Bowie

by KJ Dahlen

  Bowie snapped his head around to question Deke but he saw the truth in the other man’s eyes. “And how do you know that?”

  “I’ve seen this look before. When Cassie first got here, she used to have it in her eyes too. Whatever this girl has gone through, it hasn’t been good.”

  Bowie nodded and approached her more slowly.

  As he knelt on the floor beside her, the dog she’d called Beast broke away from the hold Mountain and Byron had on him and he rushed to stand in front of her, growling at Bowie and the rest of the men.

  Bowie stopped. He was face to face with the wild beast. Looking at the dog up close he saw more wolf than dog and he felt the best thing he could do was to stay still.

  Beast laid down next to the girl and kept his eyes on them.

  ~* * * *~

  After a moment or so, Shayna lifted her hand and grabbed the dog’s fur. Her fingers moved slightly as if making the connection with him was helping her come back.

  Finally, she sat up. Her fingers were still connected to the dog but she looked at Bowie. “I haven’t done anything wrong and I really have to go. I can’t stay here.”

  “Why? What’s so important that you can’t answer some questions for us?” Bowie asked.

  Shayna shook her head. “I have to get home.”

  The whole room was silent, almost eerily silent. So when the ping of a text message came to Deke’s phone, it sounded to Shayna like a death toll. She jerked and swung her head around to stare at him as he checked his phone.

  Deke’s eyes narrowed as he read the message, then looked up at her. His eyes had more questions than answers. “Do you know anyone living at 498 Market Street?”

  Shayna jumped to her feet. Her fingers gripped the dogs’ fur tightly. “Why do you need to know?” she whispered. Her body trembled badly. Oh, god. Oh, god! I-if Danny is dead? Oh...

  Deke stared at her and explained, “When we found you today, a friend of ours was watching the street. He saw a young kid running away and he followed him. When he saw the kid enter the house on Market Street, he watched and waited. A few minutes later, he heard a commotion then he heard someone scream. Moments later he saw the same kid and an older man rush out and get into a car. They drove away but as neither of them seemed injured, our friend entered the house. He found another kid laying on the floor at the bottom of the steps.”

  Shayna dropped down on her ass again. Her eyes welled with tears. “Danny?” she whispered breathlessly. She dropped her head for a moment then lifted it to look at Deke. “Did your friend call the police?”

  “He called an ambulance. The boy was still alive,” Deke told her.

  “He’s still alive?” she repeated his statement. Scrambling to her feet, she rushed forward. “Danny’s still alive?” she asked, as she got closer to Deke. Grabbing him by the shirt, she searched his face. “Where did they take him?” When he didn’t answer her fast enough, she pounded her fists on his chest. “Where’s my brother? Please! Please tell me!”

  All the men standing there looked stunned.

  Deke took a step back. “Amos said the ambulance took him to Mercy hospital.”

  “Where the hell is Mercy hospital?” Shayna shrieked.

  Bowie stepped up behind her. He reached out to lay his hands on her shoulder but stopped when he heard a low growl from the dog who stepped between them. Beast came up to stand between him and Shayna again. “I can take you.”

  Shayna turned and snapped her fingers. “Let’s go then. I need to get to Danny!”

  Bowie raised his brow. “Yes ma’am. But the dog stays here.”

  Shayna knelt quickly and held her face close to the Beast’s face. She whispered softly to the dog and when she got to her feet, Beast trotted to the door and disappeared into the woods. She turned to Bowie and asked, “Can we go now please? I need to get to Danny.”

  Bowie shrugged and looked around at the men assembled there. He tipped his head and they followed as he led the way out of the shop. Bowie led the way to his vehicle and opened the door to Shayna. She slipped in and he closed the door.

  ~* * * *~

  When Bowie started the car up, she motioned for him to go. As he drove away, he checked the rear-view mirror and noted the men following him on their bikes. He got to Mercy hospital in no time and almost before he stopped the vehicle, she hopped out. Running to the front door, she disappeared inside. Bowie and the rest of the guys followed and they saw her disappear down the main hall into the Urgent care.

  When they arrived, they saw her disappear behind a curtain. Then they heard her sobbing. Deke saw Amos standing against the wall and wandered over to him.

  Amos nodded then looked at the curtain while shaking his head.

  “What happened?” Bowie wanted to know.

  Amos snorted. “Whoever that kid was that ran away from the shop this morning he went to the Market street house. I got there in time to hear someone scream and then a few minutes later the kid and an older man ran out and took off in a car. I waited for a minute or two and went inside. There was a kid laying on the floor. He’s hurt real bad. In fact, I didn’t think he was still alive at first then he groaned. Frankie was with me and we looked up the steps and found a wheel chair at the top of the steps. Some bastard pushed the kid out of the wheelchair down the dammed stairs! Then he took off. We don’t know the bastard’s name.”

  “But she does.” Deke turned his head and stared at the curtain. “She knows who he is and why he ran off.” He looked back at Amos and Frankie. “Did you find out his name?”

  Amos nodded. “He told us in the ambulance his name was Danny. He was worried about someone named Shayna.”

  Deke nodded then looked over at Bowie. “That’s your girl’s name isn’t it?”

  Bowie rolled his eyes. “She’s not my girl.”

  Deke hid his smirk as he ignored him and turned back to Amos, “How bad is the kid hurt? Did you hear anything about his condition?”

  Frankie nodded. “The ER doc is a friend of mine. He’s in there right now looking at the kid.”

  “I rode in the ambulance when they brought him in,” Amos told them. Glaring at the men around him he related, “That kid can’t be more then eleven or maybe twelve, but he’s a small kid. He had bruises covering his entire body and his legs don’t work, which is why I’m assuming he was in the wheel chair. I saw some scars too. Old scars that never healed right. Who gave him those I have no clue. The EMT said something about a recent fever, maybe the girl can tell us about that.”

  “Did you get a chance to go through the house?” Deke asked Amos.

  Amos looked disgusted. “I’ve seen cleaner pig pens than that house. We found a door upstairs busted open and signs of a struggle but didn’t really have time to look all that well.”

  Deke looked at Bones and at his nod, he turned to Frankie. “Do you think you could have someone go back and really look? The more we know about that house and its occupants the better we can deal with the backlash.”

  Frankie nodded and reached for his phone. He walked away and spoke to someone on the other end and as he did, the curtain was pushed back and a doctor walked toward them.

  Deke stood there and waited for the doctor to speak. The doctor cleared his throat. “That young kid is still alive but what he’s been through no kid should have to go through. From what his sister told me his back was broken ten years ago in the car accident that took their parent’s lives.” He shook his head and looked upset as he went on, “He was only two when the accident happened. They were told at the time his spinal cord had been damaged and he would never walk again but he’s also been experiencing more pain than he should be having after all this time. She tells me the pain in his legs is getting unbearable. She also claims her uncle hasn’t allowed him to see a doctor in years. I’m ordering new x-rays to find out more about what’s going on. He’s weak from malnutrition and dehydration. She claims that’s because he can’t work and their uncle doesn’t feed him right.”

>   “Her uncle?” Deke narrowed his eyes.

  The doctor nodded. “Their uncle has legal custody of the two of them since around the time of the accident. When she came of age a while back, she tried to get him away from their uncle when she was legal age herself. But the uncle wouldn’t allow it. He told the judge she was unstable.” The doctor grimaced. “The judge believed him, so she couldn’t get them away. She stayed because of her brother.”

  Bowie curled his fingers into fists when he listened to what another man said about her. He didn’t know why but he knew she was better than this sad story. “Does the uncle at least take care of the kid?”

  The doctor scoffed. “Not really. That’s her job.”

  “She was rather chatty don’t you think?’ Deke asked the doctor.

  Bowie wondered at this himself, as she wouldn’t tell them a damn thing earlier.

  “She was reluctant to tell me anything until I told her I would call in social services over his condition. I also told her someone would be going to jail because of the boy’s deplorable condition and the fact that according to the EMT’s, the boy was thrown from the top of the stairs.” He shrugged. “That’s when the story came out. She didn’t want her brother to be hurt anymore. She didn’t want to lose him in the system.”

  Bowie had heard enough. He stomped over to the curtained area and stepped inside.

  Shayna lifted her head and stared at him. Tears ran down her cheeks and he could see the despair in her eyes. She turned her head back to her brother. Gently, she reached out and brushed a lock of his hair away from his forehead. “Why are you still here?” she whispered.

  “I need to know that you’ll be okay,” he told her honestly. Looking over at Danny, he had to ask, “Is he going to be ok?”

  Shayna shook her head. “Sean really fucked him up this time. He rebroke his back and gave him a concussion. The doctors had to put him in a medical coma until the swelling comes down. Between that and his previous fever, he’s a very sick kid.”

  “His previous fever?”

  Shayna nodded. “He had a fever last week. He was so weak he couldn’t even get out of bed. He hardly ate or drank anything, which is what led to him being weaker than normal. His fever finally broke last night.”

  “Didn’t your uncle get him any medicine to help reduce his fever? Or medical help?” Bowie frowned.

  Shayna looked angry at this question. “That would require my uncle to spent money for something other than beer or food. Now he might spend it on beer but he hates to spend more than he has to for food.”

  “Then why have you stayed with him for so long?” Bowie finally asked.

  Shayna slumped in her seat. “Because of Danny.”

  “What does your uncle do exactly?” Bowie asked.

  Shayna shook her head. “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t tell you,” she repeated in a fearful whisper.

  “You don’t owe him any loyalty, you know.” Bowie assured her.

  Shayna rolled her eyes. “It has nothing to do with loyalty. Sean only has one rule in his house, you betray me you are dead to me and I’ll make sure you’re really dead.” She air quoted. She motioned to Danny. “This was the one thing he swore he’d do if I betrayed him. He’d take Danny away from me then he’d come for me.” She turned her glaring gaze at him. “He thinks because you caught me and dragged me into your shop, I would tell you everything about him. This was his way of telling me to keep my mouth shut.”

  “We can protect both you and your brother,” Deke assured her as he stepped up from behind the curtain.

  Shayna shook her head. “But you can’t,” she whispered. “You don’t know Sean. He’s a true bastard.”

  “Tell us about him then.” Deke urged as the curtain was pushed aside further opening to space between them.

  The other men joined him and suddenly the space Danny was in got very small. Shayna got nervous and stumbled to her feet. She rounded the end of the bed and stood behind it. Reaching out, she grasped Danny’s hand and stared at the men around her.

  “I think it’s time for answers little girl,” Bones stated. “We need to know them and you need to talk to us.”

  ~* * * *~

  Shayna trembled at the thought of answering them. These men could really hurt her and Danny. She had a feeling they could tear her apart with little effort, then turn and walk away with no worries. Turning her head to Bowie, she noted the concern in his eyes. She frowned slightly. Was he concerned about her? He didn’t even know her.

  She felt a wave of dizziness swept over her and she had to swallow hard to stay alert. She didn’t know how pale she had become until Bowie rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her. Shayna tried to push him away but couldn’t. For a moment, she felt something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. She felt safe...And warm. She was stunned by the realization. Then she realized she’d been cold deep down in her soul for so long and in this man’s arms, she was warm again.

  She gasped and turned to him, just staring.

  Bowie looked at her and something clicked between them. He looked just as stunned as she did in that fraction of time. Turning her head slightly, she saw a man standing there at the back of the ER.

  She trembled at the look in his eyes. No one else had noticed him yet besides her and the look he gave her was one of pure hatred and malice. Before she could say anything, he turned and disappeared. Shayna was shaking so hard now she felt cold and clammy. Her heart pounded in her chest and it was becoming harder to fill her lungs with air.

  Chapter Four

  Bowie gathered her closer just as her legs gave out and she slumped in his arms.

  He swung her up and carried her over to another bed. Deke called for another doctor as Bowie laid her out carefully. He brushed her long hair out of her face and stared at her completely stunned. Her skin looked so pale it showed dark bruises beneath her eyes, something he hadn’t noticed before. He then checked her pulse and could feel it racing and she was breathing heavily, almost gasping for the next breath she took.

  A doctor rushed over and began checking her vitals. He called out for a nurse and they began working on her.

  Bowie was hauled back a step or two and they all watched and waited for the doctor.

  Finally, they gave her a shot and waited to see if she would calm down enough for the medication to work. After a while, the doctor stepped back and turned to face the line of men waiting behind him.

  “What the hell is going on here Doc?’ Deke finally asked what they all wanted to know.

  The doctor ran his hand over his exhausted face. “Quite frankly, I have no idea. She had a panic attack, a rather severe one too I might add. Her blood pressure was almost to the point of no return. Did any of you frighten her with your questions?”

  Bones scoffed at this. “We hadn’t asked any yet.”

  “Excuse me doctor,” the nurse behind him interrupted. “It could have been the man by the door that frightened her.”

  The doctor and every other man turned to stare at her.

  “What man?” Bowie finally asked.

  The nurse swallowed hard. “There was a man standing just inside the doorway. He was glaring at her and she looked up. I saw them briefly before he turned and disappeared out the front. That was just about the time she passed out.” The nurse shivered. “Oh, my god. He was one scary dude.”

  Deke looked over at his dad.

  Without words, Bones disappeared.

  The doctor turned his face and saw Shayna lying there, then he turned to Deke. “I don’t like this. I really don’t like this.”

  “I don’t like it either doc.” Deke nodded. “But until we get answers, we don’t know what’s going on. She’s got the answers we need and I’m not letting her go until we know what we’re dealing with.”

  “I don’t think either of these children are going anywhere today,” the doctor announced.

  “Then neither are we
,” Deke assured him.

  “Do you think I need to call the police in on this?” The doctor was a good friend to the MC but he still had to follow protocol. If this were going to cause problems and-or bring danger to the patients, he would call the police and notify them of a potential problem.

  “Not yet doc,” Deke told him. “We’re here for answers but we won’t allow anyone to start trouble either. We’ll protect both of them.”

  “Then let me find them an out of the way room,” the doctor told Deke.

  Bowie stood with his back to the wall and stared at the woman lying on the bed next to her brother. She was laying on her right side. He couldn’t take his eyes off her for some reason. He knew she was awake but was pretending to still be out of it.

  Deke and Bones were whispering off in a corner and Wiley was standing outside the door.

  His brothers were over in another corner talking softly, but Bowie was watching her. He finally pushed off from the wall and walked over to where she was laying. Pulling up a chair, he sat down and took her hand. She started to tug it away but he wouldn’t let go.

  She cracked her eyes and glared at him.

  Everyone took note of the motion and wandered closer. Bowie nodded. “You might as well talk to us. As you can see we aren’t going away,” he told her softly.

  Shayna exhaled and turned over on her back. Throwing one arm over her eyes she growled, “Why don’t you guys go pick on someone else?”

  “Maybe we aren’t done with you yet?” Bowie told her.

  “I got nothing to say to you or anyone else!” Shayna snapped. “Go away...please.”

  Bowie chuckled and leaned forward in his chair. “That’s not gonna happen, little girl.”

  Shayna slowly lowered her arm and looked at him steadily. “What do you want from me?” she whispered.

  “Everything,” he whispered back under his breath.

  Deke stepped closer and shoved a picture at her. “You can start answering our questions by telling us who this guy is and why he wants you dead.”