He groaned and looked up. “Really?”
“Yeah, it seems she was on the phone with them when we arrived. They are worried about her,” Data said and looked back to Kit who was staring at the table. “Shit, I am worried about her, she is just staring, I don’t think she is even processing what is happening right now.”
Numbers nodded and then stood. “We should get her something to drink, maybe some food and get her relaxed. See if we can get her to snap out of it.”
Data sighed and ran a hand along the back of his neck. “When she does we need to be prepared, she is gonna fall apart.”
Numbers nodded and then said, “Come on, let’s see what we can do before the women get here.”
Together they went to the table; Data squatted in front of her. Numbers sat down next to her and took one of her hands. They both ignored the zap of awareness that coursed through them when they touched her. Damn, seeing her picture was nothing compared to seeing her in person. She was gorgeous, not in a traditional way, more of an exotic way. Her eyes were expressive and damn, her skin was soft as silk. If they hadn’t thought it before, they definitely thought it now, she was the whole package. Sweet as pie, and sexy as sin.
“Baby,” Data said softly, and she looked at him with that same blank stare. “You okay?”
She just stared and didn’t answer, Numbers leaned in a little and said, “When was the last time you ate?”
Nothing.
“Come on, baby, talk to us,” Data said, and Numbers tightened his hand on hers. “Even if it is to tell us to fuck off, just talk to us.”
Nothing. Shit, the men looked at each other, and Data looked concerned. Numbers stood up and walked to the kitchen and opened the cupboards and grabbed three glasses. He set them on the table and then walked to the front of the house, when he came back Data saw he was holding a bottle of whiskey.
Without speaking Numbers poured two fingers into each glass. Then he slid one to Data, one to Kit, and he picked up one and tossed his head back and drank the whole thing, Data did the same thing. Kit just sat there, so Data picked up the glass and took her hand gently and put the glass into it. She didn’t drop it. Instead, she stared for a second, and then thankfully, she lifted it to her mouth and drank. The guys relaxed a little, she drank the whole thing and slammed the glass down as she coughed and sputtered, she was not a drinker obviously.
Data rubbed her back as Numbers took one of her hands and held on while she got herself under control. When she looked up, her face was red, and her eyes were bright. She was not staring aimlessly; she had tears in her eyes as she stared at him. He was about ready to say something when she screamed with such agony, sadness, and rage, both men jumped a little at the loud noise that came from her. Shit, Numbers thought as the doorbell rang.
Chapter Eight
“Oh my God, what the hell did you two do to her?” Shady snapped as they barreled in the door that Data just opened.
“Hey,” he said, offended they thought he would do something to a woman. “All we did was give her a drink.”
Boo rolled her eyes. “Just let us talk to her, you guys go and get your stuff set up. We brought more stuff, it’s in the back of my car. There are some clothes and other things for Kit.”
Data nodded and glared at Shady and then stomped out of the room. “I swear, sometimes you women are just rude, we were trying to help her…”
“Blah, blah, blah, go on and git,” Harmony said and pushed Numbers out the door with him and the two men stared at each other.
“What the fuck?” Numbers complained.
“I don’t know, it’s like if we don’t have a vagina, we can’t possibly understand how they feel,” Data said, and Numbers stopped and grabbed his arm.
“They have a point.”
“Yeah, but we don’t tell them that, then they think they are all smart and shit. This way we look like we are assholes while secretly agreeing with them. Besides, we also don’t have to deal with tears. I hate tears, they like give me hives or some shit,” Data said.
“You have been storing that since the hotel, haven’t you?” Numbers asked.
Data grinned. “Hey, I was in the zone of helping her, I was not going to fall apart because she was crying, I would have looked like a pussy. This is how the other guys do it as well, you know that we show the women our good side, and then when we are alone, we act like assholes to each other to take the edge off.”
“Other guys?” Numbers laughed.
“Yeah, Creed and Fork, Slider and Cajun, Easy and Poke.” Data shrugged.
“They have all claimed a woman for themselves,” Numbers pointed out and then Data looked at him and nodded.
“Yeah, and you can’t tell me there isn’t just something about that woman,” Data said.
Numbers looked up and said, “Fine, but I figured it was rude since we met her like an hour ago, just after she killed a man, and we smuggled her over the border.”
Data shrugged and moved to Boo’s car where Kink and a few of the guys were waiting.
“Nothing Harmony hasn’t done. I mean, dude, she stabbed a man with a SPORK.”
Numbers chuckled and then said, “True.”
Kink got off his bike and motioned with his head. “The guys have both sides of the street, making sure no one is coming pass the house who looks like they don’t belong. Which is pretty simple since all of the houses on this street are either active or retired commanders and admirals.
Hell, the only reason the general got a house over here was that he was DoD.”
Data looked around the street and then he turned back and grinned. “Hey, you think they want to run with us in the mornings?”
“You are so not asking the officers of this island to run PT with you.” Kink laughed and shook his head. “Brother, they will take one look at you and know you are a grunt.”
“So?” Data said.
Kink laughed loudly and then said, “Okay, let me put it this way, do you remember Admiral Petty’s daughter?”
Data snorted and said. “Of course, but they don’t.”
Kink shook his head. “Hell, you are like an urban legend, man. Hacking the SEAL database to get the phone number of an Admiral’s daughter and then using that information to tap into her phone to track her so you could just ‘bump’ into her, get her drunk, take pictures of her, and then use them to bribe an Admiral during an exercise in order to win? Yeah, your picture is still fucking hanging in the office as a ‘Do not allow under any circumstances’ entry.”
Data frowned. “Hey, I was told it was inventive.”
Numbers laughed and shook his head. “Was that before or after the Admiral ordered you to be arrested and shipped off to Guantanamo.”
He shrugged, “He was upset, it was a natural response, but afterward, he did forgive me.”
“No, he didn’t,” Kink roared loudly. “He shipped his daughter off across country.”
“Whatever,” Data muttered and then tapped the back door of Boo’s car. “Come on, open up; we need to get our stuff in and set up so we are monitoring the chatter of what is going on. I feel like the assholes in Arizona are going to make a move soon. With Angela and Henry in the wind, they have something planned; I’m just not sure what. We need to stay on top of it. If they find out we have Kit, which they will, I am certain either the Vipers will make their move or the club from Arizona. Either way, we need to see who is coming and when. Either get Jas back here before they attack or make sure they are aware of someone coming and soon.”
Kink and Numbers sobered and then Kink said, “The only good thing is before he left, Maxi and Ice talked to Slick, Boxer, and Jack-Jack. They are all ready to throw their names in as Prospects, although they said they refuse to do the whole shitty duty a younger man would have to do.”
“Did you tell them to fuck off?” Data asked, and Kink shook his head.
“Nah, figured we would let them feel a false sense of security and then fuck with them a little. Besides, we have three other yo
ung bucks that already have pledged as Prospects. Freebyrd and Stone know them, they were medical discharges.”
Numbers nodded. “Make sure they send us their info so we can actually get them checked out first, sorry, not trusting anyone since those fuckers stabbed us in the back.”
Kink nodded. “Hell yeah, sucks, they knew when they betrayed us what was going to happen. I don’t know why they think we would ever allow them to do this to us.”
Data said, “Because they have no honor, hell, they will fuck their own mother to get what they want. They can all burn in hell and I wouldn’t flinch. We gave them everything, and they turned around and tried to destroy us. Fuck, I will strike the fucking match.”
“With you there,” Kink said and Numbers agreed. Kink opened the door, and the guys began to grab their stuff.
Kit remembered drinking the whiskey, and suddenly everything broke loose. Her parents, the attack, being on the run, everything just came out in one scream. Then she was surrounded by women, strange women she had never seen before. That apparently worked to combat the whole hysterical freak out she was having because she stopped screaming and stared. They were gorgeous, which shouldn’t have shocked her but for some reason it did. This many women together and not a one of them were hit with the ugly stick, really it was amazing.
“Wow,” the woman with long dark hair, a gorgeous figure clad in tight jeans, a Harley tank, and these really cool boots that went up to her knees said and shook her head sadly. “If your head starts spinning I am totally not going to be surprised.”
The shorter woman with reddish hair, dressed almost the same way, slapped her on the back of the head and said, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Uh, I don’t know. It could be because she sounded like she was possessed or something,” the dark-haired woman replied. “And if you hit me again, I will cut you, bitch.”
“Oh my God,” a very cute little woman said as she walked in. She was dressed in a cute sundress and looked very happy and well, normal. “Can we not act like a fucking psycho when we meet people. One of these days someone is going to call the police on you just for saying hi.
Sorry about these idiots, my name is Boo, well that is my road name, my real name is Betty, which I refuse to answer to so don’t call me that, call me Boo. Anyway, I am a nurse; this is Shady and Harmony or if you are like me and are a little afraid of women who can kill you in ten different ways and not break a sweat, you call them whatever they say because they scare you.”
The dark-haired woman who was just identified as Shady, Jas’s mother, laughed loudly and said, “Damn, Boo, what the hell is that about?”
The smaller woman smiled, and she said, “It is a proven fact; laughter is the best medicine. Now, I get some bad stuff went down here, and I would never, ever, minimize what you have been through, it is a shock. You will deal with the grief in different ways and times than anyone else. I was just merely pointing out, you two scare the crap out of most people, and coming here being all abrasive is possibly the wrong angle to take.”
Kit just stared at them. Honestly, she was grateful for them to call a halt to the pain she had been feeling. It really was just a little bit too much, though; her head was a mess right now.
Her parents dying in a heinous way, seeing them, and then being on the run, she had reached her breaking point. It wasn’t a pretty sight she knew, but it happened. On a day she shouldn’t be anything but sad, Kit did the unthinkable; she smiled a little at the women’s antics.
“And my job here is done,” Shady said and pointed to Kit and smiled kindly at her.
“Sorry, I’m not really trying to be wacky, it just seemed like maybe you needed to be shocked out of the whole freak out thing.”
Kit nodded and said, “Thank you, sorry, everything kinda just…”
Harmony said as she sat down next to her, “Listen, never apologize to us for anything, well, unless you have sex with our men and we catch you. I mean, I would cut off Creed’s and Fork’s dicks if they did that, but other than that, don’t apologize.”
“Men?” Kit said tilting her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Okay then,” Boo smiled big, and Shady looked up at the ceiling. “Well, uh, that is a story for another time.”
Harmony laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, so not lying to someone about this. Okay, honey, I get that we just met and all, but I am gonna tell you like it is.”
“Oh shit,” Shady said, and Boo opened her mouth, and Harmony pointed the finger at her and shook her head.
Five minutes later Kit was opening and shutting her mouth, she knew the word ménage, but she had never met anyone who actually lived the lifestyle as they say. She had no idea how to respond to that, like none. She was raised in a different country but not in a different century but still. “Okay,” Kit finally decided on.
Boo raised an eyebrow and looked at the other women and said, “That’s it? Okay?”
Kit smiled softly and said, “Well, I could cry and scream in hysterics, but since I already did that.”
Shady laughed loudly. “Woot, I like her already.”
Kit looked at Shady and said, “Jas…”
“Soon, first let Boo check you out, make sure you are good, slip you some Valium if you need it, and then we will talk. Jas is fine; they know someone could be coming, so they are making sure she is safe. You, on the other hand, need to make sure you are good; it has been a sucky few days.”
Kit felt the tears again, and she sniffed, refusing to cry again right now. “Yeah, it has been.”
Boo stepped up and set her bag down on the floor, then put her hands on her hips and she said, “Okay, so you are going to have some bruises, are any of them hurting?”
Kit looked startled and then looked down at her arms, she saw the bruises. What on earth? She looked confused she knew she looked confused because Boo stepped closer. “Do you remember how you go them?”
Kit looked up and nodded. “Yeah, sorry, I guess I didn’t realize that I actually had marks, I didn’t look or anything. I mean…”
Harmony nodded and said, “Happened to me too, I mean I get when you are like in that situation, and all of the adrenalin is running amok and shit. That things like injury, especially something non-life threatening is easy to forget.”
“Oh yeah,” Shady said softly and put a hand on her forearm and squeezed it gently.
“Happened to me too, that is why we came. I mean, we are nosey and all that, but we aren’t rude.
Harmony and I have been through some shit.”
Kit looked at them, and she nodded slowly and then she whispered softly, “Your mom…”
“Not my mother, trust me, that woman is not my mother, I would not call her mother, she means very little to me other than a kernel of disgust. Maybe when I was young, I was fooled by her, thinking she cared, but trust me, she didn’t, like at all. The woman has not one damn maternal bone in her body!” Shady said and then Boo opened her bag and began to clean the small scratches on her arms. The whole time, Shady and Harmony spoke softly to her, encouraging her to talk about her parents, her friends, anything until Boo was done. They wanted her to feel comfortable with them, it was obvious. Kit just wasn’t sure why? Did they really care as it seemed? Or did they just want information and then they were going to cut her loose?
Chapter Nine
Angela glared at Henry and said deceptively soft, “She got away?”
Henry nodded and said, “I assumed she was still in her office. According to one of the Vipers who saw her leaving the house before I called them to fill them in, she ran from the back patio to her car.”
“She heard us?” Angela said, and Henry nodded.
“Probably,” Henry agreed. “She didn’t know the Vipers were already watching her family and all it took was a phone call and they were dead.”
Angela sighed and put a hand to her forehead. “Then what happened?”
“Well, they found her pretty quickly, mostly beca
use the chick had like no friends, completely predictable. However, we didn’t suspect she would call the Ops.”
Angela’s head snapped up, and she glared at him and said slowly, “She called the Ops?”
“Yeah,” Henry said, and Angela stalked to where he was standing and then slapped him across the face and then spit on the floor in front of him.
“How could you be so stupid, all we have gone through, to have everything within my reach and it is all for naught, you have ruined everything,” she yelled loudly and then swung back around and stomped to the desk in the hotel room she was staying and lifted the gun on the desk, and she turned around. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right this second?”
Henry looked at her steadily, refusing to flinch or cower from her. Instead, he said,
“There is no reason.”
Angela glared at him, “Dammit,” she snapped and dropped the gun to her side and then put it on the desk. “We can’t afford to make mistakes like this.”
Henry nodded and said, “I agree, which is why I replied the way I did, there is no reason not to blame me; however, I would of course like the chance to make it up to you like I have always done. I will make sure I find your little mouse and catch her. In the meantime, you work with who you need to in order to find out exactly where Jas is located; we need eyes on her before we do anything. So, while I am taking care of her, you get the information for me so I can finish that as soon as I am finished with this.”
“The silly little girl who is giving me the information thinks she is somehow going to save her ‘family’. They are broke and in desperate need; if we play this right, they will be the ones who will do our dirty work,” Angela said.
Henry made a noise of agreement and said, “They would have betrayed them regardless, we just happen to be at the right place in order to capitalize on it.”
Chapter Ten
Kit held out the small thumb drive she had just grabbed from her bag and was handing it to Shady when everyone had come back into the house. They had moved their conversation to the large family room where a few of the Ops Warriors were, as well as the Lady Riders. Kit didn’t know any of them, but she kept seeing Data and Numbers wandering through. They would pause and look at her, as if they were making sure she was okay. Truthfully, Kit was grateful, and she was also seeing how everyone deferred to them when they were talking about things they could do in the future, which once again freaked her out a little. Were they going to hold her captive for the next twenty years? Not like there was anyone now to notice, but still she wasn’t sure exactly how to take what they were saying.
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