“Just do it, okay?” Theresa asked breathlessly. “Just let him help. He’s not like them, and I should—”
She coughed and it was all I could do not to hang on even tighter. “I know. I know that you know.”
She looked up at me with tired eyes. “Then, stop fighting. Rest, Jay.”
And when I looked back at Fangs, he seemed to be pleading with his eyes. “Come on, just one more moment of trust, and that’s it. Then, we’re done.”
“Done?”
He nodded. “For good.”
I’d never felt more conflicted in my entire life, but it didn’t stop me from doing what was best for my sister. I relinquished her, inching myself toward the van door opening before I handed my bleeding sister off to the man I had watched kill so many people that day. He scooped Theresa into his arms and continued bellowing for a man named after a form of wildlife, and as I sat there with my feet dangling, I couldn’t stop staring at my hands.
My hands, dripping with the warm, wet blood of my sister.
“Jesus,” I whispered.
“Here, let me help with that.”
A kind, soft voice dawned upon my ears, but when I looked up into his face, I found another gruff, leather-jacketed man staring back at me. I scrambled to get away, putting distance between us as the man held up his hands as if he were surrendering to me.
“Who are you?” I glowered.
The man slowly reached into his pockets and pulled out a throng of alcohol wipes. “The name’s Bender, and all I want to do is help you out.”
I slid my gaze down the part of his body I could see. “He killed them, you know.”
His arms slowly dropped to his sides. “Yeah, I know.”
I swallowed hard. “At least five of them.”
Bender snickered. “Good.”
My eyes widened. “Good? Seriously? That’s your reaction?”
He shrugged. “You think the men who did this to your sister deserve to live after it?”
He had a point. “No.”
“Then, just be glad you didn’t do it yourself. Now, let me help you get cleaned up. I know your sister is going to want you inside.”
I scooted back to the edge of the van and held out my grotesque hands. Bender ripped open wipe after wipe, a weight lifting from my shoulders as he slowly dug down to the skin of my hands. The smell of metal left my skin as he cleaned me up. The stench of death wafted off my clothes as he raked a wipe beneath my fingernails. Hell, he even opened up a couple of wipes and dabbed at my face.
Then, he shoved them all into his pocket. “Ready to head inside?”
I slid down onto the ground. “Where’s my sister?”
Bender held out his arm. “I’ll lead you inside. I’m sure Goose is already running her through the gamut to see what he can do to help.”
I turned to face a cliffside building, staring right out over the ocean. The gravel parking lot ended at a wide set up steps that ushered us all the way up to a wrap-around porch. The front door hung open effortlessly, and I drew in a deep breath of the salted air before pushing my way inside.
And the chaos that mounted almost made me back out.
“There you are,” Fangs said as I saw my sister sprawled out on a kitchen table. “She’s been asking for you.”
I stood there, rooted to my place like some white bitch in a horror movie. So many jacketed men. But weren’t leather-jacketed men bad? That was what my mother taught me growing up. Bad boys wore things like leather jackets, and bad boys were nothing but trouble.
Leather-jacketed boys had taken my sister.
