
Chapter Six
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Kayley was taken from them, and they were relegated to the waiting room, filling out paperwork and pacing for the next hour. Billy had taken out his frustration by kicking the furniture until Craig got him to calm down. He sure as hell didn’t want them to end up getting banned from the hospital. Warning Billy that was what they were going to do if he didn’t calm his ass down did the trick.
Nearly two hours later, the other deputy arrived. He walked in and headed straight for them. Both he and Billy stood up to meet him.
“Any word on how she’s doing?” he asked.
“Not yet. This waiting crap is for the birds,” Craig told him.
“I’m Jim Vickers. Cletus says you two are all right. I haven’t been here long enough to know everyone.” The deputy stood there waiting for them to make their decision about him.
Craig figured it was the best apology for his attitude they were going to get. Really, he didn’t blame the man for being cautious in an unknown situation like they’d arrived to find. He was willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt. He’d done his job, and that was what mattered.
He held out his hand and shook the deputy’s. “Think you can get back there with that badge and find anything out for us?” Craig asked with a smile.
“I’ll see what I can do. Cletus said you know her.”
“Yeah. Since high school.” Billy finally spoke up and held out his hand. “Name’s Billy Wainwright. I guess we haven’t been introduced.”
“I’ll go and see if I can find anything out. Hang tight.” Jim turned and headed toward the ER doors.
“He seems okay,” Craig said, sitting back down on the uncomfortable plastic chair.
Billy just grunted and sank into one next to him then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, letting his hands hang between his legs. He didn’t take his eyes off the doors leading to the back that Jim had walked through.
“She’s going to be fine, Billy.” Craig needed to say the words as much as his friend needed to hear them.
“I know.”
Craig wasn’t sure what was going on inside of Billy’s head right then, but it worried him. Back at the river, it was clear that Billy had finally realized that he’d been fighting how he felt about Kayley for too long now. It was time to claim her and make her theirs. Craig just hoped they hadn’t waited too late.
Another thirty minutes went by before the deputy returned to the waiting room, his face tense. Billy was up and out of his seat before the door had even closed behind the man.
“How is she? When can we go see her?” he demanded.
“She’s doing fine. They’re waiting on the drug toxicology report to decide whether they need to keep her or not. She needed some stitches in one knee and the palm of one hand. The rest are all superficial and will heal with time. She doesn’t have a concussion, but she’s going to have one hell of a headache.” The deputy winced as Billy cursed under his breath.
“How much longer until we can take her home?” Craig asked.
“Not sure. The doctor said it might be another hour before the test results are back on what’s in her system.” He sighed. “And there’s definitely something in her system. Her perceptions are all out of wack, according to the doctor.”
“Did he say if we could go see her now?” Billy asked.
“Yeah. You can go back. I’ve already talked to her while the nurse was there, but I’ll walk you back to the right room then I’ll be on my way. If she remembers anything new, have her contact us.” He turned and headed back toward the ER doors.