Page 27

27

T he quaking tremble of my hands holding the heavy metal of the gun is the first thing I see when I pry my lids open, my breath trapped in my lungs as fear grips me.

I just shot someone.

Oh shit.

I really just shot someone.

As my vision slowly unblurs, bringing into focus the now empty doorway, too many things happen at once.

My hearing comes whooshing back, although there’s a ringing in my right ear that’s not as evident in my left. There’s coughing and groaning, as well as yelling that sounds to be getting closer.

That’s when I see him. Ringo, laid out on the carpet in the doorway, his feet barely moving as he coughs again and groans .

“Oh, my god. Ringo!” I cry, about to drop the gun, when three large figures jump out of nowhere, guns raised at me.

“Put it down!” one yells.

“Lower the gun or we’ll shoot!” another yells.

“Stop!” a female voice calls from somewhere.

Is that Jols?

I cry out, terrified, yet the gun remains in my hands, my grip unmoving, not allowing me to become even more vulnerable as my body trembles violently.

“Ringo!” I cry, tears streaming from my eyes. “Please tell me he’s okay.” I beg, still aware that I have the barrel of three guns pointed at me.

Cough. “Stand,” cough, “down.”

A sob escapes me as I hear the muttered rasp of Ringo’s voice, and a moment later, he pushes himself up to sit in the doorway.

“But she shot you,” one voice says, and through the blur of my tears, I can’t focus on the man’s face to see if I know him.

“It’s alright, Vender. It was an accident.” Ringo coughs again, his hands moving to his chest slowly, like their weight is too much to bear.

Then he glances down at his chest, his fingers grazing over something before he chuckles.

“Thank fuck for the Kevlar.”

Kevlar?

What?

I’m sobbing now, the gun still pointed in Ringo’s direction, yet my determined grip begins to falter.

“My gun will remain on her until she drops the fucking metal, man,” Vender snaps .

“You fucking shoot her, and I’ll end you!” Ringo booms over his shoulder before his furious gaze returns to me. “It’s okay, Angel. You can put the gun down now. You’re safe.”

Safe?

I’m not safe.

There are still three guns aimed my way, and the police could come back at any time and take me back to Fox Pines.

I’m not remotely safe.

“N-no. I-I can’t,” I stammer, shaking my head even as Ringo crawls closer.

“Yes, you can, Angel. The police are gone. I’m here. You’re safe.”

“He’s going to come back,” I mutter, watching as Ringo’s face gets clearer in my vision the closer he gets.

“Who’s going to come back?”

“Officer Allen,” I admit, as finally, Ringo’s face is right at the edge of the bath, his dark eyes boring into mine.

“Who is Officer Allen? Was he one of the cops that came?” he asks, reaching for my trembling hands, but halting before they touch.

“Y-yes,” I stammer, studying the inward pull of Ringo’s brows as his gaze moves to the gun in my hands.

“How do you know who he was?” Ringo’s gaze returns to mine.

“H-he… H-he…” I start sobbing again, and Ringo shifts, leaning closer.

“How do you know him, Angel?”

“I m-met him when I w-went to the Redfield Police Station last year… to report…”

I don’t need to finish. Just by Ringo’s expression, I know he understands that I’m talking about going to the police to report my rape.

“Angel, I’m going to take the gun now,” he says, right before his warm hands encase mine, and I slowly loosen my grip and relinquish the gun.

Sighs flow from the bathroom entrance, and Ringo turns back to talk over his shoulder.

“Some privacy please,” he barks and even as the men lower their guns and leave, someone else comes shoving past them.

“Wanna fucking explain what’s going on?” Smitty booms, and like the coward I am, a whimper flies from my lips as I flinch back.

“For fuck’s sake, man. I will, just give me a damn minute with my girl,” Ringo snaps, but Smitty doesn’t budge, his glare lethal as it locks onto me.

Sighing, Ringo turns to face his President, standing as he does so.

“Seriously, just let me check that she’s okay, and then I’ll give you my undivided attention.”

Smitty’s glare shifts from me to Ringo. “Not just your undivided attention, but fucking answers. No more bullshitting.” He jabs Ringo’s shoulder, who nods as he shucks off his leather vest with a skull on the back framed with the words, Southern Sadists.

It’s then that I see another vest underneath, but it looks more like those bulletproof things the police wear in movies.

“No more bullshitting.” Ringo agrees, and finally, the President turns and gives us some privacy .

“Fuck,” I hear Ringo mutter quietly as he starts pulling on the Velcro straps holding the vest in place.

I’m still trembling, although it has eased somewhat, yet the familiar coldness that’s always present sends goosebumps over my skin. I curl my knees up as tight as I can get them, slipping the fabric of the hoodie over my knees so only my feet are poking out at the bottom.

Finally, turning back to face me, Ringo rubs at his chest like it’s tender under his tee.

“That was a good shot, Angel. You familiar with a gun?”

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head.

“I guess you got lucky.” He chuckles.

“I guess you did, since I had my eyes closed. I could have shot you in the head.”

At my words, his shoulders slump as his hand falls from his chest, his eyes appearing almost disbelieving. “You had your eyes closed?”

“Yes.” I nod. “I thought you were him.”

Lowering himself back to the tiled floor, Ringo rests his forearm on the bath’s ledge as he studies me.

“Him, as in the police officer you know?”

“Yes.” I nod.

“You know he wouldn’t hurt you, right? He would have been here thinking you were kidnapped.”

“I was kidnapped.” I point out and I can tell by the way his long stubble shifts that he’s fighting a grin.

“True.”

“He’s not a nice man,” I say, and his gaze hardens.

“After what I heard happened out in the courtyard, I’d have to agree. Is that what you’re referring to? ”

I shake my head. “No… I… He…”

“Angel. You know you can tell me.”

Lowering my chin to rest on the tops of my knees, I sigh. “When I told the police what happened on my birthday, they kept me in the interview room for hours. Then, Officer Allen walked in. I didn’t know who he was at first, and it didn’t even click when he said his surname, but then he made it clear that he wasn’t there to help me at all.”

Ringo shifts, lowering his chin to rest on top of his arm, bringing us to eye level. “How so?”

I hate even thinking about that day. I remember how my faith in law enforcement was so abruptly torn from me with a few simple words.

“He told me that I shouldn’t lie to get attention, and when I went to argue that I wasn’t lying, he told me that if I proceeded with the rape allegations against his nephew and his nephew’s friends, that he can’t guarantee the safety of my sisters.” A shudder runs up my spine as his face looms in the forefront of my mind, my gaze falling from Ringo’s face as I continue. “He asked me to imagine them going through the same thing I was alleging, and to consider if it was really worth it. Then he slid the paper across the desk and asked if I was going to sign the statement or not… So, I stood up and left and I heard him laughing as he tore it up, and called me a whore.”

“His name should be on the list, too.” Ringo hisses, and I nod. “Angel, eyes up.” And like they always do, my eyes obey, locking onto his. “This prick’s nephew is Donny Allen, right?”

“How… How do you remember the name?”

He grins. “Your list is stored up here now.” He taps his temple. “So yeah, I remember the names of Daniel Stone, Craig McRoe, Michael Berry, Tim Beck, Darnel Rivers, and, lastly, Donny Allen. And those names will stay there until I’ve killed each and every one of them, which now includes Officer fucking Allen.”

“You can’t kill a cop.” I argue, but he scoffs, shifting back and standing.

“I’ve killed cops before, Angel, and this motherfucker will meet the same fate.” He reaches out, offering me his hand. “Come on. Time for me to face the music.”

“What? Why?” I ask, letting his large hand grip mine and help me to stand.

“Wendy told my Prez about the cops showing them a picture of you, calling you Abbey Delany.”

I stiffen, and when Ringo notices, he sighs and cups my cheek. “Don’t fret, Angel. I just need to be honest with Smitty. It’ll be alright.”

Even though he seems to believe that, I remember clearly what Jols told me, and how he may very well not be alright. Even so, Ringo leaves me with no time to think about it a moment longer before he’s leading me from the bathroom and out into his motel room.

“About fucking time,” Smitty barks, shifting forward impatiently on the couch to rest his elbows on his thighs, and in the light filtering in from the window, the grey specks in his hair and beard seem to stand out even more than usual. For some reason, I thought a little grey hair would make a man less scary.

I was wrong.

“You have my undivided attention now,” Ringo mutters, dropping down to sit on the end of his bed, dragging me down next to him as he weaves our fingers together .

I’m not the only one that notices this, Smitty’s gaze locking onto the action, a deeper frown contorting his expression.

“Start fucking talking,” he snaps. “Who the fuck is Abbey Delany?”

I don’t know what comes over me. It could be my knowledge of what this man might do to Ringo in punishment for lying to him, or it could be simply because I’ve gone nuts, but I open my mouth and start rambling.

“My mum was trying to force me to marry Daniel, who is a douchebag, to put it lightly, and I couldn’t let her force me into that. I had to escape, and I tried, I really did, but my parents overpowered me and drugged me and locked me away, and well, even smashing my window didn’t help because they closed the external shutters, but somehow, Tahli, she’s my little sister, managed to reach out to Lexi, who is, or was my best friend, that’s still to be determined after what I did to her. Anyway, Lexi sent a bunch of scary men to break in and kidnap me, which was terrifying, but was all worth it when I saw how they were making my parents suffer. It’s honestly the best thing I’ve seen in years but then this arsehole forced me to sit on his lap, which I think was highly unnecessary, and then did the same making me sleep in his bed, but luckily he didn’t touch me… not like them… Ringo’s just not like that, you know? Of course you know. You know him better than I do, so you know he was just trying to protect me, and well, I wasn’t meant to leave the room but, Brody wouldn’t stop having sex with the girl to take the phone to Ringo and I didn’t want to upset him so I took it myself and then that Wendy bitch was splayed out like a feast for Ringo and that pissed me off more than it should have, and I panicked and I ran and that big guy started touching me and all of a sudden I was back in t hat room where they did those things to me… and well Ringo claimed me as his, which you know because you were there, and again he did it to protect me, all while I’m nothing but a pain in his arse because he’s looking out for me as a favour for Lexi, and don’t worry, Mr President, as soon as the snap lockdown is over Ringo’s going to send me somewhere else so I’ll be out of your hair. But you have to know, we didn’t mean to lie about me being his girl, although maybe it all wasn’t a lie because I asked him to kiss me and he did and it was really good and well I thought we were gonna kiss again which I’m really annoyed didn’t happen because I have this ache, like you know, it’s soooo bad, and I have no idea why it keeps happening, but I just really wanted to feel his lips on mine again, but that alert went off and you all had to leave, and again I’m really sorry.”

A huge sigh falls from my lips as I finally stop talking, which I think must be the most I’ve spoken in like a year, and I watch as Smitty’s brows, which shot into his hairline at some point during my speech, slowly pull in before his gaze drags slowly from me to Ringo.

“That about cover it?”

“More or less.” Ringo shrugs. “I can fill you in on the finer details after, but yeah. I took her as a favour.”

“For Lexi?” Smitty asks, and Ringo nods.

“Yes.”

“That’s the one your good-for-nothing brother saved, right?”

“Yep.”

Slowly, Smitty shifts back on the couch, his gaze dancing from Ringo to me and back .

“So this happened when you went to Timber Valley to see Griffin Marx on Thursday?”

Ringo nods.

“And when Charity… or Abbey… When she refers to a bunch of scary men, she’s meaning JD, Murf, Stocky and Trunk?”

“Yes, but under my order. They didn’t break the rules.” Ringo offers.

“I decide that, not you!” Smitty roars, lurching up from the couch, making me jump and clutch onto Ringo’s arm.

“Yes, Prez. You do.” Ringo agrees calmly, like his leader doesn’t have the power to kill us.

For a moment, Smitty starts pacing, but then stops to glare back at Ringo.

“Jols was with you. Did she help?” Smitty growls, stepping closer, but Ringo doesn’t budge or flinch away.

“Yes.”

For a long drawn-out moment, Smitty remains quiet, his glare promising death as his top lip curls.

“My stepdaughter isn’t a fucking member!” he yells, his fists balling at his sides. “She shouldn’t be assisting with any jobs!”

“It wasn’t a club job. It was personal.”

“Yet you used my members and brought the trouble to our fucking door!”

His roar is so loud this time that I swear the windows rattle, but it still doesn’t cause Ringo to flinch. Instead, he stands from the bed, taking a step closer to his President.

“I did. I’m sorry. I thought it would only be for a night or two. I was just trying to help Lexi, and then it became very fucking apparent that Abbey was in real danger, and I knew taking her was the right thing to do.”

Peering around Ringo’s tall frame, I watch as he and Smitty have a stare off. They are silent for so long that it causes me to shift around feeling awkward, until finally, Smitty speaks.

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

“Because I’d already done the wrong thing, and I didn’t think she’d be here that long.” Ringo shrugs, and my gaze travels up his back to his towering height, and I have the indescribable urge to climb him.

What the hell?

“But you claimed her.” Smitty points out, gaining my attention away from Ringo’s broad back and the way his muscles look so defined under the fabric of his tee.

“I did.” Ringo nods. “To keep her safe.”

“From me?” Even though it’s a question, it sounds more like a statement.

“I claimed her so you wouldn’t have the power to send her out on the street… or force her to be a Doxy or a pass around,” Ringo admits.

Man, he has more balls than me.

Obviously.

He doesn’t even sound scared at admitting that to his President, yet I’m over here about peeing my pants.

“You really think I’d do that?” Smitty growls and again, Ringo shrugs.

“You have before.”

I watch as Smitty tilts his head to the side in consideration, and then his brows shoot up.

“Ahhh, yes, that’s right. I have. Now look at Nessy. She loves her life here with us.”

“Maybe, but Nessy’s situation was different to Charity’s. ”

“Don’t you mean Abbey?”

Ringo chuckles at his President. “Yes. Sorry. Abbey.”

“So, what’s your plan?” Smitty asks, and I start to relax.

Now they just sound like two mates chatting.

“To find her somewhere safe,” Ringo admits.

“Where?”

“I reached out to the Angel sisters, but they don’t have room, and that’s as far as I got.”

Sighing, Smitty claps Ringo on the shoulder. “Perhaps you’re stalling for a reason, brother.”

What does that mean?

“Even so. You know the drill,” Smitty continues. “Church tomorrow night.”

“Yep.” Ringo nods before Smitty sidesteps him and his gaze lands on me.

“Who the hell decided to call you Charity?”

I point to Ringo quickly, more than happy to throw him under the bus for that, and Smitty’s brows shoot up.

“I thought it was suitable.” Ringo defends himself and I roll my eyes.

“He was being annoying.”

Throwing his head back, Smitty laughs at my expense, and when Ringo shifts to face me, I can see the grin lighting his eyes.

I like seeing him like this.

“Right, well I gotta tend to these beaten men and we need to do damage control with the Marx family and find out how the fuck today even happened,” Smitty snaps, his mood turning sour again. “And you…” He turns his attention back to me. “While you remain in my home, you will continue to be Ringo’s girl. What he says, goes. Got it? ”

I nod, not wanting to make this man any angrier, and he gives me a curt nod before turning and leaving.

That’s the moment that Ringo turns to me with a hard glare, and my mind races to figure out what I did wrong. It could have been the rambling, which in my defence, I didn’t mean to do. It just came out, but as he steps closer, I know it wasn’t the word vomit.

No. Given the way he starts rubbing at his chest, my guess is he’s pissed about what happened before that when I shot him. He was okay about it at the time, but he was on damage control then.

“I didn’t mean to shoot you,” I rush out, starting to crawl backwards on the bed, right as he grabs the fabric of his shirt at the back of his neck and pulls it off in one swift motion.

“You sure about that, Angel? Look what you did to my chest.” His rasp is huskier than usual as he points to the red inflamed skin that looks like it’s starting to bruise.

I try scurrying backwards faster, but it’s no use. His grip is firm as he grabs my ankles, and in a quick move, he drags me closer, a squeal flying from my lips.

My heart is thrashing wildly in my chest, and I can’t tell if it’s pounding from fear or anticipation for what he’s about to do.