2. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
W illa packed the last few items she was taking with her. She’d packed light in the military out of necessity but after being home for a few years, she’d collected some things. She’d adapted after serving by keeping up her piloting skills, hunting with her dad and a side business as personal assistant to some local businesses. Flying was her love but she also had a head for numbers. Numbers made sense and she had a knack for finding discrepancies. She also enjoyed going antiquing and finding pieces of furniture to refinish. She’d filled her life but there had been something missing. Now with her dad gone, she had other things to occupy her time. And at some point, she needed to start going through all the stuff her dad left her.
It didn’t seem like it was real that he was gone. Her mom had died when Willa was in middle school. She and her dad had always been close. He’d served in the military as a helicopter pilot. When he’d returned home, he’d given flying lessons and flew charter flights with his helicopter. He’d been the one to instill Willa’s love of flying. He’d taken her up from an early age.
Once her mom was gone, she and her Dad had spent many hours in the air. It had been their escape from their silent home without her mom’s laughter.
Now, after only getting to enjoy her dad’s company for a little over two years after the Army, he was gone. The coroner had ruled it an accident. Her dad had broken his neck falling down a steep gully on their property.
Willa had her doubts because her dad never went to that part of the property. He liked to hunt and only disturbed that area a couple months before deer season to refill the feeder.
Once she’d gotten the phone call about the captain, she’d wondered if he’d been involved in her dad’s accident. After she’d gotten out, that’s what she’d called him in her head to not have to say his name. She’d hoped leaving the military would keep her far away from him but it seemed like it wasn’t to be.
She’d taken what happened to her and stuck it in a little box in her mind. Closing the box and shoving it back into a corner where she didn’t have to remember it. The phone call had opened the box and now, she couldn’t get it out of her mind.
When he’d attacked her, she’d fought as hard as she could. She’d been trained in defense moves by the same people who’d trained him. She’d been at a disadvantage because he’d outweighed her by about fifty pounds. The only thing that saved her from him completing the act was when he decided he needed a condom so there wouldn’t be DNA. He’d already violated her with his fingers but she’d still been fighting. He’d given her just enough leeway for her to slip one of her hands down between her legs. She’d grabbed his dick and balls, twisting as hard as she could. She’d tried to rip them from his body but that wish hadn’t happened. He screeched and fell to the floor.
When she ran to the door for help, he’d warned her he could send all her friends into an ambush or whatever he wanted. If she wanted them kept alive, she’d need to keep her mouth shut. She’d had no doubt in her mind he would do it. She’d been creeped out by him from the first time she met him but he was a captain and she had been a warrant officer.
Willa had known he would do it without a second thought. She’d kept her mouth shut and avoided being alone for the next four days until she flew home. By the time she boarded the plane, she’d been thirty-six hours without sleep because she couldn’t relax knowing at any time, he might return.
Now, she was running again. He was driving her out of her home and her business though her heart wasn’t in it without her dad. Sure, she loved to fly but she had no wish to continue here without her dad. She wasn’t sure what was next. She’d needed a safe place to land and somewhere to consider her options. She could fly helicopters just about anywhere but here, with her Dad, had been home. Would she find another place to call home or would it be just a place to lay her head?
The men coming to load her stuff would be here in a couple hours. She’d known even if she should, she’d never go to sleep tonight. The house was locked up tight and she had her weapon on her. Her cell phone was in her pocket because if he had killed her dad to get to her, she wasn’t going to make it easy.
At least Willa knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything to the helicopter. The house might not have a security system but the hanger did. The alarm would sound and their alarm company would call the local sheriff.
War and Remington’s call had come at the perfect time. When War explained his connection to someone she trusted, she said yes. Doing this on her own wasn’t an option. She was alone and entirely too vulnerable. Once she got to the Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC and had some sleep, maybe she could figure out how to take the fight to the captain. She wouldn’t mind getting her hands dirty to make sure he never hurt anyone else again.
This was one of those times where Willa wished she had a man she could lean on a little. She didn’t need him to take over. She wanted a partner who would wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be all right. She’d really only been attracted to one man in the last five years. Cruise and his friends had made life bearable overseas. Cruise had been the anomaly of his group. He had a soft side for everything, always doing what was best for everyone. She wondered how he was getting along now. To this day, his dark eyes with dark hair along with his muscles underneath his fatigues starred in many of her dreams.
He'd been a lifer though in the Army and had never hinted he wanted more. Being ten years older than her, she knew he’d probably be in until his body gave out. Heck, at forty, he’d been in prime condition. He’d be forty-two now and she imagined he was just as hot as he was then.
If she couldn’t have Cruise, maybe there would be a hot as hell, biker who she could climb on and take a ride with. Her battery-operated boyfriend had broken from overuse. She’d worry about that later. Right now, she needed to get a couple more things packed that she was taking on the helicopter with her.
At thirty-two, and in this small town, she’d given up on a lot of the things she’d dreamed about as a young girl. Kids, a family and a husband who adored her. How dreams changed. Now, she just wanted to be able to sleep at least six hours and not worry someone was going to attack her.