by Marla Monroe
* * * *
Murdock watched his partner and their woman sleeping next to him. The sight brought tears to his eyes. He brushed them away and carefully slipped out of the bed. Grabbing his jeans, he pulled them on along with his boots. Without making a sound, he eased out the door and walked down the hall to the kitchen to grab a beer.
“What are you doing up?” Dom sat at the table with a beer in front of him.
“I could ask you the same question,” Murdock said.
“Yeah, but I asked you first, and I’m the pres.” The other man smiled.
Murdock popped open his beer and sat across from Dominic. He wasn’t really sure what had him sitting there instead of sleeping with his family.
“She’s staying with us,” he finally said.
“Good. She fits in well with the other women, and Raven really likes her.”
“I can’t keep her locked up forever, Dom. She’s already pushing against it.”
Dom sighed. “I don’t know what the answer is. We can’t find any trace of The Skulls. Riot is a problem child even for them. He doesn’t always follow directions, which is why he might have still been in Sky that night. Hanging back because he wasn’t ready to leave.”
“And we don’t know if he’s still out there somewhere waiting.” Murdock took another drink.
“I don’t know what to tell you, M. If it were Raven, I would want to keep her under wraps, too. We had a similar situation when she first moved here. The thing is, we can’t cover all the bases no matter how hard we try. Eventually, something is going to give. All we can do is hedge our bets and pray for grace.” Dom stood up and bumped fists with Murdock as he carried his empty can to the garbage.
“Dom. If anything happens to her, I won’t be able to control Ajax.” Murdock felt as if he needed to warn the man since he’d taken them in.
“I wouldn’t expect you to try.”
Murdock sighed and stared at his nearly empty beer can. He wasn’t any closer to knowing what to do about Ginger than he’d been when he first got up. They had no idea that the man was even still in the area, much less if he still wanted their woman. They hadn’t seen any sign of the group since that night. The question that ate at him was, was he willing to take a chance with Ginger based on what he didn’t know?
“What the fuck is up with you?” Ajax padded into the kitchen wearing jeans that weren’t fastened and no shoes.
“Nothing.” He drained his beer and started to get up from the table.
“The hell it’s not. Ginger told us she loved us and wanted to be with us and you’re not in there wrapped around her like a snake. Something’s wrong.”
He sighed and rubbed his head with one hand. “We can’t keep her locked down forever, A, but we don’t have a clue if Riot’s still jonesing for her or not.”
“Then one of us is with her at all times. She doesn’t have to stay locked up that way.”
“We offered to let her go back to school, Ajax. She’s going to cry foul if we back out on that.” Murdock didn’t see an easy way out.
“School won’t start back until the fall regardless. Till then, one of us hangs with her. By the time school starts back, either we’ll know they’re gone or we’ll have some idea of where they are. They can’t stay invisible for months, Murdock.”
“Maybe you’re right. I hope you are anyway. When we’re working out at the camp, she’ll be safe enough with both of us there. Plus, we’re at the point that some of the others might want to start helping.”
“Plus, the contractor we hired to work on our place will start work soon. She’ll want to oversee a lot of that I bet.” Ajax grinned at him. “Hope she doesn’t go for a lot of frilly stuff.”
Murdock smiled back and shook his head. “I can just see you taking a shower with frilly pink shower curtains.”
“Not going to happen. I’ll shower in the other bathroom if I have to.”
Both of them knew they wouldn’t do any such thing. They’d have her between them every chance they got.
“We need to talk about marrying her, Murdock. I don’t want her shacking up with us. She should marry you legally, and we can have that ceremony thing with the three of us that Jessie and Raven were talking to her about,” Ajax said.
“I agree. But why should she marry me and not you?”
“Because you’re the oldest.” Ajax looked so serious that Murdock almost missed the insult he’d meant it to be.
“I’m not that old.”
* * * *
Ginger stretched then rolled over to find the bed empty. She turned and the other side was empty, too. Squinting over at the clock, she noted that it was nearly seven. Why had they gotten up so early? They’d woken her up at almost one for another round of hide the sausage. They should have been as wasted as she felt.
She gingerly climbed out of bed and padded into the bathroom. After taking care of her needs and washing her face, she dressed and went in search of her men. It didn’t take long to find them sipping coffee in the kitchen with several of the other guys.
“Morning, baby girl. What are you doing up so early?” Ajax pulled her onto his lap.
Murdock pulled her head over to give her a kiss before his friend managed to nab her.
“I woke up to an empty bed. Why are y’all up so early?” she asked, taking a sip of Ajax’s coffee.
“We’re going to work out at the camp today. Wanted to get an early start.” Murdock rested his hand on her thigh. “Want to come with us or stick around the clubhouse?”
“I’ll go with you. The lodge still needs a lot of work. Do I have time to fix something to eat first?”
“If you hurry. Nothing fancy.” Murdock squeezed her thigh.
She jumped off of Ajax’s lap and hurried to scramble up some eggs and make toast. They had a small stash of canned goods for lunch out at the lodge. Now that the kitchen was clean, she didn’t mind cooking. While she made their meal, the men packed the cooler with beer and water. She would make a pitcher of tea once they got there.
After breakfast, they loaded up one of the trucks and headed out to the camp. It took a good thirty minutes to drive there and another five minutes to negotiate the rutted drive to the main camp.
“We’ll get that graded out once we are ready to open. For now, it helps to discourage vagrants and teenagers from trying to make the place their hangout.” Murdock climbed out of the truck as Ajax helped her down from the cab.
“I’ll be in the lodge working. I’ll fix something for lunch around noon.”
“We’ll leave the cooler on the porch where it’s shaded. Don’t go anywhere without us, Ginger. Even up to the house,” Ajax warned her.
“I won’t.” She waved them off and stepped inside to decide what room to tackle next.
She decided to fix the tea first so it would be cooling down some. They would use the ice from the cooler when they wanted a glass to drink. She boiled a pot of water then turned it off and added the tea bags and covered it to steep while she gathered up the cleaning supplies. She’d decided to start on the rooms upstairs, leaving the main room downstairs till last since they would be going in and out of it so much.
She carried the supplies upstairs using the mop bucket to hold it all and pushed open the first door. It rubbed on the floor and she had to shove it with her shoulder. When it suddenly flew the rest of the way open, she fell into the room at the feet of Riot and his three cohorts. When she opened her mouth to scream, he backhanded her.
Ginger fell to her hands and knees with a gasp. Her face stung, and she could taste blood in her mouth.
“Bet you thought we didn’t know about your boyfriend’s little venture.” Riot stood over her, laughing.
She started to get up, and he kicked her in the ass, sending her all the way to the floor. The other guys laughed with Riot. They formed a loose circle around her. She had no doubt they were going to hurt her and rape her if she didn’t get away or manage to get her guys’ attention. She didn’t know h
ow far away they were to know how loud she had to be for them to hear her.
“Get up, bitch,” Riot said.
She started climbing to her hands and knees once more. This time when she started to stand up, he didn’t kick her. As she moved to stand, she caught sight of the mop handle in the corner of her eye. Feigning losing her balance she went to her knees a little closer to the handle.
“Get your ass up.” This time Riot grabbed the waistband of her jeans.
She grabbed for the mop handle so that when she stood up, she was able to swing it hard with both hands. She managed to connect with the faces of two of the bozos with Riot, breaking the wooden stick. They cursed, holding their faces while Riot grabbed the remainder of the handle from her and swung it at her. Ginger ducked but it still glanced off her forehead hard enough to knock her back to the floor.
This time she wasn’t able to get up right away. The fall to the floor had knocked the wind out of her. Her head was throbbing where the stick had made contact. It wasn’t long before blood ran down the side of her face.
“Stupid bitch!” Riot grabbed her by her hair she’d tied back into a ponytail, jerking her up in a sitting position. “You’re going to regret that.”
As soon as she could manage to get a lung full of air, Ginger jerked her hair from his grasp, tearing long strands of it out in the process and rolled closer to the window where she pulled to her knees and screamed. She’d barely gotten the scream started when something was shoved into her mouth and her face was shoved into the wall beneath the window with a sickening thud.
When she tried to move her hands to pull whatever was in her mouth out, they were grabbed and pulled behind her. They jerked her to her feet, keeping her hands behind her back. Riot stood in front of her, panting. It had to be from anger since he really hadn’t done much to warrant breathing hard. His posse was the ones holding her. One of the others tore off a piece of duct tape and slapped it over her mouth, sealing in whatever they’d shoved inside. She wouldn’t be screaming anytime soon like this.
For the first time since she’d entered the room, Ginger began to worry. Hell, who was she kidding, she began to panic. The men wouldn’t be back before time to eat at noon if they hadn’t heard her half scream earlier. She was in a very bad situation. She had no doubt they were going to hurt her and hurt her bad.
As Riot paced in front of her calling her all sorts of nasty names and telling her what he wanted to do to her, she stood with two men holding her up, thinking about the decision she’d made the night before. Not for one second did she regret it, but she sure as hell wished she’d made it sooner instead of wasting time she could have enjoyed without the worry and anxiety she’d subjected them all to that week.
They wouldn’t kill her. At least she didn’t think they would. She felt like they’d leave her alive as a message to The Ghost Riders and more specifically, Ajax and Murdock. The thing was, she didn’t know if she was strong enough to survive whatever they did to her.
When Riot stopped pacing and ranting, he hit her again then pulled a knife and sliced through her shirt and bra. Ginger didn’t think she was strong enough after all.
Chapter Thirteen
Murdock stopped what he was doing and listened. He thought he’d heard something, but when there were no other sounds, he dismissed it. He’d just started pulling the old flooring up from the cabin. Ajax emerged from the bathroom where he was pulling out the commode.
“Did you hear anything?” he asked.
Murdock stood up again. “I thought I did, but I don’t hear anything now.”
They stood still and listened, but the only noises to be heard came from an occasional bird. Ajax shrugged and returned to the bathroom. Murdock continued ripping up the floor. The old linoleum had been tacked down well enough he was having trouble getting it to tear loose. It looked like they were going to have to replace the subflooring on this cabin anyway. The roof had leaked enough over the years that the floor was rotten in places.
“Fuck!” Ajax’s voice carried into the other room.
“What’s wrong?” Murdock stopped what he was doing to see what had happened.
Murdock walked out of the bathroom holding his hand over the back of his wrist. Blood dripped off his arm to the floor.
“Fucking porcelain piece of shit. It broke on me. Sliced me pretty good.”
“We better head back to the lodge and get the first aid kit. Does it need stitches?” Murdock asked.
“Hell if I know. Probably. It’s bleeding like a stuck pig.” Ajax scowled at Murdock like it was his fault.
“Come on. We’ll clean it up and see. Maybe all it will need are a few butterfly strips. I’m sure Ginger will kiss you and make you feel better.” Murdock almost laughed at the immediate change in Ajax’s expression.
“We can grab a beer while we’re there,” Ajax added.
Murdock tore off a strip of Ajax’s T-shirt and wrapped it twice around the cut on his wrist as tight as he dared. It looked like stitches to him, but they would see once they had it cleaned up.
When they finally made it back to the lodge, he grabbed the first aid kit out of the truck and carried it into the kitchen. Ginger was nowhere to be found. She was probably upstairs cleaning. A bump from above proved his theory.
“Maybe you should get Ginger to help,” Ajax said as Murdock pulled out the supplies he thought they would need.
“Don’t be a wuss. You can go upstairs and show her your boo-boo after I get it taken care of.” Another louder bump followed by a muffled noise had him frowning. “Tell you what. I’ll run get her. You clean it up.”
Ajax nodded and started pulling the bloody material off his wrist. Murdock walked back out of the kitchen and took the stairs. At the top of the landing, he noticed the overturned bucket of cleaning supplies and immediately felt his stomach drop. Something was wrong. Another bump had him racing for the door where the noise was coming from. As he shoved open the door, he yelled out for Ajax.
Murdock crashed into the room to find two men holding a gagged and fighting Ginger with Riot standing over her. He went for Riot even as it registered that someone was behind him. He tackled Riot with a roar even as the other man rode him down. He had no doubt Ajax would be on his heels to help. All he had to do was keep them off of Ginger until his partner got there.
Riot tried to turn in the fall to get a hand loose, but Murdock managed to trap his hands beneath him. The man on his back tried to wrap his arm around his neck, but Murdock ducked his chin into his chest and dug at Riot’s face with his hands, going for the man’s eyes.
Suddenly the man on his back was gone, and he heard Ajax’s roar of anger. Without the added weight on his back, Riot was able to throw him off. Instead of going for Riot this time, Murdock kicked out at one of the guys holding Ginger, dislodging his hold on her.
“Fight and run, Ginger! Fight and run!” Murdock screamed at her as he turned to face Riot with a knife.
He had to pray she was able to get loose from the other guy as he dodged Riot’s knife-led lunges. He could see Ajax beating on the other man out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t see Ginger anymore and keep an eye on where Riot was stabbing.
He managed to pull his knife from his boot to even the field with Riot. They parried back and forth, neither of them managing to get an edge over the other one. Ajax put his man down and turned toward where Murdock knew Ginger would be.
A loud crash behind him that sounded like the window breaking jerked his attention back to her. She’d somehow shoved one of the men through the window face-first, and he was hanging over the edge. Ajax moved between her and the remaining man just as he felt a sharp pain in his side. He turned his attention back to Riot and cursed. The man had managed to stab him. He lunged into him in an attempt to throw him off balance. As it happened, he didn’t succeed, but Riot tripped over the man Ajax had taken down earlier.
Murdock followed him down and plunged his knife into the man’s chest. When he pull
ed back and rolled to the side, Riot didn’t move. Murdock didn’t know if he was alive or not and, right then, didn’t much care. He looked up to see Ajax drop the man he was hitting. He figured it dawned on his partner that the man wasn’t fighting back anymore. They both hurried over to where Ginger sat in the corner with her knees to her chest and her head buried in her arms.
“Oh, baby girl. Fuck. Look at me, baby. Let me see you.” Ajax knelt in front of her his hands, hovering next to her as if he was afraid to touch her.
“Ginger.” Murdock was afraid of what he would see when she looked up.
She slowly lifted her head and his gut clenched at the sight of her battered face and fear-filled eyes. Ajax cupped her face in his hands and kissed her before wrapping his arms around her and rocking back and forth. After a few seconds he pulled back and looked over at Murdock, a bleak expression on his face.
“We need to get her to the hospital.”
“I know. Can you help her up? I don’t think I can.” Murdock wondered if he was going to be able to stand up on his own.
“I’ve got her.” He stood up and started to pick her up, but she pulled out of his arms with a cry and flung herself at Murdock.
“You’re bleeding! He stabbed you, didn’t he? Ajax, we’ve got to get him to the hospital.” Ginger started crying gut-wrenching sobs as Ajax helped him up.
“I’m okay, babe. Just a cut. Let Ajax help you downstairs.” Murdock didn’t like how pale she was or the fact that she was bruised all around her rib area already. “Ajax, cover her up.”
“I’ll get her as soon as we get you downstairs. Ginger, hold on to my belt loops and the hand rail.” Ajax seemed to be trying to tell him something with his eyes, but Murdock wasn’t up to reading into it right now. He was doing good to stay on his feet with the man’s help.
