It seems my life has been spent surrounded by women that needed my help and my failure, to protect them. I couldn’t save my mom. I couldn’t save Melly. I had vowed to protect Hellcat and I honestly thought I could and yet I fucked that up too. Would Dani have still ran if I hadn’t called her Melly? Would it have made a difference if I explained about Melly? If I had talked with her? I don’t know and all these questions and mistakes I keep making are weighing hard on me. I just need to find Dani, find her and get her home. Then, I can spend the rest of my days trying to prove to her that she’s all I’ll ever need in the world.
I slide out of the truck and trudge through the briars and weeds until I can see the old tobacco barn in the distance. My heart speeds up and skips before hammering in my chest…hard. There are cars out front. Three to be exact and one is a fucking Mercedes Benz. My first urge is to run in there with guns blazing. I can’t risk it. If Dani is in there, then I need to make sure she’s out of harm’s way. I can’t think of her being anything but alive. I just can’t.
I slowly make my way to the barn, trying to be as quiet as I can. I have my gun ready, but I’d rather not let them know I’m around. I noticed a giant crack between the wood on the far side of the structure the other day, and I make that my goal. I get there and can literally taste the adrenaline pumping in my system. Please let Dani be okay, please let Dani….
All thoughts cease as I look through the crack. I want to scream. I want to put my gun in and shoot every fucker in there. I can’t. I need to do this smart. I have to, but what I see breaks me. Dani is lying broken in a corner. She’s unrecognizable. I’m not even sure I’d even realize she was a person, if not for the long dark hair that is knotted and caked with dirt and…blood. Her face is mostly hidden but what I see is swollen and bruised so badly that you can’t even make out her features. Then, I hear the men off to the side talking.
“I planted the bomb in Dragon’s vehicle. It’ll go off when he takes it out of park.”
“It didn’t go off earlier today,” the guy I recognize as Michael says, slapping him on the back of the head.
“Ow,” he says grabbing his head. “It wasn’t supposed to. It set the system up, it’ll go off when the gearshift is moved from park now. You said you wanted them both to pay, Boss.”
Fuck. I need to get a call out to Dragon and warn him. I can’t take the time to do it now though. Doing so, would risk being found and not being able to help Dani. I pray I get through before it’s too late. It twists in my gut that I’m choosing Dani over my brothers, but it doesn’t stop me.
The men talk for a little longer, then Michael and one of the others leave. It takes all I have to let him go. I push up against the barn as they go out the front entrance. I peek around the corner to see them get in a sleek black Mercedes. When they drive off, I take a breath of relief. Before going in and getting my woman, I try and call Dragon. I want to give it enough time to make sure Michael doesn’t come back.
Dragon’s phone rings twice.
“Yeah motherfucker, want to tell me where you’ve been?”
“Drag, listen quick, man.”
“Where in the fuck are you? Do you know what went down today?”
Dragon’s voice is faint at best. The line is full of distortion and noise and I have to strain to hear him.
“Do not use the cages today!”
“What are you saying asshole, I can barely hear you?”
“Man, listen the cars are rigged to blow. I got Dani now, but you really…”
“You got Dani? Fuck, man your signal sucks. Where’d you find her? We’ll…”
“Listen, Dragon! I can’t talk. You got to hear me. The cars, especially yours—don’t use them today. Don’t use any of them, get Freak to…”
The call drops.
Fuck! I try several times to reconnect and keep getting a Call Failed message.
I have to worry about Dani, I don’t have time to spare.
I go to the front of the barn, take a breath to steady myself, and draw my gun. Then, I kick the door open, firing while searching for the fucker that Michael left behind. I train my gun on him and then shoot until the hammer clicks and nothing happens. I watch as his body falls to the ground, then reload my gun in case the others come back.
I go to Dani and get down on my knees, checking her out. The sight of her hurts. It was bad from a distance, but it’s much worse up close. She has to be dead. No one could survive this kind of beating, especially a woman as small as Dani. I should have gotten here sooner. My hand trembles as I move it to her neck, which is colored with…rope burns? Did they strangle her? I try to move her hair, but it’s so caked with mud and… shit, it’s soaked in her blood. I slide my fingers to her throat trying to find a pulse.
I find nothing.
“Oh fuck, Hellcat, don’t do this to me. You’ve got to survive, to punish this S.O.B.”