Chapter 3 #3
“Let me know if you need anything.”
I nodded, then watched as Doc left the room, leaving me alone with our broken stranger.
I stood over her, and I could once again feel the darkness inside of me brewing in the pit of my stomach.
As I stood there, I studied the marks on her body.
Fuck. Every goddamn inch of her had some kind of a bruise or scratch.
I couldn’t be sure, but I got the feeling that it wasn’t just one guy who’d fucked her over. It was several.
Just thinking about what they’d done to her made me want to hunt the assholes down and kill them with my bare fucking hands.
I knew I needed to get a fucking grip. I didn’t know shit about her.
For all I knew, she could’ve had this shit coming to her, but the mere fact they all jumped her at once showed what fucking pussies they were.
Thinking she might get cold with just a sheet covering her, I walked around and grabbed a couple of blankets out of a closet.
After I’d gently tossed one of them on her, I moved a chair over and sat down next to the bed.
I could’ve gone back to my room and gotten some actual fucking sleep, but I couldn’t make myself leave her.
It had always eaten at me that I wasn’t there when my folks were pulled into that water, that they’d both died alone, and I didn’t want the same for her.
If she happened to pass, I’d be there watching over her.
Besides, questions needed to be answered and I’d rather be close by in case she woke up.
I turned out the light and did my best to get comfortable enough to sleep.
I hadn’t even realized I’d dozed off until I heard the muffled sounds of her cries. “No. Stop. Please.”
When I opened my eyes, I found her thrashing from side to side and mumbling incoherent pleas for help. I quickly stood and cautiously ran my hand over the top of her head as I whispered, “Easy. You’re okay. No one’s gonna hurt you here. You’re safe.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, the tension in her body quickly faded, and she drifted back to sleep.
I had no idea if she knew I was there, but I continued to stand close to her until I was certain the bad dream wasn’t coming back.
I didn’t know what the fuck had gotten into me.
I didn’t do this kind of shit, especially with a complete stranger, but I felt protective over her—like it was my responsibility to make sure she was okay.
I knew I was being crazy. The chick didn’t even know I was in the fucking room, but I wanted to be there nonetheless.
I was just about to sit back down when Country, one of my brothers, came charging into the infirmary.
“Holy hellfire and brimstone! What the fuck happened to her?”
“She got the crap beat out of her. That’s what.” I stepped away from the bed and quietly asked, “Whatcha need, Country?”
“Menace sent me down here to get ya. He wants you to meet him down in Viper’s office.” Country’s focus was on the girl and he didn’t take his eyes off her when he added, “Said he found something you’d wanna see.”
“All right. Is he already there?”
“Yep. He’s waiting for ya.” Country shook his head. “Damn. Whoever did that to her should have their ass kicked from here till next Sunday.”
“Working on it.” I started towards the door and told him, “Stay with her until Doc comes back.”
“You got it.”
I was eager to see what Menace had been able to find from the surveillance footage, so I headed straight to Viper’s office.
The second I walked in and saw the expression on Menace’s face, I knew I wasn’t gonna like what he had to say.
My hands quickly drew into fists so tight it made my knuckles turn white, and with my back rigid as a two-by-four, I stood in front of Viper’s desk and waited for Menace to start talking.
Sensing I was on edge, Viper’s eyes wandered to the empty chair, expecting me to take his unsaid directive.
Once I was seated, Menace opened his laptop and started playing the security footage from the night before.
I watched as a car with no tags or distinguishing markings backed into the alley.
I leaned forward to get a better view when two assholes stepped out of the car.
It was dark, but I could still see them open the trunk and reach inside for the girl.
She looked utterly lifeless with her head and arms swaying from side to side as they walked her over to the dumpster and tossed her inside.
As a final blow, one of the dickheads actually spit on her before they both headed back to their car and got inside.
Feeling the rage building inside, I sat there staring at the screen as they quickly backed out of the alley and disappeared into traffic.
They didn’t know it yet, but they’d just made the biggest fucking mistake of their lives.
I would be coming for them, and when I found them, I would bring my wrath of vengeance like they’d never seen before.