Chapter 36
“ F ocus on me.” Hunter does his best to keep me calm, but I can see how scared he is too. “You thought of any names for the kid?” he questions, acting as if we’re not tied up about to be taken God knows where by a psychopath.
I shake my head and focus on finding my next breath, “Well, I’m just putting it out there, Hunter’s a pretty solid name.” He smiles nervously and as much as I appreciate his attempts to distract me, they are ineffective. I know how Solomon works, he always gets his way and if help doesn’t hurry up and get here, I’ll never see Mitch again. I can’t even think about the child I have growing inside me right now, if I do I know I’ll lose my head completely.
The door swings open and Solomon trudges inside, taking the rope that binds me and slicing a knife through it. He snatches his hand around my wrist and starts to drag me outside, and all I hear is Hunter yelling at him to leave me alone.
I keep my eyes firmly closed, too scared to face up to what will happen next, and that's when I hear the sound of hooves thundering into the ground. I wonder at first if it's my heart beating out of my chest from fear, but when Solomon stops dead and turns around I allow myself to open my eyes and see Mitch galloping toward us.
“ Get your fuckin’ hands off her! ” He dismounts the horse and comes toward us, but Solomon doesn’t listen. Instead, he forces my body in front of him, then takes the knife he’s holding in his other hand and presses the blade tight to my throat.
“She’s mine,” he tells Mitch with his hands trembling, and I see the fear in Mitch's eyes as he takes a step back and holds up his hands, defensively.
“Put the knife down so we can talk.” His glance keeps shifting between the blade and my eyes and when I swallow, I feel it cut into my throat.
“You don’t wanna hurt her, Solomon.” Mitch shakes his head.
“But I will if I have to. She belongs to me and no one else. Do you think it’s a coincidence that I came here looking for the boy and found her in the same town? That’s God’s work.” He laughs hysterically.
“You're scarin’ her, look,” Mitch gestures his head toward me, trying to play on Solomon’s empathy. But he won’t find any, I learned that very fast when I was down in that bunker at his mercy.
“Solomon, I’m gonna ask you politely one more time to put that knife down.”
“And if I don’t?” Solomon challenges him.
“Well, then things are gonna get real messy.” I’ve never seen Mitch look more threatening.
“I won’t let you have her. I told you, she’s mine.”
“Everleigh, darlin’,” Mitch is focused on me now, acting like Solomon isn’t even there. “Don’t be scared, this man ain’t gonna hurt you,” he promises.
“How can you be so sure?” Solomon’s hand tenses.
“Because if God truly wanted ya to have her, He wouldn't have told you to kill her. You're not livin’ in your village, anymore. You can’t manipulate people with your lies and your deceit. If it was God’s voice you were hearin’, He wouldn’t be tellin’ ya to slit the throat of this sweet, innocent girl.” I feel Solomon loosen his grip on me.
“Don’t hide behind the fa?ade anymore, Solomon, it’s time to stand up and be a man. You want her, I want her. You're in the real world, now, and there's only one way for two men to settle a disagreement.” Mitch slowly starts to unbutton his cuffs and rolls the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows.
“You want me to fight you?” Solomon laughs as if the concept confuses him.
“What's the matter? Ain’t ya ever had to fight for somethin’ before?” Mitch appears to be waiting patiently while Solomon thinks it over, but I see the fear glistening in his eyes as he stares t into mine.
“Come on, Solomon, ya got me on age, and you're a big guy. If I were you, I’d be likin’ my chances.” Mitch cracks his knuckles and I feel the blade move a little further away from my skin.
“You wanna watch me kill him, little dove?” he whispers into my ear before he kisses my cheek, and I watch Mitch’s jaw tense with fury.
I hear the sound of a baby crying but I can’t turn my head. I'm too afraid.
“Don’t go anywhere. I have plans for us.” He shoves me to the side, and I breathe a long sigh of relief until he lunges forward and tries to stab Mitch with the knife.
“No!” I scream as Mitch manages to dodge him, getting a good hit on his face in the process. It still doesn’t change the fact that Solomon is armed and Mitch isn’t. I can hear a whole lot of commotion up ahead and when I look up and see men on horses in the distance, I pray that they hurry.
Solomon shows he has no fighting skills by constantly hacking the knife in Mitch's direction and when Mitch manages to get a hold of his wrist, he twists it back around his body at an angle so awkward, that Solomon falls to his knees and drops it from his hand. I watch as Mitch kicks him in his back sending the top half of his body, and his face, into the dirt. Then picking up the knife in one hand, he lifts Solomon’s head up by his hair and draws him back up onto his knees. Now, Mitch is the one with the blade in his hand and he’s holding it against Solomon’s throat.
“You won’t let him kill me.” He looks up at me as if I’m the one who can save him. “You’re good, Everleigh, and I was good to you, remember?”
“Look away, sweetheart,” Mitch tells me in that soft voice that always soothes me.
“Everleigh, God will never forgive you if you let him kill me,” Solomon speaks up again, the fear in his voice getting more and more desperate.
“You're right.” I step closer and take the blade from Mitch’s hand. He looks confused as he keeps a firm hold on Solomon, then just as he’s about to say something, I interrupt him.
“He’d much prefer if I did it myself.” I think about the baby that he had ripped from my womb as I slice the blade across his throat and watch the blood spill from the gash I’ve made. His eyes bulge with shock before Mitch releases him, and as I watch him turn pale and convulse on the floor, I drop the bloody knife from my hand and allow Mitch to scoop me up in his arms.
“Everleigh.” His lips press into the top of my head as he squeezes me so tight I can barely breathe, but I don’t care. I like how it feels, and I stop pretending to be brave and burst into tears.
“We have to help Hunter,” I whisper, staring at the body that's now still.
“Is he hurt?” Mitch pulls himself away to check me over properly. “Are you hurt, what about the bab?—”
“You know?” I stare at him in shock.
“Savannah had to tell us.” I wish I could read from his face how he feels about it, but he’s giving nothing away.
“I’m sorry, I thought it was impossible.” I shake my head.
“Sorry… What the hell ya sorry for?” He laughs as the sound of hooves gets closer.
“Well, I’m assuming having kids wasn’t on your agenda and we weren’t careful because of what I told you. I swear, I’m just as shocked as you are.”
“You’re damn right, havin’ kids wasn’t on my agenda. But we’re havin’ one.” He smiles and looks down to where his hand is now resting on my stomach. “And I couldn’t be happier about it.” His eyes flick back up to mine.
Our moment is totally ruined by five men on horses who immediately jump off their saddles and stare at the body on the floor.
“Looks like you had it covered, old man.” Finn slaps him on the shoulder.
“Actually, Everleigh killed him,” he tells them with a proud grin on his face. Right now, I feel no remorse for taking the life of a man who played such a big role in ruining mine, but we’ll see how I feel when the adrenaline wears off.
“Good work.” Finn nods his head as if I’ve impressed him.
“Get this piece of shit off our land,” Garrett orders, and just as Finn and Tate set to work, we hear a feeble voice come from the outhouse.
“Any chance someone could untie me.”
“I forgot about him.” Mitch kisses me before he makes his way over to free Hunter, and when I hear the sound of the baby again, I turn around and see Annie standing at the door of the RV. She stares at the ground where Solomon is lying and bursts into tears like she’s saddened by it.
“Annie, I’m sorry.” I step closer so I can comfort her.
“Is it over?” she whispers, sounding as if she’s too scared to believe it's true.
“He’s dead,” I confirm, feeling her make that same long sigh of relief that I did. It’s enough to tell me that she’s suffered too and that she’s grateful to be free.
“He took me and Kayla when the village got raided. Told us we belonged to him. It’s been hard.” She closes her eyes and when tears streak out the sides of her cheeks, I hug her and her little boy, a little tighter.
“I need to get him some help, he’s been sick for days,” she informs me.
“Well, you're in luck, we just so happen to be headin’ for a hospital,” Mitch cuts in, dusting off his hands as he comes out of the outhouse, followed by Hunter. Hunter looks a little worse for wear from the beating he took but I can tell from the smile on his face when he sees me, that he’s okay.
“C’mon, let's go get you and our baby checked out.” Mitch slides his arm around my waist.
“I’m fine, I don’t need a hospital.” I shake my head because just the thought of being back in one freaks me out.
“Darlin’, you’ve been through an ordeal, and we need to check everythin’s okay. I’ll be right there with ya. I won’t let anyone do anythin’ you don’t want. You're in control,” he promises.
“You good to ride?” He looks to Hunter, who nods his head.
“Good, ride on back to the ranch, there's someone there who’s keen to talk to ya. I’ll drive this RV back to my place with the girls, so Everleigh can shower and change, then I’ll take ‘em to the hospital.
I look down at my tee and see that it’s covered in Solomon’s blood. Mitch is right, we can’t go anywhere with me looking like this.
“What will you tell them?” I ask, already starting to panic. I have nothing but bad memories associated with hospitals and if they knew what happened here, surely there would be an investigation.
“We’ll just tell ‘em that ya took a little tumble and I’m bein’ over-cautious.” Mitch calms me when he strokes my face. “Come on, get in.” He opens the door to the RV for me and Annie to get inside.