by Khloe Wren
“My mom was the one who sold me to these assholes. If she’s here, I don’t give a fuck.”
Son of a bitch. This poor girl. “Fair enough. Think you can help us get everyone outside? We need to torch that room at the back so no one can come in and find the information that would allow them to start this shit back up.”
Fury flashed across her dark eyes before she lifted her chin and gave me a solid nod. Then she marched forward toward the kids and women. The kids all listened to her as she spoke. They obviously trusted her. With how she was acting now, I’d guess she took more than a few beatings trying to protect the younger ones. With a few words from her, the kids began to tug at their moms, trying to get them to move. The women who were able, started moving toward the door, the ones too far gone we set about carrying out. Joining the other men, I wrapped a woman in a sheet, before I lifted her up and headed toward the large garage door that had now been opened to the outside. The sun was heading toward the horizon, and the smoke in the air made everything a strange, orange color as the sun began to set. It was eerie as fuck.
Between the five of us, we got everyone out into the parking lot in about fifteen minutes. When we were nearly done, I sent Blade to go to the van to get what he needed to light up the office. If the whole building burned, it was no loss. All we cared about was making sure that everything inside that fucking office burned to ash. Once I was done moving the last woman, I headed back to toward the office. Understandably, Blade wasn’t right after what happened to his girl and I wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything stupidly reckless.
I was about three quarters of the way to the rear of the main warehouse space when I heard the whoosh of flames followed by Blade’s curses.
Unsure what was going on, I snatched a blanket off one of the beds and sprinted for the office. Blade stumbled backwards out of the room, flames licking up his side.
“Fuck.”
Throwing the blanket over the flames, I shoved him down onto the ground and rolled him until the flames were out. The moment they were, I had him over my shoulder and was gunning for the exit. When I hit the parking lot, I saw that the van had been backed up to the entrance and the engine was running. Arrow stepped up to open the side door.
“Get him to a hospital. Jazz and Bank will come back for Eagle and me. We’ll make sure it’s the police who pick these ladies and kids up, not more of Sabella’s men, then we’ll meet up back at the trailer.”
“You sure?”
I didn’t want to risk anyone’s safety but Blade needed medical attention ASAP. And Arrow was right, we couldn’t risk the wrong people finding these women and kids.
“Yeah, we’ll make sure we’re well hidden with the authorities arrive. Jazz knows where to pick us up. Go get your boy taken care of. At least with all these wildfires, they won’t ask too many questions about the how of his burns.”
I nodded and after setting Blade down across the rear seats, I made myself comfortable on the floor near him. Arrow closed the door, then we were off. As we raced down the road, I placed my hands on his uninjured side to keep him still as Jazz raced around corners to get us where we needed to be. Blade was keeping stoically silent, but the set of his jaw and his eyes gave away the amount of pain he was suffering.
“We’ll get you taken care of, brother.”
He gave me a small nod but stayed silent.
I wanted to say so much, but had no fucking clue where to start. My main concern was that this hadn’t been an accident and he’d tried to take himself out but the pain had been more than he’d anticipated and had sent him retreating from that office before the job was done. Ultimately, I guess it didn’t matter, right now. I’d make sure he got the medical help he needed, then I’d make sure he got better, even if I had to drag his ass back to Texas with me.
Sparrow
My whole life, I’ve never known what to expect to come at me from one day to the next. The only thing I could be certain of was that it was likely to be bad. Nothing had been as bad as the past however long it had been since my mom sold me to her dealer to clear her debt, though. I’d never bothered to keep track of the days passing. Hadn’t seen the point in it. So I had no clue how long I'd been stuck in that horrible warehouse.
One thing I did do, and never stopped doing, was fighting those bastards. They never ever got anything from me without paying for it with their flesh. I’d scratch, bite, kick, punch. Whatever I could do, I did. No matter the consequences, I never stopped fighting. For me, or the other kids. At fifteen, I was the oldest they had in the “pedo room.” Most of the sick perverts who paid for the right to abuse a child wanted someone younger, someone less likely to fight back. Sucked to be them, because I didn’t care who they’d set their sights on, I fought them all. There wasn’t one child in that room who I hadn’t fought for.
A tremor ran through my body as memories of all the times my fighting did nothing but delay the inevitable. I’d no doubt had more concussions than was healthy from all the blows to the head I’d taken, not to mention my arm that hadn’t healed right and still ached. And those poor kids, some just toddlers, still got taken and abused before being tossed back to me to try to put back together again. The assholes that ran the place laughed every time I fought. Told me they only kept me around because they didn’t want to deal with the kids after they got used. And the fact some of the men they brought in wanted someone older.
I shuddered again.
My life had been hell.
When that man had barged into the room earlier, I’d been ready to fight again. Always hopeful that maybe this time I could make them go away without taking anyone. Then I’d seen the other men and my heart had dropped. No way could I take that many on, but they’d stopped short. They hadn’t looked at any of us with lust in their eyes. Instead, they’d looked mortified. Then the big, bald man had given me a weapon and they’d told us they’d be back to free us. Unfortunately they’d also locked us back up, so I hadn’t been able to escape either on my own or with the others. That had driven me nuts. I’d wanted out so bad.
But they’d kept their word and had come back for us. I still wasn’t sure what to make of them as they led us to the main room of the warehouse. Some of the younger kids had run screaming to their moms, and as the men released more of the women from the beds they’d been locked to, more kids found their moms. I couldn’t help my reaction to seeing those beds. I’d been told that’s where I’d go once I aged out of the pedo room. They’d even brought me in here a few times to watch what happened. Telling me if I didn’t quit fighting every man that came for me, I’d end up here sooner rather than later. But even with that threat over me, I just couldn’t not fight. It wasn’t in my nature to lie down and let life fuck me over.
The big, bald guy who seemed to be in charge came at me, stripping off his shirt. I’d held my breath and tightened my grip on the knife still in my hand, but the strike I’d been expecting never came. Instead, he’d been nice. Giving me the shirt to cover up my nudity that I’d forgotten about. None of us ever had clothes here. He was so tall that his shirt covered me nearly to my knees. I rolled my shoulders and shuddered at the strange sensation of having material against my skin for the first time in so long.
After I helped get the remaining kids and the women who could walk outside, I looked around, assessing the situation. I’d heard them talking and knew authorities were coming to collect everyone. I also knew I couldn’t be here when they arrived. They’d give me back to my mom, or worse, find my dad and give me to him. Neither of those options were ones I could live with. So I’d stood there, off to the side from everyone else and watched our rescuers in action. Each man was gentle with the women they carried out from the warehouse, settling each one carefully before returning for another.
When I’d scanned the parking lot earlier, I’d noticed what must be their van parked off to the rear. Checking everyone was still busy and focused elsewhere, I’d slipped into the evening shadows and made my way over t
oward it. Of all my options, those men seemed like the safest bet to get me away from here. Testing the rear door, I’d found it thankfully unlocked, so with my breath held, I’d slipped inside. Making sure the door was shut tight once more, I took in the back of the vehicle in the fading sunlight. There were three rows of seats, including the driver and front passenger seat, then the back of the van was mostly empty storage space. A smile tugged at my lips when I’d seen a few blankets shoved to the side near where I was. I’d crawled over and covered myself with them, making sure nothing of me showed but I’d still had an opening near my face so I could breathe.
I hadn’t been there long when I’d heard the doors open and close and the engine start up. I had no idea what had happened, but after the vehicle drove a short way, it stopped again and the side door opened. All the men seemed panicked as one told the others to get a man to the hospital, I couldn’t hear all the words spoken through the blankets but I had started to wonder how good my plan really was when the van took off in a rush. I struggled to hold my place under the blankets as the van raced around corners faster than I thought it was supposed to.
When it screeched to a stop, I nearly cried out as I slid forward, only just catching myself with my hand before my head slammed into the back of the rear seats. Sirens and bright lights filled the van and I made fast work of re-hiding myself, hoping and praying that no one had seen me.
“No way to do this without it hurting, Blade.”
“Just do it already.”
Oh no, one of the rescuers had gotten hurt. I had no idea which man was Blade, but the other man who’d spoken was the one who’d given me his shirt. That made me feel safer. He’d been nice to me. Even if they did discover me now, I was hopeful he wouldn’t take me back to that warehouse for the cops to deal with. I’d hoped that I could stay hidden until they drove far away from that place. Until it was too late to turn back around. Although I had realized I’d had no clue where they were going. For all I knew they could live just down the road from where I’d been held.
I hoped not.
I hoped that they lived far, far away and they didn’t notice me back here until they got there.
Squeezing my eyes tightly closed, I’d blocked out all the noises around me and prayed they didn’t find me yet. That this crazy plan would work out and I’d be able to start over somewhere everyone didn’t want to hurt me or watch me be hurt.
Chapter 8
Mac
Even when we’d all made it safely back to Blade’s trailer, I’d still hadn’t been able to relax. Something was wrong but I’d been unable to put my finger on it. Blade was out cold thanks to the pain meds the hospital had pumped into him. His jeans had taken the brunt of the heat on his lower half but his arm had been a real mess. His face had caught a little heat but thankfully not seriously burned. The doc had told us that my quick thinking with the blanket had most likely saved at the least his arm, if not his life. That got me thinking again about whether Blade’s accident with spilling gas on himself had truly been an accident. But my gut told me this nagging feeling I had wasn’t about Blade. Something else was going on.
“You checked in with Scout yet?”
I shook my head then looked to Arrow. “Not yet. My instincts are screaming at me. But I’m not sure why yet.”
“Give him a call.”
I frowned at him. “What do you know that I don’t, brother?”
He just nodded at my pocket where my phone was. “Just make the call, Mac.”
I hated this vague bullshit, and it was fucking strange, coming from Arrow. Normally the man shot straight from the hip and didn’t waste time with games.
With a growl, I ripped my phone from my pocket and pulled up the secure app, and pressed Scout’s number.
“Hit me.”
Scout sounded more tired than usual, another sign something more was going on.
“It’s done. Sabella is dead, his stable is cleaned out and the victims are all in the hands of the authorities.”
“Injuries?”
“Blade got burned up his right side. Dropped some gas down himself and a spark caught him. He’s gotten medical attention but I want to bring him back with us. Sabella had his woman. Blade thought she’d been killed years ago, but Sabella had her the whole time. We found her in the warehouse. They’d been using her hard and she died in his arms after we killed the fuckers. I’m worried about him.”
“You don’t think he accidentally spilled the gas, do you?”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I’m not sure. But that’s my suspicion.”
Scout was quiet for a minute.
“Make sure he’s on board with coming with you. If he’s good with relocating, he’s welcome here. Up to him if he wants to try his hand at club life. We’ll discuss it further if he decides to come home with you. Speaking of which, when you planning on heading back?”
My senses kicked up again. There was something about his voice that had me standing straighter.
“As soon as Blade’s ready to travel. Why? What’s happening?”
He sighed heavily enough I heard it over the line. “Guessing you haven’t called your woman yet?”
“No, I was checking in with you first. She’s my next call. Why?”
“Good. You need to call her.”
Ignoring the fact he was my president, I growled at him while glaring at Arrow. “Fucking tell me what’s going on. You and Arrow clearly know something I don’t, and it’s screwing with my head.”
Scout’s voice dropped to a growl. “Remember who you’re talking to, brother.”
“I will as soon as ya’ll stop fucking with me and tell me straight what the fuck is going on.”
“Fine! Cleo wasn’t teething. It was an ear infection. The doc gave her amoxicillin and it turns out she’s allergic—”
Panic had my heart rate racing. “Is Cleo all right? Is Zara? And why the fuck am I just hearing about this now?”
“Calm the fuck down. They’re both fine. Well, Zara’s mad as hell at the club because we sent you away then told her not to call you when it all went down earlier. But health-wise, they’re both fine. Donna and Keys are with them at your place.”
“I’m not exactly happy she wasn’t allowed to call either.”
“Seriously? Think that through, brother. You were raiding that fucking warehouse. You really think hearing that your daughter was in the hospital would have helped you stay focused? There wasn’t shit you could do about it, so we decided it was safer to wait. Now quit chewing my ass about this and go call your woman. Let me know when you’re leaving.”
He hung up before I could say another word. As I pulled up Zara’s number, I glared at Arrow. “You could have told me.”
“I didn’t know enough details to tell you. All I knew was that something was up with Cleo and you needed to call home once we were done here. Telling you that would have just stressed you out more. Head out the back and give her a call, brother. No point in wasting your time or energy on being mad at something none of us can go back and change.”
I didn’t bother trying to say anything else to him before I spun on my heel and stormed out of the rear of the trailer. I got why the club had prevented Zara from calling me earlier, but that didn’t change the fact I was fucking furious that I was so far away from my family when they’d needed me. Zara’s narcolepsy and cataplexy had improved since she’d given birth. She figured it was because her maternal instinct trumped her illnesses but I’d bet she was still struggling.
A quick glance at the time had me wincing. It was past ten pm back home but I couldn’t wait till morning to speak to her. Hitting dial, I held my phone to my ear and prayed she was still awake and wasn’t so mad she wouldn’t answer my call.
Zara
With Cleo sleeping in my arms, I watched a movie with Donna and Keys, and had a big talk about that day at Marie’s Cafe with them. Feeling drained but with a clearer head, I’d headed upstairs to put Cleo down while Donna and Keys
had gone to bed. I’d assured them I was heading to bed too but I couldn’t sleep so I was sitting here in Cleo’s room, watching her little body rise and fall with each breath when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Without taking my gaze from Cleo, I pulled it out, then after a quick glance showed me it was Mac, I’d answered it as fast as I could. Thankfully, Cleo slept like the dead once she was out so I didn’t bother leaving her room before I spoke.
“Hey.”
“Hey, bunny. I hear you’ve had a busy day. Wanna fill me in?”
A flash of anger heated my face. “So you’ve already called Scout, then?”
“Sweetheart, don’t get mad. I rang him first so I could talk with you for longer. If I’d called you first, I would have had to make it quick so I could go ring him. Now, we have all night to talk. If you want.”
I huffed out a breath and forced myself to calm down.
“I hate that you’re not here. I needed you.”
“I hate I wasn’t there when you needed me, too. Tell me what happened, bunny.”
“Cleo got worse after you left. By this morning I knew it wasn’t her teeth, so I took her to the doctor. She’s got an ear infection. Dr. Stevenson wasn’t worried, neither was Donna. They both said kids get them all the time and she’d be fine with some medicine. But she was allergic to the amoxicillin they had me give her. I was watching her pretty closely and when I noticed she had a rash, I ran over to Taz and Flick’s place and he drove me to the hospital, where they treated her.”
Tears pricked my eyes thinking about it all.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you both. So, baby girl’s allergic to penicillin, yeah? Anything we need to do in the future for that?”
I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me. “I’ll go in with her for a check-up in a couple days and ask, but I don’t think so. Maybe get her one of those medic alert bracelet things when she’s a bit older? Not sure. For now, the whole club knows about her allergy and it’s listed on her records at the hospital.”