CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
The cuffs dig into my skin, but it’s nothing compared to the thought of never seeing James again.
I’m never gonna kiss him again.
Never gonna touch his warm skin again.
Never gonna—
“Hands up and step away from the girls!”
The air whooshes out of my lungs, and a dizzy wave hits me as a deep, familiar voice fills my ears.
James.
I turn, trying to shake the T-shirt off my face, desperate to see him. But it’s stuck, and all I can make out are shadowy shapes around the truck. None of them are James. They’re all my captors.
“Look who’s back to save the day,” the scarred man next to me says.
“Hands up, Axel!” James barks.
Axel. James knows his name. Did they meet at the gas station?
Through the fabric over my head, I catch a blurry glimpse of Axel, the same bastard who yanked me by my braids, raising his hands.
“You too, Jacob. And don’t even think about reaching for your gun, Noah.”
James is talking to the other two men on the far side of the truck. I see their shadows raise their hands too. James isn’t playing around, and they know it.
Then Axel does the last thing I expect. He starts clapping. Slow. Mocking.
“Well, well, you caught us… James Hill.”
And that’s when everything slows down.
James never tells strangers his name. Never. One year on the road, and the only time he said it out loud was in the pharmacy, right before he killed Aaron. James wouldn’t have told Axel if they met at the gas station… so how does he know?
Oh my God, Axel knows James from Texas.
“I didn’t tell you my name,” James says. “Should I know you?”
Axel laughs dryly. “I’m a little hurt you don’t remember me.
But I sure as hell remember you. After all, you gave me this.
” His shadow shifts, and I see him touch his arm.
Even with the T-shirt over my head, I can tell what he’s doing.
He’s showing his burn scars. “I was there. When you burned that city.”
Burned a city? James burned a city?
“Huh. Didn’t think anyone from there survived,” James says flatly. “A city full of thieves and worse. They got what they gave.”
Axel spits on the ground.
“What’s wrong with you Outsiders? Why don’t you just follow the rules?”
“Your rules, you mean?” James fires back. “You steal from people. You threaten them. You hurt them. And you expect me to respect that?”
“This is the new world, man. You should’ve gotten used to it by now.
There’s no police. No law and order. There are only our rules.
We’re the kings of this place. The food?
Ours to take. Cities? Ours to run. And the people?
They’re here to obey us.” He pauses, pointing a finger straight at me.
“And her? She’s gonna suffer. All because of you.
Simple as that. You broke the rules. Now she’ll pay the price.
” He laughs under his breath. “Gotta admit, she’s a fine piece of meat. ”
“You’ve got to be the dumbest son of a bitch alive, knowing who I am and still going after my girl,” James growls.
“Did you really think coming to Colorado would keep you hidden? That no one was looking for you?” Axel shakes his head, and I can hear the grin in his voice.
“Hell, just imagine the chaos when I bring her to Denver and spread the word that I took James Hill’s girl.
They’ll come from everywhere for her. Maybe Tyler’ll give me a piece of the city just for this delivery. ”
I bite down hard against the gag, my fear rising with every word.
Lorelai’s muffled sobs are faint now, drowned out by two sets of footsteps on the other side of the truck. Jacob and Noah are moving, surrounding James. He’s completely alone.
“You’ve left a hell of a trail, Hill,” Axel taunts. “Caused a lot of destruction. But you made one big mistake. You didn’t finish the job when you had the chance. Now you’re at a disadvantage. You can’t take all of us at once.”
James’s voice drops, low and dark. “Look again.”
As if on cue, two more figures step out from the shadows behind Axel.
“Hey, asshole, remember us?” Michael asks, his tone too relaxed for someone aiming a gun. Right next to him, Ryan’s got his own aimed too.
My pulse thunders as Axel’s shadow shifts through the fabric over my head. I can’t see his face clearly, but his silence says everything.
Then his arm jerks for his gun.
“James!” I try to scream, but the gag chokes the sound.
Gunshots crack through the air. I squeeze my eyes shut, like that could somehow protect me.
When the shots stop, I slowly open my eyes, scared of what I might see.
A single shadow fills my view. Just one.
Axel.
My heart slams into my ribs, and for a split second, I can’t breathe. Then his body tilts backward, almost in slow motion, until it hits the ground with a heavy thud.
“Sarah!” James says my name, and warmth floods through me.
He’s okay. He’s not hurt.
I feel hands on me, gentle but urgent, pulling me into a sitting position on the bed. Someone pulls the grimy T-shirt off my head, and I blink as light floods my eyes.
Michael’s standing beside me, the dirty T-shirt still clutched in his hand. He doesn’t say a word, but his wide, horrified eyes say everything. He’s staring at the cuffs around my ankles like they’re some kind of nightmare he can’t unsee.
Someone tugs the rope from my parched mouth. I lift my head and see James standing in front of me, tossing the gag to the ground.
I smile, even with tears streaming down my cheeks.
“James, you came.”
His hands are on me in a heartbeat, cradling my face. “I’ll never lose you. You’re a part of me. And I’m a part of you.”
There’s a sound behind me, and then I feel the bite of the cuffs ease off. I look over my shoulder and see Michael unlocking my wrists with a key. No doubt, he fished it from Axel’s pocket. He moves to my ankles next, quickly freeing them too.
I glance down at my wrists, rubbing them gently. They’re red and raw where the cuffs dug in. James’s eyes drop to the marks, and for the first time ever, I see something in his face that shakes me.
Fear.
He takes both my hands and brings them to his lips, kissing my knuckles as if he’s trying to kiss the pain away.
“Fuck!” Ryan shouts beside me, ripping the rope off Lorelai’s mouth. He cups her face in his hands, eyes locking on the blood still smeared across her lip from the slap.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Michael working fast to unlock her cuffs too. As soon as she’s free, she practically launches herself into Ryan’s arms, her legs wrapping tightly around him.
“I’m here, pumpkin. I’m here,” Ryan whispers, smoothing his hand over her red hair. She’s still sobbing, her face buried in his neck, her whole body shaking. He shifts her in his arms and carries her away. “You’re safe. You’re safe now.”
I feel James’s fingers gently brush my cheeks, his thumb wiping away my tears. Our eyes meet again as his hand slides down my back, holding me close. And for a moment, I let myself sink into him until a sharp pain slices through me.
Everything that happened during my escape floods back in waves. The fence. The yank on my braid. The bite of metal against my skin. I groan, louder than I mean to, unable to hold it in.
James pulls back instantly, his brows furrowing. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I… I cut my back.”
◆◆◆
James sits beside me, silent, staring at me like I’m a shooting star that might disappear if he blinks. It’s been thirty minutes, maybe more, and he hasn’t said a single word.
I’m still in the truck bed, trying to shake off the shock that just won’t let go. Ryan’s up front, working on the cars. Lorelai’s with him, quiet as a mouse. She hasn’t said a word either.
We’re all here, alive, but none of us feel okay. Not yet.
Michael’s behind me, focused on cleaning the cut on my back with that quiet precision he always has when he’s patching me up. Another bandage for the collection, I guess.
I notice the way he leans on one leg more than the other, a dark stain spreading over the knee of his jeans. He doesn’t say anything about it, but he’s definitely hurt—probably from whatever went down at the gas station.
My back throbs as he finishes the stitches. I wince when he applies the antiseptic, the sting sharp enough to make my eyes water.
I catch James watching my wound, his shoulders tense, his hands balled into fists on his thighs, still stained with my blood from when he touched my back.
He’s rattled. And I know why.
He almost lost me. We were this close to being torn apart, and now he’s already running through every possible way it could happen again. Especially now that we know they’re looking for him.
Michael finally breaks the silence. “We’ll have to clean it later. Took six stitches. This cut’s deeper than the one on your head.”
I pull my shirt down over the bandage and quickly grab my green jacket. Suddenly, I can’t stand the feeling of bare skin.
Every inch of me aches, but my scalp still throbs. I reach up instinctively, my fingers grazing the spot where my braid was yanked.
“He hurt your head too?” Michael asks, like he can read it on my face.
“He dragged me back by my hair.”
James’s knuckles crack loud enough to hear, but he doesn’t say a word.
I catch Michael’s gaze and give him a tiny nod, then glance over at James’s hands, shaking, still clenched tight. Michael follows my gaze and sees what I see. He gets it.
“Walk with me, James,” he says quietly.
James glances at Michael, then back at me. I give him a small, reassuring smile, silently telling him I’m okay. He hesitates, then follows Michael a few steps away, staying close enough that their voices still carry back to me.
“You good, man?” Michael asks.
“I have to be,” James says, running a hand down his face, dragging it along the lines etched deeper than they were this morning. Then he looks at Michael and shakes his head. “Shit, Michael, we could’ve lost her.”
Michael’s eyes flick toward the back of the parking lot, where Axel, Jacob, and Noah’s bodies are piled up, out of sight. His expression hardens, and I know what’s coming before he even opens his mouth.
“All right, we need to have a serious talk, James. Look, I’ve never questioned who you are, or what you’ve done. I wasn’t afraid of you. Since the day I found you in the woods, I only ever saw…”
“…a friend,” James finishes, offering a shy but genuine smile.
“Yeah.” Michael nods. “But now, I need to know. Was Axel telling the truth? Do you have a target on your back? Is that why you never said your name when we were on the road?”
James’s shoulders stiffen.
“Yes.”
Michael’s fists clench at his sides.
“Jesus Christ, James! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I screwed up, Michael.” James sighs deeply, like he’s been carrying this for a while.
“There’s a reason I tried to keep my distance from Sarah in the beginning.
I didn’t want to drag her into this, into my world.
I should’ve told you who I am and what I did in Texas.
I should’ve told Sarah too. But I didn’t.
I thought… I thought I could protect her by keeping it to myself. ”
James rubs a hand over the back of his neck.
“At your dad’s ranch, you were isolated, protected.
There were no rules. You were free to live a normal life.
But out here, it’s different. Out here, we were all under the gangs’ control, but I never followed their rules.
Back in Texas, for years, no one messed with the towns near me because of what I did.
Every thief, every rapist, anyone who tried to control people—I hunted them down.
I thought I could change things. Make the world safer, like it used to be. ”
James finally looks at Michael. “Your dad knew.”
Michael blinks, stunned. “Dad knew who you were?”
“I’m an Outsider, Michael. My name carries weight, and not in a good way.
And my name… I’m very well known. You saw in the pharmacy.
” James lets out a breath. “When you found me in the woods that day and I said I was James Hill… you had no idea who I was. And man, that meant everything to me. Most people hear that name and get scared. But not you.”
James crosses his arms, his fingers absently scratching his chin.
“Your dad didn’t trust me at first. It didn’t matter that we were friends.
Everything he’d heard about Outsiders over the years gave him every reason not to trust me, and I don’t blame him.
The world’s full of people who’d hurt you without a second thought.
And Outsiders… we try to help, but it doesn’t always work out.
People get hurt. Others get caught in the crossfire.
So at your birthday party, I told your dad everything, even the truth behind my scars. ”
Dad knew everything about James… and never said a word?
“After that, your dad trusted me enough to put the ranch’s security in my hands. That’s how I knew about the secret tunnel from your house to the barn. Your dad told me. He’s the only reason I was able to find you two that night.”
“Dad never told me that.” Michael turns to James, his brows furrowed in thought.
“So everything people say about Outsiders is a lie. I fucking knew it.” He pulls off his cap and drags a hand through his hair.
“The gangs are the ones keeping people afraid of Outsiders, making everyone think it’s safer to follow their rules than trust people like you. ”
James shakes his head. “Just ’cause I help someone doesn’t make me good.
I might be killing those who deserve it, but it still fucks with your head.
Do it long enough, and it starts to feel good.
Outsiders are not saints, Michael. We’re killers.
That’s our problem. Even when we’re trying to do the right thing, we’re still doing something wrong.
Look at Ryan and Lorelai. I saved their lives that day in the pharmacy, only to put their lives at risk again today. ”
“But you still saved their lives.” Michael’s voice softens as he studies James. Then his lips curve into a small smile. “You Outsiders are the ones helping us.”
And there it is.
The truth I’ve known all along.
Outsiders aren’t the villains people think they are. That’s the lie the gangs built everything on. In reality, Outsiders are the ones risking everything.
They’re the saviors.