“Put down that thing before you hurt yourself, Alaina. It’s not like you know what the hell to do with it anyway. Now, turn around and leave. Come back with papers stating that I owe no money whatsoever to you and I will think about giving Elizabeth back to you. Until then, if you try this shit again, I will kill you, and her,” a woman’s voice walked over from the shadows.
She was anorexic, with sores on her face and arms. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a month and stuck up everywhere. “Hey, baby, tell her it all. I want to see her face when she finds out. Here is our chance.”
“Hell why not. Alaina, this is Bridgett. You might remember her from the office? She was my secretary for over five years.” His evil smugness made her stomach heave.
I really was clueless. Thank God above we didn’t have sex often, no telling what kind of funk I would have ended up with from that.
“We fucked way before that, skank. You were just too stupid to figure it out. Now, he is mine, so you and your brat need to back off and let us live our life, understand?” Her bitchy, cocky attitude sent Alaina through the roof. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brody and Jeremy moving in from behind them with the others sneaking up from all angles. Once everyone was in position, Brian’s forehead lit up like a neon Budweiser sign. “What the fuck?” Bridgett stared at him, trying to figure out what was causing it.
“What is it?” Like a dumbass, he released Lizzy to investigate. The second she was free, she was yanked backwards and placed behind Dom. Alex moved up and grabbed her hand and led her out the back.
“They have sites on your face! It’s red dots everywhere!” she screeched like a lunatic, waving her hands in the air to either make them blow away, or allow her to fly, Alaina wasn’t sure which. Her mood changed again, honing in on Alaina. When she lunged for her, her face met the stock of the M4, knocking her on her ass. Brian lowered his gun down on Alaina and pointed it straight at her chest. The fucker is lit up like the fourth of July and is still pulling a gun on me. Damn he is stupid. He turned to look around for the first time, and got a good look at everyone’s intentions. When he turned back to Alaina, she had him in the sights and was squeezing down on the trigger.
“What, you really think you could pull that trigger, Alaina? You don’t do anything right. Never have. Hell I had to hire a woman to please me. Now, put the fucking gun down before I take it from you.”
His hollow, useless rambles didn’t do much to her, except when he turned the barrel at Brody. That was her snap. She pointed and was pulling the trigger when a gunshot went off. She looked to see that Brody was okay, thinking that somehow Brian had gotten a shot in. He looked fine. Brian doubled over and went to his knees, howling in pain. Alex walked over to Alaina and physically removed her from the house even against her protests. Once they were outside, she saw Elizabeth and ran to her. “Baby! Oh my God I praise you for letting her be okay! Elizabeth, are you okay? Did they hurt you in any way?” Her hands immediately went searching over every inch of the girl looking for injuries. She had some bruising on her wrists and arms, and on her ankles. Alaina flipped the fuck out. She steadied her tone, not wanting to alarm Lizzy. “Baby, look at me. Did they tie you up?” Lizzy’s little head nodded. “Did they hit you?” Again, she nodded. Alaina gritted her teeth at the next question she had to ask, and choked down vomit to get the words out. “Baby, did anyone touch you in your private places?” The little girl fell silent, and Alaina’s heart stopped. No! no! no! How could he? He is her fucking father! No, God, no don’t let it be! “Baby, what happened? Mommy needs to know everything okay?”
She whimpered out a “yes, Mommy,” and dropped her head. Alex came over and sat on her other side, offering more comfort. Alaina looked at her, signaling the feelings and urgency that was exploding inside of her. Alex nodded, understanding exactly how to proceed.
“Hi, Lizzy. My name is Alex. I am your mommy’s friend. Can you point and tell us what they did there? Don’t be embarrassed, we are all girls, sweetheart.” Lizzy looked up at Alex and smiled.
“Are you a real soldier?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I am.”
“So you aren’t scared of anything, huh?”
“There isn’t a lot that scares me, but I do get scared. I hate spiders and clowns. Don’t tell anyone though okay?” The last part of her voice went down into a whisper, which made Lizzy relax and smile more.
“That lady touched my chi chi’s. She yanked up my shirt and said that I was going to have worthless chi chi’s like my mother. She said big boobs were nasty, and she had perfect ones. Then she said I wasn’t allowed to eat nothing because I am fat and my butt needs to eat itself. She was mad that I am a nasty whale like my mom.” Elizabeth’s face wrinkled up in a pout, trying to hide the tears that threatened to spill.
“Okay. Is that all? Did they touch your pee pee spot or bottom? Or make you touch or look at their private spots?” Alex asked sweetly, but Alaina could hear the underlying rage that was just below the surface in the question. She knew the woman shared her disgust and was hoping no rape or sexual abuse had taken place.
“No. I was locked in the room the whole time tied to the bed. I didn’t even get to get something to drink or go pee. I haven’t ate or drank since they brought me here, but I think her and dad are sick. They kept giving each other shots in the arm.” Tears were starting to glass over the little one’s big brown eyes, sending Alaina into a frenzy. She immediately grabbed Elizabeth up in her arms and held her tight, choking the bile that rose in her stomach at the little girl’s words. She looked to Alex for help and saw a reflection of her own feelings in the woman’s lethal eyes. Alex stepped close and hugged them both from behind, kissed Lizzy’s head, and stormed off inside.
“Elizabeth, look at me. Don’t listen to them, okay? That woman is an evil, evil woman, baby. Nothing she said is true, okay? You are beautiful and wonderful and the most amazing little girl in the whole world.” Alaina had to grit her teeth and bite the inside of her mouth to prevent saying what a fucking skanky ass, hollowed out, whore, aids-infested, herpes, syphilis, no good tramp the slut was.
“Okay, Mom. I know she is just a meanie head. I love you, Momma. I knew you would come for me. Can we go home now?”
“In just a few minutes, baby. I love you so much. You are such a strong girl and I am so proud of you. I promise we will stop and get you something to eat and drink in just a few minutes, okay? Do you need to go potty?”
“Yes I do really, really bad. I think I peed in my pants, Mom. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it.” She began to cry, burying her face in Alaina’s shoulder.
Alaina stroked her hair, hushing her soothingly. “It is fine, baby, it wasn’t your fault. Don’t cry, sweetheart. Come on, let’s go over to the trees and you can go, okay?”
A few sniffles sounded behind a small nod and she stood, taking her hand. They walked over to the tree line where she could relieve herself. A bunch of commotion sounded from the house before gun shots were heard. Alaina’s heart froze in her chest. Oh God in heaven, please don’t let any of the team be hurt. What if Brody or Leland was shot? Please no, God, please! Fear constricted her chest, making her breaths come out in pants.
“Momma, are you okay?”
“Yes, baby. I am just so relieved you are okay, but I am so mad they did that to you, sweetheart. I promise you no one will ever hurt you again. Pull your panties off and leave them if they are wet. We will stop and get you a brand new outfit to ride home in, and get you a shower as soon as we get home.” Guilt at everything that was happening slammed into her. How was she supposed to fix this? Could it be fixed? None of this should have ever happened! What the hell do we do now?
Alex spotted them and walked in their direction, meeting them at the tree line. “Let’s get you girls back to the truck for now. The boys have some issues to take care of and some cleaning to do.”
“Is everyone okay? I heard gun shots...” Alaina’s words trailed off, not wantin
g to voice her concerns in front of Elizabeth, or to think them for that matter.
“Everyone that counts. Yeah…uh, there was a rat. A big, nasty rat in the house.” Alex winked at Alaina, and she realized what had happened. Knowing that nothing must ever be said, she smiled with tears flowing down her cheeks and mouthed a ‘thank you’ above Lizzy’s head. Alex just nodded, looking between Lizzy and her with an expression of determination and justice.
When they got back to the truck, Alex dug in one of the duffle bags and pulled out a canteen of water and an MRE. She tore the plastic open with her teeth and dug out its contents. “Do you know what this is, Lizzy?”
“Is it one of the soldier’s food things? I saw them on a movie once.”
“Yes it is. Do you know what is so cool about these besides the fact that there is a bag of MMs in this one and it has the cherished cheese pouch? I have traded a cheese pack for all kinds of cool stuff on many occasions.” Alex’s face lit up, showing a fun side to the intimidating hard woman. Alaina smiled.
“What is the best part?”
Alex opened up the green bag that was included and put the meal packet inside. Then, she dumped water in it and folded the top down a couple rolls. “Okay, now watch. The water activates the heating chemicals, heating the food up. While that is cooking, let’s see what else you have in here.” She laid the contents out on the seat and organized them, explaining each item. She pointed to another brown plastic package. “This here is pound cake. Unfortunately you got the lemon flavor. It tastes like Lemon Pledge.” She pointed to another packet, and smiled. “You have the good spicy crackers to go with your cheese. Now this you have to try.” She ripped open each pack, squirted a dab of the cheese spread on one of the round veggie crackers, and handed it to her. She made one for Alaina before popping one in her own mouth. “See? That’s good stuff, huh?”
“Yum! It is good.” Elizabeth’s face lit up.
“Wow, I am surprised. It is pretty good.” Alaina smiled, loving how Alex was distracting Elizabeth from everything going on.
“Okay, you got a good one, girl! Look, here is a packet of applesauce. And here, this is like Kool-Aid. Watch, you dump it in the canteen like this.” She poured the powder in and shook it up, handing it back to Lizzy. “Now, the most important thing about an MRE is that after you are done, you have to chew the gum. See here in your napkin package? There is a little bottle of hot sauce, spork, knife, napkin, salt, pepper, sugar, creamer, an instant coffee pack even though it isn’t enough for a cup, and these little gum squares. The gum squares keep you from getting constipated. MRE’s will lock you up for a month if you don’t chew this.”
Alaina watched as Elizabeth sat intently listening to everything Alex was saying until she finished and burst out in giggles. “That’s funny! It’s poo gum like the poo chocolate momma has given me before!”
“Yip, same thing. Okay, your food should be hot.” She pulled the meal packet out and opened it, handing it to Lizzy. “Here you go, sweetheart. You got the beef stew. This kind is the best.” She winked and stepped away, letting Elizabeth dig in.
“Thank you, Ms. Alex. This is yummy!” she said over a mouthful of food.
“You’re welcome, Elizabeth.” Her cell phone beeped and she flipped it open, getting her soldier face back on. “Okay, ladies, we are going to go for a ride. Lizzy, you can eat on the way, okay?”
“What’s going on?” Alaina asked.
“Nothing. Let’s get moving. We can talk later.” She closed up everything and helped gather up the spread of food. After Elizabeth had buckled in in the back seat, she handed it all back to her to finish. She stayed sullen, so Alaina didn’t push or ask any more questions. She hopped in the passenger side and waited until they were down the road to glance at her again. She seemed to be in deep concentration about something, so Alaina opted to save all conversation until they reached their destination.
About an hour later, they pulled onto a dirt road off the highway. About ten miles down that road another turn was made, and then another, placing them in the deep confinements of the forest. A small cabin came into sight, and Alex parked the truck in front. She turned the engine off and removed the keys, finally turning to Alaina. “You two stay here for a minute and let me check a few things. I will be right back, okay?”
Alaina nodded, unsure what was happening. Her mind whirled with different scenarios, but told herself the woman had protected them this far, she might as well trust her. “Okay,” she answered, hearing the uncertainty in her own voice. Alex hopped out, reaching down to her ankle. When she stood back up a pistol was in her hand, and she cocked it back before easing toward the establishment. She walked around the building cautiously, darting her head back and forth to examine the entire area. When she disappeared around the back, Alaina held her breath. A few minutes later she reappeared through the now open front door and waved for them to come in.
“Okay, Liz, let’s go in.” She unfastened her seat belt and stepped out to open the back passenger door to help her out of the tall ride.
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know, baby. It’s okay. These are good people and are helping us, okay?”
“I like Alex. She is a girl soldier. I want to be just like her when I grow up.” Alaina laughed, loving her daughter’s independent streak. That was one thing she would never have to worry about—there was no way she would ever depend on a man to take care of her. Elizabeth was going to be a successful adult.
When they stepped inside, the dimly lit space was made up of a living/bedroom, a small kitchen and a door, which she assumed was the bathroom. There was a layer of dust, which suggested it had been occupant free for quite some time. “Okay, ladies, we are going to hang out here for a little bit. Make yourselves at home.” Alex’s lack of details either meant she was protecting them, or the situation involved less than honorable aspects.
The three of them engaged in games of tic-tac-toe in the dust on the table to distract Elisabeth and pass the time. They made small talk, chattering about random topics. Alaina got a glimpse of the amazing woman Alex was under the hard exterior and envied her. She was the full package, looks, brains, brawn, and self-confidence. She was compassionate and from what she had seen, was great with kids. If she was given the chance, there was no doubt they would be great friends.
Minutes turned to hours, and the sun finally retired for the night. Elizabeth started to yawn, and before Alaina could ask, Alex had gone over and made up the bed in the corner with the sleeping bags from the truck. Alaina’s heart warmed at the gesture. She went as far as tucking her in, and stepped away to let Alaina get a good night’s kiss. They walked back over to the table and sat down, relaxing from the front they had been putting on to keep Elizabeth from questioning anything.
Chapter Seven
It was in the wee hours of the morning when Alex’s cell phone beeped again with a text. After typing back, she stood and stretched. Her eyes met Alaina’s and she sighed. “I need to go somewhere for a little while. I am going to leave you a couple MRE’s, my canteen, and my pistol. If anyone comes in this house you shoot, am I clear?” her tone was authoritative, bringing on an uneasy air in the room.
Alaina had been preparing for something, and now she knew this was it. It was down to the hour of truth, and if her intuition was correct, Brian would never be heard from again. A newfound determination and empowering surge coursed through her. She squared her shoulders and nodded, mentally preparing for any situation that might arise. “No problem. Is everyone okay?” She let her voice insinuate more in the meaning than just health wise, hoping Alex caught it.
“The boys are all fine. I am going to go help ‘clean up’ and we will be back to get you two. Try to get some rest because we are hauling ass to Montana the second all of this is taken care of.”
“But, what about my house? And all of our things?”
“Mrs. Sanders has packed up all of the important things, and we can come back to get the rest
later. Right now, we need to get as far from here as we can. She has called both of your jobs and told them about your car accident, and your friends know that you are safe, so that buys time.”
“Okay. Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you, for everything. I don’t know what I would have done without you all.”
“This is what we do. We live for justice, no matter how far in the grey area we have to go to accomplish it. It has been so long since I have had any girlfriends that I should be thanking you. You and Elizabeth are pretty great.” Her face softened into a genuine smile, reaching straight to Alaina’s heart.
Alaina walked over and hugged her, feeling an almost awkwardness from Alex. “Please be careful.” Did the woman never get hugged? The lack of emotions the group shared must be the result from hard Army training. With Alex being a female, it seemed more upsetting for some reason.
“We always are careful. Lock these doors behind me. Oh, and if I don’t get a chance to talk to you alone later, Brody and Leland are good guys. If there is anything going on between you three, you don’t have to worry about getting hurt. They will take care of you both.”
“Oh…um, thanks.” Alaina felt her face heat, but Alex walked out in time to avoid any explanations. She walked over and locked the doorknob and dead bolt, checking it twice to make sure it was secure. After, she checked the backdoor and all of the windows. Once she felt semi-safe, she curled up on the bed with Elizabeth and waited.
****
A jiggling of the front door knob made her jump up in an instant rush, making her heart flutter against her ribs. She gripped the pistol with both hands and took the safety off before cocking the hammer back. Slowly and quietly, she tiptoed a few feet in front of it and broadened her stance. With the gun lowered and pointed straight ahead, she waited.
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