My heart was in my throat. Casey gripped my arm, and I knew that she was as terrified as I was. Answering his question would reveal which one of us meant something to the Wreckers. All at once, I was reminded of Casey's situation with her step-father, of how frightened she was that he would hunt her down. He'd raped her, and I knew that she was thinking that these men meant to do the same thing to her, too.
"Which one!" he snarled loudly.
We both jumped. I took a deep breath. "I do!" I snapped, realizing what I was leaving myself open for--more violence, a beating...a sexual assault. I tried not to think about it. I felt drawn to protect Casey as much as I could.
He walked further into the room until he was standing next to the bed, his mean eyes moving back and forth between me and Casey, as if he were trying to decide if I was being truthful. As if he glared at us long enough, one of us would break down.
"The trailer is mine," I reinforced softly, pulling my gaze from him and staring down at a stain on the blanket.
The next thing I knew he reached forward and grasped Casey around the arm, snatching her from the bed and onto her feet.
"No!" she cried out, trying to pull away.
My wild gaze flew up to them. "It's my trailer!" I screamed, not understanding what was going on. Why was he taking Casey away and not me? "What are you doing?" I began to panic. Another biker showed up, probably because he’d heard the commotion, and stood smiling in the doorway. What was going on? I flew from the bed. "Let her go!"
"You want to join her, bitch?" The man at the door grinned.
Join her? For what? "I told him the trailer belongs to me, why are you taking Casey?"
Casey was pulled crying and fighting from the room. The second man grabbed the door handle, but not before saying, "We need you for leverage. She's gonna provide some fun."
"No!" My ploy had backfired. I raced to the door just as he shut and locked it. I pounded on it, overwhelmed with shock and fear as I heard Casey's screams fade as they dragged her into another part of the house. I knew what they meant by “fun.” My words had thrown her into the very situation I'd hoped to save her from. I continued to pound the door, screaming at the monsters outside to let her go, screaming the truth, that they had the wrong woman, that Casey was the one who owned the trailer and I'd just been trying to protect her.
I pounded on the door until my hands hurt, tears sliding down my cheeks as helplessness overwhelmed me. Her screams echoed throughout the house, and I sank to the floor sobbing.
"Please!" I cried as loud as I could, until my voice was hoarse. Oh, God, what had I done?
A particularly shrill scream sent chills through me. It renewed my efforts to make them understand that they had the wrong woman, all the while aware that if I succeeded I'd be the one on the other side of the door screaming as if my life depended on it. I forced myself to my feet and hit the door with all my might.
"You fucking bastards!" I shouted. "Cowards! You're not men! You're monsters! Real men don't have to force themselves on women!" Once I started I couldn't stop. "Fucking cowards!"
Without warning someone was at the door. My eyes flew to the doorknob as I backed up. The door flew open and the same man that had come in before came into the room. I backed up further, frightened by the wild look in his eyes. His bearded expression was flushed with anger, and I watched his hands curl into claws as he reached for me.
"No!" My back hit the wall. His hand curled into my tee, ripping it at the shoulder as he jerked me toward him.
"Come on, bitch! Should have kept your fucking mouth shut!" he groused, pulling me from the room. I stumbled, but he continued to drag me behind him. When we entered another room he pulled me in front of him and pushed me into the center of the room. "Look, brothers. She wants to hurl insults with that pretty mouth. We need to show her what else she can do with it."
Laughter echoed through the room, a chorus of”fuck yeahs” following.
I barely registered what he was saying, or the five men that were sitting around the shabby room, but I did notice Casey. She'd been stripped, and was curled up in a fetal position on top of a pool table that looked like it had been pulled out of the trash. I ran over to her.
"Casey‒" I ran my hand over her ratted hair, my gaze running over her body and noticing the blood on the faded green beneath her. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was coming from her behind. Ohmygod! A sob tore from me. "I'm so sorry, honey. I thought I was helping." I kept my voice low. "I thought I was helping…"
She turned her bruised and bleeding face to me. She'd obviously put up one hell of a fight. "I know," she whispered back. "It's okay. I'll be okay." Only it wasn't okay. She sounded broken.
I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted to kill them! I glared at every man in the room, seeing the cruel indifference on their faces, coming back to the one man who'd pulled me from the room. Instinct warned me that he was in charge, because his friends seemed to be waiting for his next move. I suddenly felt like prey, locked in a room of savage predators that were going to rip me apart and consume my flesh.
"Fucking assholes!" I screamed at them. "Your mothers would be so proud of what you've become!"
That comment seemed to get a reaction like no other. Their faces sobered and scrunched up with scowls, bushy eyebrows met in the middle, eyes narrowed with anger. I saw hands fist. I laughed, almost hysterically.
"Oh, so that hurt your feelings?" I scoffed unwisely. "You don't think your mamas would be happy to know that you rape and beat women? That their sons are fucking cowards?"
Two men jumped to their feet and stomped toward me. I braced myself, knowing that I'd gone too far. "I'll cut her fucking tongue out!" one of them growled.
"Don't hurt her!" Casey said weakly from her position.
"Shut it, whore! Or I'll stick my dick up your ass again!"
Oh, God! I was going to be sick. The man grabbed me by my hair, and pulled me against him. "By the time the Wreckers get you back, bitch, they won't recognize you." He forced me to my knees. "But first, I'm going to teach you a lesson about what comes out of this mouth."
I fought him like a wild cat, trying to pull away, but his hand was tangled in my hair, and the only thing I managed to do was hurt myself. I watched his big, beefy hand go to the front of his pants, a crazy part of me wondering why he wasn't being stopped. I made a vow that if he stuck his nasty cock in my mouth that I would bite it off. I almost laughed when his zipper got stuck.
He had to release me to use both hands, and that's when I scooted back and jumped to my feet. I ran to the wall, aware that just about every man in the room was suddenly on their feet and rushing toward me. They probably thought that I was heading toward the door to run, but I wouldn't leave Casey. My mark was the stacked pool cues in the corner of the room. I grabbed one and swung back around, holding it up as if it were a bat.
"Stay away," I screamed, swallowing hard when the biggest man in the bunch broke away from the advancing men and took the lead. He kept right on coming, too, so that I was forced to bring the pool stick down on him. He blocked the hit with his arm, and laughed as he grabbed it out of my hand and tossed it aside. I screamed when he reached for me.
"Don't kill her, Bear!" someone barked. "We need her."
"Bring her over here!" someone else ordered, and I saw that it was the man that I'd thought was in charge. He was taking off his belt. "She needs to be taught a lesson."
"What about Sawtooth?" another man asked.
"He won't care what we do as long as we keep her alive."
My eyes rounded when I thought about what he might do with his belt. Bear hauled me easily over to him. "Hold her against the wall," he ordered, and suddenly Bear and another man were pinning me to the wall and holding my arms. I heard the snap of the belt behind me, flinching. Then, without warning, I felt a hand at the top of my shirt and with a sharp pull it was torn open, exposing my skin.
"Pretty," he said, running his belt over my flesh. "Won't be so pretty in a minute," he p
romised. "You'll be begging to take dick."
Fat chance of that. What kind of men were they, thinking that kidnapping women and beating and raping them was okay? I shivered, tears running down my face as my gaze locked onto Casey. She was crying, too, still curled up into a tight ball. I hated Jim. I hated the Wreckers for allowing this to happen to her. If they'd taken her with them I wouldn't have been at her place, and these men wouldn't have taken us.
I felt a light stir when the man with the belt stepped away from me. The two men holding me had sick smiles on their faces and a light in their eyes that revealed their excitement. I felt the leather against my back a second after hearing it whip through the air. I stiffened and bit down on my bottom lip. I wouldn't cry out. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. The second hit tore a whimper from me, but I couldn't help it. It hurt so damned much. The third strike felt like fire against my skin, and I sucked in my breath. Strike four brought a scream up my throat because the sadistic bastard had hit me with the end of his belt with the buckle.
"That's more like, it, ah brothers?" he laughed cruelly, hitting me a fifth time. "Scream away, bitch. We like making our women scream. Maybe this will teach you to watch what comes out of your fucking mouth."
"Fuck you!" I cried, and then screamed when he struck me for the sixth time. I was sure the wetness that I felt on my back was blood from where the buckle had broken my skin.
"Luna…" Casey cried weakly.
"You ready for more, bitch?" One of the men walked over to her, grabbing her ankles and pulling her legs straight out in front of her. She screamed, but was unable to fight him as he opened his pants and stepped up to the edge of the pool table.
Just as he was about to impale her, just as I braced for the tenth hit, the door was kicked in and gunfire erupted.
Utter chaos filled the room. I was let go, and I sank to the floor, welcoming the dark void that sucked me in.
Chapter 17
Jace
It hadn't taken Moody and me long to catch up with the Destroyers we'd passed. Once they were within sight we pulled back, remaining well behind them so they wouldn't hear us. Before long, they veered off Route 9. When we got to where they'd turned we followed, and it hadn't taken me long to realize that we were on a private road, and I would have bet that it had a dead end. I motioned Moody that I was going to stop.
"I think we should go in on foot from here, brother." I was already dismounting. "If this turns out to be a driveway, they'll hear us coming."
He didn't say anything, but followed suit when I stashed my bike behind some trees. I took off running, passing a sign that warned we were on private property and a dead end road, as I'd expected. About a quarter of a mile in we spotted a house. It was a rundown piece of shit, but still inhabitable. There were six bikes parked out front. I stopped, crouching low in the overgrown grass leading up to it. Moody hunkered down next to me.
"Looks like we found one of their hideouts, brother." I made eye-contact with him. "Keep your fingers crossed they have the girls in there."
We made our way closer to the house, keeping low and close to the trees in case someone opened the door. A high-pitched scream caused me to remove my gun. Moody and I exchanged knowing looks. It had definitely been a woman's scream. I fought the urge to rush the rest of the way, concerned about Luna, but knowing that we had to be smart about this. We were up against six men, not good odds. We weren't going to save the girls by making stupid mistakes.
When we finally reached the house I kept low, making my way to one of the front windows. Moody was on the other side. He took a quick look, his expression turning deadly. I slowly rose to do the same. The first thing my eyes lit on was Casey, naked and bleeding on top of an old pool table. She was curled up tight, and even from where I was I could see that she was shaking badly.
Fucking bastards! Fear for what they may have done to Luna caused my eyes to dart around the room as I searched for her. Jesus Christ! They had her pinned to a wall, and one fucker was whipping her with his belt buckle. Her back was naked and streaked with blood and swollen welts. Her scream cut through me, and nothing could have prevented me from kicking in the front door. I went in shooting anything that moved. My first target was the man with the belt. The two holding Luna against the wall released her and reached for their weapons, and they were next.
I watched Luna slip to the ground, but I couldn't focus on her just yet. With three men down, there were still three left, and by now they'd managed to draw their guns and were shooting back. I ducked behind a chair, knowing that it wouldn't offer me much protection. Moody rushed through the doorway and rolled to the side behind an entertainment center, firing his weapon as he went. It didn't take long to take care of the other Destroyers, stark silence following in the wake of the shootout.
Everything had happened so fucking fast. As I listened, it was what I didn't hear that I was interested in. No movement. No breathing to indicate that someone was wounded. No groans. I peeked around the chair, narrowing my eyes against the blue smoke, and took in the bodies littering the floor, satisfied that we'd got all six. I moved out from behind the chair, keeping my gun cocked and ready.
A soft moan drew my gaze to where Luna had fallen to the floor. She was coming around. "Brother, see to Casey," I demanded, making my way to Luna. "Baby." I helped her sit up.
Her eyes slowly rose to mine, and I could tell the moment she realized who I was, and then she fell apart. She threw herself at me. "Jace!" she cried out, wrapping her arms around my neck.
I picked her up and carried her to the sofa, sinking down onto the cushions with her on my lap. Hell, I'd been dreaming about the feel of her body against mine, but not under these circumstances.
"Casey‒"
"Moody's got her."
She clung to me, shaking vigorously. "They hurt her, Jace."
I clenched my teeth. I'd seen the blood on the table, along with the other fluids. They'd obviously pulled a train on her. "I know, baby."
"Brother--" I turned toward Moody. His face was tight. "She's in bad shape."
I wasn’t sure where he'd found a blanket, but he'd covered Casey up with it. I reached for my phone and tossed it to him. "Call Reaper and tell him where we are. Tell him Jim's woman needs him and a doctor."
Luna sobbed, slowly turning her face up to me. The tears in her eyes gutted me. "They raped her," she whispered up at me. I stayed silent. They'd done a lot more than that to her. Her little hand clenched into my cut while she gazed around the room. I wondered what she felt as she realized that we'd killed everyone. "They deserved death," she finally said.
I smiled at her feistiness and kissed the top of her head when she relaxed against me. "Luna, did they hurt you?" It was obvious that they'd hurt her, but we both knew that I wasn't talking about her back. She shook her head. Thank fuck.
"They're on their way," Moody said from across the room. "He's also sending a cleaner."
I acknowledged him with a chin lift. "Luna, baby, let me see your back."
She sat forward. "It burns like hell."
The material of her torn tee separated, and I sucked in my breath. I wanted to kill the fucker all over again, only this time I'd make him suffer first. The welts were red and swollen, and I knew they'd be hot to the touch. It looked like the fucker had whipped her with the flat end of his belt before turning it around and hitting her with the buckle. The skin was split open on at least two places, and bleeding. Other than the possibility of scarring from the belt buckle, the rest didn't look permanent. I thought about my first aid kit that I kept on my bike. The open wounds needed to be cleaned and treated.
"I need to go to Casey." She made an attempt to get up off my lap.
"Don't bother." We both looked anxiously at Moody, anticipating the worst. "She's passed out."
Luna sank back against me with a sigh, her eyes clinging to mine. A soft, grateful smile trembled on her lips. "I'm glad you came back."
"Missed me, did you?"
&nbs
p; "Not once. Didn't think of you at all."
I could tell that she was lying. At least I hoped that she was, and then wondered why it mattered so much. I gave her a cocky grin. "Same here."
It grew quiet for a minute.
"How did you find us?"
"We'll talk later," I responded. The answer was too long and complicated to go into right then. But one thing I did know, I was taking Luna with me to the Wreckers' compound. If I did nothing else I was going to make sure she was safe and protected until this shit was over. Reaper said Jim had gone back for the girls when he realized they’d been left behind, but that hadn’t been good enough. I wanted someone's eyes on Luna at all times when I couldn't be there.
A low, agonized moan drew our eyes to where Casey lay. Moody was standing over her, his arms crossed, as if standing guard. Only the shifting of his eyes as he glanced down at her revealed that he wasn't made of stone. Luna began to wiggle on my lap.
"I have to go to her," she said.
I helped her up, following her to the pool table, unable to take my eyes off of the damage on her back.
"Casey," Luna said softly, bending over her friend. She smoothed her hand over Casey's hair. When her eyes fluttered open Luna leaned in even closer. "I'm so sorry." The regret in her voice made me wonder what she had to be sorry for.
"Don't. Not another word, honey." Casey's tone was low, filled with pain, yet showed strength. "It could have been you, so neither of us would have won." She reached for Luna's hand. "There was no right or wrong answer to his question."
I was intrigued now, but my questions were for another time. I removed my cut, and then my t-shirt, before slipping my cut back on. "Baby, put this on." I'd noticed that Luna was having a hard time keeping her ruined shirt from slipping forward and exposing her tits. When she turned to me I helped her get it on, mindful of her back.
"Thank you." Her appreciative smile quickly disappeared when the material touched her back. She gasped, winced, and seemed to take a moment to get over it before turning back to Casey. "Jim is on his way, honey, and a doctor. What can we do until then?"
Dangerous (Nomad Outlaws Trilogy Book 2) Page 12