by Sam Crescent
While he’d been out, he’d heard a feminine scream, and it had done something to him
“We’ve got a feral bitch that needs to be put down. You’d be best taking off now, sir. This is not for the weak.”
Climbing into his car, he’d driven off, but he’d gotten what he needed to. There were women there, women being hurt. Russ hated it when men set out to hurt women. He hated men who beat their wives, children, or set out to hurt those weaker. Russ had a code, and those weaker and vulnerable needed to be protected.
The gate was a pedestrian access that had been overgrown. There was no security, and the back access that would help them into the ranch without being detected.
“We go in there, and the cops come here,” Richard said, pointing at the main gate. “They come on our signal, and we’ll all make it out alive.”
Russ looked at the layout, and couldn’t think of a reason as to why it wouldn’t work. They could make it happen.
“Yes,” Lewis said. “We can get inside without the men being detected, and risking the women’s lives.”
“We don’t want to risk anyone. We learn from our mistakes,” Malcolm said.
They gathered their weapons. Each of the men was trained and ready to shoot. The club and their mission to take down traffickers demanded they perfect their techniques. Russ wasn’t just skilled in handling a gun. He also knew how to handle knives and hand to hand combat. It wasn’t his best skill, but it was something he was proud of.
Once Lewis had put the call to his informant and his friend within the law, they headed out. They didn’t go on their bikes, and instead split into teams of five, taking black trucks. Night had fallen, and there was no time to waste, or at least he didn’t believe there was time to waste.
“Do you think Lewis will ever find who he’s looking for?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t know.”
“He’s going to keep hunting for her,” Blake said. “I don’t blame him. We’re all in this together, and I will keep on fighting these bastards until they no longer hurt women.”
The B. B. MC members all had a reason for being where they were. Each member had a past, and none of them had openly shared it. Russ knew the important details of the men he rode with. They believed in what he did, in fairness, and the law. Their club was the only part of their lives that wasn’t bound to the unwritten rules that society placed on them. Russ didn’t want to hide behind his lawyer because he fucked a woman in a bar. The club allowed them to be open with each other, and take what they wanted. It was an unconventional club that worked for all of them.
Thinking about the club reminded him of Tina. Since Lewis had interrupted them, he’d not gone back to Tina. He didn’t need the release just yet.
“None of us are ever going to stop looking for her.” Lewis hadn’t told them what had happened. They all knew that he’d lost a friend, and that was it.
“It must be hard. Each place we go, she’s not there. It has been too long. She could be dead,” Sean said.
“Don’t let Lewis hear you say that. He believes she’s alive, and I’m not going to break him by telling him that she could be dead. We’re all brothers here.”
“I’m sorry. I just know he’s going to need to come to the conclusion that he’s looking for a ghost.” Sean shrugged. “I hate being the one to say it, but you’ve all got to admit that you’ve thought it.”
Resting his head against the van, Russ closed his eyes. Sean wasn’t wrong. He’d wanted to talk to Lewis about the possibility of the woman he was searching for being dead. Each time he thought about bringing it up, he balked at the last minute.
“Let’s take it one mission at a time,” Russ said, opening his eyes. “Lewis is our brother, and when we came together as an MC we made a promise, an oath, to serve the club and each brother’s needs. I’ll fight for Lewis every step of the way.”
“We all will,” Jackson said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
They all had a past, and a story to tell, but none of them were going to talk to each other about what they faced. He didn’t mind. Russ didn’t have a past, not really. There was nothing in his past worth reliving, or going back to see.
“I’m turning off the lights,” Sean said. He was driving them to the ranch.
They climbed out of the back of the car, having parked several yards up from the wooden gate, far enough away not to raise suspicion. No one would see the van that was parked away from the road. Lewis pulled in next, and Russ was already climbing over the fence.
Lewis was handling the radio signals to the law enforcement.
They could all die at any moment, and Russ was ready for that. These women needed a man willing to die to get them out.
Lewis stood beside him, and together, they held their guns and walked through the thick grass.
“They’re here,” Lewis said.
“I know.”
His gut was telling him that they were close. When the grass started to thin out, he saw the first of the cages, and inside them women sat silently crying. Russ lowered down, as did the rest of the men.
“Heavily guarded?” Sean asked, crawl-walking toward them.
“No.” There was one guard who was pacing up and down.
“You think we’re fucking cowards? How do you feel now, bitch?” A man shouted, and the sound of him spitting echoed through the night.
Russ heard that cry again, the same cry he’d heard the night before.
“Jake, ease up. She gets the message. You fuck her over too bad, and Henry’s not going to want her fat ass. She’s useless to us too fucked up.” This came from another guy.
Russ parted the grass, and watched as they dragged a woman back to her cage, throwing her inside so that her head hit the back. Rage filled every part of him.
Closing the grass, he turned to his nine brothers. “I’m going to unlock those cages. I’ll warn the women we’re here, and I want you to keep an eye on the guard. They have a chance to escape while we take care of business.”
They had learned the hard way about not preparing the women. Russ wouldn’t have another woman’s death on his conscience.
Leaving his gun with Lewis, Russ crawled toward the cages. One of the women stared up at him with large, dilated eyes. She was shaking, probably coming down from the drugs. He pressed a finger to his lips.
“It’s okay. We’re here to save you. Don’t make a sound.”
She nodded, letting him know she heard. He reached around and flicked the catch. It was one of those designed to be opened from the outside, not inside.
“Don’t move. I’ve got men waiting, okay? They’re going to be here.”
From one cage to another, he unlocked them, and one of the women kept him hidden as the guard passed her cage. It was ridiculous, the women protecting him.
You’re the only chance of escape.
When he came to the woman who’d been thrown into the cage, he saw she was still conscious. Her face had several bruises, but the man who’d beaten her had made sure not to focus too much on her face. She was curled into a ball, and he reached into the cage, and stroked his finger over her hand.
“We’re going to get you out of here.” He gave her finger a squeeze, but she didn’t give him any sign that she’d acknowledged what he was trying to do.
She was hurting, and it was hard for Russ to crawl away from the cage. He’d helped quite a few women, and not any of them had struck him as hard as that woman had.
“Are you okay?” Lewis asked.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
He wasn’t fine. Russ was shaken to the core, and hurting. The woman he’d just seen had gotten to him, and it had only taken a look. He had to make sure she got out safe.
“Are we doing this?” Richard asked.
“We’re doing this.” Russ stood up, faced the guard, but he had the upper hand. When Russ fired his weapon, which had a silencer, the man dropped to the floor.
Rushing out, Russ encountered the next man, placin
g a bullet in his head and moving on. It didn’t take long for their presence to be known, and the bullets started flying, and the loud sounds of gunshots filled the night.
The police rushed into the place, and when Russ entered the old ranch, he made sure to walk silently.
The rage building inside him was demanding he unleash it. The woman outside—he didn’t know her name, and it didn’t matter—she needed to be protected. Entering the kitchen, he saw the man who’d been beating her grabbing up cell phones and laptops.
Russ fired a bullet into his leg, and the man fell down, screaming.
“I’d be still if I was you.”
Dropping his weapon, he walked up to the man, grabbed his jacket, and threw him against the wall.
“What’s your name?”
“Fuck you.”
Drawing his knee up, he slammed it against the man’s stomach. “Try again.”
“Fuck you.”
Wrapping his fingers around the man’s throat, he kept the pressure up, and only when Lewis walked through the door did Russ ease up.
“Where’s your boss?” Lewis asked.
“I’m not talking.”
Russ slammed his knee against the man’s junk, and he went down.
Lewis gasped. “Ouch, man.”
“I’m not in the mood to deal with fucking cowards. Do you think this will give us what we need to know?” Russ asked, nodding toward the devices.
“I can get it so we can work on them back at the club. We’d get emails, logs—you name it, Jamie and I can crack it.”
“We all can crack it.” Russ stared at the man, and he pulled out his handgun, and pointed it at his head.
Lewis placed his hand on the gun. “You kill him, you’re no better than he is.”
“The taxes we all pay keep that fucker alive.”
“And they make sure we keep him off the streets. Don’t let his death ruin you, Russ.”
He didn’t need to be saved. Russ wouldn’t give a shit if the man before him lived or died.
“Get him out.”
Russ knew Lewis cared more about keeping him sane. Russ didn’t kill innocent people. He was more than happy to take out all the men who fucked over women. Once the multitude of devices were bagged and transported as evidence, which the club could then use to find what they needed, Russ stepped outside. He walked toward the cages where the women were being processed. When he saw the woman who’d been beaten was still in her cage, he moved toward the ambulance crew.
“You missed one.”
“We didn’t. We don’t know the extent of her injuries. We’re waiting for the fire brigade to break the cage.”
Rolling his eyes, Russ made them follow him. He’d owned a dog years ago, and when he had no choice, he’d placed his dog in a similar cage in the back of his car to travel. Finding the catches, he unfolded the cage, and the woman was free to be taken. He couldn’t walk away from her, and he listened as the paramedics talked to her.
“We’re not going to hurt you. Could you tell us where it hurts?”
“All over.”
“Okay. Let us know when it hurts too much.”
He felt like there was a golf ball in his throat as the paramedics worked over her. When they were satisfied that they wouldn’t risk damaging her more, they lifted her onto a stretcher and took her toward the ambulance.
“What’s with her? Do you know her?” Lewis asked, coming to stand beside him.
“I don’t know her. She’s not important right now,” Russ said.
They walked around the ranch, and Russ spotted an uneven ratty old carpet. Pulling it out of the way, he groaned. Underneath were some of the bodies of the women.
“I fucking hate this part,” Russ said.
“We need to get their identities, and go back to the hospital,” Lewis said.
“Did you find her?” Russ asked, which he asked every single time they did this.
“No. I didn’t.”
It was becoming the story of their lives.
****
Anna stared up at the television screen. The tears had dried up, and the pain had lessened. The drugs they were pumping inside her helped with most of the pain. Jake, the bastard who had been beating her, was a fucking coward. He hit hard, but he didn’t hit hard enough to kill her. She had hoped for death, and it hadn’t come.
Now she was in the hospital being treated for her injuries.
She had a concussion and a huge lump on her head from hitting the cage. Her face was bruised, and she had a split lip. Three cracked ribs, several bruises, and her arm was broken. They’d had to set it, and it was now in a case. Her leg was also in a cast as well, as a precaution for a suspected fracture. She was a mess, and she didn’t even want to think about hospital bills. There was no way she was ever going to be able to afford her medical bills along with the fact she’d missed work, and her job was probably gone.
Life would be easier if she had died.
Tears fell from her eyes, and with her good hand, she wiped the tears away.
Noise at her door had her turning toward it. There was something vaguely familiar about the man dressed all in black. He had to have been the guy who helped her out of the cage.
“Are you Anna Little?” he asked.
“How do you know my name?” Her throat was even worse than the day before. When Jake had been beating her, she’d used every opportunity to scream, curse, shout, and fight. Her throat was hoarse.
“You were reported missing by your boss when you didn’t turn up for work.”
“Mrs. Lions reported me missing?” She worked at her supermarket every single day of the week, including overtime. Anna had even gone to work when she was poorly just to save money so she and Karen could start their own venture into the world of business.
“Yes, she said it was not like you to not be at work.”
Anna took a deep breath. Someone had known that she was missing.
“The police had to wait twenty-four hours for you not to turn up.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
It was hard for her right then. She had believed no one would care if she was alive or dead.
“Would it be okay if we contacted Mrs. Lions? She has been contacting the police every hour to find out if you’d been found.”
“Yes, you can tell her that I’ve been found, and where I am.”
She didn’t think Mrs. Lions liked her all that much, but she must have cared to be so persistent.
“I’m Russell Wyatt,” he said.
“You’re the man who opened the cages?”
“Yes, and this is my friend, Lewis Cox.”
She nodded toward the new man. “Is there anything wrong?”
“We have some pictures that we need you to go through to see if you can identify some of the women that were found.”
Anna nodded. “Anything I can do to help.”
Russell moved closer and took a seat near her, reaching for the large photographs from Lewis.
He lifted them up, and started to show them to her.
Some of the women she had never seen before. “I don’t recognize them.”
“They’re from other incidents similar to yours.”
“Other women taken?”
“Yes.”
“These are the women that were killed at the place you were held.”
He held up one photograph.
“I know them, but I don’t know their names. I could tell you the cage they were held in, and how they died.”
When he held up Karen’s picture, she broke down, taking it from him.
“Do you know her?”
She nodded. “Yes, I know her. She was my friend. We were in, erm, foster homes together. We were like sisters.” She touched her fingers to her friend’s face. The picture of Karen was taken when she was dead. “She was a diabetic. When they took us, she didn’t stand a chance.”
“You knew she was dead.”
“Yes. Her name is Karen, and we are,
I mean, we were roommates.” She shook her head. “She died in my arms, and those bastards just threw her body away as if she was trash.”
“What happened? Why were you both taken?”
Licking her lips, she forced herself to look at the very handsome man. He was the kind of man that would have loved Karen. She was the prettier out of the two of them. Anna, she liked to eat, and cook, and bake, and eat. Not many men liked a size eighteen woman with a lot of meat on her bones. She had brown hair, mousy brown at that. Karen had been slender and beautiful, full of life.
“We were walking home, and a van just pulled up. One of the guys hit me, and grabbed Karen. I fought for my friend, and they took me. I wasn’t going to be taken, and they only took me because it was easier than me causing a fuss.” If they hadn’t taken her, Anna would have fought until she got Karen back.
“We’re so sorry for your loss,” Lewis said.
Anna didn’t say anything. She handed the picture back to Russell.
“Thank you for rescuing us.” It was the polite thing to say even though she hated it. She didn’t want to say thank you or be grateful for them saving her. In that moment, she wished for death just like she had in that cage.
Karen was gone, and it wasn’t fair.
Chapter Three
“She’s not thankful at all,” Lewis said.
“Notify the nurse, and warn her that Anna Little should be placed on suicide watch.” Russ stared into the room, and it was hard for him to take his eyes off the woman who was now silently crying on the bed.
“You think she’d take her own life?”
“Her best friend just died, and I bet she witnessed it. She fought for her, Lewis. I wouldn’t put it past her, and I think it’s a wise precaution.”
He watched her move, and wince at the same time.
“She’s different to you?” Lewis asked.
“I don’t know what she is, Lewis. I think I heard her scream the night before when you told me about that place.”