Page 25 of Special Agent Raven
Within minutes, she’d cut everyone loose and while this happened, they all revived except for Mac. Helen ran for the first aid kit and passed it to Raven to hold open. “Honey, he’s been out of it for a few hours. It worries me that he might be concussed.” Rifling around the different bandages, she found the one that would work best with an open wound.
“Okay, careful now, don’t move his neck too much when we lay him down.” Aggie had joined them to help as they laid him gently on the floor, and while Helen put a thick pad on his injury, Raven checked his pulse.
“It’s high. Does he usually take medication, Helen?”
“Yeah. Pills. I’ll get them. See if you can wake him up.”
Though it took Steve some time to stretch his old limbs before he could stand properly, he slowly lurched over to where they had Mac on the ground, and with bones creaking, he lowered himself beside his brother-in-law, showing his concern.
“It seems to have stopped bleeding but there’s quite a gash. That bastard hit him a good one with his gun. Poor Mac tried to stop him going after Val, but the asshole wouldn’t be put off. Once he had us all bound like cattle, and through the screams of her baby, he dragged her into the bedroom and forced that poor girl to do the nasty. I mean it, Raven. Don’t leave me alone with him, ‘cause I swear, I’ll kill ‘m.”
Raven touched Steve’s face and made him look at her… so she had his full attention. “He’s hog-tied like the pig he is. Not going anywhere except back to jail. Promise me, you’ll leave him to me and Cane.”
Aggie stood over Steve now and used her gnarled old hands to ease the pain from his face. She smoothed back his matted sparse hair and soothed his cheeks like a mother would do to a child in pain, then she spoke with authority. “He’ll behave,honey. His anger just needs a voice. My Steve never hurt another human being in his life.”
“Yeah, but that pig ain’t human.” He whispered low but nonetheless was heard by Raven, and it made her stare hard into Steve’s eyes until he blinked. “Steve, if I had to control my own strong desire to put a bullet in him, then you have to also. Deal?” Steve looked sheepish, but he complied. “Fine. I’ll behave.”
As if the tension surrounding Mac affected him, he began wake up, thrashing his arms, making them hold him while Helen’s pleading voice got through. “Mac. We’re okay now. You crazy old man who thinks you’re Rambo, it’s over. Come on now, you have to wake up and take your pills.”
Wrestling against their hands, trying to push them away, his eyes finally opened to see the group of folks surrounding and holding him down. His body sagged and he groaned. “Helen.”
“I’m here, love. Steve and Aggie are too and so is Raven with her fellow. They got that killer hog-tied in the kitchen. The nightmare is over.”
“Thank God.” Raven saw the glint of tears in Mac’s eyes before Helen lowered herself to hug him, and the others reached for his hands as if the connections needed to happen.
Once the drama ended, and Mac sat comfortable in his chair, they had everyone up and moving. Raven went to check on Val and Bonnie. “Is she okay?”
“I think so. Bonnie’s almost two and dealing with her second molars. Teething for her has been so painful, we had to take her to the doctor. He said it’s normal, but she’s fretful and clingy at the best of times.” Val’s husky voice shattered. “Not to mention that when she needed me the most, I couldn’t help her. These last few hours have traumatized her terribly.” Tearfully, Val hid her face in Bonnie’s curls but kept talking as if she needed to vent.
“Jeff, my boyfriend, had no patience with her crying. All he ever wanted to do was have a good time. He kept bugging me to go with him to some stupid party. I finally gave in to stop his smack-talking. I should have known better. We bickered the whole way until we stopped for gas, and that’s when he picked up Dale. He should have known better. I tried to warn him the guy was bad news, but he shut me down. Jesus, why do I keep falling for the bad boys?”
Raven watched Val snuggle her child to hide her breakdown. She knew why Dale went for this woman. With her long blonde curls now tangled and dirty, and her slim body filled out in all the right places, no doubt she’d been pursued for years by the sex-hunters in her world. She fit the prototype of that kind of girl who liked men.
A woman knew when another led a life that might take them down roads others refused to go, but it did not mean those women liked or wanted that kind of existence for themselves. Sometimes… many times… it was forced on them by circumstance.
Raven sat close and waited, giving the other a chance to be real and wasn’t disappointed.
Val’s teary-eyed look didn’t hide the truth, just the opposite. Turns out that – woman to woman – she willingly revealed her genuineness. “Thanks for not interfering with me when I went after that scummy prick. I needed to get my pride back and see him scared and suffering if only for a few moments.”
“I understand. Just wish your aim had been a might better.” Raven’s voice held a note of pure ice.
Stunned by her honesty, Val’s face lightened considerably, and she allowed herself to lean against Raven’s body, the two young women sharing a moment of perfect understanding.
With Helen’s help, Raven talked Cane into letting them deal with his wound properly and soon they had a meal going forthose who hadn’t had any food for many hours. Once Val had eaten a small amount, and the baby aspirin that Helen offered for Bonnie took affect, she carried her baby into the bedroom where she rocked her to sleep.
The others discussed the best way to handle their situation and decided that Cane and Raven would take Dale, Val, and Bonnie along with them in Palmer’s boat and the others would stay behind and put their house back in order. Then they’d travel to town to offer sanctuary for those folks who needed to be accommodated.
Raven remembered to ask, “What happened to the boys, Steve? I thought they needed your boat.”
“Turns out, their neighbors picked them up and they went along with them. Just as well. Once I had a chance to rest, the four of us had planned to head out ourselves.”
“So that’s why your boat was still here.”
“Yeah. Good thing, too. Don’t know if that Dale bastard woulda let our boys live. Figure the only reason he left us alone was because we weren’t much of a threat.”
He looked over to Aggie as if her nod gave him permission to continue. “And Val let him… ahh, you know what, if he didn’t hurt us. Helen brought out the zip ties and helped him tie us up and then promised she’d look after Val’s baby. It was a shit show for sure. Never want to go through sumpin’ like that again. I thought I’d stumbled into hell, and the devil greeted me with his nasty wickedness.”
The silence that followed his remark lasted a few seconds before they all stood and began to organize. Between Helen and Aggie, they had everything ready for the five of them to travel back to town and soon they were on their way with Dale safely stored at the back of the boat away from Val’s sight, leaving her and Bonnie the comfort of staying below deck and out of the weather.