“Everyone, get in the cabin now. Heartbreaker, call Spirit and Shadow. Tell them we are about to have a fucking situation. Move now, something ain’t right. See, even Bowie can feel it.”
Before I even finish my last word, I hear it plain as day. A gunshot echoes through the valley. My eyes immediately searchout Dottie, who is herding the other two women to their home, along with Bowie. That’s when I feel a sharp sting on my outer left thigh, so I look down to see blood on my pant leg. Fuck, I’m the one who was shot. Stumbling, I make my way to the cabin but another shot sounds off and the same sting is on the outside of the other thigh. Well, whoever is shooting is consistent, and a goddamn good shot to boot.Probably an ex-sniperI’m thinking. Before I can fall directly on my face, someone is under my arm, holding me up. Looking down and to the left, of course, I see Dottie almost dragging me with her up the few stairs and through the doorway, which Heartbreaker slams once we're in. Not a few seconds later you can hear the pinging of bullets hitting the stairs and outside walls. I look to Dottie, who shrugs.
“When these cabins were built, it was after a few close calls for our club. Between the outer and inner walls is extremely thick metal, encased in very thick, dense wood, which makes it a bit harder to shoot through. Or so we’ve been told, but it seems to be holding up. Let’s put the shutters over the windows to keep any view from them and protect ourselves.”
The three women move like this is something they’ve done before, so I move to the wooden rocker off in the corner. I gingerly sit and feel the burn from torn skin. Not my first rodeo, that’s for sure. Not sure what’s going on, but we are gonna need to put our heads together before someone else is seriously hurt. Looking down, it might be too late for that as I watch the blood stains getting larger on my cargos.
TEN
HEARTBREAKER
DELILAH
Knowing we’re about to be involved in a majorly massive shitshow, after I close the shutters, I lean down, whispering to Dani to grab Bowie and go into the safe room beside the small office. She gives me a look before she slowly nods and moves toward the dog. Dottie is already in the hallway closet, pulling up the false floor and grabbing guns and ammunition. I turn and see Halo watching, as he is gettin’ paler every minute that goes by. Damn it, I assumed it was a graze but apparently not with the blood pooling under the rocker.
“Dottie, grab some towels and the first aid kit. Halo’s in some serious trouble. Goddamn it. How bad, Halo?”
I watch her drop the automatic on the couch and run toward the hallway bathroom. She plows into her twin, who is making her way back out to us with an automatic strapped across her chest and the first aid kit in her arms. She gives me a don’t-fuck-with-me glare, which has me wanting to laugh outright while throwing my arms up. Damn, Shadow always says watch out for the quiet ones, and she’s right by the stink eye I’m getting from Dani. Dottie follows behind her sister with a handful of towels, alcohol, and peroxide. We all surround Halo, who is starting tosweat profusely while also shivering like it’s the middle of winter up here in Montana. Damn, he’s losing blood fast.
“Halo, hey, dude, come on, stay awake. Keep your eyes open brother. Don’t want to be forward but I need you to drop your pants. Come on, look at me, it’s Heartbreaker. Either drop them or we cut them off. HALO, get your ass up now, we’ll help you. I got to see what we’re dealing with.”
I watch as he tries to focus on us for a minute then we lose him again. Dottie gets right in front of him, putting her hands on his cheeks and shaking his head left then right gently.
“Benji, come on, let me help you get these pants off. We need to do it right now. Dani and Heartbreaker are going to help. That’s it, give that arm to Heartbreaker and the other to Dani. On three, try to stand and they will assist, so once you’re up, I’ll pull your cargos off.”
I watch as Halo’s eyes first get soft when my sister calls him, I’m guessing by his given name. Then his eyes get huge when Dottie talks about pulling his pants down.What the fuck is that about?I think to myself when his eyes shoot to me and something in them gives me the chills, but we don’t have time to tippy-toe around. So I give him a small smile, which has him dropping his head down to his chest. Dottie starts the countdown and when she says three Halo gives it his best, while both Dani and I strain to hold this monster of a man up while Dottie undoes his pants, gently pushing them down. Hearing her gasp, I’m almost afraid to look down, but I do anyway. My God, Halo’s legs are covered in burned flesh and scars. Carefully, Dottie pulls the pants from the drying blood that’s down his thighs and then lifts one socked foot then the other, literally throwing the pants aside. Dani is staring at Halo’s legs in horror, but I know what she is seeing. Both hers and Dottie’s burns and scars. Yeah, I know, though neither twin talks much about their past. I do know their entire family is involved with somekind of cult/commune kind of bullshit. The girls escaped, barely, though they still worry about their family finding them. Both were promised in marriage to two of their father’s friends, who were elders, which meant they were way older than both Dottie and Dani.
Dani clears her throat, which catches my attention. She motions to move Halo to the couch, which provides better access than the rocking chair. Dottie has already covered the cushions with bath towels so we manage to shift Halo to the couch. Gently we put him down and immediately Dottie throws a large bath towel over his legs. I almost lose it when Halo looks up to her with such gratitude. Motherfucker, this man has been through more than any of us ever thought. Hearing boots running up the stairs, I rush to the door and unlock it just as Shadow is about ready to kick it in. She smirks my way with Spirit and Rebel right behind her.
“What the hell is going on and why does the front porch and house look like it’s been in a war? Holy shit, what’s wrong with him? Is that blood? Son of a bitch, move out of the way, let me see.”
Before anyone can warn our enforcer, as usual, she plows her way through, kneeling down and pulling the towel off. The silence is almost deafening as Shadow takes in Halo’s legs before totally ignoring them and moving back up to first his left then right outer thigh.
“Gonna hurt like a bitch, Halo, tore through muscle. Hopefully didn’t do any damage to the tendons and ligaments. We’ll clean it up then pack it with some medicated gauze and get you over to see either Dr. Cora or Dr. Malcolm. You okay with the pain, or you need something to take the edge off?”
Halo glances up at her with those murky black as coal eyes and shakes his head. Of course Shadow doesn’t know when to shut her mouth.
“Now isn’t the time to act all tough and rough, Halo. This shit is going to hurt, so how about a little something just to get you through ’til you see one of the doctors?”
Again he stares at her, with Shadow not backing down. He lets out a sigh then looks at Dottie intently before he runs his hand through his hair and looks back to address our enforcer.
“Shadow, as much as I appreciate your concern about me being in pain, I don’t want any drugs. And before you ask, when I was in the military and was taken prisoner they forced any and all drugs on me so I became addicted. Took me a long time to overcome that baggage and the feelings that come with it, so I try my best to just grind my teeth and bear down on the pain. If you have Tylenol or something like that, yeah, I’ll take three of them. Otherwise, just do it and I’ll try my best not to scream out loud like a little bitch.”
I know exactly how Halo feels, as I’ve been fighting a similar battle since before I came to Timber-Ghost and becoming a Devil’s Handmaiden sister. I move past Rebel, Spirit, and Dottie then sit next to Halo, pulling his huge hand into mine. I glance at Dottie, who knows where I’m going. She nods to me and I mouth, “Thanks.”
“Halo, I get you, brother, and, no, I mean that I truly get you. I’ve overdosed more times than I can count. Also let my club down years ago, which almost got me killed again by one of my own.”
I look to Shadow, who has the decency to drop her head. Not my intention as I’ve forgiven her for her actions back then, a long time ago.
“Let Shadow, Rebel, and Spirit fix you up enough so we can move you to the clinic. Dani is calling ahead. If it gets too much, let one of them know and we have shit that helps but won’t mess with your sobriety. Been there and had to trust my sisters, so when I say you can also trust them, I mean it. I’ll stay right herewhile they clean you up. Dottie, sit on the other side, no better yet, sit on the cocktail table so Halo can see you. We all know how men don’t want to show weakness in front of their women.”
I hear Halo chuckling so in my head I tell myselfgood job. When I look out to my sisters, Rebel, Dani, and Dottie are smiling my way. Spirit has no expression, which is normal, though I think I see a rare sparkle in her eyes, and last but never least Shadow is watching me closely. Then she shocks the ever-lovin’ fuck out of me for the first time since I became a sister.
“Heartbreaker, I know you’ve let it go but believe me, I’ve not. I was wrong and am so fuckin’ sorry for being such a major pyscho-bitch back then. Don’t think I haven’t thanked Christ I didn’t put you to ground back then because you’ve turned out to be one of the most reliable and loyal sisters in our club. Now enough of this pansy-ass shit and let’s stop before we all start crying, holdin’ hands, and singing “Kumbaya” for Christ’s sake. Let’s clean him up so we can get out of here before round two starts. Oh shit, Tink has Noodles, Panther, and Avalanche searching for whoever was shooting. With those three and their tracking abilities, fingers crossed, we might catch a break. Spirit, give me the peroxide first and put some antibiotic ointment on some sterile gauze. These are some deep grooves in Halo’s thighs, but don’t want to glue or stitch them if the damage is more than we can see. Rebel, gonna need you to hold him down, this definitely is gonna burn like hell.”
Rebel moves beside Shadow and when she goes to grab and push down on Halo’s thighs she can finally see the full damage done to him. Her face for a split second goes white, but she pulls it together quickly. Glancing up at him, she asks if it will hurt if she pushes down. When he nods she looks closer at his legs, then again asks if she holds his thigh down—above and below the most severe damage—would that be better. He nods so Rebel grabs two hand towels and folds them up before adding someointment to his thighs. When she puts the towels first then her hands, Halo’s eyes widen and he gives a slight grin, which she returns.
“Brother, we don’t just torture and kill assholes. During most of our missions we are on-the-ground medics for the victims until we get them back to the ranch and they can be seen by professionals. Thought the towels would add some padding and the ointment prevents any unnecessary movement of the towels on your sensitive skin. Go ahead, Shadow, clean that side up. Spirit, get ready to do the other side.”
