“Allister, meet Dons and Kens, the older Vance brothers.”
“How many of these fuckers are there?” Allister asked.
“You probably can’t count that high,” Kens said.
Dons grinned. “If I’d known you boys were comin’, I would’ve started a bonfire.”
“Wasn’t necessary,” Allister assured him. “We aren’t planning to stay for dinner.”
“Keep up the attitude and you’ll become the meal,” Kens said in a diabolical tone.
“Why are ya here?” Dons asked.
“You know why,” Draegan replied. “You yourself said you were expecting Heather’s brother. Must’ve been a reason if you were planning to see Bradley.”
The brothers looked at one another, perplexed, before Dons said, “She ain’t here.”
Allister and Draegan glanced at one another to mimic them before Allister said, “I don’t believe you.”
“And I don’t care what you believe.” Kens snarled and poked his weapon at him. “My brother told you she ain’t here and she ain’t here.”
“What’s she worth to you, Dons?” Draegan asked.
“You offering to buy her?” Dons laughed. “That ain’t your style, Draegan. Best I remember, you like to strong-arm fellas.”
Allister groaned.
“Let me guess. Draegan here didn’t tell you about the last time he visited.”
Draegan had sort of hoped to avoid this conversation. “We don’t see one another much.”
“Work a lot, do ya?” Dons asked. “Guess that’s right. From what I hear, you and your brothers have built ya-selves one hell of a city about twenty miles from here. What’s the name of it again?”
“Trouble,” Kens muttered.
“That’s right. Trouble.” He snickered. “I bet you fellas see all sorts of women at Trouble’s gates. Don’t ‘cha?”
“We do indeed,” Allister replied, his voice already changing.
Allister had a slow-brewing temper in a situation like this. Under normal circumstances, he might blow off some steam, but when they had their backs against the wall, Allister was real calculated.
Those who knew Allister knew how to gauge what he’d do next just by the tone of his voice. He was already at fifty percent and another minute or two and the Vance brothers would be eating those shotguns.
“Reckon you don’t leave Trouble’s city limits much. Do ya?” Dons was too interested in Trouble. Draegan had warned the others. He’d told them. The Vance boys were not the enemies they wanted.
A big old guy, Dons was as mean as he looked. He sported scars up and down his cheeks and seemed rather proud of them, too. He constantly stroked the one running from his forehead to his chin. Each time, he’d just grin a little wider.
“Because you’re well respected, I’m gonna let ‘cha go,” Dons said, arching his brows as if he had an enlightening moment about the time he made the announcement. “I hears you fellas do some good work with battered womens and childrens.”
“What is it with these guys and their S’s?”
“Allister, don’t kick a gift pig in the belly,” Draegan said out of the corner of his mouth.
Dons looked offended. “Were you tryin’ to insult me?”
Too late.
“If he wanted to insult you, you’d know it.”
“As I was sayin’…” Dons trailed his voice. “Might be bad for me and the boys if we didn’t just let ya go back down the hill the same way ya came up.”
“And what then?” Allister asked, his voice tight. “Are ya gonna shoot us in our backs?”
“You’re gonna walk, Mr. McCall. And you’re gonna walk now.” Kens aimed his gun a little higher.
“Somebody told us you have some dry wells here. Mind if we have a look around so we can at least go back to Trouble and let Bradley know we searched the property?”
“Like you did before? Humph. I don’t think so.” Dons smirked. “See, fellas. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ins didn’t trust me. Kens, tell them ‘em what happens when somebody lacks trust in us.”
“He gets real mad,” Kens said, practically programmed.
“I see,” Allister said, lowering his arms.
“Get ‘em back up,” Dons said.
“That shotgun is ready,” Draegan reminded him.
Allister thrust his arms about halfway, this time keeping them in front of his body with his palms forward. Draegan could almost smell the death in the air, the stench of blood filling his nostrils. He hadn’t wanted a confrontation. He had hoped to sneak in, sneak out, and be home in time to eat at the café and flirt with the little honey he was beginning to think of as his own.
“Allister,” Draegan warned him. “Let’s see if we can’t talk rationally here.”
“That’s what I’m doing,” said Allister.
“We can’t leave without the girl,” Draegan told them.
“That’s a problem, boys. See, we ain’t seen her.” Kens lowered his voice and his gun, likely an unintentional action.
“Then show us around. Let us have that much.” Draegan remembered a similar conversation about seven years ago. It didn’t go so well. They’d knocked out their hosts and searched the property without a guided tour.
“I believe we need to put these two in the hole, Dons,” Kens said. “Then maybe they’ll learn their lessons.”
Allister took a deep breath. Seventy-five percent. He was ready to blow.
“Listen, fellas,” Dons began. “If I could help ya out, I’d do it. You’ins are legends around these parts. Still don’t change the truth, though. We ain’t seen Heather since she popped off that crazy-ass email to her brother.”
“It wasn’t an email,” Allister said.
Dons smirked. “That’s right. It was a message attached to a panty order. Can you believe that?” He laughed. “Damn whore had so many panties ripped off her body we had to go and buy her some more and what do you reckon she up and did?”
“Sent a message,” Draegan said sarcastically. “You can’t trust a woman.”
“No you cannot.” Dons sniffed. “And a day or two later, she split. I told her at the time, we gonna have a mess here on our hands on account of ya. Think she cared?”
“She did not,” Draegan mocked him.
Dons frowned. “No. She did not.”
“So she split?” Draegan asked, acknowledging Harley and Gabe sneaking up behind the Vance brothers. He tried not to focus on them and hoped Allister would at least let Draegan buy them some time until help arrived.
“Well, ya know what they say. Every dog has his day. Same goes for bitches in heat. We just couldn’t keep her happy anymore.” Dons cocked his head and studied Allister with a menacing grin. “Hell, from what I hear, yer brother here ought to be able to tell us all about them there dissatisfied women. He bangs one that fucks three more.” Dons laughed. “Now that’s a whore worth fighting for. A champion whore is what she is…sort of like a thoroughbred. Them there thoroughbreds are high-strung, real runners.
“Is your woman a runner, McCall? I bet she is. I bet she runs from one feller to another and just stretches them there legs anytime and anywhere!” He grabbed his crotch and smacked his lips. “Damn shame you didn’t bring her with ya today.”
A loud rumble is the only thing Draegan heard. Fortunately for all of them, when Allister attacked Dons, the guns fired were shot straight up in the air.
Still, Allister had no way of knowing that’s how their luck would play out, a fact Draegan would mention at another time. By the time Allister had pinned Dons to the ground, he was a machine, throwing one punch after another.
“Don’t do it,” Draegan warned Kens, turning his own shotgun on him.
“What the hell happened?” The dumb one, or rather Kens, couldn’t figure out how they’d gained the upper hand.
“Your brother Dons there ran his mouth to the wrong man and Allister’s teaching him a lesson. He’ll be done here shortly.” Blood and spit we
re flying.
“And when he is?” Gabe moved closer to Kens. “You’re gonna take us to Heather or else we’ll turn Allister loose on you next. Understand?”
“I’ll…uh…have to ask…Dons.”
“And if he’s unable to make an informed decision?” Draegan asked.
“I don’t understand.” Kens shook his head back and forth.
Draegan grunted. “I was afraid of that.” He used the butt of the shotgun and with two hard jabs, put Kens down to the ground.
“That’s enough, Allister,” Gabe said, pulling him off Dons.
“Enough!” Harley yelled, helping Gabe drag Allister away.
Dons and Kens were out cold. Allister left the battle stomping, snorting, and cursing.
“He insulted Ellie,” Draegan explained.
“We heard,” Harley said.
“Now do you see why I wanted to team up with you?” Draegan looked at Harley and shook his head.
Gabe took a deep breath. “After what I just saw? I’d say Allister’s a solid wingman.”
“Yeah, but he has a small anger management problem.”
Chapter Five
“Where’d you leave the garbage?” Curt asked, noticing the obvious right away. Harley, Allister, Draegan, and Gabe were there, but their opposition was nowhere in sight.
“Found a hole,” Allister quickly explained, holding out his hand so Harley could bandage it.
“What happened to you?” Bradley asked.
Draegan sighed. “If we tell you, promise you won’t go dig up Dons and have your round with him?”
“He insulted Ellie,” Allister said, his jaw set.
“It’s probably safe to assume Ellie was the last woman he’ll ever insult.” Gabe laughed. “He never knew what hit him.”
“Any idea where Heather is?” Justin asked.
“We’ve searched this place over. We still lack the area behind the lower barns and loading chute,” Draegan replied.
“We’ve been quietly searching,” Allister said. “We need to be calling out for her but we’re not sure how many more Vance brothers are here.”
“Ah well, hell. If I’d known y’all were coming for supper, I would’ve dressed up the slut.” One of the Vance brothers called out to them before he showed his face.
“Don’t,” Draegan said, stepping in front of Gabe. “How’s it goin’, Rons?”
“You act like we’re old pals, Draegan. Best I remember, last time you stepped foot on my property, you were here for your friend. Me and my brothers woke up the next mornin’ with no idea what had happened.”
“Prepare yourself. You’re about to have a similar morning,” Curt said, unaware of the particulars of Draegan’s last visit but certain they could take this idiot. He couldn’t even decide where to aim his gun.
“We don’t want any trouble. We’re here for Heather. That’s all.” Gabe was trying the reason route.
“Where’s Dons?”
Draegan grinned. “We’ll show you ours if you show us yours.”
Rons looked confused but finally shrugged and glanced down.
“He means the girl,” Justin said. “We want to see Heather and then we’ll show you where your brothers are.”
“Don’t listen to him!” Toms appeared then and pumped his shotgun as he approached from the left.
The men from Trouble each pulled their weapons, too. Everyone turned in circles, pivoting one way or another as dumb and dumber tried to figure out if they could take them.
“You can knock off two of us,” Draegan explained, apparently ready to discuss logistics. “But in case you can’t count, there are seven of us. Two of you.”
“You don’t know where Dons and Kens are.”
“As luck would have it, I do,” Draegan said, working that notorious attitude. “Put the guns down, fellas. Let’s all leave this event today with our lives. You take us to Heather and we’ll take you to Dons and Kens.”
Toms snarled. “You think we’re that stupid? This is our property. We know this land. If you hid our brothers someplace, we’ll find them.”
“Sure you will. But how you gonna find them if you’re dead?” Gabe changed his grip on his weapon, made a sudden leap for Toms and had him pinned to the ground before he knew what happened.
“Damn.” Rons immediately lowered his weapon.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Curt muttered, smirking at Gabe. “Let me guess. Four years is a little long and you’re tired of waiting on a woman?”
“Something like that.”
Minutes later, Toms and Rons led them to a well behind the stables. Covered by old planks, the dark hole looked like a death trap.
“Heather!” Gabe was the first one on the scene.
Justin and Curt frantically worked to remove the boards, too. The McCall brothers kept their guns on the Vance boys.
As soon as they looked down in that well, Curt’s heart sank. “Heather!”
With the sun shining bright in the sky, they could easily see the center of the well and Heather wasn’t there.
“Answer me, baby!” Gabe yelled, throwing a rope over the side.
“I’m here!” She stepped in the light and reached out to someone else. “We’re okay.”
“We?” Draegan peered over the side. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
* * * *
“So let me get this straight…” An hour later, they were seated around the Vance’s kitchen table. The detective pulled out his notepad. “Your brothers are in a cult.”
“I never said that.” Jims locked his hands and twirled his thumbs. “I just explained why we have an additional ‘s’ after our first names.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re in a cult.” The detective jotted down some notes and looked up at Draegan. “I’m half-tempted to leave those boys in their wells, at least for the night. It wouldn’t hurt them to get a good dose of their own medicine.”
Draegan grinned. “You wouldn’t hear us complain. Think you’ve got enough to hold ‘em when they come up for air?”
“They’ll never see the light of day if I have anything to do with it,” the detective promised.
“I never laid a hand on her,” Jims said, working his gaze from one man to the other. “When she gets done in there, you ask her. Ask Heather and see what she says.”
“We will,” the detective drawled. “In the meantime, let’s start at the beginning again. Now tell me about this sacrifice.”
Gabe had listened to enough interrogations. He wanted to see Heather. He needed to make sure she was okay. He turned to her big brother. “Where’s your sister?”
“She wanted to take a shower before she talked to the detectives,” Bradley said.
“She wanted to primp,” Allister said, smirking.
Gabe turned away from the others, attempting to hide his grin. She had been so cute when they’d first rescued her. She’d thrown her arms around her brother’s neck and hugged him first, but she’d locked eyes with Gabe. Her lips quivered, but she’d managed to whisper, “I knew you’d save me.”
He shook his head. What a connection. They hadn’t talked to one another in over two months and yet she had trusted him to save her?
She’d dished out a series of hugs then, one for each man standing there. Still, she’d embraced Gabe a little longer than the others. Curt and Justin seemingly noticed.
They could eat their hearts out. He released a satisfying breath and turned then to scan the small gathering there in the Vance family kitchen.
All the talk about the occult and sacrifices and the cursed and damned had given Gabe a headache. He walked outside and took a seat next to Justin.
“All things considered, I think this went well,” Justin said.
“You think so?” Gabe asked.
“Don’t you?”
“I guess time will tell,” Gabe said, concerned about Heather. What kind of life had she led over the past two months? What had these people taught her? Why had she been there? Why had sh
e stayed? Had she always been their prisoner?
“I don’t think she was raped,” Justin said.
“Me either.” Then again Gabe wasn’t in position to make that kind of call. Justin had dated her and most likely knew her intimately.
“I love her, Gabe.”
“Yep. I figured as much.”
“Curt, too.”
Gabe nodded slowly, studied the tree-lined driveway and dared to ask the question. “Where is Curt anyway?”
Justin massaged his neck. “Inside.”
He didn’t ask. He didn’t have to ask. If he’d been in Curt’s shoes, he would’ve stayed with her, too.
Curt was helping her dress, helping her gather her things, being there for her. He should’ve been there for her. They were close once. Hell, maybe Curt and Heather were still close.
Besides, Gabe intended to be there for her, too. She could have her minutes with Curt.
She’d have a lifetime with Gabe.
* * * *
Heather used the shampoo as bath soap. She didn’t want anything to touch her skin that might have been used by one of the Vance brothers. She lathered up the cheap brand, inhaling the strawberry scent as she ran her hands over her arms and legs, breasts and stomach.
She turned her face to the water and enjoyed her shower to the fullest. It had been five days since she’d been permitted to use their bathroom, and she planned to take her time, just for spite.
Lathering her hair, she closed her eyes and scrubbed her scalp, relishing in the memories. Her brother and his friends had been there. They’d come to save her. Justin and Curt…Gabe….they’d all risked their lives to save hers.
As she ran her fingers through her hair, she couldn’t help but think of Gabe then. He’d looked so tortured. Had she caused him that much pain? Had he been so concerned for her that he hadn’t even thought about his own well-being?
She knew the answer, of course. Gabe had always been there, waiting in the shadows, watching over her. Her friends used to point him out at ballgames. They made little comments about how he watched her like a man watched a woman.
She’d been a mere girl and still remembered how her heart once raced. She recalled the way he’d responded to her, too. He always looked so pained to walk away from her when they’d casually meet at the concession stand or some other unexpected place.
Heap of Trouble [Trouble, Tennessee 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5
