Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
Two days later…
Chaney was getting ready for bed after her first day back at The Village and she was tired when she heard a text message pinging on her phone. She picked it up and swiped to read.
Rafferty kissed me tonight. I’m in heaven.
“I don’t believe it!” she squealed.
What??? How? Tell me more. Chaney wrote back.
We were out under the stars talking and it happened. Perfection.
Tears of joy sprang to Chaney’s eyes for her friend, but she also felt sorry for herself. Here she’d been flirting nonstop with Rawlins, and nothing had happened between them except he’d held her hand and there had been a few hugs initiated on her part.
Instead of texting Justus back, she called her.
“Okay. You can’t leave me hanging like that. More than talking had to have led up to a kiss,” Chaney said.
“Not necessarily. Unless you consider the days and weeks leading up to it,” Justus said.
“Well, that is a given. Had you been flirting with him like we talked about you doing?” Chaney asked, crawling onto her bed and sitting crossed legged.
“No, because it never seemed like the right time to start without it coming across as being obvious,” Justus explained.
“And he still kissed you?” Chaney said. “Amazing. Rawlins hasn’t made a move yet and we’ve been flirting for weeks now. So unfair.”
“Maybe you should make the first move,” Justus said.
“No. I’ve been flirting. If that isn’t a sign that I’m open to more with him and he can’t step up on his own, then I’m not exposing myself to ridicule or embarrassment because he doesn’t feel the same by making an overture.”
“It’s up to you,” Justus said. “I’m going to go grab a shower.”
“No wait. I wanted to ask if taking the combination of medication, I suggested had helped with your pain the other day,” Chaney said.
“It did. Thank you. I slept like a baby that night thanks to you,” she said.
“Good. I thought maybe it did since you didn’t call back. I’ve struggled with painful monthlies since I started so it wasn’t anything new for me after the implant was removed.”
“I’m so sorry,” Justus said. “I had no idea.”
“Just count your blessings.”
“I will,” she said. “Listen, I’m still tired from earlier in the week. I’m going to go get in the shower before I fall asleep talking to you. Talk to you later?”
“Sure.” Chaney hung up, still smiling. Maybe if Raffety could kiss Justus then Rawlins might eventually get around to kissing her. She turned on the bedside lamp and then went to turn off the overhead light before crawling under the covers. Then she patted the lamp’s base to turn it off again before closing her eyes and letting her thoughts drift to being out under the stars swinging high in the air with Rawlins beside her. She didn’t care if that was a childish thing to think about. She enjoyed swinging. And that was one place they’d been together that she could easily imagine.
However, when the swing slowed and her legs touched the ground again, it wasn’t Rawlins beaming face she saw, but the man in the black tuxedo from the night of the auction.
His face loomed at her, sneering with large, sharp teeth and he began laughing and pointing at her. And then she had a bird’s eye view of herself tied to a pole in the bikini and those high heels while horrible looking men gawked at her. Then hands, hundreds of pairs of hands started groping for her body.
And she woke, sitting up in bed, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her PJs were damp with sweat.
The overhead light flashed on as Rawlins rushed into the room calling out her name. “Chaney! Chaney!”
She cried and flinched when he tried to touch her.
“Chaney, it’s okay, it’s me, you’re safe,” he soothed.
She finally looked at him, registering where she was, and Rawlins gently caressed her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She shook her head as her lips trembled. “I saw him.”
“Who? Who did you see?”
“The man. The man in charge of the trafficking ring. I remembered him from the auction.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “It’s okay. He can’t get to you. He’s long gone. No one has seen him since that night.”
“But what if he can?” Chaney questioned pushing Rawlins away. “What if he’s out there looking for me and Justus? Someone tried to steal her dog from the groomer. Do you think that was just a fluke? Some random man walked in off the street and decide I’m going to get a dog today?”
Rawlins shook his head. “I see your point.”
“I’ve let my guard down. I got so wrapped up in volunteering at The Village that I forgot all about the trial. My nightmare is a clear reminder that I can’t ever forget what I went through.”
“I don’t think you have. You just focused your attention on better things than the bad,” he pointed out. “Do you think you can get some sleep now?”
“No. I’m a sweaty mess. I have to go shower and change before I can even think of falling back to sleep,” Chaney explained as she crawled out of bed.
“I’ll wait for you then. I want to make sure you can get back to sleep without having another nightmare once you close your eyes,” he said.
“Thank you. I won’t be long,” Chaney said. She hurried into her bathroom and took a quick shower, washing vigorously under her arms where she felt she’d perspired the most. Getting out, she dried off before stepping into her connecting closet and snagging a clean night gown because all her PJs were dirty. She slipped it and the lightweight matching robe on, tying the belt at the waist before returning.
The overhead light was off, and the bedside lamp was on when she came out. Rawlins was sitting with his back to the head of the bed on the opposite side where she slept and she noticed he’d changed the bedsheets.
“Were they that damp?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Thank you again,” she said and spotted a small glass of water on the bedside table. “For me?”
“I thought you might could use a drink.”
Her heart melted at the gesture. He really had taken such good care of her since coming here and this proved to her that he was going to make one heck of a husband and father one day. His mother had trained him up well.
She drank all the water, not realizing she had been that thirsty before getting back in bed, leaving the robe on. She reached for the light and tapped lightly to turn it to low beam leaving the room in a soft light then scooted down in bed.
“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” Rawlins said.
“If you feel you need to,” she said, pleased that he wanted to do that, contemplating whether she should milk it for what it was worth to get him to snuggle up to her. But she decided against it.
Instead, she turned to her side and closed her eyes, testing the waters to see if she immediately had flashbacks of her nightmare episode. When it seemed like she was going to be okay, she relaxed and began to drift off to sleep.
Rawlins watched over her until he felt his eyes growing tired and knew he needed to return to his own bed. He inched his way off and left the room, leaving the lamp burning low. He had just laid back down in his own bed when he heard whimpering cries, and he went back down the hall to Chaney’s room to find her asleep. He lay down beside her and waited to see if she cried out again but fell asleep before he did.
Chaney was surprised to find Rawlins sleeping beside her the next morning. She’d thought he’d said he was only going to stay until she fell asleep, but had he fallen asleep before she had?
She slipped out of bed and was dressed by the time he woke, looking embarrassed to be found there.
“Sorry, I left, but you were whimpering, so I came back.”
“Like a puppy or something?” she asked.
“Like cries,” he said.
“But once you returned you didn’t hear it again?” she asked.
“No. I must have fallen asleep.”
“Obviously.”
“Again, sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Maybe I needed to feel the presence of another human in the room with me while I slept,” she said. “You definitely have gone above and beyond the call of your duties last night.”
“I’ll hurry and get ready to go. Don’t you have an interview this morning?”
“I do. With job services. It’s that agency that Hank recommended to help find me a job that best fits my skill set,” she said.
“I bet they’ll make you take a personality test where they ask you the same question ten different ways throughout the questionnaire. I hate those,” Rawlins said. “They make you feel like you are under a microscope.”
“Don’t prejudice me against the appointment before I get there,” Chaney warned. “I need to do well if I want to get a job other than a fast-food restaurant.”
“Sure. Let me go get dressed and we’ll go.”
“I’ll go put cheese toast in the oven,” she said.
Leland paced the interior of his Chieftain awaiting a very important phone call. He’d decided to bite the bullet and reach out to his Arizona brother Seth Masters for advice. They’d always had a good working relationship and he felt he could trust him to guide him in the right direction where his men were concerned if nothing else. He also knew that Seth would shoot straight with him and let him know if talk between the other brothers had started about him. That would mean their superior had reached out to other corners without him being the wiser.
Sweat prickled his brow, and he went to adjust the AC temp but noticed it was set on sixty-eight. Low enough to keep the RV cool. Was there something wrong with his unit? Or was he sweating from nerves?
His phone rang and he jumped, answering his question. It was his nerves. They were on edge. This whole deal had him frazzled. He let the phone ring a few times as he breathed in and out to calm himself before answering.
“Hello,” he finally said.
“Leland, it’s Seth,” his brother said. “How are things in Colorado?”
“Hot and humid right now. How are they in Arizona?”
“It’s like Hades here. But typical for this time of year. But I don’t think either one of us set up this call to talk about the weather. What can I do for you?”
“No. I didn’t reach out about the weather. I have a staffing issue that I thought you might be able to help me sort out,” Leland said, jumping right to the point. “I’ve never had this happen and I don’t know if I’m just having a run of bad luck or if I have a viper in my employment.”
“Hmm. That does sound serious. What’s going on over there?” Seth asked.
“I reached out because I know we are close. Closer than I am with the other two brothers, and I value your confidence. I hope you can keep this between the two of us?”
“Of course. I feel the same,” Seth agreed.
“I’m sure you have been made aware of the raid that happened on my house back in June. That was just the start of it all. Since then, I’ve had to regroup. Pull in new men, promote up. And these guys are not worthy of their positions and that may be where this all stems from. But I’ve had three of my guys arrested this month alone. I feel cursed, that I need to get out of the area, but I know until my men stand trial I have been ordered to stay put and lay low.”
“You are in a tough situation. I agree. You may just be having a run of bad luck like you said. Have you examined your team completely?”
“I have and everyone looks clean. The only one that is in question is missing and he was brought on by Nuchols before the raid. The guy appeared trustworthy, but he turned out to be a screw up in so many of the tasks he was assigned. After the raid he may have just run scared. I don’t know, but what if he was a plant?”
“Have you searched for him?” Seth asked.
“It’s been hard to do since my crew is low in numbers right now and I am also searching for the two girls that I know have been tapped to testify against Nuchols, Bidle, and Polaski,” Leland explained. “If I didn’t have to stay hidden away, maybe those girls would already be taken care of. But they are being watched by the Brotherhood Protectors.”
“One, who said you have to stay hidden away?” Seth asked. “Just because you are laying low doesn’t mean you can’t go after those girls yourself. If your men aren’t getting the job done, and that is what it sounds like is happening from what you are telling me, then it sounds like it’s time to step up and do the job yourself. If I need to come over there to help, I will. My operation is running smoothly right now. You say the word and I’m there.”
“You’d do that?” Leland asked.
“In a minute,” Seth said. “Second, just because the Brotherhood Protectors are on the job doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to get to those girls. I’ve heard of them, but we’ve got unlimited resources. Do they?”
“I have no idea who is backing their operation. I just know they seem to be everywhere these days,” Leland said.
There was a pause. “The more I think about it, the more I think I do need to come to Colorado with a few of my men. I’ll be there in two days. Will that be soon enough? I need to wrap up a few things and put in a chain of command for the current operation I have going on and then I’ll be there. I’ll reach out when I arrive.”
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you,” Leland said. “And thank you for your support.”
He hung up and wiped the sweat from his brow. There definitely was something wrong with the AC unit. The thermostat was still set on sixty-eight, but it was not that cool in here.
He grabbed a baseball cap and dark sunglasses and went outside to check the unit, but it appeared to be working fine. So was his generator. He scratched his chin and looked around at the many parked RVs in the storage area. Nothing looked suspicious or out of the ordinary and he eventually went back inside. He decided to adjust the temperature by upping it to seventy degrees to see if that would change the interior temp for a while before he lowered it back to sixty-eight degrees. If that didn’t work, he’d have to resort to contacting an air-condition repair shop because it was pushing ninety-degrees outside. Which was unseasonably hot for this time of year.
In the meantime, he got comfortable. He changed into casual shorts and a t-shirt. It wasn’t like he was expecting to do business with anyone today. He didn’t even anticipate one of his minions showing their faces out here after what had been going down.
That thought hadn’t left his mind when a knock came at the door. He swore under his breath, went to the nearest curtained window to peep out, before he stomped over to answer it.
“Drake, get in here before someone sees you,” he barked. “What brings you by?”
“Is this a bad time, boss?” Minchin asked.
“Of course, it is. Every day is bad anymore. But obviously you had a reason for coming so spill it,” he ordered. “There is something up with the AC.”
“Maybe you need something to drink to cool off? You want a beer or something?” Minchin asked, going to the little kitchen.
“This isn’t a time to be social,” Leland barked.”
“Of course not, but it’s obvious you need to replenish your fluids.
He frowned. “Alright, then. I’ll have one.”
Minchin returned with two longnecks and handed him one.
“So?” Leland prodded, popping the top off the bottle before taking a swig.
“I wanted to apologize for getting arrested. I thought if I could get the dog, it would allow us to get closer to getting the girl. I didn’t think the process through. I never thought I’d be the one getting carted off to jail.”
Leland nodded. “That was clear by the result of your action.”
“Is that all you have to say?” Minchin asked.
“What more can I? It won’t change that you failed or that you now have this mark on your record.” Leland took a long drink from his longneck then set the almost empty bottle on the table by his chair. “I’ve had to use my resources to bail not only you but Norman and Boggs out of jail. At least you don’t have to stand trial for what you did. You can thank your lucky stars you weren’t charged with more than trying to steal that dog.”
“Again, sorry, boss.” Minchin hung his head.
“Also, you should know that Masters and a few of his men will be here in two days,” Leland said.
Minchin’s head popped up at that. “Why are they coming?”
“To ferret out the rat within my crew.”