by K. J. Dahlen
“You are one sick fuck, you know that?”
“Thank you for the compliment.” He nodded in acknowledgement. “My mother would be so proud to know I have lived up to all of her expectations.”
“Oh, I think you have passed her expectations by a long shot.”
Robbie knelt in the dirt beside her. He reached out his hand and brushed the hair away from her face. He touched her bruises carefully. “I think you could be right about that. Mom has been avoiding me for some time now. When the police came to arrest her that day, she never even gave me a thought. All she could do was worry about herself. She’s a very selfish woman you know.” He shifted again. “I’ll have to track her down and have a word with her before I’m done.”
“You won’t find her.” Cassie shook her head. “She’s dead, you know.”
Robbie smiled softly. “Really? That’s news to me but I’m not surprised.” He carried on a casual conversation, like only the insane could do. “Who got her? The cops or a disgruntled customer?”
“Leon Vincinti.”
“Ahh…” He nodded. “I supposed this had to do with her role in Peaches’ kidnapping and the murder of his daughter in law. Mother was very happy to do her part. Of course, your father did most of the work. Mother was fairly disappointed when poor Peaches couldn’t remember her own name. Tell me, did she ever remember who she was?”
“Yeah, she remembered. Both Leon and Calderone got retribution from her. I heard she died screaming.”
“Mother was always better at dishing out punishment rather than taking it.” He reached for his knife and wiped the blade on his pants. “It’s almost time. When I get done here, I have more work to do.”
“What are you going to do after this?”
“I have to go see my step-grandfather. Seems old Leon was married to my grandmother at one time. My mother told me some of what he did to her when she was a child. She also told me why she had to run away.”
“And why was that?” She asked.
“Seems old Leon can’t keep his dick in his pants. He molested her at fifteen. She ran away when she found out she was carrying me.”
Cassie’s eyes grew huge. “Leon is your father?”
“Seems so, at least according to my mother. Of course, she lies all the time so it might not be true but I’ll get the old man to tell me.” He smiled. “Then when I get done killing the old man I’ll have to find Peaches again and take care of her too. Then my mission will be complete.”
“He’s going to kill you if Deke doesn’t find you first.”
Robbie smiled but there was no humor in his eyes. “Well, as neither of them knows where I am and you aren’t going to live to tell them, they’ll have to find me first, won’t they?” He lifted the knife to her belly. He pierced her shirt but didn’t touch her skin. He sliced the t-shirt away from that point up to the collar. When the two pieces flopped open, Robbie could see her chest. He grinned and reached for one of her breasts. Squeezing it hard, he twisted her flesh. “I may not be able to fuck you anymore but I can hurt you and still enjoy that.”
Cassie glared at him. “You always were a crazy piece of shit.”
Robbie slapped her hard. “You deserve this and so much more.” He roared. “For what you did to me you deserve it bitch!”
Cassie narrowed her eyes at him. She could feel the blood running down her chin. “And I hope I’m still alive when Deke gets his hands on you. You think you know pain? You don’t, but you will.”
He snickered. “I’ll be long gone before he even knows you’re missing. He’ll never find what’s left of your body and he will never know what happened to his child. That’s the whole point of your death. He’ll never know what happened to you. Nobody will.”
Cassie peeked over his shoulder. She could see more than one wolf now and they were closing in. Closing her eyes, she prayed for a quick death but she also prayed Robbie would go with her. She would gladly meet him in hell.
He raised the knife again to the top of her chest. The cut burned as he sliced through her skin. She could feel the blood running down over her breasts and pooling at her waist. Cassie hissed slightly but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of screaming out her pain.
Robbie wiped the blood from the first cut off on her shorts. Then he placed the blade on her right thigh. Holding her gaze, he sliced into her skin.
Cassie never made a sound. Blood began to pool down her legs to her feet.
Robbie placed the blade on her left calf and dug it in a little deeper than he had the first two times. As he dragged the blade down her leg then the silence was broken by a creature coming toward them. Robbie snapped his head around but he didn’t hear anything close. He smiled as he felt the ground shake.
He turned back to Cassie. “It seems you might be rescued. That won’t do at all.” He got to his feet and kicked out his foot at her head.
There was a thud as his foot met her temple. Cassie felt the kick then she felt nothing else as she fell into unconsciousness.
~* * * *~
An hour after Zipper placed his call, a white van pulled up to the gate. Zipper who had just returned with Deke and Wiley, punched the code needed to open it.
A few minutes later, it pulled up to the door and a young black woman got out. She smiled at Zipper. “I got here as fast as I could.”
“I’m glad you could make it Glory. Deke is worried sick about his Spitfire being safe and so are the rest of us.”
Glory paused at the name, then she smiled. “Spitfire, eh? Well, Demon will protect her from whoever is after her.”
When she opened the side door, Zipper had to back up a step or two. The dog Demon was huge and pure black. It was hard to tell exactly what kind of dog he was.
Glory reached inside the van and attached a leash then he jumped down.
Zipper could see he stood waist high. He had long dark hair and huge feet. “What kind of dog is he exactly?”
Glory laughed. “I swear he’s three fourths coon hound but I know for a fact he isn’t. Best we can figure is he’s part wolf on his daddy’s side and Great Pyrenees on his mother’s. He’s big but he’s gentle and he loves kids.”
“You said he would protect her?” Zipper frowned.
“Oh, he will,” Glory assured him. “Demon gets very protective once he gets a scent. I’m just saying he can be gentle and he adores children.”
“Let’s go inside then. Deke wants to meet the dog before he introduces him to Cassie.” Leading the way, he let Glory lead Demon inside.
Everyone got quiet and turned when they came in.
Deke turned and walked up to Glory. “Zipper tells me your dog will protect my woman.”
“Yes sir, he will,” Glory assured him.
“Good.” Deke nodded. “Let’s get them together. I don’t want her alone for any amount of time. There’s a very sick bastard after her and I don’t want him to get close enough to hurt her.” He turned and started to walk down the hall to his bedroom.
Then the dog, Demon stopped. He wouldn’t go forward, instead he turned and walked over to the three children. He sat down and just looked at them.
“Demon, what’s wrong boy?’ Glory called out softly.
Demon sniffed the children individually but went back to the middle child Jack.
Jack plopped his thumb in his mouth and began to cry.
Alaina wrapped her arm around his shoulder but didn’t take her eyes off the dog in front of them.
Deke and Gator went over to the kids and knelt down to their level. “What’s going on here?”
“I’m sorry,” Jack whispered.
“Sorry for what?” Gator asked.
“Please don’t hit me? I didn’t know what to do!” He cried.
“Buddy, no one here is gonna hit you, but we need to know what you’re talking about,” Deke said quietly.
Alaina squatted down beside her brother and turned him to face her. “You have to tell him Jackie. They might be mad at us and we might
have to leave here but you have to tell them.” Alaina had tears running down her face as well.
Reva knelt beside them and held Alaina and Jack in her arms. “No one is sending you guys away from here. I don’t care what you saw.”
Jackie wrapped his arms around Reva’s neck. “I saw a bad man dragging Miss Cassie into the woods. I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell anyone what I seen. I’m so sorry!”
Deke and Gator froze at his words. Deke turned to stare at Gator then got to his feet and ran for the bedroom. Gator was right behind him and when Deke tried to open the door but couldn’t. He backed up and kicked the door open.
The bed was empty but the window was closed. Deke walked to the bed slowly. His footsteps dragged as his mind wrapped around the idea she wasn’t there. When he got to the empty bed, he noticed the hospital gown.
When Glory and Zipper entered the room with Demon, the dog went directly to the closet and growled. He followed a scent all the way to the bed. Then he jumped up on the bed and began sniffing the sheets.
“Dammit! I told you to have the window nailed shut!” Deked glared at Gator.
Gator went over to the window and tugged. The window wouldn’t give. “It is man. It is.”
Demon got down and walked over to the door. He finally turned and looked at Deke.
Deke turned to Glory.
“He’s got her scent,” Glory explained. “He also picked up another scent. He’s indicating they went out into the hall.”
The dog went out the door and stood by the door across from Deke’s room.
Deke opened the door and the big black dog went over to the open window.
They all know what happened now.
“Can he follow the scents through the woods?” Gator asked.
Glory nodded. “Yes, he can do that.”
Gator looked over at Deke. “Let’s go. We need to find Cassie before that bastard hurts her.”
“Let’s get some guns first. Then we’ll hunt his ass down.” Deke growled. “I feel the need to kill today and I won’t be denied.” He turned and went back to the main room. He walked over to Jack and Reva.
Reva was holding the boy trying to reassure him he wasn’t in trouble.
“Hey, big guy.” Deke placed his hand on the boy’s back. “I need to know everything you saw. Did you see the bad man’s face?”
Jack shook his head. “No he was turned away from me. But I seen Miss Cassie. She had her hands tied behind her back and a something tied around her mouth. I seen he was dragging her by her hair.”
“Did you see which way they went?” Deke asked.
Jackie nodded. Hanging his head, he whispered, “I’m sorry. I was so scared.”
Deke tipped his chin up and smiled. “You didn’t do anything wrong. No one here is mad at you and you’re not in any trouble. If I had seen that, I might have been afraid too.”
“Mr. Deke?” Alaina called out from beside him.
Deke turned and looked at her.
“Are you gonna find Miss Cassie and bring her back?”
Deke smiled but no one could see any humor in his eyes. “Yes, I am and that bad man is never gonna touch her again. I promise.”
Glory and Zipper brought Demon out.
Then Deke, Gator, Deacon, Wiley and Iceman grabbed weapons.
Deke held out his hand to Iceman and Wiley. “I need you two to stay here.”
“Why?” Iceman frowned.
“Because I need someone to stay here and protect the women and kids. If that bastard comes back thinking we’re all looking for him, he might think he has a clear shot at taking Peaches. If we miss him, you stand a good chance of getting him.”
“I can live with that.” Iceman nodded.
Deke turned back to Jack. “Okay little man, where did they go and which way did they turn once they got beyond the fence?”
Jack got down and ran to the door. He pointed at the fence surrounding the compound then called out, “They didn’t go through the gate but they did walk along the fence for a ways and turned that way.” He pointed to the left.
Deke looked down at the young boy. He hated to ask but he had to know. “Was she hurt?”
Jack stared up at him with tears in his eyes. “I don’t think so but the bad man was pulling her hair.”
Deke knelt beside him. “Thank you for being brave enough to tell me about this. I know you and your sister and brother have no reason to trust us yet but I hope one day, you will.” Deke got to his feet and walked over to the table where Gator and Deacon stood. Each was checking a weapon and Deke grabbed a gun off the table. He checked the slide on the pistol and put it in his belt. He grabbed a rifle and spotted the scope. He checked the bolt action and looked at the other two. “Let’s find this fucker and end his life.” He looked over at Glory. “Let’s find out what your dog can do.”
“He’ll find her.” Glory nodded confidently. She went out the door and walked Demon to the fence. Then she undid the leash and let him go with one order. “Find her Demon.”
The dog sniffed the ground for a moment then began walking left of the gate. He woofed at one point then began walking into the trees. Soon, he was running.
Deke, Gator and Deacon kept up but it wasn’t easy. They dodged trees, slipped and slid on the wet leaves on the wood’s grounds and tried to keep one eye on the dog as he ran ahead of them.
Demon stopped and began to growl. He barked a warning.
When Deke caught up, he saw a pair of wolves standing opposite Demon. They were growling back at the dog and trying to circle him. Deke pulled the rifle to firing position and let off a shot. He hit the first wolf but the second one kept coming. Deke worked the slide on the rifle and pulled it into position again. He got off a shot but it went wide.
The wolf turned and ran off but Demon was still growling.
Deacon took aim and made a third shot.
They heard a yelp and when Deke turned his head, he saw a wolf take off running. He stepped closer and that’s when he saw her.
She was tied to a tree covered in blood. Her head was hanging at an odd angle.
His large frame trembled all over and his breath was stuck in his throat. He walked closer to her and knelt on the ground beside her.
Gator was there cutting the ropes that bound her to the tree.
When the ropes let go, she fell forward into Deke’s arms. He sat there for a moment and rocked her back and forth. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Gator tried to loosen his hold. “Boss, we need to check and see how bad she’s hurt.”
Deke laid her on the ground and stepped back. He didn’t know why but he was shaking badly. He’d never felt fear in his life and it took him a moment to realize that was what it was.
Deacon knelt down beside her and his fingers reached out to find the pulse on her neck.
Deke saw his head fall forward and he knew his heart had just stopped. He couldn’t lose her. NO! His bloodied hands were fisted at his sides. “Is she still alive?” His voice was a mere whisper.
Deacon nodded. “Yeah, but she’s lost a lot of blood. We have to get her to the hospital.”
Gator took out his cell and called 9-1-1.
Deke gathered her into his arms and began walking back to the compound. It bothered him that she never made a sound. He looked down and saw Demon walking by his side.
Glancing down at Cassie, he saw the bruises on her face. He tightened the grip he had on her and she groaned.
She shook her head from side to side and tried to open her eyes.
Deke stopped and called out to her, “Cassie, baby, I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.”
Cassie tried to open her eyes and this time it worked. Her eyes tried to focus but she was having some trouble doing so.
Deke frowned as he watched her. He looked over at Deacon with worry. “Baby, are you all right?”
Cassie shook her head. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” She groaned.
“Do you need
me to stop for a minute?” Deke frowned.
Cassie shook her head. “I need to know the baby is okay.” She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Robbie is crazy. He was going to leave me to the wolves then go after Leon. He thinks Leon is his father. God…” Cassie closed her eyes in pain. “…We need to warn him. He’s gonna kill Leon.”
“Hush,” Deke whispered, holding her close. “We’ll get back to the clubhouse and have Peaches call her grandfather to warn him. But I’m not worried about Leon, I’m worried about you. You have to calm down.”
Cassie shivered. “I’m so cold.” She tried to bury herself in his warmth but she still shivered badly.
Deacon came up behind them and whispered, “I think she’s going into shock. We need to hurry.”
Deke nodded and began to walk faster. Within minutes, they came to the fence line. Then they were inside. Everyone gathered around while Deke called out, “She’s lost a lot of blood and she’s going into shock. Somebody get me a blanket!”
Deacon nudged Deke to one side and began looking over Cassie’s wounds. He glanced at Reva and called out for some towels.
Reva brought towels and a basin of warm water.
Marnie brought them a blanket but didn’t want to get in the way, so she stood back holding it.
Deacon began bathing the blood away dropping the blood soaked towels on the floor as she used them up, then wrapped towels around the wounds Robbie left behind.
Peaches came to stand beside her friend and reached for her hand. Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched everyone work on her.
Iceman came over to her and tried to pull her away. “Come on honey, you need to let them get her ready. The ambulance will be here soon.”
Peaches turned to leave her when Cassie gripped her hand tighter. “You need to call Leon.”
“What? Why?” Peaches frowned.
“Robbie is going after him. Janelle told him Leon is his father. Robbie is gonna kill him, then come after you. He told me that before he left.”
“That’s insane!” Peaches exclaimed.
Cassie opened her mouth to say something but her eyes rolled back in her head and her hand dropped to the side of the table.
