Feeling hands on me, my instincts kick in and I start to push them away, but my body isn’t working. It’s too broken and beaten down.
“Hey, calm down. We need to get you out of these clothes and into the clean ones before they get back. You don’t want them trying to help you undress, then put clean clothes on because you’ll get something I know you don’t want. Come on, Dani, you know me. I’ve never done anything to you, so give me a chance. I’m trying to protect you from their evil, but we need to get you out of here before your father or the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood arrives because the little I’ve seen of them, they are the Devil reincarnated. Can you get out of those clothes by yourself or do you need my help?”
Knowing I can’t do it breaks me. I don’t want any man to see me, but I have no choice. So swallowing what’s left of my pride, I lift my eyes and say the words that tear my soul out.
“Noah, as much as it totally guts me, I can’t do it. So let’s get it done quick like.”
He’s watching me closely but doesn’t make a move my way. I raise an eyebrow, which brings a sad smile to his face. His hands reach for the bottom of my shirt and with the utmost care he starts to pull it up. When he gets to where I need to lift my arms, he waits but I shake my head.
“Dani, this might hurt but it’s the best way to get this off. Take a deep breath and hang on.”
Then he grabs the top of the neckline and in one swift movement he rips the middle of the shirt, which allows him to pull the shirt off both arms. Then he removes my bra, but hiseyes never even glance at my breasts. What he does do is swear like a sailor when he sees all the scars and burns on my body. Without looking at him, I take in a deep breath and let it out, knowing this is going to hurt. Noah stretches the T-shirt out and puts first one hand then the other one in, before pulling it down in one swift movement. Before I can even let out my cry of pain, the T-shirt is on me. Then he again puts one arm then the other in the flannel and pulls it up on my body.Halfway there,I think right before Noah kneels before me, his fingers going into the top of my jeans. Oh shit. I feel the goosebumps when his fingertips touch my belly. Shifting my eyes upward, the feel of the button letting loose then the zipper going down sounds as loud as church bells on a Sunday. Not saying a word when he sees the scars on my legs, he lifts first one foot then the other, pulling my jeans and then underwear down. I thought about protesting, but from my hose bath, they are soaked, so whatever. Once he gets the shorts on, he pulls a chair from the corner out and sits me in it while he dries my feet, putting on a pair of worn socks. Even with all the pain in my feet the socks feel good because my feet are so cold.
“Thanks, Noah, I appreciate your help.”
He gently pats my shoulder as we hear the door lock engaging. Noah moves quickly to pick up my dirty wet clothes just as Samson and Omar walk in. Not able to help it, I look and almost lose it. Behind Omar is an older version of my father with our oldest brother, Matty. No, can’t call him that, Father would be upset. I remember when Dottie got beat for calling him that. Father said his name is Matthew. Though I have no plan to talk to either of them. When my eyes fall on the cane helping my father into the room, I’m torn between being happy he’s suffering and knowing that isn’t the right way to behave, but who the hell cares at this point.
“So, finally, Daneira, we are together again. Too bad Samson failed at his job and didn’t bring along Dorothea too. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to punish Samson for dropping the ball, as they say. I’ll leave the unpleasantries to my new friends. Leave us for now, I need to have a word with my daughter.”
Seeing the panic in Samson’s eyes, I empathize with him for all of a split second. I’m sure my father promised him virgins, money, and whatever else that would have had Samson go along with this stupid-ass plan, and worse, he also chose to include his younger brothers. What a shitshow for sure. Feeling eyes on me, I look up and around to see Noah’s gunmetal eyes on me, almost like a caress. He gives a very slight nod and mouths “Be careful” before he turns and leaves with his brothers, leaving me and my family in the room. The shock on my father’s face when we hear the lock engage, I can’t help the smirk that appears on my face right before my father punches me right in the nose.
SEVENTEEN
GLORY
NORA
Standing off in the far northwest corner of the great room in our clubhouse, I’m watching what I’ve called this before when we have something come up that’s out of our control. Forced Chaos. My eyes swing to where Tink, our club prez, is trying to hold it together, but just by the look on her face I can tell she’s stressing and that right there is the one thing Atlas, her OB/GYN and Raven’s ol’ man, told her to avoid at all costs. Noodles is hovering around her, pissing the fuck out of her, on top of it all. Shadow is almost ready to be put on lockdown, which she knows by the cagey looks she keeps giving me. She’s the biggest wild card, though Dottie is a close second. I’m trying to understand the intimate dynamics between Dottie and Dani, though I don’t have a twin, and what they went through before they made their way to Timber-Ghost is totally different than what Malcolm and I did. Then there’s the unexpected one… Halo. I’m getting the feeling he found his way here for a reason, just don’t know what it is yet. I can tell from what I see, and what Sebastian has shared, he’s been through his own living hell. My ol’ man can relate because he too had that quick train ride to hell when he was also in the military. It was comical watching Halo and Sebastian getting to know each other. Poor Halo was so confusedwhen he offered his hand to my ol’ man and introduced himself, saying something like, “Hi, Sebastian, I’m Halo.” That’s when he learned that you wait to hear what someone goes by because Sebastian laid hard into Halo, telling him his name is Yoggie and only one person uses his given name and that is me. Feeling someone come stand next to me, I look up and up to see Halo. His intense dark emotionless eyes are scanning the entire room before they come to rest on me.
“Glory, you got a plan? I’m just gonna say, Dottie is losing her ever-lovin’ fucking mind, minute by minute. Not sure anyone will be able to hold her down when she blows. And that lunatic over there, damn, not sure how any of you can be around her when she’s on a tangent. Though nothing seems to faze Panther. I mean, look at him while she’s going on about something or another.”
My eyes scan until I see Shadow throwing her arms in the air, mouth moving, while God only knows how many words a minute she’s spewing. Panther stands with her at his side, eyes on her face, and seems to be totally absorbed by her. Actually, besides Tink, he’s the only one who can be around her when her insanity starts. Shaking my head, I look back up at Halo and lay it on him.
“Halo, get Noodles to the side. We need to watch Tink, I’m thinking the stress is getting to her. Include Atlas and Rebel in the conversation. Have Noodles suggest that they head to the hospital to check on Duchess again. Yeah, she’s out of surgery and that DEA agent hasn’t left since he put eyes on her, but I don’t fucking know him or his story, so don’t trust him with our sister. When she wakes up, I want to make sure she has a friendly face or two. Nope, actually I really want her to see her family there. Once you’re done with Noodles, get Avalanche to drag Shadow out to do something, I don’t care what. He’ll think of something, he always does. I’m going to gather the sisters in the back and, with Raven and Freak’s help, try to find thelast known location of the SUV that asshole Samson is driving. Then to top it off, figure out where all these assholes from the brotherhood are or heading to. Also, included in the search is going to be Dani and Dottie’s father. To keep Dottie’s mind occupied, I’ll put her in charge with Raven and Freak. Sound good?”
He’s looking at me like I’ve gone crazy and maybe I have, who the hell knows? We’ve finally reached a place of some kind of normal within the club, where it was sort of quiet, though none of us should have let our guard down. Son of bitch, poor Duchess, fuck, they have no clear diagnosis regarding if she will ever walk again. She’s facing a very long road ahead of her. Though she has picked up a very handsome DEA agent, who hasn’t left her side. He, in fact, told us he’d take that off our plate and was planning on sticking around so he could keep an eye on Duchess. Thought Shadow was going to gut him, but once again Panther kept her feet on the ground. And since we don’t know this DEA agent, or his intentions, it’s another thing for Raven and Freak to look into when they have a free moment. That should be sometime in the next year or so by the way we keep piling shit on both of them.
“Well, yeah, guess that sounds like somewhat of a plan. Why are ya trusting me with this stuff, Glory?”
“Because both Dottie and Dani trust you, and I will always believe in them and their ability to read a person. They put their faith in you, so I’m going to trust that for now. Saying that, I already know Shadow warned you, but I’m also gonna put my two cents in. If you hurt Dottie and, look at me, Halo, I’m speaking the God’s honest truth; you will wish you were back in the military and a prisoner again. I don’t mean any disrespect but you need to know where I’m coming from. Now you have your assignment, so get to it, soldier.”
With that I turn and start the process of gathering all my club sisters, so we can get our heads out of our asses and find our sister.Sooner rather than later,I’m thinking with all the players who are now involved. It’s not looking good for Dani.
We’re all crowding around Raven, who’s got her laptops and tablet open as she’s working on her main screens. Freak is on the dark net system that Raven keeps in the corner of her office so, if necessary, she can check the dark web, especially when we are in the process of breaking up a human trafficking circuit. Hearing boots hitting the concrete, we all shift our eyes to the door as it flies open. It’s Yoggie with his phone to his ear and he’s staring at me, shock all over his face. Before I can ask what the fuck is going on, I hear my ol’ man tell someone to hang on, he’s handing the phone to the vice president of the Devil’s Handmaidens. He shoves the phone toward me, telling me to take it.
“This is Glory, who am I speaking with?”
“Um, well, you don’t know me but my name is Noah, and I know where they are holding Dani. You’ve got to move fast ’cause this shit is about to explode. Just to put the truth out there, my brother is Samson, the one who kidnapped Dani and shot that other woman. Also, I’m on the job, though my brothers don’t know it. I’m working for the other side. The right one. I can’t stay on this line long, never know if someone will see me. Right now, Dani is being held about fifty or sixty miles from your town. Take Interstate 90 past Billings before Bozeman. After you drive past the Billings exit, keep an eye out for a town, think it’s called Springdale. Get off, go about two miles, and you’ll see a dirt road and overgrown turnoff. Take that until thetrees separate and you’ll see what looks like an old mine. Pass it and come quiet up to the old building behind it. Right now, it’s my brothers Samson, Cain, Omar, and me. Dani’s father and brother, Matthew, just got here but, as usual, my brother Samson has other ideas at play in his mind. We didn’t know that as we watched him lock the old man and the brother in with Dani. Shit, trouble’s startin’, gotta go, be as quiet as possible. I’ll expect to see you in under a couple of hours. Oh, damn it, forgot to say that you better move immediately because the Thunder Cloud Knuckle Brotherhood is expected here later tonight. Their plan, from what I understand, is to make Dani pay for what your club has done to them, then try to ransom her to get some of your president’s money, while trafficking her off with the rest of their current victims on hand. What the fuck? Hey, gotta go. Something’s up, I can hear my brothers screaming at each other. Remember, I’m on your side. If you see a really tall dude with sleeves on both arms and auburn hair, that’s me. Dani’s hanging on for now. Fuck. ‘Coming, Samson, hold your dick, brother.’ Later, Glory, I’ll do my best to keep Dani safe.”
Staring at the phone in my hand, it takes all but a minute or two.
“I know where Dani is. Load up the vehicles. We don’t have a lot of time. Lock and load since we are going in hot. We leave in under five minutes, got to go talk to Tink. Meet you all out front. Make sure Shadow lets the sheriff know… no, Sebastian, find Sheriff George, tell him they are holding her at an old mining building in Springdale. Move your asses, sisters.”
Running down the hall to the great room, all eyes are on me, but I’m looking for Tink, who’s sitting in one of the recliners with Noodles and Momma Diane on either side of her.
“Hey, Tink, we got a lead. No, keep your tiny ass right where it is, no disrespect, Maggie. Yeah, sister, going to pull out the big guns using your given name, but you gotta stay back this run andtake care of that lil one growing in your belly, Prez. I’ve got this. Now, where the hell are Shadow and Rebel? Gonna need them and Spirit.”
Out of nowhere Spirit is at my side, which freaks the ever-lovin’ shit out of me. Those violet eyes are intently watching me so I give her a nod, which has her pulling her phone out, guessing to reach out to Shadow. I tell Tink and Noodles what I know, which isn’t much, except the dude Noah, who reached out, is the asshole’s brother who took Dani and shot Duchess. The threat of the brotherhood is enough to have us moving our asses so we can hit the road as fast as possible. Whoever isn’t with us can find their own way there, we don’t have time to wait. Dani’s life is on the line.
