Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

Riff

"Riff! Jesus fucking—" Raff's voice met my ear.

"I have almost no charge," I cut him off. "I'm in a town called Hankersville. Long story. Got a woman with me. She has to come with us. But she's afraid of being in town, so I'm going to be in the woods on the road leading into the town from the west. Got it?" I asked, cringing as the low battery sound beeped in my ear.

"I got it," he said, voice tight.

"And Raff?"

"Yeah?"

"Prepare yourself for her. It's… not good."

With that, the phone died, and I tucked it back in my pocket as I rushed through the convenience store, grabbing several bottles of electrolyte drinks, energy bars, and two big cups of hot coffee before I paid and walked as quickly as possible back up the street and into the woods.

"Don't shoot, darlin'," I called as I got closer to the circle of shrubberies I'd left her behind.

Hearing my voice, she popped up, her eyes all panicked and round, the gun in her trembling hand.

"Got you something warm to drink," I told her, trading the coffee for the gun without saying anything about the shaking. "And some drinks and protein bars to snack on. Raff is on his way. But I don't want us to stop anywhere close to this area, so I figured getting a little more food was a good idea."

"Thank you," she said, cradling the cup between her hands for a long moment before taking a sip.

The sound that came out of her was practically erotic, and I felt like a complete shit for even thinking that of someone so traumatized.

"I haven't had coffee in so long," she admitted, taking another sip.

"I loaded it up with cream and sugar, figured some extra calories are a good idea."

"This is how I take it," she told me, taking another sip, eyes closed, a ghost of a smile playing with her lips.

I vowed right then to never take the simple shit for granted again. Because I don't think I'd ever enjoyed anything as much as she was enjoying that cup of coffee.

"What's your brother like?" she asked, her gaze watching the trickle of cars on the road in the distance.

"The opposite of me in a lot of ways. He's more extroverted and fun-loving. Doesn't take much seriously. Always after a good time. People always love Raff," I told her. Then, just to make sure she knew it, "You have nothing to worry about with Raff. I promise."

"Do you look alike?" she asked.

"Yeah," I told her. "We look a lot alike, but we aren't identical. He's got more ink," I said, rubbing a hand up my arm where mine were. "And he has no scruff on his face. Otherwise, though, pretty damn alike. We used to be able to trick the teachers in school."

"Trick them how?"

"Raff was always more of an… underachiever in school," I told her. "He's smart, just unfocused. So on big test days, I went to his classes and he went to mine, so I could get him a decent enough average grade to keep moving up with me."

"No one ever caught on?" she asked.

"Once. But it's not like they could prove it. Even our old man couldn't tell us apart back then, so when they called him in, he ended up backing up our story. Though we both got the belt when we got home anyway."

"Why?"

"Because he had to leave work to deal with the principal. Big no-no in our household."

"Your mom was okay with that?"

"Our ma fell into a bottle, then a pipe, when we were small. Our old man kicked her out. Only ever saw her on occasion when she was in town trying to score or get more booze."

"I'm sorry," she said, eyes sad for the kid I'd once been.

"Seemed like every other family had the same story back in our hometown. Meth came through hard and fast, fucking up the whole area."

She nodded at that but said nothing for a long moment as she kept sipping her coffee.

"What kind of car should we be watching for?" she asked, gaze on the road.

"Big sedan. Looks like something a grandpa might drive," I told her. It was specially outfitted with panels that came off, so we could hide guns inside the frame of the car itself. But she didn't need to know that. "Silver," I added.

"Do you know how far away he was?"

"I don't. I had almost no battery. Just had enough time to tell him where to find us. He would have stayed somewhat in the area. So I don't think it will be more than another ten or… actually, that's him," I said, hearing the thump of music in the distance, knowing he would have done that to draw attention to himself. "Ready to head down?" I asked, gathering our things.

She said nothing, but got to her feet.

Her body tensed as we walked, though, clearly not trusting Raff as much as she trusted me yet.

I didn't have a lot of worry, though. He would put her at ease. He was much better at that shit than I was.

Raff must have been scanning the woods for movement, because he slowed as we descended, waiting for us to make our way to him.

"Thank fuck," Raff said, jumping out as soon as we got near the road, rushing up to me to throw his arms around me, thumping me hard on the back.

There was no denying the relief that flooded through me too.

"Raff, this is Vi—" I started, but Vienna was suddenly not beside me anymore.

I whipped around, finding she'd thrown herself behind me as Raff had approached.

My gut twisted at that, but I tried not to show any signs of anything being off.

"Vienna, this is my brother, Raff. Raff, this is Vienna. She's been keeping me company on our little trek," I said.

"Vienna, sweetheart, thanks for keeping an eye on this fuck for me," he said, throwing an arm around my shoulder again. "How about I get you two out of here?" he asked.

Vienna was eager for that, letting me open the back door so she could climb in.

Closing the door, I turned back to Raff who said without moving his mouth much, "What the fuck?"

"I know," I said. "I'll explain once we are somewhere safe," I added. "Let's get going. And crank the heat up."

With that, we climbed in, and I noticed in the rearview that Vienna had lowered herself down on the seat, not wanting to be seen through the window. I couldn't blame her after what she'd clearly been through.

Raff left the music on, so the car wasn't awkwardly silent as we drove through that little town I'd just been in, then back into a wooded area again before we found ourselves in a more populated area.

"Vienna, darlin', would it be alright if we stopped a motel?" I asked. "I could use a hot shower and some food. But we can go somewhere else if you're not comfortable with that."

"I'd like a shower too," she said. "But I don't have—"

"You know, I fucking love shopping," Raff said. "I could pick you up something fresh to wear."

"Oh, that would be… nice. Thank you," she said, voice small.

Decision made, we found the nicest looking motel in the area, then Raff went to the office to secure us a room while we waited in the car.

Once he had the keys, we drove to park outside of the door, and Raff unlocked it, so Vienna could rush inside.

"Go on and get warmed up," I said, handing her my toiletry bag from the car, then waving toward the bathroom. "Take as long as you need," I added.

I waited until she was locked inside the bathroom before I followed Raff back outside.

"What, and I can't stress this enough, the fuck?"

"She was chained by the ankle in the shed on the property," I told him, cutting to the chase. "I don't think we need to think too hard to know for what purpose," I added, stomach turning over just thinking of what she'd endured for what had to be months.

"Christ," he said, shaking his head, his jaw so tight, the muscle was jumping.

"She's been starved almost to death," I added.

"I noticed."

"It's worse under that sweater," I warned him. "And she's cold all of the time since she has no fat on her. So get her layers. Maybe even a thick blanket. Socks. The whole thing."

"I'll go get that going. We passed a big box store two turns ago."

"Okay. Be quick. Did you get a chance to call Slash?" I asked.

"No. I was too focused on getting to you. I mean, he knew you were missing, but he needs a call. He was half ready to fly over here."

"Okay. I'll plug into a charger and call him while you're gone. Then we need to order food. I haven't had anything to eat. She's had honey and some old emergency soup packs."

"I'll keep an eye for places to order from," he said, handing me a charger from the car, then heading off.

Back in the hotel, I sat down on the bed closest to the door, plugging my phone in, and waiting for it to power back up as the water splashed onto the floor of the shower in the other room.

After months of not being able to bathe, I had a feeling she would be in there until the water ran cold, so I had plenty of time to call in.

"Riff!" Slash's voice met my ear. "Thank fuck. Are you two okay?"

"Yeah. No one is hurt. We are in a motel right now. But there's… an unexpected development."

"I'm listening."

"I went to take shelter in a shed on the property during the shootout, and I found a woman chained to the floor inside. From the looks of things, she'd been there for months.

"Oh, fuck," he said, voice getting tense. "Is she okay?"

"She's in really bad shape. I had to take her with me."

"Yeah, I'm not questioning that. I'm more worried about the ‘what now'."

"What do you mean?"

"If she'd been kidnapped, held prisoner, and abused by these fucks, she might want to talk to the police about it, press charges. We need to know if that's what she wants. Because we can't be involved in that since you weren't there for legal reasons."

"Right," I agreed. "I will ask her as soon as she's out of the shower. If she wants that…"

"Then you have to drop her at a station."

"And leave?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, tone firm, even though I knew he understood my reluctance to do that.

"And what if she doesn't want to go to the cops?" I asked.

"Fuck. I don't know. She's got family somewhere looking for her, right?"

"No, actually. She had a grandma, but she's dead. She's got no one. And if she's been in that shed for months, she has no home to come back to, or job, or—"

"Shit. Alright. Well, I mean, you can bring her back here and help her get onto her feet. Morgaine, you know, she might be a lot of help…"

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking of Crow's old lady who'd been abused when she was young, then set to making other abusers pay via the poisons she created from her garden. "As soon as I know more, I will call. I honestly have no idea what she'll want. She's really fragile."

"Understandably," he agreed.

"And what about these fucks?" I asked.

"Right now, I want you back here," Slash said. "We can come up with a plan later."

They would have to pay.

For trying to cross us.

For shooting at us.

For stealing our money.

But, on a more personal level, I wanted them to pay for what they'd done to that poor girl even more.

"Glad you're alright, man," Slash said. "Get home safe."

With that, we ended the call, and went to the duffle that Raff had dropped in before he left, picking out a change of clothes. I might have to take a cold shower after she was done, but I was looking forward to cleaning up. I couldn't imagine how much that feeling was amplified after months of being unclean.

The water was still running when Raff came back with several bags full of soft shit. "Figured she needed a few changes of clothes. Plus, got her a blanket, those squishy animal pillows, socks, shoes, a sweater, girly shit for the bathroom, and a decent first aid kit. Did you see her ankle?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna see if she will let me treat it once she's dressed and fed."

"There's a Chinese and an Italian place nearby. And one of those chain breakfast places that have a little bit of everything. Did you talk to Slash?"

"Yeah. He wants an update once we know if she wants to go to the police or not."

Raff exhaled hard at that, glancing over to the bathroom door. "As much as I want those fucks locked up, I think that's too good for what they did."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But we have to leave it up to her. She's had enough choices taken from her."

"If she doesn't want to go to the cops, though?" he asked.

"Slash said, if she wants, she can come back with us to get back on her feet. Thought Morgaine might be helpful," I added.

"I can see that. But there's a lot of men at the clubhouse," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking of the newer prospects who'd joined up recently. Coach, Rook, and Colter. Hell, I didn't even know if they'd added anyone else since then. I guess we would see in a few days.

"Never did a road trip with a girl before," Raff said as I got up to rifle through the bags, separating things, then hanging what I thought she might need off of the door handle, then knocking to tell her that.

"I don't think she's going to want to be seeing the sights much," I warned him. "Figure she's going to mostly sleep and hang out in the motel rooms."

"Don't blame her. Men must be scary as fuck now."

"Yeah."

"She trusts you, though."

"I broke her out of there," I told him, shrugging.

"Figure it might be more than that," he said, but shut up when the door suddenly cracked open.

An arm moved out, the skin pink from the hot water, steam wafting into the bedroom as she got the bags off the handle and pulled them inside with her.

She was almost another hour after that, likely brushing her teeth, slathering on lotion and lip balm, and working the tangles out of her hair.

When she emerged, her entire frail body was wrapped up in a pair of roomy black sweatpants and a loose cream sweater.

Her hair, darkened almost to auburn when wet, was pulled into a French braid down her back.

"Thanks for the clothes," she said, looking toward Raff, but not making eye-contact.

"Got some other goodies on your bed," he said, waving toward it.

Then we watched as she went to the bags, carefully pulling out each item. Then, almost immediately, slipping into them. The fluffy socks, the oversized sweater, even the blanket, which she pulled around herself like a robe.

"Thank you," she said, sniffling hard, and we both realized with no small amount of discomfort that she had tears in her eyes as she climbed on the bed, hugging the squishy stuffed tortoiseshell kitten to her chest.

"Told you I loved shopping," Raff said, brushing off the gesture. "Now, we need to talk about food," he said, sitting on the foot of my bed. "I saw a Chinese place, an Italian place, and a breakfast place. But the kind that has just about everything. Raff and I can't decide what we want," he lied. "So you're gonna have to help us out."

"Breakfast," she said immediately, gray eyes going wide at the idea. "Definitely."

"Breakfast it is. I will bring up the menu on my phone, and you can add shit to the cart," he said, working on that as Vienna rubbed her hand absentmindedly over the stuffed kitten, likely marveling at something soft. After months in a cold, hard shed. No bed, blankets, no nothing but the walls and floor and the chain around her ankle.

"While he goes and picks the food up," I said as she added things to the cart, doing so with the wild abandon of a woman who was, quite literally, starved, "do you think I can take a look at your ankle? Maybe treat it?" I asked.

"Oh, um, okay," she said, nodding as she looked over at me.

"Get me whatever," I told Raff, who nodded, then added a few things to the cart himself.

"I'm gonna go pick this up, and maybe some snacks too, for the night," he said, in a hurry to leave us alone to talk.

"He's nice," she said.

"He's got better taste in women's clothes than I do," I said, getting a ghost of a smile out of her as I came toward her bed with the first aid kit. "Can I?" I asked, waving toward her covered ankle.

She gave me a tight nod, and I felt like I was doing everything wrong as she stiffened while I removed her sock, then pushed up her pant leg.

It wasn't pretty, but it didn't look as bad now that she'd managed to wash all the dirt out of it. It was raw in places, but the majority of the discoloration looked to be from old, healed scars from the shackle.

Still, I took care with cleaning it out, not wanting to risk any sort of infection.

"I need to talk to you about something," I said, glance cutting up to hers, finding her already watching me.

"Okay," she said, sounding tense.

"It's about the next steps."