Page 5 of Torrent’s Treasure

Torrent was pleased that Calliope felt comfortable with Sally because it would make what they needed to make happen easier. Torrent listened as his President put the girls at ease, chatting with Calliope about inconsequential things. Cecilia didn’t talk much, but a couple of times, she urged Calliope to tell Dragon about something she’d done at school. The adults were all on the same page about minimizing the trauma to Calliope from this point forward.

The sound of a vehicle turning onto the gravel road to the cabin had all of them pulling their guns to be ready just in case it wasn’t Sally.

Torrent breathed a sigh of relief, spotting Sally driving a large box truck. It was similar to the ones they used for transporting the guns and coffins, but this one usually sat at the back of their junkyard. Torrent hadn’t realized it still ran. He’d guessed they used it for spare parts to keep the other trucks running. But then, he’d only been out of prison the last two years. During that time, he’d been on the road a lot. When he was home, he was hanging at the clubhouse or in their shop, building coffins and other wood items.

Dragon walked over to the truck, opening Sally’s door and helping her down before grabbing some bags and a cooler. Sally hurried to the girls.

“Oh, my sweet honeys, I’m so sorry this happened. Let’s get you cleaned up to get out of here if you’re ready to let me help?” she offered softly.

Calliope nodded, staring at her sister.

Chapter Three

“Yes, what do we need to do?” Cecilia said. She was a nurse and a SANE nurse, for fuck’s sake, but making decisions felt like swimming through Jell-O right now. She’d get a thought, then have to fight her way through a thickness to figure out what she needed to do.

“The guys are going to get the vehicle turned around while we go on this side of the house,” Sally directed, motioning to the side of the house where no one would be able to see them.

Cecilia nodded, standing up and waiting to make sure she wasn’t dizzy. The water that Bravo had given them helped. She followed her sister and Sally around the corner of the house, where there were a couple bags and what Cecilia guessed was a cooler.

“We’re all women here, so we’ll have to be comfortable with each other,” Sally noted, opening one of the bags and pulling out a trash bag. She opened it and placed it on the ground, then pulled out some plastic sheeting, putting a huge sheet beside it.

“I need you to remove all your clothes and place them in the bag,” Sally instructed as she pulled out a huge container of water in a pump bottle and placed it inside a pan. She pulled out a container of wet wipes and a large bottle of hand sanitizer. It was bigger than what Cecilia had seen at the hospital where she’d worked.

“Then step onto the sheeting and clean any blood off your hands, faces, and necks,” Sally explained as she laid clean clothes on another sheet of plastic.

“Then you can step on the other one and get dressed. I’ll clean up everything. Do you have any questions?” Sally asked.

Cecilia shook her head no, checking to see that Calliope was nodding and already removing all her clothes.

Cecilia did what Sally said on autopilot—completing the tasks without thinking about them. Sally had used a couple wipes on Cecilia’s face when Cecilia had missed some of the blood.

Once they were dressed, Sally collected all the items into a black trash bag. She sprayed the outside of the bag, then directed them to stay there for a minute. Calliope leaned against her. Cecilia slipped her arm around her sister.

Cecilia thought she’d feel nauseous after killing a man because she was a nurse. She helped save people and considered it her calling to be the calm voice when an injured person needed her the most. But when he’d said in the car what he planned on doing to her younger sister, the only thing in her mind had been saving Calliope. Her protective instincts outweighed any oath or vow she’d made to help people.

“Are we safe?” Calliope asked.

What the hell did she tell her sister? Were they safe? Well, they were safer than they had been with the officer.

“I think so. You said Mom trusted Sally, and Torrent is who Dad said to call if we ever needed something,” Cecilia said.

Sally came back with off-brand Crocs for them to slip on. She had them step off the plastic to put them on. She opened the cooler and handed them sodas. Cecilia didn’t care how many calories it was or what preservatives were in it. She needed the sugar and the caffeine to continue on. Sally had gloves on as she collected everything they’d used. Most of the items went inside the large black trash bag.

Torrent came over to them while Sally was collecting everything.

“Ready to get in the truck? You can eat while we finish up,” Torrent suggested, holding his hand out to direct them but not touching her in any way. She appreciated that. Even if they were helping her and Calliope, if a man touched her right now, she wasn’t sure how she’d react. She shivered as they walked toward the truck, despite the heat of the day.

He was direct and she needed direct. The fewer words to wade through, the better right now.

Cecilia followed him to the truck. The box truck had a surprisingly large cab. It had plenty of room for Sally, her sister, the cooler, and her. He held the door open. Calliope needed help, and Torrent asked before he helped her. He cocked his eyebrow at Cecilia, who shook her head, getting in on her own. Once she was situated and he’d handed the cooler up, he closed the door without a word. A blanket was on the bench seat. Cecilia laid it over herself and Calliope, sliding her arm around her sister.

“What’s in the cooler? I’m really hungry,” Calliope ventured.

Cecilia reached with one hand to open the bag. She wasn’t giving up the warmth from the blanket.

“Sandwiches, bags of chips, bags of cookies, bananas, and more drinks,” Cecilia said.

“I should probably have a sandwich, even though the cookies sound good,” Calliope sighed.