Page 4

THREE

Isla

“Gah, I hate throwing up,” I mutter as I swipe my hand across my mouth. Once I’m sure I won’t puke any more, I take a small sip of my dwindling water, swish it around my mouth like it’s mouthwash, then spit it out so I can get rid of the nasty taste left behind.

I know I’m feverish at this point since I keep going hot then cold. Hopefully, Starlight has made it back to the ranch by now and alerted them that something is amiss. She’s been such a faithful companion to me for all these years, and if she did manage to make it so that a rescue party is on the way, she’s definitely earned her favorite snack, apples.

“Maybe a whole bushel of them,” I whisper, tears silently tracking down my face. “If Rafe can’t find me, this could be it. But at least I fought like the devil himself was after me and didn’t let them do whatever the fuck it is they planned on doing to me.”

Okay, so sometimes I’m a bit on the dramatic side. I don’t like feeling sick, and with the various aches and pains coursing through me, I’m worse than normal. Still, Rafe has no idea how I really feel about him. In the name of friendship, I kept that to myself, so I didn’t ruin the closeness we have.

Sure, he knows he’s my best friend, and that’s something I’d never deny. But somewhere around the time I turned seventeen, I became interested in him as a prospective boyfriend and one day, possibly my lover. I never let on, though, because I was so worried he’d laugh and walk away, then forget I was part of his life. To me, it was better to have some of him than none. In other words, I’d rather have him as my friend than not have him at all.

I mean, why would he want me, a tomboy? He’s got beautiful women hanging around the clubhouse who are willing to do anything for the brothers and especially him. Patch chasers, I’ve heard them called. With him being the president of the club, he’s high on their list, which I find somewhat disgusting.

My nose wrinkles thinking about them. I know what their place is in the club, of course. They’re like the buckle bunnies on the rodeo circuit. Down for anything and everything in the hopes it’ll get them the man.

“I almost got to you, Rafe,” I mumble, as my vision grows spotty once again. “Please don’t be disappointed in me. I tried my best.”

A wet nose along with a soft whinny pulls me out of the abyss and I open my good eye to see Starlight standing and hovering over me. In the distance, I hear the whining of an engine and goosebumps break out on my arms as fear threatens to overtake me. If Gage and the Devils have found me, I need to be ready to fight again no matter how weak and shaky I am. I won’t let them take me alive!

I snicker because I may not be able to land too many punches in my present condition, but all my crime shows I love to watch and listen to are big on getting DNA from the perpetrators. Judging from the skin that’s already underneath my nails, which has me wrinkling my nose in disgust, if nothing else, the powers that be will be able to figure out one of the perpetrators.

“Who is that, girl?” I softly whisper to Starlight as I mentally gauge how severe my injuries are. “Did you get home? Did you find Rafe?”

I scoot further into the underbrush so I can use the shadows surrounding them for coverage as the noise gets closer then shuts off.

When I hear Rafe’s voice bellowing, “Issy! Issy! Where are you?” I burst into noisy sobs.

He’s been my hero since I was eight and he killed the rattlesnake that was coiled to strike and bite me. Ever since then, he’s made sure I’m protected, especially if he can’t be with me.

That has to say something, my mind whispers.

Yeah, that I’m his best friend is all. I’d scoff, but it hurts to breathe which is why I’m so lightheaded. I’ve been breathing shallowly to avoid the pierce of agony in my lungs.

Before I can respond, the brush starts rustling and I see his handsome face peering down at me. “Oh, Jesus, fuck, Issy,” he whispers, reaching in to gently snatch me out from the greenery.

I try to hold in my sobbing cries of pain, but it’s impossible at this point since I feel like one giant, aching bruise.

“BamBam, get over here and help me,” Rafe commands.

“You should see the other guy,” I whisper through my raw throat.

“Fuck me,” BamBam says, falling to the ground next to Rafe. “Girl, you just took ten years off my life.”

“Good thing you’re not a cat, then,” I tease, even though every word feels as though shards of glass are scraping down my esophagus.

Rafe hands me over to BamBam before he stands to his feet then as carefully as possible, he scoops me up and walks me over to the Ranger. He clicks his tongue against his teeth and Starlight saunters over with BamBam hastily getting into the driver’s side.

“We’ve got you, babe,” Rafe whispers, kissing my forehead.

“I knew you’d find me,” I mumble before passing out once again as the Ranger jostles over the rough terrain.

“I’m sorry, Rafe, I tried hard to fight back,” I mumble.

“Shh, Issy, you did good, honey,” Rafe replies.

“Why did Gage do that?” I ask.

“What did Gage do, Issy?”

“He came to help me with Starlight and brought me a bottle of water.”

“What happened then?” Rafe’s voice is soothing, almost soft, which isn’t like him. He’s not a mean person, at least not to me, but growing up around Paps’s club, he never really had much of a female influence, so he’s usually abrupt and blunt.

“Rafe? I’m sorry,” I cry out as pain courses through me. “Why do I hurt so much?”

“There was an incident, Issy. Shhh now, Doc is checking you out.”

“Did I make it home? I figured out where I was, Rafe, and Star helped,” I whisper.

“Issy, what happened after you drank the water, sweetheart?” Rafe gently asks.

“I got dizzy and fell down. But when Gage tried to tie me up, I fought. I used everything you taught me, Rafe. I even remembered to use my elbow, I promise.” Tears are falling as the pain seems to get worse. “It hurts, Rafe. I’m so sorry I let you down.”

“You’ve never let me down, Issy. You hear me? Now rest, baby.”

I feel a sharp prick injected into the muscle of my arm and sink back into the oblivion of the dark abyss, unaware that Rafe is wiping my tears away as fast as they fall.

“Three days, Issy, you’ve been sleeping for three days now.” Rafe’s tortured voice has me prying my one good eye open to see him sitting on the bed next to me, his head in his hands.

I don’t recognize the room but figure I’m either in the clubhouse in his room or possibly in the big house, where he lives now that Paps is gone. Not that the clubhouse isn’t on the same property, but like Paps used to tell him whenever Rafe would ask, sometimes a man needs his own space.

“Rafe?” My voice is hoarse from disuse. Actually, I feel like I swallowed some ground-up glass, along with a bag of cotton balls.

“Thank fuck, Issy!” he exclaims, leaning over me.

His crisp clean scent, mixed with leather and something that’s uniquely all him surrounds me. Having grown up with him, it makes me feel safe and protected.

“Am I at the big house?” I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me, and considering that I was stuffed into my own horse trailer then taken someplace against my will, I think I’ve earned the right to know when it comes to my whereabouts. “And what did you mean by three days?”

The last thing I remember is him and BamBam finding me after I came around and couldn’t get my body to cooperate. Since I’d been beaten to hell and back, I’m surprised I even had the thought process I did. My brain had felt as if it’d been tossed into a blender and ground into sectioned off pieces before being reinserted. Everything beyond that is blank, like a brand-new white board. Not even a speck of dust to show what happened.

“You are, but at first, you were in Doc’s clinic at the clubhouse,” he replies. “Brought you here so you could get some decent rest and start to heal. Then you decided to be extra and developed an infection in your wrists, so you’ve been pretty much out of it for the past three days while you ran a fever. Don’t you dare ever scare me like that again!”

He helps me sit up and I glance down to see both wrists are bandaged. I wince when I try to take a deep breath and hold up my hand, so he’ll stop. “Just need a second,” I whisper, the pain momentarily stealing my voice. “Need something to drink, Rafe.” Maybe that’ll help the cotton feeling I have going on.

“Here, babe,” he says, handing me a chilled bottle of water. A flashback of one of the last times I took a bottle from someone I trusted hits me like a freight train and I flinch, which has his face falling, before a look I’ve never seen before crosses it. “I’ll get you a glass, Issy.”

Vehemently shaking my head, I argue, “No, no ! I know you’d never intentionally hurt me.”

“That’s what you thought about Gage, too, Issy,” he replies, handing me the bottle of water once he’s cracked the top and opened it for me.

“What do you mean?” I know I didn’t say anything to Rafe yet because I haven’t been awake long enough to tell him what happened. A thought pierces my head and I look at him and ask, “Did Starlight make it home? What about Stargazer?”

He reaches out and twirls one of my curls with his finger. It’s something he’s always done, and it brings me a sense of comfort, even though I’m so confused it’s ridiculous. “You talked during your fever, Issy. You kept apologizing because you thought you’d let me down. Let me make this perfectly clear, sweetheart. You fought your fucking ass off. After Doc was done checking you over, I had Millie and Constance bathe you and get you cleaned up. Then Doc stitched you up and got your wrists and ankles bandaged.”

I wave all of that off, worried about my girls. “And the horses?”

He chuckles, but there’s no mirth behind it at all. “There’s my girl. Shoulda led off with how Starlight and Stargazer were. Starlight made it here and we followed her lead to where you were laying. Unfortunately, Stargazer isn’t home yet.”

My head drops as my eyes well up. “Gage hasn’t brought her back yet?”

“No, he hasn’t, and believe me, we’re looking for him.” His tone is grim and kind of scary right now, but I’m not feeling particularly charitable toward my supposed friend, so I don’t say a word.

“So, you know what happened?” I ask.

“When you started apologizing to me for letting me down, at first, I thought you were awake. It wasn’t until you answered almost robotically that I realized you were feverish, but I continued asking you questions. I don’t have the full picture, though, Issy, so if you can, would you take it from the top?” he questions.

I take another sip of water as I try to put the events of that day in order. There are still some blank spots, but hopefully, what I do remember will be enough to help Rafe find my missing horse.