Page 54 of Like An Animal
THE SHADOW
T he second I see her hands grab onto his forearm attached to the arm holding the knife, it clicks.
Her plan.
And all of the warmth leaves my body, replaced with a bone-chilling freeze.
She drags the blade against her throat and before I have the chance to scream at her to stop, blood squirts from her throat. The moment it starts, the fucker drops the knife and lets her go.
“No!” I scream at the same second he bellows, “What the fuck!”
Before she hits the ground, she has her dress bunched up in her hands, pressing it against the wound.
There is half a second where my brain processes what the fuck is happening. Then it hits. She took a gamble and called his bluff. She knew we wouldn’t make a move until she was out of harm’s way.
Isaac slowly backs away before running for his life, but I fire off a single shot, hitting the piece of shit in the ass.
He falls down, crying like a newborn baby, before Xavi rushes right over to Bron.
Picking her up, he carries her out of sight of the gun men on the second story and I rush after him.
“I’m taking her to the hospital,” Xavi announces as the woman I recognize from the footage Arnold showed me– the woman he said disappeared– Cheryl Parker, my wife’s aunt, walks over.
“I’ll do it.”
Before I can grab her, Xavi punches me hard in the shoulder. The move grabs my attention away from the wound on Bronwyn’s neck. She has pressure on it, but it’s not enough. She needs medical attention now .
“No. I’m taking her. This is your mission.
Neither your wife or your daughter will be able to walk outside without looking over their shoulder until this is finished.
You have to finish it. I’ll get her to the closest hospital.
Grove Hill General is only five minutes away.
” Xavi presses his hand to my shoulder, understanding on his face. “You’ve got this, brother.”
“Don’t kill anyone you see in white,” Bron rasps as she holds firm pressure against her throat. “White means they're either in training or in trouble. Everyone in black is fair game.”
That makes things simple.
Lifting my radio, I speak into it. “Avoid hitting anyone wearing white. Keep them out of the way until everyone has been dealt with.” I move over to my wife and press a kiss to her forehead. “See you soon, little ghost.”
We slaughtered every single masked man and managed only to kill two dressed in robes. The rest were easily detained, including Isaac. He’s the one we wanted the most.
Once we started leading everyone out of the compound, I saw we weren’t alone.
Ten white vans huddle around the entrance, but I relax once I see a face I recognize.
Francine Gray.
“Didn’t think I’d see you so soon, Jer,” she says as she walks over to me, wearing a bullet proof vest.
“What are you doing here?”
She smirks. “Did you really think you could bust a pedophile ring without us hearing about it? Xavi rang us for back up, but when he explained the situation, I knew the Bastards weren’t the only assistance you needed.
This is F.R.E.E. It’s an organization founded by myself and Sorcha.
We focus on rescue, recovery, and relocation of victims of sex trafficking and abuse.
We have a facility set up in town that can help them get back on their feet after what they’ve been through. ”
Well, that’s convenient. I hadn’t even thought of what we were going to do with all these kids and women that are clearly emaciated and malnourished.
“Thanks.”
“The Bastards are two minutes out. You may have busted the ring, but they committed these crimes in our territory. If there is anyone specifically that you want to take and deal with as you see fit, be my guest, but we’ve got the rest of them.”
“Only the one called Isaac,” I say as Nikolai walks out, dragging the devil I spoke of by his ankles, slung over his shoulder.
“Let me go! Somebody stop him!” Isaac screams and thrashes.
I can’t help chuckling. “You shouldn’t have murdered his son, Isaac. Maybe he would be more accommodating.” Then, I turn to Francine before saying, “Thank you for your assistance, but I want to be there when you put these fuckers down.”
Her eyebrow raises with confusion. “Why?”
“Because every last one of them raped my wife.”
Her expression falls. “Oh, my god. I’m so sorry, Jer.”
“I need to go check on my wife at the hospital. Can you call Xavi when you’re ready?”
She nods before patting my shoulder. “I’ll keep you updated.”
Just then, another white van drives up and the Bastards hop out.
My work here is done.
I walk into the hospital and find Xavi sitting in the waiting room, blood covering his hands and his shirt.
“Where is she?” I ask, panic coursing through me from the sight of her blood.
“They brought her into surgery to repair the artery. They said it was just nicked and they’re hopeful she’ll be fine. I also sent Cheryl off to be checked out.”
His face is full of uncertainty and anxiety. “What is it?” There’s something he’s not telling me and I can see it on his face.
“The artery repair isn’t the only thing the doctors have to deal with. She didn’t want you to know until everything at the compound was dealt with.”
“Xavi, tell me.” He needs to stop jumping around the issue.
“As soon as he got her to the compound, Isaac raped her violently. She was still bleeding from it. After they deal with the cut on her neck, they’re going to have to stitch her up down there. The doctors said that she’ll probably need to stay for a week. She’s in bad shape, man.”
I had hoped that they would wait to do anything to her, but I should’ve expected that they would hurt her the moment they had her in their grasp.
Like she said, Isaac wanted Bronwyn but The Fathers wanted Charlotte.
My wife was their key to try to find our daughter.
She knew we were coming to get her so she did what she could to keep anyone from leaving to search out Charlotte. She didn’t give them anything so they took from her.
I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.