“Okay, I guess we can just drive up to the office and wait for Steel there,” Julie said with a shrug.
I guess it was better than sitting out here. Plus, I needed to use the toilet, and I presumed there would be one in the office.
I put the car into gear and took off carefully. Mannix trusted me with his gigantic vehicle, and even though it was a four-wheeled drive, I loathed to do anything wrong to it.
“Okay, you run in and use the toilet while I get Squirt out.”
I raised my brows at Julie, and her laugh was a genuine one.
“Every time we went over a bump, you moaned and squeezed your legs together,” she replied knowingly.
“Funny. I tell you what, you go in first, and see if you can find a walkie-talkie the guys use. I know Deck has them in the heavy machinery, and we might have better luck getting them on one. I will get Shiloh and be there in a few.”
Back in Stella’s room, I’d noticed that Julie had trouble when she tried to lift the little girl up. I couldn’t help noticing that I kept thinking of Vegas as Julie and not her nickname. I couldn’t say why exactly, it made no sense, but then, none of this made any sense.
“Okay,” she whispered, giving me a grateful smile. She got out of the car without another word and made her way slowly up the small incline that led to the portable building.
“Okay, Squirt, time to go see Daddy and Darth,” I said excitedly.
She had seen Julie and me crying before and heard Steel on the phone going ballistic at me. I had no idea if she understood any of it, but I was determined to see that no more sadness touched her.
As I unbuckled her belt, Shiloh asked, “And Manny, and Vinnie, and Apollo?”
I laughed at the names she used for her uncles, Creed’s especially. He hated that name. Mannix told me once that they had special names for missions to keep their real identities from the enemy. Steel had come up with Creed’s, much to the broody man’s chagrin.
“Yes, Squirt, all of them. Come on, sweetie, can you help Aunty Rainn get you down? My belly is too big for me to do it all it all by myself.” I wasn’t lying. Each day, it seemed like my stomach got bigger and bigger. I glanced at the incline I had to walk up and groaned.
Great idea, guys. You couldn’t put it at the bottom of the hill?
At the top, Julie was just going in. Her body looked tense. Just as she walked all the way in the open door, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“Quick, Shiloh, let’s go join Ve-Ve,” I said quickly. Something was off. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just did.
With more help than I expected from Shiloh, we managed to get her to the ground and took off at a slow pace. Well, I was slow. Shiloh scurried and fell and even army crawled her way up the gravel-covered hill. Finally, after a lot of stumbles and laughs, we got to the door.
“Rainn, pick up Shiloh now!” Julie cried from inside the office. Her tone was urgent, and it made me do exactly what she asked.
I grabbed Shiloh and swung her onto my hip, which sent a cramp in my belly. Shit. I ran my free hand over my daughters and was rewarded with a soft kick.
“Julie, what is wrong—” I stepped into the room and gasped. Quickly, I turned Shiloh in my arms so she couldn’t see the dead man tied to Deck’s office chair. It was obvious his neck was broken, blood covering his beaten face, and there was a large hunting knife stabbed through his chest. Bile rose in my throat, and the various pastries I ate at breakfast threatened to come back up.
“Shiloh, you keep your face looking at me, okay? Don’t take your peepers off me,” I ordered.
“Okey-dokey, Red. Whatever you say,” she replied and looked right at me.
Growing up with the men of the Wounded Souls, Shiloh had grown up knowing when she was told something, she did it straight away. Her easy-going nature made situations like now a blessing.
“Who is it?” The question from Julie came out in a muffled rasp. She was standing stock still in front of me, her whole body rigid.
“Stella’s stepfather, Gary.”
I had met him when Mia, Stella, and I were accosted the night Stella was kidnapped. He was badly beaten, but it was definitely Gary.
“Take a photo of him,” Julie said out of the blue, which was a strange thing for her to ask of me.
“Why?” I asked, but I fished my phone out of my bra anyway.
“Please, just take a photo. The guys will need it.”
I grumbled the whole time that they could do it themselves but did it anyway. I pointed the phone at him and tried not to see the horrible condition of his beaten face and all the blood that had congealed around his wounds. How was I going to close my eyes to sleep again and not see this in my mind?
“We need to get the guys up here right now. Julie, go over to the bench and grab one of the walkie-talkies from the chargers.”
I didn’t want Shiloh to see such a gruesome sight. Her head had dropped to my shoulder, her eyes still on me, and was happily humming to herself.
“I can’t.”
“Of course, you can. They are just over there,” I said and pointed to the bench behind the dead man.
“No, Rainn, I really can’t. I stepped on something when I walked in. I was so shocked by what I was seeing I wasn’t watching where I was stepping.”
“Stepped on what?” I looked down to see a strange looking round device, which looked to be metal, poking out from under her left boot. What was that?
“What is that?” I repeated my silent question aloud.
Julie stared hard at me. Her eyes were wide with what I could only describe as pure fear.
“I think it’s a pressure trigger. It made a loud clicking sound when I stepped on it,” she whispered.
My mind raced. What the hell was a pressure trigger?
“Ohhh, Darf stepped on a pressure trigger the other day. He gots blown to kingdom come,” Shiloh said happily.
“Darth did what? Julie, how do you know about pressure triggers? Shiloh, you need to start watching cartoons,” I babbled, scared of the look on Julie’s face.
“Pfft, dream on, woman,” Shiloh mumbled.
I wanted to scream for all the talking to stop. I felt like I was in some kind of warped nightmare.
“Rainn, get yourselves out of here right now. Darth has explained enough to me that I know if I lift my foot even the tiniest amount, the whole place is going to—”
I held my hand up and nodded.
“I get it. I get it. Okay, I’m going to go back to the car and drive like a bat out of hell to the guys—wherever the hell they are—and get help. Mannix is an explosive expert, so he will know exactly what to do.” I hoped, but the words I spoke felt like a lie. I didn’t think there was a way out of this at all.
Carefully, I touched Julie on the arm. She didn’t move to look at me, thank God, but she gave me her version of the famous chin lift.
“Take Shiloh and get the both of you far away from here. Promise me that in fifteen years from now, when a man comes calling for her, you’ll make sure he has the same qualities as the five men who raised her, loved her, and would do anything for her. Make sure of that, Rainn, because anything less than that would be a waste of her heart,” she told me.
The peace in her voice had me worried. She wouldn’t do what I believed she was thinking, would she? No!
“Julie, the guys will know what to do, so just wait,” I begged again.
“Not without hurting one of them or worse. You know this, Rainn. Gary is already gone and me … sweetie, I am, too. This way there will be no pain, no helplessness, and no pitying looks.”
Without looking at her, I knew she was crying. I was, too—again. I couldn’t believe this was happening, the injustice of it all, because of the need for revenge of a deranged man.
“Go now, and I will count to fifty slowly. Take it easy getting back down the hill. Put Shiloh down when you get free of the doorway. Don’t carry her down, but keep her moving. When you get down to the car, yel
l out my name. Now go.” The last two words were harsher than the others. I could see she was waning in her resolve but was still determined to go through with it.
I had never felt so torn in my life. Logically, I had to get Shiloh to safety, but selfishly, I needed my friend to stop thinking sensibly and wait for Mannix to help her. Deep down, I understood Julie was right, that other lives would be lost if Mannix or any of them died trying to help her.
Heaviness took up residence in my heart, a feeling I worried would never go away.
“I love you,” I rasped, my hand still on her arm. I couldn’t seem to remove it and didn’t want to.
“I love you, too. In my room, there is a letter for Darth under my underwear. Please, give it to him,” she said in a barely audible voice.
I nodded my head and let my hand fall away.
“Say bye to Vegas, Shiloh.” The words nearly lodged in my throat, and the double meaning hurt.
“See ya later, gator.”
“In a while, crocodile.” Julie sobbed, her head falling forward. “Go.”
I backed out of the office and closed the door gently behind me.
“Shiloh, when I put you down, I want you to get back to the car as quick as you can. Do you understand me?” I used what she would describe as a growly voice, but I needed her to see I was not playing a game.
“I’s will do zactly what Ve-Ve said,” Shiloh promised with a kiss to my cheek. “Youse is crying a lot today, Red. Is youse okay?” Her hands came to my face, and she squeezed my cheeks.
Oh God, I loved this kid so much.
“Rainn, please.” Julie’s strained voice came from behind the door. The desperation in it got me moving.
“I’m fine, honey. Now on the count of three, we get down that hill as quick as we can.” I placed Shiloh on her feet, made sure she was balanced, then started to count.
“One, two, three. Go, Shiloh,” I urged and followed the little girl as fast as I could manage.
We both slipped and skidded most of the way, and my daughters protested that, as well, having been bumped and rolled enough for the day.
“Shiloh, run behind the car,” I called out when she got to the bottom before me and stood by the back door. She gave me a thumbs-up and scurried to the back of the SUV.
I reached her a few seconds later, my breath coming out in gulping pants, and I could feel my pulse throbbing from the exertion. I lowered myself to the rocky ground and gathered Shiloh to my chest. I closed my eyes and willed my mouth to move, to call out the word that would end my friend’s life. The little body against me was safe, but there was still unseen danger surrounding her. Mannix and his brothers were the only guarantees she had, that Charlotte, Mia, Stella, and I had. Our unborn children had. I opened my eyes and saw the sky was darkening with the late hour. Grey clouds loomed above us, looking like rain was coming.
Finding the strength I needed, I turned my head and yelled as loud as I could for the last time.
“Julie.”
Chapter 31
MANNIX
“What the fuck!” Booth shouted.
The ground under my feet shook with the impact of an explosion. Small pieces of rock, gravel, and debris from whatever blew up, rained down on my brothers and me. I dropped to the ground and covered my head with my arms as best as I could. Deck fell down beside me and cursed a blue streak when what looked like a doorknob hit him in the back of his head.
“Deck!”
“I’m good. Everyone whole?” he yelled out.
We both looked around and saw Booth, Creed, and Darth were in similar positions as we were. They all looked to be in one piece except Darth had blood on his face from a large gash on his cheek.
“Darth, you okay?” I asked and scrambled to my feet.
What the fuck was that? I didn’t press the detonation, yet something obviously blew up.
“Mannix, I’m guessing you didn’t detonate,” Creed surmised correctly. His eyes were wild, and his stance was one we all knew well as former soldiers fighting the enemy.
“No, brother, I didn’t,” I answered gruffly. “But someone fucking did.”
“Mannix, what is your SUV doing up there near the off— Fuck! It was the office. Someone blew up the office,” Booth yelled, his hand pointing to where the portable used to sit.
A huge plume of smoke and flames engulfed it, and parked own the incline was my SUV. From where I stood, I could see sheets of mangled roofing tin covering it.
“I left it at the compound for Rainn— Oh, no, no, fuck, Rainn,” I screamed and took off at a dead sprint. My heart threatened to stop beating as I ran as fast as I could. If Rainn had been in that office, there was no way… no fucking way was she dead, no way. Please, no, not my lady.
I could hear my brothers all at my back running with me, but the uneven terrain made it difficult for them to keep the pace I had set. Only the adrenaline that flowed through me kept me going.
Over the roar of my heartbeat, I could hear another roar—that of a Harley engine in the distance. I could make out the blonde hair of my brother, Steel. Normally, he would slow down in the driveway, but something kept him throttled down and gravel spewed up in the air behind him. For him to leave his wife at the compound with Stella, something was definitely wrong. It had to be Rainn.
I slid my way down the incline on my butt at the same time Steel came to a halt.
“Where’s Rainn? Shiloh, where is Shiloh?” Steel shouted as he ran towards me.
“Shiloh is here?” Deck cried. “Shiloh! Shiloh!” he screamed out over and over.
Fear filled me as I frantically searched the area. My Ford was covered with charred metal, and as I started to make my way to it, Creed’s panicked holler stopped me. He was standing close to the burning building. I couldn’t see much, but my eye landed on what looked to be a human arm.
Oh, please no.
“Jesus fucking hell. There looks to be two bodies here,” he called out without looking at me, his eyes on the remains lying near his foot.
“Rainn!”
“Shiloh!”
Deck and I screamed at the same time. Darth, too, was yelling out the club princess’s name, his voice hoarse with the effort.
“Daddy, Darf, help.” The small voice carried from down near my SUV, and we all quickly ran towards it.
“Shiloh,” Booth yelled. “Hang on. We’re coming, baby girl.”
“Unca Vinnie, help.” Shiloh’s voice was coming from under the vehicle, and she sounded like she was crying.
If Shiloh was okay and not in the mangled mess that was once the office—did that mean… Was one of those bodies Rainn? My knees threatened to give out on me. Losing Rainn and my daughters in such a horrific way would surely end me. I concentrated on getting the panels of tin off the car so we could locate exactly where Shiloh was. We all worked quickly and with precision, a well-oiled team.
“Shiloh, where are you?” Deck asked frantically. He opened the door, but she wasn’t in there.
“We is under the car, Daddy.”
We? Was Rainn under there, too? I dropped to my knees, or they buckled underneath me. As I scurried half under the chassis, Deck, Darth, and Booth did the same from the other end, and I caught sight of Shiloh huddled over Rainn’s pregnant belly.
Oh, thank the fucking Lord. She was lying on her back, and her shoulders heaved as she cried uncontrollably.
Jesus, was she hurt? “Lady, I’m here, baby. Please, Rainn, tell me you are okay.”
Finally, she turned her head to look at me. The most defeated, lost look stared back at me.
“Are you hurt, the girls?”
She shook her head, tears streaming down her face causing dirty streaks.
“She made me take Shiloh. She sacrificed herself. I begged her not to. I begged her.” As Rainn rambled, her grip on Shiloh got tighter, and the little girl winced at the force of Rainn’s fingers on her arm but made no attempt to break free.
What the hell happened? Whose bodies w
ere they? What sacrifice? Those things I didn’t know, but what I did know was my woman was devastated about something.
“Rainn, honey, let Shiloh go so she can go to Deck. Then we can get you out from under here so your man can get his arms around you,” Booth spoke gently as if he were speaking to Shiloh when he was trying to get her to go to bed.
“I’s will helps you, Red. Your belly is too big to army crawl out,” Shiloh said matter-of-factly.
I couldn’t help the short laugh that erupted from my throat. Trust the innocence of a child to lift the dark cloud of the situation if only for just a minute. By the looks of Rainn, I feared there was a lot more bad to come.
It took a bit of work, but I had to crawl under and help Rainn shimmy herself out on her back. Shiloh wasn’t wrong with her observation about Rainn not being able to army crawl. Her pregnancy hindered my inner need to get her out as quickly as possible and into my arms. My lady was hurting, and it was breaking my heart to watch each choked sob, each hiccup, every sniffle, and I needed to hold her, hold them. My girls.
“Daddy!” Shiloh cried and threw herself into her father’s arms the second Booth and Deck helped her out.
Deck’s arms tightened around his daughter as he buried his face in her raven curls.
“Oh, thank God, baby girl. Thank God,” he chanted, relief colouring his tone.
Darth stood close, his hand on Shiloh’s back, his relief too evident on his face. Once Rainn and I were out, I jumped to my feet, and with Booth’s help, we each grabbed an arm and gently lifted Rainn to her feet. Her body collapsed against me. She was freezing cold, and her whole body was like ice. I enveloped her in my arms as she shivered uncontrollably.
“Booth, find something in the car that we can use to warm her up with.” I rubbed my hands up and down her arms as her fists held onto my shirt, not allowing me to let her go completely.
“Here, put this on her,” he said, taking off his cut and draping it over her shaking shoulders.
I knew I needed to start asking questions, but I wanted to get her to a hospital and checked over first. If she and Shiloh were under the car, that meant she saw the explosion. Had she hit her head? It was possible she could have a concussion, which would explain her crying and strange ramblings.
His Lady: The Wounded Souls Page 17