Damaged and the Outlaw (Damaged #4)

“You okay?” I asked as she and Raven sat on a bench.

“Scared for Dylan and those girls. Ellsberg felt so safe and now it doesn’t. I’m just scared someone will die.”

“They will, but it won’t be our people,” I assured her.

Bailey appeared outside with two Rottweilers. She was armed with a gun in her hand and one strapped to her side.

“Any trouble out here?” she asked, waving her gun around.

“Naw,” I said, hugging her to me. “You scared the bastards away.”

“Yeah, I kick ass pretty spectacularly. Want me to teach you some moves?”

We all laughed, but Bailey was more than a little freaked out. The bravado masked none of her fear. Her question definitely distracted though.

“Do you think that Deputy Darling guy is hot?”

Lark gasped. “Don’t make me puke! Please, I just settled my stomach.”

“He’s kinda manly and stuff, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Lawmen don’t do it for me.”

“You’re fucking Raven. You don’t need to get hot for him. I’m looking for man meat and he’s got a respectable job.”

“Just ew,” Lark said, leaning back and rubbing her bump. “Stop before I upchuck on you.”

A smiling Bailey sat next to Lark. “Okay, but only because I’m feeling very giving since I kicked ass today. Oh, and Maddy asked me to be her maid of honor. She said I was so nice to her when she was preggers that she’s picking me over her real sisters. I’m that fucking good.”

The next hour, I kept Raven close to reassure her. We were even talking about sneaking off to the apartment when I got a call from Cooper.

“Get your ass back here. We got a lead on the fuckers.”

Leaving Raven was painful, but I forced myself to go. The club needed me and my president wasn’t asking. When I got to Kirk’s bar, the parking lot was as full as when I left. The mood had shifted inside the bar, seeming more jovial.

“Unfuckingbelievable,” Judd said, walking to me. “How’s Tawny?”

“Good. She’s armed and ready to kill. I’d say it was sexy, but I don’t want you punching me.”

Judd nearly glared at me then remembered why I was back. “The assholes are holed up in a cabin in the woods.”

“How do you know?”

“Harlow told us.”

“What?”

“She and Winona got free. Killed one of them too. They got to the road and flagged down a car. Now, we have a lead on the fuckers.”

“Where are the girls now?”

“Club doc is checking them out. Bruised up, but nothing broken. Harlow described where the cabin was so we’re arming up and hitting it. Those guys won’t have time to get far. We’ll finish this today.”

While checking the weapons Judd set out on the table, my mind wondered about Harlow and what the bastards did to her. Even if she wasn’t my responsibility anymore, I still thought of her that way.

I walked into the room where a doctor was checking the girls. Harlow sported a black eye and an ugly welt across her forehead, but she seemed otherwise unharmed. Hiding behind long dark hair, her sister was shaking wildly and I saw bruises up and down her thin arms. I hated to imagine what those bastards might do to two pretty teenage girls. Even if I didn’t think Caleb was the rapist type, it’d been years since we were friends and people change.

His anger clear, Cooper walked to me. “You and Judd take the lead. I’m not going to pretend like I’m as good with a gun as you two. Just don’t go off halfcocked. This shit is about more than you and your old club. My family and people are threatened too. Don’t fuck this up because your ego gets loose.”

“Understood, boss.”

“You look pissed about the girls,” Cooper said, leaning closer. “I get that. Go out and get some air and calm down. That way, you can be steely when we go hunting.”

Obeying my president, I headed outside to calm my rage. Those bruises on Harlow were done by guys I once considered friends. Hell, Caleb was like a brother to me. I thought he had some kind of honor, but he drew blood on the flesh of innocent women. Now, I wanted blood too.

Walking into the hot night, I felt someone following. My gut said it was Harlow. I turned to her and sighed.

“Go back inside.”

“I forgive you,” she said, looking as young as when I found her years ago.

“For what?”

“For whatever you think you did wrong,” she said, stepping closer. “You always have this guilty look on your face when you see me. I don’t understand why. I want you to know if you think you did something wrong to me that I forgive you.”

“Thanks, but go inside.”

“Why?”

“You need to stay safe while I need to do my job and finish this shit.”

“Do you regret saving me?” she asked, crossing her arms as if cold. “Is that why you feel guilty?”