Chapter 29 Marla
MARLA
I linked my arm with her, just to make sure that she was real. I laid my head on her shoulder, feeling the familiar warmth and curve of the shoulder that held my head when I cried so many times.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” I whispered out.
“All right,” Doc said as he stood and walked around behind us, “one more set of stitches.”
“I have something back there that needs stitches?” Lizzie asked.
Then I heard her hiss.
“Ah. Ow!”
I whipped my head up and glared back at Doc. “Don’t hurt her. She’s been through enough.”
Lizzie giggled. “I’m fine. He just palpated to show me where he had to stitch.”
“I don’t care. He gives you a numbing solution, or we don’t do this. Right, Doc?”
I looked back at him and held his gaze for a moment before he nodded. “Of course.”
“Good,” I said as I laid my head back down onto her shoulder. “Mmph.”
“Got drinks!” Ranger chimed in as he strolled back into the exam room.
The two of us had to chug down some water before the questions began.
“Where the hell have you been?” Lizzie asked breathlessly.
I pulled the water glass down from my mouth and swallowed hard. “Deep in the state park somewhere. I’m not sure where. I drew them a map.”
“And we’ll find where you were,” Doc said plainly. “Miss Elizabeth, you’re going to feel a sting.”
Lizzie giggled. “No one ever calls me that anymore. You can just call me—ssss, aaaaah.”
“Doc,” I warned.
“Just burns initially, she’ll be okay in a second,” he muttered.
Lizzie grabbed my hand and squeezed like a motherfucker.
“Breathe,” I said as I squeezed her hand back and coached her through it.
“Fucking hell, shots are a bitch,” she hissed out.
“Done,” Doc said.
He blew on the nape of her neck.
“Mmm,” Lizzie hummed a bit as her shoulders sagged.
Doc placed a hand on her shoulder, and I watched as he squeezed softly. “Better?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “You two need a room?”
That pulled a chuckle from Ranger, and I peeked over at him, only to see him smiling at me.
I couldn’t help but smile back.
I was so glad he was there with us.
“What happened to you?” Lizzie asked as she threaded our fingers together. “What did they do to my sister?”
Tears lined my eyes. “We can talk about that some other time. I just want to relish the fact that you’re okay.”
She looked over at me, but Doc reached over her shoulder, pressing against her cheek, and turned her head back to where it was.
“Hold still. Can’t move,” he said.
“Man. So bossy,” Lizzie muttered.
I couldn’t help but giggle as I reached for Ranger’s hand. “Help me down?”
He didn’t hesitate to drop his glass before coming and plucking me off the exam table. I got a chair rolled up to Lizzie’s feet and pulled them into my lap so that I could recline back and look at her while we talked.
And oh, did we talk.
I told her about the night at the bar. I didn’t tell her about the fact that Ranger was the man I hooked up with, but I did tell her that I hooked up with someone that night. She balked, and it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.
“I know, I know,” I said as we both got done laughing. “I never do shit like that. I know.”
“I can’t believe you just hooked up with some random dude and didn’t tell me!” she exclaimed breathlessly as she tossed her hands into the air. “What was his name? Girl, did you even get his name!? I need details! Were you on your knees? Was he on his knees!?”
“Hold. Still,” Doc commanded.
“Ugh,” Lizzie said as she rolled her eyes. “Could you hurry up back there? My friend and I are talking business.”
My head fell back with laughter, and I caught the cheeky little upside-down grin Ranger flashed me.
Some things were better left unsaid.
“I was taken that night, actually,” I said as I brought my head back up.
Lizzie’s laughter almost immediately died down. “What?”
I sipped my water. “That was the night I was taken. The hookup night. It was the memory I held onto after I was kidnapped trying to get home.”
Lizzie studied me for a while. “You walked home from the bar because of the drinks.”
I shrugged softly. “I figured the walk would be safe if I stuck to the sidewalk lights.”
Her eyes watered over. “I love you.”
I leaned forward in the chair and took her hands in mine. “I love you, too.”
“What happened after that?”
I still wasn’t sure I could talk about that yet. “I…”
Lizzie leaned forward and Doc practically growled, but if there was one thing I knew about Lizzie, it was that she never cared about how a man felt.
Or what they thought.
Or what they did.
Or anything about them really.
“You don’t have to talk about it now,” Lizzie said with a shake of her head, “but some day, we will talk about it. You’ll have to verbally process. And when you’re ready, I’ll be here to listen.”
I picked up her hands and brought them to my lips, kissing them softly. “I hear you.”
She leaned forward and kissed the top of my head like she always did. “Good.”
Just like Ranger did.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said, ruining the moment.
Lizzie scoffed before she leaned back up. “I swear, you’re such a stick in the mud, Doc.”
He just harrumphed a bit, and I had to admit, it was pretty funny.
I’d never seen Doc act this way before.
Not like I knew the man or anything, since I was basically cooped up in Ranger’s closet this entire time. But still. He was probably the man in the crew I had the most experience with, outside of Miles.
It was kind of entertaining, seeing him like this.
I told Lizzie about how I eventually got free. How I was gone for months, trapped in this place with no way. Out. I talked about what I could, which still wasn’t much. But I was able to recount how relieved I was when I saw the clubhouse on the horizon for the first time.
“I ran, and I ran, and I ran once I saw that damned thing,” I said breathlessly as Doc finally finished up with a gash on the nape of her neck. “It was like I was given a third or fourth wind. I still don’t know how long I ran for. All I knew was that when my cell door popped open—”
Lizzie snarled. “They had you in a cell?”
I swallowed hard and nodded slowly. “Most of the time, yeah.”
Her nostrils flared. “Those sons of bitches. I’m gonna fucking—”
“We’re taking care of it, Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said as he came out from around her and packed up his stuff. “I want to draw some blood for testing, and then you’ll be done.”
Lizzie just extended her arm, her gaze never wavering from me. “What happened when you saw the clubhouse?”
I thumbed over my shoulder at Ranger. “I screamed for help when I heard the car behind me gaining ground.”
Lizzie’s eyes widened. “There was a fucking car chasing you!?”
I just nodded. “Yeah. I heard it from out of nowhere, engine and all. I never ran so fast in all my life. I thought I was going to throw up my lungs from coughing so much, but when I screamed for help, I collapsed, and a set of arms were there.”
“Who was th—?”
Lizzie’s eyes roamed over my shoulder to Ranger, and she drew in a deep breath. “You.”
“Me,” Ranger said.
Her back straightened a bit. “Thank you for taking care of my best friend.”
“You don’t ever have to thank me for that,” he said.
I peeked over my shoulder and smiled softly at him.
“He let me bunk in his closet until I was brave enough to come out.” I looked back at Lizzie.
“Took me a while to get used to all of the sounds of all the men that live here. It was very reminiscent of where I was, all of the guys just wandering about.”
“I can only imagine,” she said as she squeezed my hand softly.
Doc took blood while Lizzie peppered me with questions. She asked about what life was like at the clubhouse. Whether or not I was being treated well. Lizzie was always more like a protective older sister, despite the fact that I was older than her by a few months.
None of that mattered, however.
All that mattered was that she was safe and sound.
“All right, Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said as he rolled around on his little rolling stool and popped his rubber gloves off. “Here’s the deal. Until we get our contact at the DOJ on board to help us with whatever trafficking ring expanded into this area, you’re going to have to stay here with us.”
“What?” Lizzie asked.
Her attention whipped to Doc as he stood, dealing with the equipment he used to draw blood. “It’s the only way we can guarantee keeping you safe. But don’t worry, you and Marla aren’t the only women here. Amanda, Ariel, and Jasmine are—”
“I can’t stay here,” Lizzie said, interrupting him. “I have a life to get back to. A boss to call.”
“Like I said, you leave that to us,” Ranger said.
“I leave nothing to no man,” she said as her head whipped over to him.
I felt the tension rising, so I stood and cupped her face in my hands. “Liz.”
“What?”
I slowly drew her gaze back to me. “Liz. I’m with Doc on this one.”
She paused. “What?”
I smoothed my thumbs over her cheeks. “You have to stay here with us. It’s the only safe way right now.”
“I have a life to get back to, Em,” she said with a shake of her head. “A job. A career. I have a duty to—”
“You have a duty to yourself to stay safe,” Doc said.
A bit too curtly in my opinion, but Liz could be stubborn. So I understood it.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Ranger said as he stepped up to my side, “I got all of the videos from earlier uploaded to our contact at the DOJ.”
Liz’s eyes widened. “You fuckers recorded that shit?”
Ranger grinned. “Every last second of it. Shouldn’t take long for our contact to review, and then we’ll probably have orders to follow until the DOJ gets down here to take over.”
“See?” I asked as I thumbed over to Ranger. “Orders. We’ve got orders here, too. It won’t be so bad.”
“Not so bad,” Liz muttered.
“Plus,” I said as I tugged on her hands and helped her to slide off the exam table, “we’ll practically be neighbors. All of the girls are staying in the main clubhouse, which means we can have breakfasts together again.”
That made her smile softly.
“And coffee.”
That made her smile even more.
I wiggled my eyebrows. “And cinnamon rolls.”
She groaned. “Ugh. Cinnamon rolls. I could use an ooey, gooey one right about now.”
“Good,” Doc said as he came back toward us, “because your next directive from me is to get a good meal into your system before you get some rest, Miss Elizabeth. No drinks other than water for the next forty-eight hours, you’ll rest after you eat, and your meals will need to consist of a protein, a vegetable, and a carbohydrate until we can get you balanced back out a bit. ”
“I’m fine,” Liz grumbled.
Doc looked at me. “I’ll come find you two when I’m done running her bloodwork.”
I nodded up at him. “Thank you, Doc.”
The stoic look on his face broke for just a moment when his lips ticked upward a bit. “Not a problem, Marla. It’s good to see you up and about, by the way.”
“Oh, so you are capable of being nice,” Liz said. “Got it.”
Doc shot her a look. “You aren’t getting out of those directions, Miss Elizabeth. They’re for your own good.” Doc’s gaze returned to me. “And as long as you’re my patient, you will do as I say. Understood?”
Lizzie tilted her head side to side, raised her eyebrows, and did this sort of mocking thing with her lips that she always did whenever men talked.
I couldn’t help but giggle as I cupped my hand over my mouth.
“Miss Elizabeth—”
She waved her hand at him. “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, Doc.”
Then she linked her arm with mine and smiled at me. “Now, where does a girl go to get a bite to eat around here?”
Ranger held out his arm. “Come on, I’ll show you where the kitchen is. I’m sure Ghost is almost done whipping up whatever it was he chopped up in there.”
“Was that who was going to town with that knife in there?” I asked him as the three of us started out of Doc’s place.
I noticed that Liz peered over her shoulder at Doc for a moment before we slipped out.
The two of us left his place arm in arm, and I tried not to look at the carnage around us that was still being cleaned up. I heard Liz gasp a few times before she whistled lowly to herself. I felt her crane her head over her shoulder before she giggled, and I picked my head up.
“What?” I asked as I peered over my shoulder and saw Ranger trailing behind us.
He lifted his hand and waved.
I smiled and waved back.
“He’s pretty cute, girl,” Liz said with a giggle.
I smiled at her and pulled her close. “Hey, you can stick with Doc. He’s mine.”
She barked with laughter as we made our way up the porch steps and through the front door of the clubhouse, only to be greeted with the warm, soothing smells of something that smelled cheesy and phenomenal.
Ranger escorted us into the kitchen where the three other women were, and I introduced my best friend with pride.
Ariel, Amanda, and Jasmine swarmed her with hugs and well wishes, cooing over her while they checked on her fresh stitches and made sure the gauze was taped down just so.
The men put plates of food in front of us.
“Thanks,” I said as I looked up at Ranger.
He grinned down at me. “Not a problem, beautiful. Now eat.”
Something nudged against my leg under the table.
I looked down and found Smoke pressing his flank against my calf, his dark eyes already tracking up to Ranger. Ranger glanced down at him, then back up at me, and something quiet passed across his face.
He reached down and rested his palm on the dog's head for just a moment.
I watched that small exchange and felt something settle deep in my chest.
Everybody came home.
A shadow loomed over Liz’s shoulder, and when she slowly looked up, Doc stared down at her.
They didn’t exchange words, just held each other’s gaze as he lowered the bowl of alfredo in front of her.
He held her gaze while he cracked open a soda and poured it over ice for her.
He held her gaze while he brandished a napkin and some silverware.
He even stared after he was done, like he was waiting for her to do something.
“Eat, Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said.
He made his way out of the kitchen.
Liz crooked an eyebrow. “Does he have a screw loose or something?”
The entire kitchen fell apart in laughter before we all dug into our food.
Though, I couldn’t help but notice that Liz kept looking toward where Doc disappeared out of the kitchen.
“Really,” I said as I pointed my fork at hers, “you should eat.”
She cleared her throat before she picked up her fork.
“Church after food,” Cap said as he sat down by Ariel, cuddling up next to her a bit.
Liz paused with food halfway to her mouth. “There’s a chapel around here somewhere?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that.