Page 3 of Ashes’ Addiction

“They’re sore if they’re hit, but they don’t hurt all the time.”

“Good to know. What’s the last date you remember?” Doc asked. It took everything Ashes had to keep his mouth shut and let Doc handle this. He knew what he was doing, Ashes needed to trust him.

Miranda tilted her head to one side. “I don’t remember the exact date but it was after classes let out but before Memorial day, so sometime in mid-May.”

Doc nodded as if she hadn’t given a date roughly six months or maybe eighteen months prior, depending on the year she disappeared. Ashes clenched his fists, but bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything.

“Can you tell me what happened after you were taken? Do you remember being taken?”

“Some, but it’s not clear. I went out on a date. He seemed like a nice guy, we had dinner and I went home. I remember going to bed, but when I woke, I wasn’t in my bed. I wasn’t in my apartment or anywhere I knew.”

“Were you down there?” Ashes couldn’t remain silent any longer.

“No. I was in a room with real walls and a floor. There was a bed and a toilet. He didn’t put me down there until after I tried to escape.”

“Did he ever say what he was planning? Tell you what he was going to do?”

“He said he was training me.” Miranda’s voice was so soft Ashes barely heard her at first, but the longer she talked, the stronger her voice grew. “I thought he was going to rape me. I thought I was going to die.”

“He didn’t?” Ashes asked, needing to know but not wanting to say it. He’d assumed she’d been sexually assaulted but hadn’t wanted to ask, even though they needed to know so they could get her the right help.

“How did he train you?” Doc asked, scowling at Ashes as if telling him to shut up or get out. Ashes ignored him and turned back to Miranda, waiting for her to answer.

“With pain. He seemed to get off on it. He hurt me in different ways, sometimes with his fists, sometimes he’d use a paddle, sometimes something that looked like those long-handled things they used on horses, like I used to see in the old movies my grandfather would watch.”

Doc’s scowl deepened.

“Did he ever break the skin with it?”

She nodded. “He used to leave cuts all the time, but not so much anymore.”

“How often did this happen?”

“I don’t know. I lost track of time. I don’t even know how long I was down there.” Miranda looked toward the hole in the floor.

“Don’t worry about that right now. Is there anyone we can contact? Do you have any family looking for you?”

Miranda shook her head. The tears in her eyes were impossible to miss. There had to be more to that story, but he wasn’t going to ask now. There were more important things they had to know.

Doc continued to talk to her, calming her as he checked her over, or at least the parts they could see.

“How are you feeling?” Ashes asked after Doc had declared her sound enough to make the trip back to the Sons of Sin MC clubhouse.

“Like I’m dreaming. Like any minute I’m going to wake up and be back in that hole again.”

“You’re not, but that’s okay. We’ll get you away from here. Get you somewhere you can feel safe, somewhere you can heal and start over if you need to.”

Ashes watched her, trying to read her expression. All he saw was fear. He didn’t know if it was because she was so afraid nothing else showed or if that was all she felt. Either way, they’d get her out of here, get her better, then see what she wanted to do with her life. She was young, she still had a lot of life ahead of her. She could get past this, he had no doubt.

Chapter Four

Miranda looked from one to another of the four huge men who’d just come out of the house—no, it was more of a cabin—where she’d been trapped beneath the floor. She bit her lip as her gaze landed on the man who called himself Ashes. What kind of name was that anyway?

She couldn’t help the fine tremble of her entire body so she did her best to ignore it as she kept her eyes on Ashes. He’d promised her she would be safe. He’d told her no hospital and he’d given her something more than her torn and ragged clothes, the only thing she had left from before Kevin had abducted her. For that alone, she was grateful to him. But he’d promised to get her out of here. None of the others had done that, so she would stay close to him.

“Sparrow, you and Doc head into Payson. One of you get a room. I don’t care what it costs, but something we can pay cash for and not leave a name. The other find a store and get Miranda something to wear and food. My shirt covers her but she’ll need more than that.” He turned to her. “Anything in particular you want in the way of food?”

She stared at him as her mind spun. She hadn’t been asked what she wanted in so long she hadn’t even considered it.