To Mend Fearful Hearts

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Got a call from Jeb, said you’ve got yourselves a crazy situation. I made some calls.”

  “Jesus, and?” Rome asked.

  “Well, on the down low, looks like there’s a few interesting teams in the vicinity of a certain military base not far from Benter. What I can tell you about those teams is that they are government, Special Operations, anti-terrorist affiliated.”

  “Terrorists? What the fuck?”

  “Exactly, Rome. We’ve been friends for a long time. We watch one another’s backs, so be cautious here. Seems from what I gathered and based on the limited info from Jeb, that Cherise’s ex-boyfriends are in communications with those specialized groups.”

  “They caused her to get taken. Dumb fucks, they got her into the middle of some terrorist operation?”

  “Seems that could be the case.”

  “Son of a bitch, we can’t let them kill her.”

  “You do what you need to. Just keep in mind, you won’t be the only soldiers infiltrating a certain location if that location is found. Don’t want you to get shot up by good guys.”

  “Motherfucker,” Rome said, and Ferion exhaled.

  “Be smart, and hope that her exes are just as pissed off and half as capable of you and your brothers when it comes to being soldiers and getting their woman out alive.”

  “We’ll be the ones to get her out alive. Thank you, Ferion.”

  “No problem. Be safe, and if I hear more, I’ll get in touch.”

  “What was that all about?” Landon asked Rome when he ended the call.

  He started to explain as they got ready.

  “This is a fucking mess. Ben and Eagan probably didn’t even know they were being tracked. The people who took Cherise probably assumed there was something between them because she went out with them to lunch. Son of a bitch. She doesn’t deserve this,” Kenny stated.

  “No, she doesn’t, and she could end up dead. If she gets killed, I’m taking out Ben and Eagan. You guys understand me? Everyone will die there,” Rome said very seriously.

  “Agreed,” Eric stated, and they grabbed their stuff and headed out to the trucks.

  Cherise blinked her eyes open and felt the pain. She moaned and tried to move but couldn’t. She was hurting everywhere. Darkness surrounded her. She kept blinking and looked around her. As her eyes moved, she felt her head ache. She couldn’t help but to moan.

  “Easy,” a male voice said, and then he came into view. She didn’t recognize him as he pressed a cloth to her head. She felt nauseous.

  “Who are you? Where am I?” she asked, and he pulled the cloth away. She saw the blood. She was bleeding? She raised her hand up to her head and saw the bruising and marks on her arm. She remembered the accident, and the jeep flipping.

  “You need to lie still a little longer,” he said and stroked along her jaw and then into the top of her blouse.

  She moved away and tried turning but couldn’t. Her ribs hurt, and she could hear how raspy her voice sounded.

  “Plans are changing. Seems the bosses want to make your boyfriends suffer a little bit more. They want you transported to them. Smuggling a woman out of the country takes a bit of money and resourcefulness. You’ll need to be grateful for that,” he said and gripped her face.

  “My boyfriends?” she asked.

  “Ben and Eagan. As soon as they get here, we’ll kill them and then send you out to be with the bosses overseas.”

  “What does this have to do with them? They aren’t my boyfriends,” she added and closed her eyes and moaned.

  He continued to touch her, to caress her breasts, and then he sat down on the bed. He squeezed her jaw hard. “They are your boyfriends, your lovers. You met them for lunch. They are scrambling to keep the police at bay and on their way here to rescue you,” he said and smirked and licked his lips. “They won’t make it though. To rescue you. We’re going to make them watch us beat you, and maybe even rape you, before we kill them. Depends on when the chopper is coming,” he said, and he pressed his mouth to hers.

  She tried closing her lips and pushing him away, but she was so weak. He pulled back, and she decked him.

  “You bitch.”

  He backhanded her across the mouth, and then he jumped onto the bed, straddled her hips, and tore open her blouse. She screamed at him. He struck her again and again, and shoved up her skirt to her waist.

  “Seta, we need to keep her in one piece.”

  The guy Seta growled low and bit against her neck. He squeezed her breast, and she cried out in pain. He pressed his hand between her legs, and she tried to keep them tightly closed.

  “Take the fucking picture,” he yelled, and the other guy was there.

  She wouldn’t look at him as she tried to push up against Seta’s throat. She screamed at him, and he hit her again. She cried. Saw the gun on his waist, but she couldn’t reach it or move.

  “I got it. That should make them run in here without thinking,” the other guy said.

  Seta squeezed her inner thigh hard. She grunted out in pain.

  “You resist again or disobey us, and I’ll send you to the bosses battered and broken.” He touched her panties as he got up off her.

  She grunted from his heavy weight and from the pain on her face, her neck, her breasts, and inner thighs. She was going to die. How did this happen? Why did they take her? She prayed that Ben and Eagan would find her. There was no way her own men knew what was going on. She moaned and turned onto her side. The other man leaned down and whispered next to her ear.

  “We’ll take you together, since you’re into that. The bosses won’t know, nor will they care.” He started to push down her ripped blouse she had tried pulling closed. With it, he slid the strap of her bra off and began to push his fingers into her cup.

  “They reacted like we wanted them to. Let’s get ready.” The evil asshole squeezed her breast, and she rolled to her belly to get him off her. “Are you ready for the show, Cherise? You’re about to see your men die right before your eyes.”

  “I got it. Don’t fucking ask me how, but I got it. Combined with your buddy’s abilities with the phone tapping, and here’s the deal,” Johnny Shelton said to Eric, Kenny, Landon, and Rome over the phone. They were outside of the military base two hours from Benter, their eyes on Ben and Eagan’s black truck.

  “Sending the info now. Looks like Ben and Eagan were part of a special unit that went into Iraq and did some covert operation. We have several specialized organizations trying to take down two terrorist assholes and their cells. The names are as follows. Habal Slansky and Jordun Havibe. Two men who were identified as being in the country and in Texas only a few days ago are connected. Their names are Seta Fluen and Coin Sparta. Both have been in contact with Habal and have some sort of special delivery going overseas by ship. The government is aware, and an organized military unit is in pursuit.”

  “Holy shit, so where does this leave Cherise? Collateral damage?” Kenny asked.

  “Not if you guys, along with Birdie, Freddy, and Conan, can figure out where these men are holding Cherise. From my connection, it’s believed that these men were sent to kill Ben and Eagan for killing one of the main leaders. Just some chatter, no concrete info,” Johnny said to them.

  “Holy shit, Johnny, I can’t even believe your capabilities and what you found out already. No wonder you never talk about your time in the military,” Eric said.

  “No questions. Now get Cherise. Save her, and let the military and those operatives handle the terrorists,” Johnny said.

  “Send us anything else if you hear.”

  “Got it, Eric. Good luck.”

  They ended the call.

  “They’re on the move,” Birdie said from another vehicle.

  “This is it,” Rome said, and they readied their weapons and waited until it was safe to follow.

  Cherise heard some commotion, and then Seta walked into the room. He grabbed her, pulled her from the bed, and her blouse fell off the rest of the
way. Her skirt was ripped, and she could barely focus, her head was so bad, and everything was aching. Her eyes had swelled up, her lips too. But she forced them to stay open and looked at the gun on Seta’s waist, besides the one in his hand.

  “Take them out,” Seta said into his wrist mic.

  The sound of gunfire filtered in from outside. It sounded so foreign to her. She was weak, but she didn’t want to die here. She pushed from his hands, and he kicked her in the side. She rolled to her back.

  “Give her a shot of that shit. A lot of it,” Seta said to Coin.

  “I don’t know if we should. She has a concussion, and you beat the shit out of her. She won’t be a problem,” Coin said, and then she heard more gunfire. Then she saw a man in the doorway. He shot at Coin. Coin and Seta shot him.

  Seta knelt down. “One asshole down and one more to go,” he said, and she knew that either Ben or Eagan were the ones shot and killed.

  She cried out and reached for the gun on his hip. She fell to her back and fired it at him. Another shot rang out as he pointed his gun, and whoever it was, they shot his hand. She screamed, and he slammed his fists into her and then his body jerked back. Coin yelled and fired. The room seemed to erupt in gunfire. She shot at Seta and at Coin, and it seemed others were shooting too. She screamed out in terror. Just kept screaming, losing her voice, feeling how much in pain she was.

  Ben was crawling toward her, bleeding from his arm and his legs. “Cherise.”

  He fell to the ground next to her, covered her arm with his hand, and then Coin yelled out, “No, you’re going to die too, bitch!”

  He pointed the gun at her. Ben had his arm over the one that held the gun. She lifted it and screamed, but then Coin was shot, and he fell to the floor, the gun falling from his hand. She was crying, still holding the gun when lights illuminated the room, and multiple men in black came in.

  More gunfire was heard.

  “Cherise,” Rome yelled. She recognized his voice.

  “Rome!” she screamed, but her voice was so hoarse and gone, and she was shaking with such fear she couldn’t even talk. Rome was there, and he shoved Ben’s body to the side, and Ben moaned.

  “What the fuck did they do to you? Holy shit,” he yelled, and the anger on his face was like nothing she had ever seen before on anyone.

  He glanced at Ben. “Are they dead?”

  “Who gives a fuck?” Kenny asked and bent down.

  “Let’s get them out of here,” Kenny said, and she saw Eric—they were all there. All looking at her body as Rome lifted her up and she cried out in pain.

  “It hurts. Everything hurts,” she said, keeping her eyes closed. They were so swollen and aching.

  “I got you. We need to get out of here now.”

  “Rome. They’re alive,” Eric said. He stared at Ben and Eagan.

  She gripped his neck. “Save them, Rome. They don’t deserve to die here,” she said, and he growled and nodded.

  She kept her face against the crook of his neck as he carried her from the house and into the darkness. As they got to some vehicles, there was a loud explosion. The whole entire area lit up in flames and light as some small house in the middle of nowhere exploded. They got her into the truck and headed out of there, speeding while Rome held her close.

  “What hurts worse?” Eric asked as he caressed her hair and then pressed a cloth to her head. She was so relieved that they had found her and saved her that she couldn’t even speak. All she could do was cry.

  “We’ve got you, sweetie. We got you,” Rome said, and she held on tight until the pain was so bad she couldn’t hold on any longer, and she passed out in his arms.

  “She lost a lot of blood,” Johnny told Rome, Eric, Landon, and Kenny as they arrived at the emergency room. “She’s battered and bruised all over the damn place,” Johnny said and rubbed his jaw.

  “There’s a lot of bruising elsewhere too,” Rome said, straight-faced.

  “We’ll run tests, do a rape kit, and know what we’re dealing with.”

  “Those motherfuckers. I’m glad they’re all dead. Should have left fucking Ben and Eagan there too,” Eric stated through clenched teeth.

  “Cherise would be angry with us,” Rome whispered.

  “There were syringes by the bed. They must have drugged her, Johnny. Could that interfere with how the doctors can treat the head injury?” Landon asked.

  “We’re running lab work to see if they gave her sedatives or whatever. They definitely roughed her up good. Her eyes are so swollen shut, the doctors won’t know the extent of damage until the swelling comes down. They’re treating the head injury seriously. They don’t know the depth of her injuries, but initial tests show some bleeding, but minor. As long as that dissipates and she regains consciousness, we should be able to treat her accordingly. Her ribs are broken, and the damage to her eyes will be further evaluated in the days to come as swelling decreases. She has the best doctors here. I promise you,” Johnny told them.

  “We appreciate everything you’re doing. We want to see her.”

  “Soon, Eric.”

  Rome was about to ask more questions when the waiting room door opened, and numerous men in suits, as well as a commanding officer, entered the room. He knew military and government men when he saw them. He would rip them to shreds if they tried any bullshit here.

  “Rome Waters, I presume,” the military guy asked.

  “And you are?”

  “Commander Franklin Pierce. I understand you and your brothers and some other men were able to find Miss Potter and rescue her.”

  “She’s here being treated.” Rome looked away and at his brothers.

  “Who are you?” Eric asked.

  The men introduced themselves as being part of a specialized team. One guy stared at Rome and eyed him over as he spoke up. “You left one hell of a mess for us to clean up,” he said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rome replied.

  He stared at the man.

  “We’re all on the same side here,” the commander said.

  “That’s yet to be determined considering that you allowed a civilian to be taken, beaten, and nearly raped and killed by men who should have been on a watch list and picked up weeks ago. Perhaps that was your intention?” Landon said to them.

  “First of all, we don’t need to inform you about our plans and procedures of any operations involving these men. Your actions will be handled accordingly,” the guy in the suit with an attitude said.

  “Oh really? What are you going to fucking do? That’s our woman in there, not in the clear. She has a major concussion and other injuries, lost a lot of blood, and all because of two poorly trained asshole soldiers probably under your command,” Kenny chimed in.

  Rome placed his arm in front of Kenny as he stepped toward the guy in the suit and the commander.

  “We will deal with you later, soldier,” the guy said, and Rome chuckled as they headed to the main desk and more than likely to Ben and Eagan’s room. Both men were out of surgery.

  “Why do I get the feeling that we’re going to get fucked over this?” Freddy said to them.

  “We aren’t going to get fucked,” Johnny stated, and pulled out his cell phone and walked away.