Chapter Nineteen
“ M ove, fucker,” Kendrick yelled. He kicked Andre’s feet out from under him. The big bastard would stand as long as he could, taking bullet after bullet until he couldn’t take anymore. The force of his kick brought the other man down flat. Kendrick lifted both hands, returning fire. Behind him, the sound of fighting rang out. Shit. They’d boxed themselves in.
“Get up and start shooting anything that comes our way, Andre. I’m going to open the next door. If we can get inside, at least we’ll have a little coverage.”
“So fucking bossy.” His friend shifted, but the sound of more pops reassured him that Andre was returning fire. They might appear outnumbered from the looks of the four men at the other end of the hallway, but he and Andre weren’t defenseless. He had to put one of his guns down to swipe the card.
“Hurry up, Boss. I’m going to need to put a new clip in.”
The click on the weapon in his right hand let him know he did, too. Shoving the Glock in the back of his pants, he pulled the card out, swiped, and waited for the green light to come. Sweat dripped down his temple while time ticked by at a snail’s pace. As soon as he could, he shoved the door open as another rein of bullets began. He pulled Andre in behind him, slamming the door shut.
“Kendrick?”
The woman’s voice he prayed to hear had him spinning to face the room.
Andre spun, nearly knocking him over.
“Sutton?”
A big bear of a man cleared his throat. “Well, this is interesting. Got an extra weapon for me?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Andre asked, looking at Sutton with questions in his dark eyes.
Kendrick pulled the empty clip from his Glock, replaced it, and did the same to his other. He motioned for Sutton to come to him without taking his eyes off the threat in the room. “Come here, baby girl.”
“Easy, brother. I kept her safe for you.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Kendrick’s fingers itched to put a bullet in the fuckers brain.
“That would be Saint, aka Hulk,” Keys announced.
“What the fuck is a Saint Hulk doing with my woman?” Kendrick’s barked question made Sutton flinch.
“I was at the clubhouse when a prospect named Doughboy tried to slip into the backrooms where only full-fledged brothers or men like you get access. I followed him and listened as he spoke on his cell phone to some jackass named Frankie. Seriously, a mob guy named Frankie. That’s the epitome of cliché if you ask me.” Saint rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I realized they were talking about abducting the lady doc, so I contacted Keys through our emergency alert and did what I had to do. Doughboy already drugged the Doc. I acted like I was with the bastard when I realized he’d already put her in the vehicle and returned to grab his shit. I knocked him out and might’ve pinned his ass to the wall before heading out where the vehicle sat with Doc in the back. There were two other men in there who looked like they’d be more than happy to sample her on the way to the casino. I sat in the back next to one of them, acting like an overgrown idiot, mumbling about delivering whores or something. Sorry, doc. About halfway into the drive, I broke the neck of the passenger, then crushed the windpipe of the other.” He shrugged.
“Do I want to know what the rest of the trip entailed?” Kendrick growled.
“Your woman is safe, unharmed, and basically ready to roll out of here whenever you are. We have a cleanup in aisle fifty-nine at the clubhouse. Two bodies ended up dumped in the ocean along the road, and here we are. So, what’s the holdup?” Saint asked, looking up at the camera again.
“Keys, did this fucker contact you, and you failed to mention it to me?” Kendrick would burn the entire compound to the ground if they fucking used his woman as bait.
“I’m just getting his messages now, Kendrick. I had a dozen missed calls from him before we lost his signal. For some reason, they never reached us. I’m assuming whoever was waiting outside to follow Doughboy had a blocking app of some sort. Trust me, it won’t happen again.” Anger filled his ears as Keys clicked away on his computer. “I see Doughboy now. He’ll be waiting for your questions if you choose to talk to him. Otherwise, we’ll handle the disposal of the trash when King returns.”
“Please ensure he is available to answer my questions when we return. Can you see what’s happening in the hallway? Do you see King or Cosmo?” Leaving the others out there went against the grain.
“The bastards retreated. You need to get the fuck out of there now. Don’t go back through the casino. Head out the way those fuckers came in. That exit gets you directly onto a loading dock. The others are heading your way with transportation.”
“Did you tell them we have a few extra women we’re bringing with us?”
Keys grunted. “Of course, this isn’t my first rodeo.”
“Did you see where Frankie went?” Kendrick didn’t want to let him escape, but he couldn’t leave Sutton alone.
“A woman was with him and about five men. You guys need to get out of there before they call the cops or some shit. I don’t think they will, what with the illegal shit going on in those hallways. However, let’s not risk it for the biscuit. Get your asses out of there. King, the guys in the other hallway have it cleared as well. There wasn’t anyone in there to save.”
Saint pulled the door open, popped his head out, and then back in. “Come on. Let’s roll. By the way, nobody gave me a weapon,” he muttered.
Kendrick bent and pulled a knife from a sheath strapped to his calf. “Here.”
“Great. I’m taking a knife to a gunfight.”
Cosmo slapped the other man on the back and gripped his neck. “I think you’ll do just fine, son. Let’s roll.”
Kendrick pulled Sutton into his arms, forgetting he had blood on him from where he’d shot the man in the first room. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
“God, I was so scared.”
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We’ll talk when I don’t feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing on ends.”
BITING HER LIP, SUTTON held her tongue. She let Kendrick lead her out of the dungeon-like area, doing her best not to look around. As three women were carried out, one looking as if she was going to bleed out, her medical brain kicked in.
“Do you have a medical kit anywhere in these vehicles?”
Cosmo looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “You gonna triage right here?”
“Load the women in the back of the van. If you get me what you have, I’ll start working on the one with the lacerations first. She needs medical stat.”
Kendrick’s arm held her like a vice around the middle. “Sutton, you don’t need to do shit until we’re back at the compound.”
She turned in his arms. “Yes, I do.”
They exited the building as soon as Keys told them their rides were approaching. The vehicle she’d come in slammed to a stop. Another SUV she recognized from the MC roared next to it, coming to a rocking halt.
“Everyone find a place inside one of the cages, and let’s roll. Sutton, in the van, we got a medical kit, but I can’t say what’s in it will do shit for her.” King nodded at the unconscious woman.
Sutton would do what she could. They loaded inside the van with Saint in the driver’s seat. Cosmo took the passenger while King and the others packed into the big SUV. She got in with Kendrick and Andre, along with the three women. Her heart hammered at the extent of the damage done to the back of the one.
Inside the kit, she found a couple of sets of rubber gloves, so she hurriedly pulled a pair on.
Andre removed a leather ball gag from one woman. She sagged against him, then scurried to the opposite side of the van as if afraid of his touch. He moved to take off the other woman’s gag. She shook her head violently, staring at Sutton and Kendrick.
“It’s okay. We’re here to help you. Ah, Andre, give her your shirt. Kendrick, can she have yours?” she asked, nodding toward the woman who wouldn’t let Andre touch her.
Kendrick shrugged out of his button-down and handed it to Sutton. She maneuvered around him, grateful he kept his hands on her hips to help steady her as she shifted toward the other woman. “Here, let me help you.” Sutton held the shirt out for her, waiting for her to slip her arms in. When the woman couldn’t stop shaking enough to do up the buttons, she took over and did it for her.
She turned toward the other woman, pointing toward the gag in her mouth. “May I take that off now?”
Sutton reached around the back of the woman’s head, feeling for the clasps that held the rubber in place. When she pulled the sides apart, the indentions left on the poor woman’s cheeks hurt Sutton’s heart. However, it was the large silicone ball lodged between her teeth that made Sutton want to kill the bastards who’d shoved it into her mouth. Blood poured out of her mouth as she worked to pull the thing out.
“Ah,” the woman cried, slumping to the side and curling into herself. Blood and slobber spewed out of her mouth as she coughed and gagged.
Sutton closed her eyes, hating seeing the woman suffer, but knew the other woman who lay unconscious would be just as damaged and more. She worked to undo the gag from behind her head, going slow so she didn’t hurt her anymore. Her passing out was the only saving grace.
After checking her pulse and ensuring herself the woman was alive, Sutton opened the kit. Finding several vials of morphine and an extensive sewing kit surprised her. Of course, they were a bikers’ club that could run into all kinds of trouble, so it made sense.
“I don’t want to give her any medications in case she’s allergic, especially when I don’t have any epinephrine in the extreme situation where she could have an anaphylactic attack.” A patient nearly died during surgery once when they’d administered morphine. Unknowingly to them, she’d been allergic to the drug. Her blood pressure dropped along with her heart rate. Luckily, they had the proper meds and the ability to stabilize the patient.
Like the other woman, this one would have marks on her face and mouth from the ball gag. However, it was the poor lacerated back that worried Sutton. Luckily, she didn’t need to worry about fabric being embedded in the torn flesh since there wasn’t any clothing on her.
“She’s going to need a Tetanus shot at the least. That whip, I’m sure, wasn’t properly cleaned or cared for. Hell, it looked like it was straight out of medieval times.”
Sutton’s hands paused in their cleaning. “Whip?”
Kendrick brushed her hair back. “The bastard who did this to her used a modified bullwhip on her.”
It felt like she’d never get the blood to stop flowing from the openings. Finally, after Sutton cleaned and did her best to ensure the wound was clean, she applied enough pressure to pull the torn edges of the largest gash together. She slowly worked across the woman’s back, using sterile strips and bandages to hold it together. Opening up another pack of alcohol wipes, she focused on the next wound. A moan made Sutton’s hands freeze.
The other woman moved from the corner to kneel next to her friend's head. Both women had long dark hair, with their makeup streaked in a macabre way down their tear-stained faces. What made Sutton even more saddened was the horror that crossed the one woman’s face as she got a look at her friend. She touched her cheeks and mouth. A whimper escaped before a fresh flood of tears flowed down her poor, abused face.
“You’ll heal. Those indentations aren’t permanent. It's kind of like when you sit for a long time with your legs crossed. If you looked at your legs, you’d notice a red mark or dent, but after a while, it goes away.” Sutton spoke in a soft tone while she cleaned the blood around the torn flesh. “These too, will go away. It’ll take a little more time, but they’ll disappear.”
She wouldn’t lie and say the scars on their minds or the ones she’s trying to pull together would heal. She wasn’t a miracle worker or a liar.
“My sister,” the girl said. She placed her hand on her sister’s head, brushing her fingers through the tangled mess.
Sutton found herself wishing for things that could never be—like rewind buttons and magic to wish away the pain these girls experienced. She couldn’t tell how old they were through the blood and mess, but their bodies were firm and youthful. At twenty-nine years of age, she was sure she was a few years older than them.
God, the horrors they must’ve faced made her stomach roll. Sure, she’d had her own demons from her past. Yet, they felt like a lifetime ago compared to these three.