Chapter 16 #2
She shook her head. “All I heard was his voice. He was wearing head to toe black. Even had his hoodie pulled up over his head and a beanie on underneath it. I couldn’t see anything besides the cut on his back.”
I tried to replay everything that everyone was wearing tonight, and came up blank.
All of them had been on their bikes, so every last one of them had been bundled up. It may not be snowing out anymore, but it was freezing when you were on the back of a bike.
Every one of us, even me, had a version of what she’d described on tonight.
Everyone but Thumper who never seemed to feel the cold.
He was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and jeans.
The first signs of a siren started filling the air around us, and Holly made a move toward the injured dogs.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “They’re all high on aggression. You can’t go over there by yourself. When Boone gets here, because I’m sure that Thumper told the cops who he called to get him, then we’ll get started on the dogs.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Tonight’s going to be really, really bad, Denver.”
Hours later, I came up to Holly and Boone’s side to hear them talking to Black.
“Forty-seven dogs were on site. Eight of them were already deceased when I arrived,” Boone was saying to Black.
“Eight more we think won’t make it due to aggression issues.
But we’ll wait to see until we get back to the clinic and can reassess there.
Once they’re out of this environment. There are nine that are critical.
Might or might not make it. Six of them, we euthanized on site.
They had injuries incompatible with life. ”
Boone went on, and the more Boone spoke, the lower Holly’s head hung.
I caught her by the ponytail and gently tugged.
She looked over at me. “Let’s go.”
“I can’t leave. I have to go back to…”
“We’ll go back,” I said. “But first we’re going to go get a shower and some food in you. A hot drink that Reyelle will have waiting. Come on. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner you can get there to help. They have to wait on transport down the mountain anyway.”
While we’d been milling about, checking out the scene, Gentry had headed to where I’d parked my bike and brought it back up to me.
Holly walked toward my bike like her shoes were filled with concrete.
When we got to my bike, I lifted my helmet off the seat and fitted it onto Holly’s head.
Once it was cinched tight, I mounted my bike and held my hand out for her.
She took it, and all but fell into me before wrapping her arms around my torso.
Her head went against the spot between my shoulder blades, and that’s where it stayed until we got back to my place.
The girls came rushing out and surrounded us.
All of them were filled with questions, but I silenced them all with a few clipped words.
They understood and went inside.
Instead of taking her to her apartment, I took her inside to my bathroom.
I turned the shower on for her, then all but shoved her inside when she looked like she wasn’t going to get in there on her own.
She blinked at me owlishly as her entire body got soaked, clothes included.
“Get showered,” I ordered as my hands itched to start yanking wet clothes and shoes off. “Or do you want me to help?”
Her first instinct was to say no, I could see it on her face, but then she wilted. “I need help. My head’s throbbing.”
I lifted her shirt free and tossed it into the bottom of the shower, then moved to her leggings and shoes.
When she was standing in her panties, I twisted her around and eased her hair out of the low ponytail she had it in.
My fingers itched to reach for her bra strap or the hem of her panties.
I tried and failed not to pay attention to her body.
It was delectable.
Smooth, pale skin. Supple curves. Ass.
Tits.
God, all of those features would feel so good rubbing against me.
But this was not the time.
Not when she looked like she was about to fall over.
“You got your hair?” I asked.
She nodded but winced.
“Should we go to the doctor?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I passed out. I have a low-grade concussion. But I’m okay.”
Seeing as she knew more shit medically than I ever would, I decided to trust her and said, “I’m going to get you some clothes. I’ll be back in here in ten minutes to help you dress.”
She nodded, throat working as she swallowed.
I headed out the door, leaving it cracked, and found the girls downstairs waiting.
I gave them a quick rundown of what happened, not leaving anything out. Some might ask why I treated my daughters like they were adults, but I’d found that the more information you were armed with, even as a child, the better you could handle any situations that arose.
And this situation was bound to have some major fallout.
“I’ll go get her clothes,” DeeDee said. “I have to get Froto anyway. We took him back home in case she came in late.”
I let her go, deciding to change my own clothes in the laundry room.
Once I was dressed again, DeeDee was back with clothes, and Joe was waiting with a cup of coffee and some donuts.
“We made them while you were gone, they’re still really fresh,” Joe explained.
I took the small bag and coffee upstairs along with Holly’s clothes and found her sitting on my bed with a towel wrapped around her looking lost.
She saw me coming and sighed. “Is that donuts?”
“Yep. Homemade,” I explained. “You ready to go?”
She nodded her head, but she looked so fuckin’ lost in that moment that I couldn’t have stopped myself if I tried.
Placing everything on the dresser next to the bed, I dropped down to my knees at the bottom of the bed, then reached for her.
The moment she understood what I was doing, what I was willing to give, she threw herself at me.
The sobs that left her throat…
Nothing could ever fix this for her.
But I’d be damned if I didn’t at least try.