by A. J. Downey
“You’d better hope so, Partner,” Ruth said with a smile, “Otherwise the lady is gonna be pissed, and you really don’t want to see what that looks like.”
“Ruth…” Hope intoned, the warning not to play with the man clear in her tone. The lawyer laughed.
“Now what kind of a name is Ruth for a man?” he asked. Ruth’s face collapsed into a scowl.
“Oh, now I know you ain’t laughing at my name… Saint.”
Saint closed the office door and stood in front of it, crossing his arms. Well shit. I exchanged a look with Radar and Nothing and they gave me barely perceptible nods before fixing their eyes on Hope.
“You bailed out a Faith Dobbins earlier today from the Plaquemines’ Sherriff’s office,” she said and the Lawyer whipped his attention to her impassive face.
“Now where did you hear a thing like that?” he asked, a cocky grin spreading across his face. He crossed his arms, in his too expensive shirt that matched the gray too-expensive suit jacket hanging off the back of his chair. His tie tack glittered real gold in the diffuse light from the banker’s lamp on his desk and Hope huffed a slight laugh. She perched on the edge of his desk and his vision trailed up her long legs. I glanced around and sure enough, everyone was wearing their gloves. My girl was smart.
She gave the lawyer an imperious look, “Doesn’t matter how I know, just matters that I do… at least for you. My sources tell me you and her boyfriend bailed her out. I want his name, and I want an address where I can find them and you’re going to give them to me.”
The lawyer laughed and it was a big mistake because as bulky as Ruth was, he moved fuckin’ fast. He was across the expensive looking carpet, lunged past Hope and had the lawyer slammed face down over his own desk.
“Want to know how I got my name motherfucker?” Ruth asked with a sick grin, “It’s short for somethin’, wanna guess what that it?” The lawyer bleated in fear as Ruth held him pinned and flattened his hand against the mahogany desk.
“Hey Darlin’, you wanna hand me that letter opener?” he asked Hope. She paled slightly, a little sweat dewing her upper lip, but she had no other tell that she was uncomfortable. Her face as impassive as they got. She plucked the letter opener from the fancy holder where it rested with her leather clad fingers and handed it to Ruth by the blade, hilt first. He took it from her and smiled a rictus grin, giving her a nod of appreciation.
“Thank you kindly, now, bottom feeder – how about you tell the lady here what she wants to know? You do that, I’m only gonna hurt yah, I might not kill yah.”
Baines started babbling, “I can’t! You don’t know what they’ll do to me!”
“You ain’t gotta be afraid of what they could do, you gotta be afraid of what I will do,” Ruth snarled and started to drive the point of the letter opener into the back of the lawyer’s hand. Hope, watched, mouth slightly parted her dark eyes fixed on the bead of blood welling around the gold letter opener’s sharp tip.
“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit, oh shit! You’re crazy! You’re fucking crazy!” The lawyer was afraid now. Ruth gave a nasty little smile.
“No, I’m fucking Ruthless,” he said and drove the letter opener clean through the lawyer’s hand. The man howled like a wounded animal and I almost felt sorry for the prick… who was I kidding? I watched the whole thing going down in front of me and the only thing I felt was worried for Hope, but she was taking this bit of ugly into her soul like a pro. Her soldier showing.
Hope slapped her hand down on the desk beside the lawyer’s face, the sound reverberating through the office. The lawyer shut up, and whimpered, he was sweating and if I had to bet, his hand probably hurt like a bitch, but if he gave up what we needed, he might yet still be able to use it.
“Faith Dobbins…” Hope repeated imperiously.
“Okay! Okay!” The lawyer screamed, frantic, “She’s one of Ivan’s girls! Right? Right!?”
“Ivan who?”
“Vassili!” the man wailed, “You really don’t know who you’re fucking with, you don’t have a clue!”
Hope pulled out her Ruger, checked the chambers and snapped it back into place, she put the gun against the lawyer’s head and her expression even scared me.
“No, you have no idea who you’re dealing with, Princess. I want an address, I want to know where they’re keeping Faith. Do you understand me, Walter?”
The man’s breath sawed in and out of his lungs, he was going to hyperventilate and he wasn’t telling Hope what she wanted to hear. She shot me a wink and cocked the hammer back on the gun and Walter spilled his guts.
“Okay! Okay! I don’t know where they keep the girls! I know where they score their drugs! The heroin! They pump the bitches full of it to keep them compliant! Dealer by the name of Gavrikov! The shit comes in over at the Port. The big one over on the East Bank, it comes in on the shipping containers. Gavrikov has a guy, goes and gets it. Drops it at a titty bar every Thursday night. A place in the Quarter, a place called Objections, that’s all I know! That’s all I know!”
Nothing was taking notes and nodded to Hope that he’d gotten everything. Hope nodded and her eyes met mine. They were raw, pain filled and I nodded slowly. I understood what hearing this bastard’s spew was costing her. She tucked her Ruger away and the lawyer breathed out.
“Oh thank God!”
“No God here, Buddy; no God here… Get you gone Darlin’, you and your boys. We’ll meet up back at ground zero. You feel me?” Ruthless said and I knew exactly what he had planned. Hope faltered at first, uncertain, but then she stared down at the lawyer and her expression crystallized and hardened.
“Make it hurt and make it slow,” she intoned and turned, striding past Saint who shot her a little salute, I was right on her heels, Radar and Nothing backing me up. The lawyer started screaming as we crashed through the door and into the stairwell. The door didn’t shut out the screams fast enough and we slid out the lobby and onto the street, making our way to the alley, the terror and pain echoing inside our skulls. Each of us holding an expression of grim determination as we walked down the block, not one of us expressing any sorry for what Ruth and Saint might be putting that cocksucker through.
I met Hope’s eyes as we got on our bikes, La Croix didn’t comment except to say, “See y’all back at the club.”
We hit the road, Hope riding even with me. We pulled up two by two to a stoplight and she reached out her hand. I took it, and we sat through the light, and just held hands. She needed the grounding and I could do that for her. I saw Nothing and Radar exchange a look in my side view mirror. Neither of them commented but their expressions were resigned. We lived this life. Had been living it for some time now. Our hands had been dirtied and washed clean so many times before, it wasn’t even funny.
No matter how ballsy, how tough, Hope was… none of us liked seeing a woman dragged down to this. Into the seedy dirt alongside us. The light turned green, I gave Hope’s hand a little squeeze, a reassuring shake and let go. Yeah, sure, the views of me and mine were sexist as fuck, but women of quality, women like Hope… man… she deserved better than this.
I think this was the realization, the conclusion, my boys had reached after seeing how she handled herself against Rusty. After she’d gone to talk with her detective friend, all conversation had turned to how to best help her after she’d rode off. Suddenly it was all about how to get her out of this city and back to Ft. Royal the fastest. It was one of those times that I realized that my brothers, each and every one of them, had my back and I was so damn grateful for that. That they had my back and because Hope was becoming important to me, they had hers by default.
We rode back to the Voodoo Bastard’s house and Pyro met us outside the front door. As soon as we were off the bikes he reported, I liked that about my best friend, he never kept me waiting, be it club business or business back home with the maritime salvage.
“Got eight rooms rented at that fleabag Motel; just like you wanted, Captain. Some of us is
gonna have to double up,” he shot a quick glance between me and Hope, “But I don’t think that’s gonna be a hardship. Trike moved our gear along with Lightning, here’s your key. You’re room six.” I took the key and shoved it down into my jeans pocket. Hope looked me over and lifted her shoulder in a shrug.
“Can’t do shit else until tomorrow night and this drop happens,” she said.
“True enough, Sweetheart. Gotta sleep sometime, right now, we need to eat.”
She nodded and I dispatched Beast and Atlas to go scare us up some grub through any ‘ol drive through. They took off and would bring it back to us here. The party was in full swing inside the club house. Drinking, some whoring, and a game of pool between Marlin and one of the Voodoo Bastards. Felt sorry for that fucker. Marlin was a shark.
I pulled Hope into my lap and palmed the inside of her thigh. Not missing a beat, she dipped her head and crushed her mouth to mine in a heated kiss. Fuck that girl could kiss. I felt my jeans begin to tent from the careful attentions of her mouth and just about lost my shit completely when the vibration of her moan trilled across my tongue where it wrapped around hers.
We took the opportunity to unwind and forget the nasty shit we left behind by just losing ourselves in each other’s mouths. Kissing, making out like teenagers, until the fucking food arrived.
I was halfway through my second burger when Ruth walked in with La Croix behind him. He winked in mine and Hope’s direction and shouted, “Sherelle! Where you at girl?”
A tiny slip of a girl in platform heels and a shiny silver mini-dress sashayed into sight. Her dark hair was pulled up into a French twist and though she wore a bit much in the way of eyeliner, she was a pretty little thing… My mind flashed back onto Li’l Bit for a second and I was surprised to find that the memory didn’t hold as much bite, or sting as it once did. Not with Hope sitting beside me, looking at me curiously.
“She reminds you of the picture of the girl, the one in your bunk on your boat, doesn’t she?” she asked.
Fucking insightful bitch. I chewed more slowly and considered her. She smirked.
“It’s okay, I’m not jealous or anything crazy,” she said, I opened my mouth to say something but we were both interrupted by a squeal and the crack of Ruth’s hand on his girl’s ass. He had her bent over the pool table, her dress riding high around her waist.
“Oh, gonna make you cry for me, Darlin’,” he said with a savage grin and shoved into her ass dry. Sherelle writhed under him and gave a little broken sob. Her eyes watered and her mascara streaked and she closed her eyes as Ruth pumped in and out of her ass. My burger went forgotten in my hand.
“Wow,” Hope remarked dryly.
“Boss always gets like that after a kill,” Hex commented, “Sherelle lives for this shit; she knows her safe word. No worries, she’s safe as can be.”
Ruth’s man pushed off from the armchair next to ours and joined the ring of spectators around the pool table, Marlin was putting up his cue stick shaking his head while Ruth ass-fucked the girl with no mercy. He certainly lived up to his name.
“We should come back tomorrow,” Hope said judiciously.
“Right I’m with you, Babe.” I gave her a little nudge and she stood up without much urging.
“Kraken!” I shouted over the din, “Return to base!” which for us was our hotel.
“See you tomorrow around noon!” Ruth hollered and I gave him a nod. His guys were laughing at us and I’m sure some of ‘em were calling us pussies behind our backs but this shit just wasn’t our scene, not with a lady present, which Hope was, despite her badassery.
She pulled another moment of it out when she called out to Ruth, “Hey Ruth! It all right if I leave my bike? Anybody fuck with it?”
“Go right ahead, Darlin’! Nobody better touch it or I’ll. Have. Their. Ass!” he punctuated each of the last words of his declaration by reaming into his girl’s ass with some particularly rough thrusts. She wailed and the sound was more pleasure than pain to me. I shook my head, to each their own, and raised my eyebrows.
“Come on,” Hope said and we left out the front. She put her helmet on and got on behind me, without so much as a word, twining her arms around me, getting snug up against my back. I put my hand briefly over hers before riding out. Following the hand signals in my rearview to take me and mine to our home away from home.
I bid the guys goodnight and without a word, Hope ghosted along with me up to number six’s door. I keyed it open and let her go first. She set her helmet on a table just inside the door. I flipped the switch on the wall, just inside and the bedside lamp came on and with a gentle shove, I sent the door swinging shut, closing out the outside world. It was just me and her and no one else… finally.
She looked at me, face expressionless which bled into somber and her eyes closed. A wave of exhaustion overtaking her.
“Can I ask you a favor?” she asked quietly.
“You can ask me anything, Sweetheart,” I kept my voice pitched low, soothing and it did something to her. Her face screwed up, anguished, and she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a broken little gasp. I shrugged out of my jacket and cut and tossed it onto the table and I went to her, pulling her gently into my arms. I tucked her head beneath my chin and held her close as she fell apart against me, petting her silken hair and making shushing noises above her head.
“I’m sorry,” she warbled and I chuckled.
“Don’t be,” I whispered, “What did you want to ask me?”
“For this…”
“To hold you?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
I chuckled, “Aw, Sweetheart, you ain’t never got to ask me for this, I love holding you.”
“Yeah?” she sniffed and wiped at her eyes and let out a shuddering sigh, relaxing into me.
“Yeah. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure…”
“You got a mind towards what comes next? After we get your sister?” I asked.
She let out a bitter, derisive little laugh and pulled back to look at me, “We don’t even know if we are going to get my sister back.”
I cupped her face with my hands and smoothed my thumbs through the moisture and makeup beneath her solid brown eyes. I searched her face and what I found there was twisted and tortured with guilt and so many other things, I sighed softly.
“We’re going to get her back, Sweetheart. I believe it and you should too, but you gotta be ready for what comes next…”
“I guess I haven’t thought that far ahead,” her brow furrowed.
“Yeah, well I have. Come back to Florida with me. Your sister is gonna need time and a place to heal, people to look out for her. Let me give you that place at the very least… take all the time you and your family needs to heal.” She searched my face for a solid minute.
“Why would you do that for me? You barely know me.”
“True enough, but I like what I see and I’m enjoying the hell out of getting to know you. I like you, Hope. I want more of this. I want a lot of things from you.”
“Like what?” she asked.
I smiled, “Like more of this,” I kissed her lips lightly and pushed her jacket off her shoulders; she let it fall to the floor and swooned towards me. I untucked her shirt and smoothed my hands against her skin, “And more of this…” I whispered and she sighed.
Yeah… I wanted more and more of Hope until she had nothing left to give. I wanted all of her, and I wanted to keep all of her to myself. I felt like I’d met my match in Ms. Andrews and I wasn’t about to let any of that go.
“What else do you want?” she asked her voice husky, low and sexy.
“I want you to let down your hair, I want to take all this off a piece at a time and I want to lay you back and kiss every inch of you, starting with your heart… if you’ll let me.”
She closed her eyes and savored my words and I could see that she desperately wanted what I was holding out in front of her. She nodded slowly and reached up, unpinni
ng her hair, pulling the tie that held it tight in its bun.
“I want that,” she whispered, “I really do…” her hair spiraled out and frothed around her face and I buried my hands in it, drawing her face up to mine. I kissed her, lingering, dark and deep and smiled against her mouth.
“Relax, Baby. Let me take care of you for tonight, okay?” I asked.
“Okay,” she murmured so sultry and sweet. I drew her against my body and kissed her soulfully.
Okay.
Chapter 21
Hope
Cutter was warm in the air conditioned coolness of the cheap ass motel room. His lips moved carefully against mine and I couldn’t help myself, I surrendered completely. Gave myself over to his care and let myself, my burdens, just everything go. It would all be there in the next hour, or the one after that or just whenever he got through with me, which a part of me hoped that he never would.
There was nothing I could do right now but wait. Wait for the hands on the clock to crawl around the dial, wait for day to break, the sun to crawl across the sky at its snail’s pace, only to set again so that we could head for the titty bar, Objections. To flush out our rat so we could follow it back to its nest. So for now, the best thing I could possibly do, is at least try to unwind. To find a distraction so that the clock would wind down faster and put me that much closer to finding my sister.
“Hey,” Cutter jostled me slightly in the circle of his arms, “Thought you said you were going to let me take care of you.” He arched one brow and smiled at me, his teeth white in his neatly trimmed beard and I closed my eyes shoulders slumping.
“I’m sorry…”
His expression gentled and he touched a finger to my lips, “Don’t be, just let me give you what you need, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed, once again.
I reached up, twining my arms around his neck and pulled the tie holding his ponytail careful to do it in such a way as to not pull against his scalp. He smiled at me through the curtain of his hair as I combed my fingers through it, parting it from in front of his face. It was much softer than it looked and felt good gliding through my fingers.
