“I just passed the information on to someone I knew.”I nod at the guys.“That will be all, thanks, she needs to rest.”
AK47 grunts and then they both turn and leave the room.
“Have you had any more fits?”I ask.
“No, they said I was doing really well.”She shivers.“I’m just so cold all the time, and hungry.And then I go into a deep sleep and have awful nightmares, wake up sweating so much it’s like I’m in a tub.”
“The opioids are still working their way out of you.It will pass but you need plenty of rest and fluids.Sleep really is the best medicine in this instance.”
“Are you staying with me?”She squeezes my hand.
“Yes, and so are a few of these guys.To watch over you.”
“But ...I mean, they won’t forever.”
“You don’t need to think past the next few days for now.And you’re safe here, you’ll be able to rest properly.”
“But I do have to think of the future.”She looks at the window.The pale-yellow curtains have small white flowers on them.“I have an aunt in Phoenix.Mama and she fell out years ago, so there is no real trace to her from my family back home.Perhaps I could go there.We never had a quarrel with each other.I’m sure she’ll help me.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”I smile and plump her pillow.“And we can work out the details together.But for now, sleep, you’ve had quite the start to the day.”
“Haven’t we all?”She rests back and instantly her eyelids look heavy.She has deep bluish circles beneath her eyes and her lips are cracked.For a moment I wonder at how young and fragile she is and how anyone could possibly use her for their own revolting gains and put her at such risk in the process.
Men with the devil in them, that is the only explanation.
****
Reaper
The cabin is still as evening falls, with the only sounds a cardinal singing outside and low female voices coming from upstairs.They’ve been talking for a while and for some reason I’ve found the low murmur calming.
With my stomach growling, I pull several items from the refrigerator, which is well stocked, and then for the second time I check the locks on the door and windows.I see Tank in the distance pulling on a smoke.Scarlet patched up his arm, eight stitches and a dressing, and then he went straight out on watch duty with Ghost.No stopping that guy despite him having a few years under his belt.
My thoughts go back to the events of the day.The entire rescue mission went to shit halfway through.The last thing I ever wanted was for little Doctor Scarlet to be in the line of gunfire.And that is exactly what had happened, big time.It was too close for fucking comfort.I’ll kill all the Hyenas, each and every one of them, slow miserable deaths watching their guts spill onto the floor, just for that near miss.
“She’s sleeping.”Scarlet comes down the stairs, her hair loose now and spilling around her shoulders.Thankfully she has a little more color in her cheeks than when we arrived.“I’ve given her a sedative to help with the nightmares and we talked about other stuff, changed what’s in her mind as she goes off to sleep.”
“That’s good.”I nod and pull the curtains on the encroaching dusk.It’s been a long day.“You want a steak?”
“You cooking?”She tips her head and studies me.“Can you?”
I let out a sharp laugh.She’s got a nerve.“I can fucking cook.”
“Go on then, make mine medium rare.”She grins and for some reason the curve of her lips and the way her cheeks ball tugs at some long silent emotion in my depths.
“Coming up.”I reach for a frying pan and put it on the stove, light the gas.What is going on with me?
She hops up on the counter, legs swinging, and watches me.
“Here.”I pop the lid on a beer and pass it her way.My eyes slip to her chest, her nipples are just visible through the material of her top.
I know she knows I’m looking.I don’t try and hide it.
“Cheers.”She takes a long drink.“You do know you as good as kidnapped me, right?”
“Not my worst crime.”I chuckle.
“I believe you.”She wipes her index finger over her lips to catch a drip of beer.“That you’ve done worse.”
