In Plain Sight
Page 24
On the twenty-minute ride to El Paso International Airport, where the plane that BJ had chartered for the trip was waiting for them, Remington kept Memphis close to her. Jericho had taken over driving the Marauder so Remington could keep an eye on Memphis. No one could see the blood that was smeared on her black clothing.
In the private hangar, Memphis awoke and slowly climbed out of the Maurauder. Kieran cried when she saw her and ran to her, but Remington’s hand stopped her from throwing herself at Memphis.
“Easy,” Remington said. “She’s really weak.”
“Oh God, I’m sorry.” Kieran pulled back to look at Memphis, her eyes welling with tears when she saw all of the cuts and bruises.
“It’s okay, I’m okay,” Memphis said softly.
Remington helped Memphis to the plane, where she promptly fell asleep on one of the black leather couches. They discussed what they knew during the two-hour flight. They’d sent the El Paso Sheriff’s office in after they got Memphis out, using the TRACE connection to get their cooperation. They thought that they likely had enough evidence to prosecute not only David, but others as well. They were still questioning members of The Family; Lyric and Cody had stayed behind to help. BJ had said he’d send a plane for them when they were ready to come home.
“I’m staying on this until that son of a bitch goes down,” Midnight said. “He’s not the only one with friends in high places.”
Remington and Quinn exchanged a look. Apparently David Ronning had made the mistake of messing with the wrong girl this time. Once Midnight Chevalier wanted your ass, it was as good as done. They were gratified to see it.
When the plane landed, everyone tried to talk Memphis into getting checked out at a hospital, but she staunchly refused, saying she wanted to go home. She thanked everyone for coming for her, wavering on her feet as she did.
“Okay, let’s get you home,” Remington said.
Half an hour later, Memphis was home. She said she wanted to take a bath. Kieran offered to help her, but she shook her head.
“I can do it,” she said tiredly.
They heard music come on the minute Memphis got upstairs. Wynter and Xandy, who’d met them at Memphis’ house, were there, as well as Quinn and Remington. They all smiled.
After hearing the water running and then shutting off, running then shutting off a few times, Kieran decided to check on Memphis.
Walking into the bathroom, she noted Memphis’ clothes on the floor along with a smear of blood. Then she walked around the corner of the bathroom to the tub, and gasped loudly.
Memphis was sitting in the bath, facing the outside edge of the tub with her arms up on the lip and her head down on her hands. What had made Kieran gasp was the blood dripping from the edge of the tub down onto the floor—blood that was coming from the cuts on Memphis’ right arm as well as her left wrist. As Kieran got closer, she could see that the water was blood-red as well.
“Remi! Quinn!” she screamed as she grabbed a towel to press to Memphis’ arm.
Memphis gasped at the pain it caused, waking up.
She looked at Kieran, bleary-eyed. “They didn’t like the tattoos,” she said softly, her voice very weak, as she put her head back down on the tub.
Kieran gave a soft cry as Remington and Quinn came running around the corner.
“Son of a bitch…” Quinn exclaimed, her voice trailing off.
“Memphis, you need to get out of there, you’re bleeding into the tub,” Remington said.
“She said they didn’t like—” Kieran began, then suddenly her eyes widened. “Oh my God, she said tattoos! Remi, get her out of there.”
Remington put her hands in the water to pull the plug, wincing. “Fuck, this water is scalding! Quinn, get her out!”
Memphis woke up then, and fought Quinn’s attempt to get her out of the tub.
“No! I need them off of me!” Memphis yelled, her voice ragged.
That’s when they could see that there were cuts to all of her tattoos. Remington finally grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Memphis, picking her up, protest and all. Remington strode into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, holding a squirming Memphis in her arms.
“Calm down!” Remington had to yell to get Memphis to still. “Call an ambulance,” she said to Wynter, who nodded.
“No!” Memphis shouted, shocking Remington with sudden strength as she broke her hold and leapt off her lap, pulling the towel around her. “No hospitals,” she said desperately.
“Memphis, someone needs to look at those cuts,” Kieran said.
Memphis shook her head.
“What if we can get someone here?” Remington said, putting her hand out in a staying motion.
Memphis looked pensive, but finally nodded.
“Okay, in the meantime we need to put some pressure on them to stop them from bleeding,” Xandy said, moving to grab more towels out of the linen closet.
Xandy approached Memphis slowly. “Memphis, please… just let us help you, okay?”
“Honey, you’re going to bleed to death if we can’t slow the bleeding, okay?” Quinn said.
Memphis nodded again.
“Babe, grab that robe.” Remington pointed to the robe on the back of the door. Wynter snatched it down and handed it to Memphis, who slipped it on over the towel.
Remington called Savanna, asking her about a medical doctor who might be able to help. She said she knew someone at Cedars and would give her a call and ask her to get there quickly.
“Is it bad?” Savanna asked.
“Looks bad.”
“I’m coming over too.”
“Good idea, thanks,” Remington said, nodding.
“And send Cody and Lyric that information, so they can ask about the cuts,” Savanna said. The more information they had on The Family, the more evidence they could get. More evidence meant more chance of conviction.
Half an hour later, Kieran had Memphis lying against her on the bed. Memphis now wore shorts and a loose-fitting tank top, because they knew that the doctor would need access to the cuts. Kieran was doing her best to keep an eye on the wounds to make sure they didn’t start bleeding again. They’d managed to tape bandages over them once they’d stopped the bleeding. There was a light knock on the door, and Remington led a woman into the room.
The woman had long honey-blond hair and eyes the color of brandy. She smiled warmly at Memphis, even as her eyes surveyed the damage to her face.
“I’m Doctor Finley Taylor, Memphis,” she said softly. “I’m gonna fix you up, okay?”
Memphis looked back at the woman for a long moment, but then finally nodded. She knew without a doubt that Remington would force her to go to a hospital if she didn’t accept this woman’s help. The hospital was the last place she wanted to go; they’d ask too many questions.
“Can I take a look at your arm?” Finley asked as she set her leather satchel down on the chair.
Memphis bit her lip and nodded.
Finley took her arm gently, glancing over at the speaker playing music softly.
“Def Leppard?” she asked, grinning.
Memphis smiled ever so slightly and nodded.
“Love them! Old school!” Finley said, smiling as she examined Memphis’ arm. “Okay… now, I’m gonna need to clean this, Memphis. It’s going to sting a little bit.”
Kieran took Memphis’ hand, touching her under the chin to turn her head to look at her instead of at what the doctor was doing.
Memphis looked into Kieran’s eyes, wincing at the first touch of the cold antiseptic swab.
Kieran kissed her cheek softly, whispering, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
The process took a while, because Finley wanted to make sure the cut was well cleaned.
“Okay, now these are really long,” Finley said, her voice still very gentle. “So I’m going to need to stitch them. Memphis, are you allergic to any medications?”
Memphis shook her head slowly, her eyes still on Kieran’s.
Finley talked as she worked, her voice always soft with a touch of humor.
“This was a lot of work, huh?” she said, commenting on Memphis’ tattoo. “How long did it take?”
“Four six-hour sessions,” Memphis said, glancing back at the doctor.
“Wow, no joke on the lot of work part. That’s dedication to ink if I’ve ever heard it,” she said, smiling.
Memphis actually smiled slightly as she nodded.
“Okay, finally done with that one. Can I see the next one?”
She’d already put Memphis completely at ease, however. Kieran’s eyes connected with the doctor’s as Memphis moved to lift her tank top carefully. Kieran mouthed “thank you” to Finley, who simply nodded slightly, a smile on her lips.
When they got to the atheist symbol, Finley became concerned.
“I’m not liking the look of this one…” she said, her voice trailing off as she continued to examine the wound. “It’s partially punctured. We’re going to have to be really careful with this one, Memphis. And you’re gonna lose some ink on it.”
“That was their idea,” Memphis said quietly, her voice tinged with anger.
“Well, ink can be redone,” Finley said. “Not a God person, huh?” Before Memphis could tense, she followed up with, “Me either, hate the whole church bullshit. Especially when it comes to us,” she said, confirming that she too was gay.
Memphis nodded in silent agreement.
“Okay, hold on tight here,” Finley said. “This one’s gonna be a little rough.”
Memphis gasped in pain as Finley pressed a wet compress to the wound.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Finley whispered as she saw the tears in Memphis’ eyes, tears appearing in her own, simply because she could see how much this poor girl had already been through, and now she was putting her in pain again.
Memphis was breathing heavily, and Kieran was talking to her to try to distract her from the pain. “I love you, it will be okay, you’re okay,” she whispered against her ear. “We have you now, okay? We have you. No one is ever going to hurt you again. I love you… I love you so much.”
“Okay, finally done,” Finley said, sounding as relieved as Memphis looked. “It just needed a couple of quick stitches, but I’m going to want to come back and check on this one, okay?’”
Memphis nodded.
“You’re gonna let me in the door right?” Finley said, winking at Memphis.
Once again Memphis smiled slightly, even chuckling briefly.
Kieran had to admit, this doctor definitely had a way about her that made her very likable.
“Okay, let’s take a look at that wrist,” Finley said, unwrapping the bandage carefully and examining the wound. “Good thing they had lousy aim.”
“I was actually hoping they’d do it right and kill me,” Memphis said, her voice quiet but serious.
Kieran pressed her lips together, tears in her eyes instantly.
“Never let those bastards beat you,” Finley said. “If you’re alive, you’ve won.”
Memphis blinked a couple of times, but didn’t respond. Kieran leaned over, kissing her temple. She felt sick at the thought of Memphis bleeding to death alone in that horrible place.
A little while later, Finley finished taking care of the cuts. “I’m going to write a prescription for antibiotics and a painkiller, okay? You need to take both,” she said pointedly.
Memphis nodded. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“I’ll be back tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”
Memphis slept for the rest of the day. She woke up long enough to take the antibiotics and painkillers that had been picked up for her, then fell asleep again. She slept through the night and into the next day.
“Her body needs it,” Remington told a worried Kieran.
Cody and Lyric got back a little while later. They talked to Remington and Quinn first, telling them what they’d been told by The Family. Remington took Kieran outside to talk to her, smoking as she did, because what she had to tell her was so upsetting to her personally.
“Kieran, you need to know that…” Remington began, her voice trailing off as she took a long drag on her cigarette, gritting her teeth. “That they raped her, over and over.” She looked sick.
“Oh my God,” Kieran said, breathing shallowly. Pain lanced through her heart at the thought of what Memphis had been through.
A little while later, when Kieran walked into the bedroom, she saw that Memphis was awake; she was holding her iPod, turning it over and over in her hand, her fingers moving over the edges, picking at them in agitation. Kieran knew that her iPod was a kind of security blanket for Memphis; it had been in her hand constantly since she’d come home. Even when she was sleeping she cradled it against her.
Kieran walked over to sit on the bed. She caught Memphis’ speculative look.
“What?” Kieran said.
“Was that Cody and Lyric I heard?”
“Yes,” Kieran said, trying to keep her voice casual. “They just got back.”
Memphis nodded with a knowing look as she waited.
“What?” Kieran asked again.
Memphis shook her head. “You should never, ever play poker.”
“I’m sorry?” Kieran said, sounding very English.
“You have absolutely no poker face, Kier. I can read you like a book right now.”
“What do you mean?” Kieran looked worried.
Memphis gave a short, mirthless laugh. “What did they tell you?”
Kieran didn’t answer.
Memphis looked at her directly. “They told you what they did to me, didn’t they?”
Kieran bit her lip, nodding.
Memphis nodded too, her gaze not meeting Kieran’s. She turned her phone in her hand again, nodding, like she was making agreements with herself.
“I don’t know how long…” Memphis began, trailing off as she struggled with what to say. “I don’t know how long it’ll take me to deal with all of this.”
Kieran nodded slowly. “I’ll be right here while you do.”
Memphis looked at her. “You may not want to be.”
“I will want to be,” Kieran said confidently. “You are the only person in this world I want, and I will wait forever for you to be ready to be with me again. You told me that you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with me…”
Memphis grimaced. “I figured the rest of my life was that last couple of hours here,” she said seriously.
Kieran looked back at her, both surprised and saddened to hear that Memphis had been sure she was going to her death when she’d left that morning.
“I really didn’t think I was ever going to see you again,” Memphis said, reaching up to touch Kieran’s face gently.
“Well, it doesn’t matter, because you’re here now, and I intend to hold on to you,” Kieran said, her voice strong.
Memphis blinked at Kieran’s statement. There was a knock at the door. Remington opened it, glancing between Memphis and Kieran, her look at Kieran pointed. Kieran nodded and turned to Memphis.
“Memphis, what do you remember about your father?” she said.
Memphis shook her head. She looked shocked by the sudden change in topic. “I…” she stammered. “Just little stuff… like his laugh…” She smiled fondly. “And that he always smelled like Old Spice. Why?”
“Memphis, your dad is here in LA,” Remington said.
“What?” Memphis breathed, looking like she’d just heard about a ghost. “How?”
“We contacted him,” Kieran said. “When we knew you were safe, we contacted him to tell him. He wants to come here, to see you, if you’re willing to see him.”
“Do you
want to see him, Memphis?” Remington asked gently.
Memphis’ eyes were wide as she nodded. Remington smiled. “I’ll call him and arrange something, okay?” she said.
Memphis nodded. When Remington started to leave, Memphis called her name. Remington stopped, turning back to look at her. Getting up slowly from the bed, Memphis walked over and reached up to put her arms around the other woman’s neck, hugging her tightly.
“Thank you for coming for me. You didn’t have to,” Memphis said softly.
“Yes, I did,” Remington said, her look direct. “I’m sorry I wasn’t faster, little one.”
Memphis started to cry then, and Remington gathered her in her arms, hugging her close and letting her sob. She knew it was something she needed to do. After a few minutes, Memphis pulled back to look up at Remington.
“You saved my life, Remi. You and everyone.” She shook her head in wonder. “I can’t believe all the people that were there for me… I’ll never be able to thank everyone.”
“I think we’ll need a party to do that,” Remington said, smiling.
Memphis smiled back. “I think you’re right.”
Epilogue
It had been two weeks since Memphis was rescued from the compound. She’d spent a lot of time talking to Cody, Savanna, and Dakota. She’d spent some time alone. She also received a visit from the California Attorney General and Sierra Youngblood-Marshal.
“So they’ve all been arrested?” Memphis asked Midnight.
“Yes,” Midnight said. “And we’re going after them not only for what they did to you as a child, but for attempted murder, aggravated assault, and rape.” She said the last word gently.
Memphis shuddered, nodding. “That means I’ll have to testify.”
Midnight nodded. “Yes, it does. But we’ll be there with you every step of the way.”
Kieran put her arm around Memphis, hugging her gently.
“So I’ll get to relive it over and over again,” Memphis said, sounding devastated.
Both Midnight and Sierra grimaced, aware that it was the last thing Memphis wanted to do.