Page 65

CHAPTER

NINE

Jingles

As soon as Hawg was able to access one of the laptops, he sent me the coordinates, and I got back on the road once again with Scythe, Phantom, and Banshee riding by my side. While we follow the GPS as it spits out directions through our helmets, I realize that I feel good about this latest lead, as if we may finally have the upper hand.

We pull down a long, nondescript driveway, uncaring about how loud the revving of our bikes are since we want them to know we’ve found and come for them.

“Watch out!” Scythe bellows, causing me to look up and swerve as a van goes speeding past the four of us. “Phantom, Banshee, follow that van. Jingles, let’s get in there and see what we can find.”

Since I agree with his instructions, I waste no time pulling up to the door that was left open, shutting my bike down, then grabbing my gun once I’m off the saddle and racing toward the door. Taking a deep breath, I wait for Scythe so I have back up, and then we start clearing each room just like we’ve done every other time.

“Just one room left,” I mutter over my shoulder to Scythe. We’ve found a few seriously injured women, but unfortunately, none of them were Belle. “This is the closest we’ve been, have you heard anything back from Ban or Phantom?”

“No, Brother. You go in first, I’ve got your back,” he replies.

I peer around the corner and my heart drops in my chest when all I see is icy blonde hair covered in blood. Rushing into the room, I end up on my knees by the cot, my hands hovering over her since I’m afraid to touch her and hurt her even worse.

“Let’s get her untied, Brother,” Scythe murmurs, leaning over and pulling out his knife. He flicks the blade open and gently cuts away the bindings, which still leaves the handcuffs attached to her wrists, but I’m sure he’ll figure out a way to unlock and open them so we can free her hands. “Jesus, her shoulder’s dislocated,” he says. “Fucking hell, I’m glad she’s not conscious so I can put the socket back into place.”

I can’t hide the tears that are streaming down my own face as my gaze roams over her still, swollen, abused face. “I think her jaw’s busted, Scythe,” I mutter, gently reaching out and touching the area that’s swollen to twice its size. “Whoever did this to her is mine,” I vow.

“Gonna have to fight her brother for him I think,” Scythe replies, searching the room for something sterile to help clean her up. “Let me call Brick, see if Angel’s arrived because I don’t think she’ll survive being moved in this condition. You call Sleeper,” he instructs.

“Not a phone call I wanna make,” I admit.

“As long as she’s still breathing, there’s hope. Make the call.” His words break me out of my solemn mood, and I do as he instructed.

Since he’s an officer, I don’t hesitate to follow his mandate, pulling my phone out, and without hesitation, hitting Sleeper’s number.

“Tell me you’ve found her,” Sleeper growls out. I can hear the sound of other vehicles whizzing by and know he’s probably riding faster than he should, but who am I to tell him to slow the fuck down? If she were my sister, I’d be driving twice the listed speed limit too.

“I found her, Brother,” I reply, my voice hoarse, raw with emotion.

He must hear it in my tone because he asks, “H-h-how bad, Jingles? Just rip the fucking bandage off and lay it all out on the table.”

“Bad. She’s not conscious right now to tell us if it's more severe than what our eyes can see, and she has been beaten multiple times as far as I can tell. Scythe’s calling to see if Angel’s in town because he doesn’t think she’ll survive us moving her in her current condition, and we’re not willing to get the authorities involved for obvious reasons.”

“No, I agree. I’m going to kill that motherfucker, Jingles. Y’all save that piece of shit for me,” he demands.

“Gonna need a piece too, Brother,” I admit. “Because nobody should go through the hell it looks like she’s endured.”

“Can… was… fuck it, can you tell if she was sexually assaulted, Brother? Just need to know whether to draw that fucker’s suffering out longer or not.”

“I think we might’ve interrupted that, Brother, but until she wakes up, we won’t know for sure,” I reply, gritting my teeth. “We’re going to clean her up while we wait for Angel. Banshee and Phantom followed the van that took off speeding down the asphalt, nearly taking us out when we arrived.”

“Fuck, y’all were that close? Those pricks are going down.” I hear him take a deep breath then he continues. “Put the phone on speaker, Jingles, so I can talk to her.”

I do as he asks, setting the phone down on the cot next to her ear while I use the wipes that Scythe found to gently clean both the crusted and fresh blood from her face.

“Hey, Baby Belle, you sure know how to keep your big brother on his toes. In case you’ve forgotten, the long-haired guy currently taking care of you is my brother, Jingles. He’ll watch over you until I get there.” I hear as his voice cracks slightly, then he sighs. “I’m glad to be part of the brotherhood I’ve got, sis, because if not for a lot of my brothers pounding the pavement, I’m not sure if we’d have found you in time. I know I’ve kind of kept you away from the club, but I’m here to tell you now, that was a mistake. Most of them might be huge assholes, but all of them have been invested in helping me find you. Not just my chapter, either, Belle. Jingles is out of our Roanoke chapter, but you met him when you were just a kid. Granted, he wasn’t much more than one himself, at least compared to me. There are also brothers from Ankeny and Cedar Creek who’ve been helping and who will help you now that we’ve found you.”

I chuckle at his words even as a wince crosses my face when I see Scythe fashioning a sling of sorts for her shoulder. Right now, I’m glad as hell that she’s not awake, because I can smell the infection seeping from the wounds we found on her back, so I’m sure she’s in a shit ton of pain. Plus, her jaw’s broken, in at least one place that we can determine without any real medical expertise, and she’s got bruises that continue to darken the longer we sit here waiting for Brick to get here with Angel.

“Belle, I’m heading to the Roanoke clubhouse, and I’ll see you there. If you wake up before I get to you, just remember, I love you and it’s all going to be just fine. I promise.”

I take the phone off speaker and bring it back to my ear as Scythe tears the room apart looking for something to slide over her shredded clothes. “She won’t leave our sight, Brother, I promise,” I tell him. “Y’all just keep the wheels on the road, y’hear?”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya,” he retorts. “If she wakes up, Jingles, be sure she knows I’m on my way.”

“Absofuckinlutely,” I reply. “Sleep, she’s hurt pretty bad, but I think Angel should be able to help her. Maybe Moira as well.”

“Moira’s worse?” he asks.

I nod even though he can’t see me. “Yeah, Brother. They were using her as a plaything, apparently, but she was also beaten frequently.”

“Those fucking pussies,” he roars. “How can men who claim to be religious treat women in that manner?”

“Can’t answer that, Brother, because we don’t even treat our club girls like this,” I admit.

“You take care of Belle, I’ll see you when y’all get there.”

“Later, Sleeper.”

We wait for what feels like hours, but is in reality about forty-five minutes to an hour for Brick and Angel to arrive. When Brick finds us, his face blanches, and I briefly wonder if he’s remembering when Ryleigh was found and brought to the club.

“Y’all turn your backs,” Angel instructs, kneeling next to Belle who still hasn’t woken or moved an inch. I can feel the energy build in the room, and know Angel’s using his abilities to save her life right now. When Brick’s hand squeezes my shoulder, I realize I’m clenching my fists in preparation for her to cry out.

“Appreciate y’all hauling ass, Pres,” I murmur so as not to distract Angel.

“We brought a club vehicle with blankets and pillows, so we’ll be able to transport her as comfortably as possible,” he replies.

“Sleeper’s on his way to the clubhouse,” I tell him. Right now, I’m talking just to keep my mind off of what Belle’s going through.

“We’re going to have a clubhouse full, then, at least for a little while,” he murmurs. “Because Grim and Rael are on their way too, and Rael’s bringing his ol’ lady, Nylah, since she’s a nurse.”

“The more the merrier,” Scythe adds, smirking. He left the room briefly, then came back with a bowl of warm water and some clean cloths, and is now waiting patiently for Angel to wrap up so we can finish cleaning Belle, get her dressed in something else, then leave.

“Fuck,” Brick says when Angel stands, then immediately sways. Healing Belle stole all of his excess energy and his reserves have been depleted. Now, it’s our job to care for him while he regains his equilibrium. “Brother, I’ve got you,” he says, wrapping his arms around the Ankeny brother. “Tell me what you need,” he instructs.

“Sleep,” Angel murmurs, his words slightly slurred.

Without another word, Scythe takes Angel from Brick, slings him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, and he stalks out the door, presumably to put Angel in the vehicle so he can sleep it off while we finish with Belle and get her ready for transport.

“Let me go hunt down some clothes for her while you clean her up, Brother,” Brick says, following behind Scythe.

Once the room is empty, except for the two of us, I take the bowl and cloths and begin cleaning her exposed skin, which is already showing signs of healing. Peaches and cream skin peeks out at me from the shredded clothing, which I begin removing as well until she’s lying there in a utilitarian style white bra and panties. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.

“So, Belle, not sure how you feel about bikers,” I say, grabbing another cloth from the small stack of clean ones that were found and dunking it into the water, which is becoming soiled and will need to be changed sooner rather than later. “But, like your brother said, I’m with the Royal Bastards, same as him, just belong to a different chapter than he does. Roanoke is one of the prettiest places you’d ever want to see, with mountains and rolling hills that are so many varying shades of green in the spring and summer it’s unbelievable. Autumn, though, is when it’s downright beautiful, with the leaves turning in preparation for winter. We’ve got snowmobiles and cross-country skis for winter fun, although sometimes, we’re stuck inside when a blizzard blows through. Still, since Brick now has an ol’ lady who didn’t get to do a lot of playing in the snow, we get outside and have snowball fights, or we build snowmen and snow animals. Banshee has an ol’ lady now, too, and since she lived in an area of the country where there's not much snow, I suspect this year will be a lot of fun. I hope you’re willing to take a chance on a biker, specifically me, because you’ve grown into a beautiful woman but I feel a draw to you, unlike anything I’ve felt before, you haven’t opened your eyes yet, and already, you’ve enchanted me, and even with these feelings being foreign, they’re strong, and I’d like the opportunity to explore that with you and see if this thing, this pull, is mutual.”

I don’t know what makes me admit that out loud; however, I don’t want to examine it too closely. After all, she’s close to getting her college degree while I’ve only got my high school diploma, and my ASE certification so I can work on bikes as well as cars. She was going to start her final semester when she was taken, so it’s possible she won’t want to finish, but I’ll definitely encourage her to do so. We’re definitely not in the same place when it comes to book smarts, that’s for damn sure, however, I do have street smarts on my side and can keep her safe in that aspect. But Sleeper gave me permission to shoot my shot, so that’s what I’m going to do. Even if she is unconscious while I do so.

Chuckling a little under my breath, I pull the blanket up to cover her, and lean down to press a soft, caressing kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be right back, Belle, I need to dump this bowl and add some clean water so I can finish cleaning you up, so we can get outta here.”

I hate leaving her, even for a short amount of time, but there’s a bathroom attached to this room, so at least she won’t be out of sight. After dumping the water, I turn the taps on to let the water warm, and once I’m satisfied that the temperature is just right, I refill the bowl, adding a little of the soap, then carry it back to the cot where I continue to wipe her skin clean from the evidence of her abuse.

The trip back to the clubhouse is nearly anticlimactic. Belle is still sleeping, not unconscious as she was when we initially arrived and before Angel healed her, but she doesn’t utter so much as a sound despite some of the bumpier roads we travel. I just know I’ll be glad to be back home where I know she’ll be safe, and I can decompress.