Bertha comes and leans against the counter next to me and sighs. “It’s bad.”
“Tell me,” I bark out.
I hear Bertha sigh. “Long story short, she was picked up by a trucker. When he picked her up, she was black and blue. He coaxed it out of her that her husband beat her damn near todeath. The boy had a bruise on his stomach too. It was so bad that he called upon the oath.”
“The oath?” I ask, frowning.
“The trucker oath. Think of it like calling in a favor, no questions asked.”
“You guys have an oath? How cute,” I tease.
“Hey, don’t hate. I know for a fact that your little club has oaths as well,” she quips, making me chuckle.
“Roberta, we both know there is nothing little about my club and what we do. Bringing her here puts her adjacent to that. Did you even warn her?”
She rolls her eyes. “I told her that you weren’t on the right side of the law, but you were a good man. That you would protect her, so don’t make me a liar.” She gives me a hard look. “Anyway, I answered the call. Originally, I was going to drop her at my next stop, but I couldn’t. Something about them…I just had to help. She didn’t want to stop because she swears he will find her no matter what. Those kids need stability, and she needs safety. You can provide both.”
So they are on the run. Not only that, but it was a domestic situation.
My jaw clenches. Nothing pisses me off more than someone who harms someone they are supposed to love—someone they are supposed to cherish and treat with nothing but respect. There’s a special place in hell for people who do shit like this.
Not only did he hurt her, but their kids…
I push the thought away and clear my throat. “I will protect them. Any info on the asshole?”
“She won’t tell me anything about him. Even the kids haven’t spoken about him. I think they are scared that if they say his name, he will show up like he’s Bloody Mary or some shit.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get the club on it. We need to know who he is so we can keep an eye out.” I rub my hand down my face.
“I knew you would take this seriously. You have a good heart.” She pats my arm, looking out the window I finally turned my back on.
“Yeah, yeah. How long was she with you?”
“Two weeks. If you think they are skittish now, you should have seen them when I got them.” She shakes her head. “It’s been about two months since she has been on the road. She had no plans to stop. She’s got some money, but that will run out.”
“I fucking hate shit like this,” I mutter.
“You and me both. Jane is just so nice. The kids too. They tried so hard to stay out of my way, to stay small and not ask for anything. It’s been heartbreaking. She’s a good person, Colin. She deserves better than the hand she was dealt.”
“No one deserves what they went through. Does she have a new ID or anything yet?”
Bertha shakes her head. “No, not yet. I’m sure you can handle that, though?”
“Yeah, I’ll get them squared away. The last thing we need is for him to find them because of something like that. Did she use cards or anything when she was with you?”
“No, all cash. It seems she thought this through.”
“Good.”
“Thank you for doing this,” she says softly.
“Stop thanking me.”
“Never. It’s not every day my brother does something nice,” she teases, making us laugh.
“Don’t let anyone else know. They might get the wrong impression,” I quip.
“The horror.”
