Bane's Heart

by Sandra R Neeley

  Bane was looking at her expectantly. “Do I know you?” he said a little too gruffly. Goldy growled at him again. Bane shot him a look and rolled his eyes. “Do I know you, Ma’am?” he said as he flashed Goldy a look.

  “Not exactly.” She was back to wringing her hands again. Vince had come over to see what was up, and Avaleigh leaned over and whispered to him. He disappeared, and a few moments later he was back with a warm, wet towel. Avaleigh took it from him and handed it to Sadie. She took it from Avaleigh, but just stood there holding it. After a few moments Avaleigh took it back from her and stood there, gently wiping Sadie’s hands, then her fingers, one at a time, doing the best she could to get them clean.

  “If I don’t know you, why are you looking for me?” Bane asked her.

  “I need your help. My daughter is missing, and I don’t know who else to go to. I was hoping that you could help me. I think I know where to start.” She started crying again, tears streaming down her face, and Goldy took a few moments to try to help her compose herself, rubbing her back a little, being sure to move slowly and gently so as not to startle her.

  Bam smiled at Goldy soothing her. He leaned over and whispered to Kaid, “She’s Goldy’s Mate.”

  Kaid turned to Bam, open mouthed, a look of shock on his face. “The fuck you say!” Kaid said to Bam.

  “No, really, Truth. Look at them,” Bam said, lifting his chin in Goldy and Sadie’s direction.

  Kaid looked back at big gruff Goldy doing his best to soothe the lady. He watched for just a few moments before a huge grin broke out across his face. He reached out and smacked Goldy on the back. Goldy, pulling his attention from Sadie to Kaid, smiled at him. With tears in his eyes. This gruff bad ass actually had tears in his eyes. Kaid pounded him on the back again and winked at him. Bane was still facing them all, but his eyes were locked on the bottle sitting between his thighs. He looked up at Sadie, sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. He was so not in the mood for this shit tonight. “Lady, why are you looking for me to find your daughter? Surely you could go to the police or something. Especially if you know where she might be.”

  Sadie looked around, starting to wonder if she’d made the wrong decision. The man, Goldy, rubbed her back a little again, and it settled her. She took a deep breath and started again, “Let me start from the beginning. My husband abused me for a long time. When it was just me, it was okay.” Goldy growled softly beside her. She ignored him and continued her story. “Lately he started to turn his anger on our daughter, too.” She paused as though remembering. Then she looked up at Bane again. “He used to drink a lot, but lately he started to do more than drink. He must have run up a bunch of debt that he couldn’t pay. I knew he was an alcoholic, knew he was a cruel man, but I never knew the depth of his evilness until just recently. He made my daughter break up with her boyfriend by telling her that he would kill me if she didn’t. I didn't understand it, until today. I encouraged her to go to him, the boyfriend, run away and let him protect her. But she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t leave me there. And I was too weak to leave him. Too weak. If I’d had any inclination, any idea of what he was thinking, I would have gotten us both out of there. It’s my fault; it’s because I was so weak.” She seemed to get lost in her own head for a few moments, and Bane had to bring her back to the present. “What happened, Lady? Finish your story.”

  She snapped her eyes to Bane, seemed to remember where she was and nodded. “After she broke up with her boyfriend, she was devastated. She loved him, but she was afraid that her father would kill me if she didn’t do what he said. Then, today she didn't come home from work. I was really worried because she always called if she was going to be even a little late. She didn’t like to leave me alone with him for too long. I kept watching the windows. He saw me looking out of the front window, checking for her, and he laughed at me. He was drunk and could barely stand up. He demanded that I cook him dinner and sat at the table with his back to me. He kept drinking. The more he drank, the more he talked. Then he started bragging that he’d sold her. He traded her to pay his drug debt.” Bane had stood up and was snarling. All of the males were snarling. No one treated a woman like that. No woman would be abused if they could help it. Mav had stepped down off his barstool too and was steadily clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. Kaid had moved in closer to the lady, Sadie, as she continued with her story, a soft snarl coming from deep in his chest, his lip drawn back. Daniel’s Dragon had started that steady rumble that signaled his irritation. Avaleigh was standing there, her hands covering her mouth, eyes filled with tears as she watched Sadie and waited for the rest of the story. Daniel draped an arm around Avaleigh and pulled her to him, but his Dragon only rumbled louder at her distress. Vince, still on his side of the bar, was making his own unhappy growly noise. Sadie took a step or two back and bumped into Goldy. Her head snapped around to see who was behind her, and the scent of her fear hit him. He immediately realized that all the snarling and growling was freaking her the fuck out. He looked to his clan really quickly, then back at his Mate, “They’re all good males. I promise you, you are safer here than you ever have been. They’re a little different, we’re a little different, but we would never hurt a woman, or anyone else who didn't deserve it. We’ll get your daughter back, I promise.”

  Sadie looked back at the men standing around her, at Bane in particular, and realized that she did know one thing for sure--their outrage was over the treatment of her daughter. She took that as a good sign. “I’m no one to judge, Lord knows I have no room to judge, and I honestly don’t care what you are, as long as you bring my daughter back to me.” Bane had had a few minutes toward sobering up. His mind was rushing so fast he could barely keep up. The lady standing in front of him looked familiar now. And not because he’d ever met her, but because she reminded him of someone. Someone he loved. Bane suddenly knew who she was speaking of, even though she had yet to say it. He took a step closer to her, “What is your daughter’s name?”

  The lady looked up at him, eyes full of tears, pleading for his understanding, “She loves you. She was only trying to protect me. Please save her.”

  He closed his eyes, dropping his head back on his shoulders, taking a deep breath, “What is your daughter’s name?” he repeated.

  “Janie.”

  Bane roared so loud that the glasses and some of the bottles in the bar shattered. Humans ran for the door; his clan had to step in to control him to prevent him from shifting in the bar in front of those who hadn't yet run. Kaid stepped right up to him, chest to chest. “Stand down, Bane!” he shouted in Bane’s face. Bane was snarling, hair rolling across his arms, his face, as he fought desperately to remain in his human skin. “I said stand the fuck down, Bane!” Kaid yelled again, pushing his chest so hard against Bane’s that he actually moved him back a few steps. His Alpha power in full force, the others whined and showed their necks to one degree or another. Bam stepped so close to Bane that they were touching almost the entire lengths of their bodies, side to side, his neck fully exposed to his Alpha. Mav leaned in close to his other side and whispered, “We are going to get your girl, calm down, we need to hear the rest.” After a few moments Bane finally quieted somewhat, just barely raising his chin to Kaid to indicate submission.

  “Good. Now we go find your female.” Kaid turned to Sadie, “Where is your husband?” She looked down at her hands, still a little blood on them in spite of Avaleigh’s efforts, “I killed him. He’s lying in the kitchen.”

  Mav hooted, “Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, Sweetheart!” and held his hand out for Sadie to high five him. Sadie looked at the crazy tattooed man with the Mohawk who still held his hand out waiting for her to high five him; she lifted her bloodstained hand to his and gently pressed her palm to his. He hooted again, as he wrapped their fingers together and lifted her hand into the air like a champion prize fighter. She smiled at him and turned to Goldy to see if this crazy man was okay. Goldy smiled at her, “That’s Ma
v, he’s perfectly safe. But he’s kind of an asshole.” She nodded at him, smiling at Mav as she returned her hand to her side, and turned her attention back to Bane. His eyes were now a soft golden color, and he was obviously struggling to stay in control. His muscles were so tensed that the striations in them were evident. His hands were fisted at his sides. When he spoke, his voice was so gruff that it was barely intelligible, “I’m going to bring her back to you.” She nodded and whispered a broken, “Thank you.” The big one who had calmed Bane turned to her, “Sadie, I’m Kaid. These are my men. We are going to get your daughter back. Tell me where you think she is.”

  She looked to Bane, who returned her gaze from the corner of his eye, as he continued to face Kaid, “She didn’t want to leave you.”

  He nodded, but said nothing more.

  She looked back at Kaid, “He said he sold her to a man named Ricky, who lives by a laundromat.”

  “I know him. He’s the biggest dealer in the area. I can help you find him,” Vince told them.

  Kaid nodded at him, “Good, we leave now.”

  Vince yelled for his sister, Valerie. She came running out of the kitchen and froze at the sight of Mav standing there, hooting, fired up, and so freaking hot. He turned around, a grin on his face, locked eyes with her and did his own freeze, grin falling from his face. She came out of it first and turned to Vince, “You needed me?”

  “Yes, I’m going out with Kaid and the guys. Can you watch the bar for me? Close it up on time?”

  “Yes, I got this. Go ahead. Everything okay?”

  “No, but it will be,” he answered his sister.

  It was not lost on anyone except Bane, Goldy, and Sadie that Mav and Valerie were locked in a war of ignoring each other. But it was not a subject for tonight.

  Kaid turned to Daniel, “Avaleigh and Sadie need to go back to the house.” Almost before he finished, Goldy cut him off, “I’ll take them. I’ll watch over both of them in the main house. You may need Daniel.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Avaleigh added.

  Daniel wrapped Avaleigh in his arms and kissed her. “I love you, my Mate. Stay safe, I’ll be home soon.”

  She nodded, “I love you, too. Be careful.”

  Bane, still with a constant snarl in his chest, moved to step around Kaid, and Kaid chested him, containing him. “We are going to get her back, but we can’t rush in there without a plan.” Bane just snarled at him. So Kaid snarled back, louder. And they stood there, eye-to-eye. No one giving in, until finally Bane just barely turned his chin, slightly lifted to the right.

  “Goldy, you take my truck and the ladies back home. We are going to get Bane’s woman. Can I ride your bike?” Bam asked him.

  “Absolutely,” Goldy dug in his pocket and handed Bam the keys to his bike as Bam handed him the keys to his truck.

  “We ready?” Kaid asked. Everybody agreed.

  “I’ll meet ya’ll out front,” Vince told him and jogged off toward the kitchen.

  Chapter 9

  Out in front of Vince’s, the guys saw Goldy and the women off toward home and then laid out their plan. They decided that Kaid and Vince going in on bikes under the guise of scoring a dime bag or two was probably the best course of action. They would scope things out and see if Janie was inside. Mav, Bane, and Bam would shift and approach from behind the building if and when necessary. Daniel was going in with the guys in the back, but he wasn’t going to shift unless it was needed. It was kind of hard to hide a big-ass Dragon. But Kaid was concerned that extra strength may be needed if they had to control Bane, so Daniel was staying near him. Bane was as close to losing total control as Kaid had ever seen him, and there was no room for mistakes here. He was hoping that they could get Janie out without too much resistance. But if Janie was inside and saw Bane, she’d know they were there for her and might give them away before they were ready. So Bane going in the back was the best choice. They all knew where the old laundromat in town was, and Vince had called a friend who’d told him that Ricky and his lackeys had taken up residence in a small fourplex apartment across the street from it. They were hoping like hell that Janie was there. The more time that she spent with these bastards, the more chance that she was hurt by them. They needed to find her soon. As it was, they already had no idea exactly how long they’d had her, and honestly any amount of time was too much.

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  A few blocks from the laundromat Bane, Bam, Mav and Daniel stashed their bikes and disappeared down an alley. Kaid and Vince continued on ahead. As they pulled up to the fourplex, the front door of the front-facing second floor apartment was open. There was loud music spilling out of it, and there were a dozen or so guys in various stages of wastedness hanging out on the lawn, arguing, laughing, dancing and whatever the hell the rest of them were doing. There was a bonfire in a metal garbage can, and crushed cans and empty bottles littered the lawn around them. As Kaid and Vince parked their bikes and got off, a couple of them approached. “You got an invitation?” one of them drawled at Kaid, trying to be intimidating while he played with his switchblade, tossing it up and catching it over and over. “We don’t need an invitation. Tell Ricky that Vince is here to do a little business,” Vince told him. The guy eyed Kaid for a few more minutes before yelling for one of the other guys to watch them and headed up the stairs to find Ricky. It wasn’t that much longer before the guy was back at the railing upstairs, “Ya’ll can come on up, but watch yourselves. We don’t take too kindly to people stopping by uninvited.”

  “Frank! Stop disrespecting my visitors! You have no right talking to my friends that way!”

  “Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir,” Frank muttered before shooting them another hate-filled glare.

  They walked up the stairs, Vince leading the way. When they entered the front room of the little apartment, there was a big guy standing there beside Ricky. The man was obviously a shifter; he’d startled when they entered, not expecting other shifters to be anywhere near here. He raised his head slightly and inhaled deeply, but silently. Kaid and Vince both looked the man in the eye and did their own inhales to try to identify him. Some kind of large cat, Kaid decided. He inclined his head ever so slightly in recognition of their shared secrets, as did Kaid and Vince. “Vincent, my man! I see you’ve finally decided to come check out my little operation. Got tired of inviting you in,” Ricky said as he came toward him, slapping him on the shoulder. Vince ground his teeth and smiled at the man, “Not sure I’m ready to be a part of all this, just thought maybe I’d come sample the merchandise and see if it’s the quality I’ve been hearing.”

  “I deal in the real shit, my man, none of that fake homemade stuff. All mine comes straight from the manufacturer, no cuts between him and me.” Ricky offered Vince a baggie. Vince took it from him, made a show of slicing into it with a knife he pulled from his pocket and touched his tongue to the blade of the knife. “Hmpf, seems alright, I guess. Nothing special as far as I can see.”

  “Seriously, that’s the good shit, man. It’s so pure most can’t use it more than once without needing it again, and again, and again. That’s the secret to my success,” Ricky told him as he spread out his arms around himself to indicate the dingy apartment they were currently standing in and the drug-addled females and junkies strewn about it. While Ricky was clearly trying to impress his visitors, Frank had slipped down the hall toward the room Janie was being held in. He’d been making excuses all evening to get near the bedroom, and Riley had cut him off every time. Ricky was, unfortunately, or fortunately, just as wasted as most of his buddies down on the front lawn and was, for the most part, unaware of Frank trying to get to Janie. Riley didn’t want to bring it to Ricky’s attention because that would again remind Ricky that Janie was there. He seemed to have forgotten for the time being. Riley spoke in a low voice to Ricky, “Going to check on things,” and walked swiftly toward the hallway before Ricky could even reply. When he got to the bedroom, the door was ajar, and Frank was leaning over Janie, his hand over h
er mouth to keep her quiet as she tried to use her legs to fight him off. Riley was on him in less than a second, gripped him by his hair, lifted him off his feet and off of Janie, who screamed. Luckily the loud music muffled it from the humans. As she screamed, she heaved herself up off the floor, her hands still tied behind her. She was leaning against the window, the curtain having been pushed aside as she pulled herself up. If she’d been a shifter, she’d have heard the roar of an animal off in the distance at her appearance in the window. “Keep your fucking hands off her,” Riley snarled into Frank’s face. Frank was too wasted to have the sense to be frightened of the fangs and snarls Riley was presenting. “Ain’t yours, you were too much of a pussy to go take her. She’s Ricky’s, and mine when he’s done.” Riley had had enough. He was so tired of these Bad-Ass-Want-To-Be’s. Not a fucking one of them knew what it was to be a real man. “You been cock blocking me all evening, get the fuck out of here, Riley, I’m just going to have a little taste.” Frank had the stupidity to try to take a swing at Riley. Riley blocked his pitiful blow and punched him so hard that his nose disappeared into his face. Frank went down without another sound. Janie was just leaning against the window, staring at Frank’s body with her mouth hanging open. Great, she’s in shock. Just what the fuck I need, Riley thought. From the front room he could hear shouting. Apparently the two shifters had heard her scream and weren’t happy about it. And there were more growls and howls getting closer to the apartment building. He distinctly heard one of the shifters who’d arrived earlier say, “Fuck! I was hoping they could control his ass! Do not get in his way; he is out of his fucking mind!” The other answered, “All about damage control now, just try to keep him from getting shot too many times while he searches for his woman.”