Butch (Springfield Sinners #2)

Chapter 1

RAELYNN

“My name… Echo,” a woman gently said as she got up from her seat. “Can… help you?”

Rae looked around the room, trying to find that one familiar face she was desperate to see. She thought he would be here, but maybe he had left the motorcycle club already?

Nerves ran rampant through Rae as she looked back at the woman. It was a mistake coming here with how little she could hear. How was she going to hear what they were saying or what he was going to say when he saw her?

“What… help you…?” Echo asked. “…Looking… someone? Need help… away from…? … Protection?”

Rae’s head swam as she tried to fill in the missing words. She didn’t think anyone would ask her so many questions, but Rae did look horrible. She had run away after a nasty beating, finally managing to escape.

Right now, she just wanted to find Butch, to see him one last time before she did who knows what. Run away and hide in a city where no one could find her? Or maybe she should have just killed herself so she didn’t have to live in hiding or in fear.

No.

She shouldn’t be thinking like this. She’d had these thoughts before in high school, and she’d promised him she would never think about it again. And if she did, she would go right to him and tell him about it, but now she was here, and she didn’t want to tell him.

What did she even want to do when she saw him? It had been years since they had last seen each other. He had abandoned her when he joined the Springfield Sinners, and everything went to shit after that. Did he know everything she went through when he left?

Butch must not have liked her any longer if he suddenly left her with her mother and stepfather. But he didn’t know how bad they were behind closed doors… Or did he?

Echo took a step closer to her, and Rae immediately took one back, trying to keep as much distance as possible. She was still standing in the entrance, ready to bolt at any second.

Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. She shouldn’t have come looking for Butch when she didn’t know whether he remembered her.

How was she going to hear when anyone walked up to her? Her eyes scanned the room again, but no one had moved from their spots. Maybe they were afraid she would do something?

Rae wanted to scoff at the thought. Her face was black and blue, and she had scars littering her body from the years of being in his house. No one was afraid of her… If anything, they probably thought she was easy pickings since she looked like this.

“I’m looking for Butch,” Rae said.

Her skin started to crawl as everyone stared at her.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for her to come here, but she didn’t know whether Butch was here or not.

Maybe she should have staked the place out to figure out whether he was here and find an opportunity to talk to him when no one else was around.

Maybe then, she would have a fighting chance of hearing what he actually would say to her, but she highly doubted it.

No one was talking now, and she was still missing words, despite trying to read lips.

“Butch… stepped out… right back,” Echo explained. “Do you… sit… me while… wait… him… back?”

He had stepped out? So he was here. Maybe she should stay and try to talk to him.

But she wasn’t comfortable staying in here with so many people and not being able to hear everything.

The only thing that would make her comfortable was if she sat in the corner of the room, where she could see everyone with an easy exit if anything were to happen, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Rae opened her mouth, but Echo held her hand up.

“Wait… Daddy… call… back… take long. Why don’t you… sit here… office… we wait,” Echo rambled.

Unease filled Rae as everyone watched her, waiting for her answer. There was no way she would be able to wait here, and there was no way she would be able to answer when she didn’t even know what Echo had said.

This was a mistake.

She should never have come here.

Rae shook her head, taking a step back. “Don’t tell Butch I was here.”

“Wait!” Echo yelled as she took several steps toward her, but stopped. “…came here… him… want you. Please… stay… him… come back. I promise nothing… happen… safe here. Doc… look… bruises and… you… treatments.”

Her eyes went wide. “I’m okay, please just don’t mention anything to Butch. He doesn’t need to know.”

Rae didn’t even know whether she was replying correctly to Echo, but she needed to be confident so they didn’t suspect a thing. No one could find out.

It would be better for him not to. What if he got angry at her and decided he wanted to take it out on her?

No.

He wouldn’t do something like that. While Butch had a physical side to him back then, he had never touched her when they grew up together. Not physically in a way that would harm her.

His touch was always gentle, protective, and caring. But he might have changed if he had known what happened to her. So much had happened since he left over eight years ago, and she didn’t want to disappoint him.

“I can’t…” Echo took a step forward, and frustration grew in Rae. Why was she so useless and couldn’t manage to hear a single sentence? “…Made you look… needs… pay. You… Butch, he… help you… sad… out you were… You didn’t wait…”

Rae put her hands up as the panic started to grow inside of her. She didn’t know what Echo was saying, but from the concerned yet heated look on her face, she knew it wasn’t good. “Please, he can’t know.”

That was the last thing she said before she bolted out of the building and ran down the street. Rae could hear muffled voices, maybe calling after her, but she didn’t pay any attention to them.

People looked at her weirdly as she ran down the street and quickly turned into an alleyway. Pulling her hood up, Rae leaned up against the wall and slid down, desperately trying to catch her breath.

Her ribcage screamed in pain with each deep breath. Her body had already been aching, and she knew with the running and all the heavy breathing, it was only going to get worse. Maybe she should have waited to visit their building for a couple more days, but Rae didn’t have anywhere to stay.

She had gotten off the bus and gone straight to their clubhouse, wanting to find Butch before her confidence ran out. Something deep inside her needed to find him… to see that he was doing okay before she could attempt to move on and whither away into nothing.

“So much for finding him,” she whispered to herself.

She should never have come here. It was a huge mistake, and now he was going to find out that she had come to see him.

“Everything is going to be okay,” she whispered to herself.

She just needed to get on another bus to a different city, find a job, and stay under the radar for the rest of her life. She was going to survive… She had to.

Rae pushed herself off the ground, keeping her hand on the building as she tried to steady herself. Everything was blurry in front of her, and her head was swimming. Blood rushed into her ears, making the little noise she could hear become almost impossible.

When was the last time she ate, drank, or even got a good night’s sleep?

Groaning, Rae walked out from the alleyway and slowly started to make her way toward the bus station, keeping her head down and her hood up the whole time. She didn’t need anyone recognizing her right now.

Which wouldn’t be many since she had never been to Springfield before. It was a little bigger than she thought it was going to be.

“It can’t go back to the way it was,” she mumbled as she passed the MC club building.

But she desperately wanted everything to go back to when Butch hadn’t left for the MC. She wanted them to live under the same roof so she felt safe again. She wanted to be able to sneak into his room in the middle of the night and snuggle up against him.

She wanted to feel his soft lips on hers, slowly waking her up.

No one had known that they were together before he left. The rumors that would have spread if people found out. They were step-siblings, and while people thought it was taboo for step-siblings to end up together, they had no blood relationship, and it wasn’t wrong.

“There’s no way he remembers me,” she reminded herself. “It’s been over eight years. He said he would come back for me, but he never did.”

Which meant he didn’t remember her.

Rae thought they’d had something special when he was still living with them. But apparently it meant nothing to him.

Tears filled her eyes as she stopped in front of the kiosk to buy the bus ticket. She just needed to get through this and away from this city before she could allow herself to break down. Because Rae knew that once she started, she wouldn’t be able to stop for a while.

All of her happy memories with Butch were resurfacing in her mind, making her not want to leave, but she needed to. She needed to get as far away from Butch as possible and lay low.

“One ticket to anywhere,” she whispered when it became her turn.

“Do… want… west?” the lady asked.

“West,” Rae instantly replied, wanting this to go by as quickly as possible. “Maybe Las Vegas.”

She had just come from the east, and they were probably already looking for her. Distance was going to be her friend right now and lying low. With how little money she had, it wasn’t going to be that hard.

“…three hundred dollars. How… pay?” the lady asked.

Rae’s eyes bugged out of her head as she replayed the number over and over in her head.

Over three hundred dollars to just go to Las Vegas?

Rae didn’t have that kind of money, and she never would.

She had managed to get to Springfield, Missouri, by hitchhiking with random people and walking, which she was never going to do again.

There had been way too many creepy people who’d made her feel dirty.

She was exhausted.

That was an understatement. She was so tired that she could fall asleep standing up, but she was forcing herself to stay awake. It wasn’t safe here, and she needed to find a place before she could settle down and actually sleep.

“…ticket?” She brought Rae out of her thoughts.

She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

Rae walked out of the line and down the sidewalk. What was she going to do now? She didn’t have nearly enough money to get the bus ticket, and she knew she only had enough money to get one night at a motel.

Maybe she could go back to the club and ask to borrow some money.

Or maybe she could find a job that paid under the table.

But it was risky, staying in Springfield, when Butch was here.

She didn’t want to see him, but she knew if she stayed here, the likelihood of them running into each other would increase.

There was no doubt that Echo had told Buch she was in town, and he would definitely be trying to find her.

Rae ran her hands over her face as she took a deep breath in, trying to calm herself down.

“You!” someone yelled.

Rae turned around to see Echo standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking at her.

“Do you have some money I can borrow for a bus ticket or a motel?” Rae asked before she could stop herself.

Echo shook her head. “No money… club… give you money,” Echo said. Rae was exhausted from straining to hear what anyone was saying while also trying to lip read. It had never worked for her, no matter how long she couldn’t hear for. “Stay…. money… club.”

Rae waved her hands in the air quickly. “No, it’s okay. I don’t need it that badly.”

Which was the biggest lie she was telling? Her body was aching even more, and she was freezing, despite how hot it was out. The sun was beating down on her, and she could feel how warm she was under all her layers, yet she was shivering.

Not a good sign. Had she managed to get some sort of infection? Rae didn’t have any open wounds that she knew of.

She just needed to get away from Echo and anybody that was related to the Springfield Sinners so she could find a motel and sleep. But would she be able to sleep when she didn’t feel safe? Was her condition only going to get worse with how little she was able to sleep, eat, and relax?

“No… stay here. I…. money so… eat and… room…” Echo said. “Stay here… minutes… quick. No… follow.”

Rae didn’t know everything Echo was talking about, but she didn’t want to take any chances. Especially when Butch was in the same city and knew Echo. What were the odds that she had said something to him, and he would come looking for her?

“It’s really okay. You don’t need to grab it,” Rae said.

“But… help you… friend… same thing as you… help you.” Echo took a step closer. “So please… me help you… won’t… Butch… stay away… him. I…you two… he… care for you… here. But… force you.”

“Please,” Rae whispered. “Don’t tell him. I don’t need the money. I’ve got enough.”

Another lie.

“I know… wait here… minutes… money… emergency fund…” Rae tuned Echo out as she continued to talk.

It wasn’t like it would do Rae any good to listen to her when she couldn’t tell what she was saying. Straining herself was just making her more exhausted than she already was.

Rae shook her head, groaning as it started to throb. Everything around her was getting lighter, her breathing coming faster. “I don’t need it. Save it.”

She quickly turned around, making her vision spin and her head get all dizzy. Rae put her arms out to try to grab onto something, anything, but she was in the middle of the sidewalk with nothing near her.

“Raelynn!” someone yelled as everything went black.